May 6 1977
From The Space Library
MSFC announced its engineers had found a new way to recondition and lengthen the lifespan of nickel-cadmium batteries used in low earth orbit space missions. Using a device with a converter circuit and load-resistor relays to ensure proper discharge and avoid damage to the cells, the engineers had tested batteries with 2yr normal life in orbit, and had kept them running for 4.5yr, the equivalent of 23 600 orbits. Maintaining stored energy on low-orbit missions had been a NASA concern, especially after a power failure during the Skylab 1 mission had meant a loss of battery capacity that equipment then available could not correct in orbit. Besides offering longer life and higher reliability, the new device could detect low cell voltage and bypass failed cells. MSFC would build and test a battery of 116 series cells, using the new device for protection and reconditioning. (MSFC Release 77-81)
MSFC announced it had awarded Martin Marietta Aerospace's Denver division a $928 217 contract for construction work on a test stand for the Space Shuttle program. Modification of the giant hydrodynamic support system last used for Saturn V dynamic tests in the 1960s would allow mating all elements of the Shuttle for vertical ground tests scheduled to begin in 1978. The complete vehicle (orbiter, external tank, and two solid fuel rocket boosters) would occupy the stand together for the first time. (MSFC Release 77-79)
Earth-orbiting satellites had improved forecasts of water availability and warned of impending low water supply as a valuable tool to water management agencies in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon, NASA announced. Other cooperating agencies included the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bonneville Power Administration. The 4 states had begun a combined 4yr operational program using NASA Landsat earth resources satellites and Natl. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorological satellites to produce imagery of the snow lines along the Sierra Nevada that was faster and less expensive than conventional aerial surveys. Satellites also offered repeated mapping of the same snow cover area with a relatively constant perspective.
A continuing drought in the western U.S. had resulted from below normal snowfalls in the mountains, source of stream flow water supplies; reservoirs on the western slopes of the mountains had already dried up. Some areas had experienced drought for a longer period than others; Calif. had been hardest hit, with minimal snowfall in the Sierra Nevada for the second consecutive yr. (NASA Release 77-91)
ESA announced it had completed a revised program of switching on and testing the Geos satellite launched Apr. 20, since a malfunction of the launch vehicle had prevented the spacecraft from achieving its intended geostationary orbit. The 7 experiments were reported operational, and the two 20m booms had been extended to 2.5m without difficulty. Although the satellite could transmit 8hr of data a day, only half would be outside 5 earth radii (where the experiments had been designed to operate). The booms should deploy fully during the upcoming wk; the journal Nature called for prompt launch of the backup Geos. (ESA anno May 6/77; Nature, May 5/77, 8; May 12/77, 100)
Science magazine carried an article by Drs. T.B.H. Kuiper of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and M. Morris of the Calif. Inst. of Technology on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, based on extrapolations of known physical processes and known behaviors of terrestrial animals and humans. Concluding that interstellar travel would be practicable and that advanced beings might have reasons for making contact with humans, the authors reviewed the options and the interstellar-beacon frequencies proposed for use in such contact. (Science, May 6/77, 616)
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