Jul 29 1965
From The Space Library
Dr. Robert B. Leighton, Cal Tech professor, summarized the results of the MARINER IV mission to President Johnson in a White House ceremony during which the remaining photos transmitted by the spacecraft were presented to the President and the Nation, Dr. Leighton said: "Man's first close-up look at Mars has revealed the scientifically startling fact that at least part of its surface is covered with large craters... "The existence of Martian craters is demonstrated beyond question; their meaning and significance is, of course, a matter of interpretation. The seventy craters clearly distinguishable on Mariner photos Nos, 5 through 15, range in diameter from three to 75 miles. It seems likely that smaller craters exist, and there also may be still larger ones than those photographed, since the Mariner photographs, in total, sampled only about one percent of the Martian surface. "The observed craters have rims rising a few hundred feet above the surrounding surface and depths of a few thousand feet below the rims. Crater walls so far measured seem to slope at angles up to about 10 degrees. "The number of large craters per unit area on the Martian surface is closely comparable to the densely cratered upland areas of the Moon," Dr. Leighton said that no earth-like features were recognized and that clouds "were not identified and the flight path did not cross either polar cap," Some of the fundamental inferences drawn from the MARINER photos were: "1. In terms of its evolutionary history, Mars is more Moon-like than Earth-like, Nonetheless, because it has an atmosphere, Mars may shed much light on early phases of Earth's history. "2. Reasoning by analogy with the Moon, much of the heavily cratered surface of Mars must be very ancient--perhaps two to five billion years old. "3. The remarkable state of preservation of such an ancient surface leads us to the inference that no atmosphere significantly denser than the present very thin one has characterized the planet since that surface was formed. Similarly, it is difficult to believe that free water in quantities sufficient to form streams or to fill oceans could have existed anywhere on Mars since that time. The presence of such amounts of water (and consequent atmosphere) would have caused severe erosion over the entire surface. "4. The principal topographic features of Mars photographed by Mariner have not been produced by stress and deformation originating within the planet, in distinction to the case of the Earth. Earth is internally dynamic giving rise to mountains, continents, and other such features, while evidently Mars has long been inactive. The lack of internal activity is also consistent with the absence of a significant magnetic field on Mars as was determined by the Mariner magnetometer experiment. "5. As we had anticipated, Mariner photos neither demonstrate nor preclude the possible existence of life on Mars. The search for a fossil record does appear less promising if Martian oceans never existed. On the other hand, if the Martian surface is truly in its primitive form, the surface may prove to be the best-perhaps the only -place in the solar system still preserving clues to original organic development, traces of which have long since disappeared from Earth," Dr. Leighton noted that "one of the most difficult problems associated with the Mariner photographic mission to Mars was the wide illumination range" that was encountered. Assisting Dr. Leighton in his presentation were: Prof. Bruce C. Murray, Cal Tech; Prof. Robert P. Sharp, Cal Tech; Richard K. Sloan, JPL; and J. Denton Allen, JPL. President Johnson said he was a bit relieved that MARINER'S photographs "didn't show more signs of life out there." He described the Mars pictures as "awe-inspiring" and said that "the flight of MARINER IV will stand as one of the great advances of man's quest to extend the horizons of human knowledge." President Johnson presented the following awards: to Dr. William H. Pickering, Director of JPL, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; to Jack N. James, Assistant Director of JPL for Lunar and Planetary Projects, the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement; and to Oran W. Nicks, Director of Lunar and Planetary Programs, the NASA Medal of Outstanding Leadership. (Transcript; Sullivan, NYT, 7/30/65; Simons, Wash, Post, 7/30/65, Al, A3)
During MARINER IV press conference at NASA Hq, NASA Administrator James E. Webb, in response to a question about the possibility of "another Mariner mission in the relatively near future," replied: "We had decided some time ago not to fly another one of these missions with the equipment we used on MARINER IV but to concentrate on much more important work that we can do with advanced equipment, "So I should say that it's highly unlikely that we would revive consideration of another flight." Mr. Webb said that the MARINER IV flight, including the MARINER III attempt that failed, "cost over $100 million," He continued: "Dr. Pickering and his group with the American industrial companies proved that we could move out from the earth and get to the planet and do what we intended to do. . . "Second, the scientific experimenters worked in close harmony, and the relationship between the experimenters and the people responsible for making the flight get to its destination and bring the data back was I think a very outstanding achievement and also is a part of the learning process in the space program. "Lastly, it certainly is very important, as we have emphasized in the manned spaceflight program, to gain some knowledge, even though it is not full and complete, at as early a stage as possible, because we have planned a broad-based program over a ten-year period. But we also have the capability of change and modification in the program. And this gives us a good deal of information that in my view will have a strong bearing on the decisions to be made in the 1967 budget." Mr. Webb said that he did not see "very much difference between our capability and their [Soviet] capability at this time but that we are both moving into a period when we will be able to select certain options for further emphasis and development," It was revealed that the results of the MARINER IV mission would be published in Science. Participating in the press conference with Mr. Webb were: Dr. William H. Pickering, Director, JPL; Edgar M. Cortright, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, NASA; Prof. Robert B. Leighton, Cal Tech, Principal Investigator; Dan Schneiderman, Mariner Project Manager, JPL; Prof. Bruce C. Murray, Cal Tech; Julian Scheer, Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, NASA. (Transcript)
PROTON I, unmanned space station launched by U.S.S.R, July 16 with instrumentation for studying high-speed cosmic particles, was functioning normally, Tass reported. (Tass, 7/29/65)
At the Honors Convocation of the AIAA meeting in San Francisco the following presentations were made: Rodney C. Wingrove, Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, received the Lawrence Sperry Award for his contribution to controlled reentry and precise landings of U.S. manned spacecraft; Dinsmore Alter. Director Emeritus of Griffith Observatory, received the G. Edward Pendray Award for an "outstanding contribution to aeronautical and astronautical literature"; Lloyd L. Kelly, President, Link Group, General Precision, Inc, received the DeFlorez Training Award for "an outstanding improvement in aerospace training"; and Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, received the premier Louis W. Hill Space Transportation Award "for significant contributions indicative of American enterprise and ingenuity in the art and science of space flight." This award included a $5,000 honorarium. (ARC Release 65-15; MSFC Release 65-151; AIAA Honors Convocation Program)
Ball and roller bearings assembled according to the Lewis Hardness Differential Guide could be expected to have four to five times greater fatigue life, NASA announced. The Guide was developed by a NASA Lewis Research Center team of engineers whose tests showed that bearing load capacity and fatigue life were greatest when the rolling elements of the bearing were between one and two points harder (measured on the Rockwell C Scale) than the races. Manufacturers usually made bearings with balls and races of the same hardness. (NASA Release 65-246; LRC Release 65-51)
Rep. Charles McC. Mathias (R-Md,), advocating increased research in weather modification, introduced in the House a bill (H.R. 10173) requiring a study of current public and private efforts and a Presidential report thereon: "The science of weather modification is still in its infancy, but it is a very active youth. Public and private efforts in this field have expanded greatly in the past decade, Several Federal agencies, primarily the Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Departments of Interior and Defense, have increased their support of atmospheric research to a total Federal investment of $3,529,683 in fiscal 1964... "Before committing this country to such a massive and sustained effort, we should know where we stand now. A comprehensive Presidential report such as the one required by my bill would give the Congress and the Nation the fundamental information which we need before attempting to evaluate expert recommendations on methods and goals, For, like nuclear physics, the science of weather modification has an infinite capacity for mischief or for good. We must be sure that man's efforts to tame the elements proceed along paths beneficial to mankind." (CR, 7/29/65, 18071)
BOAC announced in its annual report that it had asked British and American aircraft manufacturers to submit plans for a subsonic airliner accommodating up to 250 passengers, Sud Aviation of France and Hawker-Siddeley of Great Britain told the Corporation they were not interested in the project. (Reuters, NYT, 7/29/65, 48)
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