Apr 3 1975
From The Space Library
Robert G. Strom, Univ. of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory scientist, was quoted by the Baltimore Sun as saying in a 31 March interview that 75% of the 500 photographs taken during Mariner 10's third and final pass of Mercury [see 16 March] "did not turn out." Because of a receiver malfunction at the Canberra, Australia, tracking station, Mariner 10 could not be maneuvered quickly enough to' photograph all the desired area. However, Strom emphasized that Mariner 10's third pass was "actually a bonus" and the mission had been a complete success. (B Sun, 3 April 75, A8) 4 April: NASA had awarded a $1388 498 firm-fixed-price contract to Goodyear Aerospace Corp. to produce a special-purpose processor to augment existing computing capability for NASA's Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE), Johnson Space Center announced. The contract included design, fabrication, delivery, and installation of the processor and any associated system software. LACIE, a cooperative program shared by U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA, aimed at improving wheat production forecasts by use of satellite earth-resources data. (JSC Release 75-20)
The testbed aircraft for the Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) was deployed to Europe for a series of exercises with North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) ground, air, and sea forces. The Air Force was developing AWACS as an airborne surveillance command and control center to detect and track airborne targets at any altitude, at long ranges, and over all types of terrain and water.
During the test exercises the aircraft, topped by a 9-m-diameter rotating radome assembly, would work in the United Kingdom with British naval forces and with the U.S. Navy's sixth fleet, and in West Germany with the NATO and U.S. air defense ground environment system and with Hawk defense missile batteries. NATO Hq in Brussels would provide ground static displays for NATO officials.
During all exercises AWACS would coordinate with ground, sea, and air forces through a time-division multiple-access data link.
This was the second deployment of AWACS to Europe. Since 1973, when the system had been demonstrated there, it had been equipped with additional major elements including communications, data processing, navigation, display, and identification instrumentation. (AFSC Release OIP 99.75)
NASA announced the appointment of Kenneth L. Woodfin as Assistant Administrator for Procurement, replacing George J. Vecchietti who had retired. (NASA Release 75-94)
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