Aug 28 1966
From The Space Library
COSMOS CXXVIII was launched by U.S.S.R. into earth orbit with 364-km. (226-mi.) apogee; 212-km. (132-mi.) perigee; 90-min. period; and 65ø inclination. Equipment, carried to "continue space investigations," was functioning normally. (Pravda, 8/28/66, 3)
NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station reached 187-mi. (301-km.) altitude in GSFC-Univ. of Michigan experiment coordinated with Aug. 26 and 27 flights. Simultaneous measurement of N2 and electron density and temperature, measurements of atmospheric ion and neutral composition, and comparative data from two mass spectrometers and other experiments were obtained; rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
Damage to a 900,000-gallon stainless-steel storage tank for Saturn V booster's liquid oxygen fuel would delay booster's first flight-scheduled for first quarter of 1967-by at least 45 days, NASA announced. Damage had occurred during Aug. 19 first-stage tanking test when pipeline had ruptured spilling 800,000 gallons of liquid oxygen; vacuum thus created inside tank had caused depression in tank`s 2«-in.-thick dome. Laboratory tests would determine extent of resulting structural weakness. (NYT, 8/29/66, 8)
U.S.S.R.'s official silence on fate of LUNA XI artificial moon satellite launched Aug. 24 prompted speculation that spacecraft had switched off its beam in orbit, overshot the moon, or crashed. (Wash. Post, 8/28/66, A10; Wash. Sun. Star, 8/28/66, A1)
Cal Tech scientists Eric E. Becklin and James A. Westphal reported findings from 19-day telescopic study of comet Ikeya-Seki that began Oct. 14, 1965: temperature of comet was "entirely dependent" on the sun, varying from 700øF to 1,200øF in direct proportion to distance from sun; nucleus and tail were same temperature; and comet was composed of "lots of metallic material" rather than ice and dust as previously suggested. (Wash. Post, 8/29/66, A9; Bird, NYT, 8/29/66, 11)
Commenting on President Johnson's Aug. 26 appeal for agreement on nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful uses of space, New York Times editorialized that issues of reporting space activities to U.N., and reciprocity and timing of visits to space vehicles and installations "would all appear to be soluble in time given a genuine desire for a treaty on both sides. . . . But the unanswered question is whether an East-West breakthrough on space can in fact come at all while the Vietnam impasse continues." (NYT, 8/28/66, E6)
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