Mar 16 1973
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
Apollo 16 and 17 lunar samples, representing the widest variety of soil and rock from 'both missions, were presented at Johnson Space Center to Soviet Academy of Sciences representatives Vladimir Shcherbina and Lev Tarasov by Dr. Paul W. Gast, JSC Chief of Planetary and Earth Sciences Div. The presentation of three grams (one 'tenth ounce) each of rock and soil from the Descartes and Taurus-Littrow landing sites was part of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. agreement for exchange of lunar samples. (JSC Release 73-28)
Some members of Congress were urging a second series of Skylab missions beginning in 1976, Aviation Week & Space Technology reported. The purpose would be to avoid the hiatus in manned space exploration between the joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975 and the first orbital flight of the space shuttle in 1978. Dr. James Fletcher, NASA Administrator, had estimated the cost of a second Skylab series at less than $1 billion if the same experiments were flown. Sen. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R-Conn.), would try to add funds for a second Skylab to NASA's FY 1974 authorization. (Av Wk, 3/12/73, 16)
Brazil was reported to be negotiating with several companies for a $100-million domestic communications satellite system to link its cities with remote areas not reached by ground systems. A special government commission would study proposals for the satellite program to relay thousands of simultaneous phone calls and multiple TV channels. If the program was authorized, Brazil would become the third country in the world with a nationwide domestic comsat system. (LATNs, Today; 3/16/73)
A crew escape module was being tested by the Air Force at Holloman Air Force Base, N. Mex. The detachable crew compartment of a B-1 advanced bomber, designed by Air Force System Command's Aeronautical Systems Division and Rockwell International Corp., would be able to save four men from a disabled aircraft over land or water. The compartment could be blasted free of the aircraft by rocket engines; the fins and spoiler would deploy for stabilization until the parachute opened to bring the men down safely. (ARC Release 15.73)
The Subcommittee on Priorities and Economies in Government of the congressional Joint Economic Committee released the report Federal Transportation Policy: The SST Again. The British-French Concorde supersonic transport was a commercial failure because of high costs, limited range-payload capabilities, and unknown environmental effects, the report concluded. It recommended that no further attempts be made to provide funds for a U.S. SST. (Text)
NASA launched a Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket from 'Poker Flats, Alaska, carrying a Univ. of Minnesota and Univ. of New Hampshire auroral studies experiment. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily but the tracking radar lost the signal at 55 sec. (GSFC proj off)
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