Apr 1 1970
From The Space Library
Tenth anniversary of Tiros I (Television Infrared Observation Satellite), world's first weather satellite, launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Satellite had transmitted 22 952 pictures during 89-day lifetime. Since Tiros 1, 23 meteorological satellites - 10 Tiros, 3 Nimbus, 9 ESSA, and 1 ITOS - had been orbited, returning more than one million pictures of earth's cloud cover and other data for weather forecasting and research. (ESSA Release 70-18)
Scientists tranquilized 227-kg (500-lb) elk near Jackson Hole, Wyo., and fitted her with 10-kg (23-lb) electronic collar to transmit data to orbiting Nimbus III (launched April 14, 1969). Elk, which had worn dummy collar for 44 days, rejoined herd and showed no ill effects. Experiment was sponsored by NASA, Dept. of Interior, and Smithsonian Institution and was second attempt to study migratory habits of large animals. First attempt had ended prematurely when Monique, first elk fitted with collar, died of pneumonia Feb. 24. Nimbus III, orbiting at 1100-km (700-mi) altitude, successfully contacted second elk four times over 10-min period and would contact her twice daily as she migrated to summer grazing area. (NASA Release 70-53)
Space Shuttle mission capabilities were described by LeRoy E. Day, Manager of Space Shuttle Task Group in NASA OMSF, in paper presented at AIAA Conference on Test Effectiveness in the 70s at Palo Alto, Calif.: "It is envisioned that the shuttle will eventually replace essentially all of the present day launch vehicles or their derivatives except for very small vehicles of the Scout class and the Saturn V. This will be possible because low operational costs of the reusable shuttle will make it competitive even if it carries only a fraction of its full payload capability on particular missions. In addition to the low launch costs, we expect the benign acoustic and acceleration environment of the shuttle to allow significant reductions in the cost of payloads. Acceleration during descent and reentry will be less than 3 g's. Payload design will be further aided by allowing greater volume and weight for many payloads because of the shuttle cargo bay accommodations. Preliminary analyses indicate reductions in payload development costs of 25-30 percent may be expected." (Text)
Approximately 155 representatives from industry, universities, and government attended pre-proposal briefing on proposed High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO) at MSFC. (MSFC Release 70-58)
Transfer of SST program from FAA to Office of Secretary of Transportation and appointment of William M. Magruder, Deputy Director of Commercial Engineering at Lockheed California Co., as Director of Supersonic Transport Development Program were announced by Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe. (DOT Release 7670)
AFSC announced that AFWTR at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and SAMSO's aerospace test wings at Vandenberg and Patrick AFB, Fla., would be combined to form Space and Missile Test Center (SAMTEC) under SAMSO command. (AFSC Release 65.70)
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