Sept 5 1975
From The Space Library
A Viking Data Review Management Center had been established at Kennedy Space Center, the Spaceport News reported. The center would promptly disseminate data from the two Viking space craft to all concerned government agencies and contractors, and would aid in solving launch-related problems as quickly as possible. During the Viking l launch on 20 Aug., data and review teams of NASA and contractor personnel at KSC were responsible for rapidly analyzing incoming data for top management. Any anomaly that could affect the launch of Viking B had to be detected and resolved as quickly as possible. Center personnel had tracked some 20 problems from discovery to resolution. (KSC Spaceport News, 5 Sept 75, 2)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory had proposed some economically sound and technically feasible alternatives to the automobile industry's inefficient and polluting internal combustion engine [see 3 Sept.], a Los Angeles Times editorial said. Development of a new economical and pollution-free engine on amass-production basis would take time and money but "the auto industry can well afford the $150 million a year that would be needed." The JPL report voiced skepticism that industry could do the job alone. "Additional funding from the federal government is required, as well as a commitment that introduction of an alternative engine by 1985 is a national goal. JPL makes a persuasive case that all this is feasible and in the national interest. Given the potential in fuel savings and reduced air pollution, the money... would be a solid investment." (LA Times, 5 Sept 75)
A group of 35 representatives from central Fla. planning agencies attended a 1-day workshop at Kennedy Space Center to assess the possibility of using satellite data for land-use planning. Edward J. Hecker of the KSC Office of Earth Resources told the group that the 4-cent-per-sq-mi cost of obtaining satellite data was one-third the cost of aircraft-obtained data. Data collected by "on foot" surveys cost $20 per sq mi, and the cost of using an automobile for this purpose ran about $2 per sq mi.
Dr. Garland L. Thomas, coinvestigator for the earth-resources mission of Landsat-2 (launched 22 Jan.) and employee of the Brevard County (Fla.) Planning and Zoning Dept., told the group that, using satellite data and photography, planners could determine which areas were developable and which were not, produce comprehensive land use planning maps, monitor water quality, and trace the process of eutrophication in central Fla.'s many lakes. (KSC Release 181-75)
8, 9, and 17 September: Data collected by sounding rockets, satellites, instrumented balloons, and high-flying aircraft had supported the hypothesis that fluorocarbons such as those found in aerosol spray cans might be breaking down the earth's ozone shield, scientists told hearings of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences' Subcommittee on the Upper Atmosphere. Ozone in the stratosphere screened the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation that might increase incidence of cancer and other skin diseases and prove lethal to many life forms as well as damage eyes, crops, and livestock. An increase in atmospheric fluorocarbons could also have a greenhouse effect, permitting sunlight to pass freely but inhibiting the escape of heat in the form of infrared radiation. This would warm the lower atmosphere and the earth, altering aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and environmental chemicals, and creating climate changes. An extreme greenhouse effect had been blamed for Venus' oven-hot temperatures.
Dr. Warren R. Muir, cochairman of the Interagency Task Force on Inadvertent Modification of the Stratosphere, told the subcommittee, "Based on our preliminary assessment there seems to be a legitimate cause for concern." If additional government research-with NASA coordinating-had proved more conclusively the danger to the environment, the government should take action for "prompt enactment of toxic substances legislation." Dr. Wilson K. Talley of the Environmental Protection Agency agreed that fluorocarbons might pose a problem to the stratosphere, and that the total effect of releasing fluorocarbons and other halocarbon compounds into the atmosphere might not become apparent for 10 yrs. But, with evidence of public danger not strong enough to stand up to a court challenge by manufacturers, government regulation of the offending substances would be unenforceable. (Transcript; Sullivan, NYT, 10 Sept 75, 1)
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