Jun 21 1971
From The Space Library
Extrasensory perception tests aboard Apollo 14, launched Jan. 31, were described by Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell during press conference at Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man at Durham, N.C. In unauthorized experiment, Mitchell had tried to send messages to four "receivers" on earth while en route to moon. He had carried cards bearing ESP test symbols and concentrated on random order of cards while receivers on earth wrote down order in which they believed he was "transmitting." While plan had called for "trans-mission" once daily for six days, Mitchell had been able to perform experiment for only four days. Two of his receivers had reported "receptions" for all six days, one for one day only, and another for two days. Mitchell said preponderance of wrong answers was significant because it was "so far below chance that the odds are approximately 3000 to one against it being a chance result." If it was not chance, Mitchell said, results indicated "extrasensory exchange." Mitchell declined to identify his receivers, but Olof Johnsson of Chicago had said he was one psychic who had participated. (AP, NYT, 6/22/71, 22; UPI, W Star, 6/22/71, Al)
Senate passed S.J.R. 101, to "authorize and request the President of the United States to issue a proclamation designating July 20, 1971, as `National Moon Walk Day.' " (CR, 6/21/71, 59476)
NAE announced reelection of Clarence H. Lindner as full-time President for three-year term, and election of new members to NAE Council. New council members were Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff, NSF; Francis H. Clauser, Cal Tech; James Hillier, RCA Corp.; Frederic A. L. Holloway, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey; J. Ross Macdonald, Texas Instruments, Inc.; and Kenneth G. McKay, AT&T. Robert W. Cairns, Hercules, Inc., was reelected to Council. (NAE Release)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial described plight of McDonnell Douglas Corp. in "aerospace depression": Total employment was off almost a third from high of 43 500 in mid-1967 and layoffs were continuing though at declining rate. "The loss of these 14,100 jobs is equivalent to a loss of income for all the families in a city of 35,000 persons...." In one 30-day period, 1600 McDonnell Douglas workers had been laid off. "That is equal to 20 per cent of the workforce from a city the size of Berkeley, where the corporation has its headquarters." Hope for McDonnell Douglas "rests in large measure with the company's plans to produce the F-15 fighter- bomber. Already Congress is looking at this program with a wary eye, and . . . there are indications that production may be slowed as part of an increasingly cautious congressional approach to military spending." (St Louis P-D, 6/21/71)
June 21-25: U.S.-U.S.S.R. negotiations on compatible docking systems for spacecraft resumed as three joint working groups, including some 20 Soviet scientists and engineers, met with NASA scientists and engineers at MSC. Purpose of meeting was to devise single set of technical requirements for docking systems. Soviet delegation was headed by Boris N. Petrov, Chairman of Intercosmos Council of Soviet Academy of Sciences. Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director, headed NASA group participating in meetings provided for in U.S.- U.S.S.R. agreement reached in Moscow Oct. 28, 1970. Delegates discussed possibility of joint test flights to test requirements being developed for docking systems. Experiments "might be conducted between spacecraft of the Apollo and Salyut station types and between spacecraft of the Soyuz and Skylab programs," NASA statement said. Soviet visitors were escorted on tour of MSC by Astronauts Fred W. Haise, Jr., Thomas K. Mattingly II, and John W. Young. Several "flew" computerized simulators used to train Apollo astronauts to dock CM and LM for lunar landing. (NASA Release 71-111; Transcript)
Jamaican and U.N. officials visited MSC to review data acquired by NASA, Jamaican Geological Survey, and U.S. Geological Survey during earth resources survey of Jamaica made in April at request of Jamaican government and U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. NASA'S instrumented C-130 aircraft had gathered data on Jamaica water sup-ply. Jamaica had average 508-cm (200- in) annual rainfall but much mountain river water never reached reservoirs. It was believed that submarine springs carried portion of water offshore into Caribbean Sea. Allen H. Watkins, Manager of MSC Earth Observations Aircraft program, said excellent data gathered on flights had been supplemented by most nearly complete "ground truth" operation yet attempted by MSC aircraft program. During MSC visit, Jamaican group was trained by NASA to use equipment needed for later analysis of data in Jamaica. (MSC Release 71-42)
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