Sept 10 1975
From The Space Library
Dr. George M. Low, NASA Deputy Administrator, told the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences that the combined efforts of government and industry could reduce fuel consumption of civil air transport by 40 to 50% without degrading the environment or reducing aircraft safety. The conclusion was based on a study by NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, DOD, and industry at the request of the committee. Need for a vigorous fuel-conservation program had been underscored by estimates from the Federal Energy Administration and Air Transport Association of America that U.S. outlays for imported oil had increased from $3 billion in 1970 to $24 billion in 1974, and could reach $32 billion by 1977. Jet fuel costs had risen from 12 cents a gallon (4.4 cents per liter) in 1973 to 29 cents (10.5 cents) in 1975.
NASA studies had shown that, by the year 2005, the U.S. could save one million barrels of refined aircraft fuel per day by use of new technology in civil air transport. NASA's proposed fuel-efficiency plan would include six major programs of research on engine components, engine efficiency, aircraft design, turboprop performance, laminar flow control and drag reduction, and increased use of composite materials for aircraft parts. (Transcript, NASA Release 75-252)
Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center were completing tests seeking to refine the means of towing to shore for refurbishment and reuse recovered Solid Rocket Boosters from Space Shuttle launches. These tests explored the question of whether the parachute recovery lines and riser lines on the three recovery parachutes to be attached to each booster would, when under tension during descent, stretch enough to develop sufficient latent energy to deploy the 52-mm-dia by 15-m long tow rope from a tray located in the booster's forward skirt. The tests employed a 10-m Saturn S-II-stage adapter ring, to which the parachute lines were attached. A crane hoisted the adapter ring until the stress on the rings was 12 000 kg, about one-half the stress expected on the parachutes lowering the booster. An explosive bolt was detonated, abruptly freeing the parachute lines; they contracted and the lines and fitting to which they were attached were yanked upward more than 60 in, quite enough energy to deploy the tow line.
The recovery system parachutes would be fitted with flotation devices so they could be recovered. On the first six Shuttle developmental flights, the set of parachutes would be cut free from one booster in each set of two and both would be tested to determine which configuration made it easier to retrieve and tow the booster. (MSFC Marshall Star, 10 Sept 75, 2)
Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, the only scientist astronaut to walk on the moon, had announced his candidacy for U.S. Senator from N. Mex., the Washington Post reported. A Republican, Dr. Schmitt would oppose Democratic Senator Joseph M. Montoya, who was expected to seek reelection. (W Post, 10 Sept 75)
The appearance of a supernova on 5 July 1054 had been recorded in primitive art by ancient Indians on the walls of a N. Mex. cave, the New York Times reported. Goddard Space Flight Center astronomer Dr. John C. Brandt, leader of the team of astronomers who had discovered the cave art, said that the date of the pictograph-a crescent moon with a nearby object variously described as a circle, cross, or asterisk-coincided with records of the Chinese Sung dynasty. The Chinese had reported that, on the morning of 5 July 1054, a minor star in the constellation Taurus appeared to explode into extraordinary brilliance. Ancient Chinese astronomers had described the event which modern astronomers identified as the supernova that had created the Crab Nebula-as visible daylight for 23 days before fading and at night for another 633 days. Although the modern astronomers could not prove that the cave art depicted the Crab Nebula supernova, "What we have is circumstantial evidence that, to us, looks pretty good," Dr. Brandt said. No other supernova of known date had been visible from North America near a crescent moon.
The supernova pictographs were not the only evidence of astronomical observations by American Indians; Navajo gourd rattles and sand paintings often depicted the Pleiades and Orion constellations, and Hopi designs included representations of the Milky Way, constellations, sun, moon, and stars. Heaps of stones strategically placed centuries ago in Wyo. hills could have been used by Indians to sight stars and to predict and confirm the summer solstice. (Rensberger, NYT, 10 Sept 75, 39)
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