Aug 12 1965
From The Space Library
ECHO I, launched by NASA five years ago, had traveled more than 659 million miles and circled the earth more than 22,600 times. Orbital data: apogee, 1,165 mi. (1,875.7 km.) ; perigee, 560 mi. (9016 km.) ; period, 113 min. The satellite had demonstrated that large inflatable spheres could be used as passive communications reflectors in space. (GSFC Release G-19--65)
Meteoroids probably would not be unduly hazardous to spacecraft flying for short periods in the near-earth environment, a NASA report indicated. Based on data from EXPLORER's XVI and XXIII and PEGASUS I and report was presented by Charles T, D'Auitolo, NASA Hq, Office of Advanced Research and Technology ; William H. Kinard, Langley Research Center: and Robert J. Naumann, Marshall Space Flight Center, at the Symposium on Meteor Orbits and Dust conducted in Cambridge, Mass, by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. EXPLORER XVI, launched Dec, 16, 1962, had registered 62 meteoroid penetrations during its lifetime, EXPLORER XXIII, launched Nov, 6, 1964, had reported 103 penetrations. PEGASUS I, launched Feb, 16, 1965, carried three thicknesses of panels but mechanical malfunctions had destroyed the usefulness of data on the ,008- and .016-in.-thick panels; 104 penetrations had been reported from the .0015-in.-thick panels, PEGASUS II, launched May 25, 1965, was returning useful data from all three thicknesses of panels and had registered 61 penetrations. The higher frequency of penetrations recorded by PEGASUS II was thought to have been caused by a meteoroid shower. PEGASUS III, launched July 30, had not had time to return significant data. (NASA Release 65-205)
First S-IB flight model stage for the Saturn IB booster which left NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Michoud Assembly Facility for Kennedy Space Center, NASA, aboard the barge Promise, was scheduled to arrive at KSC August 14. The 80-ft,-long S-IB stage would be joined with S-IVB second stage to make up the first Saturn IB launch vehicle, NASA planned to launch the 225-ft.-long booster in 1966. (MSFC Release 65-206)
Facility grants in the amount of $2,226,000 to the Case Institute of Technology and $1 million to the Univ. of Rochester, had been approved by NASA. The grant to Case, together with funds from Institute sources, would permit construction, on land owned by Case, of the Case Laboratory for Space Engineering Research. The Univ. of Rochester grant would be used to build a five-story addition to be used for space-related research in optics, geology, exobiology, physiology, and cosmic ray physics, NASA Administrator James E. Webb said: "The new facilities will permit expansion of NASA-supported research directly related to the national space effort and will enable both institutions to train greater numbers of highly qualified young researchers." (NASA Release 65-270)
In a report to President Johnson on the Titan II missile silo disaster of Aug, 9 which had claimed 53 lives, Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert said: "The cause of death was almost exclusively asphyxiation. A number of men had attempted to escape by the emergency ladder which apparently was blocked by two men who became jammed together in trying to pass simultaneously through a restricted area on the ladder, thus denying access to those on the ladder below them." (Text)
Aerospace Corp. was accused of practices that were "uneconomical, unnecessary, unreasonable, or unjustified" by the Special Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Forces Committee, in a report on an examination of business management and fiscal controls at Aerospace that had culminated in hearings in May 1965. The report recommended a reappraisal of the USAF concept that had led to the creation of Aerospace, the abolishment of the fee-funding system, a review and reform of Aerospace's security procedures, and a study of personnel policies and salaries. It also said USAF exercised improper and inadequate control of its contracts with Aerospace, often resulting in fees being provided "for purposes for which they were never used," and Aerospace using "fees for purposes never intended by the Air Force , ." (Committee on Armed Services Report)
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