Jun 11 1975

From The Space Library

Jump to: navigation, search

Pioneer 10 (launched 2 March 1972), on its way out of the solar system 1.2 billion km from earth and halfway between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, was making unexplained orientation changes, Ames Research Center announced. The spacecraft's axis of rotation was changing by l° every 2 wk. Project officials had said that the changes could be caused by a slight malfunction or by some interplanetary phenomenon, but evidence was contradictory. Further tests were planned to find the cause of the change. (ARC Release 75-30)

Rep. Olin E. Teague (D -Tex.) and Rep. Charles A. Mosher (R -Ohio) introduced H.R. 7830, the President's bill [see 9 June] "to strengthen staff capabilities for providing advice and assistance to the President with respect to scientific and technological considerations affecting national policies and programs." The bill was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology.

H.R. 7830 called for establishing an Office of Science and Technology with a director who would be the Presidential science adviser, a deputy director, and a 15-member staff. The office would have a budget of $1.5 million.

H.R. 7830 was the second bill concerning Presidential science advice introduced by Reps. Teague and Mosher; H.R. 4461 had been introduced 6 March to establish a national science- and technology policy. It also included provisions for a council of: science advisers and a cabinet-level Dept. of Research and Technology. (CR, 11 June 75, H5346; 6 March 75, H1464)

Marshall Space Flight Center announced the award of a $3.2-million contract by Space Shuttle prime contractor Martin Marietta Aerospace Co. to Avco Corp. Aerostructures Div. to manufacture the intertank section of the shuttle's external tank. The intertank would provide support between the liquid-oxygen tank and the larger liquid hydrogen tank. The disposable external tank, 47 m long and 8.4 m in diameter, would carry liquid propellant for the Space Shuttle's three main engines. (MSFC Release 75-116)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30