Nov 19 1965
From The Space Library
NASA successfully conducted the first tethered test firing of the Apollo 009 Service Module propulsion system at Kennedy Space Center. Test was marred by failure in the master countdown clock, which-a split second after ignition-recycled to T minus 99 sec., throwing the count out of real time. The ground computer, which operated in plus time only, was thus unable to send the signal to shut off the engine. Instead of the two planned 15-sec, firings, the system was fired only once for a total of 20 sec. and shut off with a signal from the blockhouse, For the same reason, the ground computer was unable to send the signal to gimbal the engine and this apparatus was not tested. (UPI, NYT, 11/20/65, 21; M&R, 11/29/65, 28)
First successful firing of the Sprint anti-missile missile in guided flight from an underground cell of the type conceived for operational use was conducted by U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range. The first Army missile to use "pop-up" launch technique, Sprint was under development as a companion to the Zeus missile for the Nike-X missile defense project: Zeus was designed to intercept attacking warheads outside the earth's atmosphere and Sprint, targets that had penetrated the atmosphere. (DOD Release 832-65)
Extravehicular equipment for Gemini VIII underwent two qualification tests in the 20-ft, vacuum chamber at NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. The Extravehicular Life Support System was combined with the Extravehicular Support Pack (Esp), a 92-lb, backpack in which the astronaut would carry his oxygen and maneuvering gas supply, First test evaluated capability of the oxygen bottle in the pack to supply the extravehicular astronaut with air at a high rate of flow. Second test was a propellant blowdown qualification in which the space gun was fired in 30-sec. bursts to exhaust the freon supply. A vacuum equal to 150,000-ft. altitudes existed in the chamber, and the walls of the thermal box had been cooled to -300° F to simulate the conditions of orbital night for both tests. (MSC Release 65-105)
Institute of Strategic Studies, a private organization in Britain, reported that the U.S. margin over the Soviet Union in numbers of missiles had dropped from 4-1 in early 1965 to 3-1 now. The Institute said the margin had been cut when the U.S. scrapped such obsolete missiles as the Atlas, while the Soviets boosted by 40% the number of their operational intercontinental ballistic missiles. (AP, Wash, Eve. Star, 11/ 19/65, A3; Myer, Wash, Post, 11/19/65)
State Dept. official said at a press conference that radioactivity released by a Soviet underground atomic test in January 1965 was the result of a technical "miscalculation" and not a violation of the 1963 nuclear test ban treaty. (Wash. Post, 11/20/65, A4)
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