Jun 2 1967
From The Space Library
Col. Joseph Cotton (USAF) and NAA test pilot Van Shepard flew XB-70 No. 1 to mach 1.43 and 42,200-ft altitude during two-hour performance evaluation flight at Edwards AFB. (XB-70 Proj off)
NASA selected RCA to negotiate $38-million contract to maintain and operate portions of the Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) at Rosman, N.C., and Fairbanks, Alaska, STADAN sites, and at GSFC control centers for individual spacecraft. Effective Oct. 1 for three-year period with NASA options for two one-year extensions, contract covered actual cost-plus-incentive award based on performance. (NASA Release 67-142)
GAO, responding to March 14 request by Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.) , member of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, had reviewed NASA's Apollo contract with North American Aviation, Inc. (NAA), and published a "Summarization of National Aeronautics and Space Administration Management Review of North American Aviation, Inc., Activities" based on the Phillips Report. According to GAO, the Phillips Report "stated that, at the start of the CSM and S-II programs, key milestones were agreed upon, performance requirements were established and cost plans were developed . . . [but] as the program progressed, there were slippages in key milestone accomplishments, degradation in hardware performance, and increasing costs." In evaluating the probability of NAA's ability to "meet future commitments, the report stated that, for both the S-II and the CSM, significant technical problems still remained which had to be resolved. The review team did not find significant indication of actions underway, for the S-II, to `build confidence that future progress will be better than past performance.' While some progress was indicated to improve the outlook for the CSM, the report stated that `there is little confidence that NAA will meet its schedule and performance commitments within the funds available for this portion of the Apollo program. . . .' " (Text)
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin received first honorary membership awarded by International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at IAM Aerospace Conference in Houston. Aldrin, considered by the Union to be the first space mechanic, was cited for his work with tools outside Gemini XII spacecraft Nov. 13, 1966. Astronaut Alan 8. Shepard, Jr., received an Award of Merit for being first American in space. (Houston Chron, 6/2/67)
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