Jun 18 1972
From The Space Library
There was "general satisfaction" among ordinary Russians with "the improved atmosphere fostered by President Nixon's visit to Moscow" in May, New York Times reported. Since visit, Soviet press had hailed arms-limitation agreements as triumphs for Soviet foreign policy. But privately editors had reported some criticism of government for having conducted meetings despite U.S. escalation in Vietnam war. (Smith, NYT, 6/18/72, 1)
Ending of Moscow summit talks (May 22-26) just as United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (June 5-16) opened was "coincidental," Stanley Karnow commented in Houston Chronicle article. "But historians may one day regard the timing of the two meetings as symptomatic of a significant change that is now taking place in the world." Moscow summit "essentially spelled the end of an era in which the powers viewed military rivalries as the main threat to their security." Stockholm conference "appears to mark the start of an era in which nations will view ecological disequilibrium as an increasingly dire menace to their security." (H Chron, 6/18/72)
U.S. Postal Service officials had been "somewhat upset" by reports that Apollo 15 Astronauts David R. Scott, James B. Irwin, and Alfred M. Worden had taken 400 unauthorized covers-stamped envelopes with postal markings-to moon, Washington Sunday Star reported. German philatelic magazines had reported that Herman E. Sieger, German stamp dealer, had sold 100 Apollo 15 covers at 4850 German marks each for total $150 350 at official exchange rate. Under NASA regulations, astronauts had been permitted to carry on mission small mementos of flight for friends and relatives but not for sale. Official "moon mail" covers were distributed to purchasers by U.S. Postal Service. Specially struck medals had been carried on several Apollo missions and later sold to public through Government channels. NASA officials had identified unidentified "friend of crew now in Germany" as link between Apollo 15 astronauts and German dealer. Friend had told dealer that 20 covers had gone to astronauts' friends and relatives; remaining covers had been turned over to NASA management. Donald K. Slayton, Director of Flight Crew Operations at Manned Spacecraft Center, said that no member of crew had profited directly or indirectly from covers sold. (Faries, W Star, 6/18/72, 1)
Thomas O'Toole commented on June 1 report of Astronomy Survey Committee of National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council in New York Times article: "Through all this discovery runs a ... central theme that points up the countless findings of the last decade," discovery by astronomers "that the universe is more intricate, more dynamic and more energetic than even the most fanciful scientists dared to dream:" Findings in cosmology were "stunning surprise." For first time "science is able to measure things within the universe that had lain hidden from men's minds, measurements that have brought cosmology out of the realm of the unreal." Findings facilitated by creation of radiotelescope, rockets, and satellites had included discovery of pulsars, black holes-"theoretical stars that have gone from the pulsar into an even denser state of collapse"-and "eclipsing stars" that cohabited with second stars that eclipsed them at regular intervals. (NYT, 6/19/72)
Air Force F-111 fighter bomber aircraft plunged in Choctawhatchee Bay after takeoff from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., killing both crew members. Cause of accident was being investigated. (AP, W Post, 6/21/72, A5)
John Stack, engineer who had helped develop first high-speed wind tunnel in 1930s, died at age 65 after fall from horse. Stack had joined Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (predecessor of Langley Research Center) in 1928 and had been head of high-velocity airflow research at Laboratory in 1939, NASA Director of Aeronautical Research from 1961 to 1962, and Vice President for Engineering at Fairchild Industries until his retirement in 1971. He had received numerous awards for his work in supersonic technology, including Robert J. Collier trophy in 1947 for work with X-1 rocket aircraft. (AP, NYT, 6/20/72, 38; FRC X-Press, 7/21/72, 2)
June 18-July 30: Exhibit of kinetic art of Dr, Frank J. Malina -artist, astronautical engineer, and past Director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1941946) -was held at Univ. of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio. Catalog noted Dr. Malina was "pioneering on the new frontier of man's adjustment to the explosive impact of science, technology and the exploration of space on the world." Artist believed "man must understand this world in order to survive in it, and that this understanding must be both intellectual and emotional." Paintings included impressions of space phenomena. (Catalog)
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