Jul 16 1964
From The Space Library
NASA Wallops Station launched a sounding rocket with instrumented payload to determine the effects of the ionosphere on delicate low-frequency radio radiation receiving sensors. A Nike-Apache rocket boosted the payload, designed to test instrumentation for possible use in the space astronomy program, to an altitude of 85 mi. Preliminary data indicated the experiment was successful. (Wallops Release 64-57)
U.S. Army's XV-5A "lift-fan" research plane, a craft with horizontal fans buried in its wings and nose, made its first vertical takeoff and landing, at Edwards AFB. The horizontal fans provided downward thrust for the vertical takeoff. The fans were powered during takeoff by the exhaust from the craft's jet engines, which was then diverted straight behind the plane for horizontal flight. This technique had the advantage that no more engine power was required for vertical flight than for normal subsonic cruising, and hence the plane had more economical fuel consumption. (DOD Release 521-64; Witkin, NYT, 7/18/64)
White House announced that the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had reached an informal agreement on limited scientific cooperation in developing methods for desalting sea water, including possible use of atomic energy. The first step in the cooperative program was to be an ex-change of inspection visits by technical experts of the two countries to laboratories and experimental desalinization plants in the two countries- In addition to the reciprocal visits, the informal agreement called for an exchange of scientific reports, including results obtained by the two nations from work on pilot and demonstration desalting plants. (Finney, NYT, 7/16/64,1, 6)
It was reported that NASA was actively considering methods to be used for exploration by astronauts on the moon. Two devices were under consideration: a mobile laboratory (Molab) in which men could work and also go out in spacesuits to gather rock and soil samples, and a "lunar hopper," a helicopter device for short flights to sites that could not be reached on foot or by Molab. Parallel studies of the Molab concept were being undertaken by Boeing Co., Seattle, and Bendix Corp. of Ann Arbor, under contracts of $800,000. Bell Aerosystems Co., Buffalo, had been awarded a $199,333 contract to study the lunar hopper concept. (AP, Balt. Sun, 7/17/64)
It was reported that Douglas Aircraft Co., Santa Monica, had submitted a proposal to NASA for a system which would enable a single booster to launch as many as five satellites. The system, called Multiple Orbit-Multiple Satellite (MOMS), consisted of a number of satellites fastened together by explosive bolts. The system was designed for use with a Douglas Delta launch vehicle. Several successful launches of two and three satellites together had been accomplished before, but never as many as five as proposed in the new system. (Houston Post, 7/16/64)
In a speech before a briefing conference on contracting for research and development sponsored by the Federal Bar Association and the Bureau of National Affairs, General Bernard A. Schriever, AFSC, stated that in his opinion "when understanding is fostered and encouraged among the various sectors of national life, such as industry, the professions, the scientific community, and government, then rapid progress can be made toward national objectives." He cited the USAF ballistic missile program as an example of this principle at work and stated that the long-range USAF planning study (Project Forecast) set up in 1963 attempted also to put this principle to work, by employing broad participation by all the services, several Government agencies, and personnel from universities, corporations, and non-profit organizations. (AFSC Release 47-R-91)
Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter was involved in a motor bike accident in Bermuda and suffered a fracture of his lower left arm. Carpenter was in Bermuda to participate in a Navy test in which he would have submerged in Sea Lab I diving chamber with four Navy divers to a depth of 192 feet, but his injury precluded his participation in the test He was reported to be resting comfortably. (N.Y . Her. Trib., 7/17/64; AP, Balt. Sun, 7/17/64)
Brig. Gen. David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of RCA, addressed National Automation Conference of the American Bankers Association at the New York World's Fair, and predicted: "Over the next 20 years, I am convinced, computers will touch off an explosion in the social sciences comparable to that which we witnessed during the past half century in the physical sciences. . . "A global linkup of computers will be accomplished through communications satellites, high-capacity transistorized cables, microwave conduits, as well as standard telephone and telegraph links. Data will move through broadband channels at speeds of up to 20 million bits per second, thousands of times faster than in today's systems. Ultimately, laser beams may transmit vast quantities of information instantaneously in the form of light through hose like cables. . . . "Such advances will inevitably bring about basic transformations in fields far beyond those in which computers function today. Matching the technical prospects to the human environment, I see society making profound adjustments in many directions The five main areas affected are likely to be: Work, leisure, education, health, and politics... ." (Text; CR, 8/3/64, A4051-:53)
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