Mar 6 1972
From The Space Library
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, said in letter to NASA staff that Pioneer 10 (launched March 2) if successful would be "technological and scientific achievement of the first magnitude." During launch it had set spacecraft speed record of some 51 500 km per hr (32 000 mph). "One small detail that impressed me was . . . Pioneer 10 passed the Moon only 11 hours after launch. It makes the Moon seem very close at hand. So we have a new measure for the nearness of what we used to call `outer space.' It brings home, even as we begin the great adventure of exploring the outer planets, the primary importance of moving forward with our preparations for the routine exploitation of inner space." (NASA Activities, 3/15/72, 44)
NASA Associate Administrator for Organization and Management Richard C. McCurdy, on behalf of NASA, received award from Small Business Administration (SBA) for NASA'S efforts in assisting minority business development. Award was presented by Marshall Parker, Associate Administrator for Procurement and Development at SBA. (NASA Hq WB, 3/20/72; Release 72-46)
Chicago Daily News editorial on Pioneer 10 said: "After several moon landings and all the fuss over spending on space ventures, the public is probably a bit jaded by now with outbound rockets. Yet there is something special, and more than a little bit eerie, about this one." Only "scientists whose minds can absorb the concept of infinity can really appreciate the possibilities wrapped up in the voyage of Pioneer 10. But the rest of us can share a sense of awe as the spacecraft plunges into eternity, and think a bit about the specks called Man, lost in the vastness of the Universe." (C Daily News, 3/6/72)
Former NASA Administrator James E. Webb was appointed by Speaker of House to succeed Joseph M. Barr on Commission on Government Procurement. Barr had resigned. (CR, 3/6/72, H1752)
U.S.S.R. was deploying multiple warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles, Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird said in speech before Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, D.C. (Text)
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