Apr 14 1977
From The Space Library
NASA reported that it and the European Space Agency (ESA) had invited scientists to propose experiments for a joint out-of-ecliptic (OOE) mission in 1983 that would study the interstellar/interplanetary medium as a function of solar latitude. Although the mission still lacked Congress's approval, the agency wanted proposals for investigations that would allow definition of the undertaking and give it a prompt start when approved.
As planned, the Shuttle would launch 2 spacecraft (one supplied by NASA, one by ESA) on similar paths from earth to Jupiter, deflected by that planet's gravity into trajectories at right angles to the plane of earth's orbit. One craft would enter over the sun's northern hemisphere, the other over the southern; both would reach solar latitudes near the sun's pole. So far studies of the sun had covered only a narrow region on the ecliptic plane; the OOE, or solar polar, mission would look at the sun over a full range of heliographic latitudes and enable more accurate assessment of the total solar environment. The mission would last about 5yr. (NASA Release 77-79)
NASA announced award of $350 000 design study contracts both to McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., and to a team representing Hughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, Calif., and General Electric Co,. in Philadelphia. The companies would develop for NASA's Jupiter-orbiter mission a probe able to measure the Jovian atmosphere during descent. The mission would reach Jupiter in 1984 if the project were approved for FY 1978. ARC would manage development of the probe under JPL's general direction. (NASA Release 77-78; ARC Release 77-20)
KSC announced it had awarded a $39 812 contract to Ky. State Univ. for continuing research on effects of prolonged exposure of experimental animals to variations in the atmospheric level of oxygen. Previous studies in the field had been on short-term exposure to 100% oxygen, but little was known about prolonged exposure to oxygen at low to moderate concentrations.
Ky. State's first grant for this work in March 1974 had exposed vinegar flies to higher levels of oxygen than normal and drastically shortened the life span, whereas exposure to lower than normal levels had greatly reduced reproductive capacity. This work had also suggested that certain individuals might prove better adapted genetically for survival in abnormal oxygen environments. The findings would be useful in planning atmospheres for long-term manned space missions aboard the Space Shuttle or on space colonies. (KSC Release 91-77)
KSC announced award of a $95 025 000 contract to the Space Division, Rockwell International Corp., Downey, Calif., for activation of the Space Shuttle facilities and systems, and for Orbiter support during checkout, launch, and postflight operations, in the first six Space Shuttle missions. Rockwell would also support postflight operations at the DFRC landing site for the first four missions. (KSC Release 92-77)
MSFC announced it had requested price quotations on designing a space spider (a device capable of building large-scale structures). The spider, containing prefabricated materials, would attach itself to the core of a planned structure and spin a larger structure, of any diameter, around the core. MSFC engineers had sought estimates of costs and data on the best size of spider to fit inside the Space Shuttle. (MSFC Release 77-62)
Wallops Flight Center announced it would welcome visitors to the rocket launching facilities on Wallops Island Apr. 23-24 as part of a special observance by federal activities in the area. Assateague Natl. Seashore Park, Chincoteague Coast Guard Base, Chincoteague Natl. Wildlife Refuge, the Natl. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Wallops Flight Center had all planned special exhibits or tours. Visitors to Wallops Island could drive their own cars to see launch pads, rocket storage structures, long-range tracking radars, weather towers, blockhouses, rocket assembly shops, actual launch vehicles, and related range facilities. Cameras would be welcome. The main NASA base would not be included in the visit. (WFC Release 77-2)
Nature magazine reported further on the recognition of ring systems around the planet Uranus announced earlier by Dr. James L. Elliot of Cornell Univ. [see March 31]. The occultation (shutting off from view) by Uranus of a bright object (star SAO 158687 in Libra) had been predicted by the Royal Observatory at Greenwich as visible only from an area on earth extending from equatorial Africa across the Indian Ocean to western Australia. No useful observations of a Uranian occultation had been made before; astronomers considered such observations important because they could furnish data on the size of the planet or stellar object, on limb darkening, and on extent and composition of any atmosphere, as well as an accurate measurement of the object's position, valuable in calculations of celestial mechanics.
Heavy rain at Johannesburg prevented observations there on March 10, but astronomers on the Kuiper observatory plane flying over the southern Indian Ocean east of Kerguelen Is. were able to see an occultation lasting about 25min with secondary occultations lasting 8 to 9min before and after. Observers at Madras and Perth also viewed the event and decided independently that the extended occultation resulted from satellites forming a belt about 48 000km from the center of Uranus. The belt was apparently circular, lying in the plane of the planet's equator, and about 12 000km wide. Nature reported that Dr. Elliot was continuing detailed study of the event, and that direct observation of the belts might be possible with a sufficiently large telescope. (Nature, April 14/77, 587)
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