Dec 12 1967
From The Space Library
President Johnson, on tour of Michoud Assembly Facility, reaffirmed support for US. space leadership. "Ten years ago, we could put scarcely 100 pounds into orbit about the earth. Today we can orbit 285,000 pounds. That is progress. That is something we are proud of . . . something we are doing together. "In the 9 years since I first introduced in the . . . Senate the Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, we have seen the power of our rocket engines increase 50 times-from 150,000 to 7,500,000 pounds of thrust in the engines that you build here. "Not long ago, we had to stand by and watch other countries accomplish what we could not accomplish. I will never forget the days of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, and the real concern. . . . "We were the most scientifically advanced nation on the face of the earth but we did not launch man's first earth satellite. "We were backward because we did not choose to adventure. We did not choose to have vision. We did not choose to look forward. Now let us remember that our future achievements-or our future failure-will depend on how far ahead we choose to look and how far ahead we choose to think. "If we think second, and if we look third, then we are going to wind up not being first. . . we will advance in space to the extent that our people and their representatives are prepared for us to advance and are prepared to pay the cost of that advance. We may not always proceed at the pace we desire. I regret . . . that there have been reductions and there will be more. There have been interruptions, and I hope that we have had all we can take. But I do have faith and confidence in the American people. "We will not surrender our station. We will not abandon our dream. We will never evacuate the frontiers of space to any other nation." (SBD, 12/13/67,218; PD, 12/18/67,1696-7)
Two sounding rockets were launched from NASA Wallops Station. Nike-Apache carried Univ. of Colorado experiment to 60-mi (96.4-km) altitude to obtain a vertical profile of the density of nitric oxide in region at 47-75-mi (75-120-km) altitude with a scanning uv monochromator. Payload was first to utilize Tomahawk clamshell nose cone. Instruments performed satisfactorily, but late ignition of rocket's 2nd stage caused 12-mi (20-km) loss in apogee. Nike-Cajun carrying GSFC-instrumented payload used grenade-explosion technique to measure temperature, pressure, density, and wind in region 22-59-mi (35-95-km) altitude in coordination with nitric oxide experiment. Rocket performed satisfactorily, reaching 68-mi (109.6-km) altitude. The near-simultaneous launches were intended to permit analysis of theory relating nitric oxide concentration to temperature and absorption of radio energy. (NASA Rpt SRL)
USAF awarded Martin Marietta Corp. a $4,392,994 increment to a previously awarded contract for design, development, fabrication, and delivery of Titan III boosters. (DOD Release 1169-67)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
