Nov 28 1966
From The Space Library
NASA's MARINER IV had completed two years in space, flown 1,025,082,830 mi., and continued to operate properly, reporting its condition to earth three times a week. Launched Nov. 28, 1964, spacecraft had completed primary mission Aug. 2, 1965, after transmitting to earth 22 pictures of Martian surface. Photos were made when it flew within 6,118 mi. of planet July 14, 1965. (NASA Release 66-304; JPL Release)
NASA awarded contracts totaling $825,000 for study of methods to explore the planets and to design advanced launch vehicles : Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., $200,000; Boeing Co., $150,000; Lockheed-California Co., $250,000; and North American Aviation, Inc., $225,000. Contract management would be performed by NASA Hq. Mission Analysis Div. (NASA Release 66-302)
White House announced agreement for establishment of an ESRO station near Fairbanks, Alaska, to receive telemetry from and send commands to ESRO scientific satellites. This would be first foreign ground station on US. soil. (Pres. Doc., 12/5/66, 1740)
Partial nationalization of U.K.'s two large airframe manufacturers British Aircraft Corp. and Hawker Siddeley Aviation]] Co.-was being planned on grounds no real competition existed between the two firms, Aviation Week reported. Also, U.K.'s Ministry of Aviation would merge with Ministry of Technology and be represented on Cabinet by Minister of Technology Anthony Wedgewood Benn. (Av. Wk., 11/28/66, 23)
U.S.S.R. launched COSMOS CXXXIII into earth orbit with 232-km. (144-mi.) apogee; 181-km. (112-mi.) perigee; 51.8ΓΈ inclination; and 88.4-min. period. Equipment was functioning normally. (Tass, 11/28/66)
U.S.S.R. was showing increasing signs of having conceded manned lunar landing race to US. as part of vastly revamped space program, Donald C. Winston postulated in Aviation Week. Significance of new program was that it reflected emphasis Premier Alexey Kosygin had fomented in Soviet planning. Brezhnev and Kosygin, who came to power while three man VOSKHOD I was still in orbit in October 1964, ordered the spacecraft to earth prematurely as one of their first moves even before the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev was made public. It was not long before Kosygin grounded the rest of the Voskhod series, which was to have continued with at least five launches through 1965. Only VOSKHOD II was permitted off the ground after Kosygin took power. The March 1965 mission was conducted because planning had reached an advanced stage by the time Khrushchev was ousted and because Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov's Eva-first in history-had high propaganda value. Winston theorized that the new space philosophy could produce a much less complex manned circumlunar mission without landing within the next year. (Av. Wk., 11/28/66, 22)
NASA selected Bendix Corp. for negotiation of a $6.9-million MSFC contract to develop and produce three pointing-control-system (Pcs) units for the Apollo Telescope Mount (Atm) . (NASA Release 66-309)
Week of November 28: French space officials reported partial success for first firing of an experimental Coralie rocket from Hammaguir Range Rocket, second stage of ELDO's Europa booster, underwent nominal countdown, launch, and flight until T+62 sec., when circuit malfunction prevented monitoring to T+100 sec. as planned. (Av. Wk., 12/5/66, 30)
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