Sep 20 1968

From The Space Library

Cosmos CCXLII was launched by U.S.S.R. Orbital parame­ters: apogee, 404 km (251 mil ; perigee, 269 km (167.2 mi); period, 91.2 min; and inclination, 70.9°. Satellite reentered Nov. 13. (UPI, NYT, 9/21/68, 14; GSFC SSR, 9/30/68; 11/15/68)

NASA Aerobee 150 MI sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried NAA-Univ. of Wisconsin experiment to 107.7-mi (173-km) altitude to measure radiation from celestial objects in spectral regions 2,800­1,200 A, 60-40A, and 15-2A using photometers and gas-filled propor­tional counters as x-ray detectors. Both x-ray and UV payloads func­tioned well and acquired data. (NASA Rpt SRL)

NASA Boosted Arcas II sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Sta­tion carried GSFC experiment to 26.5-mi (42.7-km) altitude to deter­mine feasibility of launching Boosted Arcas II from Arcas tube launcher and to obtain data on complete system flight. Booster pressure and acceleration were nominal throughout flight. Pressure transducer produced data until 2nd stage ignition. However, there was no drag separation after booster burnout. Separation occurred at 2nd stage ig­nition. Radical coning occurred during burn and predicted altitude of 71.5-mi (115-km) was not attained. (NASA Rpt SRL)

NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Andoya, Norway, carried GSFC experiment to analyze electric fields from observed mo­tions of neutral and ionized barium clouds during auroral condition. Preliminary results indicated good photographic coverage was obtained from all sites. (NASA Rpt SRL)

Apollo 7 prime crew-Astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham-held news conference at Crew saw no reason to delay Apollo 7 launch beyond scheduled lift-off on Oct. 11 but results of flight readiness test following week would determine definite plans. Questioned about safety, mission commander Schirra said, "when we go over the sill for launch day, we will consider that all those risks that are appropriate for this type of mission are either understood by us or that they are low enough that we have a very, very high probability. . . . We would like 10.8 days and we will do our best to do it. . . . We've had a goal that is rather a hard one to achieve, par­ticularly one that we have to follow on when we lost three of our compatriots, and we don't want any mistakes . . to happen again. We have not been the lid-around types that we might have been in the past, we're much more serious about it, because this is a much more complicated machine and there are many, many more people involved in it. . . I think you will find that you will see a good performance out of this total crew and we have tried very hard to make this machine work just the way it should. We have basically lived with it at the plant [and] at the Cape ... and if somebody even takes a small com­ponent off it, we become furious and say, 'Why did you remove it?' We expect answers immediately . . . that is the way we are working.' In answer to question, Schirra said it had taken 1 min 5 sec for all three to exit from spacecraft to white room in simulated emergency, while still being careful not to damage equipment. In real emergency, crew could probably exit in 45 sec. (Transcript)

Listen to the Apollo 7 Pre-Flight Press Conference

Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., announced he would retire as NASA as­tronaut after commanding Apollo 7 mission. At 45, Schirra would be world's most experienced astronaut, having flown six orbits Oct. 3, 1962, on Sigma 7 in Mercury mission and having commanded two-man Dec. 15-16, 1965, Gemini VI mission, which had participated with Gemini VII in first rendezvous of spacecraft in space. He would remain in space program, he said, "until we effect the job we set out to do"- to land men on moon and return them. (W Post, 9/21/68, A7; W Star, 9/21/68, A2)

Saturn V launch vehicle has passed Design Certification Review con­ducted over communication facilities linking NASA and contractor per­sonnel at Washington, D.C., Houston, Tex., Cocoa Beach, Fla., and Huntsville, Ala., into one conference. Purpose was to certify overall de­sign of rocket, including engineering modifications after two previous Saturn flights. Certification for manned mission was issued, subject to verification of data in minor areas in later, limited review. Under parti­cular consideration were engineering changes to correct pogo, or exces­sive oscillations, during second Saturn V flight and anomalies experi­enced by J-2 engines on upper stages. Solutions had been tested to sat­isfaction. Major efforts on both items would continue. ( Release 68-216)

Commenting on expected Boeing Co. decision on fixed-wing design for SST, Washington Evening Star editorial said: "America's first fumbling rush into the field of supersonic transportation now appears destined to end not with a boom, but with a whimper . . . from the company which, after years of effort and a few hundred million dollars expendi­ture, has apparently decided to scrap the swing-wing concept and re­treat to the drawing board. . . . It was the boldness and originality of the variable wing that won the contract for Boeing, so there would seem to be room for complaint if it now develops that the system is too heavy to be practical." (W Star, 9/20/68, A10)

AEC announced selection of Dr. John Archibald Wheeler of Princeton Univ. to receive its $25,000 Enrico Fermi Award for 1968 for "his pio­neering contributions to understanding nuclear fission, and to develop­ing the technology of plutonium production reactors, and his continu­ing broad contributions to nuclear science." Award would be presented in ceremony Dec. 2, 26th anniversary of first sustained controlled nu­clear reaction. (AEC Release L-224)

Dr. Dinsmore Alter, astronomer, first to provide evidence that moon was not as inactive as had been thought, died in Oakland, Calif., at age 80. He had been director of Griffith Planetarium in Los Angeles from 1935 until his retirement in 1958. On Oct. 26, 1956, from Mt. Wilson, Calif., he had seen apparent mistiness at bottom of crater which later led to re-evaluation of concepts of moon. (NYT, 9/24/68, 47)

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