Jun 10 1977
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
ARC announced that a team of scientists using the 91cm (36in) infrared telescope on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory and the groundbased 230cm (90in) infrared telescope at Steward Observatory, Univ. of Arizona, had made the first discovery of planet formation in process and the first identification of a flat disc-shaped luminous stellar object. The object, MWC 349 in the constellation Cygnus, exhibited a surrounding mass of intensely glowing gas with a diameter 20 times that of the central body, emitting 10 times as much light; the luminous area would disappear in about a century as disc material spun into the central body. The find had been significant because it might show how planets had been formed in earth's solar system.
Members of the team were Drs. Rodger Thompson and Peter Strittmatter of the Steward Observatory, and Drs. Edwin Erickson, Fred Witteborn, and D.W. Strecker, all of ARC. Infrared instruments could view the object through dust shrouding the disc: the Kuiper telescope had detected infrared spectra that could not penetrate earth's atmosphere, and the Steward telescope could offer higher resolution. (ARC Release 77-33; NASA Release 77-119; NYT, June 16/77, A21; W Post, June 16/77, B-11)
NASA announced that the first manned test flights of the Shuttle orbiter Enterprise would begin at DFRC about June 16. In these captive flights (phase 2 of Shuttle approach and landing tests) all orbiter systems would be ON to verify crew procedures and determine the best separation profile for upcoming manned free flights. In the initial phase that ended Mar. 2, the orbiter fastened to its Boeing 747 carrier had made five captive inert (unmanned) flights at DFRC to check out its systems; in phase 2, the orbiter would make four flights still attached to the 747 but with crew aboard to check flutter, steering, and other performance items. (NASA Release 77-117)
Two main items in NASA's $4 billion budget request for FY 1978 the Jupiter-orbiter mission and the Space Telescope-had met with strong opposition in Congress, John Noble Wilford reported in the NY Times. The items were two of three major new starts sought by the agency; the third, a new earth resources monitoring spacecraft (Landsat-C), had not been opposed, nor had additional funding for Space Shuttle development.
NASA officials had of expected opposition to the Jupiter project, which had the endorsement of numerous scientists and the White House and had been authorized for eventual development by both houses of Congress. However, Rep. Edward P. Boland (D-Mass) had persuaded the House appropriations subcommittee on independent agencies, which he chaired, to block funds for the Jupiter project in view of charges by many astronomers that NASA had spent "a disproportionate level" of its funds on planetary science rather than on deep-space astronomy, which would be the aim of the Space Telescope. The House Appropriations Committee had followed suit and the full House was expected to vote accordingly.
NASA had concentrated its Jupiter appeal on the Senate appropriations subcommittee headed by Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis), longtime critic of NASA spending, who had nevertheless been impressed by JPL officials who argued that the Jupiter project should receive immediate funding because of a favorable launch situation due in 1982 when Jupiter would be relatively close to earth, which would not occur again until 1987. Without the new start, JPL would have to lay off 300 to 400 scientists and engineers because it would have no missions beyond the launch of two Voyagers this summer. If the Senate should approve the Jupiter project and reject the telescope, a conference committee would have to settle the matter; NASA might have to choose between the two projects, or to start both with greatly reduced first-year funding, Wilford noted. (NYT, June 10/77, A-17; Nature, June 23/77, 659)
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