Feb 20 1976
From The Space Library
Astronomical observations and laboratory experiments spanning 16 yr had failed to detect any signals of life in outer space, the 142nd annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was told. The session in Boston heard reports on a 4-galaxy scan using the largest radiotelescope in the world-the 600-m-dia. antenna at Arecibo, P.R.-from Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell Univ. and his Cornell colleague, Dr. Frank B. Drake, director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at Arecibo. "Of the trillion stars we looked at in four galaxies," Dr. Sagan said, "there is not a single one that at the time of our observation was devoting a major effort to communicate with us." Another effort-a 4-yr scan by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, W.Va., of 659 stars in the region of the Milky Way-had yielded negative results after analysis of 90% of the observations. However, fewer than a millionth of the stars in the Milky Way had been scanned, for very brief periods, at only a few wavelengths. Negative results did not rule out the possibility of receiving the looked-for signals some day, the meeting was told. (NYT, 21 Feb 76, 40; B Sun, 21 Feb 76, A-3; W Star, 20 Feb 76, A-3)
NASA announced selection of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Co. of Seattle for award of a $20-million contract to build an experimental flight research aircraft for use in noise-reduction technology. Boeing would modify a government-furnished C-8 Buffalo transport aircraft into a quiet short-haul research airplane (QSRA) for the Ames Research Center's noise-reduction research program, aimed at reducing aircraft-noise impact on U.S. communities and congestion at major airports. The redesign to meet QSRA concepts would enhance aircraft performance and control at low speeds, and would demonstrate propulsive-lift technology that would permit civil transport aircraft to achieve a short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. STOL aircraft could use runways at existing smaller airports to relieve traffic at large metropolitan airports, as well as to reduce noise impact. (NASA Release 76-33)
A simple, inexpensive, and effective method of suppressing noise in wind tunnel testing of space vehicles would be patented by two MSFC engineers, MSFC announced. While developing an acoustic environment for reentry of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster, Paul W. Howard and Luke A. Schutzenhofer of MSFC's Systems Dynamics Lab. found their acoustic data distorted by background noise reflected at transonic speeds from the walls of the wind tunnel, causing shock waves. The primary aerodynamic cause of the background noise was found to be the edgetone effect of high-velocity windflow over holes in the perforated walls of the tunnel; covering the perforated walls with wire screening minimized direct contact between the airstream and the edges of the holes, and the noise was greatly reduced. The temporary fix proved so successful that the screens were permanently installed, and the patent should be issued to the public by early summer. (MSFC Release 76-44)
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