Oct 5 1976
From The Space Library
About 3000 people attended a ceremony dedicating the Space Hall of Fame at Alamogordo, N.M., honoring men and women involved in space exploration. Original inductees, numbering 35, included U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Nine of the 35 were from the Soviet Union; eight each from the U.S. and West Germany; three from Austria, two from France, and one each from Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Switzerland. Dr. Frederick Durant of the Smithsonian Institution announced the names of the pioneers, nominated by the Intl. Academy of Astronautics in Paris with final selection by a committee appointed by the governor of N.M. for the Hall of Fame. Lubas Perek, head of the UN's outer space affairs division, told the audience that the choice of persons to be honored "will surely reflect the grand international character of outer space research." (W Star, 6 Oct 76, 2; NYT, 10 Oct 76, 26; Intl Space Hall of Fame, media release; Alamogordo Daily News, 3 Oct 76, dedication edition)
Responses of Presidential candidates Ford and Carter to questionnaires submitted by U.S. physicists and engineers emphasized their "differing viewpoints," wrote Walter Sullivan in the AT Times. One set of 16 questions was from 24 professional engineering societies claiming a combined membership of one million; the other, dealing with three broad issues, was submitted by the American Physical Society's president, Dr. William A. Fowler. To a question regarding overseas sales of nuclear fuel and equipment, President Ford replied that the U.S. must maintain the role of major supplier "for peaceful purposes-so that we can influence others to accept controls to minimize the threat of proliferation." Candidate Carter replied that it was "absolutely essential" to halt such sales "even with safeguards" to prevent use of the materials in producing nuclear weapons. Physics Today, publishing the replies to Dr. Fowler's questions in the Oct. issue, noted editorially that both candidates were committed to more support for basic research and "a strong voice for science in the Administration's decision-making." (NYT, 5 Oct 76, 33)
One of the first in a group of 32 commercial solar heating and cooling systems in ERDA's nationwide solar-energy demonstration program went into operation in Lynchburg, Va., NASA announced. Local and state government officials attended an open house at the office of Terrell E. Mosely, Inc., where the system is installed, to view the equipment together with businessmen, engineers, architects, and federal representatives. The 32 pilot projects, elected from 308 proposals submitted to ERDA, include ten office buildings, four schools, three hotels or motels, two fire stations, two factories, one hospital, one laboratory, one library, and some miscellaneous buildings. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center provided technical management for the installations in support of the ERDA program. (NASA Release 76-163; MSFC Release 76-177)
The official Manila radio announced an agreement between Domestic Satellite Philippines and the Nippon Electric Co. of Japan for acquisition, installation, and construction of 11 earth-satellite stations in a $26 million satellite communications system, to be operational by 1978. The system would provide long-distance service in the national communications network. (FBIS, Manila FEBC in English, 5 Oct 76)
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