Jan 10 1977
From The Space Library
Av Wk reported that the seismometer carried on the Viking 2 lander might have recorded the first seismic event since the spacecraft touched down Sept. 3, 1976, on the Utopia Planitia area of the planet Mars. Beginning about 7pm local time for the lander, on Sol 60 (Nov. 7, 1976), the activity continued for about 30min. Viking project observers said the data seemed to have the "proper signature" of a seismic event, similar to data recorded on the lunar surface during seismic events. Donald Anderson, leader of the Viking seismology team, said rough estimates put the center of the activity several thousand km from the lander, but cautioned against labeling the activity a "marsquake" until further studies were done. (Av Wk, Jan 10/77, 21)
MSFC reported that the number of visitors to the center in 1976 had increased 11 % over the previous yr to a total of 95 529, representing each of the 50 United States and several foreign countries. The guided bus tours of the center, cosponsored by MSFC and the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, last year added new items and increased activities at some of the former Saturn test sites. The tour stop presenting the story of the Space Shuttle and its payload had added a full-scale mockup of the Shuttle main engine. Tourists could also enter a full-scale mockup of Skylab to see how the astronauts lived in orbit; and the east and west test areas being converted for Shuttle testing were now available for viewing. The Redstone test stand already on the tour route had been refurbished and was added to the Natl. Register of Historic Places. (MSFC Release 77-3) The U.S. Dept. of Defense had begun development of plans to wage war in outer space, the Washington Post reported, and had contracted with six manufacturers to study ways of letting its satellites sound an alarm if approached, sound another alarm if attacked, and defend itself from an enemy satellite that approached too close.
Quoting "knowledgeable sources ... close to the Pentagon," the Post said the USSR's resumption last year of hunter-killer satellite testing after a 5yr hiatus had caused growing concern over the threat of war in space. The Pentagon presently had at least a dozen comsats in orbit linking U.S. military bases, ships, and aircraft around the world, and another dozen navigation satellites to guide Navy surface ships and submarines. A killer satellite launched by an enemy could knock out the entire U.S. defense communications system within a wk, according to the Post account, and the Pentagon had considered putting an entire array of comsats in orbit and turning off their radios until needed: "With their radios off," said a source, "the opposition couldn't track their radio beacons. And if they can't track them they can't find them." No one had forecast a war in space within the next 10yr, the Post added, but the Pentagon planned to be prepared after that. Asked if the U.S. could fight a war on earth today if it had lost its satellites in space, a source replied: "Not successfully." (W Post, Jan 10/77, A-26)
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