Oct 8 1963
From The Space Library
EXPLORER XIV energetic particles satellite had definitely ceased useful transmission after almost 10 months of successful operation. Scientists at GSFC said trouble began in August, when the satellite's transmitter failed to modulate-translate instrument signals into telemetry code-properly. Intermittent modulation had occurred since then, but little useful data had been received. The satellite signal is still useful for position reference. EXPLORER XIV, launched on October 2, 1962, had an initial elliptical orbit. of 61,500-mi. apogee and 173-mi. perigee. After 10 months, gravitational influence of the sun and moon had changed the orbit to 60,220-mi. apogee and 1,280-mi. perigee, with a period of about 37 hours. Some 6,500 hours of data were received from the satellite. While not all the data had been analyzed, Dr. L. Cahill, Univ. of New Hampshire, said a number of new insights had already emerged, among them being: earth's magnetosphere, as shown by mapping charged particles, flared away from the earth in an ogival-pointed arch-shape; confirmation that the vector magnetic field changes gently from a dipole configuration to a radial field at increasing distance on the night side of the earth near the equatorial plane; and further evidence probably supporting EXPLORER VI's finding of a ring current flow on the night side of the earth.( NASA Release 63-223)
NASA announced that Dr. Joseph F. Shea, Deputy Director (Systems), Office of Manned Space Flight in NASA Hq., had been named Program Manager, Apollo Spacecraft, at MSC. He would be responsible for the development of the Apollo command and service modules and for the lunar excursion module (LEM). George Low, Deputy Director (Programs) in the Office of Manned Space Flight, would assume the added responsibility for the Systems organization. (NASA Release 63-226; MSC Release 63-163)
In an editorial entitled "Bungling in Space," the New York Times referred to Congressional criticism of the space program, NASA's criticism of industry performance in Project Mercury, GAO criticism of industry and NASA in the development of the Centaur booster rocket, and the "aroma of pork-barrel" the Administration had allowed to befog the space program: "The disgraceful maneuvering to establish multi-million-dollar space projects whether in Texas or Massachusetts-reflects on the Administration, the Congress and the country and undermines popular support for the program itself. No wonder the expenditure of such vast sums has been meeting so much well-founded public resistance." (NYT, 10/8/63, 40)
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