Jul 8 1966
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched COSMOS CXXIII carrying scientific instruments for "further investigation of outer space" into earth orbit with 529-km. (329-mi.) apogee; 263-km. (163-mi.) perigee; 92.2-min. period; and 48.8ø inclination. Equipment was functioning normally. (Tass, Izvestia, 7/9/66, 4, USS-T Trans.)
"SURVEYOR I-A Preliminary Report," covering first five days of successful SURVEYOR I lunar mission, had been compiled and published by NASA and was available from Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information. In foreword, Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, emphasized that the publication "does not attempt to present detailed measurements and analyses of the immense amounts of scientific data that the spacecraft has telemetered to Earth; this task will take months and even years." (NASA Release 66-177)
ESRO launched British Skylark sounding rocket from Salto di Quirra Range, to study photochemical processes in comets under meteorological research program which began in 1964 and would include 400 sounding rocket launches by 1972. (Reuters, Wash. Post, 7/13/66, A21).
July 8: Mars polar caps are white with dry ice, not frozen water in the form of frost, wrote Dr. Robert B. Leighton and Dr. Bruce C. Murray of Cal Tech in Science. Their argument was based on MARINER IV's July 14, 1965, flyby which indicated that planet's atmosphere is very thin and largely composed of carbon dioxide which, in frozen form, is dry ice. Theory that white on Mars polar caps is ordinary frost was based on observations of its reflectivity in the infrared and on manner in which it affected orientation of light waves. Authors believed there might be frozen water on Mars, but suggested it is all underground in the form of permafrost. (Science, 7/8/66, 136-44)
International Assn. of Machinists (IAM) struck five major airlines including TWA, which provided base support services at KSC. Some work on Project Apollo was curtailed, but NASA officials said essential operations were continuing. (UPI, NYT, 7/9/66)
Vice president of U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences Boris Konstantinov discussed mission of Proton spacecraft series in Tass interview: "Research already carried out with the help of the Proton stations gives reason to expect that the growing weight of such laboratories will allow scientists to delve deeper into the processes occurring within the universe." He revealed that PROTON III, launched July 6, would attempt to experimentally detect "quarks" fundamental particles believed to appear during collision of cosmic ray particles with atoms of interstellar environment. Spacecraft carried "new, complicated instrumentation which is more sensitive than the old equipment." (Tass, 6/8/66)
Oklahoma City welcomed home a favorite son, GEMINI IX Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, and conferred honorary state citizenship on his crewmate Eugene A. Cernan. Both astronauts were inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, dedicated to the memory of Western frontiersmen. (AP, NYT, 7/9/66, 29)
Aeronautical exhibition tracing aviation's history from supercharger to turbojet opened in new Hall of Aeronautical Propulsion at Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Wash. Post, 7/9/66, B2)
ITT had protested to U.S. Comptroller General that DOD decision to purchase communications services directly from ComSatCorp was contrary to recent FCC decision requiring all Federal agencies to buy services from international carriers. (WSJ, 7/8/66)
July 8-10: During plenary meeting in Paris, ELDO members agreed to (1) expand the present rocket development program from three-stage Europa 1 to five-stage ELDO Asp capable of launching 200-kg. (440-lb.) comsats by 1971 or 1972; (2) limit ELDO spending to $331 million and cut U.K.'s contribution from 39% to 27%; and (3) launch their comsats from base in French Guiana. U.K.-which had threatened to withdraw -announced decision to remain in ELDO. (AP, Kansas City Star, 7/10/66; Tech. Wk., 7/18/66, 20)
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