Apr 26 1966
From The Space Library
First test transmissions of long-range radio and television communications between Moscow and the Far East via third MOLNIYA I comsat, launched April 25, were successful. Pictures were of good quality. Tass said the satellite would be used to further refine the system of long-range, two-way television and telephone-telegraph radio communications and pilot operations." (Tass, 4/27/66)
COSMOS CXVI scientific satellite was launched into earth orbit by U.S.S.R. to continue outer space research," Tass announced. Satellite was said to have an apogee of 478 km. (297 mi.); perigee of 294 km. (183 mi.); period, 92 min.; and inclination, 48' 25 min. Equipment was functioning normally. (Tass, Krasnaya Zvezda, 4/28/66, 1, USS-T Trans.)
NASA Nike-Apache meteorological sounding rocket launched from Sonmiani, Pakistan, carried acoustic-grenade payload to 118-mi. (190-km.) altitude in experiment conducted for Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Committee (SUPARCO) and British National Space Research Committee. Grenades did not eject, but data were obtained from trimethyl-aluminum (TU) cloud release and spectrum photography. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
ComSatCorp requested FCC permission to construct a t6-million high capacity earth station at St. Croix, Virgin Islands, to "serve the expanding needs of the Caribbean area, and provide for reliable service between the United States and Puerto Rico, South America, Europe and Asia." In a separate request, ComSatCorp petitioned FCC to deny AT&T's and ITT Communications, Inc.-Virgin Islands' applications to build and operate a cable between U.S. mainland and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. (ComSatCorp Release)
USAF selected Martin Co. to develop SV-5P manned lifting-body vehicle to explore flight characteristics and atmospheric maneuverability of wingless lifting bodies. Initially, the 5,000-lb., 24-ft. wingless vehicle would be dropped from a B-52 bomber at 40,000-to 50,000-ft. altitude at 500 mph for powerless, gliding flight, landing at Edwards AFB at 120 to 150 mph; in later powered tests, it would accelerate to mach 2 speeds at 100,000-ft. altitude and then maneuver to landing. Airfoil shape of vehicle, which resembled "a delta shaped porpoise with vertical fins," provided lift normally derived from wings. Future vehicles, developed as part of AFSC's Piloted Low Speed Test (Pilot) project, would be launched to ferry supplies and crews between earth and orbiting space stations. (DOD Release 343-66; Wilford, NYT, 4/27/66,22)
NASA Convair 990 jet aircraft began ARC-managed, preliminary flights in support of NASA's Nimbus C weather satellite scheduled for launch from WTR May 13. Four GSFC experiments installed in jet would test new spacecraft sensors for weather measurement and collect data at altitudes over 40,000 ft. for comparison with data obtained by Nimbus spacecraft over the same areas. (NASA Release 66-107)
DDR&E Deputy Director (Strategic & Space Systems) Daniel J. Fink, in an address before the National Space Club in Washington, D.C., said: "We in the Department of Defense have always looked upon space less as a matter of adventure and more as a matter of necessity; we explore its potential not because it is `there' but because we have needs that are `here.' It is not that we have identified fundamentally new missions since the early days of our space effort. We have, however, begun to recognize new applications for space-based systems, particularly in the tactical field. The opportunities are tremendous-and sometimes so are the problems. We are no longer as enamored with the `how' of developing a satellite system. We now take a hard look at the `why' of choosing one approach to solving a military need over another-and this most assuredly includes competing earth-based systems as well. We have come to recognize that our launch vehicle capability coupled with better sensors permits us to do more missions from synchronous orbit. We also are beginning to sense that there is a high potential for combining operational functions in a multiple-purpose satellite where common sensor packages and orbital parameters exist." (DOD Release 341-66)
Editorial comment on retirement of AFSC Commander Gen. Bernard A. Schriever: Few men had a larger hand . . . in developing the scientific `mix' of manned aircraft and missiles that is today's US. Air Force. "From the day he was put in charge of our ballistic missile program in 1954 until today he has been the key man in Air Force research and development. "Only last August he was given what is probably the single most important scientific assignment in Air Force history-developing the military Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). . . ." (Wash. Daily News, 4/26/66)
LaRC would test parachutes for possible landing of instrumented unmanned capsules on Mars beginning in summer 1966, in support of NASA's Voyager planetary exploration project. Parachutes would be carried by balloons and sounding rockets to 130,000-ft. altitude where thin earth atmosphere simulates Martian atmosphere-and would then be deployed behind test units accelerated to mach 1.2 in level flight [see Aug. 301. (NASA Release 66-90; LaRC Release)
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