Apr 6 1977
From The Space Library
NASA announced it would join the EPA in field-testing a new detector of fecal coliform bacteria at the New York Bight off Craven Point, N.J. The electrochemical monitor, developed by Dr. Judd Wilkins of LaRC, was a 'buoy with 10 coliform-sampling units and a transmitter to relay data to a monitoring center in a NASA truck on shore about 3mi away. Surveillance of fecal coliform concentrations would measure the environmental impact of public sanitation. (NASA Release 77-73; LaRC Release 77-11)
NASA reported that Goddard Space Flight Center engineers had tracked a sailboat through the Bermuda Triangle to test the use of satellites for small craft search-and-rescue missions. Signals from a small transmitter on the vessel, relayed by meteorological satellite Nimbus 6 and applications technology satellite Ats 1, allowed GSFC controllers to monitor the ship's position. The experiment also successfully tested a push-button distress-alarm system designed by retired NASA engineer James L. Baker. (NASA Release 77-72)
MSFC announced it had awarded a $276 597 contract to Bryson Construction Co., Decatur, Ala., for modification of the Redstone Arsenal airfield to accept the Space Shuttle and its Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. The contractor would install a concrete pad 75m long and 55m wide for a derrick to unload the orbiter from the 747. (MSFC Release 77-56)
LaRC reported that its visitor center was showing a NASA film, "Universe," one of 5 documentaries recently nominated for a motion picture Academy Award. The 28min Graphic Films Corp. movie, showing an imaginary trip through space, offered a new look at the solar system, the release said. (LaRC Release 77-10)
The Carter administration would not request government funds to develop a supersonic airliner, OMB Director Bert Lance assured Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis). The Chicago Tribune story noted that Proxmire, who had worked to defeat the U.S. supersonic transport program in 1972, was concerned because the House Committee on Science had asked NASA to do a feasibility study on advanced supersonic aircraft. (C Trib, Apr 6/77, 1-5)
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