Mar 4 1969
From The Space Library
USAF launched unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB by Titan IIIB -Agena booster into orbit with 279.6-mi (449.9-km) apogee, 96.3-mi (155.0-km) perigee, 90.2-min period, and 92.0° inclination. Satellite reentered March 18. (GSFC SSR, 3/15/69; 3/31/69; SBD, 3/7/69, 30; Pres Rpt 70 [69] )
NASA Acting Administrator, Dr. Thomas O. Paine, testifying before House Committee on Science and Astronautics on NASA FY 1970 authorization request, outlined goals in space and aeronautics toward which U.S. should move in next decade; "First-We should do all we can to understand and put into early use the promise of space for people here on earth. We should increase our scientific knowledge of the vital earth-sun relationship and study the earth itself from space. We should develop and experiment with new and improved practical applications of satellites, particularly in earth resources. We should continue to foster prompt introduction into the economy of space applications and technology. "Second-We should follow up the first Apollo landing with a sound program of manned lunar exploration. "Third-We should proceed with the development and experimental operation of a permanent U.S. space station in earth orbit. "Fourth-We should move out steadily in the exploration of deeper space, exploring the planets with unmanned probes and the sun, stars, and galaxies from orbital observatories outside the atmosphere. "Fifth-We should provide the technology for developing the full potential of U.S. civil and military aeronautics. "Sixth-We should maintain a strong momentum of broad technological advance in all aerospace disciplines." Although NASA'S 1970 budget was " 'holding' budget," Dr. Paine said request did include funds for starting three principal new programs: Earth Resources Technology Satellite Program, with start of ERTS A and B development; NERVA flight-weight engine development, postponed from 1969; and series of planetary explorers for future flights to Venus and Mars. In period of "retrenchment and declining resources," FY 1969 operating budget was $762 million below FY 1968 budget and over $1 billion below FY 1967. Nationwide employment on NASA Work had decreased from earlier peak of 420,000 to 270,000 at end of FY 1968, to about 215,000 at end of FY 1969, and under FY 1970 budget to about 190,000. (Testimony)
Apollo Program after lunar landing was discussed by NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Fight, Dr. George E. Mueller, before House Committee on Science and Astronautics hearing on NASA FY 1970 appropriations: "A thorough exploration plan has been evolved by the scientific community which will be initiated with the remainder of the fifteen Saturn V launch vehicles and Apollo spacecraft available under the Apollo Program. Three initial phases of lunar exploration have been defined. The first phase will consist of landings that sample and observe the major classes of regions on the moon. To establish these norms, it will be necessary to land, carry out geological prospecting, and obtain rock and soil samples for return to earth from four separate sites. . . . "The second phase would include the investigation of the major classes of lunar anomalies . . . volcanic types, sinuous riverlike channel-ways, fracture zones and impact craters. Six additional sites have been identified as the minimum ... to provide answers to basic questions about the moon and to evaluate locations of potential resources, building materials or underground shelter openings. The third phase would be to tie together this information from 10 or more sites by making a remote sensing survey of the moon from lunar orbit." Apollo Applications FY 1970 budget provided for "continuation of flight hardware development and for integration of modified subsystems into hardware for a set of five earth-orbital flights." Their completion in 1972 "terminates the manned flight activity until other manned flight programs are established." (Testimony)
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin editorial on Apollo 9 mission: "In the first Apollo launchings, it was the taming of sheer, brute power that awed the on-looker. "At the moment of ignition, it was not what lay beyond the astronauts that gripped the millions watching TV. It was the question whether the huge Saturn V booster would respond to command, whether it would hurl the astronauts into orbit or collapse, toppling slowly into a furnace of its own making. "But with yesterday's flawless Apollo 9 launch, the Saturn V booster seemed to emerge as a proven piece of space hardware. The preoccupation now is with the complexity, sophistication, the intricate workings of the most complicated of the several machines the United States has put together for the conquest of the moon. . . . In its sophistication and vulnerability, [the IAA] is . . . an extension of man himself." (P Bull, 3/4/69)
A number of MIT scientists, in day-long work stoppage, gathered to discuss uses and misuses of scientific knowledge, including military research, university-Government relations, disarmament, and responsibilities of intellectuals. Similar programs were held on 30 campuses across country, and Univ. of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia canceled all undergraduate classes for day. (Reinhold, NYT, 3/5/69, 1)
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