Nov 29 1973
From The Space Library
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, gave personal views on the existence of extraterrestrial life in a speech at the Univ. of Maryland: "There is no hope of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the solar system. As far as this particular corner of the universe is concerned, we are it" Chances were that primitive life forms would be found on other planets or in their atmospheres, "and this will still be one of the great discoveries of all time. This discovery will shed light on how life arose on Earth. It will strengthen our conviction that intelligent life must exist on the planets of millions, or even billions, of other star systems in the universe." Dr. Fletcher doubted that any other civilizations would exchange visits with the earth because of the great distances. "We could not begin to build the kind of spaceship that would be needed. But who can say what new technologies, what new understandings of the physical laws of the universe, future generations will develop -or hear about on the inter-galactic radio network?" He was "very optimistic" about long-range chances of communicating with very advanced civilizations in the Milky Way or other galaxies: "When you think how many stars there are which could have planets like Earth, and how long they have been in existence, it is quite easy to believe that there must be many advanced civilizations broadcasting in our direction. And I am sure we have the technology needed to intercept such signals and eventually answer them." (Text)
A team of Ames Research Center scientists, headed by Dr. James B. Pollack, had discovered that the upper levels of Venus's brilliant clouds consisted of droplets of sulfuric acid more concentrated than the acid in an automobile battery, ARC announced. The team had measured the infrared "color" of Venus from a Learjet aircraft and compared results with a computer simulation of the color properties of various substances. (ARC Release 73-128)
Naval Air Test Center development of a rescue system to pinpoint the position of any downed aircraft anywhere on earth was reported by R/A Roy M. Isaman, Test Center Commander, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. A distressed aircraft would use a transmitter of less than five watts to bounce a signal off a communications satellite in stationary orbit back to one of eight Navy navigation stations under construction. (B Sun, 11/30/73, A3)
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N. Mex.) introduced S. 2755, a bill to require the NASA Administrator to study the feasibility of entering into international cooperative programs using space technology and applications. The NASA Administrator would work with the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and the National Science Foundation Director to study the desirability of international cooperation and cost sharing to develop a solar energy collection and conversion system. (CR, 11/29/73, S21370)
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