Feb 11 1965
From The Space Library
MARINER IV received 12 commands from JPL to check out spacecraft equipment that would be used if the spacecraft was still operating normally when it reached Mars next July 14. These commands dropped a lens cover off the television camera, turned on a scanning platform that carried the camera and two Mars sensors, turned on portions of television system and checked out the capability of MARINER IV to perform the encounter sequence. It was not planned to take television pictures during this sequence. The lens cover was dropped at this time rather than at planet encounter to shake loose any possible dust particles that might interfere with the Canopus sensor, a light sensing device that locked on the star Canopus to prevent the spacecraft from rolling. (NASA Release 65-43)
USAF Titan III-A rocket was launched from Cape Kennedy, hurled its third stage (transtage) and two satellites into orbit in a maneuverability test involving three different orbits. Primary goal of the mission was triple ignition of the transtage's engine. First firing, about five minutes after launch, injected the 7,000-lb. rocket-payload assembly into near-earth orbit of 128-mi. apogee and 108-mi. perigee. After traveling once around the earth, during which the rocket performed a deliberate somersault, the transtage ignited again, burned 37 sec., and shifted the rocket into an elliptical orbit of 1,766-mi. apogee and 116-mi, perigee. During one and one half orbits around the earth, the rocket performed a second deliberate somersault; a third firing put it in circular orbit with parameters of apogee, 1,737 mi.; perigee, 1,721 mi.; period, 145.6 min.; and inclination, 32.15°. Titan transtage then ejected a 69-lb. experimental communications satellite (LES I), and ejected a 1,000-lb. metal chunk to demonstrate its ability to launch more than one payload. LES I was to have fired a solid-propellant motor to move to an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 11,500 mi. and perigee of 1,725 mi., but the motor failed to fire. LES I continued to orbit near the transtage and the metal chunk. LES I (Lincoln Experimental Satellite) had been built by MIT's Lincoln Laboratory to test advanced components, materials, and techniques which might apply to future communications satellites. Radio signals were to be exchanged between LES and ground stations. (UPI, NYT, 2/12/65; AP, Houston Post, 2/12/65; AP, Balt. Sun, 2/12/65; U.S. Aeron. & Space Act, 1965, 133)
Flight testing of the parachute landing system for two-man Gemini spacecraft was completed. The test simulated an emergency in which a stabilizing drogue chute failed to deploy from the capsule, Dropped from a plane at 17,000 ft., the unmanned. two-ton capsule landed safely after a pilot chute and the main 84-ft.-dia. chute deployed on schedule. This was the tenth straight successful test. (AP, Houston Post, 2/12/65)
NASA announced that it would negotiate with Space Technology Laboratories and Thiokol Chemical Corp. for six-month, fixed-price contracts of approximately $1.5 million for definition of a program to develop and produce a 100-lb.-thrust rocket engine. The multipurpose engine, designated C-1, would be designed for spacecraft attitude control and maneuvering systems and also for launch vehicle ullage and attitude control systems. It would be powered by the hypergolic, storable liquid propellants monomethylhydrazine (MMH) and nitrogen tetroxide. (NASA Release 65-41)
FAA released the first two volumes of a comprehensive five-part report on the sonic boom public-reaction study conducted in Oklahoma City in 1964. Their main conclusion: weather had a greater effect in determining the strength of booms than suspected, but the effect was within a corrective capability. The first volume, "Sonic Boom Exposures During FAA Community-Response Studies Over a Six-Month Period in the Oklahoma City Area," prepared by NASA Langley Research Center, said measurements taken directly under the flight path of the supersonic fighters showed that about 80% of the booms were lower in intensity than scientists expected. About 20% equalled or exceeded the anticipated levels. "Meteorological Aspects of the Sonic Boom," prepared by the Boeing Co., revealed that: weather had a greater effect on booms generated by planes flying less than mach 1.3 than those produced by aircraft exceeding mach 1.3; overpressures were increased by headwinds but decreased by tailwinds and crosswinds, with variations as much as 20%, particularly in the mach 1.3 range; under some atmospheric conditions, including such factors as wind, temperature, and even the time of day, sonic booms may vary from a complete cut-off with no boom heard to heavy overpressures concentrated over a small area or spread almost unlimited over a wide lateral area; turbulence had the effect of distorting booms and increasing or decreasing intensity and distribution. (FAA Release 65-15; UPI, Minn. Trib., 2/12/65)
In a luncheon address to the National Security Industrial Association in Washington, D.C., Lt. Gen. W. A. Davis (USAF), Vice Cdr. of Air Force Systems Command, discussed AFSC accomplishments in 1964: ". . . Important strides were also made in the area of space. We carried out intensive studies on the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) , Last month the Secretary of Defense announced that proposals are being requested from industry for design studies to assist in developing the cost and technical information needed to proceed with full scale development of the MOL. Titan the Standard Launch Vehicle 5A, completed two highly successful test launches. Systems Command also provided support to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This included the use of the Atlas-Agena combination to launch Ranger VII on its successful photographic mission to the moon and MARINER IV on its way to Mars, We also conducted the first launch of the man-rated Titan It was very successful. "There are a number of tasks ahead of us in space. One of our most promising present programs is the Titan III space launching system. The Titan III will be used to launch the 24 satellites for the interim Defense Satellite Communications System. It will also be used to launch the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) , which is designed to determine man's capability to perform military functions in space. The MOL will have an important bearing on our future space capabilities." (AFSC Release) In an isolation test in caves 330 ft. below ground near the French Riviera, two volunteers were reported to be "steadily losing time." Antoine Senni was about three weeks behind the actual date, observing New Year's Day on Jan, 20; Josiane Laures thought the date was Jan, 4, when it was actually Jan. 20. Scientists were conducting an experiment on man's ability to function in an environment where there was no day or night. (Reuters, NYT, 2/11/65, 54)
Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. had been awarded $8,052,000 cost-plus-incentive contract for Agena D launch services at Eastern and Western Test Ranges during calendar year 1965, DOD announced. (DOD Release 87-65)
Maj. Gen. George P. Sampson (USA), recently retired as Deputy Director of the Defense Communications Agency, was appointed Director of Operations for ComSatCorp. (ComSatCorp)
Moscovsky Komsomolets reported that the wife of Valery Bykovsky, Russian cosmonaut, was expecting a second baby. (Reuters, Chic. Trib., 2/12/65)
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