Mar 26 1974
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 637 from Baykonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, into orbit with 35 604-km apogee, 35 595-km perigee, 23-hr 46.6-min period, and 0.2° inclination-the first Soviet satellite in geosynchronous orbit. The press later quoted American analysts as suggesting that Cosmos 637, which was stationed above the Indian Ocean, might be an engineering test for a full-fledged stationary communications satellite long planned by the Soviets to improve communications with the southern part of the U.S.S.R. and the Warsaw Pact countries. (GSFC Wkly SSR, 21-27 March 74; Shabad, NYT, 28 March 74, 20; SBD, 28 March 74, 153 ; Av Wk, 1 April 74)
The Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences' Subcommittee on Aviation held hearings to determine whether the Federal Aviation Administration and McDonnell Douglas Corp. had dealt adequately with cargo door problems on the DC-10 aircraft. Experts believed that the door had caused a 12 June 1972 near crash in Canada and the 3 March 1974 crash outside Paris that killed all 346 persons aboard.
Documents had revealed that, following the Canadian incident, the FAA had drafted an airworthiness directive requiring three improvements in the suspect rear cargo door. McDonnell Douglas appealed to the FAA, which then agreed to let the company issue voluntary service bulletins. An inspection of all 134 in-service DC-10s after the Paris crash had showed that two aircraft, including the Turkish airliner, had not been modified despite McDonnell Douglas records to the contrary.
Seven months after the Canadian incident the FAA, at the suggestion of the National Transportation Safety Board, had asked the company to consider a redesign of the vital systems, reinforcement of the passenger cabin floor, and more pressure vents. In a 25 Feb. 1974 letter to the FAA, McDonnell Douglas said that they did not "have the manpower avail-able at this time to undertake the study, nor are we in a position to accept this burden alone." (Egan, W Post, 23 March 74, A4; 27 March 74, A2; Witkin, NYT, 21 March 74, 1 ; 26 March 74, 1)
The Federal Energy Office directed oil refiners to provide airlines with sufficient fuel to meet allocations calling for 95% of 1972 supplies for trunk carriers and 100% for local service carriers, FEO also proposed that international airlines be authorized to draw on domestic fuel supplies if bonded fuel was not available at prices comparable to domestic costs. (FEO Release 74-116)
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