Jan 25 1971
From The Space Library
Dr. Charles A. Berry, Director of Medical Research and Operations at MSC, directed four-hour physical examination of Apollo 14 astronauts and declared them "certified and ready to fly." Countdown for launch began on schedule at 9:00 am EST in preparation for liftoff toward moon at 3;23 pm EST Jan. 31. (AP, B Sun, 1/26/71, A5)
NASA launched four sounding rockets. Two Nike-Apaches, launched from Churchill Research Range, carried GSFC experiments to study energetic particles and fields. Aerobee 150, launched from WSMR, carried Johns Hopkins Univ. experiment to study Venus UV. Aerobee 170, launched from WSMR, carried Johns Hopkins Univ. experiment to study dawn airglow. All rockets and experiments functioned satisfactorily. (SR list)
Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director, named to five-man board chaired by Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., to investigate Jan. 23 crash of NASA helicopter piloted by Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan. (MSC Release 71-03)
Newsweek commented on "shrinking space shuttle." U.S. space program had been "hit with another budgetary broadside." Space shuttle to service planned space station "will get no more than a third of the money its designers insist they need to build it" Original request for $300 million had been cut by NASA to $225 million. "Now White House budgeteers have shrunk it to $105 million-and it has yet to face the anti-technology faction in Congress," (Newsweek, 1/25/71)
Steel stress plate 2.5 cm (1 in) thick and 61 cm (2 ft) wide on F-111A fighter cracked during ground testing at McClellan AFB, Calif. Later USAF reported crack came at subzero temperatures under loads equal to 60% of maximum load aircraft was designed to withstand. (W Post, 1/30/71, A4)
January 25-26: Intelsat-IV F-2 comsat was launched by NASA for ComSatCorp on behalf of INTELSAT. Satellite, launched from ETR at 7:36 pm EST by Atlas-Centaur booster, entered elliptical transfer orbit. Primary objective was to place satellite into transfer orbit accurate enough for onboard propulsion systems to place spacecraft in planned synchronous orbit. Apogee kick motor was fired at 10:44 pm EST, Jan. 26, about 11 hrs earlier than planned because of slight temperature fluctuations in apogee motor shaft. Intelsat-IV F-2 entered orbit with 36 410.4 km (22 624.4 mi) apogee, 35 740.0 km (22 207.8 mi) perigee, 1450-min period, and 0.59° inclination. Satellite would drift from position at 124° east longitude over Pacific to permanent station over Atlantic at 25.5° west longitude by about March 19. Intelsat-IV F-2 was first in Intelsat IV series of advanced comsats. Satellite-largest commercial comsat launched-was 5.4 m (17.6 ft) high with 237.5-cm (93.5-in) diameter and weighed 1397 kg (3080 lbs) at launch. It had 12 transponders, providing 12 TV channels and 3000-9000 telephone circuits, and was capable of multiple-access and simultaneous transmissions. Expected lifetime was seven years-two years more than Intelsat III comsats and over five years more than Intelsat I. (NASA Proj Off; ComSatCorp Release 71-4; ComSatCorp PIO)
January 25-27: Ninth annual AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting was held in New York. Dr. Coleman duP. Donaldson, President of Aeronautical Research Associates, delivered Hugh Dryden Research Lecture, "Calculation of Turbulent Shear Flows for Atmospheric and Vortex Motions." Sylvanus Albert Reed Award was presented to Ira G. Hedrick, Vice President of Engineering for Grumman Aerospace Corp., for technical excellence, design innovation and leadership in the structural development of several generations of aerospace vehicles." Space Science Award was presented to Univ. of California physicist William I. Axford for "outstanding contributions to the fluid dynamics of the sun-earth environment and to the theory of cosmic ray inter-action with the solar wind." Robert M. Losey Award went to Verner E. Suomi of Univ. of Wisconsin for "creativity and ingenuity in designing advanced meteorological sensors for satellite applications as exemplified by the Spin-Scan camera which has made it possible to view the earth's atmosphere as an entity." G. Edward Pendray Award was presented to Dr. Nicholas J. Hoff of Stanford Univ. for "outstanding contributions in the fields of structures and structural mechanics through his many books and publications, as well as direct consultation for government agencies and industry. " Martin Goland, President of Southwest Research Institute, was named new President of AIAA. (AIAA Release, 1/8/71, 1/27/71)
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