Dec 17 1973
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 616 from Plesetsk into orbit with a 326-km (202.6-mi) apogee, 206-km (128-mi) perigee, 89.8-min period, and 72.9° inclination. The satellite reentered Dec. 28. (GSFC SSR, 12/31/73; SBD, 1/2/74, 2)
The first scientific report on the findings of the Soviet remotely controlled lunar explorer Lunokhod 2 (launched Jan. 8 aboard Luna 21) during its 37-km (23-mi) traverse of the moon's surface had been published in Pravda, the New York Times reported. Chemical analysis of the soil had shown a decrease in iron content and an increase in aluminum as Lunokhod had traveled from the plains into the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. Samplings taken near the landing site in the Lemonnier Crater at the eastern end of the Sea of Serenity had shown 6% iron and 9% aluminum. The ratio changed to 4% iron and 12% aluminum near the uplands. The change in content of aluminum was a distinctive feature of lunar geology; on the earth the amount of aluminum remained constant in continents and the ocean bottoms. Soviet scientists hoped to compare the lunar soil data with samples returned by the Apollo 17 astronauts (launched Dec, 7, 1972), who explored the Taurus--Littrow Valley 225 km (140 mi) away. (Shabad, NYT, 12/17/73, 66)
Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (D-Minn.) introduced S. 2819 to establish an Office of Solar Energy Research within the Atomic Energy Commission to conduct research and development to ensure the use of solar energy for national energy needs. (CR, 12/17/73, S23017-24)
Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot, scientist, inventor, and fifth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 101. He had been honored on his 100th birthday in 1972 by having a site on the moon named after him by the International Geophysical Union. Dr. Abbot, an astrophysicist, had specialized in solar energy. In 1938 he had patented a solar engine that focused sunlight, using mirrors and sapphire lenses, into a steel cylinder where superheated air performed the same function as expanding steam in a locomotive or turbine. He refined the engine in a later patent, but never found anyone to build a prototype. At his 100th birthday celebration he said, "The sun will be there long after we need it. I wish I had gotten to work on this sooner." (Hailey, W Post, 12/18/73, B11 ; A&A 1972)
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