Jun 6 1967
From The Space Library
NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried ARC-instrumented payload to 86-mi (137-km) altitude to collect meteoritic debris during peak of meteor shower. Rocket and instrumentation performance was satisfactory. Further examination of the 12 collection modules would be required to determine if micrometeoroid particles were collected. (NASA Rpt SRL)
NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research Range carried Univ. of New Hampshire experiment to provide data on the neutron intensity at different altitudes using a neutron detector, solar x-ray fluxes using an x-ray counter, and 2-10 A Lyman-alpha radiation using a photoionization chamber. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL)
House Committee on Science and Astronautics filed $4.9-billion NASA authorization bill (H.R. 10340) with the House and recommended that it be passed without amendment [see May 16]. (NASA LAR VI/64)
Japan Air Lines jet aircraft carrying American and Japanese scientists from San Francisco to Tokyo successfully maintained radio contact with Mojave, Calif., ground station via NASA's ATS I satellite (NASA Proj Off; P EB, 6/8/67)
37-yr-old Astronaut Edward G. Givens, Jr. (Maj., USAF), was killed near Houston when the car he was driving missed a curve and crashed into an embankment. Two other USAF officers with him were injured, one critically. Givens was the first US. astronaut to die while off duty. Six others had died in connection with the space program: three in air crashes and three in the Jan. 27 Apollo fire. He was selected to join the NASA astronaut team April 4,1966. (MSC Roundup, 6/9/67,1; UPI, NYT, 6/7/67, 30; UPI, W Post, 6/7/67, A7)
MSFC Director Dr. Wernher von Braun was presented the Smithsonian Institution's Langley Medal by Dr. Fred L. Whipple, Director of Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in Washington, D.C., ceremony. Dr. von Braun was cited in "recognition of his creative vision of the practical application of rocket power to space flight leading to the first US. satellite, and of his technical leadership in development of the Saturn class of large launch vehicles upon which the Apollo moon flight is based." He was the 13th recipient of the award, which was established in 1908 to commemorate the aeronautical achievements of Samuel Pierpont Langley, third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Other recipients included Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles A. Lindbergh, Robert H. Goddard (posthumously), Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, and Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. In making the presentation, Dr. Whipple said US. could have launched the world's first satellite if it had endorsed the proposal which he and Dr. von Braun developed in 1954 to launch small spacecraft from the equator using existing rockets. Government decision to fund, instead, USN's Vanguard project, allowed U.S.S.R. to win "the first space race." (Text, Smithsonian Release; Marshall Star, 6/7/67, 1; AP, NYT, 6/6/67. 3)
President Johnson appointed Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., Special Consultant to the President for Physical Fitness, to replace Stan Musial who resigned in January. Lovell would assume the new position in addition to his regular duties as an astronaut. (PD, 6/12/67, 833-4)
Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics George P. Miller (D-Calif.) , in a Letter to the Editor of the Washington Evening Star, commented on William Hines' May 25 column criticizing Committee member Joseph E. Karth's (D-Minn.) speech before the National Space Club May 17. "The article unfairly alleged that Rep. Joseph E. Karth . . . by speaking out . . . was the `tool' chosen by the administration to do a public relations job for NASA and the space program. . . . "What Mr. Hines failed to say was that Congressman Karth has led a number of hard-hitting congressional space investigations over the years for me. Both NASA and the contractors involved were `taken to the woodshed.' The Apollo program is no exception. Mr. Karth has been critical-and made it clear that the accident responsibility falls squarely on NASA and the contractor. "Very simply, Mr. Karth said that perhaps the Congress, the administration and the press could do a better job of giving the public objective information on the space program. The wide swings from `everything is great' to `everything is wrong' must be confusing. . . ." (W Star, 6/6/67, A12)
NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Might Dr. George E. Mueller outlined Apollo Applications (AA) program at AIAA meeting in Washington, D.C. Series of innovations would be made, he said, to permit sufficient reductions in unit costs: (1) reuse of Command Module (CM); (2) addition of land-landing capability which would facilitate CM reuse, permit increase in crew capacity, and, possibly, make use of naval recovery forces unnecessary; (3) "double use" of Uprated Saturn 1's 2nd stage as booster during launch phase and as Orbital Workshop in space; (4) repeated use of Orbital Workshop as an embryonic space station; (5) longer duration flights of one year or more; and (6) use of Apollo flight hardware and physical plant and employment of Apollo program officials and industrial organizations as they become available. ". . . this is a program that provides for a detailed measurement of the utility of man in space at a relatively low cost. The measurement is obtained by doing useful things-astronomical observation, extended exploration of the moon and experiments with sensing equipment that can lead to benefits of enormous significance to all mankind." (Text)
AFSC Director of Communication Satellite Programs Col. M. B. Gibson (USAF), speaking to annual convention of Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Assn. in Washington, D.C., explained management of Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) : " . . . [we] recognized need for the innovation of special management techniques [and] a rigorous, streamlined procedure for Government acceptance of satellites under a high production rate . . . [and] satellites which have a requirement for long-life operation in space. . . . Gibson concluded : `The thoroughness of satellite acceptance procedures is evident from the performance of the 15 communication satellites in orbit today.', (Text, AP, W Post, 6/7/67,10)
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson presented Phoenix, Ark., Mayor Milton Graham with FAA's Airport Beautification Award for the city's "outstanding community-wide program to make its airport premises a center of culture and beauty." (FAA Release 67-53)
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