Dec 19 1964
From The Space Library
A Gemini-type spacecraft was successfully landed at Edwards AFB in first manned test of the new paraglider recovery system. North American Aviation test pilot Donald F. McCusker guided the capsule back to earth following a four-and-a-half minute flight beneath the inflated wing, after being released from a helicopter at an altitude of 8,500 ft. McCusker was slightly injured when the paraglider landed at about 25 mph-faster than had been anticipated. (L.A. Times, 12/20/64; San Diego Union, 12/20/64; NAA S&ID Skywriter, 12/31/64, 4)
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D. N. Mex.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, issued a statement related to his letter to President Johnson [See Dec. 7, 1964] in which he had proposed a merger of the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) and NASA Apollo-X programs: "Department of Defense and NASA officials have informed me of an agreement they have worked out in relation to the Air Force's proposed Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) and the space administration's proposed Apollo-X. "The Department of Defense and NASA have gone a long way toward answering the questions I raised several weeks ago. I suggested at that time that perhaps a great savings could be achieved without sacrifice to either the NASA or Air Force responsibilities in space by harmonizing MOL and Apollo-X. I have been told that the Air Force and NASA will take advantage of each other's technology and hardware development with all efforts directed at achievement of a true space laboratory as an end goal. The review underway by both agencies will strengthen the total space effort. "We should take full advantage of the technology and ground-support systems developed for Project Apollo. The object of the Senate Space Committee in raising questions about L and Apollo-X was to accomplish the wisest use of personnel and money, not in criticism of either project." New York Times reporter John Finney interpreted Sen. Anderson's statement as an indication that the Administration "had gone along with his [Sen. Anderson's] suggestions. Not lost upon the Administration was the letter's implication that it would be difficult to defend the proposed $5.2 billion space budget on Capitol Hill unless the Administration could show it had eliminated duplication." (Text; Finney, NYT, 12/20/64, 45)
NASA Goddard Space Fight Center announced plans for negotiation with the General Dynamics-Electronics Co. for purchase of approximately $1.25 million worth of unique ground tracking equipment to be used in the Applications Technology Satellite project. ATS Range and Range Rate electronic systems would be installed in three ground stations to provide ground trackers with extremely accurate satellite position, velocity, and range. The systems would also drive displays and digital data consoles. The contractor would design, manufacture, and test the - systems under a cost reimbursable contract with incentive provisions. ATS satellites, designed to advance technology in communications, meteorology, and other applications, would require unique ground sys-tems ready for the first launch in 1966. (GSFC Release G-36-64)
An astronomer at Mt. Wilson and Mt. Palomar Observatories, Calif., Allan R. Sandage, told the 2d Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics that an explosion in the galaxy 3C-2 may indicate the birth of a quasi-stellar force (QSF). A quasi-stellar force would be an entirely new source and kind of energy in the universe which would not follow the known rules of physical forces. (AP, Wash. Post, 12/17/64)
USAF launched unidentified satellite on Thor-Agena D booster from Vandenberg AFB. ( HHN-4 8 )
Tass reported that a Gorky Univ. team, headed by Vsevolod S. Troitsky, the leading Soviet authority on radio emanations of the moon, had found evidence they believed showed that the upper layer of the moon's surface was saturated with meteoric matter distinguishing it both chemically and in mineral content from deep layers. Results were obtained during the complete lunar eclipse of last Dec. 30 observed from Ussurisk, in far eastern Siberia. Troitsky's group made use of the fact that the lunar surface cooled during eclipses and that the cooling caused a drop in the intensity of radio emanations. The Russians worked out the relationship between the decrease of radio emanations from the obscured part of the moon and the physical properties of the surface. Investigating the properties of the uppermost porous layer of the moon's surface to a depth of about four inches, the Russians established that its electrical conductivity was 50% to 100% greater than that of the underlying rocks and concluded that the two layers differed in chemical composition and mineral content. The conductivity of the top layer was found to correspond to that of meteorites, confirming the hypothesis that bombardment by meteorites and the settling of meteoritic dust played an important part in shaping the uppermost layer of the moon. (NYT, 12/21/64)
The New York Times reported an announcement this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA ) that nuclear energy had gained recognition in 1964 as an economically competitive source of electric power. A spokesman for the IAEA cited a 515,000-kw. nuclear plant to be built by General Electric for the New Jersey Central Power and Light Co. near Toms River, N.J. The bid for a nuclear plant-$66 million-had been lower than those for coal-powered plants despite the abundance of coal in southern New Jersey. (Grimes, NYT, 12/20/64,8)
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