Mar 16 1965
From The Space Library
Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, told the House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications that NASA had an obligation to make information gained from space exploration available to the public, He continued: "To help achieve this, a National Space Science Data Center was established at GSFC in April 1964... "The Data Center is responsible for the collection, organization, indexing, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of all scientific data resulting from experiments in space and the upper atmosphere. Since its establishment the Data Center has begun: (1) to maintain a continuing inventory of data from sounding rockets and spacecraft; (2) to acquire data generated by spacecraft previously launched; (3) to collect selected ground correlative data; and (4) to produce the announcement publications which support its functions. "In anticipation of the need for this facility, NASA has established a line item in the Physics and Astronomy budget, Data Analysis, of three million dollars in FY 1966. Of this, 600 thousand dollars is for the operation of the Data Center and 2.4 million dollars is for analysis of data from a flight experiment under the flight project. After the initial results have been published by the Principal Investigator and the data are placed in the data center, the additional analyses of these data will be funded from Data Analysis funds on the basis of proposals from competent scientists throughout the Nation . . . This approach is expected to . . . encourage them to use all of the available information in their theoretical research." Dr. Newell discussed NASA's orbiting observatory program: "The primary reason for . . . solar studies is to meet the overall NASA objective to expand human knowledge of space phenomena. . . . "OSO-C (OSO-C) is the next spacecraft to be launched and it is undergoing final testing at this time. On 30 May a solar eclipse of unusually long duration will occur. Every effort is being made to launch OSO-C prior to this event so that two OSO's, with complementary payloads, can be operating and transmitting unique data on the solar radiation at the time of the eclipse." He said that the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) program would make a major contribution to our understanding of earth-sun- environment relationships and that although OGO I had not functioned as planned "it has proven that the basic spacecraft design is adequate and that large numbers of experiments can be integrated and operated from a single satellite. Furthermore, should OGO I continue to transmit data for a reasonable period, it is expected that the results will contribute substantially to studies of the Earth-Sun relationships. "Investigation of the OGO I failure indicated there was no common cause for failure, but as a result of the investigation, design modifications and additional tests are planned for future OGO spacecraft. The modifications include: (1) relocation of the horizon scanner and certain boom appendages to assure a clear field of view for the horizon scanners; (2) the use of a new type development spring and the addition of separate appendage lick-off' springs; and (3) the relocation of the omnidirectional antenna." (Testimony; NASA Auth. Hearings, 461-580)
The communications blackout problem was discussed by Dr. Hermann H. Kurzweg, NASA Director of Research, Office of Advanced Research and Technology, in testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Advanced Research and Technology: "One of the phenomena that occurs in gases at high temperatures is ionization, that is, electrons are torn away by the high speed collisions of the gas atoms and molecules. . . . The free electrons, produced by the high temperatures in the shock layer around a reentry vehicle, interfere with and block the propagation of radio signals. . . . This effect produces the communications-blackout problem. To understand what is going on and to eliminate, or at least minimize this communication difficulty, one must be able to calculate the distribution of free electrons about the body in order to predict when the plasma sheath will become opaque for certain radio frequencies. This calculation cannot be made until the flow field (temperature, density, pressure and velocity) about the body is known. A significant part of the fluid physics program is concerned with the investigations of flow fields. The results of these studies also give us better information on the heat transfer to reentry bodies. "As a possible remedy for the communications blackout, we are studying the characteristics of various gases, called electrophylic gases, which have the unique property of capturing free electrons. Such a gas, which effectively reduces the electron concentration when injected into the flow, might solve the problem. . .. This work is tied closely with the work on radio attenuation going on at the Langley Research Center and the technique is being adapted to test a variety of fluids suggested by the work at Langley." (Testimony ; 1966 NASA Auth. Hearings, 447-62)
First observance of Robert Hutchings Goddard Day. On the floor of the Senate, Sen, Stuart Symington (D-Mo.) spoke of Dr. Goddard's achievements as summarized by G. Edward Pendray in Technology and Culture (Fall 1963) : "Dr. Goddard "Was the first to develop a rocket motor using liquid propellants I liquid oxygen and gasoline) during the years 1920-25. "Was first to design, construct, and launch successfully a liquid-fuel rocket-the event we mark today. "First developed a gyrostabilization apparatus for rockets in 1932. "First used deflector vanes in the blast of rocket motor as a means of stabilizing and guiding rockets, also in 1932. "Obtained the first U.S. patent on the idea of multistage rockets, in 1914, "First explored mathematically the practicality of using rocket power to reach high altitude and escape velocity, in 1912. "Was first to publish in the United States a basic mathematical theory underlying rocket propulsion and rocket flight, in 1919. "First proved experimentally that a rocket would provide thrust in a vacuum, in 1915. "Developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the bazooka near the end of World War I, although his plans lay unused until finally put to use in World War "First developed self-cooling rocket motors, variable thrust rocket motors, practical rocket landing devices, pumps suitable for liquid rocket fuels, "Forecast jet-driven airplanes, and travel in space." (CR, 3/16/65, 5051-52)
• In commemoration of Goddard Day, Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator and other Washington officials telephoned greetings via RELAY II to Dr. Goddard's widow in Worcester, Mass. The call had been arranged by Vice President Humphrey, Chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council. Other events commemorating Goddard Day: At NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a film on Dr. Goddard's life and work was premiered; at NASA Manned Space Flight Center. Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter spoke to several hundred science students about Dr. Goddard and rocketry; at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, special recognition was shown, and at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum an original Goddard rocket was displayed. (NASA Release 65-87)
At the dedication of a new laboratory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in memory of rocketry pioneer Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard, AFSC Commander General Bernard A. Schriever said that Dr. Goddard's writings still provided guidance to 1965 rocket men, General Schriever said the nation had made significant strides since Goddard conducted his first successful rocket launch 39 years ago, "His booster and its payload reached an altitude of -11 feet and traveled 181 feet before it impacted after a flight lasting about 2½ seconds, By contrast, the first two-man Gemini orbital space shot scheduled for later this month will reach several hundred miles into space for three orbits... "The Air Force Titan II booster and the Gemini capsule stand almost 110 feet over twice the altitude achieved by Dr. Goddard's historic rocket." Mrs. Esther G. Goddard. Dr. Goddard's widow. attended the ceremonies. (AP, Balt. Sun, 3/17 65 )
A low-temperature, primary, non-rechargeable battery had been successfully tested over a range from -100° C to 68° C. NASA Lewis Research Center engineers reported. Designed by the Livingston Electronic Co., the battery delivered constant power and, when fully developed, could be used on Mars where the nighttime temperatures were -100° C and the average daytime temperature -30° C. (LRC Release 65-20)
North American and European television broadcasters met at ComSatCorp headquarters in Washington, D.C, and announced outline of inaugural broadcast between the two continents to demonstrate possibilities of Early Bird communications satellite for television use. Plans called for major part of telecast to be live transmissions of events in various countries. It would include live broadcasts from participating ground stations in Europe and North America, a short documentary history of past events carried on satellite television, and a brief explanation of how Early Bird worked and what it would mean to communications in the future. (ComSatCorp Release)
Sen. Ralph Yarborough (D-Tex.) said on the floor of the Senate that results of Government-sponsored research should be "freely available to the American public" and that he "viewed with . . . skepticism any proposal to create a private monopoly" over this information. (CR, 3/16/65, 5051)
A NASA-sponsored, 34-day spacecraft atmosphere test began as six Navy and Marine Corps fliers entered a space capsule at the Naval Air Engineering Center's Bioastronautics Test Facility in Philadelphia. The fliers would wear a full pressure space suit during three weeks of the period, eat a dehydrated menu, and breathe 100% oxygen while exposed to a simulated altitude of 27,000 ft, Investigators would conduct periodic tests to determine the overall effects, physiological and psychological, upon each of the men. (AP, Balt. Sun, 3/17/65)
Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director of NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, told a press conference that "there is a question whether astronauts can stand long confinement, let alone weightlessness," Dr. Gilruth was in Los Angeles to accept the 1964 Spirit of St, Louis Medal from the ASME at the Aviation and Space Conference. (Miles, L. A. Times, 3/17/65; NAA S&ID Skywriter, 3/19/65, 1)
Abraham Hyatt, a former NASA Director of Plans and Program Evaluation, delivered the 9th Minta Martin lecture at the Conference on Aerospace Engineering at the Univ. of Maryland. He said that while much had been learned about the space environment since 1958, we still had only meager knowledge of the processes that operated on the sun; the sun-earth relationship; the sources of energy of the observed physical phenomena in space; the planets; and of many other properties of space. For a better understanding of the origin and space environment of the solar system, the origin and characteristics of the universe, or the possibility of life on other planets, measurements and experiments in space would be necessary for a long time to come, he said. (Program Notes)
Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala., received an honorary doctorate of laws from Iona College. (NYT, 3/17/65, 38)
Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus, dean of Minnesota Univ.'s Institute of Technology and past chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, urged the Senate Commerce Committee to establish sea-grant colleges that could exploit ocean resources. He said that land-grant colleges had done a magnificent job in furthering agriculture and the mechanical arts and that sea-grant colleges could do the same in the field of oceanography. Dr. Spilhaus also spoke in support of a bill to provide for expanded research in the oceans and Great Lakes by creation of a national oceanography council. (AP, NYT, 3/17/65, 52)
Yevgeny Artemyev, vice chairman of the Soviet Union's State Committee of Inventions, announced Moscow's intention to ratify the 82-yr.-old Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The agreement required that each member state grant the citizens of other member countries in the matter of patents, trademarks, and other industrial property rights the same treatment it accorded its own nationals. The Soviet Union would be the 68th country to adhere to the convention. (NYT, 3/17/65)
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