August 1966

From The Space Library

U.S.S.R.'s LUNA XI that entered orbit around the moon Aug. 27 was described as containing "an entire orchestra of rocket engines." Vladimir Orlov, writing in Pravda, said the spacecraft contained in addition to its main power system a braking engine installation and four directing engines with comparatively small thrust." (AP, NYT, 9/1/66, 2)

Columbia Univ. professor of business administration Dr. Leonard R. Sayles was sworn in as consultant to NASA Administrator on organization policy and managerial practices and procedures. (NASA Release 66-235)

Photographic proof that two clouds of "cosmic rubble" were orbiting the earth in the same path as the moon was announced by Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. engineer J. Wesley Simpson. The "rubble" might have come from all over the universe and could offer clues to the earth's origin, solar winds, and the possibility of life in outer space. Although photographic images were too faint to be reproduced on paper, they were visible on negatives and when projected on a smooth white surface. (UPI, NYT, 9/1/66, 24)

During August: Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff, head of MIT's Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Special Consultant to NASA Administrator, wrote in Air Force and Space Digest that there appeared to be widespread lack of public understanding that aeronautical and space developments might have a profound effect on transformation of society: It is not so much the possession of the new technologies . . . that counts. Of more importance are the quickened spirits, the sharpened intellects, and the developed resources that can permeate the whole fabric of a society." (AF/SD, 8/66, 86-7)

In letter to House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, Dr. H. H. Hess, chairman of NAS Space Science Board, said that the national space program had become too big to make it practical to focus on any single future goal: "To pick one and virtually abandon the remainder would give a far smaller return than a balanced program aimed at several major objectives, even though the advantage of strong focus is being given up." Three possible major goals suggested by Hess were: (1) unmanned exploration of the planets, primarily Mars and Venus, "with a subsidiary effort" on Jupiter; (2) continued manned lunar effort; and (3) earth-orbiting astronomy platform with optical, X-ray, gamma-ray, and radio telescopes "with ultimately manned maintenance." (Av. Wk., 8/22/66, 95)

First space disaster was among predictions for 1967 in new edition of Old Moore's Almanack, a volume published in U.K. for 270 years. (UPI, NYT, 8/22/66, 37)

Role of Venus in NASA's future space sciences program was reviewed in report by OSSA to House Science and Astronautics Committee. Report suggested that NASA might increase interest in Venus with combinations of Mars-Venus flights and single missions to Venus using Mariner, Voyager, and advanced Automated Biological Laboratory spacecraft to investigate "the possibility of life forms. . . . From almost every aspect . . . Venus is an important, puzzling, and paradoxical planet, meriting continued examination by space flight missions." (Text, Tech. Wk., US. 9/12/66, 18-9)

SST program had been assigned "Dx" priority-highest manufacturing priority usually reserved for key defense and space programs-by President Johnson in April without public announcement, the press reported. The New York Times questioned secrecy and priority implied by President's decision: "It was an error to keep the decision secret." (Clark, NYT, 8/7/66, 1; WSJ, 8/9/66, 1; NYT, 8/8/66, C26)

Summarizing two years of negotiations between France and U.S.S.R. on cooperative satellite communications program in Astronautics & Aeronautics, Andrew G. Haley said questions of (1) access of French scientists and technicians to Soviet launch sites, and (2) size of orbit for French satellite to be launched with Soviet vehicle were still unsettled. (Haley, A&A, 8/66, 15-6)

Sharing of research with US. industry under NASA's technology utilization program was commended in Petroleum Today article by Clay Hornick. December 1965 Conference on Selected Technology for the Petroleum Industry at Lewis Research Center, Hornick said, had encouraged utilization of space research discoveries in fields of combustion, lubrication, and nuclear resonance. (Hornick, Petroleum Today, Summer 1966, 16-19)

US. Army's aviation role would increase, not diminish, as result of recent USA-USAF Chiefs of Staff agreement on tactical airlift capabilities, USA Director of Aviation B/G Robert R. Williams told Data. ". . . I assure you that the Army will continue to exploit the inherent capabilities of aircraft to support the conduct of prompt and sustained combat operations on land. Just as we will continue to receive aviation support from the other services, so will we continue to provide organic aviation responsive to the direct control and planning of the Army commander. Further, we will develop and acquire aircraft and aircraft command and control systems which are uniquely capable of fulfilling . . . the requirements of immediate availability for sustained operation in a field environment. . . . (Data, 8/66, 9-10)

Comment on LUNAR ORBITER I mission: New York Times: "Unfortunately, the decision made a half decade ago was to give priority to the Apollo program for landing a man on the. moon . . . Lunar Orbiter's achievements remind us that there is no pressing necessity for putting manned lunar flight first. If President Johnson should decide to slow down the Apollo project by cutting its budget appreciably, scientific investigation of the moon with instrument satellites could continue and be richly productive. "In a few years pictures of the earth's orb as seen from distant space will become commonplace. Tomorrow's schoolchildren will find it hard to believe there was a time when no human eyes had seen the full crescent arc of earth's globe from the perspective of the moon or beyond." Philadelphia Evening Bulletin: "Looking rather like a crumbly piece of Roquefort, there it was-Earth, as seen from the Moon by a camera aboard Lunar Orbiter 1. The picture was a black-and-white, but no matter. Since the Moon has no appreciable atmosphere, Earth will never take on the bright orange and yellow hues of a harvest moon. And since there are no forests, no lakes, no oceans, no snow covered fields on the Moon, Earth will never be framed, for lunar lovers, in the sylvan or aquatic settings that lend so much enchantment and mystery to earthly views of the Moon." Sam Shenton, leader and secretary of the International Flat Earth Society, claimed that the circular body shown in LUNAR ORBITER 1's photos Aug. 25 was not really earth, but "one of the non-luminous bodies between us and the moon." He admitted that photos of the earth had been "a great shock" to the 24-member society. (NYT, 8/19/66, 29; 8/27/66; Phil. Eve. Bull., 8/27/66; Reuters, Wash. Post, 8/29/66, A3)

During August-September: USAF Chief of Staff Gen. J. P. McConnell discussed military future of manned aircraft in NATO's Fifteen Nations. Aeronautical technology in fields of propulsion and composite materials and less radical improvements in performance, navigation aids, fire control systems, and conventional ordnance-indicated that "by 1975 we will have increased by major increments the speed, range, altitude, payload and over-all versatility of manned aircraft for military roles." Noting that X-15 could fly faster and higher than V-2 ballistic missile, General McConnell said he believed "that well in advance of the estimates that most people would make, Air Force pilots will be flying genuine aerospace craft that can take off under their own power, operate in space and return to a controlled landing." (NATO's Fifteen Nations, 8-9/66)

During Summer: First four sessions of Legal Subcommittee of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space were summarized in an article by NASA Deputy General Counsel Paul G. Dembling and Daniel M. Arons, Attorney-Adviser, NASA Office of General Counsel, in Journal of Air Law and Commerce. (J/Air Law and Commerce, Summer/66,329-86)

Click here to listen to an interview recorded during this month with Apollo 1 commander Virgil I. Grissom.