Dec 11 1968

From The Space Library

President-elect Richard M. Nixon introduced his Cabinet on nationwide TV from Washington, D.C. Among appointments, William P. Rogers, Washington attorney and Eisenhower Administration Attor­ney General, would serve as Secretary of State; Rep. Melvin R. Laird (R-Wis.) , as Secretary of Defense; and Massachusetts Gov. John A. Volpe, as Secretary of Transportation. (Herbers, NYT, 12/12/68)

Apollo 8 crew, wearing their spacesuits, participated in final 2 hr 45 min of countdown rehearsal for Dec. 21 launch. Spacecraft had completed four-day rehearsal fully fueled Dec. 10. (AP, B Sun, 12/11/68, A9; UPI, W Star, 12/11/68, C4)

NASA was unsuccessful in second Project SHAPE (Supersonic High Alti­tude Parachute Experiments) attempt at WSMR when parachute was ejected prematurely from five-foot-long canister after three-stage rocket had successfully propelled payload to 33-mi altitude. First test Oct. 23 had been successful. (NASA Release 68-216)

Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FM) had established Yuri Ga­garin gold medal honoring cosmonaut who became first man in space April 12, 1961, during Soviet Vostok I mission, Space Business Daily reported. Medal would be awarded annually to pilot contributing best performance of year in peaceful exploration of space. (SBD, 12/11/68, 178)

Cal Tech's Dr. Maarten Schmidt received Rumford Premium, nation's oldest science award for "the most important discovery or useful im­provement ... on heat and on light" at AAAS dinner in Boston, Mass. Award, established in 1796 by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, consisted of medal and $5,000. Dr. Schmidt had determined intense radio emission of quasars indicated they were moving away from earth at speeds up to 149,000 mps, or about 80% of speed of light. (AP, W Star, 12/12/68, A2)

• December

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• 1969