Feb 8 1973
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 548 from Plesetsk into orbit with a 284-km (176.5-mi) apogee, 209-km (129.9-mi) perigee, 89.4-min period, and 65.4° inclination. The satellite reentered Feb. 21. (GSFC SSR, 2/28/73; SBD, 2/9/73, 227)
Rep. Kenneth J. Gray (D-Ill.) introduced H.R. 4225 for himself and Rep. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. (D-Mass.), Rep. John J. McFall (D-Calif.), and Rep. Charles M. Price (D-Ill.) Section 3 of the bill would repeal section of P.L. 92-520 that had changed the name of Jet Propulsion Laboratory to H. Allen Smith Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (CR, 2/8/73, H932; Sen Com on Public Works)
French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau spoke via Ats 3 satellite (launched Nov. 6, 1967) from his research vessel Calypso in the Antarctic to reporters in the U.S. and Europe, to describe his research. In experiments with Ames Research Center, Cousteau had made constant measurements of chlorophyll, temperatures, and water transparency, sending data to ARC for comparison with satellite data. The experiment sought to learn how to monitor biological productivity of oceans from outer space. His expedition had been in Antarctic waters for two months. It would head up the South American coast and terminate in Los Angeles in the summer. (Blakeslee, NYT, 2/9/73, 57; Transcript Cousteau Press Conf, 3/1/73)
The Canadian National Research Council launched the sixth and final sounding rocket in a series to investigate growth and decay of auroras [see Jan. 30 and Feb. 2]. The series had included two NASA launches. A Black Brant IVB carried a 84-kg (185-1b) payload from Churchill Research Range to 729-km (453-mi) altitude to investigate the quiet pre-breakup of the early evening aurora. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NRC prog off)
President Nixon took his first ride in the new Spirit of '76 presidential Boeing 707 jet aircraft. The aircraft, which replaced the 707 put into presidential service in 1962, had been flight-tested 100 hrs by the presidential pilot, Col. Ralph D. Albertazzi (USAF), before the President's flight from Washington, D.C., to San Clemente, Calif. (UPI, W Post, 2/9/73, 27; Boeing Co. PIO)
A Washington Evening Star and Daily News editorial commented on the supersonic transport effort: Environmental and economic problems and order cancellations had created a bleak outlook for the French and British Concorde. The modest budget request for research into the environmental impact of the U.S. SST by the Nixon Administration was realistic and should be approved by Congress "for the nation's protection." But the Administration should be "resigned to its defeat of 1971 in the building of an SST prototype.” (W Star & News; 2/8/73, A10)
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