Dec 20 1972
From The Space Library
Air Force launched unidentified satellite by Atlas-Agena booster from Eastern Test Range. Satellite entered orbit with 40 728-km (25 307-mi) apogee, 31 012-km (19 270-mi) perigee, 1440.4-min period, and 9.7° inclination. (Pres Rpt 1973; Sheldon, Sci Policy Research Div, Library Congress; SBD, 12/26/72, 245)
Apollo 17 astronauts were examined on board recovery ship U.S.S. Ticonderoga by Dr. Charles K. La Pinta, Apollo medical team leader. He pronounced them "as good as any crew of astronauts that I have ever seen. They appear to be one of the more well- rested crews to have returned from a space flight." (Reuters, W Past, 12/21/72, A17)
Soviet President Nicolay V. Podgorny had sent congratulations to President Nixon on successful conclusion of Apollo 17 mission, Moscow radio reported. Message had conveyed best wishes to brave crew, their flight, and explorations that "have contributed greatly to the study of space." (FBIS-Sov, 12/21/72, Gl)
NASA's M2-F3 lifting body, piloted by John A. Manke, completed 27th and last flight after air-launch from B-52 aircraft. Flight objective was to evaluate reaction augmentation system during boost. M2-F3 reached 19 800-m (65 000-ft) altitude and mach 1.4. (NASA proj off)
Representatives of 12 nations at European Space Conference ministerial meeting in Brussels agreed in principle to participate in space shuttle phase of U.S. post-Apollo space program, support French plan to build L-35 launcher, and fuse European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) and European Space Research Organization (ESRO) into one agency by Jan. 1, 1974. Space programs of individual European countries would be blended into common European program with each country maintaining independent choice of what projects to join. Conference President Theo Lefevre, Belgian Minister of Space, commented at close of meeting, "For the first time I can say I am satisfied with the results of the space conference." United Kingdom and West Germany, who had agreed to abandon plans for European launcher [see Dec. 8], did not rule out participation (ESRO Release, 1/19/73; NYT, 12/21/72)
Discovery of ordinary star and pulsar "waltzing" together in constellation Hercules was reported by Dr. Harvey Tananbaum of American Science & Engineering, Inc., during Sixth Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics in New York. Discovery had been made through x-ray observation from Uhuru (Explorer 42) Small Astronomy Satellite, launched by Italy for NASA Dec. 12, 1970. X- rays from pulsar caused nearest part of its companion star to glow brightly as pulsar flew its orbit. Star became brightest when pulsar was on earth side of it, then suddenly dimmed as pulsar eclipsed bright region briefly, creating waltzing effect. (Sullivan, NYT, 12/22/72, 8)
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, said in Christmas message to NASA staff; "We are nearing the end of a historic and decisive year for NASA. We have completed the first great era of space exploration and use and begun a promising new one, with more emphasis this time on use. Well done, Apollo! Well begun, Shuttle!" (Text)
Australian Defense Minister Lance Barnard announced closing of deep space tracking station near Woomera, South Australia. He said station was no longer needed to meet NASA requirements. Station's last operation had been tracking of Pioneer 10 Jupiter probe, launched March 2. (AP, NYT, 12/21/72)
Newspaper editorials commented on successful conclusion of Apollo 17. New York Times: "Astronauts Cernan, Schmitt and Evans returned safely to earth yesterday in a splashdown that marked the brilliantly successful end of one of the most successful series of scientific experiments in history. Less than four years ago men had never been even in the vicinity of the moon. Now about two dozen men have orbited the satellite, and a dozen have walked and ridden on its surface. Hundreds of pounds of lunar rock and soil are now . . . on earth, available for study, while instruments planted on the moon give daily reports of lunar conditions, and will do so for years. The moon is now a distant but accessible outpost of earth, better known now than the North Pole was before Admiral [Robert E.] Peary discovered it in 1909. Project Apollo may be ended, but man's interest in the moon is still very much alive." (NYT, 12/20/72, 42)
Baltimore Sun: "No doubt the success of the $25 billion Apollo program will encourage astronauts of the future to hurtle far past the moon to the solar planets, and perhaps beyond. But the immediate significance of Apollo is much closer to home. We sere today much more aware of the fragility of our spaceship earth and of the unique chance mixture of elements that sustain life as we know it. If this vision of a rather small but infinitely precious planet can inspire us to take better care of it, Apollo will have produced its greatest dividend." (B Sun, 12/20/72, A12)
Pittsburgh Press: Apollo program demonstrated "that the U.S. is still a will-do, can-do nation rather than a won't-do, can't-do has- been. In the days ahead we must hold fast to this national legacy of pioneering-and continue to nurture among our people the spirit of adventure, the quest for knowledge, the drive to explore the unknown, whether it be in the vast vacuum of space or in the tiny test tube of a laboratory. For therein lies our future, and the future of all mankind." (Pittsburgh Press, 12/20/72)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "So let Apollo's epitaph be that the pro-gram was magnificent but that it is also done. The evils that Apollo was never intended to cure remain and deserve-as they have all along-attention. If money is to be spent on further space projects such as the shuttle and the Skylab, let Congress insist first that funds go where they are needed most. And that, as 1972 ends, is not out among the stars but in America. The moon, after all, can wait for its next human visitor. But for the poor, the hungry and the dispossessed, time wasted is misery compounded. The measure of our greatness will be found in how quickly the nation turns to them." (St. Louis P-D, 12/20/72)
Washington Post: At outset of Apollo program "we spoke glowingly of the challenge but we were principally in a 'race'-one that the cynical conventional wisdom of the time had it we would lose." Apollo had ended "with the prospect of the joint Apollo-Soyuz testing mission. Somewhere in all this . mixed in with the great political trends and the particular political accidents that have contributed to the altered relations among the world's super powers, the technology of Apollo itself played a part. You do not have to be a sentimentalist or a hopeless romantic to acknowledge that manned space flight in general and the successful moon landings in particular have had at least a subliminally humbling and unifying impact upon people, that the first astronauts to land on the moon were seen to be proxies for human-kind, that their bravery and their achievement were regarded as human triumphs and that the first photographs of earth taken from the moon conveyed a unique and invaluable sense of planetary vulnerability and openness." (W Post, 12/20/72)
Detroit News: "Today we know that the dream was not an impossible dream. And there will be more dreams to come and new worlds to conquer, all of which is, in essence, the true purpose of civilization, provided all men share the knowledge acquired and thus reap the harvest of benefits." (D News, 12/20/72)
Chicago Tribune: "Welcome home. . The trail you helped to blaze will be used again some day." (C Trib, 12/20/72)
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