Mar 5 1966
From The Space Library
Agena target vehicle similar to one to be used on March 15 Gemini VIII rendezvous and docking mission had apparently passed series of test firings necessary to qualify for flight, Charles W. Mathews, NASA Gemini program manager, told AP. Data from tests conducted at USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tenn., were being evaluated. ‘‘(AP, Balt. Sun, 3/6/66)’’
After trip from Seal Beach, Calif., aboard USNS Pt. Barrow, S-II-F facilities stage-non flight version of Saturn V/Apollo launch vehicle’s 2nd stage-arrived at KSC for use in testing launch facilities. Stage would be mated with two other facilities stages and an Apollo spacecraft mockup to form the 365-ft.-tall Saturn V launch vehicle. This would mark first time all major components would have been joined in the Saturn V configuration. ‘‘(MSFC Release 66-47)’’
Failures of VENUS II and III space probes were admitted by U.S.S.R. Tass’s original announcement had reported that a “soft-landing” had been planned for VENUS III, but a corrected announcement which appeared two hours later eliminated the word “soft” and failed to confirm that the spacecraft had ejected its sterilized capsule. Tass said the descending apparatus had consisted of parachute system and 23.6-in. sphere containing instruments to measure Venusian surface temperature and pressure, to which “heat-resistant substance had been applied ensuring protection from high temperatures when braking in the dense layer of the atmosphere.” VENUS II had failed to transmit photos or televise the planet’s sunlit side as programmed because of a breakdown in its communications system: “The last radio communications with stations Venus 2 and Venus 3 as they approached the planet were not held for reasons that had not been established.” Both VENUS II and VENUS III carried equipment to measure interplanetary magnetic fields, cosmic rays, and streams of low-energy charged particles, in addition to special “traps” to determine magnitude of solar plasma and micrometeorites; however, slightly different instrumentation was used to obtain cross-reading of the data. Both spacecraft were similarly constructed with one section for flight equipment and a second for auxiliary equipment. Second section in VENUS II carried television photographic device for use during flyby. Tass said VENUS II was to have flown “close to Venus on the side lighted by the sun at a distance not exceeding 40,000 km. (25,000 mi.); VENUS III was to have landed on the surface of Venus in the center of the visible disc of the planet.” 89 successful radio exchanges had been held with the spacecraft; data had been recorded to “obtain a high accurate forecast of the movements of both stations,” Tass said. ‘‘(Pravda, 3/5/66, USS-T Trans.; NYT, 3/6/66, 78; rash. Post, 3/6/66, A14)’’
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s statement to House Armed Services Committee that the “Manned Orbiting Laboratory development program should proceed on a deliberate and orderly schedule” received comment by James J. Haggerty, Jr., in Journal of the Armed Forces: “ ‘Deliberate’ is an excellent word in this context; according to one definition . . . it means ‘leisurely in movement or action. . . .’ In these terms MOL . . . shows promise of becoming one of the most deliberate projects of all time.
‘‘‘Orderly’, though, is not such a good word. Last summer DOD approved hardware development and set a manned flight target of 1968, then in a matter of months, reneged on the schedule by whacking almost a quarter of a billion dollars out of the planned funding program. McNamara made no mention of a new schedule, but other sources indicate that late 1969 is now an optimistic target . . . “The SecDef reported that the MOL funding figure for fiscal 1967 is $159 million. This, together with remaining funds from the $150 million allocated in the current fiscal year, will provide for ‘design, definition, system integration, development of specifications and determination of firm cost proposals . . . scheduled for completion during this coming spring and summer, after which contract will be awarded for full-scale development of hardware.’ . . .” ‘‘(Haggerty, J/Armed Forces, 3/5/66, 8)’’
Over 100 scientists, including U S . space officials, would visit Greece to observe annular eclipse May 20, during which lunar shadow on earth would make 99 per cent of the sun invisible in that area. Joint NASA Greek National Committee for Space Research project would launch seven GSFC-instrumented Boosted Arcas rockets from USNS Range Recoverer stationed several miles off-shore from Koroni in southern Peloponnesos. Experiments would investigate ionization below 56 mi. due to eclipse-caused “changes in solar ultraviolet and X-ray flux.” Data would be coordinated with those obtained by nine Arcas and Centaure rockets which European Space Research Organization (ESRO) would launch from Euboea, Greek island in Aegean Sea. ‘‘(NYT, 3/6/66, 10; NASA Release 66-108; Wallops Release 66-22)’’
Astronaut James Lovell and nuclear submarine U.S.S. Benjamin Franklin’s crew exchanged mementos of a joint experiment conducted during Dec. 4-18 GEMINI VII mission. Benjamin Franklin, with two seconds to fire a Polaris missile so it could be seen by GEMINI VII Astronauts Lovell and Borman as they passed over Cape Kennedy, fired perfectly, enabling the astronauts to track the missile visually. In a ceremony aboard the submarine docked in Newport News, Va., Lovell was presented gas generator plate from the Polaris missile and crew received the NASA patch from Lovell’s GEMINI VII spacesuit. ‘‘(UPI, Wash. Sun. star, 3/6/66)’’
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30 31
