Jul 30 1971
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
President Nixon telephoned congratulations and good wishes to ground and flight crews of Apollo 15 following moon landing. (PD, 8/2/71, 1099)
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 431 from Baikonur into orbit with 284- km (176.5-mi) apogee, 165-km (102.5-mi) perigee, 89-min period, and 51.7° inclination. Satellite reentered Aug. 11. (GSFC SSR, 7/31/71; 8/31/71, SBD, 8/2/71, 148)
Apollo missions plus Surveyor, Orbiter, and Soviet missions had permitted first detailed study of formative stages of planetary body, UCLA scientist Dr. George W. Wetherill said in Science article. "Future work will require sampling distinctly different regions of the moon in order to provide data concerning other important lunar events, such as the time of formation of the highland regions and of the mare basins, and of the extent to which lunar volcanism has persisted subsequent to the first third of lunar history: This work will require a sufficient number of Apollo landings, and any further cancellation of Apollo missions will jeopardize this unique opportunity to study the development of a planetary body from its beginning. Such a study is fundamental to our understanding of the earth and other planets." (Science, 7/30/71, 383-92)
House, by vote of 192 to 189, passed H.R. 8432, to authorize emergency loan guarantees to major business enterprises. Bill would provide for $250-million loan to Lockheed Aircraft Corp. to stave off bankruptcy, New York Times said. (CR, 7/30/71, H7453- 520; Shanahan, NYT, 7/31/71, 1)
B/c Benjamin N. Bellis (USAF), project manager for F15 jet fighter aircraft and for F-14 and F-15 joint engine development, said in interview with Washington Evening Star that USN had instructed him to drop plans for construction of F-14B engine in FY 1972 and 1973 and to assume USN would not want new engines until at least FY 1974. DOD spokesman Jerry W. Friedheim later told Star that top DOD officials insisted no final decision against proceeding with advanced version of F-14 had been made. (Kelly, W Star, 7/29/71, 4)
White House announced Administration had requested $112-million supplemental appropriation for DOD to pay for 12 additional F-111 fighter bombers. Washington Evening Star later said this would be sufficient to keep production line at General Dynamics Corp. Fort Worth, Tex., plant open. It -had been scheduled to close in spring of 1972. (W Star, 7/31/71, A13)
President Nixon formally changed name of Presidential Boeing 707 aircraft from Air Force One to The Spirit of '76. Change was made at request of David J. Mahoney, Chairman of American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. Air Force Two would retain its name. (AP, W Post, 7/31/71, A2)
FAA Administrator John H. Shaffer announced FAA was installing new computer-assisted weapon detection system at one gate of Dulles International Airport in Virginia to keep potential hijackers from boarding commercial flights. System automatically screened passengers at crate of 20 per min as they passed through electromagnetic fields that detected metal. Information was evaluated by computer that could discriminate between different metal objects on basis of weight. Alarm sounded when excess metal or gun was detected. (FAA Release 71-126)
New York Times editorial commented on resignation of Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg as AEC Chairman and appointment of Dr. James R. Schlesinger to succeed him: "In an earlier era the nation looked to the A.E.C. primarily to produce the nuclear weapons on which national defense policy rested. Today the emphasis has shifted to the task of generating vast amounts of nuclear energy for present and future needs, to do so economically and in a manner that safeguards the environment, and it is in this area particularly that Dr. Schlesinger will be expected to throw light and show leadership." He could "take another hard look at the prospects for controlled thermonuclear fusion as an energy source. Substantially increased research funds invested in this area might enable this country in the decades ahead to increase power production and consumption greatly at minimum cost to the environment," (NYT, 7/30/71, 30)
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