Nov 23 1969
From The Space Library
ESRO's Boreal (Esro IB), launched Oct. 1 into lower than planned orbit, reentered atmosphere after 52 days in orbit. During this period spacecraft and all experiments functioned satisfactorily. ESRO accumulated large quantity of scientific data and adjudged mission successful. (GSFC SSR, 11/30/69; NASA Proj Off)
New York Times editorial commented on Apollo 12 : "It is almost incredible that such giant strides could have been made in the few months that separated Apollo 12 from Apollo 11." Navigational capabilities available to Neil Armstrong last July were "so inexact that for days or weeks after his landing there was no certainty even as to just where Eagle had touched down. Intrepid, on the contrary, landed within a few hundred feet of Surveyor III, the prime target of its crew's planned collection activities. It will take months, perhaps years, to harvest the full scientific gains from Apollo 12. Already, however, it is evident that mankind is still at the stage where the more it learns about the moon, the more mysterious and puzzling that natural satellite appears to be." (NYT, 11/23/69, 12)
Nonspace nations were expressing growing resentment at U.N. over lack of progress on treaty covering damages for space accidents, New York Times said. Members of 28-nation Outer Space Committee had complained that they cooperated with space powers on space rescue treaty in 1967 on understanding that treaty on damages would be pushed to completion. U.S. had reassured nonspace nations that it wanted immediate action on damages treaty but U.S.S.R. had been "balking" over provision for binding arbitration when damage claims were not settled by direct negotiations or through commission. Other disagreements included financial ceiling on liability for single accident-U.S. had suggested $500 million-and objections to U.S. and U.S.S.R. tendency to negotiate directly and consult other nations later. (Teltsch, NYT, 11/23/69, 73)
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