Apr 25 1966
From The Space Library
Third MOLNIYA I satellite was orbited by U.S.S.R. to assist "development and further improvement of a satellite radio and TV communication system (SOVCOMSAT) ," Tass announced. Orbital data: apogee, 39,500 km. (24,545 mi.); perigee, 499 km. (310 mi.); period, 11 hrs. 50 min.; inclination, 64.5°. Equipment included broadcasting system "as well as instruments of a command-measuring set, an orientation system, orbital correction devices, and power supply" for "further development of onboard systems, satellite equipment, and on-ground tracking facilities." (Tass, Pravda, 4/26/66, 6, USS-T Trans.)
Five-man Observatory Class Spacecraft Review Board had been appointed by Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications. Robert F. Garbarini, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications (Engineering) , would head the board, established to "study all phases of design, development, testing and space operations procedures of the orbiting observatory spacecraft." Other Review Board members were: F. John Bailey, Chief, Flight Safety Office, MSC; Jack N. James, Director for Lunar and Planetary Programs, JPL; Dr. Albert J. Kelley, Deputy Director, ERC; and Francis B. Smith, Assistant Director, LaRC. (NASA Release 66-91)
Tokyo Univ.'s Institute of Space and Aviation announced successful launch of 240-lb. meteorological sounding rocket from Uchinoura launching range in Kyushu, southern Japan. Single-stage rocket reached 40.8-mi. (65.7-km.) altitude in 2 min. 4 sec. Data were telemetered to ground station. (Wash. Post, 4/22/66, B2)
NASA would ask $1 billion for Apollo Applications programming in FY 1968 to prevent a lapse in manned space flight by offsetting reduction in expenditures and aerospace industry manpower for Project Apollo, William Normyle reported in Aviation Week. He continued: "NASA was permitted by the Administration to request only $41.9 million for Apollo Applications in Fiscal 1967. Some of NASA's advanced planners argued for $500 million in the Fiscal 1967 budget now under consideration, but the agency went to the Bureau of the Budget with a request for only $270 million, which was reduced to the $41.9 million." (Normyle, Av. Wk., 4/25/66, 30)
Object described as green and yellow with a long fiery tail-later determined by scientists to be a meteor traveling northwest at 80-to 100-mi. altitude-was sighted by thousands of people in eastern US. and southeastern Canada. Scientists estimated that meteor, which was observed at around 8:15 p.m. EST, might have ranged in size from size of a football to several hundred pounds, and had probably disintegrated between Albany, N.Y., and Montreal. (Wash. Post, 4/26/66, Al; NYT, 4/27/66, 24)
Referring to NASA-DOD decision of 1964 to exchange experts in each other's programs, Aviation Week reported the score to date: 184 USAF, 78 Army, 25 Navy, and six USMC officers assigned to NASA; transferred to DOD was one NASA official, Dr. Michael Yarymovich, now technical director of USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. (Av. Wk., 4/25/66, 25)
Federal mediators in San Francisco announced interim agreement in wage dispute between International Union of Electrical Workers and United Technology Center. Striking electricians would return to work by April 28; negotiations for a new contract would continue until May 20. AP dispatches from KSC reported union, which had limited picketing to one gate April 20, had resumed picketing all five gates, charging "bad faith on the part of UTC." (UPI, Wash. Post, 4/26/66, A6; A8, NYT, 4/26/66,14)
Two controversial theories about the earth's crust to be tested by the Mohole geological project were reviewed in Science. One theory held that material flows slowly but constantly up from deep in the earth and then spreads out across the ocean floors. Second theory was that the earth`s magnetic field reverses periodically so that successive bands of rock would have alternate polarization, depending on the time the molten material had frozen and locked in its magnetism. Drills would attempt to probe different rock bands to determine if their charges were different and when they were formed. First field trials were scheduled for early 1968. (Science, 4/25/66)
Dr. Wallace J. Eckert, Columbia Univ. prof. of celestial mechanics and director of IBM's Watson Laboratory, received National Academy of Sciences' 19th James Craig Watson Medal "for his pioneering contributions to the scientific application of electronic computers and to the theory of the motion of the moon." (NAS Release, 3/29/66)
April 25-28: American Physical Society met in Washington, D.C. Geophysicist S. K. Runcorn, Univ. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., suggested that Jupiter's great red spot may be "the top of a 200-mi.-high column of `stagnant air' carried along" by a meteorite crater in the planet's hydrogen surface. This view would contradict a widely held notion that the spot is associated with a high mountain. "We don't believe in mountain ranges on Jupiter, at Newcastle," Runcorn said, explaining that Jupiter's crust would not support a mountain. He noted that the large surface feature connected with the stagnant air column might be a depression caused by impact of an asteroid or "a moonlet." Runcorn said explanation of red spot as column of gases supported theory of Jupiter's fluid metallic hydrogen core. (APS Release, 4/20/66; Simons, Wash. Post, 4/27/66, A10; Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 4/26/66, A3)
Dr. Harold Brown, Secretary of the Air Force, examined management role of scientifically trained people and invited their participation in the "governmental decision-making process." Brown, a former physicist, attributed rising influence of technocrats "to the increasing technical content of modern life" and to "the less narrowly technical orientation of the technically trained." He noted transition from part-time to full-time scientific advisers in the late 1950's as "one of the major lasting consequences of the Soviet Sputnik achievement." (Text)
NASA's OGO I, launched Sept. 4, 1964, and EXPLORER XXVIII (IMP-c), launched May 29, 1965, had yielded data essential to evolution of an accurate physical description of the universe, according to paper on low-energy cosmic rays presented at APS meeting by Dr. Donald E. Hagge of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Hagge noted satellite measurements and recent "quiet sun year" had given physicists "an unprecedented opportunity . . . for meaningful cosmic ray research." High-apogee satellites permitted measurement of low-energy particles not directly observable on the surface of the earth" due to protective atmosphere and influence of earth's magnetic field. Minimum of "solar modulation"-suppression of galactic particles by sun's magnetic field upon attempted penetration of solar system-meant that `particles observed during 1965 most nearly represent the true situation outside the solar system." (GSFC Release, 3/27/66)
J. A. Simpson of Enrico Fermi Institute, Univ. of Chicago, reported these satellite experiments had revealed "new features in the cosmic radiation regarding the energy distribution, the chemical and isotopic composition of the cosmic rays at hitherto unattainable energies." Origin of "ultra-low-energy nuclei," which reached vicinity of earth during 1965 period of minimum solar modulation, may be supernovae, Simpson suggested. (Fermi Institute Release, 4/27/66)
Simpson and J. J. O'Gallagher, also of Fermi Institute, presented results of study of solar flare particle propagation based on simultaneous observations by MARINER IV space probe and Imp satellites. Evidence showed that "protons are confined by interplanetary magnetic fields to narrow channels extending outward from the sun" and "particles in these channels are carried around the sun by magnetic fields which co-rotate with the sun." (Fermi Institute Release, 4/29/66)
Paul J. Coleman, Jr., of UCLA, presented results of "a recently completed statistical analysis of records of the magnetic field and plasma velocity, obtained in late 1962 with instruments aboard the spacecraft MARINER II," including "experimental evidence that [hydromagnetic] waves do exist in interplanetary space." Discussing properties of solar wind, Coleman said MARINER II's measurements had indicated average temperature of positive ions in plasma was about 200,000°K. He noted that its high temperature and low density "suggest that the plasma is completely ionized. " (APS Release, 4/26/66)
Discussing importance of their NASA-sponsored stellar wind study, S. H. Lam of Princeton Univ. and G. Sandri of Aeronautical Research Associates of Princeton, Inc., said: "The cosmic radiation that reached the Earth, or any satellite that has been sent into space by man, has been attenuated, or as the specialists say `modulated,' by the solar wind. Therefore, we cannot measure directly the constitution of the cosmic radiation as it exists in interstellar space unaffected by the solar wind. Yet, to be able to understand the origin of the cosmic radiation, we must know its true constitution in interstellar space. A proper understanding of the solar wind will greatly facilitate this difficult task." Lam and Sandri presented electrostatic model for stellar winds at APS meeting. (APS Release, 4/29/66)
Discovery of first celestial body, "Cygnus GR-1," identifiable as a "point source of high energy gamma radiation," was announced to APS by Univ. of Rochester physicists J. G. M. Duthie, Roland W. Cobb, and Joseph Stewart. Discovery of source, which coincided with a region already identified as an x-ray source known as "Cygnus XR-1," climaxed five years of research sponsored by NASA and NSF. (Univ. of Rochester Release, 4/29/66)
Describing the Alfven Propulsion Engine (APE) in a paper on hydromagnetic propulsion and drag in space vehicles, M. A. Ruderman, New York Univ., said: "A source of electrical power (nuclear, or solar panels) sufficient to power one hundred common light bulbs could raise the altitude of a 5-ton satellite about 100 miles in a week of operation. By allowing the motor to act as a generator the orbital energy of this same satellite can be converted into electrical energy, contributing sufficient drag to lower the satellite altitude by almost 15 miles per day." (APS Release, 4/26/66)
Cal Tech physicist H. Victor Neher described latitude survey of cosmic rays: "Once we satisfied ourselves that instruments sent by balloons up to altitudes of 140,000 feet, near the earth's magnetic poles, gave answers directly comparable to those found by Mariners II and IV, it became less important to depend on spacecraft for our data. This was good news because we have a flexibility and control of balloon flights that are not possible with spacecraft." (APS Release, 4/28/66)
April 25-28: Radio telescopes trained on radio galaxies might discover the quark, which had been proposed as the most elementary particle, Purdue Univ. physicists C. S. Shen and T. K. Kuo theorized to APS. Suggested two years ago by Dr. Murray Gell-Mann of Cal Tech, the quark was described by Shen as "a very, very elegant, beautiful theory. There are so many elementary particles. Physicists are all confused as to how they are constructed. If they are all constructed from quarks, it is very simple." (Clark, NYT, 4/26/66, 28; Wash. Eve. Star, 4/29/66, A14)
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