Mar 25 1964
From The Space Library
First TV transmission from Japan to the U.S. was made, using NASA'S RELAY II communications satellite. Quality of the live pictures as well as the sound was excellent In the telecast Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda offered his country's apologies directly to the U.S. for the "unfortunate coincidence" of the stabbing of U.S. Ambassador Edwin Reischauer by a deranged Japanese youth the previous day. The eight-minute telecast Was seen simultaneously on the three national networks. (NASA Release 64-63; UPI, NYT, 3/26/64, 3; AP, Wash. Post, 3/26/64)
NASA launched Nike-Apache from Ft. Churchill, Canada, to 120-mi. altitude, its instrumented payload studying particle intensities and energy distribution of electrons with energies greater than 50 keV. Instrumentation performance was good, but there was some question as to validity of data from the plastic scintillator and further study of the data was planned. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
House of Representatives voted (283-73) to approve NASA FY 1965 budget authorization of $5,193,810,500. It defeated the only two amendments offered: one proposed by Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R.-Ill.) to delete the $14 million for the new Electronics Research Center in the Boston area, and one proposed by Rep. Henry S. Reuss (D.-Wis.) to eliminate the $24.7 million for aeronautic R&D on supersonic transport aircraft. (CR, 3/25/64, 6071-6123)
Rep. Melvin Laird (R.-Wis.), speaking in favor of the amendment to eliminate SST funds from the NASA FY 1965 authorization, discussed his reasons for supporting the amendment: "Within the next 3 or 4 weeks I predict there will be announced a new single manager program by the administration as far as supersonic transport craft is concerned. It will not be a responsibility of NASA, Defense or FAA to carry out this program. A new authorization to transfer appropriations will be submitted to the Congress to carry out this program under single management. "As long as we are going to have a new program submitted for a Polaris-type single manager concept it is not necessary to include this authorization in the NASA authorization bill. I for one heartily endorse the plans of the administration to combine the management of this new aircraft development program in the hands of a single manager responsible to the President. This is in accordance with the Black report. . . ." (CR, 3/25/64, 6121)
NASA Lewis Research Center granted $900,000 authorization to AEC Hanford Atomic Products Operation for R&D in connection with advanced nuclear rocket engines-fabrication, test, and evaluation of tungsten uranium oxide fuel elements for advanced nuclear rocket engine now under study at Lewis. The agreement brought value of work being performed at Hanford for NASA to more than $1.5 million. (LRC Release 64-21)
NASA awarded two contracts to Aerojet-General Corp. for development of M-1 1.5-million-lb.-thrust rocket engine. One contract Was for $190,075,635 and provided for R&D work; the other contract was far $48,550,074 and provided for necessary test facilities Development of the liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine was under technical direction of NASA Lewis Research Center. (NASA Release 64-66; LRC Release 64-31)
With the move of the Advanced Spacecraft Technology Div., ,NASA Manned Spacecraft Center had located 2,000 persons at the new Clear Lake site. One third of the 60 facilities at the site had been certified by the U.S- Corps of Engineers as operational or ready for occupancy. (MSC Release 64-59)
Senators Albert Gore (D.-Tenn.) and Ralph Yarborough (D.-Tex.) said DOD negotiations to lease channels from ComSatCorp were grounds for repeal of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962. Labeling the law a "giveaway" of a national resource, Senator Gore said it would be "remarkable and bizarre" for the Government to lease the system. "We will be paying for using what we have given away." (Wash. Post, 3/26/64)
Minuteman ICBM exploded shortly after launch from silo at Vandenberg AFB, and USAF was investigating cause of the explosion. This came five days after USAF conducted 50th launch in its Minuteman development program, a successful AMR flight. (M&R, 3/30/64, 16)
March 25-26: Government and airline technical officials met in Washington to review findings in their independent evaluations of designs proposed for the U.S. supersonic transport aircraft. On the basis of further, detailed consideration of airline and Government evaluation findings, a decision would be made on the future course of the SST program: (1) selection of an airframe and an engine proposal for development, (2) selection of two airframe and two engine proposals for one-year detailed design competition, or (3) determination that the program should be terminated or redirected if it is decided that none of the proposals meets established criteria. ( FAA Release 64-26)
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