Mar 15 1976
From The Space Library
A Titan III-C rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center at 2:55 am local time (0755 GMT) carried into stationary orbit at about 36 000 km 2 experimental nuclear-powered comsats for the U.S. Air Force; 23 min later, the Navy's Solrad 11-A and 11-B riding piggyback on the same rocket were sent toward an orbit more than 120 000 km up and at opposite sides of the earth, where they would monitor solar flares that disrupt communications and navigation systems on earth. The Air Force's Les-8 and Les-9 were designed to guard against space jamming of U.S. military communications; spokesmen said the satellites were "right on the money" but would undergo various tests before they began their experimental message traffic. (NYT, 17 Mar 76, 39)
Insulation systems developed under contract at MSFC for the liquid hydrogen tanks of NASA's Saturn V launch vehicle had found new uses in the shipping industry, MSFC announced. Two firms-McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell International Corp.-had developed the polyurethane-foam systems for efficient cryogenic (low-temperature) insulation. The McDonnell techniques had been used to insulate storage tanks on liquefied natural-gas carriers in conjunction with a French naval engineering firm; the system, to be marketed jointly by the 2 firms, had the advantages of quick and easy installation with high efficiency that would reduce boil-off (loss through evaporation) for a given thickness of insulation. The Rockwell system was adapted for tuna-boat insulation; more than 40 boats had been equipped with the new insulation before being sold at prices ranging from $1 million to $4 million. (Marshall Star; 31 Mar 76, 4; MSFC Release 76-51)
Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, last man to leave footprints on the moon's surface when he commanded Apollo 17 in 1972, would leave government service 1 July. Cernan, a Navy captain, would complete 20 yr in the Navy in June and would retire from both the Navy and the astronaut corps. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963, Cernan had had 3 space missions (including 2 flights to the moon) and was the second American to walk in space, when he was pilot of Gemini 9 in June 1966. As lunar-module pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969, he and Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford had flown the module within about 15 km of the moon's surface in a full-scale rehearsal of all but the final moments of the first lunar-landing mission 2 mo later. In Dec. 1972, Cernan and Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt landed at Taurus-Littrow during the last scheduled manned lunar mission. In 1973, Cernan became special assistant to the Apollo program manager, working on the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project; in Sept. 1975, he became chief of training operations in the astronaut office. (NASA Release 76-47; JSC Release 76-20; W Star, 16 Mar 76, A-2)
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