Nov 20 1967
From The Space Library
First Indian-developed rocket, Rohini-75, designed to carry meteorological experiments, was successfully launched from Thumba Equatorial Launching Station (TERLS) . (Reuters, NYT, 11/21/67, 5)
NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket, launched from WSMR, reached 89-mi (144-km) altitude in American Science & Engineering, Inc., experiment to collect data on celestial x-ray sources for location of sources and flux levels in 1-20 kev range. One strong x-ray source did not appear in data, possibly because of door malfunction. All other data were satisfactory. (NASA Rpt SRL)
Predicting future trends in aeronautics and space, NASA's Assistant Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology John L. Sloop told American Society for Metals in Rochester, Pa.: "Current events make it clear that many national needs are increasing the pressure on resources and this is being felt over a wide range of activities. . . . It is times like these, however, that give the opportunity for advanced research and technology to open up the range of possible new missions that can be considered in future national decisions [and] we must visualize future mission possibilities and develop the various technologies needed at an optimum pace. Essential to the soundness of this approach is emphasis on technology that has multiple applications." Sloop praised "the potential of applications satellites," and said it was "perhaps best gaged by the number of users, domestic and foreign, that are willing to invest their own money. In communications, there are over a dozen proposals for systems that involve an estimated investment of over a billion dollars." (Text)
NASA named crews for first two manned Apollo/Saturn V flights. Prime crew for AS-504 (first mission), scheduled for 1968: James A. McDivitt, commander; David R. Scott, CM pilot; and Russell L. Schweickart, LM pilot. Backup crew would be Charles Conrad, Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon, CM pilot; and Alan L. Bean, LM pilot. Prime crew for AS-505 (second mission), scheduled for 1969: Frank Borman, commander; Michael Collins, CM pilot; and William A. Anders, LM pilot. Backup crew would be Neil A. Armstrong, commander; James A. Lovell, CM pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin, LM pilot. A three-astronaut support team was named for each flight crew: for AS-504 Edgar D. Mitchell, Fred W. Haise, Jr., and Alfred M. Worden; and for AS-505-Thomas K. Mattingly II, Gerald P. Carr, and John S. Bull. (MSC Release; AP, W Star, 11/21/67, A2)
Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , Chairman of House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Manned Space Flight Subcommittee, on floor of House praised NASA's Surveyor program: "It successfully demonstrated the technique of soft-landing [and] . . . with the successfully concluded Lunar Orbiter program, it found and certified manned landing sites. . . ." He said the program had supplied scientists with the first real information on the chemical composition of the lunar surface. In the eastern Sea of Tranquility, for example, Surveyor V determined that the surface was made up of the same elements common to the surface of the earth; namely, oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. He concluded: "Since both Surveyor and its Centaur booster encountered enormous problems in the early stages of development, the eventual success of the program demonstrated the skill, perseverance, and determination of the NASA-industry-university team." (CR, 11/20/67, H15619)
Soviet jet transport, Il-62, carrying delegation of Soviet aviation experts who would negotiate final technical details of proposed Moscow-New York air link with FAA, landed at Dulles International Airport after 11-hr flight from Moscow to Washington. As a result of increasing complaints about jet noise and FAA's lack of authority to regulate it, Port Authority of New York had insisted that noise measurement tests be made on Il-62 at Dulles before initiation of direct Moscow-to-New York flights. New York Port Authority had done pioneering work on noise problem. Operational safety of Il-62 and alternate landing sites at Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston had already been approved by FAA for joint use by Pan American Airways and Aeroflot, official Soviet airline. (Hoffman, W Post, 11/21/67, A4; B Sun, 11/21/67, A8)
NASA appointed Vincent L. Johnson Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications (Engineering). Johnson's former position of Director of Launch Vehicle and Propulsion Programs was filled by Joseph B. Mahon, former Agena Program Manager and Deputy Director of Launch Vehicle and Propulsion Programs. (NASA Release 67-289)
The US. should expect "an early Soviet attempt to send a large payload around the moon and recover it on earth," Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.) , Chairman, House Committee on Science and Astronautics, said in releasing committee report: "Review of Soviet Space Program," prepared by Dr. Charles S. Sheldon II, Chief of Library of Congress' Science Policy Research Div. This 1957-67 review drew comparisons with the corresponding program in US. Rep. Miller commented: "At the same time that space efforts in the United States appear to be slackening, the pace of Soviet space flight has picked up by about 60 percent this year over the corresponding ten months total of last year. The strong technological base the Russians are building through a sustained, long-term commitment to space [assures them] sophisticated and intricate planetary probes . . . unmanned or manned space platforms . . . [application of] aerospace technology systems management to a great variety of industrial and social purposes here on earth." Committee report gave "no simple, direct answer" on "whether there is a space race" but suggested "at the present time both the Soviet Union and the United States have put large resources of somewhat similar size into very broadly based programs of great strength." Competition in overall space capability, especially on weight lifting and thrust of launch vehicles used by US. and U.S.S.R., was illustrated : "In connection with the NASA Administrator's August 1967 pronouncement on the expected large Soviet vehicle [[[Saturn V]] class], he made a plea for support of an American nuclear stage to mount on Saturn V in order to leapfrog the Russians. A month later, Leonid Sedov in Moscow stated his belief in the importance of nuclear propulsion for the very large rockets which will soon be needed." (Text, NASA SP4007, 212; Committee Release, 11/20/67)
In the last decade, the Nation acquired vast new knowledge, wrote NASA Administrator James E. Webb in Aerospace Technology's Seventh Annual NASA issue, and it entered "a new era, a stirring period of exploration and adventure comparable to the Age of Discovery in the 14th and 15th Centuries." Benefits from our mastery of space, he said, "are opening to us and others new sources of national power and new arenas in which to seek international cooperation as important to our future and the future of the world as sea power and air power have been in the past." He challenged: "Unless we are prepared to move ahead with new programs of [planetary exploration, and work with useful machines and systems in earth orbit] . . we will be backing out of the Space Age almost before we enter it." (Webb, Aero Tech, 11/20/67, 24-5)
Karl Ham, president of Aerospace Industries Assn., spoke before Metropolitan Baltimore Chamber of Commerce on impact of US. space effort and risk that it would be weighed and evaluated in "oversimplified terms." A huge and complex effort should not be judged by superficial aspects alone, forgetting that concentration of "our best industrial, economic, scientific and intellectual resources, organized to an unprecedented degree . . .has an impact on every aspect of our national life." Harr noted the strangeness of the unknown medium of space, "for which our ultimate capabilities are yet to be determined." "Today we find ourselves both in midstream in our national space effort and at a crossroads as to future efforts. . . . It is essential that we delay no longer in sorting out that which is valid and enduring, in terms of your total interest and mine, from that which is superficial or transitory." (Text)
November 20-21 : Since X-15 No. 3 crash Nov. 15, research missions in X-15 No. 1 and No. 2 had been suspended by FRC until review of flight operating procedures was completed. X-15 No. 1 was awaiting captive flight checkout under wing of B-52 carrier plane. X-15 No. 2 was under repair at North American Rockwell plant following damage to lower stub fin on its tail, but was expected to be flying by February 1968. Cause of X-15 No. 3 crash was unknown. The pilot, Maj. Michael J. Adams, had difficulty with control booster system; X-15 failed to recover from a dive from extremely high altitude, the pilot losing control above 200,000 ft and regaining it briefly at about 80,000 ft. Setting unofficial world speed and altitude records, the three X-15s had flown 191 times; No. 3 having had 65 flights. The aircraft were built by North American Rockwell (formerly NAA) under a cooperative program by USAF, USN, and NASA. (NASA Proj Off)
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