Mar 19 1973
From The Space Library
President Nixon submitted Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: 1972 Activities to Congress. He said in his transmittal message: "The Apollo program was successfully concluded with the flights of Apollo 16 and 17. These missions were designed to obtain maximum scientific return and provided almost half the lunar exploration time in the Apollo program. Though it is far too early to attempt a definitive assessment of the value of this program, it is clear that one result will be a quantum jump in both our scientific knowledge and our technical expertise. Our unmanned satellites include a variety of vehicles ranging from meteorological, navigational and communication satellites to a new experimental spacecraft providing information on our resources and environment. Increasing practical applications for satellite technology confirm the immediate value of our efforts in space, while observatory satellites and others carrying specialized scientific instruments provide accurate and dependable data never before available to scientists on earth. The conclusion of the Apollo programs marks only another step in this Nation's push into space."
The year 1972 had also seen advances in aeronautical research and development. "It should be emphasized that work in this field is particularly vital if America is to maintain its leadership in the development and production of civil and military aircraft and engines. Our efforts in aeronautics and space will allow us to meet demands in these and other important domestic and foreign areas."
The report said the year had been one "of significant, advanced accomplishments in lunar exploration, exploration of the planets and the universe, and in aeronautical concepts." A balanced program had been initiated to "continue exploration in space, space science studies, application of space for benefits on earth, and the development of new technology for space and aeronautics" by the 16 Federal agencies reporting. (Text)
An on-the-job training program began at Johnson Space Center to train a team from Mexico's National Commission for Outer Space (Comision Nacional del Espacio Exterior) in remote sensing. The program would prepare the team to use a remote-sensing aircraft purchased by Mexico in December 1972. NASA's instrumented NP-3A aircraft would carry the team on a survey flight that also would provide information to six Mexican investigators using the earth resources experiment package (EREP) aboard Skylab. (JSC Release 73-43)
Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash.), with 27 cosponsors, introduced S. 1283, to establish an interagency "Earth Management Project" for research, development, and demonstration in fuels and energy for the coordination of and financial supplementation of Federal energy research and development. The bill would include an assistant administrator from NASA. (CR, 3/19/73, S5021-37)
Academician Anatoly A. Blagonravov discussed the role of automatic vehicles in a Pravda article: Automatic explorers could pave the way for manned exploration but both were necessary. Space science was an inalienable part of the national economy. "It is impossible to conceive of mankind's tomorrow without further penetration of outer space. This is not a mere curiosity but a necessity of the development of science and our civilization.” (FBIS-Sov, 3/23/73, L1-L3)
March 19-21: The U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission on Scientific and Technical Cooperation met in Washington. The U.S.S.R. agreed to help guide and finance a U.S. deep sea drilling project in the Antarctic. The project's drill ship, Glomar Challenger, had discovered evidence of natural gas in the floor of the Ross Sea. Drilling had also shown the Antarctic ice sheet to be 15 million yrs older than originally thought and was expected to increase knowledge of ocean basins, their climates, and inhabitants. Participation of the U.S.S.R. with the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling, a consortium of five U.S. institutions, would open up the Black and Baltic seas. Also agreed on were joint projects in pollution control and water resources management. (Sullivan, NYT, 3/23/73, 1)
March 19-29: U.S. and U.S.S.R. experts meeting in Moscow on air pollution exchanged information on purification of smoke gases at power plants and on reduction of harmful waste from diesel engines. Provision for the meetings had been made in a memorandum adopted September 1972 at the first session of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Commission on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection, which had provided for joint participation in designing projects, exchange of models, and exchanges of technical groups for testing, participation in symposiums, and obtaining supplementary information. (Tass, FBIS-Sov, 3/30/73, GI)
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