Apr 28 1966
From The Space Library
NASA issued a fact sheet on US. international space programs which listed criteria applied to determine value and acceptability of cooperative arrangements in space activity: (1) cooperative project must have scientific validity and mutual interest; (2) cooperative project must be conducted openly, with the scientific results being made freely available to the world scientific community; (3) each participant must accept financial responsibility for its own contribution to the project. Since their inception, NASA's international programs had involved 71 countries or separate jurisdictions and had included satellite projects, individual experiments flown on NASA satellites, sounding rocket investigations, and a variety of programs in which foreign ground-based observations were coordinated with flight projects. US. had concluded bilateral agreements providing for launch of 14 scientific satellites instrumented and, in all but two cases, engineered abroad. Six of these satellites had already been successfully launched (one each for France and Italy and two each for Canada and U.K.). Other satellites would be contributed by the European Space Research Organization (ESRO), U.K., Canada, Italy, and Germany. U.S. had also opened its own satellites, manned and unmanned, to participation by foreign experimenters. Sixteen such experiments had been accepted for flight. Some 17 countries had entered into agreements with NASA for one or more cooperative sounding rocket projects. Such investigations had been initiated by both U.S. and foreign proposals. They had accounted for roughly 150 launchings in a five-year period with rockets ranging widely in size and type, from boosted Darts and Arcas to Nike combinations, Aerobees, Shotputs, British Skylarks, and French Centaures. Ten cooperating countries made substantial contributions to experimental communications satellite work by constructing and operating. overseas ground terminals used for TV and radio demonstrations. Conventional weather observations in 42 countries helped interpretation of cloud-cover photographs from weather satellites. A 1962 agreement with U.S.S.R. had resulted in: (1) one-way communications demonstrations using ECHO II, (2) some exchange of ground-based magnetic field data in anticipation of an agreed exchange of satellite data, and (3) exchange of conventional weather data over a special communications channel set up between Washington and Moscow on a shared-cost basis pending the availability of satellite data from U.S.S.R. (Text)
European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) ended three day, seven-nation Inter-ministerial Conference in Paris without reaching decisive conclusions. Issues involved were: (1) Western Europe's independent space role competitive with US. and U.S.S.R.; (2) extent of collaboration to keep pace with technological advance; and (3) continuation of initial ELDO project, three-stage Europa-1 rocket. Cost estimate had more than doubled to $420 million, and recent proposal to move Europa-1 into space communications would add $60 million. Another meeting was scheduled for June. (Mooney, NYT, 4/29/66, 8; UPI, Wash. Post, 4/27/66, A15; NYT, 4/28/66, 24)
Fire in altitude chamber used to simulate environment of Apollo Command Module (CM) at AiResearch Manufacturing Div. Torrance (Calif.) Facility severely damaged Apollo Environmental Control System, which had undergone 480 hrs. 37 min. of a 500-hr.-duration qualification test. Investigating board concluded that probable cause of ignition had been failure of electrical heater tape installed as part of the test set-up, and that some "ground test equipment and materials used . . . were not suitable for application in the vacuum and 5 psia 100% oxygen environments." Board recommended improvement in selection of "some materials used in the Environmental Control System and Apollo Command Module" and pointed to a "potential fire hazard from arcing or direct short circuits." (Senate, Hearing, Apollo Accident, Pt. 1, 2/7/67, 32-4)
NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried NRL instrumented payload to 109-mi. (175-km.) altitude in experiment to photograph solar corona and disc and to measure solar disc variations and total solar flux in Lyman-alpha. Performance of rocket and instrumentation was considered excellent. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
U.S. Army parachutists made first manned flight tests of NASA-developed parawing at Army's John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare, Fort Bragg. Concept of maneuverable, parachute-like, flexible wing had been originated by LaRC scientist Francis M. Rogallo and Gertrude S. Rogallo in 1948, and on July 18,1963, NASA had awarded $35,000 to the inventors in recognition of their contribution to aeronautics. Parawing's gliding and maneuvering capability results from aerodynamic lift developed in flight; conventional parachutes are drag devices and do not develop lift. Roughly triangular and about 400 sq. ft. in area, parawings used in tests had been built to LaRC specifications and could be folded, packed, and deployed like parachutes. Army Aviation Materiel Laboratories (AVLABS) had recommended evaluation of parawings for personnel use, and NASA engineers and observers assisted Army with technical consultation. (NASA Release 66-106)
International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) director Knut Hammarskjold announced that most of IATA's member airlines would accept U.S. State Dept. demands for changes in Warsaw Convention -an international treaty which limited liability of airline involved in international -flight crash to $8,300 per passenger. US. had demanded increase in liability to $75,000 per passenger and an absolute liability system under which carriers would be held liable for damages under all circumstances-even in cases of sabotage. (IATA News 12; Long, NYT, 4/28/66, 7; NYT, 4/29/66, 42)
Izvestia described how the Communist Party anthem was transmitted from LUNA X to earth: "Before the launching, an electronic generator was installed in the artificial moon satellite to radiate in a definite sequence electric oscillations of the frequencies necessary for reproducing selected fragments of the melody. . . . The use of semi conductors made it possible to substantially reduce the weight and volume of the set and considerably increase the range of transmissions. The `music' signals of the set installed in the Luna 10 could be received even from the neighborhood of Venus. "The increase in range and the overcoming of cosmic noise were achieved by means of special narrow band-pass filters. The cycle of functioning of the instrument reproducing `Internationale' consists of two parts: generating in a certain sequence signals of various frequencies -10 seconds-and creating intervals before the repetition of the melody-45 seconds. The instrument is switched on by a signal from the earth." (Tass, Izvestia, 4/28/66)
New York Times reported hint by Leonid I. Dubrovin, chief of 11th U.S.S.R. Antarctic expedition, broadcast by radio from Mirny Antarctic station, "that the Soviet Union planned to use the Antarctic as a testing ground for manned landings on the moon." Dubrovin had said fierce Antarctic conditions would test man's adaptability and scientists could learn much there "that would help man to survive in the desolate conditions of the moon." (NYT, 5/1/66, 15)
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