Jun 6 1973
From The Space Library
Cosmos 563 was launched by the U.S.S.R. from Plesetsk into orbit with a 306-km (190.1-mi) apogee, 190-km (118.1-mi) perigee, 89.5-min period, and 65.2ΓΈ inclination. The satellite reentered June 18. (GSFC SSR, 6/30/73; SBD, 6/7/73, 211)
The Pacific's first storm of the season, hurricane Ava, was probed by scientists and sensors aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration C-130 flying laboratory and NASA'S Skylab Orbital Workshop (Skylab 1, launched May 14) . The storm was intercepted by the aircraft-equipped with microwave systems similar to those aboard Skylab 1-about 480 km (300 mi) southwest of Acapulco, Mex., as Skylab 1 passed overhead. A series of tracks was made through the typhoon while the first deep-ocean-wave measurements ever made under a hurricane were taken with the laser altimeter. Maximum wave heights were 12 m (40 ft) at about 160 km (100 mi) from the eyewall. Winds of 110 to 240 km per hr (70 to 150 mph) were measured by an onboard inertial navigation system. The penetration was one of a series of NASA-funded Skylab underflights to prove the effectiveness of measuring large-scale processes in and over the ocean surface using microwave and other sensors aboard spacecraft. (NOAA Release 73-147)
Deputy Secretary of Defense William P. Clements, Jr., announced that DOD would halt production of F-111 fighter-bomber aircraft when the current production run ended late in 1974 with the 543rd F-111. In 1962 DOD had planned to build 1726 F-111s for $3.4 million each, United Press said; the aircraft would wind up costing $14.6 million each, a cost overrun of 430%. (UPI, W Post, 6/7/73, C8)
The U.K., West Germany, and Belgium agreed to buy U.S. Lance surface-to-surface missiles on the final day of a meeting in Brussels of Euro-group, defense ministers from 10 European member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Italy had previously concluded a separate contract to buy the Lance. (Middleton, NYT, 6/7/73, 7)
The Air Force announced the award of a $39.6-million contract to the Raytheon Corp. for construction of a large, new phased-array radar station, code-named Cobra Dane, at Semya Air Force Station in the Aleutian Islands. Cobra Dane would be part of the Air Force worldwide tracking program to trace space objects. An Aerospace Defense Command spokesman said that the total cost of the installation would be about $60 million. It would be operational in 1976. (Kelly, W Star & News, 6/7/73, A15)
It would be "easy flying for the new Air Force bomber, the B-1, during the 93rd Congress," the Congressional Quarterly predicted. The FY 1974 Air Force request for $473.5 million to complete construction of the first prototype "probably will pass with relative ease." The prototype was scheduled for rollout at the Rockwell International Corp. factory in January 1974, with the first test flight scheduled for April. Two additional prototypes would be built to test the aircraft's structure and avionics, with test flights in January and April 1975. Final cost of the three aircraft would be $2.7 billion. B-1 supporters had said the real battle would come when Congress had to decide whether to begin mass production. (CQ, 6/16/73)
The Coast Guard announced it would phase out its last two air cushion vehicles (ACVS) in July. A Coast Guard spokesman told the press in San Francisco that ACVs had met expectations but "we've just run out of money to operate them and they're too old now." (UPI, NYT, 6/7/73, 19)
Award of a $9 098 952 firm-fixed-price contract to Boeing Co. for ground support for the Minuteman weapon system was announced by the Air Force. (DOD Release 286-73)
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