Jun 17 1967
From The Space Library
Cosmos CLXVII was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 286-km (178-mi) apogee, 201-km (125-mi) perigee, 89.2-min period, and 51.8° inclination. Satellite reentered June 25. (SBD, 6/20/ 67,280; GSFC SSR, 6/30/67)
Nation's most powerful 260-in solid-propellant rocket motor, SL-3, developed 5.7 million lbs thrust and burned 1.6 million lbs of propellant in 80-sec test-firing conducted for NASA by Aerojet General at Homestead, Fla. Only flaw was explosion of a portion of the exhaust nozzle at the end of the test. Purpose of firing, third in NASA's Large Solid Rocket Technology Program, was to test "a large, submerged-type ablative nozzle; the use of inert slivers to control the burn-out of propellant; elements of a motor failure warning system; and a higher burning rate propellant." First two 260-in motors, SL-1 (fired Sept. 25, 1965) and SL-2 (fired Feb. 23, 1966), both operated about two minutes and produced 3.5 million lbs thrust in tests to check strength of the maraging steel motor case, structural integrity of the case propellant, insulation and ablative nozzle, and the repeated performance of test hardware. Managed by LaRC under OART direction, program was designed to demonstrate feasibility of building and operating solid motors of greater size than those in current use for multistage launch vehicle systems carrying heavy payloads into space. (NASA Release 67-151; Lewis News, 6/9/67, 1; Reistrup, W Post, 6/18/67, A2; NYT, 6/18/67,6; Marshall Star, 6/21/67,10)
NASA Administrator James E. Webb received an honorary Doctor of Science in Commerce degree from Drexel Institute of Technology in commencement exercises in Philadelphia. (`NASA PAO; P SB, 6/18/67)
Communist China, using ground site, successfully explored her first hydrogen bomb over western region of country, Hsinhua, Chinese Communist press agency, announced. (NYT, 6/18/67,1,3)
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