Dec 26 1968
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CCLXII from Kapustin Yar into orbit with 791-km (491.5-mi) apogee, 264-km (164-mi) perigee, 95.2-min period, and 48.4° inclination. Equipment was functioning normally. (SBD, 12/30/68, 257; GSFC SSR, 12/31/68)
Apollo 8 lunar flight was voted top news story of 1968 in Dec. 24 repolling of editors of Associated Press member newspapers, radio, and TV stations. Previous poll, completed before Dec. 21-27 mission, had selected assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther King as No. 1 and No. 2 stories of year. (W Star, 12/26/68, A8)
Washington Post said of Apollo 8: "Above all, perhaps, this Christmas Eve at the moon and Christmas Day on the way home have told us more about our earth than about the moon. One of the astronauts had wondered on his way to the moon whether, if he were a traveller from another planet, he would think that intelligent life existed on Earth. The answer, from Captain Lovell at least, is that our planet is 'a grand oasis in the great vastness of space." That is an awing insight and it reminds us that man has far to go here at home to fulfill the Christmas promise of Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men." (W Post, 12/26/68, A20)
Times of India termed Apollo 8, "the most magnificent achievement in space to date." It was "by any reckoning a tremendous achievement of science and technology" and "decidedly the most daring adventure man has ever undertaken." (Times of India, 12/26/68, 8)
In Washington Post, columnist Joseph Kraft said post-Apollo programs had been sharply cut in Congress and space spending had been compared unfavorably with money for pressing internal needs. "In this situation, it makes sense for this country to disengage while it is ahead. There is no need for the United States to race Russia to every new milestone in space. On the contrary, what the United States wants is a program closely connected to explicit American requirements-a program of exploration for its own sake, not for the sake of beating the Russians. In that way, this country can continue to develop a capability in space, without having to respond in a panic to the ups and downs that are necessary part of the space business." (W Post, 12/26/68)
December 26-31: During 135th meeting of AAAS in Dallas, Tex., Catholic Univ. of America assistant professor of international relations John M. Logsdon gave paper on lunar landing decision at session of Society for the History of Technology. Prof. Logsdon said President Eisenhower had planned to end manned space flights after Project Mercury but his successor, President Kennedy, had "calculated the costs, weighed the needs, and finally decided that 'whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share." " Outgoing Presidential Science Adviser, Dr. Donald F. Hornig, recommended reexamination of concept of Federal Dept. of Science since science "has now assumed such importance to the nation that its position would be stronger if it had a voice in the Cabinet." He advocated annual report on state of science similar to annual economic report and said Office of Science and Technology "could eventually evolve in an office of planning and analysis, looking broadly at national problems with some scientific or technological component, but extending well beyond the purely technical areas." Under questioning, Dr. Hornig said he agreed with Dr. J. Herbert Hollomon, President of Univ. of Oklahoma and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, that Federal Dept. of Science, with NSF as its core, might encompass oceanographic agencies, high-energy-physics research currently funded by AEC, ESSA, Bureaus of Census and Labor Statistics, geophysics branches of Geological Survey, and some NIH programs. Dr. Hollomon also suggested NASA be added when it could be included "without having it become the tail that wags the dog." Dr. Hornig insisted no massive "science agency" should be created to usurp supervision of Nation's science effort. Bacteria might have caused gastrointestinal upset suffered by astronaut Frank Borman on Apollo 8 mission, Dr. Rudolf H. T. Mattoni, head of Biological Systems Div. of Nuclear Utility Services, Hawthorne, Calif., told meeting. Effects of weightlessness on bacteria on Biosatellite II flight (Sept. 7-9, 1967) suggested that lack of gravity might have allowed common, normally benign, intestinal bacteria to cause illness like Borman's. Drs. Bouilin Browning of St. Thomas Univ. and Irwin Oster of Bowling Green State Univ. reported first experimental evidence that weightlessness can cause chromosomal damage of genetic significance, based on sperm cells flown 45 hr aboard Biosatellite. Cornell Univ. map expert, Prof. Arthur J. McNair, said sophisticated photographic mapping by satellites at 140-mi altitude would provide faster, cheaper, broader, and more detailed coverage than now possible by airplane mapping. Single map-making satellite photo, he said, would be equivalent to 1,000 photos taken by aircraft. U.S. could be fully mapped in one year from photos from satellite in near-polar orbit for four weeks. Another 11 mo would be needed for data processing. Dr. Robert H. Hardie of Vanderbilt Univ. said planet Pluto had appeared to be dimming for past 10 yr. It was moving in 248-yr orbital period to point where it reflected little sunlight and its surface temperature had dropped two degrees. He speculated that planet froze into mass of stone and solid nitrogen as temperatures reached -250° C when facing away from the sun. When bathed in sunlight, planet warmed to -200° C and formed reflecting puddles which astronomers saw as variations in light intensity. (Text; UPI, W Post, 12/28/68, A9; Lannan, W Star, 12/30/68, A3; AP, W Post, 12/30/68, A6)
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