Aug 13 1976
From The Space Library
MSFC announced completion of 2 of 8 major facilities for production of Space Shuttle solid-propellant rocket motors at Thiokol Corp.'s Wasatch Div. in Brigham City, Utah. Thiokol was selected as prime contractor by MSFC for development of the solid-fuel rocket motor, main element of the reusable solid-fuel rocket booster being developed by MSFC. The 2 completed units were a nozzle-bearing test facility, used to test a flexible bearing allowing the rocket-motor nozzle to turn up to 8° in any direction for thrust-vector control in steering, and an x-ray facility for inspecting propellant after casting into the motor-case segments. A case-preparation building, where motor cases would be prepared for propellant loading by sandblasting, cleaning, refining, and painting, was reported 95% complete. Three facilities for loading the propellants casting pit l, a casting house, and casting-pit covers-were about half completed. A case-refurbishment facility to handle the motor cases after recovery would be under construction shortly. (MSFC Release 76-151) 15 August: In an attempt to predict the weather on the planet Jupiter, Dr. Gareth P. Williams, researcher at NOAA's Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton Univ., applied a computer model of earth's atmosphere to Jupiter and found that it not only reproduced patterns known to exist there but also provided new explanations of visible features such as the Great Red Spot and' horizontal stripes, as well as' revealing a 4-yr cycle of heat transfer.
Using a set of equations describing physical processes that produce atmospheric behavior on earth, Dr. Williams fed in conditions known to exist on Jupiter-the planet's enormous size, amount of sunlight it receives, and rate of rotation (which dominated the behavior of the Jovian atmosphere)-and found that the basic behavior of atmosphere was "quite similar." The purpose of atmosphere, he said, was to transfer heat from the equator to the poles; the terrestrial heat cycle took about a month, but the NOAA model revealed a corresponding cycle on Jupiter that took 4 yr. Whereas the earth received its heat from the sun, Jupiter received only 4% as much solar heat as earth, but the infrared measurements showed that the planet was warmer than it should be if its only heat source were the sun. Scientists believe that the planet generates heat of its own in an amount about equal to what it receives from the sun; this extra heat complicated the job of modeling Jupiter's atmosphere because there was no way of telling how it might be distributed, but it also provided a confirmation for the model.
Atmospheric motions on Jupiter tended to perpetuate themselves instead of dying out, as they do on earth because of interaction with the earth's :surface. Jupiter has no "surface" as we know it, Dr. Williams noted; "it just gets denser toward the interior and motions gradually dissipate downward...." Circulation patterns producing eddies in the planet's atmosphere seem to be stable; the Great Red Spot had been apparent since the 17th century, when it was first sighted. The researchers hoped that Pioneer 11, now about halfway between Jupiter and Saturn, might provide a positive test of the Princeton model; "we think Saturn is like Jupiter, but we don't know," said Dr. Williams. "Maybe it has a red spot." (NOAA Release 76-170)
Because supersonic aircraft are inherently dirtier than those flying slower than sound, the Environmental Protection Agency's emission standards for future generations of supersonic aircraft would allow SSTs to emit 4 times more air pollution than subsonic jets. EPA described the standards, scheduled for issuance 16 Aug., as "the most stringent that can be imposed" by the 1980 effective date; additional requirements for reducing amounts of oxides of nitrogen would take effect 1 Jan. 1984. EPA recommended new ground procedures to reduce duration of SST engine operation-and resulting pollution-while the planes were on the ground.
New standards for 1980 engines would allow carbon monoxide emission at 58% below the current Concorde level, and hydrocarbons 77% lower, with nitrogen oxides at about the current level; 1984 levels would be 88% less for carbon monoxide, 94% less for hydrocarbons, and 44% less for nitrogen oxides. The 1984 allowances would still be much higher than those for subsonics. EPA estimated it would cost the aircraft industry about $10 million to meet the new emission levels for a fleet of 70 planes, and that the standards would cost airlines about $5 per hr per plane for increased maintenance. (W Post, 15 Aug 76, A-12; WSJ, 17 Aug 76, 8)
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