Nov 21 1974
From The Space Library
21 November-20 December: NASA launched Intelsat-IV F-8 for the Communications Satellite Corp. on behalf of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization. The 1387-kg satellite was launched from Eastern Test Range at 6:44 pm EST on an Atlas-Centaur vehicle into a transfer orbit with a 35 899.2-km apogee, 536.5-km perigee, 10-hr 39.8-min period, and 26.0° inclination.
NASA'S primary objectives were to conduct design, performance, and flight readiness reviews for the Federal Communications Commission, to ensure compatibility of Intelsat spacecraft with NASA launch vehicles and launch environmental conditions, and to launch Intelsat-IV F-8 into a transfer orbit that would permit the spacecraft apogee motor to inject the spacecraft into a synchronous orbit for communications service.
The apogee kick motor was fired by ComSatCorp at 6:48 pm EST on 23 Nov., placing Intelsat-IV F-8 in a near-circular orbit with a 35 780-km apogee, 35 630-km perigee, 23-hr 5L9-min period, and 1.8° inclination. The spacecraft then drifted to its station at 174° E longitude over the Pacific Ocean, arriving 12 Dec. NASA adjudged the mission a success 20 Dec.
Intelsat-IV F-8 joined five operational Intelsat IV commercial comsats : three over the Atlantic-F-2 launched 25 Jan 1971, F-3 launched 19 Dec. 1971, and F-7 launched 23 Aug. 1973; one over the Pacific-F-4 launched 22 Jan. 1972; and one over the Indian Ocean-F-5 launched 13 June 1972. F-8 replaced F-4, which became a spare, orbiting over 178° E longitude. F-8 was designed to operate seven years and could provide multiple access and simultaneous transmission. It had a capacity for 3000 circuits with transponders in earth mode and 9000 circuits with transponders in spot-beam-coverage mode, or 12 TV channels, or certain combinations. (NASA MovRS, 22 Nov, 24 Dec 74; GSFC Wkly SSR, 21-26 Nov 74; NASA Release 74-305; INTELSAT Re-leases 74-62, 74-70; NASA Atlas-Centaur Mgr, interview, 30 July 75)
21 November: The U.S.S.R. launched Molniya 111-1 communications satellite from Plesetsk into orbit with a 40 683-km apogee, 628-km perigee, 12-hr 17.3-min period, and 62.8° inclination. The spacecraft was intended for long-distance telephone and cable radio communications in the Soviet Union, for transmission of color TV programs within the Orbita network, and for international cooperation. (Tass, FBIS-Sov, 22 Nov 74, U1; GSFC Wkly SSR, 21-26 Nov 74; LC Science Policy Research Div, interview, 9 Sept 75)
In a Skylab awards ceremony at Marshall Space Flight Center, Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, presented Group Achievement Awards to the Skylab Program Offices at MSFC, Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center, and NASA Hq. and to special Skylab teams. Dr. Robert A. Parker, NASA astronaut and Skylab program scientist at JSC, received an Outstanding Leadership Medal. Dr. Fletcher also presented 28 individual Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medals to principal investigators for Skylab experiments and to Comet Kohoutek scientific investigators. (MSFC Release 74-227; Marshall Star, 27 Nov 74)
21-22 November: New cost increases in the Viking program had raised the total cost of the mission to-more than $1 billion, NASA officials told the House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Space and Science and Applications. Dr. Rocco A. Petrone, NASA Associate Administrator, testified that the preliminary cost estimate of $364 mil-lion, presented to the Committee in 1969, had been nearly trebled by delay in the mission from 1973 to 1975, inflation, and technical problems in "developing the most advanced automated space equipment this country has ever attempted." The new total included a $930-million cost target, a $20-million contingency fund, and the cost of the Titan-Centaur launch vehicles. One orbiter and one lander spacecraft had been deleted from the program [see 10 Oct.], manpower had been reduced, and a number of tests had been eliminated. Dr. Petrone expressed "confidence in our present technical approach and our ability to meet cost goals." Dr. Edgar M. Cortright, Langley Research Center Director, attributed the "$120 million in unanticipated problems" experienced by mid-1973 to an underestimation of the complexity of the project at the outset: "We have been playing catch up ever since because of the low estimate to start with."
Questioned about a newspaper article saying the Viking lander might sink deep into Martian surface dust, Dr. Petrone said that tests mentioned in the article had been made some years earlier, not "two weeks ago" as reported. Dr. Noel W. Hinners, Associate Administrator for Space Science, testified that the lander's footpad area had been increased since the earlier tests and that radar observations had indicated the proposed landing sites for the first mission appeared "well within the capability" of the lander. Sites for the second mission were still being studied. (Transcript; O'Toole, W Post, 20 Nov 74, A3)
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