Dec 16 1965
From The Space Library
NASA's PIONEER VI interplanetary probe was successfully launched into heliocentric orbit from Eastern Test Range with an Improved Thrust Augmented Delta booster. Main Delta engine and three solid strap-on motors fired together and burned for 43 sec.; burned-out casings were jettisoned 70 sec, after launch; main engine burned out after two minutes 45 sec. Delta second stage ignited after two minutes 59 sec.; first stage separated and fell away; shroud was jettisoned at two minutes 59 sec. Second stage burned six and two-thirds minutes, then stage coasted for some 16 min, During coast phase, spacecraft was pointed in direction for injection into solar orbit and, with third stage, was spin-stabilized. Nine seconds after spin-up third stage separated from second, then third stage ignited and burned for 23 sec. Two seconds after third stage burnout, PIONEER VI separated from the burned-out stage 346 mi. above Africa and was now in solar orbit. Two seconds after third stage separation (about 25 min. after launch), spacecraft booms automatically deployed; automatic changes began to orient the spacecraft perpendicular to the sun. Sun orientation maneuver took about five minutes. The 175 lb, drum-shaped PIONEER VI, first of four Pioneer spacecraft to be launched at six-month intervals, would study the solar windstream; investigate the sun's magnetic field and chart it from several locations in the plane of earth's orbit; attempt to differentiate between cosmic rays coming from the sun and galactic cosmic rays originating from beyond the solar system. Closest approach to the sun would be about 76 million miles and would be reached after 155 days of flight. The six scientific experiments, provided by four universities and ARC and GSFC, were functioning normally. (NASA Release 65-375; AP, Wash, Eve. Star, 12/16/65, A14; Wash, Post, 12/17/65, A8; AP, NYT, 12/17/65, 29; WSJ, 12/17/65, 1)
NASA canceled for budgetary reasons further development of the Advanced Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO). From its 1963 start through the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, a total of $39 million had been budgeted for OSO development; NASA said some of the $24.9 million appropriated for FY 1966 would be recoverable. OSO was to have been a 1,250-lb. satellite that would accurately point 250 lbs, of scientific instruments at the sun to measure solar radiation. A prototype spacecraft was being developed and the first OSO flight had been scheduled for sometime in 1969. (NASA Release 65-380)
Successful 41-sec. test firing of the Saturn V booster (S-IC-T) at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center concluded a test series underway since April, 15 tests of the booster were held, 14 of them at full thrust of 7.5-million lbs. The 14 full-power tests accumulated a running time of 862 sec. First test was of only one engine for 17 sec. (MSFC Release 65-306; Marshall Star, 12/15/65, 2)
Statement made by President Johnson on the death of the NASA Director of Space Medicine: "A day of great achievement in space was marred by news of the death of Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II, His life was too short, although his legacy to space medicine will endure and will be a resource of assurance to future astronauts whose names and deeds are yet unknown." (Pres, Doc, 12/20/65, 593)
Editorial commentary in Washington Post on Gemini VII-VI flight: "On the crowded globe beneath the soaring astronauts men were still fighting each other, cursing each other, starving each other and maltreating each other, Not yet have mortals risen above man's inhumanity to man, Not yet have they surmounted the emotions that set at naught the generations of light and learning, Not yet are they wise enough to govern their passions. But hope soars aloft with the astronauts. The creatures who can do this, the beings who can defy gravity, disregard distance, conquer space, circumnavigate the planet and mingle with the stars, may yet make the larger conquests of mind and spirit that are necessary if human beings are to live together in peace." (Wash, Post, 12/16/65, A20)
ITT-designed portable transmitter onboard the Wasp sent pictures of splash-down and recovery of Gemini VI Astronauts Schirra and Stafford to EARLY BIRD I comsat which relayed them to the Andover, Me., ground station from which they were transmitted to major television networks in U.S. and Canada. It was the first time recovery of astronauts had been shown in real-time on television. (Gould, NYT, 12/17/65, 28)
Gemini VI Astronauts Schirra and Stafford were "very healthy," reported Dr. Howard Minners at the conclusion of their post-flight physical examination aboard the carrier Wasp. (AP, Wash. Eve. Star, 12/17/65)
152 colleges and universities would participate in the NASA graduate training program during the 1966-67 academic year, NASA announced. In all, 1,335 graduate students would begin work toward doctoral degrees in space-related areas under grants to be received by schools in all 50 states. About 3,100 graduate students already were in training under this program. (NASA Release 65-379)
NASA and FAA announced a cooperative research project to find out whether passengers on supersonic airliners would be exposed to danger from cosmic radiation. To collect data, USAF would send RB-57 jets to the altitude between 40,000 and 80,000 ft. where the supersonic jetliners were expected to fly. (NASA Release 65-383; UPI, NYT, 12/18/65, 16)
Donald E. Gault and William L. Quaide, NASA Ames Research Center scientists, believed the moon's surface was a loose layer of fine sand-like material at least 10 ft. and possibly "tens of meters" deep, reported Associated Press. Their theory was based on laboratory experiments in which they closely matched the moon crater pictures transmitted to earth by the Ranger spacecraft. Laboratory results were confirmed in field tests. (AP, Wash. Eve, Star, 12/16/65)
ComSatCorp announced it was negotiating with TRW Systems, Inc., for development of at least six and perhaps 24 satellites for use in a global system, ComSatCorp said the global system should be in operation by 1968, relaying telephone, television, and data messages between continents, No estimate of the value of the contract was made. (ComSatCorp Release)
United Air Lines placed a $39-million order with Univac Div, of the Sperry Rand Corp, for a computer system that could handle 140,000 transactions an hour, including passenger reservations, crew and aircraft scheduling, meal planning, cargo billing, and other bookkeeping items. (O'Toole, NYT, 12/16/65, 75)
Eight pioneers in aviation were enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Oh. Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I pilot who later became president of Eastern Air Lines; Alexander Graham Bell, cited for research on principles of aerodynamic lift propulsion and control in the early 1900's; Eugene Burton Ely, whose work led to practical use of aircraft carrier ships; Alfred Austell Cunningham, the Marine Corps' first aviator; Thomas Etholen Selfridge, first American to die testing an experimental aircraft; Charles Edward Taylor, builder of the first successful airplane engine; A. Roy Knabenshue, pioneer in building and flying steerable balloons; and Albert Cushing Read, participant in the first successful trans-Atlantic flight. (AP, NYT, 12/17/65, 77; AP, Wash. Eve, Star, 12/17/65, A4)
Ground-breaking ceremonies were held for a $14 million science and mathematics building at the U.S. Naval Academy, its first new academic building in 25 years. (NYT, 12/19/65, 58)
December 16-17: Scientific results of the International Quiet Sun Year 1965 NASA solar eclipse expedition were presented by experimenters from several nations at NASA Ames Research Center. Purpose of expedition was to measure and study the structure, composition, and temperature of the chromosphere and corona of the sun, New information was gathered on the atomic process in the chromosphere and corona, including radiation and collision phenomena; findings were made on electron densities and dust concentration, Presence of a number of spectral lines was discovered, and others that had been previously suspected were confirmed. The advantages of an airborne laboratory were demonstrated in that the corona of the sun could be observed out as far as 12 solar radii, whereas ground observations would have been limited to about three radii; not only could more solar phenomena during a total eclipse be observed from an airborne laboratory, but also the eclipse was visible for twice as long. (ARC Release)
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