Oct 9 1973
From The Space Library
The original name Cape Canaveral was restored to Cape Kennedy by the Dept. of the Interior, acting on a unanimous recommenda- tion by an interagency committee of the Board on Geographic Names Historians believed the Cape had been named Canaveral by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon more than 400 yrs before, the Orlando Sentinel Star later reported. The action made no change in the name of NASA'S Kennedy Space Center, named for the late President John F. Kennedy. (Dept Int Release, 10/9/73; CR, 10/10/73, 118880; 0 Sen Star, 10/10/73, 1)
Johnson Space Center announced it would issue a $1.2-million cost-plus-fixed-fee supplemental agreement to an existing Skylab Payload Integra-tion contract with Martin Marietta Corp. Denver Div. The agreement was for earth resources experiment package hardware evaluation, in-cluding evaluation of EREP hardware performance during Skylab mis-sions. (JSC Release 73-133)
U.S. technological progress had proceeded "almost without interruption" during 70 yrs of flight, Marquis Childs said in his Washington Post column. The doubters had "always been proven wrong." In astronautics, Skylab was continuing successfully and work was progressing on the space shuttle. "As for the scientific benefits, perhaps only a few special-ists can give a proper evaluation. But the cynics who spoke derisively of spending billions to put some clown in the sky are wrong on several scores." The aircraft production record was equally impressive. In 1972 the U.S. had made 79% of the aircraft being operated by the world's airlines, exclusive of the U.S.S.R. and the People's Republic of China. The achievements in U.S. production, discovery, and invention were "in painful contrast to the failures in self-government illustrated by the grim mess in Washington, It may not be too much to say that if we find a way out of the morass, the swamp of intrigue, deceit and doubt, it will be thanks to American productivity." The Smithsonian Institu-tion's new Air and Space Museum was to be dedicated July 4, 1976. "That no one can predict what manner of man will preside over the occasion is a melancholy commentary on the gap between technology and politics." (W Post, 10/9/73)
October 9-12: A radical new growth hormone theory evolved from Ames Research Center studies was introduced by ARC scientist Dr. Richard E. Grindeland during a Baltimore, Md., symposium on growth hormones. Dr. Grindeland's theory that the growth hormone in blood was chem-ically different from that in the pituitary gland had originated from ARC research to determine effects of physiological stresses like acceleration, simulated weightlessness, chemical agents, thermal extremes, and nutri-tional status on the human body. The theory, which the symposium sug-gested would have profound effect on the understanding of growth hormone physiology, showed that radio immunological methods detected only a minute fraction of the concentration of growth hormone in the blood. (ARC Astrogram, 10/25/73, 1)
October 9-19: A 37-member delegation from the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) visited the U.S. to discuss plans for the space shuttle Spacelab, which ESRO would build under the Memoran-dum of Understanding between the U.S. and nine European nations signed Sept. 24. The delegation attended an Oct. 9-10 Spacelab Pre-liminary Design and Definition Study at Marshall Space Flight Center; visited the Downey, Calif., facility of Rockwell International Corp., prime shuttle contractor; toured Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers; and attended an Oct. 18-19 summary discussion meeting at MSFC. (MSFC Release 73-143; KSC Release 238-73; Marshall Star, 10/3/73, 1; MSFC PAO)
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