Oct 29 1971
From The Space Library
NASA held Mariner 9 pre-encounter news briefing at NASA Hq. Dr. John E. Naugle, Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, and Robert H. Steinbacher, Mariner Project scientist at JPL, described mysterious yellow dust storm-greatest observed since 1956-that had developed on Mars Sept. 23 and 24 and was first detected through telescopes Sept. 26. Steinbacher said, "The question as Mariner goes into orbit . ..is, will we be doing mapping or covering some dynamic atmospheric phenomenon.... " It would be fortuitous "if, with the cameras and other instruments of Mariner 9, we catch the most dramatic event on Mars." (NASA Release, 10/20/71; Haughland, W Post, 10/30/71, A3; Sehlstedt, B Sun, 10/30/71, A3)
NASA's 13th Annual Awards Ceremony was held in Washington, D.C. Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, presented NASA Distinguished Service Medal to Charles J. Donlan, Deputy Associate Administrator (Technical), OMSF; Vincent L. Johnson, Deputy Associate Administrator, OSSA; Bruce T. Lundin, Lexc Director; Bernard Moritz, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Organization and Management; Oran W. Nicks, iaxc Deputy Director; and John W. Townsend, Jr., NoAA Associate Administrator. Group Achievement Award was presented to Apollo Recovery Communications ATS Satellite Support Team, GSFC; Ionospheric Studies Project Team; Oso 7 Recovery Team, GSFC; Planetary Atmosphere Experiments Test Projects, ARC and Hq; and San Marco Project Team. Other awards included Exceptional Service Medal to 42 persons and Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal to 28. (Program; NASA Release 71-218)
Technique for accurately forecasting occurrence and location of solar flares by inferring solar magnetic fields from hydrogen light photos taken by earth-based optical telescopes was announced by NOAA. Technique, developed by NOAA scientist Patrick S. McIntosh, was alternative to use of magnetographs for determining solar magnetic- field data. It had enabled NOAA's Space Environment Laboratory at Boulder, Colo., to forecast region of sun where solar flares would occur, correctly 85% of time for all flares and 95% of time for major flares. NASA had contracted with NOAA to refine its solar forecasting capabilities in preparation for operating solar telescopes aboard Skylab beginning in spring 1973. (NoAA Release 71-153)
Synthesis, without using water, of six amino acids that formed building blocks of life by exposing combination of formaldehyde, ammonia, methanol vapor, and formic acid vapor to uv light for 25 days, was reported in Nature by Columbia Univ. scientists Goesta Wollin and David B. Ericson. Because chemicals in combination had been identified in interstellar space, findings suggested life might are on moon or waterless planet. (Nature, 10/29/71, 61)
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