Feb 5 1965
From The Space Library
MARINER IV was performing normally after nearly 10 weeks in space, NASA announced. At 9 a.m. EST the Mars probe was 14,421,246 mi. from earth and had traveled more than 117 million mi. in its sun-circling orbit. It was moving at a velocity of 14,478 mph relative to earth and 65,670 mph relative to the sun, Instruments aboard MARINER IV Mars probe detected a solar flare and the spacecraft telemetered data to a tracking station at Johannesburg, South Africa, for relay to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (NASA Release 65-30; L.A. Times, Wash. Post, 2/6/65)
First major piece of flight-type hardware for the Apollo program, Service Module 001, successfully underwent a 10-sec. shakedown static test firing at NASA Manned Spacecraft Center's White Sands Operations. Service Module 001 was unlike previous boilerplate models in that it was constructed primarily of aluminum alloy and had an outside skin of honeycomb bonded between two aluminum sheets. Made by Aerojet-General, the service propulsion system engine had 22,000 lbs. of thrust. It would slow down the Apollo for entry into lunar orbit and speed up the spacecraft for escape from lunar orbit and the return to earth. (MSC Roundup, 2/17/65, 8; NAA S&ID Skywriter, 2/12/65, 1, 3)
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, at Nebraska Wesleyan Univ. to receive an honorary doctorate, said in a speech: "... while our national policy is to maximize the peaceful uses of outer space . . . and to avoid the extension of weapons, we have no choice but to acquire a broadly-based total capability in space; a capability that can enable us to insure the protection of our national security interests while we actively seek cooperative peaceful development. . . . "The Roman mastery of land and sea communications, the English mastery of the seas, the American mastery of the air and of nuclear energy were each accompanied by greatly enhanced prestige and followed by vast increases in power and position, new knowledge, the establishment of strategic international economic advantages, the wide use of new resources, great advances in military capability, and a quickening of national pride and vigor. Portentous realignments among nations were inevitable. These are the advantages the Russians now seek from their enormous investments in space. These are the advantages we cannot permit them to acquire and use against the non-Communist world. "In these lessons of history lies the real challenge of space. The portents for our own time are clear enough in the early lead of the Soviet Union with the first Sputnik, Vostok, and Voskhod. The spurt in Soviet prestige brought a new assurance and weight in the international political arena, a new pride and confidence in Soviet national purpose. We have reacted quickly and with ever-increasing success, but the challenge of the mastery of space remains to be accomplished for us as a nation and for you as a member of the new generation, We are meeting this challenge, and in doing so enhancing the broadest values for our society and our world. "Our power to survive as a great and vigorous Society is in the process of being proven again through our space efforts, Your own involvement in the actions and consequences will be far greater than you or I can fully appreciate today. . . ." (Text; NYT, 2/5/65)
NASA announced it had approved a Rice Univ. proposal for a satellite to measure radiation and radiation loss in the Van Allen belts, aurorae and airglow, bombardment of the upper atmosphere by energetic particles from space, and galactic and solar cosmic rays. The 125-lb. scientific satellite, to be known as Owl, would be designed, developed, and built by a Rice group headed by Dr. Brian J. O'Brien, and would be injected into a near-circular orbit at about 400 mi. altitude by Scout launch vehicle. After achieving orbit, the satellite would be oriented by a large permanent bar magnet so that one axis would be continuously aligned with the earth's magnetic lines of force. The Rice project would be part of the NASA University Explorers Program. Spacecraft and experiments would be tested at NASA facilities under the direction of NASA's Wallops Station, which also was assigned project management of Owl. (NASA Release 65-29)
First ground test stage in the [[Saturn S-II program was completed by North American Aviation at Seal Beach. The stage would be used for structural tests simulating critical thrust and pressure loads anticipated during Saturn V/Apollo flight missions. This stage would not be fired-it would have no engine. (NAA S&ID Skywriter, 2/5/65, 1)
A new alloy known as NASA Modified TaZ-8 had been developed by NASA Lewis Research Center scientists John C. Freche and William J. Waters for use in modified X-15 nose sensors. The new material, which contained tantalum and zirconium, was necessary because the increased speed of the modified aircraft X-15 No. 2-up to 5,000 mph-would cause greater dynamic heating. (Lewis News, 2/5/65,1)
Menu released by NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in a request for bids from industrial firms interested in furnishing the Apollo astronauts with food for the journey to the moon included bacon and eggs, frosted flakes, toast, fruit juice, and a strawberry cereal bar. Food allowance of 8 lbs. would be dehydrated to reduce its weight. Astronauts would add water to the food from their drinking water supply. (Schefter, Houston Chron., 2/5/65)
National Science Foundation announced that a new radio technique might make it possible to study Antarctica's ice depth. The technique involved sending radio waves down through the ice and measuring the time it took them to bounce back from the underlying ground. This would provide a measure of ice depth. The equipment was checked out at the South Pole where earlier seismic soundings had shown the ice to be 9,100 ft, deep. (UPI, NYT, 2/7/65, 77)
Deactivation of 129 obsolete intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites was underway. The Thor, Atlas, and Titan I missiles had been superseded by more modern weapons, including Titan II, Minuteman, and Polaris, Nearly $2 billion of property in 12 states was involved. Government agencies had been advised that equipment was available as military surplus. (Hill, NYT, 2/7/65, 64)
A tentative plan of the Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN) to build a 300-billion-electron-volt particle accelerator in Bavaria was being opposed by residents of Munich, it was reported. CERN had stated that no final decision had been reached. (NYT, 2/7/65, 24)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
