Sep 5 1970
From The Space Library
NASA announced it had reversed April 8 decision to award $50-million ATS-F and ATS-G contract to General Electric Co. and would award contract to Fairchild Hiller Corp. instead. Decision was based on Aug. 26 report of ATS Procurement Review Committee (PRC) and recommendations of Selection Panel appointed by Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator, July 16. Panel concurred with PRC finding that procedural discrepancies had not affected outcome of competition and that cost difference between final proposals was not significant as basis for selection, but that important technical differences existed in which Fairchild Hiller was superior. It did not concur with PRC conclusion that Fairchild was superior in nearly all aspects of organization and management. (NASA Special Release; Memo of Decision)
Name "tranquility" had been given to new mineral discovered in Apollo 11 moon rock by scientists Paul Ramdohr and Josef Zaehringer of Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics at Heidelberg, West Germany, Baltimore Sun said. Tranquility-named for moon's Sea of Tranquility, Apollo 11 landing site-was compound of titanium, iron, and magnesium related to earth mineral titaniferous magnetite. International Nomenclature Commission would review designation of new mineral before name became permanent. German team also had confirmed theory that lunar rocks had lain on moon's surface for 500 million yrs and had never penetrated deeper than 0.9 m (3 ft). (B Sun, 9/5/70, A 10)
Venus VII, unmanned U.S.S.R. interplanetary probe launched Aug. 17, was on course 4 990 000 km (3 100 000 mi) from earth with all equipment functioning normally, official Soviet progress report announced. (AP, P Inq, 9/6/70)
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