Dec 16 1976
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it would modify equipment and facilities used in the Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz programs for use in future space programs, and that it would dispose of remaining Saturn-Apollo hardware that had no future application. Disposal would eliminate storage costs, free storage space, and make facilities available for ongoing programs, the agency said. The action marked the transition of U.S. manned space activity from use of expendable vehicles to use of the reusable Space Shuttle, scheduled to undertake its first mission within 3 yr. Although NASA, at the request of Congress, had kept its remaining Saturn-Apollo flight hardware since April 1975 in minimum-cost storage, to be able to restore it to flight condition if needed, the backup Skylab workshop and Apollo-Soyuz backup docking module had been transferred to the National Air and Space Museum; twenty-two H-1 rocket engines from Saturn stages had been transferred for use in Thor-Delta vehicles. Much of the remaining Saturn-Apollo hardware would probably be turned over to the Smithsonian Institution, and other equipment would be screened for use in the Shuttle or other programs. (NASA Release 76-206)
NASA announced award to Owen Enterprises, Inc., of Wilmington, Calif., of an exclusive patent license for production of a solar-energy concentrator invented by JPL's Dr. Katsunori Shimada that focuses the sun's rays from almost any angle without the need for a tracking mechanism. The concentrator-a special arrangement of multifaceted Fresnel lenses magnifies solar energy tenfold, heating a fluid in channels beneath the lenses, which is released through a thermostat when the proper temperature is attained. A series of the devices could be set up, depending on the specific energy requirements of a structure. Suitable for residential, commercial, or industrial applications, the concentrator had proved much more efficient than other solar-collector units on the market. Owen Enterprises, Inc., the licensee, is an American Indian-owned firm that planned to assemble the device at facilities on the Rincon Indian Reservation near Escondido, Calif. The firm would invest $200 000 to develop the concentrator for the market, and pay 1% royalty to the U.S. Treasury on its gross sales. (NASA Release 76-209)
At the request of the Soviet Union, U.S. satellites took pictures of the predicted bumper crap of grain in the USSR and turned the pictures over to that country to confirm the predictions, said presidential science adviser Dr. H. Guyford Stever at a White House briefing. The Russians had announced 5 Nov. that more than 220 million metric tons of grain had been harvested; U.S. Dept. of Agriculture officials said the final figures would probably exceed 1973's record Soviet harvest of 222.5 million tons. (NYT, 17 Dec 76, A-4)
16-22 December. The USSR announced its intention of launching carrier rockets into two areas of the northern Pacific between 20 and 30 Dec., and requested the governments of other countries using sea and air routes in the vicinity not to permit their ships and planes to enter those areas during the launching period. At the same time the Soviets declared other areas free for navigation because the launchings in those areas had been completed. The Tass broadcast gave the locations of the danger spots as having center coordinates of 46°N, 164°E, and 32°27 N, 170°10'E. The nature of the launches was not specified. On 22 Dec. Tass announced it had been authorized to state the locations were "free for sea and air navigation from December 22, 1976." (FBIS, Tass in English, 16 Dec 76, 22 Dec 76)
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