Apr 21 1975
From The Space Library
West Germany was studying the possibility of purchasing a Spacelab pressurized module for use on the U.S. Space Shuttle, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported. The German Spacelab would be configured for research in space processing, a field of considerable interest to Germany. Its missions on Spacelab, launched by NASA aboard the Space Shuttle on a cost-reimbursable basis, would be separate from missions conducted by the European Space Research Organization. (Av Wk, 21 April 75, 27)
The Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Lewis Research Center had begun a joint research program to determine the feasibility of using synthetic fuels to power military and commercial jet aircraft, the Air Force Systems Command announced. As part of the 10-yr $8-million study, Exxon Corp. had been awarded a contract to study the refining processes like hydrogenation required to produce fuels from coal and oil-shale synthetic crudes, and to compare the chemical and physical properties of these fuels with those of petroleum derivatives. Costs of processing the synthetics would depend on definition of engine and fuel-system needs.
The decision to begin research on synthetic fuels was part of an Air Force conservation effort. U.S. aircraft, military and commercial, accounted for 8% of U.S. petroleum consumption; fuel costs for military jets alone had more than tripled in the previous 18 mo. The cost of fueling a C-5 cargo aircraft had risen from $6780 in April 1973 to $22 400 in April 1975. (AFSC Release OIP 070.75)
A NASA-sponsored research program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology had demonstrated that ultraviolet light could convert water into a hydrogen fuel, NASA announced. MIT researchers placed a titanium dioxide crystal and apiece of platinum connected by a wire into a beaker of water in which inert ionic substances were dissolved to allow an electric current to flow. The titanium dioxide and platinum acted as electrodes, establishing electrical contact with the water. When ultraviolet light from a laser illuminated the titanium dioxide, application of electrical potentials as low as 0.2 volts produced hydrogen and oxygen gases.
The process thus far was inefficient, only 1% of the light energy being converted into chemical energy. Researchers were experimenting with different electrodes and reaction temperatures to find methods that would decompose water using low-energy visible light instead of high-energy ultraviolet light, which was only a small fraction of the light available from the sun. (NASA Release 75-106)
21-24 April: The National Academy of Sciences held its 112th annual meeting and the National Academy of Engineering held its llth annual meeting, in Washington, D.C. The state of the sciences and their potential contribution to the solution of national problems were discussed. During one session Dr. J. Herbert Holloman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology, said that the U.S. "no longer dominated the world's technological process. We have now become the strongest nation among many." Dr. Holloman said that the growth of productivity in the U.S. during the last 15 yrs had been "the lowest of any industrial nation in the world with the exception of the United Kingdom." Dr. Michael Boretsky, Dept. of Commerce analyst, agreed, saying that the productivity decline could be attributed in part to the "relative decline in. the overall rate of the United States technological advance." Since the mid-1960s, output per man-hour had been growing at half the average rate of the previous 100 yr, while productivity gains had been speeding up in other countries. Funds that could correct this situation by supporting the development of new technology had instead been channeled into social commitments.
Dr. Ralph Landau, chemical engineer and president of Halcon, Inc., said that, because labor costs in the U.S. and leading foreign nations were virtually equal, it was no longer advantageous for U.S. companies to sell licenses to foreign enterprises to use American patents. Instead pressures existed to keep the technology at home, creating jobs in the U.S., and to sell U.S.-made goods abroad.
During the business meeting on 22 April, 84 new members were elected to NAS "in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research." NAE elected 86 U.S. engineers to its membership, including Dr. Kurt H. Debus, former Kennedy Space Center Director; Dr. Rocco A. Petrone, NASA Associate Administrator; and Dean R. Chapman, Ames Research Center scientist. (NAS Release, 22 April 75; NAE Release, 1 April 75; joint NAS-NAE Release, 9 April 75; McElheny, NYT, 27 April 75, 15)
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