May 11 1967
From The Space Library
President Johnson submitted to Congress NASA's 15th Semi-annual Report, covering January to June 1966, and praised the continued progress of US. space program: "The achievements reported here reflect not only our progress in space flight, but also new steps taken toward the real objective of all our efforts in space-the application of new knowledge to bettering the lives of all people. Already, we see dramatic examples of success in the satellites which have improved our weather forecasts and navigation, and which are extending radio and television communication to the farthermost regions of the earth. . . . The United States space program, as reflected in this report, continues to exemplify our Nation's conviction that the road to peace, progress, and abundance is through continued cooperation among all nations." (PD, 5/15/67,729-30)
To clarify apparently conflicting statements presented during Congressional testimony, NASA Administrator James E. Webb issued statement regarding selection of North American Aviation, Inc., as prime Apollo spacecraft contractor. In separate appearances before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Webb had indicated (1) that NAA was the unanimous choice and (2) that Martin Co. had been recommended by the NASA Source Evaluation Board in 1961. Webb explained: "Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden. . . were unanimous in their judgment that of the five companies submitting proposals . . . [NAA] offered the greatest experience in developing high-performance manned flight systems and the lowest cost. "In the selection . . . the work of the Source Evaluation Board was not rejected or discarded. It was used as the basis for a more extensive and detailed examination of all pertinent factors . . . necessary to determine whether the facts then available formed an adequate basis for our selection of a contractor. We decided in the affirmative and then proceeded to select the contractor the facts indicated offered the most to the government. " (NASA Release 67-122)
Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight, in its report to House Committee on Science and Astronautics, recommended that $445.8 million be cut from $3.4 billion requested by NASA for FY 1968 manned space flight program. Recommendation, which included $25-million reduction in Apollo program, was approved by full committee May 16. (W Post, 5/12/67, A13)
Glennan Space Engineering Building in Cleveland at Case Institute of Technology was dedicated. NASA Administrator James E. Webb said : "we need more men like NASA's first administrator . . . Dr. Keith Glennan . . . men who are willing. . . to seek out new facts, new concepts of reality as to the current human situation and [who] have the courage to base new and untried political, professional, industrial and technological ventures on information they test and learn to trust." Recognizing the value of institutions who provide graduate education, he said: "There is little further room to doubt that a high level of basic research, an intellectual activity that must be closely associated with graduate education, is indispensable to an advancing front of scientific knowledge. . . .', Webb referred to a June 1957 speech of J. S. McDonnell of St. Louis who had made predictions to graduating students at Rollak Missouri School of Mines. Prediction No. 1 had a satellite circling earth and moon in 12 years. Webb said accomplishment was completed in three months for earth and in two years for moon. Prediction No. 2 had a satellite circling earth and Mars in 23 years. Webb said this was accomplished in seven years. Prediction No. 3 had manned space flight in earth orbit in 33 years. Webb pointed out this was done in four years. Webb continued: "If we look backward, we can easily see that it took 37 years to conquer the earth's oceans . . . by the Caravelle sailing vessel [and] after that 37 years, the mind of man was never the same again. Control of the earth`s ocean avenues by England through the maintenance of a favorable balance of ocean technology was a predominant force for stability in the affairs of men for over 400 years [but] no clear favorable balance of air technology was held by any one nation long enough to create world stability. It was, in fact, a predominant force in the affairs of men for less than 60 years. Space technology will be a dominant force far longer than was the case for those of ocean and air. Not limited as was the ship to the water or the airplane to the air, or by international boundaries, or to the fuel that its tanks can carry, spacecraft are today unlimited tools to explore and measure the environment within which the earth itself moves and has its being." (Text)
NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station carried GSFC-instrumented payload to 44-mi (68-km) altitude to develop experimental atmospheric composition profiles in mesospheric region and to measure ozone distribution in regions of 12-40 mi (20-65 km) . Because of malfunction in parachute system only two minutes of ozone data were acquired. (NASA Rpt SRL)
Naval Research Laboratory scientists reported the Milky Way galaxy was not capable of producing numerous new stars; instead, its star-producing days were virtually over, based on data gathered from rocket-borne instrument, a Far-Ultraviolet Image Intensifier Spectrograph [see Mar. 16]. Mission of spectrograph was to measure amount of invisible, gaseous, molecular hydrogen in interstellar space along the Milky Way; should bountiful amounts of hydrogen be indicated by the spectrograph, proof of Milky Way's capability to produce numerous new stars would have been obtained. Instead, spectrograph measurements had found no such evidence. (AP, NYT, 5/14/67)
NASA awarded 28 12-mo, $2,400 predoctoral training grants to Univ. of Pittsburgh for public administration and to Georgia Institute of Technology, Univ. of Kansas, Cornel1 Univ., Purdue Univ., and Stanford Univ. for engineering design. (NASA Special Releases)
US. industry would spend $16.6 billion for R&D in 1967-double the amount spent in 1957, McGraw-Hill, Inc., reported in its annual economic survey. Federal Government had financed 54% or $8.4 billion of the $15.5 billion spent for research in 1966. Survey estimated that 1970 expenditures would reach $21 billion. It noted that more than half of the R&D was concentrated in two industries-aerospace, and electrical machinery and communications-both of which were heavily involved in defense and space exploration. (Koshetz, NYT, 5/12/67,67)
Civic groups such as the Lions, Kiwanians, and Rotarians could make significant contributions to UFO investigations by equipping police squad cars with cameras, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, USAF consultant on UFOS and Chairman of Northwestern Univ.'s Astronomy Dept., told the MIT Club meeting in Washington, D.C. Policemen, whom Dr. Hynek characterized in general as good observers, often sighted UFOS but were not believed, he said: "For some reason we think that a policeman whose testimony could be sufficient to send a man to the electric chair is simply not to be believed when he makes a UFO report." Charging that Americans had 46 neglected looking at flying saucers scientifically too long." Dr. Hynek suggested that a "two-dimensional" assessment which considered both the "strangeness" of the event and the credibility of the witness be undertaken by physical and social scientists. (Hines, W Star, 5/12/67, A5)
France had informed shipping companies and airlines that a zone of 185 km (115 mi) around Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific would be considered dangerous beginning June 1 because of imminent atomic tests. (AP, W Star, 5/11/67, A1)
U.K. was considering developing jointly with France a new generation of nuclear missiles to replace US.-made Polaris and Poseidon missiles, Karl E. Meyer reported in the Washington Post. British Prime Minister Harold Wilson had hinted in telephone interview that U.K. would soon announce its decision not to acquire additional US. missiles because of economic, political, and strategic considerations, Meyer said. Development of new missiles with France would be more beneficial to U.K. than purchasing US. missiles, Meyer suggested, because (1) it would prove that British were "European-minded" in defense policy and were weakening their ties with US.; and (2) it might persuade France to accept British application for admission to European Common Market. (Meyer, W Post, 5/11/67, A28)
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