Nov 17 1969
From The Space Library
NASA's HL-10 lifting-body vehicle, piloted by NASA test pilot William H. Dana, reached 66,000-ft altitude and mach 1.6 in powered flight after air-launch from B-52 aircraft at 45,000-ft altitude west of Rosamond, Calif. Objectives of flight, 29th in series, were to obtain stability and control data and airspeed calibration. (NASA Proj Off)
Senate and House conferees on H.R. 12307, FY 1970 Independent Offices and HUD appropriations bill, agreed to $3.006-billion NASA R&D appropriation instead of $3 billion proposed by House and $3.019 billion proposed by Senate. Appropriation for construction of facilities was $53.2 million as proposed by House rather than $58.2 million as proposed by Senate, and research and program management appropriation was accepted at Senate's $637.4 million rather than $643.7 million proposed by House. Conferees also agreed on $440-million FY 1970 appropriation for NSF. (Conference Rpt 91-649; CR, 11/17/69, D1078)
Space program could provide tools and knowledge to help eliminate air pollution, NASC Executive Secretary William A. Anders, former Apollo 8 astronaut, said in speech before Governors, Conference on California's Changing Environment in Los Angeles. With remote sensors in aircraft "pilot can quickly and accurately map pollution levels over a wide area and range of altitudes." Pollution map of entire U.S. could be generated each day. "Thus, aircraft and satellites with these remote sensors offer the unique advantage of being able to view large areas through new eyeballs very quickly and selectively. Further, by computer, the data can be reduced to formats that can be quickly and easily understood." Aircraft and satellite surveys would provide "data which supplement surface techniques and which, in some cases, can't be gathered in any other way." Rather than fantastically expensive, satellite measurements could "be competitive with surface systems." (Text)
Soviet space program had been severely set back by "catastrophic explosion of 10-million-lb-thrust prototype booster during preparatory launch operations at Tyuratam last summer," Aviation Week & Space Technology reported. U.S.S.R.'s manned orbiting platform (MOP) program, "already at least a year behind schedule and proceeding slowly, has been further retarded because of the .. . failure. Last month's triple Soyuz launch has emerged as a prime example of rescheduling necessitated by the booster's absence and by the aftermath of short-term and conflicting political decisions. . . . "Failure of the booster prototype was only one event in a largely chaotic year for the Soviet space program. During 1969 the Russians: shifted much of their large booster inventory to military purposes in connection with the Chinese border crisis"; postponed scheduled late spring launch of Soyuz VI "because all remaining non-military facilities were in turn preempted by a highly compressed lunar effort"; and hastily launched Luna XV "in an effort to prove, in event of an Apollo failure, that at least a one-way soft landing from lunar orbit could be performed unmanned and, alternately, that failure would not result in loss of human life." (Av Wk, 11/17/69, 26-7)
SST economics were discussed by FAA Administrator John H. Shaffer before Long Island Assn. of Commerce and Industry in Manhasset, N.Y. Study of simulated SST operation in 1980s, with comparison of SST and subsonic jets based on total operating cost rather than direct operating cost and using 1969 values, had shown "SST beats the 707 substantially and comes much nearer to equaling the impressively low 747 costs." Elements of ground support and overhead costs gained advantage of SST's greater productivity in seat-miles per hour. "The 2707-300 [SST] is two thirds as big as the 747 and it flies three times as fast, so it will do twice as much as the 747 (and 41/2 times the 707 or DC-8) in the same time period." By 1978, SST introduction date, aircraft's total operating cost "comes within one-tenth of a cent per seat-mile of matching the 440-seat economy version of the 747." (Text)
Univ. of California at Berkeley astronomer Dr. David Cudaback reported that observations indicated dust clouds in sky might contain great quantity of diamond grains, each few thousandths of inch in diameter. (AP, W Star, 11/18/69, A10)
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