Sep 24 1966
From The Space Library
Four-stage Javelin sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station ejected multicolored barium clouds over eastern U.S. at 310-mi. (499-km.) and 570-mi. (917-km.) altitudes, Cooperative NASA-German Ministry of Scientific Research (BMWF) experiment measured electric fields and wind motion in upper atmosphere by photographing and tracking ionized clouds; secondary objective was observation of interaction between cloud and solar wind. Launch was followed by reported sightings of “brilliant” Ufo’s. ‘‘(NASA Release 66-245; Wallops Releases 66-46, 66-48; AP, Wash. Post, 9/25/66, A23; AP, Wash. Sun. Star, 9/25/66, A3; NASA Rpt. SRL)’’
Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Boeing Co., General Electric Co., and Pratt & Whitney Div., United Aircraft Corp., charged that FAA was attempting a form of censorship by restricting advertisements and release of information on proposed SST designs. FAA replied that the temporary restriction had been imposed Sept. 19 to keep the public from getting only fragments of overall SST story and to relieve burden of “clearing” new advertisements for publication while designs were being evaluated by the Government. ‘‘(Clark, NYT, 9/24/66, 50)’’
10-nation ESRO’s new rocket-launching base opened at Sekkujokki, Sweden -inside the Arctic Circle. ESRO would launch some 400 British Skylark and French Centaure rockets from $7.6-million base during next eight years to study aurora borealis. ‘‘(Reuters, NYT, 9/25/66, 42)’’
Evidence for volcanic origin of lunar craters was presented in a letter to Nature by Univ. of Western Australia geologist G. J. H. McCall. Eleventh frame of photographs by NASA’s MARINER IV spacecraft revealed scalloping in walls of Martian craters comparable to scalloping in terrestrial calderas-such as Krakatau, Indonesia, Aso, Japan, and Crater Lake, Ore. McCall had also detected scalloping in lunar craters, which he believed closely resemble terrestrial volcano-tectonic craters.” Taking “pronounced scalloping . . . to be a valid indication of volcano-tectonic subsidence,” McCall questioned whether lunar craters could be explained by hypervelocity impact. ‘‘(McCall, Nature, 9/24/66, 1384-5)’’
US. offer at U.N. Sept. 22 to provide U.S.S.R. with tracking facilities on US. territory for Soviet space program received editorial comment in New York Times: “If all the Russians are after is improved tracking facilities for their own space program, the . . . offer . . . should be most agreeable to Moscow. Conclusion of a Soviet-American treaty for this purpose would very likely help smooth the way for similar bilateral agreements between the Soviet Union and other non-Communist countries. . . . Ambassador Goldberg’s suggestion points the way to satisfying legitimate Soviet needs without forced infringement on the national sovereignty of others.” ‘‘(NYT, 9/24/66, 22)’’
September 24-25: Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. Astronaut John W. Young said space crews needed “another set of arms” before they could do useful work in orbit; he suggested rigid arm-like clamps built into or attachable to spacesuit. Discussing early fears . . . that zero g (weightlessness) might prove a physical problem, Young commented: “There is simply not that difference between zero-G and one-G [earth’s gravity]. Men will die of old age before they are bothered by zero-G.” Referring to present landing mode, Young said Gemini data had helped substantiate belief that land landings were feasible and that “development of a land-landing capability must be vigorously pursued.” NASA test pilot Milton O. Thompson was awarded SEW’s 1966 Iven C. Kincheloe Award, presented annually to the outstanding experimental test pilot of the year, “in recognition of outstanding professional accomplishment in the flight testing” of M2-F2 wingless lifting-body vehicle. ‘‘(NASA Release 66-252; FRC Release 18-66; Wash. Eve. Star, 9/24/66, A2)’’
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