Dec 31 1985
From The Space Library
During 1985 the Soviet Union launched 96 spacecraft, the U.S. 17, the Washington Post reported, reflecting what space specialists said was the fact that most Soviet spy satellites burned out within weeks while U.S. satellites often remained in orbit for years. The Soviets launched 33 photo reconnaissance satellites, amounting to more than one-third of the total Soviet launches from January 1 through December 26.
In 1985 the Soviets continued to stress the ability to locate with satellites U.S. ships at sea, Navy officials commented. One type of Soviet ocean surveillance satellite, which had radar beams that could penetrate clouds, sought aircraft carriers and other big ships. The radar provided the location of ships below the satellite, forcing the Navy to resort to new methods to foil radar detection.
Nicholas Johnson, advisory scientist to Teledyne Brown Engineering Co., kept a widely used log of U.S. and Soviet space launches, and he said that the Soviets launched in 1985 five ocean surveillance satellites, two carrying radar and three equipped with electronic eavesdropping gear. He added that Soviet launches included 19 communication satellites, two of a variety never seen before, and seven satellites designed to warn Moscow of a nuclear attack.
Through espionage the Soviets had learned a great deal about U.S. spy satellite capabilities and had taken steps to mask some of their military activities, intelligence officials noted. Space specialists largely agreed that the U.S. was well ahead of the Soviets in the art of spying from space, although they indicated the Soviet's reconnaissance satellites were steadily improving. (W Post, Dec 31/85, A4)
In terms of fatalities, 1985 was the worst year in aviation history, the Washington Post reported, as nearly 2,000 people died in 36 accidents. The previous worst year was 1974, when 1,299 people died in 29 accidents.
Among the 1985 aircraft losses were: an Air India jet that disintegrated off the Irish coast, killing all 329 on board; a Delta Air Lines jumbo jetliner that crashed in a violent thunderstorm while approaching the Dallas airport, killing 133; a Japan Air Lines jet on a flight from Tokyo to Osaka that hit a mountain, killing 520; a British Airways charter plane that burst into flames on the runway in Manchester, England, killing 54; a charter plane carrying U.S. military service members that crashed at Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 258 on board; and a twin-engine plane that crashed into the roof of a suburban California shopping mall, killing four persons and injuring 88. In addition, hijackers took over a TWA plane on a flight to Beirut and killed a passenger.
The year's aircraft losses resulted from pilot error and equipment failure, sugar in the fuel line of one plane, and possibly a bomb in the luggage compartment of another. Some blamed the crashes, if only indirectly, on the 1981 firing of the air traffic controllers, on deregulation, and on the enforcement role of federal safety inspectors. However, federal officials said that there was no common thread among the year's major aviation disasters. (W Post, Jan 2/86, A3)
NASA announced that on December 26 its Venus orbiting Pioneer spacecraft began six weeks of observations of Halley's Comet during the comet's most active period closest to the sun (perihelion). Near the time of perihelion, the comet, Venus, and Pioneer were located on the opposite side of the sun from earth, making observations difficult from earth (160 million miles away).
Pioneer was the only spacecraft close to Halley's Comet during perihelion, and NASA expected that Pioneer's ultraviolet observations would provide valuable insights into the state of the comet in advance of flybys of Halley's by European, Soviet, and Japanese spacecraft beginning March 6, 1986.
Pioneer's first phase of observations would end January 4 when both Venus and Pioneer passed behind the sun for almost a month, cutting off effective communications between the spacecraft and ground controllers at Ames Research Center. Observations would resume about February 3, six days before perihelion, and would continue until March 6.
NASA scheduled Pioneer to produce two images of the comet in ultraviolet light. One would show the hydrogen cloud surrounding the comet, an image expected to be 20 times larger than a photo of the comet in visible light. The image would come from 20,000 scans of the comet as it drifted for three days through Pioneer's ultraviolet spectrometer's field of view. A second image would show both Venus and Halley's Comet in a single view. (NASA Release 85-181)
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