Oct 3 1973
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched eight Cosmos satellites on a single booster from Plesetsk. Orbital parameters were: Cosmos 588-1495-km (929-mi) apogee, 1450-km (901-mi) perigee, 115.3-min period, and 74.0° inclination. Cosmos 589-4489-km (925.2-mi) apogee, 1417-km (880.5-mi) peri-gee, 114.9-min period, and 73.9° inclination. Cosmos 590-1489-km (925.2-mi) apogee, 1435-km (891.7-mi) peri-gee, 115.1-min period, and 74.0° inclination. Cosmos 591-1487-km (924-mi) apogee, 1349-km (838.2-mi) peri-gee, 114.1-min period, and 73.9° inclination. Cosmos 592-1486-km (923.4-mi) apogee, 1333-km (828.3-mi) peri-gee, 113.9-min period, and 74.0° inclination. Cosmos 593-1487-km (924-mi) apogee, 1366-km (848.8-mi) peri-gee, 114.3-min period, and 73.9° inclination. Cosmos 594-1487-km (924-mi) apogee, 1383-km (859.4-mi) peri-gee, 114.5-min period, and 74.0° inclination. Cosmos 595-1487-km (924-mi) apogee, 1400-km (869.9-mi) peri-gee, 114.7-min period, and 73.9° inclination. Kenneth W. Gatland of the British Interplanetary Society later said in a Christian Science Monitor article that the satellites possibly were being used as a maritime communications system "to keep shore bases and command centers in contact with far-ranging elements of the Soviet fleet." Since 1971 two eight-satellite systems had been orbited each year four to five months apart. Gaps of seven to nine months occurred be-tween launches during the winter, when the Soviet northern fleet was hampered by sea conditions. The last Soviet eight-satellite launch was June 8, into similar orbits. (GSFC SSR, 10/31/73; CSM, 11/13/73; SBD, 10/4/73, 170; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 10/3/73, U1)
The U.S.S.R. also launched Cosmos 596 from Plesetsk, into orbit with a 268-km (166.5-mi) apogee, 205-km (127.4-mi) perigee, 89.2-min period, and 65.4° inclination. The satellite reentered Oct. 9. Cosmos 596 was the first of seven Soviet satellites launched and returned in quick succession, leading to Western speculation they were reconnaissance craft monitoring the Arab-Israeli war [see Oct. 15]. (GSFC SSR, 10/31/73; SBD, 10/9/73, 192)
Maj. Michael Love (USAF) successfully completed a captive flight of the X-24B lifting body attached to a B-52 aircraft from Flight Research Center. The flight was the first pilot checkout flight on the X-24B for Maj. Love, principal Air Force pilot in the NASA-USAF lifting body program. (NASA prog off; AFSC Newsreview, 11/73, 3)
President Nixon announced 1973 recipients of the National Medal of Science, including Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb, Jr., Head of the 8-Foot Tunnels Branch at NASA'S Langley Research Center. Dr. Whitcomb was cited for "his discoveries and inventions in aerodynamics which have provided and will continue to provide substantial improvements in the speed, range, and payload of a major portion of high performance aircraft produced throughout the country." The other recipients were: Dr. Daniel I. Arnon, Univ. of California at Berkeley physiologist; Dr. Carl Djerassi, Stanford Univ. chemist; Dr. Harold E. Edgerton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus of electrical en-gineering; Dr. William Maurice Ewing, Univ. of Texas at Galveston scientist; Dr. Arie Jan Haagen-Smit, Cal Tech biochemist; Dr. Vladimir Haensel, Vice President for Science and Technology, Universal Oil Products Corp.; Dr. Frederick Seitz, President of Rockefeller Univ.; Dr. Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., Univ. of Miami biochemist; Dr. John W. Tukey, Executive Director of Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Re-search Communication Principles Div. and Princeton Univ. statistician; and Dr. Robert Rathbun Wilson, Director of the National Accelerator Laboratory at Batavia, Ill. (PD, 10/8/73, 1224)
Langley Research Center scientists had redesigned a Cessna Cardinal air-craft with a smaller, experimental wing in a research program to apply advanced aerodynamic technology to small general-aviation aircraft, NASA announced. Renamed the Redhawk, the experimental aircraft had been flown across the U.S. and operated by aviation writers and pilots from general-aviation companies. LaRC research pilots had praised the aircraft's low response to air turbulence and the control made possible by spoilers and flap systems on the wings. In the program's second phase, a Piper twin-engine Seneca aircraft was being converted to study a new airfoil section developed by Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb, Jr., Head of the 8-Foot Tunnels Branch at LaRC. (NASA Release 73-197)
NASA launched an Aerobee 170A-E sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range carrying a Goddard Space Flight Center galactic astronomy experiment to a 152.4-km (94.7-mi) altitude. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (GSFC proj off)
Marshall Space Flight Center announced the selection of the Avco Electronics Operation of Avco Precision Products Div., Avco Corp., for negotiation of a $3 252 845, 23-mo contract for modifications to the MSFC Structures and Mechanics Laboratory. The work would provide a data-acquisition system for space-shuttle-hardware structural and fatigue tests. (MSFC Release 73-141)
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