Feb 29 1976
From The Space Library
The concept of a "science court" an impartial quasi-judicial body of scientists to conduct inquiries into conflicting scientific claims was advanced by Dr. Arthur Kantrowitz, director of Avco-Everett Laboratories, a high-technology industrial firm in Mass. The proposal would be a means of assuring a rational and orderly assessment of scientific facts underlying highly complex issues of public concern. Although hearings had been held by Congress and federal agencies on issues such as radiation, automotive safety, air pollution, drugs, and pesticides, these had frequently been superficial and led to no resolution of facts. A recent Harvard University book on the subject said in part: "The principal shortcoming of such hearings can be revealed simply by asking how `adversary' these adversary hearings are . . . direct battle over facts, if it occurs at all, takes place as a free-for-all in the mass media." Conflicting statements by experts had added to confusion and paralyzed decision-making processes. A test of the "science court" concept had been recommended as part of the new White House office of science and technology policy. (NYT, 29 Feb 76, 8)
Information of value to the U.S. Pioneer mission to Venus scheduled for 1978 was published by the USSR in Pravda after 4 mo of analysis of the 2 Soviet spacecraft that reached Venus in Oct. 1975. Each of the Russian craft, weighing about 5000 kg, separated into an orbiting section and a landing capsule; the two landers transmitted the first panoramic photographs of the Venus surface to earth. U.S. scientists had debated the angle at which landers should enter the Venus atmosphere; the Russian report stated that Venera 9 entered at 20.5° and Venera 10 at 22.5° to the horizon. Besides the entry angle, the report included details of descent, amount of sunlight on the surface, wind speeds, rock chemistry, and character of surface erosion. Although the 2 landers failed under surface temperatures of 482°C and pressure 90 times that of earth Venera 9 lander operated 53 min., Venera 10 65 min-the orbiters continued to transmit data on cloud cover and upper atmosphere. The U.S. planned to launch 2 spacecraft, an orbiter and a lander, toward Venus in 1978, the lander separating into 4 or 5 probes to relay data via the orbiter to the earth. (NYT, 29 Feb 76, 34)
Grover Loening, pioneer aeronautical inventor and first person to receive an M.A. degree in aeronautics from an American university, died at the age of 87 at his home in Fla. after a long illness. In 1913, after working for an aeroplane builder in N.Y., Loening became assistant to Orville Wright and manager of the Wright brothers' factory in Dayton, 0. In 1914 he was appointed chief aeronautical engineer of the Army Signal Corps aviation section. As vice president of Sturtevant Aeroplane Co., he pioneered the first U.S. steel-frame airplane in 1915; later he formed his own company and developed the M8 2-seat Pursuit monoplane using rigid strut bracing, which he patented. After World War 1, Loening produced the Flying Yacht which established world records and won him the Collier Trophy in 1921; his next success was the Loening Amphibian, with the first practical retractable carriage. A member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, Loening was one of the first directors of Pan American Airways and a member of the Smithsonian Institution board for about 20 yr. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit and nearly every U.S. aviation medal, he had been selected 3 wk ago to receive the Smithsonian's Langley gold medal for aerodromics. (W Star, 3 Mar 76, B-5)
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