Aug 10 1965
From The Space Library
A Scout Evaluation Vehicle (Sev) was successfully launched by NASA from Wallops Station, Primary purpose of the mission was to demonstrate in flight the operation of improved vehicle features: (1) use of new second- and fourth-stage rocket motors with improved thrust characteristics; (2) test of Scout's capability to fly a "dog-leg" course from Wallops Station by yaw torquing, performed during the third-stage coasting period; (3) test of in-flight performance of improved spin motors to stabilize the fourth stage of the vehicle; (4)
demonstration of the Scout air transportability concept by launching a vehicle which, after complete assembly at Wallops, had been airlifted from and returned to the launch site in simulation of a transcontinental trip. All flight objectives were met, including injection of Army Corps of Engineers SECOR V (Sequential Collation of Range) geodetic satellite into an orbit with apogee, 1,504 mi. (2,421 km.) ; perigee, 702 mi. (1,130 km.) ; period, 122 min,; inclination, 69.,23°. Elliptical orbit should enable SECOR V to transmit measurements of distances up to 2,000 mi,-twice the distance possible with earlier Secor versions which had been launched into 600-mi, circular orbits. The satellite would map the surface of the earth, pinpointing the location of land bodies separated by large expanses of ocean. (Wallops Release 65-49)
X-15 No. 3, piloted by Capt. Joseph H. Engle (USAF), reached maximum speed of 3,550 mph (mach 5,20) and a maximum altitude of 271,000 ft. The purpose of the flight was to obtain data on the boundary layer noise, and reentry maneuvering techniques. (NASA X-15 Proj, Off.; X-15 Flight Log)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center had selected the Apparatus Div, of Texas Instruments, Inc., for contract negotiations expected to exceed $1 million for development of a weather-measuring device to be carried on the Nimbus B weather satellite: an experimental sensor, Iris (Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer), would be designed to collect information on the atmosphere's vertical temperature, ozone, and water vapor distribution on a worldwide basis. Nimbus B was scheduled for launching by a Thorad Agena D booster in 1967. (GFSC Release G-21-65)
Explanation of rash of UFO sightings was given by Howard Margolis in the Washington Post: "The latest flurry of saucer reports, according to the Air Force, seems to be based on such things as a conjunction of the planet Jupiter and some bright stars, compounded by atmospheric conditions that produce an enhanced twinkling effect, further compounded by the annual summer meteorite showers; still further compounded by some other atmospheric effects that tend to produce bogus radar reflection, and finally compounded by the well-marked tendency of any good UFO sighting reported in the newspapers to lead many more in the same area-in this case the Midwest-for a time thereafter." (Margolis, Wash. Post, 8/10/65)
First regularly scheduled air cushion service in the U.S. was initiated between Oakland and San Francisco over San Francisco Bay in a yearlong test, authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Board, to determine feasibility of using Hovercraft in ferrying passengers in metropolitan areas. Eight round trips a day would be provided by a seven-ton, $300,000 craft by Bell Aerosystems. (NYT, 8/8/65, 74)
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