Jan 17 1973
From The Space Library
NASA Hq. held its first press briefing on Mariner 9 (launched May 30, 1971) since spacecraft ceased transmission October 27, 1972, one year after it had gone into Martian orbit. Photos were released showing three kinds of channels on the Mars surface thought to be formed by flowing water sometime in Martian history. Harold Masursky of the U.S. Geological Survey said one kind seemed to have been formed by melting permafrost; the other two looked "as though it's necessary to have precipitation and a collection of that runoff into flowing water channels."
New Mexico Univ. geologist Dr. Bradford A. Smith said riverbeds on Mars probably had dried because of orbital changes. When the Mars orbit was more elliptical than at present, the perihelion would be much closer to the sun, perhaps producing long-term climate changes which might, "at certain times, permit liquid water to exist."
Dr. Conway B. Leovy, Univ. of Washington, said dust storms encountered by Mariner 9 were "phenomena which will recur on Mars depending on the particular astronomical relationship. between the perihelion and the solstice." Dust storms might have been responsible for "the remarkable laminated terrain which has been observed in both polar zones."
Scientists had determined from Mariner 9 photos that the planet was a more varied and dynamic body than expected. Dr. John E. Naugle, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Sciences, said: "Mars is like three planets: the old cratered planet, the young volcanic active planet that you see, and then an entirely different situation in the polar regions in Mars." Mars as "planetary laboratory" of towering volcanoes, deep rift valleys, broad plateaus broken by fault lines, ancient planes with moonlike craters, sand dunes, clouds with water ice, and everchanging polar caps would "substantially increase our basic 'knowledge of planets . . . and . . . when that history is written you will find that planetary exploration has contributed in a major way to the health and welfare of life on this planet.” (Transcript)
The U.S. and United Kingdom concluded an agreement on U.K. access to U.S. space launch capabilities. The U.K. would purchase boosters and launch services from NASA for satellite projects of the U.K. Dept. of Trade and Industry. Launches would occur at NASA launch sites in U.S. The first U.K. satellite launched under terms of agreement would be X-4 technology satellite scheduled for 1974 launch from Western Test Range. (NASA Release 73-11')
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, outlined Apollo program achievements in a speech before the National Security Industrial Assn. in Los Angeles. The Apollo program had reasserted U.S. technological leadership, exploded theory that only a controlled economy and Communist society could succeed with large scientific and technological undertakings such as space exploration, demonstrated "that we could respond effectively to a totalitarian challenge without resorting to totalitarian methods," and produced the kind of Government-industry cooperation on large-scale research and development programs needed to make the American system work and keep it competitive with any other systems in the world. Apollo had reinforced "Can Do attitude that has made America great," met national security requirements in 1960s for rapid progress in 'manned space flight technology and wide experience in the field, obtained valuable scientific knowledge obtainable no other way, "discovered" planet Earth on the way to the moon, forced creation of new technology "as no peacetime enterprise in history has done-or could do up to now," contributed spiritually to lives of all Americans, "and stayed within estimated cost bounds." The program had cost $25 billion, or $11 per person per year from 1961 through 1972. "Who or what could have produced more security, more economic benefits, more pride in achievement, more confidence in our future as a free people-for $11 per year?" (NASA Activities; 2/15/73, 29-30)
The International Civil Aviation Organization legal committee, representing 58 countries, voted to defeat U.S.-backed proposals to take sanctions against countries which failed to act against air piracy. The committee approved a U.S.-backed proposal to allow signers of the proposed antihijacking treaty to make recommendations against nonsignatory nations that violated the treaty. (Shaw, W Post, 1/19/73, A3)
The People's Republic of China was preparing to deploy the first group of 10 nuclear missiles capable of reaching U.S.S.R. targets, Joseph Alsop reported in Washington Post. U.S. intelligence agencies had observed missile sites carved into mountain sides and believed the new intermediate range missile had already been successfully tested. (W Post, 1/17/73, 17)
January 17-19: A Skylab simulation at Manned Spacecraft Center picked up the Skylab flight plan in the 10th day of the mission scheduled for April 30 launch. Flight controllers worked in shifts to tally the day's activities, prepare a summary flight plan for the day following, and complete a detailed flight plan for use the next day. Activities included all elements of flight between 8 am and 5 pm each day but were oriented toward experiments rather than flight operations. Skylab astronauts manned crew simulators, principal investigators manned support stations, and the Marshall Space Flight Center Operations Support Center for Skylab provided support for the Orbital Workshop. Prime contractors North American Rockwell Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp. supported the simulation. MSC controllers inserted simulated malfunctions to exercise procedures and mission rules for the flight and to observe the reaction of control teams. (MSC Roundup, 1/19/73, 2)
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