Sep 16 1965
From The Space Library
NASA announced selection of Aero Spacelines, Inc., for negotiation of a $1.5-million one-year contract, with provision for three one-year renewal options, to provide air transportation service on the Super Guppy for boosters and spacecraft from factories to test sites and launch centers. The Super Guppy was the only aircraft in existence that could fulfill size and weight requirements for cargoes such as the S-IVB stage of the Saturn IB and V launch vehicles, the Saturn IB and Saturn V instrument units, and the Lunar Excursion Module adapter. (NASA Release 65-296; MSFC Release 65-229)
France's first satellite, FR-1, arrived from Paris at Dulles International Airport and was taken to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for testing. The satellite, to be launched for France by NASA in a joint project to study very low frequency radio waves and the distribution of ionization in the earth's magnetosphere, would be sent to Ling-Temco-Vought, Texas, where it would be modified to fit a Scout-type rocket. Launching was scheduled for late 1965. Memorandum of understanding for the FR-1 program was signed Feb. 18, 1963, between NASA and the French Space Agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales ( CNES ) . (NASA Release 65-59; Wash. Post, 9/16/65)
Third Saturn S-IB stage (S-IB-3) arrived at MSFC aboard the NASA barge Palaemon. First stage for the third Saturn IB launch vehicle, it would be captive-fired at least twice before being returned to Michoud Assembly Facility for post-static-test checkout. (MSFC Release 65-228; Marshall Star, 9/22/65, 1)
Modest turnout of spectators at the Sept, 14 motorcade in Washington, D.C., for Astronauts Cooper and Conrad received editorial comment in the Washington Evening Star: "... We think it is an encouraging trend. Just possibly the lack of hoopla and gapers suggests that America has accepted the space program as serious business instead of a circus of stunt men." (Wash, Eve. Star, 9/16/65)
Picket lines were established at all entrances to Kennedy Space Center, NASA as the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers began a nationwide strike against the Boeing Co. Key issue was union demand that Boeing abandon performance analysis system of rating employees for promotion, demotion, and discharge, Union contended that seniority should be the sole factor in job security; Boeing claimed its system was necessary to keep the company competitive in the aerospace industry. (AP, Balt. Sun, 9/16/65; UPI, Houston Chron., 9/16/65)
Senate Commerce Committee reported favorably S.774, which would authorize a study of the practicality of adoption of the metric system. (CR, 9/16/65, 15856)
A turbocompressor, first flight-weight hardware for an eight-kilowatt space power generating system, arrived at NASA Lewis Research Center for testing. It would use a 30;ft. solar mirror to gather the sun's rays and operate on a Brayton cycle with an unreactive gas as its working fuel, In space, heat source could be a reactor, a radio-isotope, or a solar heat receiver supplied by concentrated sunlight reflected from a mirror. Turbocompressor was built for NASA by Air Research Manufacturing Co, as part of NASA's Advanced Technology Program. (LRC Release 65-64)
South African police and scientists investigated report that a flaming "saucer" about 30 ft, in diameter had landed on a main highway near Pretoria, Scientists who examined the alleged landing site were reported to have found a six-ft,-wide section of the tarred road badly burned. (AP, Balt, Sun, 9/17/65)
Deploring the "belated decision" to finance the space defense of the U.S., syndicated columnist David Lawrence wrote: "It is interesting to note that on October 7, 1963, Louis C. Wyman, Republican, who was then a member of Congress and formerly was attorney general of New Hampshire, submitted alone a minority report to the House appropriations committee, in which he criticized at length the administration's indifference to the military significance of space developments. He said: 'As a first priority, rather than racing to the moon, the United States should establish and maintain an integrated weapons system in inner space within manned space capsules that have a capability to observe, intercept and, if necessary, destroy other objects in space,' "Mr. Wyman's extensive report will go down in history as a remark. able prophecy as well as an interesting example of how often minority reports become majority opinion." (Lawrence, Kansas City Times, 9/16/65)
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that USAF would send 12 F-5A jet fighter aircraft to Vietnam this fall to evaluate the performance of this new multipurpose aircraft under combat conditions, Built by Northrop Corp, the F-5A was a lightweight supersonic aircraft that could carry 6,200 lbs. of bombs, rockets, air-to-air missiles, or other ordnance, With two 20-mm. cannons mounted in its nose, it Could take off fully loaded from unpaved runways. (DOD Release 614-65)
September 16-17: Rendezvous of four spacemen-Soviet Cosmonauts Belyayev and Leonov and American Astronauts Cooper and Conrad-at the IAF Congress was described in Life by Jim Hicks: "First man to try his hand at arranging a rendezvous was Jules Bergman, ABC's space reporter. The Russians agreed. Bergman thought the Americans had agreed ... and on the afternoon of the day Cooper and Conrad arrived in Athens ... [they] waited for Cooper and Conrad to appear. Finally Bergman phoned Julian Scheer, the NASA publicity man who was traveling with the astronauts. When would the Americans show? "Why they would not appear at all, said Scheer, He said no one had cleared such a meeting with him , . The Russians were angry and left the scene in a huff, and at a news conference later, Sedov made no secret of the fact that they considered the incident a snub and an affront. "An air of mistrust now prevailed. There was, as Pete Conrad observed later, 'some real bad feeling around this place,' "Scheer, trying to right things, sent a letter to Dr. William H. Pickering, president of the International Astronautical Federation, urging that the astronauts be brought together... . "Friday afternoon Cooper and Conrad spoke before a Congress session... "As soon as that meeting was over, the two Americans jumped from the conference stage and headed for the white-uniformed Belyayev. Conrad [said] through the Russian's interpreter 'Tell him we would like to show them all our pictures, . Tell him we've got 250 slides and they can see them all, When would they like to see them?' " Hicks said Belyayev exchanged his lapel pin with Cooper and Conrad gave his to Belyayev to be delivered to Leonov, Hicks continued: "That night, considerably more progress was made at the Congress's large banquet. Cooper and Belyayev, strategically seated within talking distance, even went so far as to exchange watches... Finally the astronauts warmed up the cosmonauts from the earlier chill. They all posed for a four-way handshake photograph, No more fooling around through official channels, drawled Cooper. Why don't you fellows come up to our place for breakfast tomorrow morning? "The Russians agreed... The talk, through an interpreter, was almost entirely personal and non-technical... Conrad and Leonov exchanged writing pens. All traded autographs and Leonov . , drew a picture of himself walking in space... "As they departed, the spacemen locked in Russian-style bear-hugs... Said one of the Soviet pilots, 'We are colleagues and we have a full understanding, Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad are good boys,' " (Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 9/17/65, A10; Hicks, Life, 10/1/65, 113-116)
September 16-20: Four NASA Nike-Apache sounding rockets with Univ. of California (Berkeley) experiments to measure fluxes and spectra of precipitating electrons responsible for auroral x-ray activity were launched from Ft. Churchill, Canada. The first rocket reached only 17-mi. altitude because Apache motor did not ignite; so, although instrumentation functioned properly, no data were obtained. Second Nike-Apache reached 100-mi. altitude, all instruments functioned as planned, and good data were expected. The third also performed well, although peak altitude (91 mi.) was somewhat below predicted, and good data were expected. No data were obtained from the fourth flight, although instrumentation functioned well: peak altitude was only 14.8 mi. because of a burnthrough at the Apache headcap and separation of the payload from the rocket. (NASA Rpts. SRL)
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