Mar 22 1967
From The Space Library
NASA launched ComSatCorp's Intelsat II-C (nicknamed "Atlantic II") comsat from ETR by three-stage Thrust-Augmented Improved Delta booster into elliptical transfer orbit in preparation for geostationary orbit. Transfer orbit had 22,115-mi (37,200-km) apogee, 183-mi 294-km) perigee, 660.56-min period, and 27° inclination. On March 25, ComSatCorp fired apogee motor transferring satellite into geostationary orbit over the Atlantic. Scheduled to enter commercial service April 6, Intelsat II-C would join EARLY BIRD 1, world's first commercial comsat, in providing service across the Atlantic and in fulfilling Project Apollo communications requirements. It was third satellite in ComSatCorp's INTELSAT II program to place two comsats in synchronous orbit-one over the Pacific, one over the Atlantic. First satellite Intelsat II-A-was launched by NASA Oct. 27, 1966, but failed to achieve synchronous orbit because apogee motor malfunctioned; second-Intelsat II-B was launched, Jan. 11, achieved synchronous orbit over the Pacific, and entered commercial service Jan. 27. INTELSAT II comsats, larger and improved versions of EARLY BIRD 1 (Intelsat I) satellite, were capable of handling television and data transmissions of up to 240 voice channels. (ComSatCorp PIO; ComSatCorp Release)
Cosmos CL was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 373-km (232-mi) apogee, 206-km (128-mi) perigee, 90.1-min period, and 65.7° inclination. Equipment performed satisfactorily. Satellite reentered Mar. 30. (AP, NYT, 3/24/67; GSFC SSR, 3/31/67)
NASA Aerobee 150A sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station carried AFCRL solar radiation experiment to 142-mi (229-km) altitude in test to complement March 14 mission which was not entirely successful. Primary objective was simultaneous measurement of solar extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) in upper atmosphere with Aerobee's photo-electric spectrometer and similar instrument on NASA's OSO III Orbiting Solar Observatory, launched March 8. (WS Release 67-11)
Maj. Michael J. Adams (USAF) flew X-15 No. 1 to 3,818 mph (mach 5.68) and 135,000-ft altitude during nine-min flight at Edwards AFB to: (1) provide pilot experience at high altitudes; (2) record stabilizer flow angle of attack; (3) test electrical loads; (4) check out 3rd landing skid; (4) check out pressure attitude indicator; (5) record data from X-15 sonic boom; and (6) check out ablative coatings on stabilizer. (NASA X-15 Proj Off)
An electrical arc caused by a break in insulation on a wire was "the most probable cause" of the Jan. 31 flash fire at Brooks AFB in which two airmen died, USAF investigative board concluded. Board said an electrical cord powering a work lamp outside oxygen-filled pressure chamber apparently developed a break in its plastic insulation, allowing wire to create an electrical arc against the aluminum floor. (AP, NYT, 3/23/67, 31 )
Noise problems arising from commercial jet aircraft operations, and the Government's attack on these problems were described by OST Director Dr. Donald F. Hornig in appearance before House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Advanced Research and Technology Subcommittee [see Feb. 1]. He stated: "At the request of the Chairman of the President's Advisory Committee on Supersonic Transport, Secretary McNamara, I assumed responsibility for defining and directing an interagency sonic boom program. Its goal is to determine the potential sources of difficulty or additional costs associated with commercial operation of supersonic transports." OST, said Hornig, had framed "action program" with FAA, NASA, and Depts. of Commerce and of Housing and Urban Development-responding to President Johnson's Transportation Message of Mar. 2, 1966. He added: ". . . NASA's aeronautics research program in the sonic boom problem areas is both broadly conceived and well defined to provide technical support to the FAA and to the aerospace industry in the national SST Development Program." (Text)
NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. Homer E. Newell told House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications that NASA did not know whether U.S.S.R. was adequately sterilizing its interplanetary spacecraft. "If we find . . . that . . . [Soviet] sterilization procedure is many orders of magnitude less good than ours, then we will be able to relax in our standards simply because there will be no value in our going through an expensive process only to find that they have already contaminated the planet. "However, we do not know at the present time, and there is reason to believe that their procedures may well turn out to be adequate." (Transcript, 446)
North American Aviation, Inc., and Rockwell-Standard Corp. announced agreement on proposal to merge into new corporation called North American Rockwell Corp. Proposal was subject to approval by directors and stockholders of each company. (WSJ, 3/23/67)
A record 45-million takeoffs and landings were recorded in 1966 by FAA's 304 airport traffic control towers. Figure represented 12% increase over 1965. (FAA Release 67-24)
Dr. Eugene G. Fubini, an IBM vice president, told IEEE meeting in New York that too many scientists and engineers-as prime movers of change-were not sufficiently attentive to the results of their discoveries and inventions. "Historically, scientists and engineers have underestimated or ignored the social and moral consequences of their work. Don't continue to make that mistake," he warned. Dr. Charles H. Townes, MIT provost, received IEEE's 1967 Medal of Honor for his "significant contributions in the fields of quantum electronics which have led to the maser and the laser." (Lieberman, NYT, 3/26/67, F1; Av Wk, 3/13/67,97)
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