Dec 13 1966
From The Space Library
Versatility of ATS I satellite, launched by NASA from ETR Dec. 6, was demonstrated in program at GSFC. In first test, satellite relayed color TV show from Goldstone, Calif., to GSFC via Rosman, N.C., ground station. In second test, voice signals transmitted from GSFC to Goldstone and beamed by dish antenna to satellite were successfully relayed to three aircraft in flight, demonstrating publicly for the first time that 50,000-mi. earth-to-space circuit could be used with existing airline radio equipment in VHF range. Concurrent with these tests, satellite transmitted high-quality photos of weather over eastern Asia, Pacific Ocean, and western US. It had begun relaying photos Dec. 9. NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., told the press ATS I was a major step forward" toward practical satellites and would have "an impact on everyone in the world." (Clark, NYT, 12/14/66, 38; Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 12/14/66, A4; Reistrup, Wash. Post, 12/14/66, A12)
December 13: NASA had eliminated final three Surveyors because of good results from Ranger series, SURVEYORS I and II, and LUNAR ORBITERS I and II. It had been determined that five remaining Surveyor spacecraft would provide necessary additional information about the moon to support Apollo manned lunar landing mission. (NASA Release 66-318)
Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched by NASA and Brazilian Space Commission (CNAE) from mobile facility at Natal, Brazil, carried 225-113. payload of four x-ray detectors on ballistic trajectory to 120-mi. (193km.) altitude. Payload, which impacted 66 mi. downrange in the Atlantic, telemetered scientific data to ground stations. First NASA x-ray astronomy experiment on a sounding rocket in the Southern Hemisphere, flight searched for specific galactic x-ray sources, observed Magellanic clouds for x-ray emissions, and obtained spectral information on known x-ray sources. (NASA Release 66-311)
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.Mex.), Chairman of the Senate Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, told AP he saw "no urgency" in landing on the moon first. Discounting the theory that a manned lunar landing would have military significance, Senator Anderson said "had the United States and the Soviet Union cooperated from the start in space exploration, more knowledge at less expense might have resulted." (AP, NYT, 12/15/66, 34)
Informed sources said U.S.S.R. had cut its nonmilitary space budget by one third and increased general military spending, according to AP. Report could not be confirmed. (AP, NYT, 12/14/66, 3; AP, Wash. Ewe. Star, 12/14/66, A7)
There might be a connection between period of inactivity in Soviet manned space flight and Soviet efforts to create an effective antimissile system, speculated Crosby S. Noyes in the Washington Evening Star. ". . . The Russians, in assessing the present state of the world, [might] have radically readjusted their priorities in favor of earthly defenses over celestial exploration.. . ." Noyes suggested US. might have to choose soon "between the astronomical costs of continuing exploration of space, and those of the best possible antimissile defense system. If the Russians have, in fact, already made their choice, our own dilemma should be easier to resolve. But in any event, the new Russian defense system raises military and political problems which cannot be simply ignored." (Noyes, Wash. Eve. Star, 12/13/66, A l1 )
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