Oct 9 1974
From The Space Library
The House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Aeronautics and Space Technology reported on prospects for Advanced Nuclear Research in the wake of the February 1972 termination of the NERVA nuclear rocket program and the FY 1974 reductions in nuclear power and propulsion research brought by NASA budget cuts. Concerned lest the $1.5 billion invested in these programs since NASA took charge of them in 1958 be entirely lost, the Subcommittee had held hearings 7 Feb. 1974 to determine how to maintain a research capability and to ensure that results of the previous R&D would be used toward solving critical energy problems. The Subcommittee was "disappointed" that the AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Systems Office had been abolished.
Witnesses from industry, NASA, and AEC described work being done in thermionic technology, plasma-core reactor research, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, and medium-power reactor systems. The Subcommittee concluded that, though funding in these fields was modest, "the potential benefits [were] enormous in scope and magnitude." While the traditional R&D areas were becoming less well defined for the various agencies, the Subcommittee found the greater portion of the funds for the programs should go to AEC rather than to NASA.
The Subcommittee recommended: (1) NASA should continue, and expand as its budget permitted, its advanced nuclear research in potential energy applications. (2) NASA should continue complementary arrangements with other Federal agencies, especially AEC. (3) The Joint Committee on Atomic Energy should evaluate the Subcommittee findings. (4) NASA and AEC should jointly investigate and report how nuclear power and propulsion R&D had been used and how data was stored. And (5) NASA and AEC should expand industrial participation. (Com Print)
Marshall Space Flight Center held a final review of the Zero-Gravity Atmospheric Cloud Physics Project Phase A Definition Study. The study established the feasibility of atmospheric cloud physics research on Spacelab and recommended preparation of a Phase B study. (MSFC Orbital & Space Environmental Br, interview, 6 Aug 75; MSFC Release 74-181)
9-10 October: The fourth flight of the balloon-borne ultraviolet stellar spectrometer (BUSS) provided the best test results yet of the candidate telescope experiment for the space shuttle. The National Scientific Balloon Facility of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at Palestine, Tex., launched the 91-m tall, 440 000-cu-m, helium-filled balloon, which carried a telescope, Ebert-Fastie spectrometer, detector, star-pointing-and-control system, and telemetry and command system to 40 000-m altitude. During five hours at that altitude the instruments observed seven stars in Uv wavelengths. The stars included one giant star and three super giants. Dr. Yoji Kondo of Johnson Space Center's Astrophysics Section, principal investigator for the experiment, said the flight was free of environment and hardware problems and its success marked a new stage in balloon-borne astronomical observation after past high failure rates. Data would be combined with other observations for better information on the structure, atmosphere, and evolution of a variety of stars. The mission also evaluated state-of-the-art detector and tracking performance, flexibility of attaching instrumentation to a general-purpose telescope platform, and developing real-time, man-in-the-loop data acquisition, evaluation, and ground operations. (Kondo interview, 1 Oct 75; JSC Release 74-254; Bulban, Av Wk, 2 Dec 74, 43-5)
9-25 October: Johnson Space Center Flight Operations Aircraft Div. completed the first mission of Project Airstream, gathering high-altitude gaseous and particulate samples from the upper atmosphere in the Western Hemisphere with the NASA high-altitude WB-57F aircraft. Sampling missions, flown for the Atomic Energy Commission and the Dept of Transportation, allowed AEC to determine the global distribution of atmospheric nuclear weapon test debris, both gaseous and particulate. Nine NASA crewmen alternated in the 14 flights of the first mission, logging 51 500 km in all. (JSC Release 74-269)
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