Feb 16 1965
From The Space Library
Saturn I (SA-9) two-stage launch vehicle, launched by NASA from Cape Kennedy, orbited a 33,000-lb. multiple payload, of which 3,200 lbs. was the PEGASUS I meteoroid detection satellite. Orbital data: apogee, 745 km. (162 mi.) ; perigee, 496 km. (308 mi.) ; period, 97 min.; and inclination, 31.7°. This was the eighth successful test in eight flights for Saturn I; PEGASUS I was the first active payload launched in the Saturn tests. At launch, an Apollo command and service module boilerplate (BP-16) and launch escape system (LES) tower were atop Saturn I, with PEGASUS I folded inside the service module. After first-stage separation and second-stage ignition, Les was jettisoned. When second stage (S-IV) attained orbit, the 10,000-lb. Apollo boilerplate command and service modules were jettisoned into a separate orbit. Then a motor-driven device extended winglike panels on the Pegasus satellite to a span of 96 ft. Each wing consisted of seven frames hinged together and made up of 208 panels. PEGASUS I remained attached to Saturn I's second stage as planned. A television camera, mounted on the interior of the service module adapter, provided pictures of the satellite deploying in space. PEGASUS I exposed more than 2,300 sq. ft. of instrumented surface, with thicknesses varying up to 16/1000 in. As meteoroid particles collided with the surface of the panels, they would be registered electronically and reported to earth. Exposure of the large panel area over a long period would give designers of manned and unmanned spacecraft a good sample of meteoroid data. PEGASUS I would be visible from the earth without the aid of telescope on clear nights. ( NASA Release 65-38; Marshall Star, 2/24/65, 1. 5; AP, Houston Chron., 2/16/65; Clark, NYT, 2/17/65; AP, Benedict, Wash. Post, 2/17/65; Hoffman, N.Y. Her. Trib., 2 17 /65; Sehlstedt. Balt. Sun, 2/17/65; U.S. Aeron. & Space Act, 1965, 133-134)
On the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman George P. Miller (D-Calif.) commented upon the successful Saturn I launch: " ... this morning the United States took another giant morning stride in the exploration of space. At 9:37 a.m. a Saturn rocket ... with its 1,500,000 pounds of thrust, lifted off the launch pad at Cape Kennedy, Fla., on a mission to place in orbit around the earth the Pegasus satellite. "This was the eighth launch of the Saturn rocket out of eight attempts, a truly outstanding scientific and engineering accomplishment of the men of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and of the many contractors who worked so long and hard to make this event a success. "I may say that the gratifying success of the Saturn booster has been matched in other programs as well. "I need only point to the Tiros weather satellite. "Nine have been launched out of nine attempts. "I think we have every right to be proud of our space team on this day of outstanding achievement." (NASA LAR IV/30-32; CR, 2/16/65, 2630)
North American Aviation's XB-70A made its fifth flight from Palmdale, Calif. Maximum speed was mach 1.6; maximum altitude 45,000 ft.; duration of flight, 1 hr, 10 min, During the flight the wingtips were folded to 25° and then to the full-down position of 65°. It was the first time this total deflection had been attempted. Flutter and stability characteristics, the inlet control system, and the air inlet bypass door system were investigated during the flight. Although the emergency landing parachute system did not function during landing at Edwards AFB, the aircraft completed a normal landing with normal braking. The drag chute had deployed, but the three-chute pack did not deploy. (Av. Wk., 2/22/65, 22; UPI, NYT, 2/17/65, 74)
NASA's Flight Research Center engineers had made direct comparison of the noise levels generated by the XB-70 and a 707-120B commercial jet transport under the same atmospheric conditions. NASA made the measurements as part of its general study of runway noise conditions for use in the design of a supersonic transport. (FRC Release 8-65)
NASA awarded a $8,879,832 fixed-price contract to the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corp., for digital data processors to be used in Project Apollo. The contract also called for computer programing assistance in modifying present computer programs or developing new ones for Project Apollo requirements. (NASA Release 65-50)
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The presentation was made by the Swiss ambassador, Dr. Alfred Zehnder, at the Embassy residence in Washington, D.C. (NASA Release 65-47)
Dr. Charles S. Sheldon of the National Aeronautics and Space Council staff told MIT students: "The Russians are pretty cautious about disclosing much about their launch vehicles, but we know pretty well what vehicles they're using," Dr. Sheldon noted that ZOND II, the Soviet Mars probe, would pass near the planet perhaps one month after MARINER IV. The U.S. Mars probe was due to come within 5,400 mi. of the planet on July 14. (Boston Globe, 2/17/65)
FAA Administrator Najeeb Halaby, British Aviation Minister Roy Jenkins, and French Aviation Minister Marc Racquet met in London and agreed to work for joint establishment of operating conditions for supersonic jet transports. The British and French ministers arranged for the next stage in the development of their joint Concorde supersonic transport, which the British Labor government reportedly had wanted to cancel. The ministers also discussed a new Anglo-French project for a subsonic transport, an "air bus" that could take 200 to 300 passengers on short interurban hops. (Wash. Post, 2/17/65)
Progress in developing the laser for communications use was evidenced by U.S. Army report that it had transmitted all seven of New York's standard television channels simultaneously on a laser. Although the seven TV channels had been transmitted over a distance only the width of a room, the Army said they could have been received at a range of several miles. Research described had been carried out at the Army Electronics Command's laboratories in Fort Monmouth, N.J. The Army was interested in laser communications because the narrow beams could be transmitted between specific points, making enemy interception difficult. (Sullivan, NYT, 2/17/65, 19)
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