Jun 30 1968
From The Space Library
Lockheed-Georgia Co. test pilot Leo J. Sullivan successfully flew C-5 Galaxy, world's largest aircraft, on 94-min first test flight from Dobbins AFB over Georgia countryside at speeds ranging from 143-mph takeoff to 230 mph and reaching 10,000-ft altitude. No attempt was made to reach maximum speed of 550 mph. C-5, powered by four TF-39 turbofan jet engines, each delivering 41,000 lb of thrust, could carry 265,000-lb payload over 2,875-mi range or 100,000-lb payload over 6,325-mi range at cruising speed of 506 mph. Military version would carry 350 fully equipped troops. USAF had ordered 58. "We like to talk about a commercial plane similar to the C-5 which could carry nearly 1,000 passengers," said Lockheed-Georgia President T. R. May, but he found idea of carrying both passengers and freight attractive. "We have preliminary plans for airplanes weighing over a million pounds. But it is fairly clear that the world is not quite ready for a June 30: USAF-Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, world's largest aircraft, takes off from Dobbins AFB on first test flight. C-5 reached 230 mph and 10,000-foot altitude on 94.minute flight, not attempting maximum speed of 550 mph. (AFsc PHOTO)
Dr. Robert Jastrow, Director of GSFC Institute for Space Studies, reviewed Arthur C. Clarke's The Promise of Space. Clarke had described chronology of Apollo decision as "politics and astronautics combined" and had written: "The verdict of history may well be that the United States made the correct decision even if from dubious motives." Dr. Jastrow said Clarke "seems to betray a point of view that the primary purpose of the space program is, or should be, the exploitation of its scientific potential and the search for knowledge in the space around the earth and on the other bodies of the solar system. "My own view is that he is mistaken. Spacecraft have yielded important scientific discoveries ... but it seems clear to me that preservation of national security, and not scientific research per se, was the motivation for the Kennedy proposal. Kennedy acted out of a deep gut instinct, shared by the Congress and the American people, that the United States had been presented with a major challenge to which it must respond effectively or pay a heavy penalty. The decision on the expanded space program may have been accelerated by the events of the spring of 1961, but the Soviet challenge . . . was permanent." Dr. Jastrow saw promise of space as "dollars-and-cents return in increased productivity in the U.S." To Clarke it was "the universe-or nothing." (W Post, Book World, 6/30/68, 1; CR, 7/9/68, E6290)
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