September 1966
From The Space Library
Vice President Hubert Humphrey, in an interview with Technology Week, predicted that U.S. would land men on the moon in 1969-probably before U.S.S.R. He said the Johnson Administration had definite plans for “very active post-Apollo schedule” but refused to “put a time schedule on what comes next.” Post-Apollo activities would include exploring the moon, increasing our knowledge of the. planets, expanding earth-orbiting capability, both manned and unmanned, and developing maneuverable, reusable spacecraft. The Vice President foresaw no possibility of merging USAF’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program with any of NASA’s manned projects. ‘‘(Tech. Wk., 9/5/66, 12, 13)’’
U.S. and U.S.S.R. were exchanging daily six to eight weather satellite photographs with nephanalyses. First U.S. transmittal began Sept. 6 with pictures from ESSA I meteorological satellite, launched Feb. 3. On Sept. 11, U.S.S.R. began sending pictures from COSMOS CXXII, launched June 25. Regions photographed-primarily Atlantic Ocean and Western Europe-had been matched so operations of satellite systems could be compared. Joint effort to improve transmission quality had been proposed since transmission seemed to degrade photographs : U.S. scientists found Soviet photos “poor” in quality; Soviet scientists described U.S. photos as “usable.” Receipt of photos from COSMOS CXXII had enabled U.S. to analyze satellite’s instrumentation: COSMOS CXXII carried pair of 48° TV cameras canted 16.5° to each side of orbital plane to provide coverage of about 690 mi. of earth. Cameras overlapped field of coverage by 1°; frames transmitted so far had 10 per cent overlap. ‘‘(Av. Wk., 9/26/66, 26-7; Schmeck, NYT, 9/27/66, 15)’’
Scientific and technological knowledge must be directed to the “making and keeping of peace,” Dr. Donald F. Hornig, Director of Office of Science and Technology and science adviser to the President, told General Electric Forum. “Science will not be the sole contributor toward this end. . . . Its role must be to relieve those pressures that have traditionally been the causes of political, social, and economic instability-pressures which have always led to an upheaval of social order. By helping to alleviate poverty, ignorance and disease, and by improving food supplies and living conditions, science can help to remove the causes of war. . . .” ‘‘(GE Forum, 7-9/66, 8)’’
Honors and elections reported by Aviation Week: (1) George Galipeau, president of Van Dusen Aircraft Supplies, was elected president of National Pilots Assn. (NPA); (2) Paul Poberezny, president of Experimental Aircraft Assn., was named 1966 NPA Pilot of the Year; and (3) H. M. Horner, United Aircraft Corp.’s chairman and chief executive officer, was named recipient of National Aviation Club’s Award for Achievement for his “life-long devotion to the advancement of air power and space power for world commerce and Free World Defense.” ‘‘(Av. Wk, 9/12/66, 23)’’
Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.), chairman of House Science and Astronautics Committee’s Space Sciences Subcommittee, recommended in Astronautics & Aeronautics that manned and unmanned earth-orbital missions be given major emphasis in the next few years. He suggested lower priority be assigned manned planetary exploration and establishment of manned lunar bases, but that unmanned Voyager Mars and Venus missions be given more extensive support. ‘‘(A&A, 9/66, 12-14)’’
NASA released its 1,000th Tech Brief, one which described development of improved titanium alloy of possible value in field of medicine. Potential industrial uses of inorganic fibers developed as reinforcements in materials for spacecraft were discussed in Non-Glassy Inorganic Fibers and Composites, issued by NASA Office of Technology Utilization Techniques used to monitor astronauts’ blood pressure could be adapted to prolong the lives of persons with certain types of heart disease, concluded Westinghouse Research Laboratories engineers William J. Jones and Wyatt C. Simpson in monograph entitled NASA Contributions to Cardiovascular Monitoring. Study was conducted for NASA’s Office of Technology Utilization. ‘‘(NASA Releases 66-238, 66-246, 66-250)’’
USAF had begun evaluation studies of Adam (Air Deflection and Modulation) II-a revolutionary type of aircraft with engines located inside the wings-at Wright-Patterson AFB. A full-span, powered model of the propulsive-wing V/Stol aircraft would be designed, built, and tested by LTV Aerospace Corp. under a 15-mo., $439,000 contract jointly funded by USAF and USA. Wind-tunnel tests would be made at LaRC. Aircraft could be used in both military tactical and commercial passenger versions. ‘‘(AFSC Release 154.66)’’
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