Jun 30 1973
From The Space Library
A seven-minute, four-second, total solar eclipse, one of three seven-minute-plus total solar eclipses in the 20th century, began at sunrise in Brazil and crossed Guyana, Surinam, the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape Verde Islands, Mauretania, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and the Somali Republic. It ended at sunset in the Indian Ocean between India and Madagascar. A partial eclipse was visible for 3200 km (2000 mi) on both sides of the totality track. Previous total solar eclipses had been June 8, 1937, for seven minutes four seconds, and June 20, 1955, for seven minutes eight seconds. The next solar eclipse in the current "saros," or 18-yr period, would be July 11, 1991, for 6 minutes 54 seconds, but the June 30 eclipse's duration would not be exceeded for 177 years, British astronomer Peter MacDonald said later in a New Scientist article. The African eclipse was witnessed by an estimated 5000 amateur astronomers and tourists and by 2500 international scientists on land, on sea, and aboard research aircraft. Concorde 001, the specially instrumented Anglo-French supersonic transport aircraft, carried seven U.S., U.K., and French scientists across North Africa in lunar shadow at altitudes to 17 000 m (56 000 ft) during a two-hour six-minute flight. They observed total eclipse conditions for 74 min. The Skylab 1 Workshop, unmanned since Skylab 2's June 22 splash-down, saw only about 10% of the eclipse because its orbital position and telescope mechanisms were not suited for maximum effectiveness. Its cameras operated from 7 am EDT until midnight, and eclipse films taken would be retrieved by Skylab 3 astronauts scheduled for July 27 launch. Other scientific observations of the eclipse by at least 28 nations included an instrumented U.S. Air Force aircraft and rockets fired from the Soviet research ship Professor Vize near the Cape Verde Islands [see May 29]. Univ. of Texas observations by telescopes in the Sahara desert tested Einstein's theory of relativity by measuring the bend of the sun's gravity. (Sullivan, NYT, 5/15/73, 6; 6/30/73, 32; 7/1/73, 1; New Scientist, 7/12/73, 90-91; SF, 8/15/73, 321)
The Senate, by a vote of 73 to 1, passed H.R. 8825, the FY 1974 Dept. of Housing and Urban Development-Space-Science-Veterans appropriation bill that included a $3.002-billion NASA appropriation [see June 28]. (CR, S12611-47)
Skylab 2 crew are debriefed on this day.
NASA launched three sounding rockets in a series from Wallops Station carrying Goddard Space Flight Center payloads to determine the ion composition and electron density of the ionospheric D-region. A Nike-Cajun was launched to an 86.2-km (53.6-mi) altitude. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. An Astrobee D was launched 18 min later to a 92.5-km (57.5-mi) altitude. The rocket performance was less than planned. The instrumentation was satisfactory except for the Gerdien trap, which ceased providing data at 22 sec. A Nike-Apache was launched three minutes after the Astrobee D to a 77.4-km (48.1-mi) altitude. The rocket performed satisfactorily but no useful scientific data were received from the ion mass spectrometer and the scientific objectives of this flight were not achieved. (NASA Rpts SRL)
Aircraft operations at the 364 Federal Aviation Administration control towers increased 1% in FY 1973, from 53 620 706 in FY 1972 to 53 992 674. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport again recorded the largest number of takeoffs and landings-682 984. Santa Ana, Calif., followed with 608 361. The most air carrier operations were at O'Hare, Atlanta International, Los Angeles International, New York's Kennedy International, and San Francisco International. Busiest air route traffic control centers were Cleveland with 1 664 634 aircraft handled, Chicago with 1 603 157, and New York with 1 564 570. (FAA Release 73-218)
Lockheed Aircraft Corp. retained its ranking as the Nation's largest defense contractor during FY 1973. A Dept. of Defense annual list of 100 top contractors showed Lockheed with $1,66 billion in DOD procurement awards, 5.3% of all prime contracts over $10 000. General Electric was second with $1,42 billion and Boeing Co. was third with $1.23 billion. McDonnell Douglas Corp. was fourth with $1.14 billion and Grumman Corp. fifth with $909 million. (non Release, 11/2/73)
Kenyan Director of National Parks Perez Olindo asked the East African Directorate of Civil Aviation to ban supersonic transport aircraft from flying over East Africa because of "untold hazards" to human health and to wildlife. (Agence France Presse, W Post, 6/30/73, A5)
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