May 27 1969
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CCLXXXIII into orbit with 1,501-km (932.7-mi) apogee, 196-km (121.8-mi) perigee, 102.0-min period, and 81.9° inclination. Satellite reentered Dec. 10. (GSFC SSR, 5/31/69; 12/15/69; NYT, 5/28/69, 16)
Special message to Apollo 10 crew from five Soviet cosmonauts was released by Soviet Embassy: "We Soviet cosmonauts followed your difficult work very closely. We sincerely admire the high accuracy with which you carried out all the maneuvers planned, your excellent preparedness and courage." Message was signed by Cosmonauts Gherman S. Titov, Andrian G. Nikolayev, Aleksei Leonov, Georgy Beregovoy, and Vladimir Shatalov. (W Post, 5/28/69, A13)
International comment on NASA's Apollo 10 mission: U.N. Secretary General U Thant said flight was "a thrilling compound of great skill, boundless courage and fabulous technology, as impressive for its perfection as for its informality and its great humor. . . . It is refreshing to have been able to turn for a moment from all our troubles on earth to this magnificent spectacle of man's extraordinary capacity for achievement and peaceful quest." Sir Bernard Lovell, Director of U.K.'s Jodrell Bank Experimental Station, said mission represented almost miraculous achievement attainable only by finest technology and engineering in world: "Every part of the Apollo 10 concept now appears to have been performed perfectly. . . . We are nearly about to enter an epoch when men and materials can be transferred to other planets in the solar system," U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson termed flight "a great triumph in both human and technical terms." Soviet space scientist, Dr. Vassily V. Parin, called mission "big event in the history of cosmonautics, ' impressive because of "the accuracy of all its maneuvers." Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, said of Apollo 10 crew, "These men who could have come back with moon dust on their feet are leaving that for others in the true spirit of detachment of great pioneers." Heinrich Luebke, President of West Germany, said mission "brings the United States to the brink of an historical high point-the landing of the first man on the moon." (NYT, 5/27/69, 29; AP, B Sun, 5/27/69, Al)
Apollo 8 Astronaut Frank Borman, as Field Director of Space Station Studies for NASA, told Pasadena, Calif." press conference before addressing annual meeting of Chamber of Commerce there were five valid reasons for continuing space program despite high cost: (1) need for program that challenged U.S. in only way it could in time of peace, (2) educational impact of space technology in lower grades as well as among graduates, (3) scientific findings in space, (4) sheer quest and exploration, and (5) tendency of all countries to cooperate and perhaps realize earth's fragility. Borman said, "I hope we can isolate successes and failures from funding because I think space exploration is an important phase of American life." (LA Times, 5/28/69; Pasadena Star-News, 5/28/69)
NASA's Pioneer IX, launched into heliocentric orbit Nov. 8, 1968, to collect data on electromagnetic and plasma properties of interplanetary medium, was adjudged successful by NASA. Spacecraft had transmitted more than 6 billion bits of data and was continuing to transmit useful data from all scientific experiments. Pioneer IX had passed through inferior conjunction Jan. 30 and had reached perihelion of 0.75 au April 7. It would pass through superior conjunction in November 1970, when special experiments utilizing spacecraft-earth radio communication frequencies would be conducted. (NASA Proj Off)
Discovery of microscopic evidence in lava on Deception Island, Antarctica, indicated algae, fungi, and minute bacteria had begun to thrive in previously sterile lava within 13 mos after volcanic blasts, NASA reported. JPL scientist Dr. Roy E. Cameron and Virginia Polytechnic Institute biologist Dr. Robert Benoit brought back samples in February of lava rubble from Dec. 4, 1967, volcano-earthquake. Discovery indicated sterile material could withstand invasion of growing things for only limited time. (NASA Release 69-80)
U.S. patent No. 3,446,999 was granted to Dr. Athelstan F. Spilhaus, AAAS President-elect, for rolling device-toy that could move around circular track. Same propulsion method-attraction of electromagnets in car to circuitry in rails, providing continuous revolving movement-could be adapted to larger equipment. Patent had been assigned to Experimentoy Corp. (Pat Off PIO; Jones, NYT, 5/31/69, 29)
“The Amazing 1865 Moon Shot of Jules Verne” article in Look Magazine
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