Dec 30 1969

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Cambridge, Mass." city officials and industrialists set up study group to protect their interests in $60-million ERC, which NASA was closing [see Dec. 29]. Municipal officials called NASA move "a clear breach of faith on the part of the Federal Government" and hinted possible court action to stop closing, on breach of contract grounds. They said they had not been consulted about NASA's decision. (Fenton, NYT, 12/31/69, 10)

In Pravda, Soviet Academician and automation expert Dr. Boris N. Petrov said U.S.S.R." in effort to conserve resources, had decided not to compete with U.S. in manned lunar exploration, but to concentrate on launching unmanned vehicles into outer space and on creation of permanent space stations around earth. "Our program by no means excludes manned flights to the moon, but at the present time, we attach prime importance to lunar exploration by unmanned vehicles. The economic side is of no small importance. Unmanned vehicles are many times less expensive than manned." (Gwertzman, NYT, 12/31/69, 11)

Soviet scientist Nikolay A. Kozyrev told Soviet Committee for Inventions and Discoveries he had discovered active volcano on moon. He had detected glowing rocks in Aristarchus crater in 1955 and obtained spectrogram of crater's gas in 1958. Comparing spectrogram with others obtained from active volcanos in Soviet Far East, he had found them similar. (UPI, W News, 12/31/69, 9)

Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe announced 10-mo extension, to Oct. 25, 1970, of FAA rule setting hourly flight quotas at five high-density airports serving New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Decision was based "on operational experience . . . which clearly establishes that the traveling public has benefited substantially from this measure." (FAA Release 69-137)

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