Oct 18 1965
From The Space Library
U.S. should build a supersonic transport regardless of the fate of the Concorde or any other country's effort because "this is the next technological step in air transportation," FAA Administrator William F. McKee told the House Appropriations' Subcommittee on Independent Offices requesting $140 million for the project for FY 1966, according to Aviation Week and Space Technology. The House subcommittee responded by approving the money request, Acting Chairman Joe L. Evins (D-Tenn.) said: "Once we have made a basic decision to go forward with this program, I think we ought to go forward with it. This continual question of reservations as to whether we are going to build a supersonic transport is disruptive to continued progress." (Av. Wk., 10/18/65, 28)
Ikeya-Seki comet might produce a brighter-than-expected spectacle when it swept close to the sun Oct, 20, Cal Tech astronomers said observation through infrared telescopes showed the comet was hot; previously, comets had been believed to be made of space dust and frozen gases that became luminous only when they neared the sun, Spokesman for the scientists said "an explosion of some sort is a possibility." (WSJ, 10/18/65, 1)
Test results were received by NASA which promised a solution to the crawler-transporter bearing failure without jeopardizing the key milestones in the Apollo program, Roller bearings in a crawler-transporter had failed during a July 25 test at KSC and subsequent investigation had defined a new bearing system. (Cocoa Tribune, 10/18/65)
Evidence that the bright areas of the Martian surface contained iron oxides in a loose combination with water was reported by Dr. Carl Sagan of Harvard Univ. to the Biophysical Society's annual meeting in San Francisco. He said reflected light of hydrated iron oxides in an earth-bound laboratory matched the sunlight reflected from the Martian surface when viewed in the ultraviolet and infrared. Dr. Sagan believed that confirmation of the iron-water compounds on Martian deserts, which showed up as bright areas to earth astronomers, suggested conditions were once right for life to originate on Mars. He said he was convinced that when life of a primitive form had started, the chances were it had survived. (Balt, Sun, 10/18/65)
USAF had assured the House Armed Services Committee Military Airlift Subcommittee that the Lockheed C-5A transport would be developed with commercial as well as military requirements in mind. Subcommittee Chairman Melvin Price (D-HI.) told Aviation Week and Space Technology that military airlift had improved dramatically over the last few years but that requirements kept rising with no immediate leveling off in prospect, One area which still needed improvement, he said, was modernizing commercial cargo fleets. He said the subcommittee was hopeful the C-5A would be a big step in this direction. (Av. Wk, 10/18/65, 28)
NASA's budget for FY 1967 received comment in Aviation Week and Space Technology: "NASA is nervously asking the White House for $5.76 billion for Fiscal 1967 and contends it must have at least $5.25 billion compared with the $5.176 billion Congress appropriated for this fiscal year. "The Apollo program to land a man on the moon appears-thanks to Russian competition-pretty safe from the budget cutters, But every other program is a potential target, including the $12 billion Voyager program to explore Mars and all kinds of proposals to exploit the Apollo hardware. ... "The Johnson Administration has prepared a pat answer to complaints that its tight Fiscal 1967 budget will thwart new initiatives, With so much accomplished in this session of the 89th Congress, the argument goes, next year must be 'a management year,'" (Av. Wk, 10/18/65, 15)
British scientist Dr. J. E. Lovelock told the Third International Symposium on Advances in Gas Chromatography in Houston that although pictures taken from space probes indicated no sign of life on Mars as we know it, life may be there, Dr. Lovelock said it was urgent that the unmanned spacecraft that would land on Mars be designed "so they would not rule out the possibility that life may take different forms and be of some entirely different nature on planets beyond our own." (Houston Post, 10/19/65)
DOD's Project Hindsight, intended to isolate improvements in military hardware resulting from DOD's fundamental research programs, was discussed in Aviation Week and Space Technology. Hindsight would also identify which in-house laboratories, profit or non-profit firms, or individuals made the most useful technological contributions to military systems. End object was improved management of the research and exploratory development programs. (Johnsen, Av. Wk, 10/18/ 65, 47)
Incorporation of a severely swept delta wing on X-15 No. 3 had been proposed by NASA Flight Research Center for hypersonic (mach 5+) flight tests beginning in late 1968, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported. Decision on the proposal, under study at NASA Hq., was not expected for six months. X-15 program is a joint USAF-NASA venture, with the three aircraft belonging to the Air Force and NASA operating the research flights program. (Av, Wk, 10/18/65, 22)
During May 7 flight of USAF-NAA B-70A No. 1, Michael L. Yaffee reported in Aviation Week and Space Technology, five of the experimental bomber's six General Electric YJ93 engines were damaged when the wing apex, a steel honeycomb structure, tore apart and scattered pieces of steel into both sides of the aircraft's divided, rectangular air intake beneath the wing. The No. 5 engine was most heavily damaged, a post-flight examination had shown, but it was the only engine on the right side of the aircraft operating during the half-hour flight back to Edwards AFB. When the apex broke, the XB-70A was flying at mach 2.56. About 30 min. later, NAA test pilot Alvin S. White landed the aircraft with all left-hand engines (1, 2, and 3) operating at full power and engine No. 5 at 90% power. (Yaffee, Av, Wk, 10/18/65, 64-65, 67)
A gas turbine-powered tugboat, the first ever built, was delivered to NASA's Mississippi Test Facility for use in the canal system there. The 69-ft,-long Clermont would perform a variety of chores in connection with future space rocket static firings at the Hancock County, Miss., facility, an element of Marshall Space Flight Center. Main duties would be to berth and tow space vehicle and cryogenic tanker barges in the inland canal system. (MSFC Release 65-264; Marshall Star, 10/20/65, 1)
ComSatCorp had filed a contract with FCC for purchase of four satellites from Hughes Aircraft Co. to supply communication services for NASA's Project Apollo and for other commercial services. Two spacecraft would be placed in synchronous orbits at about 22,300 mi. one would be located over the Pacific between Hawaii and Midway Island; the other over the Atlantic near the west coast of Africa. Of the other two, one would be used as a reserve for replacement and one as a backup in case of a launch failure. Contract also provided an option for purchase of up to 15 of the satellites. Delivery date of the first satellite would be eight months after ComSatCorp would give Hughes notice to proceed, with one additional spacecraft of the four to be delivered every 21 days thereafter. (ComSatCorp Release)
October 18-19: Scientific results of 15 scientific and technological experiments carried on GEMINI III and IV were presented by the principal investigators during a symposium at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Experiments were in weather and terrain photography, bone demineralization, astronomy, communications, and radiation in the spacecraft, Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator of NASA for Manned Space Flight, introducing the symposium, noted three important general conclusions to be drawn from the results, First, data on man himself indicates that astronauts can adapt to the space environment, giving great confidence that manned space flight effort can move according to plan without the necessity of introducing special requirements such as artificial gravity. Second, further substantiation of the Mercury program evidences that man can see things from space which are not programmed on instruments to see. Third, the outstanding quality of photographs of earth from space demonstrates the feasibility of a number of significant applications of manned space flight for improvement of life here on earth. (NASA Release 65-321; NASA Rpt, of Symposium)
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