Dec 14 1977
From The Space Library
In its final launch of 1977, NASA sent Japan's domestic comsat Cs (Sakura) into a synchronous transfer orbit from the Eastern Test Range on a Delta at 7:47pm EST. Transfer-orbit elements were: 35 936km apogee, 166km perigee, 28.82° inclination. The apogee boost motor fired at 10:27pm EST Dec. 15 to begin maneuvering the Cs over the South Pacific to a station at about 135°E above New Guinea on the equator south of Japan.
The 677kg hatbox-shaped spacecraft (including apogee motor) was 3.48m long and 2.18m in diameter, covered with solar cells, and 'would weigh 340kg in orbit. It would be the first comsat to carry both C-band (6 to 4GHz) and K-band (30 to 20GHz) frequency ranges: K-band coverage would be for the main islands, C-band for the remote islands. An antenna horn reflector extending 128.8cm above the solar array would provide 33db K-band coverage to the main islands and 25db to the remote islands. Ford Aerospace had built the spacecraft under contract from Mitsubishi Electric Co. of Nagoya, which had prime contract responsibility under Japan's Natl. Space Development Agency (NASDA). Cs, designed for both telephone and television communications technology experiments, relaying signals between fixed and mobile stations, would provide coverage to the Japanese islands for at least 3yr.
NASDA would reimburse NASA for providing launch support for this mission, at an estimated cost of $16 million. The NASA portion of the mission was adjudged successful on Feb. 23-24, 1978. (NASA Release 77-244; mission summary M-492-211-77-01 [prelaunch] Dec 14/77, MOR M-492-211-77-O1 [postlaunch] Feb 28/78)
NASA announced that Pioneer 11 would fly just outside the rings of Saturn during its first encounter with the giant planet in 1979. The spacecraft would pass 30 000km (18 000mi) from the edge of the outermost ring and would swing in under the plane of the rings to a distance of 25 000km (15 000mi) from the planet's surface. Dr. Noel W. Hinners, NASA associate administrator for space science, and A. Thomas Young, director of planetary programs, had made the decision to fly the Pioneer outside rather than inside the rings mainly because NASA wanted to use it as a pathfinder for the two Voyager spacecraft headed for Saturn encounter in 1980-81. The Pioneer would cross the ring plane at about the same distance as the trajectory that would use Saturn's gravity to propel Voyager 2 toward Uranus.
The uncertainties regarding a ring crossing even at 30 000km (18 000mi) from the outer edge of the rings called for NASA "to do everything we reasonably can to ensure Voyager's success," said Young. Should the Pioneer not survive the rings, NASA would have to revise its plan of sending Voyager 2 on to Uranus; however, a successful pass by Pioneer 11 would increase confidence in committing Voyager 2 to the Uranus option even if Voyager 1 had not achieved all its objectives at Saturn. An outside pass offered much better odds for success than an inner one, which would bring the spacecraft as close as 6000km (3700mi) to Saturn's surface. The 1979 flyby by Pioneer 11 would be the first close encounter with Saturn; until the rings of Uranus were discovered, Saturn was considered the only ringed planet in earth's solar system. The origin of the rings remained unknown, but their composition was defined by astronomers in 1970 as ordinary water ice, and radar readings in 1973 detected snowball-size chunks of solid material. (NASA Release 77-250)
LaRC announced that Dr. J.H. Wilkinson of the U.K.'s National Physical Laboratory, author of textbooks on algebraic processes, would speak at the Dec. 19 colloquium. Wilkinson, who broke ground in floating-point and backward error analysis and in eigenvalue solutions, would describe the early days of electronic computer development, his experiences using one of the first working computers, and the beginnings of numerical analysis on an automatic digital computer. (LaRC Release 77-58)
LaRC announced that Ed Yost, who made the world's longest manned balloon flight, would speak at the center Dec. 20 on his attempt to cross the Atlantic that failed just short of the coast of Portugal but broke 8 world records, "most successful failure in ballooning history." (LaRC Release 77-59)
Marshall Space Flight Center reported it had coped with the threat of a serious power shortage when maintenance and emergency shutdowns dropped the Tennessee Valley Authority's generating capacity by a third at the same time that severe cold weather moved into the area. On Friday, Dec. 9, TVA had asked NASA and the U.S. Army to reduce power use by half, as it expected the shortage to continue for some time. C. Horton Webb, director of MSFC's facilities office, said the plant maintenance division had worked around the clock turning heat on and off to keep buildings from freezing, and had asked employees to help in minimizing use of electrical equipment. Security guards helped by closing blinds and turning off lights and equipment wherever possible. Webb said the combined effort had reduced power use by 50% on Saturday and 65% by Sunday morning. (Marshall Star, Dec 14/77, 1)
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