Jun 21 1965
From The Space Library
F-1 rocket engine completed its 1,000th test firing at NASA MSFC's Rocket Engine Test Site where it operated at its full thrust of 1,500,000 lbs. for 165.6 sec. Test was conducted by North American Aviation's Rocketdyne Div. In a cluster of five, F-1 would provide 7,500,000 lbs. thrust in the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V booster that would launch Apollo lunar missions. (MSFC Release 65-154; Marshall Star, 6/23/65, 1)
NASA would negotiate with the Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation, Inc., for 22 H-1 rocket engines with 200,000-lb. thrust for use on the 12 Saturn IB launch vehicles presently planned, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center announced. Engines, with supporting services, would cost more than $6 million. (MSFC Release 65-155; Marshall Star, 6/23/65, 1)
Dr. Robert C. Seamans, NASA Associate Administrator, received the New England Aero Club's Godfrey L. Cabot Award in Boston, He was cited for "outstanding contributions to aeronautics." (NASA Release 65-193)
West German satellite tracking station at Bochum monitored radio signals from a new Soviet space probe. The observatory said it had received the signals since 11:26 a.m. EDT. (Reuters, 6/21/65)
AEC reorganized its space-related R&D activities and established a Division of Space Nuclear Systems. All AEC space-oriented work on Snap reactor and isotope electric power systems was transferred to newly-created Space Electric Power Office in that division, Isotopic thruster propulsion work, formerly under AEC Division of Isotopes Development, was transferred to NASA-AEC Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) "A major advantage of the new organizational alignment [was] the improved communication and ease of coordination between AEC and NASA in the power area." (Atomic Energy Programs, 1965, 141)
Immediate planning for a fourth jetport for the New York City area was advocated by Harold E. Gray, President of Pan American World Airways, at the Annual Aviation Luncheon of the Queens Chamber of Commerce: "Maybe the need is eight years from now, Maybe it is twelve years from now. But it would take ten years, as I understand it-starting today-to develop a fourth airport. So, tomorrow may be too late to make this start, Mariana is not soon enough for me!" This was the first time a Pan Am official had stated the airline's position on the jetport issue. (Hudson, NYT, 6/22/65, 58)
Rep. Oren Harris (D-Ark,) , in France for the International Air Show, endorsed the idea of an international exhibition at Dulles International Airport in 1966. Harris, who headed the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce which would handle any American counterpart of the Paris show, made his statement after comment by American aircraft builders participating at Le Bourget that the U.S. had let the Soviet Union "steal the show," During the first days of the exposition, the Russians had displayed the prototype of a 720-passenger commercial aircraft to be ready in two years. Also, Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, was on hand. The U.S. had recovered some lost ground during the final weekend by flying in Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Astronauts Edward H. White (Maj., USAF) and James A. McDivitt (Maj. USAF). American jets had also put on spectacular acrobatic demonstrations, Rep. Harris said the project had been discussed at the White House but that further studies by the FAA and the Budget Bureau would be necessary. (UPI, Bruns, Wash. Post, 6/22/65)
The U.S. showing at Le Bourget was discussed by Robert Hotz in an Aviation Week and Space Technology editorial: "The United States is presenting a sorry spectacle at the 26th Paris Air Show [June 11-21] that does grave injustice to its genuine aerospace capability in relation to its principal competitors, including the Soviet Union. As the show draws to a close, only a bold stroke of public relations, such as jetting Astronauts White and McDivitt with their Gemini capsule to Le Bourget for a weekend finale would offer any chance for the U.S. to recoup the prestige lost last week through the combination of top-level government indifference, official naivete and the stifling channels of interagency bureaucracy between the various government departments involved in the U.S. show effort. "For the past two Paris air shows, the NASA exhibit has been a major sensation, convincing Europeans of U.S. technological leadership. This year, NASA was conspicuously absent. Even frantic pleas from the French to have Astronaut John Glenn appear to match the Soviets' Yuri Gagarin were strangled in the maze of interdepartmental coordination. "The net result of this sad combination of government bungling at Le Bourget has been to spend large sums of the taxpayers' dollar to create the impression that the United States is resting smugly on its technical oars, complacently relying on rapidly obsolescing military hardware for the present and craftily confident this aging equipment can be foisted on its European allies in the near future." (Hotz, Av, Wk, 6/21/65, 13)
June 21-July 16: Space Research Summer Study-1965, convened at Woods Hole, Mass., by NAS-NRC Space Science Board, reviewed the National space program, Various working panels were formed to examine in detail the three topics of particular focus: planetary exploration, astronomy requirements, and the role of man in space research. About 200 invited scientists participated in the multi-disciplinary review, which was under general chairmanship of George P. Woollard, Director, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, NASA provided financial support (NAS-NRC, News Report, 9/65, 5)
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