Dec 15 1969
From The Space Library
At meeting of American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, Columbia Univ. scientist Dr. Gary V. Latham, principal investigator for Apollo Program's seismic research, proposed detonation of nuclear device on moon to assist analysis of lunar interior. He announced tentative plans for placement of one- to five-kiloton bomb on lunar far side by unmanned Atlas-Agena rocket between Apollo 15 and 16 missions in November 1970 and envisioned possible cooperative effort with U.S.S.R. "I expect to run into a large number of political snags. But these problems are not insurmountable if we include the Russians . . . and agree to share the data with them. . . . I would like to ask them to put the bomb on the moon." Proposal was to be submitted to NAS for approval. Nuclear blast would send seismic waves through moon's core. These would be measured to yield information on nature and origin of lunar interior. (Reuters, W Post, 12/16/69, A2)
NASA established 14-member Apollo Orbital Science Photographic Team to provide scientific guidance in design, operation, and data utilization of photographic systems for Apollo lunar orbital science program. Chairman was Frederick J. Doyle of U.S. Geological Survey. (Apollo Prog Off)
NRC Panel on Remote Atmospheric Probing issued Atmospheric Exploration by Remote Probes, Volume 1, Summary and Recommendations, of final report to NAS-NRC Committee on Atmospheric Sciences. Report recommended that National Center for Atmospheric Research organize scientific committee to formulate with NASA "an integrated remote atmospheric probing program at the unique Wallops Island facility; and that NASA establish procedures for the utilization of the facility and make widely known its availability for atmospheric research." Report also recommended inclusion of atmospheric probing among scientific missions of Haystack radar at MIT and Millstone radar and urged development of new facilities for remote atmosphere probing by Doppler radar. (Text)
Senate, by vote of 85 to 4, passed H.R. 15090, $69.3-billion DOD FY 1970 appropriations bill. (CR, 12/15/69, S16743-4, S16750-1, S16782, S16784-96)
Gen. James Ferguson (USAF), AFSC Commander, said in keynote address before Air Force Fatigue and Fracture Conference at Miami Beach, Fla.: "Our potential adversaries are pushing on all frontiers of technology. We cannot safely do less, and yet we must achieve our technological goals with less in the way of money, manpower, and facilities." Each aircraft "will have to be better, more capable, stronger, more durable, and preferably less costly." (Text)
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