May 9 1967
From The Space Library
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller testified on Apollo project reprogramming before the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. First "man-rated" Apollo Block II spacecraft would be delivered to KSC in late 1967 and -launched three months later with Walter M. Schirra, Walter Cunningham, and Donn F. Eisele as prime crew, Webb said. Back-up crew would be Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan. Spacecraft would still have 100% -oxygen atmosphere, but use of noncombustible and fire-resistant materials would minimize fire hazard, he asserted. "We are confident that the results of the first Block II Apollo flights will justify moving rapidly to follow-on flights, thus overcoming some of the effects of the present delay . . . [so that] we can carry out this plan within the funds now available for fiscal year 1967 and in NASA's budget for fiscal year 1968." In order to "assure maximum progress" and reduce pressures on North American Aviation, Inc. (NU), prime Apollo spacecraft contractor, NASA was realigning its contracting arrangements, Webb said. Contracting changes included : negotiation of a new strong-incentive contract with NAA for manufacture, test, and delivery of standard Block II spacecraft; extension of Boeing Co.'s present contract responsibility to include integration of command and Service Module and lunar module with the Saturn booster system; selection of a third contractor to make necessary modifications to standard Apollo spacecraft produced by NAA; and consideration of offers by other aerospace companies to provide contractor assistance in Apollo systems management and check-out and test procedures.
Dr. Seamans described impact of Jan. 27 fire on Apollo schedule and budget. Lunar landing before 1970 "remains possible," he said. "The impact . . . has been to reduce that probability, not eliminate it. . . . After the first manned Block II flight on the uprated Saturn I in 1968, we plan three to four manned Saturn V missions . . . [and] in 1969 . . . up to six Saturn V missions." Resulting $75 million of additional costs through FY 1968 for materials and equipment changes, flammability testing, launch facility modifications, and spacecraft delivery rescheduling-would be absorbed within the total budget plan currently before Congress.
NASA's responses to recommendations by Apollo 204 Review Board were outlined by Dr. Mueller: (1) bulk combustibles and other flammable materials had been replaced with flame-resistant materials, and necessary flammables stored in fireproof containers; (2) emergency procedures would be reviewed and exercised prior to each hazardous operation, and a quick-opening hatch installed for simplified egress from capsule; (3) new NASA Office of Flight Safety would be established under OMSF to review and evaluate safety provisions and monitor test operations; (4) all emergency equipment had been reviewed and additions or substitutions-including installation of water fire extinguishers-made where necessary; (5 ) detailed design review of spacecraft communications system had been conducted and minor changes made to assure reliable operation; (6) full-scale mockup tests had been conducted to assess fire hazard and problems of gas detection and control; and (7) management and organizational changes had been instituted to clarify responsibilities and improve coordination between NASA centers and contractors.
In response to questions by Sen. Margaret C. Smith (R-Me.) regarding rating of companies in the 1961 Apollo spacecraft contract competition, Webb said that Martin Co. had been rated first, on the basis of its technical proposal, by the source evaluation board. However he, Dr. Dryden, and Dr. Seaman - considering other factors such as lower cost estimate, outstanding company performance record, overall capability offered, and experience with X-15 experimental aircraft - chose NAA as prime candidate. Senator Smith expressed concern that the Committee was not kept informed of serious problems revealed in the Phillips Report and asked whether NASA followed any guidelines to determine when situations should be brought to the attention of the Committee. Webb replied that no such guidelines existed and indicated that he thought it unnecessary to detail the problems to the Committee since he thought that NASA could control them. Several other committee members also expressed their desire to be informed of any problems approaching the magnitude of those surrounding the Phillips Report. When Sen. Walter F. Mondale (D-Minn.) continued to criticize NASA's reluctance to make the report public, Webb offered to discuss it, in complete context, in executive session, and repeated his objection to releasing such evaluations of contractor performance out of context. (Testimony; SBD, 5/10/67, 57-66; O'Toole, W Post, 5/10/67, A1)
NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket with grenade payload was launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, to obtain temperature, pressure, density, and wind data between 22-59 mi (35-95 km) at transition from winter-time westerly circulation to summer-time easterly circulation. Rocket and instrumentation performed well. (NASA Rpt SRL)
Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched by NASA from WSMR carried Naval Research Laboratory payload containing two coronagraphs to 113-mi (180.8-km) altitude. Primary purpose of flight was to launch externally occulted coronagraphs during period when moon was very close to the sun. Rocket also carried a photographic spectroheliograph, a photographic extreme ultraviolet heliograph, and an ion chamber to measure total solar flux at Lyman-alpha. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL)
NASA successfully conducted fifth test of a rocket-launched parachute as part of an advanced technology effort to investigate possible parachute landing systems for Voyager program. Two-stage Honest John-Nike rocket launched from WSMR, ejected ringsail parachute at 130,000-ft altitude, where earth atmosphere resembles that of Mars. Parachute descended to earth with 200-lb payload carrying camera and instruments to record deployment of parachute and its characteristics in flight. Test was part of LaRC's planetary entry parachute program. (NASA Release 67-120)
Second Bell Aerosystems Co. X-22A V/STOL research aircraft successfully underwent 18-min demonstration flight at Niagara Falls International Airport. During test, which increased aircraft's total accumulated flight time to nine hours, X-22A achieved speeds of up to 130 mph, made several vertical and short takeoffs and landings, and executed series of fast-climb-out turns. Designed and built by Bell under USN-administered program for Tri-Service V/STOL research project, aircraft would undergo 18-mo flight-test program at Bell and would then be delivered to Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent, Md., for further evaluation. First X-22A aircraft had been damaged beyond practical repair after crash-landing in summer 1966. (Tech Wk, 5/15/67,18)
USAF launched two unidentified satellites from WTR using Long Tank Thrust-Augmented-Thor-Agena D booster as first stage. One satellite reentered July 13. (Pres Rep 1967)
ComSatCorp President Joseph V. Charyk, speaking at ComSatCorp's fourth annual meeting in Washington, D.C., said a shortage of ground stations was delaying development of a complete international comsat network. "A fourth satellite of the Intelsat-II series exists and could be launched this fall. . . . Unfortunately, appropriate earth station facilities do not exist and even after approval of the necessary applications . . . [by FCC], operational availability will still be 14 to 18 months away." Because of this lag in number of earth stations and because a satellite failure could cause severe service interruption, ComSatCorp was seriously considering "the desirability of placing the fourth satellite of the Intelsat-II series as a spare in orbit this fall and . . . [seeking] a limited solution to the high-traffic demands by interim utilization of this satellite through a transportable earth station in Hawaii." (Text, Smith, NYT, 5/10/67, 63)
In February and March testimony released by Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Disarmament, Director of Defense Research and Engineering Dr. John S. Foster, Jr., indicated that US. was developing a new type of nuclear warhead designed to destroy enemy missiles with high-intensity x-rays. X-ray method, which would be used with three-stage Spartan missile, could destroy enemy missile by (1) disrupting avionic circuits used for guidance and detonation; (2) heating warhead to such high temperatures that it would ablate prematurely and burn up during reentry; or (3) triggering the warhead and causing premature detonation. (Committee Off; Av Wk, 5/15/67, 22; UPI, P Inq, 5/11/67,3; Finney, NYT, 5/10/67,1)
L/G Nikolay P. Kamanin, military commander of Soviet manned space-flight program, hinted in Zemlya o Vselennaya that U.S.S.R. would use Soyuz-type spacecraft for manned lunar landing. He made no direct mention of Soyuz I spacecraft [see April 23-24]-believed to be heaviest Soviet space vehicle ever launched-but said "payloads of more than 15 tons have already been put into orbit." These payloads, he said, could soft-land on moon from lunar orbit. (AP, B Sun, 5/10/67)
End of the "space race" between US. and U.S.S.R. was nowhere in sight, Holmes Alexander speculated in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin: "As matters stand today, the space contest is pretty much a race between the Communist and capitalistic systems. . . . Percentage-wise the Soviet government is investing 2.5 times as much of its gross national product in the moon dash as we are. Money-wise, the investment is about equal. But the Russian economy, being much more `managed' than ours, permits the ordering of what our economists call an `internal brain drain.' Russian consumer industries are raided in order to feed the USSR space programs, whereas . . . NASA must compete . . . [with other agencies]. "It is wishful thinking to believe that the Russians will make any substantive concessions to ease the cost of the space race. As in Vietnam, we are locked in an expensive contest against Communism. Nobody has yet found a way to the negotiation table." (Alexander, P EB, 5/9/67)
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