Dec 15 1976
From The Space Library
The "hotline" between Washington, D.C. and Moscow had changed into a Direct Communications Link using two independent sets of orbiting satellites, and eliminating any actual wire between the two capitals, the Christian Science Monitor reported. A spokesman for the Army Communications Command at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., where the U.S. portion of system was designed and built, said it could be put into use whenever diplomats from both countries made the final arrangements. The $15-million system would be located at Ft. Detrick, Md., near Washington, the spokesman said. (CSM, 15 Dec 76)
Ithaco Inc. of Ithaca, N.Y., a space-industry subcontractor specializing in, low-orbital unmanned-satellite electronics, had discovered a lucrative and largely untapped agricultural market by turning its expertise on animal electronics: specifically, a new device first marketed 19 mo ago to help farmers determine whether their pigs were pregnant and to preview the quality of porkchops the hogs would produce. The device would let farmers determine pig-pregnancy status 50 to 60 days earlier than previously possible, meaning substantial savings for breeders, company officials said, adding that the market would not be attractive to a large company. Overseas farmers accounted for up to 40% of "Scanoprobe" sales, which totaled $3;8 million for the 1976 fiscal year, best in the firm's 14-yr history. Ithaco would not abandon its space contracts, the company said, but employees who worked on intricate satellite parts could be switched over to the "animal electronics" contracts. (NYT, 15 Dec 76, A 16)
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