Oct 9 1967
From The Space Library
Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.), member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Senate floor called proposed Nike-X ABM system a very expensive flying `erector set' " and said that Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara was following an unwise course, "militarily, economically, and diplomatically. . . Even if we were to spend forty billion dollars or more on a so-called massive system, the resulting increase in our security would be zero. . . . The result would be a waste of a great deal of money . . ." at a critical time. He cited three flaws in arguments supporting ABM system: (1) justification based on approaching threat of Communist Chinese nuclear tipped missiles ("We have the capacity to devastate China many times over . . and the Chinese know that," he said); (2) assumption that a thin ABM system would be effective against Communist China for any appreciable period; and (3) assumption that during so-called safe period in Chinese nuclear development, US., behind an ABM defense, would be genuinely safe from nuclear attack. "The inevitable conclusion," Senator Clark noted, "is that the proposed . . . system simply will not do the job which its proponents say it will do." (Text, CR, 10/9/67, S14413-27)
Senate action in voting $4.6 billion for NASA for FY 1968 and $142 million for SST development was criticized by Baltimore Sun: "Approval of these sums by the Senate underscores, once again, the need for a set of Federal priorities-for establishing firm control over `the course of fiscal developments,' as Chairman Mills of the House Ways and Means Committee put it." (B Sun, 10/9/67)
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's decision to go ahead with "thin" Nike-X antiballistic missile (ABM) system was criticized by Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.) , member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on floor of Senate: "I urge the administration to reconsider its decision, which I believe to be wrong on three counts-militarily, economically, and diplomatically." He anticipated "resulting increase in tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union which this new escalation of the arms race is bound to provoke." (CR, 10/9/67, ,914413-27)
October 9-11: Two Lunar Orbiters were intentionally crashed on lunar surface to free their radio frequencies. Lunar Orbiter III, launched Feb. 4, 1967, crashed Oct. 9, 1967. LUNAR ORBITER II , launched Nov. 6, 1966, crashed Oct. 11,1967. In preparation for Oct. 18 lunar eclipse, Lunar Orbiter V's orbit had been adjusted by burning spacecraft's velocity-control engine for 41 sec to increase spacecraft's period by 37 min and shorten length of time it would be in darkness during eclipse. Scientists wished to ensure that spacecraft's power system would survive expected five-hour dark period. (NASA Release 67-265; NASA Proj off)
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