Apr 26 1976
From The Space Library
"No useful data" appeared in photographs taken during the artificial-eclipse experiment on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, reported Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, quoting U.S. scientists who examined the photographs. This view contrasted with earlier Soviet statements. The experiment consisted of Apollo's blocking out the solar disk while pictures of the corona were made from the Soyuz. According to the magazine, many NASA officials and U.S. scientists "believed privately before the flight that the Soviet experiment would produce only marginal results." (Av Wk, 26 Apr 76, 11)
A $4.5-million structural test data-acquisition system to be used for tests on Space Shuttle components was nearing completion of installation and checkout at Marshall Space Flight Center, MFSC announced. Developed by Avco Electronics, the system included a central facility with a computer system, 6 line printers, 5 graphics display units, a printer-plotter, 2 card readers, and 4 video hard-copy units; 4 data-selector units; and 24 static-input units. The central facility, to be located in MSFC's Test Laboratory, was designed for a lifespan of 10 yr and would combine extreme accuracy with high reliability and ruggedness. Testing the external tanks, solid-fuel rocket booster, and other parts of the Shuttle for structural integrity would require monitoring up to 6000 channels of data simultaneously, fed into the computers from test hardware elsewhere at the Center. The Avco contract also provided for training MSFC personnel to operate the system when completed late in 1976. (MSFC Release 76-73)
Rockwell International awarded subcontracts totaling nearly $2 million for equipment and material for the U.S. Air Force's new B-1 strategic bomber development effort. Rockwell was awarded the B-1 system contract in 1970, and the first prototype flew for the first time 23 Dec. 1974. A second B-1 equipped with full offensive avionics made its first flight 1 April 1976; a third prototype nearing completion was scheduled to begin flight tests this year. Contracts just awarded to 5 Ohio companies were for manufacture of the fourth prototype. The companies were: Cleveland Pneumatic Co., main landing gear, $1,270,000; TRW Inc., fuel pumps, $195,800; Westinghouse Aerospace Electric Div., generator and controls system, $73,000; RMI Co., titanium, $165,000; and Titanium Metals Corp., titanium, $106,000. The titanium would form major B-1 components such as the wing carry-through structure. (Rockwell Intl. Release LA-2)
NASA was beginning to make headway in efforts to solve basic problems of U.S. aircraft manufacturers caused by a long-term dearth of low-speed aeronautical research, reported Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. Industry engineers reporting on discussions at a recent Wichita meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers said use of the workshop technique had been effective in uncovering primary problem areas by crosstalk with such specialized segments as aerodynamicists and propulsion engineers. NASA research being further refined in industry product development included general-aviation aircraft airfoils, aircraft drag reduction, propeller efficiency, and reduction of airflow separation on wing trailing edges. Lewis Research Center had begun exploration of alternatives to conventional reciprocating engines, such as diesel and rotary concepts. NASA had also begun studying the application of advanced technology to agricultural aircraft, said to be responsible for increasing farm production by about $10 billion annually, to solve problems such as corrosion of aircraft structures by agricultural chemicals and control of chemical drift. (Av Wk, 26 Apr 76, 56)
Employment in the U.S. aerospace industry continued downward, the annual employment survey by the Aerospace Industries Association said. Employment figures would fall below 900 000 by the end of 1976, compared with 925 000 at the start of the year. Peak employment in the industry was 1 500 000 in 1968. The predicted decline, amounting to 3.5%, would be spread among all sectors of the industry; greatest decline-about 6000-would be in employment on aircraft programs, much of it in plants producing transport aircraft. The continuing erosion of the high-technology manpower base was principally due to slackening demand for commercial jetliners, uncertainties in export markets, the level of government commitment to new or replacement military aircraft, and reduced investment in the space program, the report said. The forecast was based on data provided by 48 major firms representing more than 65% of total aerospace employment. (Aerospace News, 26 Apr 76)
Comsat General Corp. signed an agreement with the Water Resources Division, U.S. Department of Interior's Geological Survey, to conduct a 6-mo joint evaluation of the use of satellites to transmit data from remote hydrological sensors to a central facility. Comsat General would provide 11 small data-collection platforms to receive and transmit the data via satellite to a central receive facility. The DCPs would be located near Survey sensors in the continental U.S.: 5 in the Pacific Northwest, 5 in eastern Pa., and one near Survey headquarters at Reston, Va. Central receiving station would be the Comsat station at Southbury, Conn., where the data would be stored on magnetic tape and accessed by the Survey on interconnecting terrestrial lines. The program would provide a chance to evaluate collection of environmental data by satellite under operational conditions; it would begin later in 1976 and conclude within 6 mo, subject to FCC approval. (Comsat Release CC 76-112)
The vast spaces between galaxies previously thought to be empty contained large clouds of gas, 2 scientists from the University of Arizona said. The National Science Foundation, which funded the research using the 2.3m telescope at Kitt Peak, announced the discovery as the most solid evidence to date for the presence of substantial amounts of matter between the galaxies. The discovery, expected to affect current theories on the evolution of galaxies, might contribute to learning whether the universe would continue to expand indefinitely; more mass in the universe, with resulting greater gravitational forces, would eventually halt and reverse the expansion. Dr. Robert E. Williams and Dr. Ray J. Weymann studied clouds of gas in the vicinity of certain quasars and found that the clouds were associated not directly with the quasars but with the cluster of galaxies that contained the quasar. (NSF Release PR76-35)
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