Jul 12 1968
From The Space Library
Last USN flying -boat, SP-5B Martin Marlin, was formally retired from active service and turned over to Smithsonian Institution at ceremony at U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent, Md. Aircraft would be placed in proposed National Armed Forces Museum. (CR, 7/18/68, E6671)
Dr. Stephen B. Sweeney, governmental administration professor at Univ. of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Executive Director Emeritus of Univ.'s Fels Institute of Local and State Government, and Dr. Harold Asher, manager of General Electric Co.'s TEMPO section and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, had been sworn in as consult- ants to NASA Administrator James E. Webb. Dr Sweeney would specialize in university affairs, public administration, and application of science and technology to urban problems. Dr. Asher would review and analyze NASA'S systems for resource management. (NASA Release 68-124)
July 13: USAF C-5 Galaxy jet aircraft, flown by Lockheed-Georgia Co. test pilot Walter E. Hensleigh, completed successful 2-hr 44-min second flight with takeoff weight of 520,000 lb-believed to be 10 tons heavier than any previous aircraft takeoff weight. During ascent to 1,000 ft, crew cut each of four GE TF39 engines individually and restarted them in air. Auxiliary units also underwent cut-restart checks. (AP, W Star, 7/14/68, 14)
FB-111A, bomber version of F-111, successfully completed 30-min maiden flight from Carswell AFB, Tex., reaching 20,000-ft altitude and up to 660 mph. Equipped with advanced avionics, including onboard computers enabling pilots to alter missions in flight automatically, FB-111A's design incorporated basic fuselage of USAF F-111A tactical fighter recently grounded after three crashes in Southeast Asia. (DOD Release 652-68; AP, W Star, 7/14/68, A2; AP, W Post, 7/14/68, A5)
Team of NASA and Max Planck Institute scientists completed 28-day tour of Argentina, Chile, Netherlands Antilles, Peru, and Venezuela. They had explored potential sites for optical observation of high-altitude ionized cloud experiment proposed as cooperative project of German Ministry for Scientific Research and NASA. Release of barium vapor at 12,000- to 20,000-ft altitudes by Scout rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station was being considered. Barium cloud would be visible from large area of Western Hemisphere. (NASA Release 68-121)
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