Feb 19 1968
From The Space Library
Goddard Space Flight Center fired its 1,000th sounding rocket. Aerobee 150 launched from WSMR carried Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. payload to 97.9-mi (160.5-km) altitude to obtain quantitative measurements of spectrum and intensity of solar x-ray flux in 2- to 30- key interval with eight proportional counter x-ray sensors, solar aspect sensors, and yo-yo despin unit. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL; GSFC Historian)
"The successful completion of the current phase of the automated exploration of the Moon and our planetary successes to date provide the capability, experience, and framework for the next step forward in the exploration of the planets," NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, Dr. John E. Naugle, told House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Space Science and Applications Subcommittee. Advanced Planetary Mission Technology (APMT) effort, begun in Fiscal Year 1968 at the conclusion of the Mariner V, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor Programs, and deferral of Voyager was "directed at planning and technology for potential planetary missions in the early 1970's." Emphasis had shifted from automated to manned exploration and return of lunar samples. "Regardless of missions planned by the U.S.S.R. during the opportunities in 1969, 1971, and 1973," Dr. Naugle said, NASA's "systematic approach . . . will be meaningful and more likely to be complemented by the U.S.S.R. missions than duplicative." (Testimony)
NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, Dr. George E. Mueller, in statement before House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Manned Space Flight Subcommittee, stressed urgency of funding Apollo Applications and advanced missions programs in continuing "this country's position as a space pioneer." These programs, he said, "are an investment in our national posture and the future of manned space flight . . . [and provide] the opportunity to stabilize the manned space flight program so that it can effectively and efficiently respond to the challenges of the next decade. We have the resources, the facilities, the people, and the knowledge of Apollo upon which to build, and the crucial question posed by this minimum request for Apollo Applications is whether we are going to pursue the manned exploration of space. . . . Man will prevail in space. On that there can be no serious question. The only question is whether they will be Americans." (Testimony)
Dr. Abe Silverstein, LeRC Director, described progressive decline of LeRC funding from peak $389.2 million in FY 1965 to $242.4 million in FY 1967, to House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Advanced Research and Technology Subcommittee. Dollar value of procurement had decreased, from $324.5 million in FY 1964 to $211.6 million in FY 1967, while workload was maintained and lead time reduced. Power usage had increased "but costs had declined significantly." However in last several years, "funds available for maintenance had been less than those believed necessary for proper upkeep and repair." In long run, Dr. Silverstein said, delays "may prove more costly to the Government." (Testimony)
USN Aquanauts Fernando Lugo and Don C. Risk, wearing standard neoprene wet suits and Mark VIII breathing apparatus, dived to record 1,025-ft simulated ocean depth and, with three other aquanauts, accumulated record 48 hr each at 825-ft depth during tests at Washington, D.C., Navy Yard. Experiment was in preparation for USN's 60-day Sealab III experiment in underwater living scheduled to begin in fall 1968. (DOD Release 180-68)
R/A John E. Clark (USN, Ret.), former Commandant of Twelfth Naval District in San Francisco, became JPL Deputy Director. He had been Commander of Naval Air Missile Test Center (1954), ARPA Deputy Director (1958-61), and Commander of PMR (1961-65) . (JPL Lab-Oratory, 2/68, 3)
Jodrell Bank Observatory Director, Sir Bernard Lovell, claimed explosion of Soviet spacecraft in orbit during 1962 Cuban missile crisis led U.S. to believe U.S.S.R. was launching massive ICBM attack and warned that World War III could be triggered by misidentified space debris falling to earth. (W News, 2/20/68, 3; SBD, 2/20/68, 281)
U.S.S.R. was closing its missile gap and could equal U.S. 1,054-ICBM force by mid-1969, according to DOD sources. Between October 1966 and October 1967 Soviet ICBM force had increased from 340 to 720 missiles; currently, U.S.S.R. had more than 720 ICBM sites in operation and about 280 under construction. In addition, U.S.S.R was reportedly developing new 16-tube nuclear submarines, missiles that could travel long distances underwater, mach 3 interceptor aircraft, and mobile, solid-fueled ICBMs. (Beecher, NYT, 2/19/68, 1; 2/20/68, 18; Wilson, W Post, 2/20/68, 1)
Preliminary to joint NASA-USAF flight testing, X-24 manned lifting-body vehicle built by Martin Marietta Co. had been sent to ARC for full-scale wind-tunnel tests, to begin Feb. 26, FRC announced. Prime purpose was to verify aerodynamic predictions obtained from small-scale model tests. (FRC Release, 5-68)
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