Jan 20 1966
From The Space Library
Little Joe II launch vehicle boosted a five-ton unmanned Apollo spacecraft to 15-mi. altitude from WSMR in test of ability of Launch Escape System (LES) to rescue the spacecraft from an abort at medium altitude. Planned pitch-up maneuver was executed and satisfactory launch escape vehicle performance demonstrated; successful canard operation caused Command Module to stabilize in proper attitude. After jettison of the LES, the hard part of the boost protective cover, and the forward heat shield, Command Module made safe descent on its three main parachutes. Test, conducted at maximum-Q conditions, was slightly marred by telemetry failure. ‘‘(NASA Release 65-348; WI, NYT, 1/21/66,10; AP, Balt. Sun, 1/21/66)’’
NSF’s Special Commission on Weather Modification issued a report recommending greatly increased research on international weather modification and the behavior of the weather and climate in general. Report also recommended thorough studies to gauge the biological, social, economic, political, and legal consequences of all kinds of weather modification both “deliberate attempts to modify local weather conditions for the good of the total population” and changes that “man’s increasingly large and complex society bring about inadvertently.” Foundation’s report was a companion to one published Jan. 7 by NAS. ‘‘(Text)’’
H.R. 8210, a bill to provide US. tax immunity to the European Space Research Organization, was reported to the Senate by the Finance Committee. Floor action had not yet been scheduled. ‘‘(CR, 1/20/66,719)’’
Dr. Pyotr Kapitsa, director of the Institute of Physical Problems of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, deplored the productivity gap between US. and Soviet science in an article in Komsomolskaya Pravda. He urged U.S.S.R. to weed out unproductive research workers periodically: “It would . . . be possible to transfer 15 to 20 percent of our staffs from science to industry every year and to take into research well-prepared and qualified youth. In this manner we would improve the quality of the scientific staffs and also not close the door of science in the face of the young.” He noted that the number of scientific research workers was almost the same in the two countries-800,000 Americans compared with 700,000 in the Soviet Union-and said that US. scientists were responsible for one third of the world’s scientific output (in terms of research papers published) compared with only one sixth for Soviets. ‘‘(Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1/20/66, 2; Science, 1/28/66, 432)’’
NASA Assistant Administrator Breene M. Kerr presented a charter to the recently formed Northern Alabama Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. Kerr announced NASA Administrator James E. Webb had been elected to succeed Harlan Cleveland as president-elect of ASPA. Cleveland had resigned when appointed ambassador to NATO. ‘‘(Marshall Star, 1/26/66, 1)’’
Blanche W. Noyes, FAA air marking specialist and veteran pilot, was awarded the Brazilian Medal of Merit of Santos Dumont at the Brazilian chancery in Washington, D.C., for outstanding and meritorious services to Brazilian aviation. Mrs. Noyes was the first American aviatrix to receive the award. ‘‘(FAA Release 66-8)’’
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