Mar 22 1976
From The Space Library
A General Accounting Office review of the SEASAT oceanographic spacecraft program revealed a lack of formal agreements between NASA and potential SEASAT users on application of resources, said an article in Aviation Wk and Space Technology. GAO said there "should have been top-level agreements among NASA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Defense Dept. concerning SEASAT participation prior to project approval within NASA." NASA responded that it was "of the opinion that there are clear understandings ... regarding roles and responsibilities in the SEASAT-A project and that formalized agreements are being prepared," GAO also reported increased costs during SEASAT spacecraft definition; objections from the user community to changes in instrumentation had prompted NASA to raise the cost ceiling on the spacecraft rather than fly hardware that would not meet user requirements. GAO asked Congress to require that NASA provide specific data on how SEASAT would produce $350 million yearly in benefits; why NASA, rather than users, should pay for SEASAT improvements to benefit the user community; and what agency responsibilities would be in future SEASAT operations. (Av WW & Sp Tech, 22 Mar 76, 44)
In a special message to Congress, President Ford requested an increase in federal spending to $24.7 billion for scientific research and development in the energy, defense, and space programs. Ford said his request for the 1977 fiscal year, an 11% increase over 1976 estimates, included $2.5 billion for basic research. The budget asked $2.6 billion for energy R&D, a 35% increase over 1976, including funds for nuclear power, development of solar and geothermal energy, and fusion power; major increases were for energy conservation and for research on fossil fuels to improve direct combustion of coal for production of oil and gas. The President also asked congressional conferees to act quickly on bills to establish the Office of Science and Technology. (W Star, 22 Mar 76, 7)
Pioneer 10, on its way out of the solar system, spent 24 hr in an enormous magnetic "tail" area of the planet Jupiter, the Ames Research Center reported, registering zero on its solar-wind detector during that time because the magnetic envelope completely shut out the solar wind. Dr. John H. Wolfe, project scientist, said it was conceivable that the solar wind "could have died completely for a whole day without our being in the tail . . . But we believe we've found that Jupiter has a very stretched out magnetic envelope . . ." Exact shape and size were not known, but were estimated as conical and better than 800 billion km long, spanning the distance between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Earth's magnetic tail had been measured at more than 6 billion km by previous spacecraft; the magnetic tails of the 2 planets had been shown to extend to great distances by the force of the solar wind, a supersonic charged-particle stream constantly emitted from the sun. (NYT, 26 Mar 76, 19; W Post, 27 Mar 76, A-5; NASA Release 76-55,; ARC Release 76-22)
Cost of the Air Force B-1 bomber might run more than $11 billion over original estimates because of inflation and higher prices, said Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), adding that total cost increases on the B-1 would be around $1 billion while inflation would be responsible for another $10 billion increase. Three research contracts on the B-1 had already run $129 million higher than expected, he said, and those represented only money spent for models, engines, and electronics. By the end of 1976, Congress would have to decide whether to go ahead with the bomber, intended as a replacement for the aging B-52. (LA Times, 22 Mar 76, 1 IC)
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