Apr 2 1974
From The Space Library
Dr. John E. Naugle, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, testified in FY 1975 authorization hearings before the Senate Commit-tee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences that Orbiting Solar Observatory OSO-I, scheduled for 1975 launch into orbit, was expected to acquire ultraviolet solar spectra of the most detailed resolution ever obtained. Spacecraft and experiment assembly was to be complete by mid-1974. A cooperative program with the European Space Research Organization, called International Sun-Earth Explorers (ISEE), planned three satellites to make simultaneous measurements. Two spacecraft, "Mother" built by the U.S. and "Daughter" built by ESRO, would travel close together in the same highly elliptical orbit, measuring magnetic and electric fields, energetic particles, and plasma properties. The third space-craft, called "Heliocentric" and built by the U.S., would be placed near one of the unique points in space where the earth's and sun's gravity balance each other. The spacecraft would travel around the sun and close to the earth to learn what radiation was impinging on the earth's magnetosphere. Data from the three satellites would help to untangle spatial from temporal changes in radiation fields around the earth. A cooperative effort with ESRO and the United Kingdom would be the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) scheduled for launch into geosynchronous orbit in 1976 to observe high-resolution spectra in the uv with a telescope controllable from the ground in real time. Techniques gained would be applied later to NASA'S Large Space Telescope.
Associate Administrator for Tracking and Data Acquisition Gerald M. Truszynski reported deactivation of NASA'S transportable tracking station in Newfoundland and closing of Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network stations at Corpus Christi, Tex., and Carnarvon, Australia. The Newfoundland station, placed in caretaker status after the Skylab missions, would be reactivated for the 1975 Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission and then permanently closed. The Deep Space Network portion of the Johannesburg station was being phased out beginning June 1974; the STDN facility would be phased out following the near-earth phase of the Viking mission. The closings would leave 15 stations, adequate to handle the projected workload for the next five years and consistent with long-range planning. (Transcript)
The House Committee on Appropriations' Subcommittee on Transportation approved a Federal Aviation Administration budget request of $3 million to begin the Aeronautical Satellite (Aerosat) system. The two-satellite system, to be built in cooperation with the European Space Research Organization and Canada, would provide over-the-ocean communications for aircraft. In Subcommittee hearings FAA Administrator Alexander P. Butterfield said recent changes in the program had eliminated airline opposition. The changes would limit the size and cost of the program, preclude the imposition of user charges on aircraft operators for recovery of R&D costs, eliminate any commitment for a follow-on operational system, include a very-high-frequency capability for evaluation against L-band, and limit the number of earth terminals. Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the participants was pending Senate approval of the FAA budget request. (Subcom Staff Off, inter-view; Av Wk, 8 April 74, 21; SBD, 3 April 74, 190)
NASA announced selection of General Electric Co., Grumman Aerospace Corp., and TRW Systems Group to negotiate three six-month, $600 000, fixed-price contracts to make parallel system definition studies for the Earth Observatory Satellite (EOS) mission. The studies were to design a low-cost modularized spacecraft with a space platform for testing sensors and collecting remotely sensed data for a variety of applications missions. EOS would be designed for launch by both conventional boosters and the space shuttle. (NASA Release 74-80)
Federal Aviation Administrator Alexander P. Butterfield said in a written statement to the Senate Committee on Commerce's Subcommittee on Aviation that he had directed FAA offices to issue airworthiness directives to correct all safety-related aircraft design changes. Such directives carried the force of law and required FAA inspection. In addition, all safety-related functions of the FAA were being centralized under one official. The FAA was also studying ways to prevent rapid decompressurization on jumbo jets after accidents. The actions followed investigations of the 3 March Turkish Airlines, Inc. DC-10 crash outside Paris that had killed all 346 persons aboard. By 14 May, 43 airworthiness directives and 7 telegrams had been issued, nearly double the usual rate. (Egan, W Post, 3 April 74, A3; Av Wk, 20 May 74, 15)
The U.S.S.R. had requested permission, during the February visit of a Soviet science delegation to Australia, to establish a jointly controlled satellite tracking station in Australia, the New York Times reported. The U.S. had expressed concern that the Soviet Union might use the scientific station to monitor U.S. messages to bases Australia and reportedly believed the proposal would be rejected. (NYT, 2 April 74, 4)
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