Oct 29 1966
From The Space Library
LUNAR ORBITER I impacted on moon's hidden side at 9:30 a.m. EDT on command from earth. The spacecraft was deliberately crashed to obviate possible interference with mission of second Lunar Orbiter (Lunar Orbiter B) scheduled for launch Nov. 6. First US. spacecraft to orbit and photograph moon, LUNAR ORBITER I, launched Aug. 10, became first satellite to be deliberately destroyed in space by NASA. (NASA Release 66-287; O'Toole, Wash. Post, 10/30/66, A10)
October 29: LUNA XII had photographed lurain with "a special phototelevision device," Tass announced in first official statement relating to spacecraft since Oct. 22 launch. Satellite had entered lunar orbit Oct. 25 with 1,740-km. (1,081-mi.) apolune; 100-km. (62-mi.) perilune; and 3 hr. 25 min. period. First photos transmitted-shown on Moscow television less than an hour after announcement-showed clearly distinguishable details of craters and mountain ranges. LUNA XII was ninth photographic mission to moon. Five had been from US.: RANGERS VII, VIII, and IX, SURVEYOR I, and LUNAR ORBITER I; four from U.S.S.R.: LUNA III, Zond III, LUNA IX, and LUNA XII. (Tass, 10/29/66; AP, NYT, 10/30/66, 43)
Dr. Serge A. Korff, director of New York Univ.'s cosmic research program, told a youth science seminar at the Explorer's Club in New York that he believed many UFO sightings had been of giant balloons sent aloft by NYU to test the upper atmosphere: "[They] are 300 to 400 feet across and because they are partly inflated, assume strange shapes as they ascend. At high altitudes they often reflect sunlight and become visible to viewers below in areas where the sun has set or before it has risen." (NYT, 10/30/66, 45)
"Whole towns" on the moon, complete with dome-like buildings linked by tunnels and parks under transparent hoods, might be constructed in 20th century, Soviet architect Nikolay Kolomiyets suggested in Krasnaya Zvezda. Kolomiyets said the moon town should provide a safe shelter for its inhabitants and be attractive as well. Best construction material would probably be lunar rocks. "It can be expected that after treatment with alkalis, lunar rocks can be used to build walls and roofs by pouring, just as they are made on earth by pouring concrete." (Tass, 10/29/66)
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