Oct 24 1967
From The Space Library
Cosmos CLXXXIV was launched by U.S.S.R. into circular orbit of 635-km (394-mi) altitude, 97.14-min period, and 81.2° inclination. Equipment and instruments functioned normally. (GSFC SSR, 10/30/67; SBD, 10/30/67, 320)
TWO Boosted Arcas I sounding rockets launched from Resolute Bay, Canada, without tracking facilities carried GSFC experiment to obtain D region ionospheric data in vicinity of magnetic north pole. First rocket lost telemetry at seven seconds; recovery search would be attempted if arctic conditions permitted. Second rocket had 255-sec burn (300+ sec planned) , so altitude was probably insufficient. Both experiments used ground-based transmission of RF energy to rocket borne receivers (Faraday-rotation experiment). These were first US. rocket launching from this facility. (NASA Rpt SRL)
NASA's Eighth Annual Honor Awards Ceremony was held in Washington, D.C. Dr. Roger W. Heyns, Chancellor of Univ. of California, discussed impact of space program on university curricula and research efforts in his keynote address. "Through the stimulation of NASA programs, new fields of study have been created . . . and NASA. . . [has become] one of the world's most ambitious attempts to pool the talents and learning of thousands. . . . $6 . . . NASA has been doing pioneering work of immense significance to modern society that has nothing to do with the exploration of space per se. Objectives have been defined, scientific and technical knowledge and talent have been collected, trained and aimed at research objectives and results produced. That is a massive accomplishment of human engineering . . . [and] an inspiration to all of us. . . . Just how much . . . is transferable to other situations remains to be seen, but . . . it certainly is not inconceivable that what we have learned, and what we will learn, about public administration from NASA may, in the long pull, mean every bit as much as the scientific and technological developments from the exploration of space itself." Recipients of Distinguished Service Medal : NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Homer E. Newell; Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Edgar M. Cortright; LaRC Director Dr. Floyd L. Thompson; and former Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff. NASA's second Distinguished Public Service Medal was presented to Dr. Charles S. Draper, director of MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory. Special Group Achievement Award was presented to Canadian government for outstanding success of Alouette I satellite (launched Sept. 28, 1962). Exceptional Service Medal: Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee (posthumously); Charles F. Hall, ARC; Donald R. Bellman and Robert D, Reed, FRC; William J. Boyer, Laurence K. Loftin, Jr., James S. Martin, Jr., and Clifford H. Nelson, LaRC; James S. Kramer and H. Warren Plohr, LeRC; Robert H. Gray, IGC; Howard H. Haglund and Robert J. Parks, JPL; Paul G. Marcotte, GSFC; William Cohen, George C. Deutsch, Arthur F. Hood, Joseph B. Mahon, Benjamin Milwitzky, Lee R. Scherer, and William M. Shea, NASA Hq. Recipients of Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award : Michel Bader, Donald E. Gault, and Maurice D. White, ARC; Walter B. Horne, William H. Phillips, and Israel Taback, LaRC; Samuel S. Manson, LeRc; and Eugene M. Shoemaker, USGS. Group Achievement Award: Apollo 204 Review Board; NASA SST Evaluation Team; Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft and Operations Team; and 260-in Solid Motor Project Team. Public Service Award: William Feldman, Eastman Kodak Co.; Robert J. Helberg, Boeing Co.; Mark Sasso, RCA; Robert L. Roderick, Hughes Aircraft Co.; and Richard Chitrell and Paul B. Datner, Aerojet-General Corp. Exceptional Bravery Medal was presented for "courageous and heroic action" in attempting to rescue the Apollo 204 crew to Donald O. Babbitt, Stephen B. Clemmons, James D. Gleaves, Jerry W. Hawkins, and L. D. Reece, NAA; and Henry H. Rogers, KSC. (Text, NASA Release 67-272; Program)
Commercial service via Pacific II comsat, launched by NASA from ETR Sept. 30, would begin Nov. 4 ComSatCorp announced. (ComSatCorp Release 67-52)
Overall NASA aeronautics program was undergoing "expansion and change to meet the ever growing needs" of air transportation industry and general aviation, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., told the Aero Club in Washington, D.C.: "Less than 1400 direct man. years were applied to our aeronautical effort in 1962 and only $15 million in R&D funding was applied to support their activities. The trend has now been clearly reversed and in [FY 1967] twice the manpower (27.2 directs) and three times the funding ($45.7 million) were applied to NASA's aeronautical program." Although FY 1968 program had not been clarified, NASA planned to increase aeronautical R&D funding to $81.4 million, he said. Major aeronautical advances in the past had been exploited by DOD, he noted, which bore development costs and proved out designs before adoption by commercial aviation. Since solutions for many problems could no longer rely heavily on precursor military development, NASA would continue NASA - established role to conduct broadly applicable basic aeronautical research and solve specific problems with reimbursement for special costs. In addition, Dr. Seamans said, NASA would attempt to reduce aircraft noise by modifying engines on existing aircraft, developing quieter engines, and revising operational procedures; cooperate with FAA and industry to solve safety and utility problems of general aviation; and conduct extensive R&D programs for V/STOL, supersonic, and hypersonic aircraft. (Text)
Fred Friendly, Columbia University professor and consultant to Ford Foundation, delivering Granada Lecture in London, warned that communications satellites' promise of international "common market" of high-quality TV was threatened by commercial and government avarice. In US., he said, TV "can make so much money doing its worst, it cannot afford to do its best." Consequence had been that early promise of quality programs had been lost while educational TV, which could fill breach, had been "under-funded, undernourished and under-observed." But even in nations where TV was nationalized, tendency would be for governments to seek profits from it to offset other communications deficits, he said. Thus, he argued, "a promising world village, linked by satellites," could be turned into "an electronic slum," because ambitious corporations and separate governments insisted on going their own ways, concerned more with earnings, national appetites, and images than with what their satellite systems carried. What was required, he suggested, was "an electronic Magna Carta" guaranteeing rights of public to quality TV. (Friendly, W Post, 10/25/67, D14)
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