Apr 10 1967
From The Space Library
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, accompanied by Apollo 204 Review Board members, NASA Deputy Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller, testified on Jan. 27 flash fire before House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on NASA Oversight. Webb said the Board had found error, "but it has also found the capability within NASA and the Apollo team of contractors to overcome error." NASA and industry would share their part of the blame "for what we have done or left undone," Webb said, but the committee could have confidence that "NASA and its contractors have the capability to overcome every deficiency required to proceed to successfully fly the Apollo Saturn system and accomplish its objectives." He said Board Chairman Dr. Floyd Thompson had reassured him that the "concepts and the basic design on which the Apollo system is based can be made to work in a reliable manner," and Astronaut/Board member Frank Borman had reported he would be confident to 0y the Apollo spacecraft if reported deficiencies were eliminated. Webb concluded: "If any man in this room asks for whom the Apollo bell tolls, it tolls for him and me, as well as for Grissom, White and Chaffee. "It tolls for every astronaut test pilot who will lose his life in the space simulated vacuum of a test chamber or the real vacuum of space . . . for every astronaut scientist who will lose his life on some lonely hill on the moon or Mars . . . for Government and industrial executives and legislators alike . . . for an open program continuously evaluated by the opinion makers with little time for second thought-operating in the brilliant color and brutal glare of real time, worldwide mass media with the speed of the television, from euphoria to exaggerated detail. . . ." Asked why six of the eight Board members were NASA employees, Webb replied that they were the best qualified people for the investigation and noted that they were all familiar with the spacecraft or with similar types of investigations. He said that in his opinion the Board had "to a large degree . . . overstated the case." Questioned about charges by the press that many qualified Project Apollo technicians were not called to testify before the Board, Webb responded: "It is easy to make allegations, hard to conduct an investigation, and even harder to make the Apollo Saturn fly at the earliest possible date. I do not believe these allegations are worth your consideration." Dr. Thompson discussed methods and procedures followed by the Board, and key Board members traced the process of establishing the course of the fire, the "most probable" ignition source, and detailed findings and recommendations. (Testimony; Transcript 10, 15-8)
Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R-Ill.) inserted in the Congressional Record his statement expressing concern over Apollo 204 Review Board's failure to determine whether Apollo accident was result of a single oversight or "indicative of a basic weakness in the organization of NASA and/or the contractors. . . . I am deeply disturbed by the report of the Apollo 204 Review Board. My concern is not that the Board was unable to discover the precise cause of the accident during the course of its rigorous technical investigation, but, rather, that the Board failed to examine, or at least report on, the fundamental conditions which permitted the accident to occur and which, moreover, resulted in the tragic deaths of three fine young men. The report's, and apparently the investigation's, shortcomings in this regard leave open the possibility of similar catastrophes in the future." (CR, 4/10/67, H378G7)
Washington Evening Star suggested that House Committee on Science and Astronautics might have been "the victim of a high-level snow job last year when it did research for a 1,200-page report on Project Apollo" because report's conclusions conflicted so greatly with findings of Apollo 204 Review Board. Committee report issued March 29 praised ability of NASA and industry "to identify and solve technical and administrative problems" and stated that the Apollo accident did not "alter the basic conclusions of the report. Board report, by contrast, criticized NASA and NAA for poor management and deficient quality control. (W Star, 4/10/67, A7)
NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, carried GSFC-instrumented grenade payload to obtain data on temperature, pressure, density, and wind between 35 to 95 km at transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly circulation. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL)
"The Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) System: a Survey of Soviet Strategic Doctrine, Arguments on Deployment, Intentions and Fulfillment, American Reaction and Implications," Library of Congress document F-239, evaluated the dangers for Soviet ABM deployment. Author, Specialist in Soviet and Eastern Europe Affairs Joseph G. Whelan, summarized present state of affairs, noting Russia's historic preoccupation with the defensive and her clear intent not to accept permanently a second position to the US. Whelan quoted from Feb. 23, 1967, speech of Presidential adviser Walt W. Rostow at Univ. of Leeds, Great Britain: "We are all actively trying to find the terms for a non-proliferation agreement; and the emergence of [ABM defense] for Moscow has posed for the United States and the Soviet Union the question of whether the nuclear arms race shall be brought under control or go into a vast and expensive round of escalation on both sides with respect to both offensive and defensive weapons." (Text)
Soviet space dogs Veterok and Ugolyek, in orbit Feb. 22-March 16, 1966, aboard Cosmos CX, had both fathered normal puppies, Tass reported. Effects of prolonged weightlessness [see May 16, 1966] had gradually disappeared, Tass said : "For some time, their movements were languid, and the animals preferred to lie down. But . . . 2« months after their space voyage, the dogs fully recovered and became cheerful again." (UPI, NYT, 4/12/67, 77)
US. defense warning system was "highly vulnerable" to missile attack because of increasing Russian missile strength, report by Institute for Strategic Studies warned. Institute, an unofficial body of military and international affairs' experts from 28 countries, recommended that U.S. establish a new back-up interceptor control against hostile missiles by mid-1970. (W Post, 4/11/67, A15)
April 10-13: Aerospace Medical Assn. met in Washington, D.C. Computer technique which had been used to enhance 12 SURVEYOR I photos of the lunar surface in August 1966 might be applied to diagnostic x rays, Dr. Robert Nathan, JPL scientist who developed the process, suggested in speech over closed-circuit TV broadcast. Process, which separated significant from insignificant detail, could remove distortions and obscurities that often make it difficult for physicians to interpret x-ray films. Dr. Nathan also predicted technique might enable scientists to see the inner details of human chromosomes and gain a new understanding of birth defects. (Randal, W Star, 4/11/67, A3)
FAA would appoint 10 radiation biology experts to study the radiation aspects of SST operation, FAA Administrator William F. McKee revealed. "We want to assure ourselves, beyond any doubt, that high level altitude flights can be made routinely." FAA was also studying new pressurization on equipment to assure passenger safety at 40,000-ft flight levels as well as new escape devices and evacuation methods, McKee said. (NYT, 4/13/67,74)
NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh predicted that US. would have the best SST in the world. "Despite its timing, I nominate it for the `clean-up' position in sales, safety, and economy." Dr. Welsh said expenditures for the SST could be justified because it was important to "our international balance of payments, to our technological progress, to our private enterprise system, to improved transportation, as well as to our international prestige." (Text)
April 10-13 Philco-Ford Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. both displayed several monitoring devices which had grown out of technology acquired by NASA in the development of remote sensing equipment for astronauts. The corporations indicated they would attempt to market the devices for use in medical sciences. (Tech Wk, 4!17/67, 22)
Dr. Charles F. Gell, chief scientist of Submarine Medical Research Laboratory at U.S. Naval Submarine Medical Center, received Eric J. Liljencrantz Award and $500 honorarium for his contributions to the advancement of aeronautics and space sciences through medical research. (Av Wk, 4/24/67,121)
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