Oct 21 1966
From The Space Library
U.N. World Meteorological Organization-in report on plan for World Weather Watch to be initiated between 1968 and 1970-warned it would be "foolhardy" for man to attempt to modify weather on large scale with current limited knowledge of atmospheric forces. Plan called for use of satellites; a relatively dense network of land and ocean weather stations, manned and unmanned; drifting sea buoys; balloons; and other instruments to probe the world's atmosphere. High-speed telecommunications systems would centralize findings for analysis and relay latest detailed information to meteorologists everywhere. This would enable them to forecast the weather "both with improved accuracy and for a longer time ahead." (NYT, 10/22/66, 12)
In a letter to Science, Dr. J. Allen Hynek of Northwestern Univ. said "we suffer, perhaps, from temporal provincialism" in dismissing the UFO phenomenon with a shrug. He said that when he was scientific consultant to USAF's Project Blue Book-UFO registry at Wright-Patterson AFB some of the most coherent reports had come from scientifically trained people. "Hard data" cases had contained frequent allusions to recurrent kinematic, geometric, and luminescent characteristics. "I have begun to feel that there is a tendency in 20th century science to forget that there will be a 21st century science, and indeed a 30th century science, from which vantage points our knowledge of the universe may appear quite different." He had urged USAF "to ask physical and social scientists of stature to make a . . . scholarly study of Ufo's. Hynek's letter was written before Oct. 17 announcement of $300,000 USAF contract to Univ. of Colorado for UFO investigation [see Aug. 1]. (Science, 10/21/66, 329; A&A, 12/66, 4)
Radar signature analysis (Rsa) for "spatial detective work" was discussed in Time. Using Rsa, scientists could reconstruct characteristics of foreign satellite from radar pulse pattern reflected to tracking station: by measuring amplitude of reflected pulses, satellite's size could be calculated; by analyzing variations in pulse amplitude, satellite's shape could be determined; by determining periodicity with which pulse pattern repeated itself, speed of tumbling, rolling, or spinning around spacecraft's axes could be inferred. Computerized Rsa was being developed so that in event of war, warhead radar signatures could be spotted quickly enough to order interception and destruction by defending missiles. (Time, 10/21/66)
USAF OAR had proved capability of new dust separation device which could provide longer engine life for gas-turbine-powered engines, especially helicopters being used in Vietnam. Device was designed to prevent erosion of compressor section in engine and glass formation on engine's hot surfaces by removing dust particles and other foreign objects from air before they could be sucked into engine. Tests had demonstrated average 92 per cent efficiency. (OAR Release)
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