Mar 17 1967
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (2MB PDF)
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra, Australia -newest member of NASA's 16-station network to support manned Apollo missions-was dedicated in ceremonies attended by Australian Prime Minister Henry E. Holt, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and Edmond C. Buckley, NASA Associate Administrator for Tracking and Data Acquisition. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey cabled congratulations to Prime Minister Holt : "The establishment of this tracking station is another link in the long chain of cooperative efforts in space between . . . Australia and the United States. "In its support of the Apollo program, this new station will play a vital role in communications with our astronauts in preparation for their landing on the Moon and return to Earth. . . ." (NASA Release 6745)
President Johnson, in letter transmitting ComSatCorp's 1966 Annual Report to Congress, said: "Accomplishments of the past year under the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 have brought mankind to the threshold of a full-time global communications service to which all nations of the world may have equal access, from which all nations of the world may derive their share of the benefits. "Our Space Technology is opening new doorways to World Peace. Within the grasp of the world's peoples is the potential for completely new, heretofore unimagined ways of peaceful cooperation for expanding world trade, for enhancing educational opportunities, for uplifting the spirit and enriching the lives of people everywhere. . . ." (PD, 3/20/67, 494)
US. officials reported that Cosmos CXLVI, launched March 10, had split into three parts: two were spacecraft and one was final stage of launch vehicle, Evert Clark said in New York Times. Exact date of separation was not known. Some officials speculated that flight might have been in preparation for a manned flight on April 12-sixth anniversary of first manned space flight, by Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin. (Clark, NYT, 3/18/67, 11)
Three Athena missiles were successfully launched within 4« hrs from Green River, Utah, to WSMR target area as part of continuing USAF study of missile atmospheric reentry. (AP, NYT, 3/19/67,57; Tech Wk, 3/27/67, 28)
NASA Javelin sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research Range carried a Rice Univ. -instrumented payload to 493-mi (794-km) to determine spatial and temporal variations and transit times of auroral particle fluxes and perform pitch angle studies including back scattered particles. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
U.S.S.R. Molniya 1-2 comsat, launched Oct. 14, 1965, reentered. (GSFC SSR, 3/31/67; W Post, 4/4/67)
Paper model of "possible lifting re-entry vehicle design" had flown at 17 times the speed of sound and withstood 4,000° F temperature and pressure equal to 177,000-ft altitude in test to check out recently repaired wind tunnel at LTV Aerospace Corp. in Dallas. Designed by LTV scientist Charles J. Stalmach, model emerged after ¬-sec test with only the nose and leading wing edges slightly blackened. (UPI, NYT, 3/17/67)
President Johnson's Science Advisory Committee's (PSAC) report, The Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period [see Feb. 11], was criticized by DT. Philip H. Abelson in Science. Report did not fully discuss the comparative value of space and non space activities and "quickly ducked" the difficult problem of priorities, Dr. Abelson said. Nowhere was there an evaluation of the chances of finding extraterrestrial life. "Another deficiency is the lack of a full discussion of the role of man in deep space exploration. To date, manned missions have contributed little scientifically. The unmanned missions have had a cost effectiveness for scientific achievement perhaps 100 times that of the manned flights. Nevertheless, the report implicitly calls for a major role for man in the post Apollo program. . . ." (Abelson, Science, 3/17/67)
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