Apr 23 1965
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R, launched its first communications satellite MOLNIYA I into orbit: apogee, 39,380 km. (24,459 mi,) ; perigee, 497 km. (309 mi.) ; period, 11 hrs. 48 min,; inclination, 65°, Krasnaya Zvezda reported that the "basic purpose of launching the Molniya-1 communications satellite is to accomplish the transmission of TV programs and to perform two-way multichannel telephone, phototelegraphic and telegraphic communication. All the onboard equipment on the satellite and the ground radio network are operating normally, and the first transmission of TV programs between Vladivostok and Moscow were successfully completed." (Tass, Krasnaya Zvezda, 4/ 24/65, 1, ATSS-T Trans,)
Successful simultaneous two-way transmission of television tests via EARLY BIRD communications satellite between the U.S. ground station at Andover, Me., and European ground stations at Pleumeur-Bodou, France; Goonhilly Downs, England; and Raisting, W. Germany, was announced by ComSatCorp. The pictures were of good quality. (ComSatCorp Release)
X-15 No, 3 was flown by Capt. Joe Engle (USAF) 79,700 ft, altitude at a maximum speed of 3,657 mph (mach 5.48) to obtain data for heat transfer experiment with surface distortion panel ablative test. (NASA X-15 Proj, Off,; FRC Release; X-15 Flight Log)
Successful completion of formal flight qualification tests of the uprated H-1 rocket engine for use in the Saturn IB space vehicle was announced jointly by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, under whose technical direction the engine was being developed, and by Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation, Inc, its manufacturer. Two engines were used for the qualification program, In 51 firings they operated successfully for 4,581 seconds-more than 75 min.-and produced 200,000 lbs, of thrust (188,000 lbs. was previous power rating). (MSFC Release 65-96)
NRX-A3, experimental Nerva nuclear reactor engine fueled with liquid hydroGen. was successfully hotfired for about 8 min., including 3½ min. at full power. A loose circuit connection caused the engine to shut off prematurely after the 3½ min. of full power. (Nerva Proj. Off.; Wash. Post, 4/25/65: Rover Chron.)
Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge had proposed to NASA a design for a Deep Space Planetary Probe System to be used in a flyby of Jupiter, Saturn, or Pluto. The spacecraft would consist of a large dish antenna, possibly as large as 16 ft, in diameter, which would telemeter data back to earth, Power would be supplied by 10-watt Snap-19 generator. The spacecraft could be boosted by either Atlas-Centaur or Saturn IB Centaur with upper-stage assist from available solid rockets or from the Poodle, a low-thrust radioisotope rocket engine, Flyby missions for the probe could be made in 1970 to Jupiter, to Saturn in 1972, and ultimately to Pluto. (SBD, 4/23/65, 297)
Addressing a citizen's seminar at Boston College sponsored by the College of Business Administration, Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, gave examples of the potential down-to-earth benefits of space research: "-Automated highspeed, urban and interurban rail transportation, such as the four-hour trip between Boston and Washington mentioned recently by President Johnson, "-Better communications systems, more reliable radios and television sets, improved home appliances. "-Reduction of rust and corrosion by controlling bacteria which space researchers found to thrive by eating and digesting metal. "-Prevention of muscular atrophy and new methods of treating Paget's disease, osteoporosis and kidney stones. All this springing from the studies of weightlessness." . , also new knowledge about the processes of aging, and cancer." (White, Boston Globe, 4/23/65)
Prof. Hannes Alfven of the division of plasma physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, revived a theory that the moon was once an independent planet, In an article written for Science, he said that "many if not all of the craters of the moon were produced" by an "intense bombardment of fragments of itself" when the moon swept too close to the earth and partly disintegrated under the tremendous tidal forces that were generated. "It is also possible," the theory suggested, "that so much of the lunar matter fell down [on this planet] that the upper layer of the earth-the crust-originally derives from the moon." Prof. Alfven wrote that this theory was first stated by H. Gerstenkorn of Hanover, Germany, and published in 1954 in Zeitschrift fur Astrophysik under the title "Uber die Gezeitenreibung beim Zweikorperproblem" ("About Tidal Friction in a Two-Body Problem"). (Osmundsen, NYT, 4/24/65, 31; Myler, Wash. Post, 4/24/65)
USAF received at Travis AFB, Calif, the first of 65 C-141 Starlifter cargo jets to be delivered this year, DOD announced. The aircraft were capable of carrying 30 tons of cargo or 123 combat troops 6,000 mi. nonstop at a speed of about 500 mph. (UPI, NYT, 4/24/65, 15)
FAA announced that U.S. airports known to FAA numbered 9,490 at the end of 1964, an increase of 676 over previous years, Over the past five years, the annual increase in landing facilities reported to FAA had averaged 623. (FAA Release 65-36)
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 29 30
