Feb 4 1963
From The Space Library
Soviet interplanetary probe MARS I was nearing halfway mark on its flight to vicinity of Mars, news agency Tass announced. Tass quoted Mstislav V. Keldysh, president of Soviet Academy of Sciences, as saying MARS I was about 30 million mi. from earth. ( UPI, Wash. Daily Review, 2/5/63)
Maj. J. L. Reeves, USAF veterinary officer, warned at aerospace medicine conference, SAM, that new hazard may lie ahead in Project Gemini two-man flights because of poisonous nature of Titan II launch vehicle’s fuel. Poisonous quality of Titan II’s fuel combination has been “known in a general way for quite some time,” Dr. Reeves said, “[but] there is precious little knowledge of specific antidotes for the harmful effects of most of the materials now in use.” Most dangerous component is mixture of two hydrazines, one of which induces fatty changes of the liver and the other causes “peculiar central nervous system excitement and even convulsions.” (Wash. Eve. Star, 2/4/63)
Joint AEC-DOD-NASA report on radiation resulting from U.S. high-altitude nuclear explosion in July 1962 said: “. . Electrons having minimum altitudes below 500 km are decaying in periods of weeks to months. Once those electrons whose trajectories dip into the denser portion of the earth’s atmosphere are eliminated by air scattering and energy loss, the remaining electrons may be expected to survive for some years in the absence of pronounced magnetic storms or other perturbations of the geomagnetic field. “Certain high altitude components of the observed electron distribution, however, were seen to decay by a factor of two or more in a period of a few weeks. Most notably observations [by Bell Telephone Laboratories] have shown a pronounced decrease of intensity in regions associated with flux lines extending at the equator to distances of approximately 3 earth radii. Some more recent data indicate, moreover, that these secular changes are energy dependent. It has been noted that large time fluctuations somewhat similar to this phenomena [sic] were previously observed to occur in connection with the natural belts. The observed decrease of intensity in certain regions, and the other associated changes in the electron distribution, indicate a complicated phenomenon of considerable scientific interest. The results of the present series of observations may be expected to lead to an increased understanding of phenomena which determine the origin, intensity, and character of the natural radiation belts as they are affected by geomagnetic forces and the upper atmosphere . . . .” On effects of artificial radiation on spacecraft solar cells, report said : “Improved types of solar cells (employing N-on-P silicon junctions): which are considerably more radiation resistant, are available and were employed on TELSTAR. With respect to manned missions in space, the shielding provided by normal capsule design effects a considerable reduction in the radiation exposure, and the artificial belt is not regarded as placing any significant restrictions on the conduct of current manned space flights . . .” (AEC-DOD-NASA Status Report,, 2/4/63)
Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, speaking before aerospace medicine conference at SAM, San Antonio, said that all three U.S. astronauts who had made orbital space flights had found state of weightlessness presented no problems; rather, it tended to become “addictive.” (UPI, Wash. Post, 2/5/63, A 4)
Senator Leverett Saltonstall (R.-Mass.) introduced in the Senate a bill (S. 656) “to promote public knowledge of progress and achievement in astronautics and related sciences through the designation of a special day [March IS] in honor of Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard, the father of modern rockets, missiles, and astronautics . . . .” On March 16, 1926, Dr. Goddard first successfully launched a liquid-fueled rocket. (CR., 2/4/63, 1601)
USAF announced it had halted all R&D on Skybolt missile. Production of the air-launched missile had been stopped Dec. 31, but research “on various components of the missile system was permitted to continue pending further study of possible applications of the technology learned from the development work.” (AP,Wash. Post, 2/5/63, A7)
Maj. Harold W. Dietz (USAF) of Vandenberg AFB told aerospace medicine conference at SAM that it was “practically impossible” for a single commanding officer of an ICBM site, even if he lost self-control in a nervous breakdown to start a nuclear war. Major Dietz reviewed the safeguards built into the complex procedure for preparing and firing ICBM'S. (Wash. Post, 2/5J63, A6)
Mstislav Keldysh, President of U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, reported on Soviet progress in science at annual meeting of the Academy : “New successes have been achieved by our scientists in the field of space radio communications. New data have been obtained as the result of the radar observation of Mercury carried out, for the first time and the repeated radar observation of Venus. Communications were made possible by reflecting telegraphy signals from the planet Venus . . . “Research by satellites and rockets . . . [is] opening new possibilities for understanding the powerful effect, of cosmic factors on electromagnetic and hydrodynamic phenomena in the atmosphere which, in turn, decisively influence life on earth. I think that very important discoveries will be made in the near future in the field of physics of the atmosphere . . . .” (Pravda, 2/5/63, AFSS-T Trans.)
Aviation Week and Space Technology reported that, within past 18 months, four F-l rocket engines had been damaged or destroyed in static firings and that another 12 firings had ended with premature shutdowns. F-l was under development. by Rocketdyne for use in Saturn V launch vehicle. (Av. Wk., 2/4/63, 26)
AFSC announced improved U.S.-Canadian antiaircraft control sites, BUIC (Back-Up Interceptor Control), were being built, at several locations in North America. BUIC system would be back-up to Sage air defense system; each site would house electronic computer, associated equipment, and display consoles to “aid BUIC commander in directing and controlling his forces.” (AFSC Release 31-R-9)
First test-flights of missile warhead over continental U.S. were scheduled for next summer, it was reported. USAF Project Athena would evaluate unarmed warheads’ re-entry into atmosphere in series of flights from near Green River, Utah, to White Sands, N.M. A major objective of the project would be “to obtain data that will permit defense units to tell the difference quickly between real warheads and decoys.” (L.A. Times, Wash. Post, 2/5/63, A7)
Dr. Albert J. Kelley, NASA Director of Electronics and Control, said in Electronic News interview that NASA'S immediate need from electronics industry was greater reliability: “By far the great majority of our flight failures are due to the failure of electronic components . . . .We need more ground testing [of electronic components] .” To gain this, Dr. Kelley urged, private industry should invest more of its own funds in space electronics research: “The company that wants to get ahead and get its share of the business must pitch in with its own resources . . . . Some of the money we put in contracts is geared to steer firms to a certain phase of R&D, encouraging them to handle it independently . . . .” (Electronic News, 2/4/63 )
President Kennedy sent message to U.N. Conference on Applications of Science an Technology in Geneva : “The United States delegation comes to Geneva to learn, to share experiences and to probe jointly with the other delegations the great opportunity which we all share to seize upon the technological achievements of the industrialized world and reshape them for the benefit of the newly developed nations. “We come to this task with a firm conviction that rapid and even radical progress can result if we join forces with vigor. We come with enthusiasm for a task that is the most constructive undertaking of this or any other age. And we come with a restless sense of urgency to get on quickly with a job that can mean so much to so many of the peoples of our interdependent world.” (AP, Balt. Sun, 2/5/63)
February 4-20: United Nations Conference on Applications of Science and Technology for benefit of less developed areas (UNCAST) was held in Geneva. Heading U.S. delegation was Dr. Walsh McDermott, chairman of public health dept. at Cornell Univ. Medical Center, NYC. (Wash. Eve. Star, l/8/63)
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