Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

lASA SP-4008 

ONAUTICS AND 

AERONAUTICS, 1967 

chronology on Science, Technology, and Policy 

Text by 

Science and Technology Division 

Library of Congress 

Sponsored by 

NASA Historical Staff 

Office of Policy 

Scientific and Technical Information Division 1968 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

Washington, D.C.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents 

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 

Price $2.25 (paper cover) 

Library of Congress Catalog Card Nmber 6660096

Foreword 

The first decade of the Space Age is behind us and now in the hands of the 

historians. It was a period of dynamic advance, bringing new appreciations 

of our solar. environment and new capabilities to develop and exploit ad- 

vancing knowledge and techniques. Since the space challenge of the next dec- 

ade is likely to be just as demanding and rewarding as that of the last one, 

perhaps we may gain useful perspective by reflecting upon our experiences 

even as we contemplate tomorrow. 

Ten years ago our planning for the future required the piecing together 

and development of the organization and management as well as disciplinary 

and technical capability for space exploration. Today our planning for the 

future can be based upon well-established and versatile capabilities in science, 

engineering, and administration. Reliable space vehicles are available rang- 

ing from small sounding rockets to the Titan I11 and Saturn V class vehicles. 

The use of automated techniques in space has been demonstrated by the Mar- 

iner, Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter, Explorer, Geophysical and Solar 

Observatories, Tiros, Nimbus, Syncom, the Applications Technology Satel- 

lite, and many others. The capability of man himself to function usefully in 

space has been,demonstrated in the successes of Mercury and Gemini and 

expands rapidly as Apollo proceeds. 

Ten years ago we could only assert from intuition and prophecy the value 

of space experimentation to science. Now we can point to the profound in- 

fluence it has had on the geosciences, on astronomy, and is beginning to have 

in life sciences. Thanks to our planetary probes, we have known since 1965 that 

the planet Mars has craters like the Moon. Thanks to our lunar probes, a de- 

tailed lunar atlas can be prepared. 

Ten years ago we could only point forward hopefully to space applications 

in meteorology, communications, navigation, and geodesy. Today these are 

all operational areas. Global weather photographs are received daily even 

in some of the most undeveloped areas of the world. Reliable, live TV broad- 

casts bring worldwide historic events and Olympic games into our living rooms 

routinely and in real time. Ships in all oceans use signals from satellites to 

refine their knowledge of their position; soon aircraft will be doing the same. 

Specially instrumented satellites and probes are daily filling in details on the 

momentous geophysical discoveries of Van Allen and others. 

Ten years ago there was serious question as to whether there would be 

enough skilled manpower or public interest to carry out a sustained program 

of space exploration. Today great teams of competent scientists, engineers, 

and managers are engaged in developing our national space and aeronautical 

capability and applying its hard-earned technology to the most rewarding ap- 

plications for commercial, industrial, social, and military purposes. Un- 

paralleled scientific and technological success in our space venture during the 

past decade not only vastly increased our skills and resources but also de- 

veloped high confidence in our ability to solve other problems in today’s SO- 

ciety. Problems of national defense, oceanography, earth resources, the cities, 

I11

N FOREWORD 

transportation, population, air pollution, and food-these are challenges that 

cannot be sidestepped and for which the innovative enthusiasm and know- 

how of the space program offers guidance, inspiration, and technique. 

Ten years ago the American space program began by almost doubling its 

effort each year for several years; today the program is shrinking and has 

been since 1966. Ten years ago mastering space technology was indeed a 

major problem. Success was a rare and precious commodity. Today success 

is routine and failures are rare. A decade ago the American people were 

caught up in a wave of interest in the space venture and in a determined drive 

to catch up with the Soviet Union’s bold initiative in space. Today Americans 

can take satisfaction in what our Nation has so far accomplished in space; 

they should also know that what has been done is only the merest begin- 

ning of what can be done. Of course the values of space research, and indeed 

of all research, must be weighed against their contribution to national needs. 

In making this judgment it is very important that we fully appreciate the 

investment we have made and the nature of the dividends we have earned. 

This useful chronology on Astronautics and Aeronautics, following the 

pattern of its predecessor volumes, offers first documentation upon the multi- 

tudinous events, people, and circumstances of the last year of the first decade 

of the Space Age. All of us note with sadness the tragic loss of Astronauts 

Grissom. White, and Chaffee on January 27. They joined the ranks of other 

brave explorers like Magellan and Amundsen who also pioneered man’s first 

steps into a newly accessible environment. The world’s shock and grief at 

their passing was eloquent testimony to the sense of identification that all 

men feel with those few who explore new realms in their behalf. Other events, 

though significant, were not so memorable. The first colored pictures of 

Earth from the first Applications Technology Satellite or a new world’s speed 

record of 4,534 miles per hour by an X-15 rocket aircraft may not be re- 

called when one begins to assess the events of 1967. The chronology logs them 

for you. The United States launched a total of 87 spacecraft into Earth 

orbit or on escape trajectories during 1967. Each one is cataloged here 

in the chronology, one measure of the vast sweep of scientific and technical 

accomplishment during the year just past. It is at our own peril that we 

forget or ignore what we have already experienced; we will simply have to 

relearn it if we do. 

Today, as we confer a solid “well done” on the gains of the first decade 

of space exploration and take the first steps into the second decade, we find 

these steps hampered by uncertainty, reservations, and in some quarters even 

dismay. Here again words out of history can offer renewed perspective. 

Speaking a decade ago, before NASA was created and the national space 

commitment was undertaken, a wise statesman of science and technology, 

the late Hugh L. Dryden, observed: 

We must understand that the kind and magnitude of space pro- 

gram that our national interest requires will cost hundreds of mil- 

lions of dollars each year for many years to come. I know that some 

knowledgeable people fear that although we might be willing to 

spend a couple of billions for space technology in 1958, because 

we still remember the humiliation of Sputnik last October, next year 

we will be so preoccupied by color television, or new style cars, or 

the beginning of another national election campaign that we’ll 

be unwilling to pay another year’s installment on our space con- 

quest bill. For that to happen-well, I’d just as soon we didn’t 

start.

FOREWORD V 

Fortunately, for the sake of our children’s future if not for the 

protection of our own skin, I do not think we are that grasshopper- 

minded. . . . We can and we must succeed in finding our des- 

tiny in space. 

HOMER 

E. NEWELL, 

Associate Administrator, 

National Aeronautics and S pe Administrrttion.

Contents 

VI1 

PAGE 

111 

IX 

1 

33 

59 

95 

133 

173 

199 

229 

260 

287 

32 6 

363 

395 

431 

435 

439

Preface 

In 1961 the first publication by the one-man NASA Historical Staff was a 

well-received chronology-Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American 

Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space, 

1915-1960. The following year a volume covering the year 1961 was pre- 

pared by the two-man Historical Staff and published by the House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics. Also that year began a practice still existent. 

Monthly draft chronologies were distributed for use and comment through- 

out NASA and the Government, with the object of providing a timely reference 

and revising them for an annual printed edition. The 1962 chronology volume, 

considerably enlarged over 1961, was again printed by the House Committee. 

From 1963 to the present, NASA has published each annual Astronautics and 

Aeronautics chronology volume. As far as is known it is the only substantial, 

continuing chronology effort in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. 

The reference value of each volume has increased with the passage of time. 

In 1964 the NASA Historical Staff joined in partnership with the Science 

and Technology Division of the Library of Congress to produce the Astro- 

nautics and Aeronautics chronology. Funded by NASA, employees of the 

Library drafted the monthly chronology segments, validated critical com- 

ments, added new items as later documentation became available, prepared 

the revised manuscript for publication, and compiled the intensive index. 

This partnership continues. 

Thus it was that by the end of the first decade of the Space Age the greatest 

share of NASA historical publications had been chronologies. Only a modest 

beginning was made on publishing full-fledged volumes in the NASA Histori- 

cal Series. The second decade of NASA begins with more narrative histories 

in process than chronologies. The reader will find on the inside back cover 

of this volume a complete list of NASA historical publications to date. 

This annual volume remains the product of a number of hands. The entire 

NASA Historical Staff participated in source collection, review, and publica- 

tion. At the Library Mrs. Anne Horton (through August 1967) , Charles 

Thibault (from September 6n), Mrs. Carmen Brock-Smith, and Mrs. Gay 

Arnelle drafted the monthly texts. Mr. Thibault and Mrs. Brock-Smith revised 

the monthly drafts for annual publication. Mr. Arthur Renstrom prepared 

the index. In the NASA Historical Staff, the general editor was Dr. Frank W. 

Anderson, Jr., Deputy NASA Historian. Technical editors were Mrs. Helen 

T. Wells (through July 1967) and Mrs. Carrie Karegeannes. Appendix A, 

“Satellites, Space Probes, and Manned Space Flights, 1967,” and Appendix B, 

M

X PREFACE 

“Major NASA Launches, 1967,” were prepared by Dr. Anderson. Appendix C, 

L‘Abbreviations of References,” was prepared by Mrs. Karegeannes. Creston 

Whiting, of NASA’s Information Services Branch, Scientific and Technical 

Information Division, kept the process abreast of Russian releases. At the 

NASA centers the historians and historical monitors submitted local material 

for the chronology. Validation was the work of many busy people throughout 

NASA and in other relevant branches of the Federal structure. 

A chronology is but the first step toward history as an intellectual discipline 

and even it is never really completed. Comments, additions, and criticisms 

are always welcomed. 

EUGENE 

M. EMME, 

NASA Historian.

January 1967 

January 1: NAS had received over 400 applications for NASA astronaut 

training with one week remaining before Jan. 8 deadline. NAS had been 

asked by NASA to recruit and nominate a group of scientists and engi- 

neers for final selection and training as astronauts “to conduct scientific 

experiments in manned orbiting satellites and to observe and investigate 

the lunar surface and circumterrestrial space.” Applicants were required 

to be US. citizens no taller than six feet, born after Aug. 1, 1930; have 

a doctorate degree in the natural sciences, medicine, or engineering; and 

meet physical requirements for pilot crew members. (NASA Release 

66-333) 

Twentieth anniversary of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) . 

January 2: Spanish scientists had submitted to the Spanish government a five- 

year, $10,000,000 space research program, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

According to Comision Nacional de Investigacibn del Espacio ( CONIE) 

President Gen. Rafael Calvo Rodes, primary program objectives would 

be to gather scientific data and gain practical experience in designing 

and launching rockets. During separate, $1,500,000 preparatory program 

which was completed in December 1966, Spain launched her first rocket, 

collected data, conducted preliminary experiments, trained technical per- 

sonnel and prepared permanent launching sites; during next phase, 

Spain would build her own Skua rockets. (Darrah, C Trib, 1/3/67) 

“The moon is not a dead body, but a living, breathing organism,” Tass re- 

ported following successful completion of lunar surface studies by 

U.S.S.R.’s Luna XZZZ. Prof. Nikolay Kozyrev’s 1964 claim that Aris- 

tarchus crater had smoke, gas, or dust rising from it had been confirmed 

by observations from earth of possible lunar volcanoes or eruptions of 

lunar dust; results of lunar-surface studies; a “special glow” discovered 

by Pulkovo Observatory near Kepler crater; and “manifestation of 

moon’s geological life,” recorded in 1966. (UPI, NYT, 1/3/67, 10) 

* Aerospace industry must develop new type of management to cope with its 

record $26-billion workload during 1967, Robert Hotz wrote in Aviation 

Week. “What makes the current management problem so acute is the fact 

that military demands are reaching a peak at the same time that com- 

mercial aviation is soaring on the greatest boom in its history. During 

1965, the aerospace industry actually manufactured slightly more com- 

mercial airframe pounds than military-a historic milestone. The indus- 

try also has under development six new types of airline jet transports for 

which there were no prior military programs and which must be financed 

from privately raised funds. This is another unprecedented task for 

aerospace managements to tackle. . . .” (Hob, Av Wk, 1/2/67, 11) 

* US. experts believed establishment of permanent lunar colonies and ex- 

ploitation of lunar resources were among long-range goals of Soviet 

1

January 2 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

space program, Heather M. David reported in Technology Week. 

Analysis of research reports had indicated that future Soviet missions 

directed toward these objectives would include: (1) orbiting of three 

or four cosmonauts for three weeks; (2) extensive practice of extra- 

vehicular activity and assembly in orbit; (3) orbiting of animals to 

continue studying effects of long-term weightlessness and radiation ; 

and (4) lunar landing of animals for observation. David predicted 

preparations for interplanetary travel would be initiated shortly after 

establishment of permanent lunar colonies. (David, Tech Wk, 1/2/67, 

18) 

* The New York Times called for fuller and more open debate on cost and 

consequences of SST program: “The SST’s priority is debatable and SO 

is its financing. The industry may be right in asserting that the costs of 

development are so huge that no company can afford to take the risk 

on its own. It points out that the backing of both Britain and France has 

been required to launch the Concorde. But if the combined efforts of 

two countries and their aircraft industries are needed for that much 

less ambitious project, the American SST might be more safely and 

soundly developed if it commanded the combined resources of the entire 

American industry and the Government. 

“What is at stake is not the commitment to proceed with the SST. That 

decision has been made and cannot-and should not-be reversed. But 

if the SST is to be sound economically as well as technologically, the 

Administration and the industry must be less secretive and indefinite 

about the costs and how they are to be financed. An open debate is 

needed on how to get the most for the taxpayers’ money.” (NYT, 

1/2/67,18) 

January 3: Group of NASA officials, headed by MSFC Director Dr. Wernher 

von Braun, arrived at McMurdo Station in the Antarctic beginning 10- 

day expedition to observe environmental conditions-including tem- 

peratures, isolation factors, and survival techniques-for comparison 

and possible application to problems of space flight. (MSC Roundup; 

NYT, 1/4/67,10; Ap, W Post, 12/22/67, A21) 

* Joseph J. Tymczyszyn, a senior FAA test pilot and chief of FAA’s West Coast 

Supersonic Transport Development Field Office, had emerged as the 

test pilot most likely to certify the SST, Mitchell Gordon disclosed in the 

Wall Street Journal. Tymczyszyn, certifier of both the Boeing 707 and 

the Douglas DC-8 jetliners for US. service, had already spent four years 

familiarizing himself with SST operation, and had logged more than 1,000 

hrs in SST simulators. (Gordon, WSJ, 1/3/67,1) 

Philadelphia Inquirer praised success of U.S.S.R.’s Luna XI11 and urged 

that U.S. continue its intensive lunar-landing program : “Space treaty 

or no space treaty, the competitive moon race goes on and even though 

nobody really likes the idea, the US. has to try to do better than the 

SovietUnion’sLuna13. . . . 

“No one can guess for certain what strategic role it [the moon] might 

play if . . . the Soviet Union were to make technological advances that 

would enable it to deny the use of space to the rest of the world. 

“Luna 13 has chalked up a meaningful achievement for the Russian 

space program. Americans should not be tempted to underrate it.” (P 

Inq, 1/3/67) 

Underground nuclear detonation conducted Dec. 3, 1966, by AEC for ARPA 

had confirmed decoupling theory-that an underground explosion could 

2

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

January 3 

be muffled significantly by firing it in a cavity-DOD announced. Further 

experiments would be conducted under Project Sterling to “develop a 

better understanding of the problems of seismic detrction.” ( DOD Release 

10-67) 

USAF announced plans to train 3,247 pilots a year-an increase of 15% over 

present level-and provide a ninth Undergraduate Pilot Training ( UPT) 

facility at Randolph AFB. Increase was required because of Vietnam war. 

(DOD Release 2-67; AP, NYT, 1/4/67,30) 

January 4: XB-70 No. 1 research aircraft piloted by NASA test pilot Fitzhugh 

Fulton and North American Aviation, Inc., pilot Van Shepard reached 

mach 2.53 and 60,400-ft altitude during flight at Edwards AFB for na- 

tional sonic boom program. (NASA Proj Off) 

* A record number of visitors--2M,838--toured MSFC in 1966. (MSFC Re- 

lease 67-1) 

* British government would launch an all-British satellite within 2% y~s, 

Reuters reported. According to a Ddy Mail article, a 200-lb satellite 

would be launched from Woomera Rocket Range with new Black Arrow 

rocket. (Reuters, NYT, 1/4/67,40) 

* Unarmed Mace A missile, launched by USAF from Eglin AFB, Fla., during 

target-interception practice, went out of control and accidentally flew over 

the western tip of Cuba before crashing into the sea. (Wilson, W Post, 

1/5/67, Al) 

* Replacement of obsolete missiles by more advanced types had resulted in 

the largest surplus-disposal program since the end of World War 11, 

Frederick Taylor asserted in the Wall Street Journal. DOD was reportedly 

trying to dispose of more than 200 phased-out Atlas and Titan I missiles 

and their sites, and it seemed probable that within a few years 800 

Minuteman I, 600 Polaris, and 54 Titan I1 missiles also would become 

obsolete, adding to the surplus. (Taylor, WSJ, 1/4/67, 1) 

January 5: NASA Administrator James E. Webb addressed Armed Forces 

Reserves Joint Assembly at NASA Hq. 

’ 

“It is a mistake to think of the space program only in terms of the 

rockets and spacecraft we launch. These are the focal points of our 

attention, but we are also developing the ability to organize and manage 

vast scientific and technical enterprises that involve large segments of 

our economic, social, and political decision-making process. This com- 

plex interdevelopment of technological power and of the social organi- 

zation necessary to control, direct, and exploit it. . . is a central element 

of the space age.” (Text) 

* Press briefing on future OSSA programs was held at NASA Hq. Edgar M. 

Cortright, Deputy Administrator for Space Science and Applications, 

served as moderator. 

Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. 

Homer E. Newel1 stressed the importance of basic research to all national 

scientific programs. “. . . the results of basic research are vital to the 

realization of practical applications. When we began the NASA program, 

we had the sounding rocket, we had the capability of putting together 

small satellite launchers and to apply those techniques, and we built 

the best program on those techniques that we could. Now we have man- 

ned flight capabilities; we have large boosters, the ability to get out 

further into the solar system than ever before. . . . Now is the time to 

profit by those capabilities, to continue the basic research.” 

Sunblazer probe that could be launched into orbit around the sun 

3


and transmit radio signals back to earth was discussed by Jesse L. 

Mitchell, Director of Physics and Astronomy Programs. Spacecraft 

would determine electron density in solar atmosphere by measuring 

time it took signals to travel from spacecraft back to earth. NASA was 

also considering a plan to launch a satellite toward Jupiter, then use 

Jupiter’s magnetic field to push the spacecraft toward other planets and 

eventually hurl it into space 1-10 trillion miles away. 

Oran W. Nicks, Director of Lunar and Planetary Programs, outlined 

plans for unmanned missions to Mars and Venus, beginning 

with a small instrumented probe scheduled for launch in June 1967. 

In the 1971 Mars and 1972 Venus missions, teams of two spacecraft 

would be launched by a modified Saturn V booster. One spacecraft 

would penetrate planet’s atmosphere ; take measurements as it sped 

toward planet’s surface; and flash data to the second spacecraftprogramed 

to fly past the planet-before crashlanding. Data would 

be transmitted to earth by the flyby spacecraft. Missions would pave 

the way for later spacecraft with improved equipment-possibly including 

TV cameras-to softland on the planets. 

Thumb-sized desert mice fitted with tiny radio transmitters and telemetry 

equipment which could broadcast mouse’s temperature up to six 

months were being conditioned for future space flight, Dr. Orr E. Reynolds, 

Director of Bioscience Programs, disclosed. “AstromouseYy-which 

ate only sunflower seeds and never drank water-might be orbited 

with three astronauts in Apollo spacecraft. Others might be launched 

into interplanetary space in a Pioneer study of biological specimens 

outside earth‘s gravitational field. 

Plans for a multi-purpose satellite that would combine the functions 

of many unmanned spacecraft currently in orbit were revealed by Dr. 

Morris Tepper, Deputy Director of Space Applications and Director of 

Meteorology. Developed under unified space applications program, 

satellite would carry equipment to observe weather conditions ; relay 

communications to distant earth stations ; provide navigation traffic 

control for ships and aircraft; and compile data on earth‘s natural 

resources. 

No mention of unmanned scientific lunar probes was made during the 

briefing. When asked later in an interview whether he thought interest in 

unmanned exploration of the moon would diminish after astronauts 

landed, Dr. Newel1 replied: “Not at all.” Although astronauts would 

dominate lunar exploration, unmanned Surveyor spacecraft would probably 

land in unsafe areas, and Lunar Orbiter photography missions 

would continue for mapping. Discussion of unmanned lunar missions 

had been omitted because “we wanted to tell about the newer of new 

things in our thinking.” (Transcript; Hines, W Star, 1/8/67, A16) 

Douglas 

0 U.S. must “answer the post-Apollo question . . . very SOO~,’~ 

Aircraft Co. Vice President and General Manager J. P. Rogan told 

AIAA/AAS Space Forum in Washington, D.C. He suggested that US. 

develop five “building blocks” which would maintain options for any 

future course of action chosen: (1) long-duration orbital experience; 

(2) reusable spacecraft ; (3) reusable launch vehicles ; (4) nuclearpowered 

stages; and (5) improved secondary power systems. (Text) 

0 U.S.S.R. had developed a device that enabled jet aircraft to take off almost 

straight up, reaching the stratosphere “in a matter of minutes,” 

Komsomolshzya Pravda reported. Article did not include detailed de- 

4

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 January 5 

scription of device but indicated it consisted of rocket engines that pro- 

vided sudden thrust of tremendous force. (AP, NYT, 1/7/67, 10) 

* At least 200 Anglo-French Concorde supersonic aircraft would have al- 

ready been sold by 1974 when the U.S. supersonic transport was sched- 

uled to go into operation, Concorde sales manager E. H. Burgess 

speculated at a London news conference. Construction of first prototype, 

which would make its maiden flight Feb. 28, 1968, was two or three 

weeks ahead of schedule, he said. (AP, NYT, 1/6/67, 62M) 

* Refunds totaling $35 million ‘‘probably will be paid” by FAA to Lockheed 

Aircraft Corp. and Pratt & Whitney Div., United Aircraft Corp. for their 

losses in SST design competition, the Wall Street Journal speculated. 

Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. had been selected Dec. 31, 1966, 

to continue development and refinement of their SST designs. (WSI, 

1/5/67) 

Object, believed to be “probable” loth moon of Saturn discovered by 

French astronomer Dr. Audouin Dollfus of Meudon Observatory in 

December 1966, had been sighted by Richard L. Walker of the US. 

Naval Observatory, Walter Sullivan reported in the New York Times. 

New moon, believed to be a 150-midia ccsnowball” of very light, frozen 

material, was in orbit 52,000 mi from Saturn with a period of 18 hrs. 

Confirmation was uncertain, however ; Walker, in a telephone interview, 

said the object was so close to the rings of Saturn that it could be a lump 

in the rings, rather than a moon. (Sullivan, NYT, 1/5/67, C17) 

January 6: Harold B. Finger, Director of Nuclear Systems and Space Power 

in NASA Hq. OART and Manager of AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion 

Office, temporarily assigned additional duty of heading group of NASA 

officials who would analyze needs for procedural revisions and func- 

tional alignments within NASA Hq. (NASA Release 67-2) 

NASA’s Surveyor I spacecraft, which softlanded on the moon June 2, 1966, 

was reactivated on the lunar surface for 12 hrs to transmit data on the 

motion of the moon. JPL said the new data would be used to help “re- 

fine the Moon’s distance from the Earth, its position in orbit at a given 

time, and other elements of its velocity and motion.” (SBD, 1/11/67, 42) 

* USAF reported that an SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft was missing 

and presumed down after test flight from Edwards AFB. (UPI, W Post, 

1/7/67,3) 

January 7: Patent for a method of determining whether life exists on other 

planets had been granted to aeronautical engineer Albin M. Nowitzky, 

Stacy V. Jones reported in the New York Times. Unlike previous pro- 

posals involving distant observations, Nowitzky’s concept called for an 

automated spacecraft landing on a planet’s surface to make tests free 

from earthly contamination and influence. A soil sample would be 

taken, mixed with distilled water, and sterilized. Part of the resulting 

“nutrient” would be transferred to a test chamber, exposed to the planet’s 

atmosphere, and sealed, while the remaining part would be used as a 

cc 

control.” Sensors in the test chamber would register any metabolic 

reaction, and these data would be telemetered to earth or to an orbiting 

satellite. (Jones, NYT, 1/7/67, 34) 

French scientists were teaching monkeys that pressure on one out of five 

buttons produced a gum drop, in preparation for series of space flights 

with Vesta sounding rocket from Hammaguir Range, AP reported. Re. 

searchers hoped to determine effects of weightlessness on animals’ 

behavior patterns. (AP, W Star, 1/7/67, A2) 

5


January 8: Explosive growth of world’s population in the 20th century was 

an instinctive preparation of mankind for challenges of space travel 

and resettlement on other planets, Soviet scientist Igor M. Zabelin con- 

tended in Pravda. “. . . two very striking facts-the explosive growth 

of mankind and the exploration of space-do not coincide by accident. 

Some inner motivations are leading mankind to new and unknown shores 

and, therefore, it is gathering its strength and reorganizing [its social 

structure] .,’ This explosion was imperative to supply the manpower nec- 

essary for the space age, he asserted, because the solar system could 

not be conquered with “only three billion human beings.” (Anderson. 

NYT, 1/9/67,1) 

0 New York Times questioned FCC’s ability to investigate adequately the 

organization of a domestic comsat system. “The questions faced by the 

Federal Communications Commission and Congress . . . go far beyond 

the obvious ones of whether Comsat’s present monopoly in the interna- 

tional satellite field should be extended to the new area or whether pri- 

vate corporations should be empowered to launch separate systems for 

television or press transmission. . . . 

“Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the tangle . . . is the inca- 

pacity of the F.C.C. to grapple with such problems in total terms. . . . 

[It] has neither the research staff nor the funds to discharge its planning 

responsibilities with anything approaching adequacy. The country must 

now look to it for decisions it is ill-equipped to give on the organization 

of a new satellite system and on the future of noncommercial TV.” 

(NYT, 1/8/67, 12E) 

January 9: William M. Magruder, Lockheed Aircraft Corp., had been selected 

to receive Flight Safety Foundation’s 1967 Richard Hansford Burroughs 

Test Pilot Award, Aviation Week reported. (Av Wk, 1/9/67, 13) 

January 10: US. space program could benefit from experience and scientific 

research in the Antarctic, group of NASA officials headed by MSFC 

Director Dr. Wernher von Braun concluded after studying US. installa- 

tions and activities at McMurdo Station since Jan. 3. Interest in the 

Antarctic was based on research being conducted there which was appli- 

cable to space flight and on way Americans worked under conditions of 

stress, isolation, and extreme cold-conditions similar to those on the 

moon and in space flight. The group also observed minute fungi and algae 

growing in Antarctic and studied methods being used to detect living 

organisms, as preparation for detecting and studying such growths pos- 

sibly existing in harsh environments of other planets. (Durdin, NYT, 

1/15/67, 87) 

MSFC had exercised one-year $10,451,092 renewal option of cost-plus- 

award-fee contract with Mason-Rust Co. for continued support services 

at Michoud Assembly Facility. ( MSFC Release 67-6) 

Designs of both American SST and Anglo-French Concorde would have to 

be modified to meet standards proposed by their potential customers, 

International Air Transport Assn. ( IATA) Director General Knut Ham- 

marskjold asserted. He advised that aircraft be modified to meet all of 

the organization’s requirements, even if it meant postponing delivery 

date. 

The Wail Street Journal later commented: “Since IATA’S members 

include most of the world’s major airlines . . . Mr. Hammarskjold’s 

words plainly deserve attention. . . . [He] appears to have shot a large 

hole in the SST supporters’ main argument for haste. It is that the British 

6


and French are already well ahead of the US. . . . Calm consideration 

would appear even more mandatory for the Government, saddled as it 

is with a war and a budget whose income side long ago since has lost 

touch with outgo. . . . A late blooming success is far better than a dis- 

mal early failure.” (UPI, NYT, 1/11/67, 73; WSJ, 1/17/67,18) 

* President Johnson, in his State of the Union address before joint session 

of Congress, deferred decision on deploying a Nike-X antimissile missile 

system despite evidence that U.S.S.R. was building a defensive system 

near Moscow. “We have a solemn duty to slow down the arms race . . . 

if that is at all possible, in both conventional and nuclear weapons and 

defenses. . . . I realize any additional race would impose on our peoples 

and on all mankind for that matter, an additional waste of resources with 

no gain in security to either side.” The President said he intended to seek 

international agreements “bearing directly on this problem.” He did not 

mention the US. space program in his address. (PD, 1/16/67, 26-39) 

January 10-11 I Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator for 

Manned Space Flight, discussed achievements and objectives of US. 

space program in a series of lectures at the Univ. of Sydney Summer 

School, Australia. After emphasizing intimate interrelationship between 

NASA’s unmanned and manned programs, Dr. Mueller assessed Mercury 

and Gemini flights: “In the Mercury program, we established man’s 

capabilities in short space flights and we laid the foundation for manned 

space flight technology. In the Gemini program, we gained operational 

proficiency, learned about man’s capabilities in flights lasting up to 

two weeks, and developed new techniques.” The Apollo program, he 

said, was proceeding on schedule, and several alternative post-Apollo 

programs were under consideration: “( 1) Direct economic benefits, 

with emphasis on extensive earth-orbital activities; (2) Lunar explora- 

tion and science; (3) Planetary exploration and science; (4) Maximum 

effort aimed at pre-eminence in earth-orbital, lunar, and planetary ac- 

tivities; (5) Balanced combination of economic benefits, lunar and 

planetary exploration, and science.” (Text) 

January 11-14: NASA launched ComSatCorp’s Intelsat ZZ-B comsat from 

ETR by three-stage Thrust Augmented Improved Delta booster into el- 

liptical transfer orbit in preparation for geostationary orbit. Transfer 

orbit had 22,904-mi (36,875-km) apogee; 185-mi (298-km) perigee; 

10-hr 54-min period; and 26” inclination. On Jan. 14 ComSatCorp 

fired apogee motor transferring satellite into geostationary orbit over 

the Pacific. 

Scheduled to enter commercial service Jan. 27, Zntelsat ZI-B would 

provide 24-hr communications service between US. and earth stations 

in Hawaii, Japan, and Australia; assist in fulfilling Project Apollo com- 

munications requirements; and provide military communications be- 

tween Hawaii and Japan, and Thailand and the Philippines for 

National Communications System (NCS) . It was second satellite in Com- 

SatCorp’s INTELSAT 11 program to place two comsats in synchronous 

orbit-one over the Pacific, one over the Atlantic; first satellite 

Zntelsat ZZ-A-was launched by NASA Oct. 27,1966, but failed to achieve 

synchronous orbit because apogee motor malfunctioned. Subsequent 

January 1-!4 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

up to 240 voice channels. (NASA Proj Off; ComSatCorp Release; UPI, 

NYT, 1/8/67,18; 1/12/67,8; 1/15/67,57; AP, W Stur, 1/8/67, A18; 

Reddig, W Stur, 1/11/67, A5; W Post, 1/12/67, Cl) 

Janmry 11 : Initial flight test of USAF’S Scramjet (supersonic combustion 

ramjet) -forerunner of hypersonic aircraft-was partially successful. 

Launched by Scout booster from Vandenberg AFB, vehicle accomplished 

primary goal by demonstrating it could separate properly from booster, 

but failed to perform some secondary missions. (AP, NYT, 1/14/67, 4; 

Tech Wk, 1/23/67,3) 

* French research balloon, released from southwest France Jan. 5 and last 

heard from over Mongolia, was found in North Carolina. Purpose of 

flight was to test onboard equipment: radio transmitter, barometer, and 

device for measuring angle of sun above horizon. (AP, NYT, 1/13/67, 

43) 

0 Rep. Frank T. Bow (R-Ohio) introduced bill (H.R. ll2j to establish a 

Government-owned Supersonic Transport Authority to supervise and 

privately finance with Government guarantee the development and construction 

of the SST prototype. (CR, 1/11/67, H104) 

0 Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved President Johnson’s 

nomination of Alan S. Boyd as Secretary of Transportation. (NASA LAR 

VI/2 1 

* Sonic booms from military aircraft had caused damage to prehistoric cliff 

dwellings in Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona and to 

geological formations in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, National 

Park Service said in report to Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall. Report 

also cited potential damage to cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National 

Park in Colorado. Secretary Udall announced he had received promise 

of cooperation from USAF, and would seek aid of FAA and special NAS 

sonic panel. (NYT, 1/12/67,1) ’ 

* AFSC had awarded Hughes Aircraft Co. $9,000,000 initial increment to 

contract for R&D of an experimental comsat. ( DOD Release 21-67) 

Latest Trendex poll indicated 69% of Americans believed US. space pro- 

gram should continue at its present pace even if U.S.S.R. were to achieve 

first manned lunar landing. (Jackson, LA Herald-Examiner, 1/11/67) 

0 Communist China had been placing considerable emphasis on large-scale 

production of weapons, particularly medium-range missiles capable of 

delivering atomic warheads, CIA Director Richard Helms disclosed in a 

closed briefing of the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy. 

(NYT, 1/12/67,4) 

January 12: JPL had selected TRW Systems, Inc., for negotiations on a $1- 

million contract for design, modification, fabrication, and testing of the 

propulsion subsystem for the 1969 Mariner Mars mission. (NASA Re- 

lease 67-4) 

January 13: Lunar Orbiter news briefing was held at NASA Hq. 

Dr. Leonard Reiffel, Apollo Program, OMSF, said that 635 Lunar 

Orbiter I and ZZ photos of the 1,000-mi Apollo strip near moon’s equator 

had “removed any doubt that there are numbers of suitable places for 

Apollo to land satisfactorily.” Of the regions photographed, 10 sites 

appeared to have smooth areas; detailed analysis of three of these had 

revealed two areas that were only about 6% crater-marked. Dr. Reiffel 

said Apollo landing site should be 3- to 5-mi-dia oval area, relatively 

free of craters and boulders, with 30 mi of smooth terrain approaching 

it and no more than 7” slope. In addition, since moon’s optimum light 

8


ranged from 7” to 20” and sun moved across moon 13” per day, landing 

sites ideally should be spaced 26” apart at this longitude to allow for 

launch delays. “We . . . need not one site or a couple of sites ideally, 

but we would like, in order to make life as simple as possible, to have a 

number of sites. Then at the specific time of the launch . . . we will pick 

a set of three. . . .” 

Dr. Lawrence Rowan, US. Geological Survey, said Lunar Orbiter 

photos had shown that moon’s dark mare was smoothest terrain; bright 

rays had variable roughness and upland plains appeared very rough. 

He said photos indicated that mass movement on the moon modified both 

mare and upland. 

L~RC Lunar Orbiter Project Manager Dr. Clifford H. Nelson, discussing 

future Lunar Orbiter missions, said Lunar Orbiter 3 would be 

“site confirmation” flight to photograph areas already determined by 

Lunar Orbiter I and II as promising for Apollo landings. Spacecraft 

4 and 5 might be used to photograph 400 lunar sites of primary scientific 

interest. Capt. Lee R. Scherer, Lunar Orbiter Project Manager, OSSA, 

noted that one Lunar Orbiter in polar orbit around the moon could survey 

80% of moon’s front face with 10 times resolution of earth-based 

photos. “These types of missions would provide a framework upon which 

to base major decisions concerning our total lunar exploration program 

after these initial manned landings,” Scherer said. 

* Display of one Lumr Orbiter I photo-first ever taken of earth from interplanetary 

distances-reopened discussion about possibility of life 

on Venus. Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for 

Space Science and Applications, said that photo, which showed earth 

as an indistinctly detailed, cloud-shrouded crescent, bore striking resemblance 

to Venus as depicted in earth-based telescopic photos. If 

Venus could be photographed as clearly as earth, “We might see holes 

in the clouds,’’ Newell suggested. Current prevailing scientific theory 

was that solid clouds surrounded Venus trapping infrared radiation 

and making planet too hot to support life. (Transcript; Clark, NYT, 

1/14/67, 12) 

Pilot Joseph Cotton (Col., USAF) and co-pilot Van Shepard, North American 

Aviation, Inc., flew XB-70 No. 1 research aircraft to mach 2.57 

and 61,OOO-ft altitude in flight at Edwards AFB for national sonic boom 

program. (NASA Proj Off) 

January 14: USAF launched an unidentified satellite from WTR with Thor- 

Agena D booster; satellite reentered Feb. 2. (UPI, NYT, 1/16/67, 18; 

Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 2/15/67) 

U.S.S.R. tested first missiles in November 1947 and first multistage ballistic 

missile 10 yrs later, Prauda disclosed in tribute to Sergey Korolev, 

“chief constructor of space systems for U.S.S.R.,” on first anniversary 

of his death. (Reuters, NYT, 1/16/67,20) 

* New US. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. Llewellyn E. Thompson carried 

special message from President Johnson to Soviet leaders in MOSCOW, 

which reportedly appealed for mutual agreement not to deploy antimissile 

systems. Ambassador Thompson’s mission was first diplomatic 

followup to President Johnson’s Jan. 10 State of the Union address in 

which the President indicated that US. had decided to defer deployment 

of such a system and hoped U.S.S.R. would do the same. (NYT, 

1/15/67,23) 

January 15: Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen (R-Ill.) suggested 

9


on ABC’S “Issues and Answers” Tv program that Government expendi- 

tures on the space program be cut to avoid a tax increase. “I’ve been 

looking at that space program, I don’t mind telling you. Does it really 

make a difference whether we get to the moon this year or next year, or 

the following year? 

“I doubt very much whether it makes a great deal of difference. And if 

we reconcile ourselves to that thesis, then of course there is a place where 

you can make a very substantial budget cut.” (W Star, 1/16/67, A5) 

* Prolonged pause in Soviet manned space flights had been causing con- 

siderable speculation in US. political and scientific circles, Stephen s. 

Rosenfeld wrote in the Washington Post. Speculation ranged from pre- 

dictions that the Soviets were moving on to a new “family” of larger 

spacecraft to suggestions they had paused to solve serious problems en- 

countered in prolonged weightlessness. (Rosenfeld, W Post, 1/15/67, 

E3 1 

0 Laser applications in industry and space were rapidly increasing, William 

Smith noted in the New York Times. A solar-powered laser was being 

developed for communication across the 50 million mi between earth 

and Mars, and Dr. Henry Lewis, director of RCA’S David Sarnoff Re- 

search Center, predicted the laser would also play a very important 

role in tracking space vehicles. Said Dr. Lewis: “The laser fits the bill 

with greater accuracy than radar is capable of obtaining.” (Smith, NYT, 

1/15/67, F1) 

January 16: GSFC engineers had successfully used an electric “screwdriver” 

to restore power to Explorer XXXIII satellite, in orbit 252,900 mi from 

earth, saving the spacecraft from an almost certain power blackout. 

Emergency repair-believed to be the most distant satellite “fix” ever 

accomplished-was conducted via Rosman, N.C., tracking station. En- 

gineers turned off the spacecraft transmitter so that an increased power 

surge through the other electronic systems eliminated the suspected 

short circuit. (NASA Release 67-5) 

0 Undulating, banana-shaped barium cloud, released from a Nike-Iroquois 

sounding rocket launched from Eglin AFB in USAF experiment on air 

currents, touched off dozens of reports of UFO’s throughout southeastern 

U.S. (UPI, NYT, 1/18/67, 48) 

U.S. could have a permanent manned space station in orbit by 1970,.pre- 

dicted Charles W. Mathews, Director of Saturn/Apollo Applications, 

NASA Hq. OMSF, in Space Business Daily interview. Mathews said that 

by clustering various modules, instrument packages, and spacecraft in 

orbit for reuse and utilizing resupply of expendables and crew replace- 

ment, it would be possible to extend capabilities of hardware currently 

under development to the point where such a space station could be 

permanently manned in about three years. (SBD, 1/16/67,63) 

* This New Ocean: a History of Project Mercury (SP4201) by Loyd S. 

Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, and Charles C. Alexander was published 

by NASA. It was NASA’s first major program history published and 

was available to public from Superintendent of Documents, GPO. (NASA 

Release 67-1) 

0 MSFC awarded Sanders Associates, Inc., $2,149,548 contract for logistic 

support of Saturn V operational display systems used to present infor- 

mation on vehicle’s status during simulated and actual launch prepara- 

tions. ( MSFC Release 67-8) 

V/Adm. Hyman G. Rickover ( USN) received Printing Industries of Metro- 

10

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 196’7 January 16 

politan New York’s Franklin Award for “advancement of scientific 

knowledge and furtherance of democracy.” In his acceptance speech, 

Admiral Rickover said citizens in a democracy had a duty to become 

educated so they could support social action against harmful tech- 

nologies. “There is a knowledge gap of vast dimension between the 

public and that small elite of highly intelligent, highly educated experts 

who understand science and have the use of technology. . . . A free 

society cannot, in the long run, bear the burden of having a mass of 

voters who lack the education they need to make them responsible 

citizens. Society ceases to be free if a pattern of life develops where 

technology, not man, becomes central to its purpose. We must not permit 

this to happen lest the human liberties for which mankind has fought, at 

so great a cost of effort and sacrifice, be extinguished.” (Gilroy, NYT, 

1/17/67,27) 

* Photos taken Jan. 9 by two teenage brothers, purportedly showing a heli- 

copter-sized UFO hovering over Lake St. Clair near Detroit, did not “indi- 

cate an obvious hoax” and were being studied further for authenticity, 

and Chairman of North- 

Dr. J. Allen Hynek, USAF consultant on UFO’s 

western Univ. Astronomv DeDt.. disclosed in a telenhone interview. 

(Hofmann, NYT, 1/17/65, lOj ’ 

* Dr. Robert J. Van de Graaff, inventor of the Van de Graaff particle accelerator 

used in nuclear physics research and cancer therapy, died at age 

65. (AP, NYT, 1/17/67,35) 

January 17: XB-70 No. 1 research aircraft was piloted by Col. Jose’ph Cotton 

(USAF) and NASA test pilot Fitzhugh Fulton to mach 2.54 and 60,200-ft 

altitude in flight at Edwards AFB for national sonic boom program. 

(NASA Proj Off) 

* Feasibility of using nuclear engines on USAF’S C-5A transport so it could 

stay aloft for several months was being studied by LeRC, Charles Harper, 

Director of Aeronautics Div., NASA OART, reported in Washington Post 

interview. NASA was concentrating on the hardware necessary to transfer 

nuclear reactor heat to the jet engines; if this problem could be solved, 

Harper said the next question would be “what good does it do the Air 

Force” to have engines of unlimited endurance. Plans specified that 

nuclear reactors operate only after takeoff to avoid danger of radiation 

on the ground. (Wilson, W Post, 1/18/67,1) 

0 Explorer XXXlI (Atmosphere Explorer B) aeronomy satellite, launched 

May 25, 1966, suffered complete depressurization, causing immediate 

and continuing degradation of unsealed batteries and satellite’s demise. 

NASA surmised that internal pressure loss could have been caused by 

meteoroid impact or weld rupture of spacecraft shell. Satellite mission 

objectives had been achieved and the mission declared a success in 

December 1966. All instruments had been operational until time of depressurization 

with exception of two neutral particle mass spectrometers; 

they had provided quality data for the first 100 orbits. (NASA SP4007, 

192; NASA Proj Off) 

January 18: USAF Titan III-C booster launched from ETR successfully inserted 

eight Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program ( IDCSP) 

comsats into random equatorial orbits. 

Powered flight of Titan 111-4 was close to planned parameters. Transtage 

and payload were inserted into parking orbit with 113-mi (182km) 

apogee and 106-mi (171-km) perigee where first transtage burn 

made necessary course corrections. Second transtage burn 66 min later 

11


moved stage and load into transfer orbit with 21,000-mi (33,810-km) 

apogee and 120-mi (193-km) perigee. Third burn put satellite dis- 

penser frame and eight satellites into near-synchronous, 21,000-mi- 

altitude orbit. At 6 hours 11 min GET, the 100-lb satellites were ejected 

separately into slightly different orbital paths. USAF officials reported 

all satellites were functioning properly. 

Eight new satellites, combined with seven others launched by USAF 

June 16, 1966, would reinforce DOD’S worldwide communications sys- 

tem and provide reliable, full-time radio link between Washington, 

D.C., and U.S. troops in Vietnam and other distant outposts. (UPI, 

NYT, 1/19/67, 7; AI’, B Sun, 1/19/67, 1; Av WIG, 1/23/67, 32) 

* NASA appointed Francis W. Kemmett to succeed Dr. James T. Hootman as 

Executive Secretary of the Inventions and Contributions Board, Office of 

Industry Affairs. (NASA Ann) 

NASA Astronauts M. Scott Carpenter and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., tested 

space simulator at Martin CO.’S plant near Littleton, Colo. Unit, which 

provided 6’ of freedom, was linked to computer that determined exertion 

forces on astronaut as he performed simple tasks in simulated weight- 

less environment. (Denver Post, 1/19/67) 

NASA-USAF XB-70 flight research program should be exploited because it 

could contribute greatly to understanding operational problems of the 

SST, &in s. white, formerly an NAA XB-70 test pilot and currently 

‘I WA’S Manager of Flight Research and Development, told Aviation 

Daily. “I think that airplane [XB-70] has tremendous potenLia1 . . . it 

can provide the least expensive way to do a lot of things. We could feed 

the B-70 into the air traffic control system to learn how it can cape 

with SSTS. ‘We could test fly prototype engines at very high speeds, and 

it could contribute a lot to understanding sonic boom problems over 

air routes.” (Av Daily, 1/18/67) 

Najeeb Halaby, Pan American World Airways, Inc., Vice President and 

former FAA Administrator, praised the Johnson Administration’s “care- 

fully calculated risk” in t e development of the SST, in a speech before 

the Wings Club in New -h York. He suggested that as a result both the 

Government and indusby involved in producing the aircraft “are in a 

tt 

position to make a be er decision and a better plane than . . . France, 

Britain, and the Soviet Union.” Halaby said aviation industry had a 

duty “to help the President and the Congress make the most prudent and 

the most temporary investment of public funds in a national interest 

venture.” (NYT, 1/19/67,57) 

Sun’s illumination of a missile’s shock wave had caused strange aerial 

phenomenon seen throughout southwestern U.S. Jan. 17, USAF officials 

at Vandenberg AFB reported. (AP, NYT, 1/19/67) 

January 19: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXXXVIII into earth orbit with 

293-km (182-mi) apogee; 193-km (119-mi) perigee; 89.2-min period; 

and 65” inclination. Equipment performed satisfactorily. Satellite re- 

entered Jan. 27. (SBD, 1/20/67, 98; GSFC SSR, 1/31/67) 

* USAF ramjet-powered missile, called the low-altitude supersonic vehicle 

(LASV) , was air-launched from F-100 Super Sabre aircraft in success- 

ful flight test at Holloman AFB. Marquardt Corp., designer of the ram- 

jet, was conducting the flight test program for the vehicle under an 

$11-million USAF contract. (UPI, W Post, 1/20/67, A15) 

Charges that many specifications for construction of t25-million tank 

chamber at Plum Brook Station were being compromised were denied by 

12


Dr. Abe Silverstein, Director of NASA Lewis Research Center which 

operated station. Charges, made by Plum Brook employee and referred 

to Rep. Charles A. Mosher (R-Ohio), were being investigated by GAO. 

Silverstein said almost all the allegations were “not true” or represented 

a difference in judgment between himself and the complaining employee: 

“It’s a matter of his judgment against ours, and I don’t have to accept 

it.” (Thomson, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/20/67) 

* Project Themis, a university-based program to establish new academic 

centers of excellence in research areas important to DOD’S long-range 

scientific and technological goals, was announced by Secretary of De- 

fense Robert S. McNamara. McNamara said more than 400 universities 

had been asked to submit proposed programs by Feb. 15. During 1967, 

$20 million had been authorized for the project, and DOD expected to 

initiate up to 50 new departmental centers before the end of the year. 

( DOD Release 44-67) 

* United Air Lines President George E. Keck, in a speech before Interna- 

tional Aviation Club in Washington, D.C., echoed similar pleas by ex- 

ecutives of Pan Am and TWA in calling for “expeditious but orderly” 

advancement of US. SST program. Although SST “is a pretty real one 

on the drawing boards,” Keck said there were “certainly some important 

decisions and actions that have to be taken here to make it a reality.” 

Among these, determination of a “sound, reasonable” financing plan 

was of paramount importance. (NYT, 1/22/67,50) 

January 20: Saturn V 3rd stage (S-IVB) was completely destroyed in ex- 

plosion 10 min before it was scheduled to be ignited in test at Douglas 

Aircraft Corp.’s Sacramento plant. NASA later determined accident had 

been caused by faulty welding in high-pressure helium sphere. (UPI, W 

Post, 1/27/67, A2; UPI, NYT, 1/22/67,29; UPI, W Post, 1/28/67, A7) 

NASA should prepare a list of priorities for its future programs to guide 

Congress in making any budget cuts required by the Vietnam war, 

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences 

Clinton Anderson (D-N. Mex.) told Baltimore Sun reporter Albert 

Sehlstedt, Jr. Senator Anderson insisted he was not necessarily predicting 

cuts in the FY 1%8 budget, but observed that “something might have 

to give a little” while so much was being spent on the war. (Sehlstedt, 

Jr., B Sun, 1/21/67) 

F-111A aircraft, lent by USAF to NASA to obtain basic flight research data 

for the design and development of advanced variable sweep wings, was 

delivered to FRC. (NASA Release 67-7) 

* MSFC awarded $100,000 six-month contract to Bell Aerosystems Co. for 

flight testing of Bell’s “pogo stick” one-man flying vehicle at LaRC’S 1/6 

gravity test facility. Pogo stick was being evaluated for Apollo lunar 

surface mission use. ( MSFC Release 67-12; Marshall Star, 1/25/67, 

3) 

ComSatCorp advised FCC of plans to award four-month study contractsone 

to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. for $272,000; one to Hughes Aircraft 

Co. for $299,000-for research on multi-purpose synchronous 

comsats. Lockheed had proposed an inertia-wheel stabilization concept, 

and Hughes a spin-stabilized approach for stabilizing a spacecraft in 

synchronous orbit. (ComSatCorp Release) 

* Theory that chlorophyll-a key compound of terrestrial life-exists in 

outer space was proposed by Dr. Fred M. Johnson of Electro-Optical 

Systems, Inc., at Univ. of California science symposium. Dr. Johnson 

13

January 20 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1947 

said that light absorption patterns of interstellar dust obtained by spectro- 

scopic examination had clearly demonstrated the presence of chlorophyll. 

Confirmation of his theory could indicate that life in forms familiar 

to man exists on other planets both in the earth‘s galaxy and through- 

out the universe. (NYT, 1/21/67,9) 

January 21: Luna XII, first Soviet satellite to successfully transmit photos 

to earth from lunar orbit, had completed its mission and broken radio 

contact with ground stations, Tass announced. Satellite had been 

launched Oct. 22,1966. (W Post, 1/22/67, A23; UPI, NYT, 1/23/67,7) 

* “Serious difficulties” had developed in Soviet program to land a man on 

the moon and it would take “no little time” to solve them, Cosmonaut 

Gherman Titov said in Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika. (UPI, NYT, 1/23/67, 

21) 

Report that Communist China would launch a “space vessel” in 1%7 

appeared in Red Flag, newspaper of the Red Guard of the Peking Aero- 

nautical Institute. U.S. experts had been crediting Communist China 

with capability to launch a satellite since her successful guided missile 

nuclear weapon test Oct. 27,1966. (NYT, 1/22/67, A4) 

January 22: William E. Zisch, Vice Chairman of the Board of Aerojet Gen- 

eral Corp., was sworn in as a part-time consultant to NASA Administra- 

tor James E. Webb on technology development and utilization of NASA- 

developed technology by nonaerospace industries. ( NASA Release, 67-8) 

Lifting-body vehicles, with their ability to maneuver and land on con- 

ventional runways, might become the spacecraft of the future, J. V. 

Reistrup suggested in the Washington Post. Because a naval recovery 

fleet would not be required, space missions could become a day-to-day 

operation; crews might use the vehicles to inspect foreign spacecraft, 

repair U.S. satellites, make reconnaissance flights, fly in search and 

rescue operations, or take replacement crews and supplies up to manned 

space stations. NASA and USAF had been testing various types of lifting 

body vehicles: M2-F2 and HGlO in piloted glide tests, and a small 

automated model of SV-5 as part of Prime-Precision Recovery In- 

cluding Maneuvering Entry-program. (Reistrup, W Post, 1/22/67) 

Growing confidence that US. would accomplish a manned lunar land- 

ing by 1970 had plunged space planners into an urgent debate over post- 

Apollo plans, John Wilford wrote in the New Yorlc Times. Should the 

US. concentrate on unmanned and manned exploration of Mars or 

Venus? An expanded lunar-oriented program? Giant manned labora- 

tories in earth orbit for research and surveillance? Networks of com- 

munications and meteorological satellites? Or a series of instrument 

probes to comets, asteroids, and outer planets? Such questions had 

opened a searching reexamination into the value of space exploration, 

and some critics were urging a less ambitious and costly program, with 

more emphasis “on the problems that confront us here on earth.” While 

the debate continued, NASA was said to favor concentrating on manned 

orbiting laboratories that would exploit present technology. Although 

a broad range of space goals was considered attainable in the next 

two decades, NASA officials said failure to define post-Apollo objectives 

soon could cause U.S. to find itself unprepared to achieve any major 

space goal before the mid-lM0s. (Wilford, NYT, 1/22/67, 1) 

January 23: New extraterrestrial mineral had been analyzed with electron 

microprobe and named “niningerite” by ARC geochemists Drs. Klaus 

Keil and Kenneth Snetsinger. Named for Dr. H. H. Nininger, whose 

14


research on meteorites paralleled and confirmed early ARC research on 

blunt-body reentry shapes, the iron magnesium sulfide mineral was 

found in six stony meteorites estimated to be about 4.5 billion years 

old. (ARC Release; Science, 1/27/67,451-3) 

9 Technology Week marked beginning of its second decade of publishing by 

asking some of the Nation’s leading educators, scientists, and engineers 

to project their goals for technology. AEC Chairman Dr. Glenn T. Sea- 

borg emphasized the need for man to first choose goals for technology: 

”. . . we must give more thought to guiding the direction of our tech- 

nological future. 

“. . . if there are any ultimate goals for technology we will know what 

they are only when we all agree on the goals of man.” 

MSFC Director Dr. Wernher von Braun proposed an earth resources 

management system employing space technology-principally, resource- 

sensing satellites-to meet the needs of the world’s rapidly growing 

population. Said Dr. von Braun: “. . . I am firmly convinced that one of 

the great future contributions of our space program will be in helping 

to manage more effectively the utilization of our world resources.” 

In discussing long-delayed peaceful application of nuclear explo- 

sions-Project PlowshareDr. Edward Teller, Associate Director of 

Lawrence Radiation Lab., suggested that questions of safety, fear of the 

unknown, limited nuclear test ban, and international politics were chief 

obstacles to program. Until these obstacles were removed, Plowshare 

would continue to lie dormant. 

Prof. Isaac Asimov, Boston Univ. School of Medicine, foresaw that 

mankind, now faced with the practical need for working under low- 

gravity conditions, would have to develop “low-gravity engineering.” 

Low-gravity engineering might also prove useful in future exploration 

beneath the sea. 

Dr. Joshua Lederberg, Professor of Genetics at Stanford Univ. 

School of Medicine, proposed that man’s central technological goal was 

the harmonization of his technical goals, a process Dr. Lederberg called 

“eutechnics.” He went on to declare: “In the eutechnical society, the 

penultimate crime may become to introduce any technological innova- 

tion as a subsystem benefit without analyzing its impact on the whole 

future of man. The ultimate one would be to deny man his humanity by 

denying him the chance to think, to know himself.” 

Dr. Charles S. Draper, head of MIT’S Aeronautics and Astronautics 

Dept., emphasized the need to establish an adequate balance between 

“directly beneficial” and “remedial” technologies. As air and water 

pollution, land damage from mining, soil erosion, and other problems 

become acute, man must give more thought to remedial actions for 

disturbances inflicted on the environment. Dr. Draper suggested space 

vehicle technology as “. . . an excellent model for the technology of 

overall environmental control for the earth.” 

Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF, Ret.), former AFSC Commander, 

believed that the big challenge of the next 25 yrs would be the effective 

management of technology for the public good. Schriever suggested 

that: “the systems management concept [developed in Nation’s military 

and space programs] will be required to bring these technologies to 

bearontheseproblems. . . .” 

Clarence L. Johnson, Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Vice President, listed 

10 aerospace projects which, he felt, should receive major attention 

15


during next 20 yrs. Among these projects were use of nuclear power 

plants in aerial transports to reduce fuel-to-cargo ratios, solution of sonic 

boom problems, and development of high-density fuels. 

Dr. Athelstan F. Spilhaus, dean of Univ. of Minnesota’s Institute 

of Technology, explored the objectives and benefits of geotechnology- 

use of geophysical and geochemical knowledge “to intervene in the 

natural processes of our environment on a massive-and even global- 

scale.” Dr. Spilhaus said he believed the public would ‘

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 January 23-27 

and Dr. Sandage reported that second starlike source of intense x rays 

had been discovered by Oct. 11 sounding rocket and later telescopic 

observation. Of 30 known x-ray sources, only one had previously been 

linked to a starlike object. Finding of second source, located in Constellation 

Cygnus, persuaded a number of astronomers that such visible 

objects represented a new type of celestial phenomenon, perhaps related 

to the manner in which stars are formed. 

Princeton Univ. physicist Dr. Robert H. Dicke revealed an observation 

that might invalidate Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Dr. 

Dicke told the conference that his experiments showed the sun to be flattened 

at the poles and that the oblateness was sufficient to explain a 

significant portion of Mercury’s orbital behavior, without recourse to 

relativity. It was the precise conformity of Mercury’s orbit to Dr. Einstein’s 

predictions that was the chief pillar of his theory. “It wouldn’t 

surprise me if general relativity is just plain wrong,” Dr. Dicke commented. 

(NYT, 1/24/67,22; 1/26/67,18; 1/28/67,1,12; 1/29/67,62) 

Januury 24: President Johnson’s message to Congress on the J?Y 1968 budget 

said in part: “In 1961, this Nation resolved to send a manned expedition 

to the moon in this decade. Much hard work remains and many obstacles 

must still be overcome before that goal is met. Yet, in the last few years 

we have progressed far enough that we must now look beyond our 

original objective and set our course for the more distant future . . . 

we have no alternative unless we wish to abandon the manned space 

capability we have created. 

“This budget provides for the initiation of an effective follow-on to 

the manned lunar landing. We will explore the moon. We will learn to 

live in space for months at a time. Our astronauts will conduct scientific 

and engineering experiments in space to enhance man’s mastery of the 

environment. . . .’, The President recommended that NASA proceed with 

the Voyager program for an unmanned landing on Mars in 1973 and continue 

“other unmanned investigations nearer the earth. . . . 

“These new ventures are the result of careful planning and selectivity,” 

Mr. Johnson said. “We are not doing everything in space that we are 

technologically capable of doing . . . we are choosing those projects 

that give us the greatest return on our investment. . . .” (Text, CR, 

1/24/67, S755) 

* President Johnson submitted his FY 1968 Budget Request to Congress. 

Total space budget recommended was $7.242 billion. Of this sum, NASA 

would receive $5.050 billion; DOD, $1.998 billion; AEC, $151.6 million; 

ESSA, $34.8 million; US. Geological Survey, $4.8 million; Agricultural 

Research Service, $.4 million; and NSF, $2.8 million. 

NASA FY 1968 budget would keep Project Apollo on schedule and 

provide major hardware funding for several new programs: (1) $454.7 

million for Apollo Applications (AA) ; (2) $71.5 million for Voyager; 

(3) $68.9 million for Mariner to provide for Mariner/Mars 1971 program; 

(4) $2 million for five Sunblazer missions to study solar corona; 

(5) $35.5 million for Applications Technology Satellite ( ATS) to provide 

new configuration with large directable antenna; and (6) $2.3 million 

for Voice Broadcast Satellite. Funding for aeronautics research almost 

doubled from $35.9 million in M 1967 to $66.8 million with most of 

increase attributable to increased study of X-15 and XFL-70 aircraft, 

hypersonic ramjet, aircraft noise reduction, delta X-15 aircraft, and SST. 

Programs terminated or deferred by FY 1968 budget included Jupiter 

17


probe, Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter (no follow-on funds), large solid 

motor project, Atlas-Agena combination, and new launch vehicle devel- 

opment. $t10-$1OO million were placed in President’s Contingency Fund 

pending decision on development of Nerva nuclear propulsion system. 

Major portions of DOD’S space budget would be spent on: (1) Manned 

Orbiting Laboratory (~0~)-$430 million; (2) Titan 111-C launch 

vehicle; and (3) military comsats. Most of ESSA’S funds would support 

increased activity on satellite sensors and systems in support of World 

Weather Watch and improved techniques for weather forecasts, river 

and flood prediction, and other warning services. (Text, NYT, 1/25/67, 

20-23; Tech Wk, 1/30/67,1&33; Av Wk, 1/30/67,23-38) 

Briefing on NASA FY 1968 budget was held at NASA Hq. 

NASA Administrator James Webb said: “. . . I believe that on this 

budget we can build an excellent foundation for the work that we as a 

nation will need to do in 1970 and beyond. 

“I believe it is a balanced program that makes the best use of the 

resources that we have created since 1958. I believe it includes those 

items that enable the Congress and the country to clearly see and judge 

the issues which are basic to our future in space. 

“I believe it assumes success. That is, that it is a minimum budget for 

the work that is required and does not provide for losses of stages or 

for unexpected catastrophes such as are always a possibility in this 

program. 

“. . . finally, I believe that this budget indicates that we have proven 

in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that the space 

capability of this nation can be developed, that this job he is putting in 

this budget can be done, and I believe it indicates clearly that he believes 

it is important that we continue to develop our national space ca- 

pability. . . ?’ (Transcript) 

* Six Nike-Tomahawk sounding rockets launched from KSC carried 134lb 

Marshall/Univ. of Michigan Probe (Mump) instrumented payloads to 

altitudes up to 206 mi (331 km) into the thermosphere. Rockets and 

equipment functioned satisfactorily and data-including atmosphere 

density and temperature measurements and ion and electron density 

measurements-were telemetered to ground; no recovery was attempted. 

Objective of program was to obtain additional data needed to develop 

a more accurate model of earth’s upper atmosphere for orbital-lifetime 

and space-vehicle-dynamics analyses. (Marshall Star, 2/1/67, 4; W 

Post, 1/26/67, A5) 

a Dr. James I. Vette, staff scientist at Aerospace Corp.’s Space Science Lab., 

was named Director of the National Space Science Data Center ( NSSDC) - 

a $1,491,600 central facility for collection, organization, storage, re- 

trieval, and dissemination of space science data obtained from satellites, 

sounding rockets, balloons, and high-altitude aircraft-nearing comple- 

tion at GSFC. (NASA Release 67-6) 

New members of House Committee on Science and Astronautics were 

named: Reps. Jack Brinkley (D-Ga.) ; Bob Eckhardt (D-Tex.) ; Larry 

Winn, Jr. (R-Kan.) ; Guy Vander Jagt (R-Mich.) ; Jerry L. Pettis (R- 

Calif.) ; Donald E. Lukens (R-Ohio) ; and John E. Hunt (R-N.J.). 

(NASA LAR VI/& 11 ; Committee Ofc.) 

USAF Avionics Lab., Wright-Patterson AFB, was conducting experiments 

with 6-mi-long laser beam to learn how atmospheric conditions affect 

laser communications, AFSC announced. Experimental results to date 

18


indicated that communications were severely limited by fog and heavy 

rain, although transmissions could penetrate such conditions for a few 

thousand feet at reduced volume. (AFSC Release 254.66) 

* Secretary of State Dean Rusk, in keynote address to annual meeting of 

House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Panel on Science and 

Technology, suggested that many of the potential perils of advancing 

technology might be avoided if a group of experts were impanelled every 

five years “to explore our technological future. . . . The values of this 

type of forecasting to policy judgments is obvious,” Rusk said. “In 

most cases a true technological innovation does not reach full bloom 

for some years-the first basic patent on the transistor was, after all, 

issued in 1930. . . .” He recommended that panel members be selected 

from the natural sciences, the social sciences, and industry. (Text) 

0 President of Aerospace Industries Assn. Dr. Karl G. Harr, Jr., testify- 

ing before Senate Special Subcommittee on Scientific Manpower Utiliza- 

tion, urged that the systems approach-“an extremely high degree of 

capability to evaluate, plan and do certain complex and difficult 

things”-be applied beyond the national defense and space effort to 

“problems connected with improving the quality of American life. . . . 

Many of these problems, such as air pollution and water pollution con- 

trol, relief of traffic congestion, provision of adequate food supply, school 

systems, housing, and crime control are already fully identified and very 

much on the front burner of public concern.” Harr pointed out the need 

for experimentation in the application of the systems approach to gain 

breadth of experience and emphasized that efforts should be aimed at 

regional, state, and municipal levels. “It remains for us as a nation to 

find the various political formulae for its application wherever needed. 

Whatever the cost it will be far cheaper to solve these problems than 

not to. . . ,” (Testimony) 

* At the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in New York, the 1967 Goddard 

Award-AIAA’s highest-was presented to LeRC engineers Irving A. 

Johnsen and Seymour Lieblein and former LeRC engineer Robert 0. 

Bullock for their work 10 yrs ago which led to development of the tran- 

sonic compressor for jet-powered aircraft. ( URC Release 674) 

January 25: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXXXIX into earth- orbit with 

210-km (130-mi) apogee; 144-km (89-mi) perigee; 87.5-min period; 

and 50” inclination. Equipment functioned satisfactorily. Satellite reen- 

tered same day. ( W Post, 1/26/67, El; GSFC SSR, 1/31/67) 

* XB-70 No. 1 research aircraft was flown by NASA test pilot Fitzhugh Ful- 

ton and North American Aviation, Inc., test pilot Van Shepard to mach 

1.41 and 35,OOO-ft altitude to obtain data on stability and control maneuvers. 


* NASA Administrator James E. Webb, testifying at Senate Committee on 

Aeronauticah+ and Space Sciences’ hearings on aeronautical R&D, rec- 

ommended establishing a “civil aircraft technology” to ccrunteract grow- 

ing divergence between requirements for civil and military aircraft sys- 

tems. Webb observed that most modern military aircraft could not be 

readily redesigned into economical commercial systems : “When unit 

costs were low and interaction between the elements of the design were 

small, a manufacturer could afford a substantial element of uncertainty 

to developing a new airplane, since it was not too difficult or costly to 

correct deficiencies exposed during flight operations. . . .” With the 

complexities of modern aircraft, however, deficiencies would lead to 

19


“major escalations in cost and could mean financial disaster for a com- 

mercial venture. . . . Economics thus require the designer to take an in- 

creasingly conservative approach in applying new and advanced con- 

cepts. . . .” This conservatism was causing an increasing gap between 

“the advanced technology that research indicates is possible and the 

technology actually being used in commerce. To assure pre-eminence 

in aeronautics, advanced technology must continually be incorporated 

intonewdesigns. . . .” 

Webb said NASA was working closely with Dept. of Transportation 

and FAA to identify and solve critical and specialized civil aviation tech- 

nology requirements. He cited major efforts in supersonic transport 

field, including work on second-generation propulsion, sonic boom 

phenomena, and aircraft handling qualities; and study of jet engine 

noise-suppression problems. (Testimony) 

0 Orbiting satellites could survive Van Allen radiation belts 10 to 100 times 

longer than originally estimated if their outer shells were shaped like 

spheres, Dr. Charles Mack, MIT Lincoln Lab, suggested at AIAA’S Aero- 

space Sciences Meeting in New York. Basing his prediction on res1113 

from new MIT-developed technique to simulate Van Allen belts, Dr. Mack 

said that radiation would always strike the surface of a sphere at wide 

angles, improving the chances of scattering and thereby decreasing the 

amount of absorption. Ideal spacecraft would be 10-ft-dia sphere with 

instrumentation in the core, Dr. Mack said. Most current satellites were 

smaller and carried instruments near surface. New York Times writer 

John Wilford reported that GSFC planned to have MIT-type simulator in 

operation by 1969. (Wilford, NYT, 1/26/67, 10) 

* The Wahington Post commented on NASA’s FY 1968 budget: “Exploration 

of the moon. Giant orbiting space stations, with as many as a dozen men 

living and working in them for as long as a year. Unmanned landings 

on Mars. 

“These are the goals the United States has set for itself in outer 

space in the 1970s. With a budget request for fiscal 1968 of $5.05 billion, 

more than $500 million of it for dramatic new programs to carry us 

beyond a manned landing on the moon, President Johnson has made it 

clear that the United States is in space to stay, no matter what the Soviet 

Union does or does not do. . . .” (W Post, 1/25/67, A18) 

January 26: NASA successfully launched Essa IV, fourth meteorological 

satellite in ESSA’S Tiros Operational Satellite (TOS) system, from WTR 

using three-stage Thor-Delta booster. Satellite achieved nearly-polar, 

sun-synchronous orbit with 888-mi (1,429-km) apogee; 822-mi 

(1,323-km) perigee; 113-min period; and 102” inclination. Wheel 

orientation maneuver was scheduled for completion during 18th orbit, 

at which time first photos would be programed and two-week space- 

craft checkout and evaluation program would begin. 

An advanced version of the cartwheel configuration, 290-lb Essa IV 

carried two Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) camera systems 

which would photograph earth‘s cloudcover and immediately transmit 

pictures to local APT ground stations. Essa IV was replacing Essa II in 

the TOS system because orbital drift limited Essa IZ’s usefulness. 

ESSA financed, managed, and operated TOS system; GSFC was respon- 

sible for procurement, launch, and initial checkout of spacecraft in orbit. 

Essa I was launched Feb. 3,1966; Essa II, Feb. 28, 1966; and Essa III, 

Oct. 2, 1966. (NASA Proj Off; ESSA Release 67-17) 

20


0 Messages from President Johnson and Japan’s Prime Minister Eisaku 

Sat0 were exchanged between Washington, D.C., and Tokyo in ceremony 

inaugurating commercial service via ComSatCorp’s Intelsat II-B 

comsat. In President‘ Johnson’s message, delivered by Chairman of the 

Senate Commerce Committee Warren G. Magnuson (D-Wash.), he said: 

“The beginning of Pacific satellite service tonight is more than a great 

technical feat: It is a promise of deeper understanding between the 

peoples of East and West. . . .” Ceremony also included live color television 

exchanges and telephone, teletype, facsimile, and photograph 

transmissions between the two capital cities. Intelsat II-B was launched 

by NASA from ETR Jan. 11. (ComSatCorp Release) 

0 Apollo Applications (AA) briefing was held at NASA Hq. 

Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space 

Flight, presented most detailed statement to date on the program. 

He said plans were to form an “embryonic space station” in 1968-69 

by clustering four AA payloads launched with Uprated Saturn I boosters. 

First mission would be launch of manned spacecraft, followed several 

days later by launch of spent S-IVB stage converted into a workshop. 

After two spacecraft had docked, crew would enter workshop through 

an airlock. They would prepare workshop for storage and return to 

earth in their spacecraft 28 days later. In three to six months, second 

manned capsule would be launched on 56-day mission to deliver re- 

supply module to workshop and rendezvous with unmanned Apollo 

Telescope Mount (ATM) , fourth and last launch in series. Cluster would 

be joined with multiple docking launched on S-IVB workshop. Em- 

phasizing the importance of manning the ATM, Dr. Mueller said: “. . . 

if there is one thing the scientific community is agreed on it is that 

when you want to have a major telescope instrument in space it needs 

to be manned. 

“First of all you need him to point it. Second, you need him to 

be able to change the films and so on. Thirdly, you need him to main- 

tain it so when something goes wrong he can fix it instead of having 

to sit here on the ground and be frustrated by the fact that some little 

gadget didn’t quite trip when it should have. . . .” Dr. Mueller said 

principal areas toward which $454.7 million FY 1968 post-Apollo effort 

would be directed were “development of extended flight capability, 

the conduct of manned astronomical and Earth observations from space, 

and continued exploration of the Moon.” (Transcript; Marshall Star, 

2/1/67,7-8; Clark, NYT, 1/30/67,2; Reistrup, W Post, 1/27/67, A7) 

In his annual “defense posture” statement to the Senate Armed Services 

and Appropriations Committees, U.S. Secretary of Defense McNamara 

made a determined attempt both to persuade Congress not to insist 

on a U.S. antimissile defense and to dissuade the U.S.S.R. from 

continuing her efforts to deploy such a system. McNamara said U.S. 

and Soviet nuclear missiles were so effective that neither country could 

hope to protect itself against the other in time of war, and an increase 

in defensive capability by one power could easily be offset by an increase 

in the offensive capability of the other. 

A major policy statement by Soviet Defense Minister Malinovsky pub- 

lished in Kommunist had stressed strategic offensive missiles, without 

referring to U.S.-U.S.S.R.’s burgeoning antimissile defense system. 

(Frykland, Gwertzman, W Star, 1/26/67, D3) 

January 27: Three-man crew for NASA’s first manned Apollo spaceflight (AS- 

21


Janwry 27: Apollo Command Module at Launch Complex 34, Kennedy Space Center, 

is a silent, grim reminder of the flash fire that took the lives of the three-man crew when 

it swept through the spacecraft during launch rehearsal. 

2M) died, apparently instantly, when flash fire swept through their Apol- 

lo I spacecraft mated to an Uprated Saturn I booster 218 ft above the 

ground. Crew was Virgil I. Grissom, one of seven original Mercury 

22


astronauts; Edward H. White 11, first American to walk in space; and 

Roger B. Chaffee, preparing for his first space flight. Accident, worst in 

the history of the U.S. space program, occurred at 6:31 p.m. EST at KSC’S 

Launch Complex 34 during first major rehearsal for scheduled Feb. 21 

mission. 

Immediately after tragedy, MSC Director Dr. Robert Gilruth, Chairman 

of the Board of North American Aviation, Inc., Lee Atwood, and 

NASA’s 

Apollo Program Director M/G Samuel C. Phillips flew to KSC 

from Washington, D.C. General Phillips described the accident at a 

press conference Jan. 28: “The facts briefly are: at 6:31 p.m. (EST) 

the observers heard a report which originated from one of the crewmen 

that there was a fire aboard the spacecraft . . .” At T-10 and holding 

in the countdown, observers saw a “flash fire” break out inside the 

spacecraft, penetrate its shell, and surround its exterior with smoke. 

Rescue workers rushed to the pad area but could not open the hatch 

for five minutes. Phillips said astronauts’ only hope of escape would 

have to open hatch manually with a crank tool. He refused to speculate 

on how long accident would delay the Apollo program or on source 

of the fire but admitted that “if there is an ignition source . . . in pure 

oxygen this, of course, has flash-fire potential.” His statement that space- 

craft was operating on internal power when fire broke out was cor- 

rected Feb. 3 by NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans: 

“The fuel cells in the service module were not in use, and the so-called 

internal power was being supplied by batteries having the same char- 

acteristics as the fuel cells but located external to the spacecraft.” 

NASA immediately appointed a board of inquiry (see Jan. 28) and 

announced that all data had been impounded pending its formal in- 

vestigation. Unmanned Apollo flights would proceed on schedule, but 

manned flights were postponed until board’s inquiry was completed. 

Apollo I backup crew-Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and 

Walter Cunningham-were expected to be named prime crew for re- 

scheduled mission. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-16; NYT, 1/28/67, 

1, 18; 1/29/67, 1, 48, El; W Post, 1/28/67, Al, A7; 1/29/67, AI, 

A18; W Star, 1/28/67, Al, A4; 1/29/67, Al, A6) 

Representatives of 62 nations signed space law treaty [see Dec. 8, 19661 

at separate ceremonies in Washington, D.C., London, and Moscow. 

Notable absentees were Communist China, Albania, and Cuba. Repre- 

sentatives of France said they would sign after studying treaty further. 

At White House ceremony, attended by Soviet Ambassador Anatoly 

Dobrynin, British Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean, and US. Ambassador 

to the U.N. Arthur Goldberg, President Johnson described treaty as the 

(6 

first firm step toward keeping outer space free forever from the implements 

ob war” and said it would assure that American and Soviet astronauts 

“will meet someday on the moon as brothers and not as warriors.” 

Treaty, which limited military activities in space, had been agreed upon 

by US. and U.S.S.R. Dec. 8, 1966, and unanimousIy approved by U.N. 

General Assembly Dec. 19. It would become effective when ratified by 

US., U.S.S.R., U.K., and two other countries. (Kilpatrick, W Post, 

1/28/67, 1; Frankel, NYT, 1/28/67,1) 

NASA awarded Boeing Co. net bonus of $1,895,312 in accordance with 

incentive contract provisions for superior performance of Lunar Orbiter 

I spacecraft. Boeing Go. was prime contractor for Lunar Orbiter I, 

launched by NASA Aug. 10, 1966, on mission to orbit the moon and 

324-801 -9-3 23


January 27: Secretary of State Dean Rusk signs the space law treaty at White House 

ceremonies while (seated, left to right) Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, British 

Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Arthur J. Goldberg, and 

President Lyndon B. Johnson look on. 

photograph possible landing sites for Apollo astronauts. (NASA Release 

67-14) 

0 JPL issued RFP’S to industry on contracts for preliminary design and defini- 

tion studies of an unmanned Voyager landing capsule. Two identical 

Voyager spacecraft would be launched by a single Saturn V booster in 

1973 and 1975 to conduct scientific studies of Mars and search for 

extraterrestrial life. From the industrial proposals, due in March, two to 

four contractors would be chosen. (NASA Release 67-15) 

0 U.S.S.R. was definitely trying to achieve the first manned lunar landing, 

concluded a 920-page report on the Soviet space program prepared by 

Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service for Senate Committee 

on Aeronautical and Space Sciences: “. . . materials gathered from 

Soviet sources on future lunar missions reveal this pattern of complete 

unanimity: the lunar mission is desirable and necessary; it must be a 

manned mission; it is certain to succeed. . . .” Report characterized 

24


Soviet space program as “well-planned, orderly, and vigorously pursued 

with concentration on specific, limited objectives, each achieving a 

marked advance beyond the one preceding.” There was said to be no 

evidence “of either Soviet disenchantment with the program or a desire 

. . . to cut it back. On the contrary, space specialists have underscored 

the durability of the Soviet commitment to space exploration. . . .” Re- 

port was entitled: Soviet Space Program, 196245; Goals and Purposes, 

Achievements, Plans, and International Implications. (Text) 

Janwry 28: NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Churchill 

Research Range carried GsFc-instrumented payload to 128-mi (209-km) 

altitude to gather data on charged particle fluxes and to investigate dis- 

tribution of electric fields in the ionosphere during auroral displays. 

Rocket and instrumentation performance was satisfactory, but vehicle 

spin rate was excessive. Most scientific data were lost because nose cone 

failed to eject properly and antennas failed to deploy. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., appointed Apollo 

204 Review Board to investigate Jan. 27 accident at ICSC which killed 

Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White 11, and Roger B. Chaffee: 

Dr. Floyd L. Thompson, Director of LBRC, Chairman; Astronaut Frank 

Borman, MSC; Maxime Faget, MSC; E. Barton Geer, Lax; GGorge Jeffs, 

North American Aviation, Inc.; Dr. Frank A. Long, Cornel1 Univ.; Col. 

Charles F. Strang, Norton AFB, Calif.; George C. White, Jr., NASA Hq.; 

and John Williams, ICSC. Three advisory members were added later: 

Charles W. Mathews, Director of Saturn/Apollo Applications, NASA Hq. 

OMSF; John Yardley, McDonnell Co. executive; and L/Col. William D. 

Baxter ( USAF) . LaRC Chief Counsel George Mallay would serve as counsel 

to the board. (NASA Release 67-16; Wilford, NYT, 1/30/67,2) 

* Senate Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee would conduct a ‘‘full 

review” of the Jan. 27 accident at KSC which killed three Apollo astro- 

nauts, Chairman Clinton P. Anderson (D-N. Mex) announced. (NYT, 

1/29/67,47; W Post, 1/29/67, A18) 

0 The Nation mourned the deaths of NASA Apollo Astronauts Grissom, 

White and Chaffee. 

President Johnson: “Three valiant young men have given their lives 

in the nation’s service. We mourn this great loss and our hearts go out 

to their families.” 

Vice President Humphrey: “The deaths of these three brilliant young 

men . . . is a profound and personal loss to me. . . . The United States 

will push ever forward in space and the memory of the contributions of 

these men will be an inspiration to all future space-farers.” 

NASA Administrator James Webb : “We’ve always known that some- 

thing like this would happen sooner or later, but it’s not going to be per- 

mitted to stop the program. . . . Although everyone realized that some 

day space pilots would die, who would have thought the first tragedy 

would be on the ground?” 

Former President Eisenhower: “The accident that took the lives of 

three of our highly trained, skilled and courageous American astronauts 

is a tragic loss to our entire nation. . . .” (UPI, W Star, 1/28/67, 1; AP, 

NYT, 1/29/67) 

New York Times praised signing of space law treaty and suggested further 

cooperation in space. 

“Surely the present is an appropriate time for another effort . . . the 

President could suggest to the Soviet Union that a precedent from Ant- 

25


arctic practice be followed in the future. Both the United States and 

the U.S.S.R. plan in the next few years to orbit oapsules containing more 

than three astronauts and to put exploratory parties of men on the 

moon for stays of several weeks’ duration. 

“It would be in the spirit of the Space Treaty to have such groups con- 

tain at least one representative of the other nation, just as in the Antarctic 

today Soviet and American scientists work at each other’s bases. Agree- 

ment on such a first step would do much to build the mutual trust and 

confidence needed to make possible the far greater degree of international 

cooperation that the inexhaustible challenges of space require of all 

nations.” (NYT, 1/28/67,26C) 

* Continuing shortage of physicists was threatening the Nation’s scientific 

progress, American Institute of Physics warned in its biennial report 

on physics manpower. Study, prepared under an NSF grant, said U.S. 

colleges and universities were not producing enough graduates to meet 

growing demand of education, research, and industry. In recent years- 

during a time of rapid growth in total college enrollment-there had 

been a continuing decline in the number of physics majors and a leveling 

off of physics baccalaureate degrees awarded. (NYT, 1/29/67, 1) 

* Communist China charged that U.S.S.R. had betrayed Vietnamese people 

by signing space law treaty with US. and other nations Jan. 27. (Reu- 

ters, NYT, 1/29/67,9) 

January 28-29: Press commentary on deaths of Astronauts Grissom, White, 

and Chaffee. 

Washington Evening Star: “There is bitter irony in the fact that the 

first disaster in our space program came during a simulated launch, a 

checkout in preparation for the real thing. From the beginning, it has 

been feared that some fatal mishap was inevitable. But most people had 

expected it during an actual launch, in space, during re-entry or in 

landing-hardly during a routine test with the rocket still on its pad. . . .” 

(W Star, 1/28/67, A6) 

New York Times: “By chance, Grissom, White and Chaffee died on 

the day the space treaty was formally signed in Washington, London, 

and Moscow. Behind the unprecedented international cooperation rep- 

resented by that treaty’s conclusion was the knowledge that space holds 

more than enough risks for men without adding the horrom arising from 

strife among nations. The tragedy at Cape Kennedy underlines that 

somber reality.” (NYT, 1/29/67,10E) 

Baltimore Sun: “They were brave men. When a man finally does put 

a foot on the surface of the moon, Grissom and White and Chaffee will 

be notable among those who assisted him in getting there.” (B Sun, 

1/29/67,30) 

* Most Soviet reporting of Jan. 27 flash fire in which three Apollo astro- 

nauts died was factual. A few members of Soviet and Italian press, how- 

ever, charged that “haste” had contributed to the accident. 

Radio Moscow: “We in the Soviet Union are deeply grieved at the 

news of the tragedy at Cape Kennedy. 

“The courage of Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee 

had won our esteem and we join in paying homage to their memo- 

ries. . . .” 

Trud (Moscow): “The astronauts became the victims of the space 

race created by the leaders of the United States space program. Recently, 

26

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 January 28-29 

the hurry, the haste in space flights has continued to grow. There were 

a number of A aws in the Apollo system.” 

La Stampa (Turin, Italy) : “Technical revisions must be brought 

about so that the tragedy will not repeat itself . . . perhaps the rigorous 

time schedule . . . ought to give way to slower and more secure 

rhythm.” 

Zl Popolo (Rome) : The accident offered “questions for reflection, 

above all an invitation to weigh in proper measure the margin of risk 

that accompanies all the conquest of man. . . . It is ironic that this 

happened, just when any danger seemed to be less proximate, during a 

normal exercise on earth.” (AP, NYT, 1/30/67, 2, 3; AP, B Sun, 

1/30/67; Trud, 1/29/67,3, USST Trans.) 

January 29: Memorial service for Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee was held in 

Houston. Among those attending were Dr. Wernher von Braun, Direc- 

tor of MSFC; Dr. Robert Gilruth, Director of MSC; and Dr. George 

E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight. 

(Bloom, W Post, 1/30/67) 

* Greatest damage to Apollo I spacecraft in which three astronauts died 

in Jan. 27 flash fire seemed to have occurred near point where elec- 

trical cables from launch pad entered cabin, reported Aviation Week 

writer George Alexander, who represented news media when NASA au- 

thorized one person to visit KSC’S Launch Complex 34. Alexander said 

the spacecraft “looked like the inside of a furnace . . . the interior . . . 

is a darkened, dingy compartment. Its walls are covered with a slate- 

gray deposit of smoke and soot; its floor and couch frame are covered 

with ashes and debris-most of it indeterminate. . . .” (UPI, NYT, 

1/30/67; W Post, 1/30/67, Al, A2; W Star, 1/30/67, Al, A3) 

January 30: Separate memorial services were held in Houston for Astro- 

nauts Virgil I. Grissom and Edward H. White 11. Among those attending 

were Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of MSFC; Dr. Robert Gilruth, 

Director of MSC; Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator 

for Manned Space Flight; Astronaut Alan Shepard; and former Astro- 

naut John Glenn. (Hines, W Star, 1/30/67,1) 

* NASA had awarded Electro Optical Systems, Inc., a $2-million contract for 

design, fabrication, and testing of the power subsystem for the 1969 

Mariner Mars mission. (NASA Release 67-17) 

* Princeton Univ. physicist Dr. Roman Smoluchowski told annual meeting 

of American Physical Society in New York that huge amounts of en- 

ergy emitted by Jupiter-three times the amount it received from the 

sun-could be accounted for by a gradual shrinking of the planet. Dr. 

Smoluchowski said that Jupiter was losing gravitational energy because 

it was shrinking about 1150th of an inch a year, and that it was this 

lost energy that it was emitting. Shrinkage was occurring, he reported, 

because liquid and solid molecular forms of hydrogen, which comprise 

planet’s outermost layer, were gradually being compressed into metallic 

hydrogen, which comprises the next innermost layer. Rate of com- 

pression, according to Dr. Smoluchowski’s calculations, would yield 

just the right amount of shrinkage to account for the observed amount 

of energy Jupiter emits. (NYT, 1/31/67, C52) 

* U.S.S.R. had perfected and tested an antimissile device that used x-rays 

generated by a nucIear blast to paralyze or disintegrate incoming mis- 

siles hundreds of miles from their targets, U.S. News & World Report 

said. There was no comment from DOD. (US News, 1/67) 

27


January 30-31 : NASA launched 18 sounding rockets in sets of two at two- 

hour intervals from Churchill Research Range and Pt. Barrow, Alaska, 

between 6:15 p.m. and 8:20 a.m. EST to gather meteorological data be- 

tween 12- and 124-mi altitudes. Twelve Nike-Apaches launched from 

Churchill ejected vapor cloud experiments between 43- and 124-mi alti- 

tudes; drift of vapor trails was recorded photographically to obtain 

data on wind directions and speeds. Six Nike-Cajuns launched from Pt. 

Barrow carried acoustic grenades which were ejected and detonated at 

programed altitudes to provide correlative data on atmospheric condi- 

tions. Experiment series was being conducted by GSFC under OSSA direc- 

tion. (NASA Release 67-13) 

January 31 : Nike-Apache sounding rocket carrying 55% payload to obtain 

electron density profile was launched from NASA Wallops Station to 

121-mi (193-km) altitude. Minutes later, Nike-Cajun grenade experi- 

ment was launched over the Atlantic for atmosphere temperature sup- 

port data at 50- to 56-mi (80- to 90-km) altitudes. Launchings, first two 

in series of three to study relation of high absorption radio waves in 

ionosphere to seasonal temperature variations in upper atmosphere, 

were conducted by NASA for Univ. of Illinois, GCA Corp., and GSFC. 

Rockets and equipment functioned satisfactorily. (Wallops Release 

67-4) 

* In related experiments, Nike-Apache sounding rocket was launched from 

Ft. Churchill, Canada, to obtain wind profiles by release of chemical 

and photograph of chemical cloud at 96-mi (lskm) altitude; another 

Nike-Apache sounding rocket was launched from Ft. Churchill to study 

shortterm variation of density, pressure, and temperature during 12-hr 

period to SO-mi (127-km) altitude; Nike-Cajun sounding rocket was 

launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, to determine shortterm variations 

in upper atmosphere temperatures with payload of standard grenades. 

All rockets and payloads performed well. (NASA Proj Off) 

* XB-70 No. 1 research aircraft was piloted by NASA test pilot Fitzhugh 

Fulton and Col. Joseph Cotton (WAF) to mach 1.35 and 37,000-ft altitude 

to conduct stability and control maneuvers. (NASA Proj Off) 

* Ninth anniversary of first US. satellite, Explorer 1. In defiance of the 

original predicted lifespan that should have ended six years ago, the 

satellite was circling the earth 14 times daily and had completed 43,000 

orbits. ( MSFC Release 67-17) 

* President Johnson transmitted his annual Report to the Congress on United 

States Aeronautics and Space Activities. 

He wrote in covering letter: “America’s space and aeronautics pro- 

grams made brilliant progress in 1966. We developed our equipment and 

refined our knowledge to bring travel and exploration beyond earth’s 

atmosphere measurably closer. And we played a major part in pre- 

paring for the peaceful use of outer space. . . .” The President cited 

accomplishments of NASA’s Gemini, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor programs 

and noted that during 1966 US. had put into earth orbit or escape 

missions 100 spacecraft-“a record number of successful launches for 

the period. We launched weather satellites, communications satellites 

and orbiting observatories. . . . 

(4 

These accomplishments-and the promise of more to comeare 

the fruits of the greatest concerted effort ever undertaken by any nation 

to advance human knowledge and activity. Space, so recently a mystery, 

now affects and benefits the lives of all Americans. . . .” 

28


In separate chapter, National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC) 

said that although US. continued to lead space technology competi- 

tion in number and variety of successful missions, “USSR maintains its 

lead in weight of payloads orbited. . . . Certainly the hiatus in Soviet 

manned space activity during 1966 is no basis for complacency on our 

part as their preparations for future flights appear to be ambitious 

and the resources being devoted to space competence and performance 

are absolutely and relatively impressive.” 

Dept. of State said it was pleased to be able to forward Surveyor I and 

Lunur Orbiter I photos to missions abroad for appraisal by foreign 

scientists. It also said foreign reaction to receiving cloud-cover photos 

from US. satellites in Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) system 

had been “encouraging.” (Text) 

* Flash fire swept through oxygen-filled pressure chamber at Brooks AFB, 

Tex., killing Airman 2/C William F. Bartley, Jr., and Airman 3/C 

Richard G. Harmon in accident similar to the one Jan. 27 which killed 

three Apollo astronauts at KSC. Fire struck at 9:45 a.m. EST, about 12 

min. after airmen had entered the chamber to take blood samples from 

rabbits under observation to determine effects of pure oxygen on the 

blood. Cabin pressure was brought down to ground level within 13 sec 

after fire had ignited, but both men died from burns within several 

hours. Col. James B. Nuttall, commander of USAF School of Aerospace 

Medicine, said there were no plans to change research methods because 

of accident. “As you have seen, it is not safe,” but he said one-gas systems 

were less complicated and more reliable than two-gas systems. (AP, 

W Star, 2/1/67, A3; O’Toole, W Post, 2/1/67, 1) 

Eric Sevareid offered a eulogy on CRS-TY News far three Apollo astro- 

nauts who died at KSC Jan. 27: “Grissom and White and Chaffee-mor- 

tals who aspired to the moon and eternal space-were returned to the 

earth today from which they came and to which we all belong. 

“They had lived life more intensely in a very few years than most of us 

do in our lifetimes and they shall be remembered far longer. 

“They were among the men who wield the cutting edge of history and 

bythisswordtheydied. . . . 

“We are told they will be replaced. This only means that other such 

men will take their places. The three cannot be replaced. There never was 

a replaceable human being.” (Text) 

Funeral services were held for Apollo astronauts who died in Jan. 27 flash 

fire at KSC. All three men were buried with full military honors: Virgil 

I. Grissom (L/Col., USAF) and Roger Chaffee (LCdr., USN) at Arlington 

National Cemetery, and Edward H. White I1 (LJCol., USAF) at West 

Point. President Johnson and hundreds of dignitaries attended services 

at Arlington; Mrs. Johnson and Vice President Humphrey were among 

the attendees at West Point. (Hines, W Star, 1/31/67, Al, A6; Secrest, 

W Post, 2/1/67, B1; Casey, W Post, 2/1/67, Al, A4) 

* Operation of Wilhelm Forster Observatory’s tracking station in West 

Berlin was described by its director, Harro Zimmer, in an AP interview. 

The station, built on a 250-ft mound of rubble, was in a geographic 

position enabling it to detect Soviet signals from launching pads in the 

U.S.S.R. Zimmer said he wired tracking data to Smithsonian Astro- 

physical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass., on various assignments in- 

volving both US. and U.S.S.R. satellite launches, but received no pay 

,from either the U.S. or the Observatory. (AP, NYT, 1/31/67) 

29

During January ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

During January: British government awarded Manchester Univ. a $126,000 

grant to design a successor to radiotelescope at Jodrell Bank Experi- 

mental Station. New radiotelescope would have an aerial dish 450 ft 

in dia, and would cost abut $11.2 million to build. (AP, W Star, 2/1/67, 

A3; AP, NYT, 2/2/67,2) 

* Chimpanzees could survive sudden exposure to near vacuum according to 

tests performed by 6751 Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Holloman 

AFB. Visual inspection of the EEG as well as power spectral density com- 

puter analysis indicated the expected greater subcortical resistance to 

anoxia when compared to cortical responses. Results showed that all 

subjects not only survived the exposnres in excellent health but recovered 

within 4 hr after rapid decompression and were able to execute a com- 

plex behavioral schedule at a preexposure level of performance. Central 

nervous system damage was absent or negligible. (Text) 

0 Edgar M. Cortright, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Sci- 

ence and Applications, reviewed in Astronautics & Aeronautics the 

achievements of US. unmanned spacecraft: “For exploring the farthest 

reaches of space, for probing its most unknown and hazardous regions, 

for continuous monitoring of many diverse phenomena, for day-in, 

day-out practical utility, and as precursors of all space activity, auto- 

mated spacecraft remain without peer.” Among unmanned spacecraft 

worthy of future development, Cortright named Voyager, Mariner, a 

Jupiter probe, a new Applications Technology Satellite (ATS), a Syn- 

chronous Meteorological Satellite, a Voice/TV Broadcast Satellite, and 

a Navigation Satellite. (A&A, 1/67,22-8) 

Earth resource evaluation satellites could give “. . . greatest immediate re- 

turn of all space expenditures,” Space/Aeronautics reported. Applica- 

tions were listed: spotting indications of petroleum and mineral de- 

posits; providing land use maps for urban renewal, agricultural and 

industrial development ; monitoring underground streams; checking 

crop and forest vigor; and monitoring pollution dynamics. (S/A, 

1/67, 85) 

In spite of unleased capacity in two commercial communications satellites 

now in orbit, optimism prevailed, and ComSatCorp’s entry into “global 

marketplace has led carriers to slash transoceanic rates,” SpaceJAero- 

nautics reported. As technical manager of INTELSAT, ComSatCorp had 

been establishing operational position in “aeronautical and domestic 

communications market.” (S/A, 1/67,80) 

* Dr. Karl G. Harr, Jr., President of the Aerospace Industries Assn., em- 

phasized the importance of US. space effort to our total national 

interest in Aerospace: “As a nation . . . we have probably never learned 

as much in so short a length of time as from our space effort. . . . Leaving 

aside the advantages in scientific knowledge, national prestige, defense 

insurance, domestic economics, and everything else, the task of con- 

quering space requires far and away the greatest technological reach 

man has ever attempted. . . . As it has in the past, this will set the pace 

for our total national technological advance. Every aspect of our na- 

tional life which is influenced in any degree by such advances will be 

the beneficiary.” Harr cited a range of future alternatives that would 

extend the Nation’s technological reach: (1) more ambitious, wholly 

automated program, including extraterrestrial probes and new appli- 

cations for earth-orbiting spacecraft; (2) expanded manned space- 

craft program which might involve construction of a “permanent” 

30

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During January 

space station or a manned lunar e; and (3) manned expedition to 

Mars. (Aerospace, 1/67,2-7) 

0 Wall Street Journal staff reporters interviewed experts in many fields for 

series of articles on probable developments between 1967 and 2000. 

Jonathan Spivak, in lead-off article, reported that MSFC Director Dr. 

Wernher von Braun and more than a score of prominent US. scientists 

and engineers were making optimistic forecasts of future US. space 

achievements. Insufficient money and lack of nuclear rockets could 

present serious problems, yet most space experts foresaw the following 

major possibilities for the next few decades: (1) Early 1970s: extended 

lunar exploration by astronauts; earth orbital flights of three months’ 

duration to determine effects of prolonged weightlessness. (2) Mid- 

1970s: landing of unmanned spacecraft on Mars to search for signs of 

life; launching of first civilian space station; operation of satellite 

systems to aid civilian ship and aircraft navigation and to survey 

earth‘s natural resources; development of improved comsats; use 

of meteorological satellites to produce accurate long-range global 

weather forecasts. (3) Late 1970s: first flight of six-man spacecraft, 

circling Mars and returning to earth in 600 days; orbiting of giant 

astronomical telescope above earth‘s atmosphere; establishment of 

semipermanent base on moon. (4) Mid-1980s: landing of men on 

Mars for 10-20 days of exploration. (5) The 1990s: launching of 

unmanned probes to Jupiter, Saturn, and perhaps other planets; longerduration 

astronaut exploration of Mars; maintenance of small colony 

on moon; manned flights around Jupiter and Saturn. 

Jerry Bishop, focusing specifically on electronic communications in 

second article, said that researchers were envisioning creation of a 

vast network of facilities over the next three decades that would use 

present technology-notably, comsats-to make instant audio, visual, 

and facsimile transmissions available worldwide. Same network would 

also enable computers to exchange information with each other and 

communicate with users located elsewhere. Although such services were 

not considered economically feasible at present, communications experts 

expressed confidence that demand for picture phones and facsimile 

would be high enough and costs low enough to bring about widespread 

introduction of the services before the end of the century. (Spivak, 

WSJ, 1/6/67,1; Bishop, WSJ, 1/16/67,1) 

Press commented on President Johnson’s failure to authorize SST prototype 

construction. 

New York Times: “NOW the basic size and shape of the plane have 

been settled. . . . Yet neither [company] has been told when to quit 

refining the designs that resulted from a three-year, Government-spon- 

sored competition and begin ‘cutting metal’ on flight test models-a step 

that had been expected on Jan. 1. The companies can take only inter- 

mediate steps until the President and the Congress decide how fast the 

plane should be built, how industry and Government are to divide the 

financial risk, and whether another, smaller plane should be built for 

domestic routes. . . .,’ (Clark, NYT, 1/8/67, E2) 

Wall Street Journal: “President Johnson evidently has decided to 

postpone for some time the $4.5 billion [SST] program. . . . This deci- 

sion . . . hasn’t been publicly disclosed, but is nonetheless obvious to 

Congressional and Administration officials. . . . How long the delay 

will last depends on whether it has resulted solely from current budget 

31

During January ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

pressures generated by the Vietnam war or is based on a belief that the 

growing criticism of the SST-as an allegedly costly and technically 

unsound project that will ‘benefit the jet set’ and be an ‘ear shattering’ 

nuisance to everyone else-is justified.” (Zimmerman, WSJ, 1/3/67,2) 

Washington Evening Star: “Competitors in the SST sweepstakes had 

been hoping ‘ . . that the winner would receive the green light to build 

a flyable prototype airplane right away. What Boeing and GE got instead, 

was a month-to-month commitment to do more of what they have been 

doing for 2% years-tudy, design, analyze. . . . One thing is certain 

about the SST program at this point: there will be no big new government 

funding until fiscal 1969 at the earliest.” (Hines, W Star, 1/2/67, A10) 

* An advanced concept in solid rocketry was demonstrated when Lockheed 

Propulsion Co. static-fired large-scale motor with two interconnected 

combustion chambers for 7.5 min. Firing-longest ever achieved by 

high-performance solid-propellant gas generator-was SO% successful. 

Lockheed Vice President Kenneth H. Jacobs commented: “The firing 

demonstrates the feasibility of a large-scale, all-solid rocket propulsion 

system for spacecraft attitude control and trajectory adjustment.” (Mar- 

shall Star, 2/1/67,5) 

0 Sen. Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.) and Sen. Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) 

were assigned to vacancies on the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and 

Space Sciences created by the resignations of Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (D-Va.) , 

and Sen. George D. Aiken (R-Vt.) . (Senate Comm.) 

* Dr. Herbert Friedman, Superintendent of NRL’S Atmosphere and Astro- 

physics Div., was appointed chairman of NRC’s Committee on Solar- 

Terrestrial Research. (A&A, 1/67,18) 

0 Responsibilities of the Defense Communications Agency were described by 

its director, L/G Alfred Starbird (USA). General Starbird said that DOD’S 

Communications Satellite Program had been divided into three phases : 

. (1) use of existing SYNCOM satellites, (2) installation of Initial Defense 

Communications Satellite System, and ( 3) investigation of Advanced 

Defense Communications Satellite Project for later implementation. Gen- 

eral Starbird outlined progress in implementing these steps and in meet- 

ing the “special operational requirements” for communication support 

of NASA’S Apollo program and for increased circuits to Southeast Asia. 

(Data, 1/67, 5-9) 

* McDonnell Co. and Douglas Aircraft Co. announced plans to “proceed 

immediately” with merger negotiations. ( WSJ, 1/16/67,2) 

32

February 1967 

February 1 : NASA Administrator James E. Webb told Washington, D.C., 

women’s club that Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., 

would report to ICSC Feb. 2 to meet with Apollo 204 Review Board in- 

vestigating Jan. 27 accident which killed three Apollo astronauts. Dr. 

Seamans would report Board’s preliminary findings to Sen. Clinton P. 

Anderson (D-N.Mex.) Chairman of Senate Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences Committee, and Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.) Chairman 

of House Committee on Science and Astronautics. Webb said NASA’s de- 

cision to use 100% oxygen atmosphere in spacecraft had been made after 

“a long series of tests and evaluations. Any change would be made only 

after a most careful examination of all alternatives.” (Sehlstedt, Jr., 

B Sun, 2/2/67; W Post, 2/2/67) 

* Three sets of experiments were continued at Ft. Churchill, Canada, and 

Point Barrow, Alaska [see January 311. Last five of a series of six 

Nike-Apache sounding rockets were successfully launched from Ft. 

Churchill to obtain wind profiles of upper atmosphere to 96-mi (154 

km) altitude. Last five of a series of six Nike-Apache sounding rockets 

were launched from Ft. Churchill to study short-term variation of density, 

pressure, and temperature during 12-hr period where altitudes ranged 

from 94 mi ( 152 km) to 102 mi (164 km) . In first launch, Nike booster 

malfunction resulted in payload malfunction; for other four launches, 

rocket and payload performance were satisfactory. Last five of a series of 

six Nike-Cajun sounding rockets were successfully launched from Point 

Barrow at two-hour’ intervals to determine short period variations in . 

upper atmosphere temperatures. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* $5.050-billion NASA authorization bilk (H.R. 4450) was introduced to House 

by Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.) and referred to the Committee on 

Science and Astronautics. Bill was superseded March 2, by $5.100-billion 

authorization bill (H.R. 6470). (NASA LAR VI/15; Committee Off.) 

* Announcement of major breakthrough in Soviet space program-probably 

an orbiting manned space platform-was imminent according 

to unidentified US. scientist recently returned from two weeks in 

U.S.S.R., Marquis Childs reported in Washington Post: “The likelihood 

of a dramatic new Soviet achievement takes on particular weight 

in view of the tragedy to the three American astronauts at Cape Kennedy. 

It will dramatize the degree to which the Soviets are ahead in 

heavy boosters essential to carry out a landing on the moon. Repeated 

denials from both sides that this is not a race to the moon are all very 

well. The fact remains that the first power to land men on that silver 

orb will gain enormous prestige.” (Childs, W Post, 2/1/67) 

U.S.S.R. planned to fly a supersonic transport “. . . probably into Kennedy 

Airport, now that the Moscow-London-New York run has been 

33

February 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

opened-probably early in 1968,” stated Sen. Warren G. Magnuson 

(D-Wash.) , Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, speaking on 

floor of the Senate. He inserted into Congressional Record, Look interview 

of Najeeb E. Halaby, PAA’S senior VP and former FAA administrator, 

which stated that Soviets planned to flight test Tu-144 “SST” 

next winter and begin commercial service three years later. (CR, 2/1/67, 

A383-5) 

* Apollo accident at KSC, January 27, 1967, was discussed in press circular 

released by Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C.: “The sorrow of 

[the] American people is shared by peoples of all countries. In reality, 

cosmonauts are somehow representatives of the whole Earth, of the 

entire mankind in boundless Cosmos, no matter what . . . country has 

dispatched them.” (U.S.S.R. Press cir/GSFC Trans. ) 

* MSC Director Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, in welcoming address at MSC’S twoday 

Gemini Summary Conference, urged space scientists to avoid 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 February 1 

FAA announced that contracts for development of SST would be extended 

on month-to-month basis with funds already available, “pending negotiations 

. . . with the manufacturers and the airlines for airline financial 

participation in the Phase I11 (Prototype Construction) program.” 

Evert Clark commented in the New Yorik: Times: “The move to have the 

airlines share the cost is intended to lessen budgetary pressures on the 

Administration, make the program more appealing to Congress and 

have the airlines, the ultimate beneficiaries of the project, show good 

. faith by joining in the risk to a greater degree. . . .” (Text; Clark, 

NYT, 2/2/67,1) 

0 Transportation men were still the great “risk-takers of our society,” Secretary 

of Transportation Alan S. Boyd told Transportation Assn. of 

America meeting in Chicago. “Most of the entrepreneurs associated with 

America’s great moments in transportation seem to have lost their shirt. 

“The builder of the greatest clipper ship went broke. 

“The builder of the greatest steamboat of the nineteenth century went 

broke. 

“The builder of the first monorail went broke. 

“Most of the early railroads went broke. 

“Most of the early canals went broke. 

“For that matter, the builder of the first Ford automobile went broke, 

at least on the first try. 

66 

. . . our society must try to hold open financial rewards which are 

commensurate with such risks. Especially when you realize how brief 

. . . the life of many important transportation innovations has been. 

. . .” (Text) 

e WAF’S $3.3-rnillion solar vacuum telescope, designed to predict more ac- 

curately solar proton showers which endanger astronauts and spacecraft, 

was meeting its timetable for construction at Sacramento Peak Observa- 

tory near Sunspot, N. Mex., Office of Aerospace Research announced. 

Telescope-of which 193 ft would be underground and 135 ft above 

ground-would be largest solar vacuum telescope in the world when 

completed in 1968. In addition to predicting “safe periods” for space 

flight, it would study solar phenomena and solar-terrestrial relationships. 

{OAR Release) 

0 Organizational changes became effective at AFSC Hq.: (1) creation of new 

Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS) for Operations; (2) reassignment of functions 

and responsibilities of the Office of the Deputy Commander for 

Space to other appropriate staff agencies; (3) redesignation of DCS for 

Foreign Technology to DCS for Intelligence and Dcs/Plans to DCS Development 

Plans; (4) establishment of Office of the Headquarters Commandant 

as a special staff office; and (5) reassignment of GAO activities 

function to Deputy Chief of Staff, Procurement and Production. (AFSC 

Release 28.67) 

Entire universe might be immersed in a sea of tiny particles known as 

neutrinos whose presence had thus far eluded observation, Dr. William 

A. Fowler of Cal Tech told Amerioan Physical Society meeting in New 

York. His theory sought to explain absence of helium in the spectra of 

certain older stars within the framework of the “big bang” theory of the 

universe. If -the exploding fireball from which the universe was formed 

had been packed with neutrinos, these particles would have interacted 

with neutrons to produce a cloud of protons and electrons, Dr. Fowler 

said. Latter would then have combined to form hydrogen atoms which 

35


would have stringently limited amount of helium formed. “Neutrino as- 

tronomy is just getting started,” he said, “but it might ultimately verify 

or deny presence of the hypothetical neutrino sea.” (Sullivan, NYT, 

2/2/67,25) 

February 2: USAF launched an unidentified satellite from WTR using an 

Atlas-Agena D booster; satellite reentered Feb. 12. (Tech Vk, 2/13/67, 

10; Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 2/15/67) 

0 Aerospace industry had the knowledge to build quieter aircraft and “it 

is time to apply it,” M. Carl Haddon, Lockheed Aircraft Corp. execu- 

tive, said at AIAA meeting ifi Washington, D.C. “. . . we have reached 

a turning point beyond which we as designers and managers must see to 

it that no plane is designed and built that is not significantly quieter 

than existing aircraft.” Haddon predicted that failure by aerospace 

industry to produce quieter aircraft could result in legislation that would 

curfew air traffic. (W Star, 2/3/67, C6) 

February 3: Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White 11, and Roger B. 

Chaffee had died of “asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation” but cause 

of Jan. 27 flash fire was still unknown, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. 

Robert C. Seamans, Jr., reported in memorandum to NASA Administra- 

tor James E. Webb. Dr. Seamans had met Feb. 2 with Apollo 2044 Review 

Board at KSC. “. . . clear identihation of the source of ignition or of 

its possible source will depend upon detailed step-by-step examination 

of the entire spacecraft and its relative test support equipment.’’ Dr. 

Seamans said duplicate Apollo spacecraft had been flown to KSC from 

North American Aviation, Inc.’s Downey, Calif., plant to permit a 

“parallel stepby-step disassembly process.’’ In addition, Board was 

“defining a series of investigative tasks . . . and assigning these to 

teams for execution. . . .” Report confirmed that spacecraft had been 

operating on external power when fire occurred, but there was no 

evidence “up to this time that the source of power whether simulated 

internal or external was related to the accident.” Dr. Seamans em- 

phasized that his statement was preliminary. 

NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George 

E. Mueller announced that NASA would proceed with launching of three 

unmanned Apollo flights scheduled for 1967: AS-206, AS-501, and 

AS-502. Manned Apollo missions were postponed indefinitely pend- 

ing the outcome of Apollo 204 Review Board’s investigation. (NASA 

Releases 67-21,67-22) 

* MSFC awarded Boeing co. a $120-million contract modification for five 

Saturn V 1st stages. Modification increased total contract value to $977 

million for fabrication and assembly of 15 stages. (NASA Release 67- 

20 1 

MSC Apollo Program Manager Dr. Joseph F. Shea briefed major Apollo 

contractors and subcontractors at MSC about Jan. 27 flash fire, John Wil- 

ford reported in New York Times. MSC made no announcement of the 

meeting. (Wilford, NYT, 2/4/67, 15) 

* Two-to-six percent weight loss in astronauts returning from space flights 

might reflect natural readjustment of body water content, not simple 

dehydration, Paul Webb of Webb Associates reported in Science. He 

based his theory on similar losses which had occurred during experi- 

ments in simulated weightlessness; blood normally pooled in the ex- 

tremities returned to circulation, increasing central blood volume and 

causing excretion of water not replaced during space flights. Webb said 

36


it was not yet clear whether reduced water content during weightlessness 

has harmful effects. (Webb, Science, 2/3/67,558-9) 

0 NASA’s decision to launch Ats I satellite Dec. 6, 1966, with one of its important 

experiments purposely rendered inoperative, was praised by G. 

W. Swenson, Jr., National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and R. N. 

Bracewell, Stanford Univ. Radio Astronomy Institute, in Science. “The 

NASA people made a courageous and farsighted decision . . . [when] 

they disconnected the beacon transmitter” in Ats I which would have 

operated on the same frequency band as many of the world’s most important 

telescopes. (Science, 2/3/67,518-21) 

Lunar Receiving Laboratory, under construction at MSC, would provide 

scientists with an unparalleled opportunity to examine extraterrestrial 

materials under controlled conditions, MSC staff members James C. 

McLane, Jr., Elbert A. King, Jr., Donald A. Flory, Keith A. Richardson, 

James P. Dawson, Walter W. Kemmerer, and Bennie C. Wooley declared 

in Science. The laboratory would have four major functions: “(i) distribution 

of lunar samples to the scientific community for detailed investigations 

after a period of biologic quarantine; (ii) performance 

of scientific investigations of samples that are time-critical and must 

be accomplished within the quarantine period; (iii) permanent storage 

under vacuum of a portion of each sample; and (iv) quarantining and 

testing of the lunar samples, spacecraft, and astronauts for unlikely, but 

potentially harmful, back-contamination (contamination of extraterrestrial 

origin) .” (Science, 2/3/67,525-9) 

0 Lewis Research Center issued RFP’S on system employing 2,000- to 6,000-lb 

comsats which could broadcast directly to home TV sets from 22,300-mialtitude 

synchronous orbits. Successful proposal would receive study 

contract. (LeRC Release 67-6) 

0 Sixtyday Sealab I11 experiment would be conducted 430 ft below the Pacific 

off San Clemente Island in winter 1967 as part of USN’S “Man-inthe-Sea” 

program. Underwater laboratory would be staffed by five eightman 

diving teams rotating on 12-day shifts. Aquanauts would conduct 

experimental salvage techniques and oceanographic and marine biology 

research ; and undergo series of physiological and human performance 

tests. Sealab 111’s long-range goal was to develop capability for rescue 

and salvage operations under ocean’s surface and to determine how submerged 

continental shelf could be used militarily. In Sealab I experiment, 

conducted July 20-30, 1964, four divers were submerged 192 ft 

beneath the Atlantic; in Sealab 11, Aug. 28-0ct. 10, 1965, three teams 

of 10 divers alternated in spending two-week periods 205 ft beneath the 

Pacific off La JolIa, Calif. (DOD Release 72-67) 

February 34: Mars symposium sponsored by NASA Institute for Space Studies, 

Yeshiva Univ., and New York Univ. was held in New York. Discoveries 

reported at meeting were later summarized by Walter Sullivan 

in New York Times: (1) Martian surface, although free of water-carved 

valleys, is so heavily eroded that wind alone cannot account for it. It 

is possible that ground is soaked with liquid water even though air of 

Mars is too thin and dry to produce rain; (2) new observations seem 

to confirm that air of Mars contains methane or methane-based gases, 

presence of which is dif€icult to explain unless they are generated by 

living organisms; and (3) evidence that carbon dioxide is predominant 

component of Martian atmosphere implies that oxygen is being 

continuously injected into air. Most likely source of oxygen is plant life 

37

February 3-11 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

performing photosynthesis. Sullivan concluded: “Despite the perceptible 

swing of the pendulum toward the possibility of life on Mars, a wide 

disparity of views on the nature of the Martian environment was presented 

at the meeting. It was evident that the information is still insufficient 

to assess the likelihood of life on Mars or even to design experiments 

for landings there that would most effectively test for the 

existence of life. . . .” (Sullivan, NYT, 2/12/67, 12E) 

February 4: NASA% Lunar Orbiter 111 (Lunar Orbiter C) unmanned spacecraft 

was successfully launched by Atlas-Agena D booster from ETR 

in mission to photograph possible lunar landing sites for Apollo astronauts 

(see Feb. 8-28). 

Agena 2nd stage fired to boost 850-lb spacecraft into 10O-mi (161km) 

altitude parking orbit, reignited after 15-min coast period, injecting 

spacecraft on 92-hr translunar trajectory, and separated. On schedule 

Lunar Orbiter III deployed its four solar panels and two antennas, 

locked its five solar sensors on the sun, and fixed its star-tracker on 

Canopus. 

Primary objectives of NASA% Lunar Orbiter III mission, third in 

series of five, were (1) to place three-axis stabilized spacecraft into lunar 

orbit ; (2) to obtain high-resolution pictures of previously photographed 

lunar surface areas to confirm their suitability as landing sites for 

Apollo and Surveyor spacecraft; and (3) to improve knowledge of the 

moon. Photos would cover 12 primary target sites located within the 

Apollo zone of interest on the moon’s front face. Spacecraft would also 

monitor micrometeoroids and radiation intensity in the lunar environment, 

refine definition of moon’s gravitational field, and serve as a 

target for tracking operations by Manned Space Flight Network stations. 

Lunar Orbiter program was managed by L~RC under OSSA direction. 

Tracking and communications were the responsibility of JPL-operated 

Deep Space Network. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-12; AP, 

W Post, 2/5/67, A6; AP, W Star, 2/5/67, AS; AP, NYT, 2/6/67, 12) 

0 Decision to use 1000/0 oxygen atmosphere in US. spacecraft had not been 

made as a shortcut to compensate for U.S.S.R.’s superior booster capability, 

NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh told Interawia Air 

Letter. “There were other factors involved,” including weight and efficient 

use of oxygen-consuming fuel cells. Dr. Welsh emphasized there 

was “. . . no basis at all for a change in [Apollo program] policy” 

because of Jan. 27 tragedy at KSC and predicted US. still had 50-50 

chance to land first man on the moon. (UPI, W Star, 2/5/67, AS) 

Dr. Donald E. GUSS, project scientist for GSFC’S Solar Particle Intensity and 

Composition Experiment, died in Cleveland after a heart attack. ( W Post, 

2/8/67 ) 

February 5: Sounding rocket launched by ESRO from northern Sweden to 

study aurora borealis reached 116-km (72-mi) altitude. (Reuters, NYT, 

2/6/67,3 ) 

* John R. Biggs, former director of NASA Office-Downey at North American 

Aviation’s Downey, Calif., plant, became Deputy Executive Secretary in 

the Office of the Administrator, NASA Hq. (NASA Ann, 2/6/67) 

* 7a students would begin work toward doctorate degrees in space sciences 

during 1967-68 academic year at 152 institutions as part of NASA’s Predoctoral 

Training program to meet increasing need for highly trained 

scientists and engineers. (NASA Release 67-19) 

February 6: U.S.S.R. sought one-year postponement of meeting of U.N: Con-


ference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, scheduled for 

Sept. 11-23 in Vienna. Soviet Academy of Sciences member V. A. Kotelnikov 

told preparatory committee meeting in New York that U.S.S.R. 

needed more time for preparation of scientific data and papers. Request 

caused considerable surprise among U.N. delegates because U.S.S.R. had 

been chief supporter of resolution, passed by General Assembly Dec. 16, 

1966, to hold meeting in September. (NYT, 2/7/67, 30; Estabrook, 

W Post, 2/8/67) 

Japan launched three-stage Lambda 3H rocket from Uchinoura Space 

Center, Kyushu Island, to 1,337-mi (2,142-km) altituderecord altitude 

for Japanese rocket. The 9.5-ton vehicle carried instruments to obtain 

nine types of scientific data on the Van Allen belts and the ionosphere; 

all equipment functioned normally except electronic thermometer. The 

29-min flight ended when rocket’s 3rd stage impacted 1,400 mi downrange 

in the Pacific. (AP, NYT, 2/7/67,27) 

0 President Johnson presented 1966 National Medal of Science to 11 scientists 

and engineers at White House ceremony and praised their efforts 

to make new discoveries: “Today, our enormous investment in science 

and research is our evidence of our faith that science can not only make 

man richer-but science can make man better.” Awards were an- 

nounced Dec. 24, 1966. (PD, 2/13/67, 194-5) 

* FAA met with 11 US. airlines and one leasing company to discuss financing 

of SST. Following conference, FAA Administrator William F. McKee 

announced that airline representatives had “indicated general agree- 

ment with the concept of assisting with financing of the prototype de- 

velopment phase.” (FAA Release 67-11 ) 

NASA appointed M/G John D. Stevenson (USAF, Ret.) Director of Mis- 

sion Operations, OMSF, succeeding Everett E. Christensen who returned 

to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. General Stevenson had been serv- 

ing as special assistant to Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Ad- 

ministrator for Manned Space Flight. (NASA Release 67-23) 

* USAF would not use pure oxygen atmosphere on its manned space flights, 

partly because of the fire hazard, announced L/Col. John W. Ord, Direc- 

tor of Crew Test Evaluation at USM School of Aerospace Medicine. Ord 

said Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program would use mixture 

of oxygen and helium because it was lightweight and conducted heat 

away from the spacecraft. (Lockett, W Post, 2/7/67) 

February 6-9: “Lectures in Aerospace Medicine” conference was held at 

USAF School of Aerospace Medicine (SAM) , Brooks AFB, Tex. 

Dr. Hubertus Strughold, chief scientist at SAM, recommended that 

astronauts preparing for long-duration interplanetary space flights un- 

dergo “prophylactic surgery” to prevent appendicitis or gall bladder at- 

tacks and prophylactic dental work to guard against abscessed teeth. 

Dr. Alfred C. Koestler, head of Holloman AFB’S Altered Atmosphere 

Pressure Laboratory, reported that 18 chimpanzees had survived rapid 

decompression to the near vacuum of 150,000 ft for 31/2 min without 

any noticeable residual effects following four-hour recovery period. 

Tests offered hope that an astronaut outside his spacecraft could be 

rescued if his spacesuit were to spring a leak. 

Bends, the painful decompression sickness that cripples deepsea 

divers, would imperil astronauts leaving a spacecraft with “mixed-gas” 

atmosphere to work in space, L/Col. Robert C. McIver suggested. His 

conclusion was based on series of experiments in which 74 healthy men 

324-801 0-694 

39

February 6-9 ASI’RONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

underwent a total of 388 exposures to &compression; one fourth developed 

symptoms of bends. (USAF Proj Off; AFSC Release 274.66; W 

Star, 2J8/67, AS; W Post, 2/10/67, A$; WSJ, 2/15/67,1; UPI, NYT, 

2/24/67,53) 

February 7: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXL into orbit with 241-km (150-mi) 

apogee, 170-km (106-mi) perigee, 88.48-min period, and 51.7O inclination. 

All equipment functioned satisfactorily. Satellite reentered 

Feb. 9. (Tech Wk, 2/13/67,10; GSFC SSR, 2/15/67) 

NASA’s Surveyor Z spacecraft, which softlanded on the moon June 2, 1966, 

was still functioning after transmitting over 11,000 photos to earth, 

JPL’S scientist Leonard Jaffe said in Cal Tech lecture. Surveyor I mission 

had been officially terminated July 21, 1966, after spacecraft’s battery 

suffered a sudden dip in voltage. (LA Herald-Examiner, 2/7/67) 

* President Johnson submitted space law treaty (see Dec. 8, 1966) to Senate 

and urged that it be ratified promptly “in appropriate commemoration 

of the Senate’s own role in charting the course that the world now seems 

willing to follow. . . . 

“The resources of this planet are already taxed to support human 

existence. Now and even more each day, as the family of man increases 

so rapidly, fertile soil, clear water, clean air and a safe atmosphere 

all become more precious to men and nations than the metals and jewels 

of ages past. . . . The future leaves no option. Responsible men must 

push forward in the exploration of space, near and far. Their voyages 

must be made in peace for purposes of peace on earth. This Treaty is a 

stepa first step, but a long steptoward assuring the peace essential 

for the longer journey.” (PD, 2/13/67,196-9) 

* Charges that haste to meet 1970 deadline to land first man on the moon 

had contributed to Jan. 27 Apollo tragedy were completely “unfounded,” 

Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space 

Flight, told closed hearing of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and 

Space Sciences in testimony released Feb. 11. “. . . the Apollo program 

is . . . the longest R.&D. program that we have undertaken in this 

Nation. . . . It has been paced at a deliberate pace so that it would in 

fact reasonably economically, but certainly safely, arrive at a set of 

equipment capable of carrying out the mission. . . .” Dr. Charles A. 

Berry, MSC Director of Medical Research and Operations, said that a 

total of 20,756 hrs had been accumulated testing the use of 100% oxygen 

in NASA-sponsored spacecraft and spacesuit evaluation programs. 

Before Jan. 27 accident, three fires had occurred in pure-oxygen ground 

simulators: in all cases fires had been traced to electrical systems not 

used in spacecraft and crew members had recovered from burns. NASA 

witnesses recounted long history of precautions to avoid spacecraft fires, 

including insulation, circuit design and circuit protection for electrical 

wires, and fire-testing of over 400 materials. NASA Deputy Administrator 

Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., suggested that exact source of ignition might 

never be pinpointed: “It is therefore possible that we may fly the Apollo 

without having been able to establish the cause of the fire. Even in that 

case, I believe that the care and skill with which the board and program 

office are conducting their investigations and review will provide 

the necessary assurance that such an accident cannot be repeated. . . .” 

(Testimony) 

* Board chaired by ICSC Director Dr. Kurt H. Debus convened at MSFC to 

investigate Jan. 20 explosion of Saturn V 3rd stage at Douglas Aircraft 

40


Co.’s Sacramento plant. (Birmingham News, 2/7/67) 

Edward H. White 11, one of the three Apollo astronauts who died in Jan. 

27 flash fire at KSC, was named to receive AKAA’S 1967 Haley Astronautics 

Award. Selection had been made in early January. AIAA cited White for 

his historic walk in space and other contributions, undertaken “at great 

personal risk in the advancement of space flight” during June 3-7,1965, 

Gemini IV mission. Award would be pyesented to his widow. (AP, W 

Post, 2/8/67, A6; UPI, NYT, 2/9/67,9) 

* US. and U.S.S.R. had begun talks aimed at mutual agreement not to deploy 

antimissile missile systems, Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance 

told Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Disarmament Subcommit- 

tee. (AP, P Inq, 2/8/67,3) 

First live global telecast linking North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, 

and Africa would be carried on National Educational Television (NET) 

June 25, NET Vice President William Kobin announced. Designed as a 

live documentary to enable man to see earth as a single entity in space 

and time, two-hour telecast would examine such major problems as 

hunger and overpopulation. It would be transmitted to more than 30 

nations via four comsats: ComSatCorp’s Early Bird I and lntelsat ZI-B 

and two of U.S.S.R.’s Molniyu I comsats. (Gent, NY T, 2/8/67, 63) 

* Eleven cosmonauts had been killed in accidents since first Soviet space 

flight in 1960 according to CIA report prepared for the White House 

several weeks before Jan. 27 Apollo tragedy, Northern Virginia Sun 

reported. CIA claimed five had been killed when their spacecraft failed 

to enter orbit and six had died in series of mishaps ranging from boosters 

exploding during countdowns to training incidents involving helicopter 

crashes. (Allen, Scott, Northern Virginia Sun, 2/7/67) 

February 8: Third French satellite, Diademe I (D-IC) , was launched from 

Hammaguir Range with three-stage Diamant booster. Orbital parameters 

were 1,341-km (833-mi) apogee, 418 km (260-mi) lower than nominal; 

584km (363-mi) perigee; 104-min period; and 40’ inclination. Reason 

for low apogee had not yet been determined. Designed to reflect laser 

beams fired simultaneously from ground stations in France, Greece, and 

Algeria, 50-lb satellite would make geodetic measurements. It also car- 

ried ultrastable oscillator for Doppler effect experiment. 

First French satellite, A-1, was launched from Hammaguir Range 

Nov. 26,1965; second, Diapason I (D-1A) , was launched Feb. 17,1966. 

Fourth and last satellite in Diamant series was scheduled for launch 

Feb. 19. (Hess, NYT, 2/9/67,15; SBD, 2/9/67,218; Av Wk, 2/13/67, 

41 1 

* Cosmos CXLI was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 345-km (214-mi) 

apogee; 210-km (130-mi) perigee; 89.8-min period; and 72.9’ inclination. 

All equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Feb. 16. 

(UPI, NYT, 2/9/67; GSFC SSR, 2/28/67) 

USAF launched unidentified satellite employing Thor-Burner I1 combination 

from Vandenberg AFB. (UPI, W News, 2/8/67) 

* Explorer XXIX (CEOS-A) spacecraft, launched Nov. 6,1965, was rendered 

useless as a geodetic instrument because of failure of range transponder 

( SECOR) . These geodetic investigations had produced important results : 

for the first time, side-by-side intercomparisons had been made between 

different tracking systems to show that no significant “hidden” errors 

existed; improved calibrations had been obtained for NASA Range and 

Range Rate and MOTS-Minitrack tracking networks ; laser tracking sys- 

41


tems had been perfected and were ready for operational use; and gravity 

field definition had been improved to allow more accurate orbit deter- 

minations and the computation of orbits of any given accuracy with a 

smaller amount of tracking data. (NASA Proj Off) 

NASA turned Essa ZV meteorological satellite over to ESSA for operation in 

accordance with NASA-Dept. of Commerce agreement. Essa Iv was 

launched by NASA Jan. 26 from WTR. (NASA Release 67-10) 

The Washington Post praised space law treaty transmitted to Senate by 

President Johnson Feb. 7: “The new treaty is an eminently sensible 

limitation on the military exploitation of outer space. The great powers 

must continue. their efforts until the problems of proliferation also have 

been met. And then they must go on to search for a means of thermo- 

nuclear disarmament that will rescue mankind from the threat of an- 

nihilation.” ( W Post, 2/8/67) 

a White House had received a letter from an unnamed scientist suggesting 

that it conduct its own investigation into Jan. 27 accident at KSC which 

killed three Apollo astronauts, Karl Abraham reported in Philadelphia 

Evening Bulletin. Scientist, who was not identified, felt NASA had not 

sufficiently heeded warnings of fire hazards presented by use of pure 

oxygen atmosphere. (Abraham, P EB, 2/8/67) 

February 8-28: NASA’s Lunar Orbiter ZZZ, launched from ETR Feb. d, became 

third US. spacecraft to enter lunar orbit; four days later it was suc- 

cessfully transferred to final close-in orbit for photography. Orbital 

parameters: apolune, 1,145 mi (1,847 km) ; perilune, 34 mi (55 km) ; 

inclination, 20.93’; and period, 3 hrs 29 min. Spacecraft performed 

357 attitude changes, responded to 2,866 commands, and recorded no 

micrometeoroid hits. A total of 211 medium- and high-resolution photos 

were taken before mission’s photo acquisition phase was terminated 

Feb. 24 because of a malfunction in the priority readout system. Readout 

would be completed March 6. Among photos transmitted, described by 

JPL officials as of “excellent quality,” was a picture of Hygius Rille, a 

deep gorge similar to the Grand Canyon. The rille-not considered by 

NASA as a potential landing sitecould not be seen distinctly through 

earth-based telescopes, but through Lunar Orbiter Ill’s cameras it a p 

peared clearly as a deep steep-walled ditch with one large central crater 

and numerous smaller ones. Pictures taken of the Sea of Tranquility 

confirmed that the site was probably smooth enough for manned land- 

ings: they showed a thin scattering of craters, some as small as three 

feet in diameter, and only a few ridges steep enough to upset a landing 

spacecraft. (NASA Proj Off; AP, NYT, 2/16/67; W Star, 2/21/67, A4; 

upi, W Post, 2/23/67, A3) 

February 9: NASA Javelin sounding rocket launched from Ft. Churchill car- 

ried Rice Univ.-instrumented payload to 467-mi (752-km) altitude to 

measure ratio of fluxes of auroral zone precipitated protons, and alpha 

particles, fluxes and spectra of lowenergy protons and electrons, and 

energy spectrum of protons with energies of 100 to 500 kev. Rocket and 

instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

a Feb. 15 launch of third satellite in ComSatCorp’s INTELSAT 11 series was 

postponed by NASA until mid-March to study recent failure in a Scout 

launch vehicle’s FW4S motor. INTE~SAT-11 comsats were launched by 

Thrust-Augmented Improved Delta boosters which used motors similar 

to FW4S. (NASA Release 67-24) 

February 10: Three Apollo astronauts died in Jan. 27 flash fire at KSC because 

42


CG some engineer, technician, or inspector had gotten careless,” former 

Astronaut Donald K. Slayton, MSC Director of Flight Crew Operations, 

told employees at General Motors AC Electronics Div., Milwaukee, where 

Apollo guidance and navigation equipment was manufactured. Slayton 

urged workers: “Take a good sharp look at your job. Are you giving 

everything you’ve got? Now you know somebody’s life depends on it.” 

An MSC official later reported that Slayton’s speech had not been intended 

for publication. Slayton emphasized that he was not trying to affix blame 

for the Apollo accident, but was just trying to make workers ultra- 

conscious of the importance of their jobs. (UPI, W Star, 2/10/67; UPI, 

WJT, 2/11/67) 

* Time magazine considered the question “Why Should Man Go To The 

Moon?” and concluded: “The moon itself may not be a particularly 

valuable piece of real estate. But neither is a flight to the moon an end in 

itself; the moon is no more than a way station on a route that scientists 

have only begun to map. And there is no doubt that man is going to make 

thetripsomeday. . . . 

“The moon is a challenge that the US. has already taken, a milestone 

that US. astronauts are already looking beyond. . . . The real object is 

for the US. to develop the capability of voyaging confidently to the limits 

of man’s imagination and ingenuity. The value of such voyages will 

always be unpredictable. But the history of the human race, said famed 

Norwegian Explorer Fridtjof Nansen, ‘is a continual struggle from 

darkness toward light. It is therefore to no purpose to discuss the uses of 

knowledge; man wants to know, and when he ceases to do so, he is no 

longer man.’ ” (Time, 2/10/67) 

* Astronaut Donn F. Eisele, in Columbus, Ohio, to receive a “Governor’s 

Award” for increasing the prestige of the state, told AP he was opposed 

to “an unrealistic, arbitrary” chronological date for reaching the 

moon. He favored a “technical” date, which he explained to mean “as 

soon as we’re ready, when we have performed sufficient missions to 

be ready, when the spacecraft is ready.” (AP, NYT, 2/12/67,31) 

February 11: President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) , in 

report on The Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period, rejected the 

idea of selecting a single major goal as focal point for Nation’s post- 

Apollo program and urged instead a “balanced program based on the 

expectation of eventual manned planetary exploration.” PSAC recom- 

mended program “integrating manned and unmanned eff om” toward 

five major objectives: (1) a “limited but important” extension of Apollo 

manned spaceflight program; (2) a “strongly upgraded program” of 

unmanned planetary probes aimed at landing instruments on Mars and 

Venus by early 1970s; (3) a program of technology development and 

qualification of man for long-duration space flight in anticipation of 

manned planetary exploration; (4) “vigorous exploitation” of applied 

space technology for both military and socio-economic purposes; and (5) 

bb 

exploitation of our capability to carry out complex technical operations 

in near-Earth orbit (and on the Moon) for the advance of science, particularly 

astronomy.” 

Report proposed one or two manned explorations of the moon annually 

after first manned lunar landing, together with unmanned 

flights to parts of moon inaccessible to Apollo spacecraft. NASA was cited 

for “absence of integrated . . . planning” of planetary exploration in 

the 1970s and urged to immediately study “the relative effectiveness of 

43


February 8-28: A southward-looking oblique of the backside of the moon taken by Lunar 

Orbiter Ill on February 19, from an altitude of 900 mi. The large crater toward the center 

is Tsiolkovsky, 150 mi in diameter. On the right, a much enlarged view of part of the rim 

and floor of the Tsiolkovsky crater taken by Lunar Orbiter Ill‘s high-resolution camera. 

man in planetary flyby and orbiter missions to Mars and Venus.” 

Committee endorsed NASA’s proposal to use spent 2nd stage of Uprated 

Saturn I booster as orbital workshop for manned missions up to 

56 days but recommended “careful study of the suitability, cost, and 

availability of Titan III/MoL system for biomedical studies of man 

for periods up to 60 days.” 

Astronomy from earth satellite was “focus of . . . [committee’s] 

recommendations for major pure science component of . . . [Nation’s]


program.” It proposed a program leading to “establishment in earth 

orbit of a number of astronomical facilities, which by the end of . . . 

the 1970s will constitute an orbiting astronomical observatory” capable 

of: (1) exploring full-range of spectrum not accessible from ground; 

(2) direct scientific control by ground-based astronomers; and (3) 

extended useful lifetime by servicing in orbit using trained personnel. 

Committee urged that “far more intensive effort” be conducted to 

examine applicability of satellite technology to misiions of all Federal 

agencies. “Such studies should take into account not only technological 

possibilities but the benefits . . . which might. be derived from satellite 

technology as compared with other methods.” (Text) 

0 MSC Apollo Program Manager Dr. Joseph F. Shea and MSC Director of 

45

February 11 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUT 67 

Flight Crew Operations Donald K. Slayton had each made a last minute 

decision against joining Apollo I astronauts in tragic Jan. 27 Right 

rehearsal. MSC Deputy Director Dr. George M. Low acknowledged that 

Shea, who had frequently taken part in astronaut flight rehearsals either 

as a stand-in for a crew member or as an observer, had decided not to 

participate when technicians were unable to find a communications head- 

set for him to wear. In addition, both men had finally decided that 

entering the spacecraft would have been “contrary to good test procedural 

discipline . . . [and] highly irregular.” (UPI, NYT, 2/13/67; W Post, 

2/11/67; Hines, W Star, 2/11/67,1) 

* Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) urged that Congress cut $9 billion from 

President Johnson’s FY 1968 budget to avoid tax increase. Interviewed 

on “Youth Wants to Know” television program, Proxmire suggested that 

$5-7 billion be cut from public works, $1 billion from space, and $1 

billion from US. forces in Europe. (AP, W Post, 2/12/67) 

February 13: U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space adopted 

Soviet suggestion for one-year postponement of U.N. Conference on 

Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, scheduled for Sept. 11-23 

in Vienna. General Assembly would vote on postponement in April. 

(NYT, 2/15/67) 

* Dr. Wilmot N. Hess, Chief of GSFC’S Theoretical Div., had been appointed 

director of MSC’S newly organized Science and Applications Directorate. 

He would assume his new post in the near future. (MSC Release 67-8) 

Soviet failure to launch probe toward Mars during January Mars “window” 

supported reports that U.S.S.R. space program had “run into budget 

troubles,” Newsweek reported. (Newsweek, 2/13/67) 

USAF successfully launched experimental aerodynamically shaped warhead 

from Vandenberg AFB aboard an Atlas ICBM to test reentry character- 

istics. (AP, St. Louis PD, 2/14/67,17) 

* Peter V. Dementyev, U.S.S.R. minister of aviation industry, had been 

awarded the Order of Lenin “for his great services to the Soviet state 

in developing the aviation industry,” Aviation Week reported. (Av Wk, 

2/13/67,23) 

US. civilian-manned satellite-tracking ship Sword Knot was still lying off 

port waiting for U.S. clearance to enter Durban, South Africa, harbor, 

AP reported. South African government had granted ship permission 

to enter port only if crew members agreed to obey country’s race segrega- 

tion laws. (AP, C Trib, 2/14/67) 

February 14: Successful simulation of a meteor was achieved when tiny man- 

made iron pellet fired by Trailblazer launch vehicle reentered earth’s 

atmosphere at unprecedented speed of 38,180 mph and landed on target. 

Launched from NASA Wallops Station, six-stage Trailblazer reached 190- 

mi (306-km) altitude before firing one-gram pellet on downward leg of 

ballistic trajectory. Artificial meteor was visible for two seconds. Experi- 

ment was part of Lam-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory program 

to study luminosity and ionization of simulated meteors, thereby increas- 

ing scientists’ knowledge of natural meteoroids. ( LaRC Release) 

U.S.S.R. laurnlied Cosmos CXLII into orbit with 1,362-km (846-mi) 

apogee, 214-km (113-mi) perigee, 100.3-min period, and 48.4” inclina- 

tion. All equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Jul. 6. (Tech 

Wk, 2/20/67,13; GSFC SSR, 7/15/67) 

NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., submitted second 

interim report to NASA Administrator James E. Webb on Apollo 2M 

46


Review Board investigation of Jan. 27 flash fire in which three Apollo 

I astronauts died. Board had established 21 panels to conduct inquiry, 

and Dr. Seamans said he was satisfied that the procedures they were 

following were “well worked out. When this work is completed, it will 

give us as clear a view as can be obtained from the evidence.” 

Source of ignition had not yet been determined, but physical evidence 

thus far examined indicated fire had had considerable variation and 

density and might have had more than one phase. “One hypothesis, supported 

by the cabin pressure history, assumes a small, low-grade fire 

whose heat was at first largely absorbed by the spacecraft structure and 

that was burning at the time of the first crew report; that fire may have 

continued for as long as ten seconds. A more intense fire may have then 

developed, causing the rapid increase in cabin pressure. This fire was 

probably then extinguished by the depletion of oxygen.” Additional 

information on accident had been identified and was being analyzed. It 

was now clear that all three spacesuits had been burned through, Astronaut 

Grissom’s receiving the most exposure and Astronaut Chaffee’s, 

the least. Dr. Seamans said disassembly of spacecraft was proceeding 

with great care, and spacecraft was expected to be removed to 

industrial area at KSC by Feb. 17. He concluded: “It is important to 

note that no single spacecraft element is touched or removed for analysis 

without full Board approval and evaluation of its possible effect on any 

of the other on-going studies or analyses.” (NASA Release 67-28) 

0 NASA selected Boeing Co. and Douglas Aircraft Co. for negotiations on costplus-fixed-fee 

contracts for 32- to 36-mo coordinated research programs 

to minimize jet aircraft noise [see Feb. I]. Boeing would receive about 

$7.5 million and Douglas $3 million. (NASA Release 67-26) 

February 15: France launched Diudeme II (D-1D) geodetic satellite from 

Hammaguir Range with three-stage Diamant booster into orbit of 1,897km 

(1,179-mi) apogee, 592-km (368-mi) perigee, 110.4-min period, 

and 39.9O inclination. Planned apogee was 1,500 km (932 mi), with 

635-km (395-mi) perigee. Companion to Diudeme I (D-1C) , launched 

Feb. 8, satellite was last to be orbited from Hammaguir Range, which 

would be shut down March 31. All future launches would be from new 

bases near Bordeaux and in French Guiana. Scientific mission of Diademe 

series was geodesy by three different means for cross-checks: 

Doppler effect experiment, laser experiment measuring distance to 

satellite from three ground stations, and photography of satellites against 

star background for direction-finding. (W News, 2/16/67; Av Wk, 

2/20/67,25; Wetmore, Av Wk, 3/27/67,50-58) 

NASA’s Biosatellite Z, carrying more than 10 million tiny living organisms, 

reentered earth’s atmosphere and apparently landed “in the vicinity of 

Australia.” On Feb. 22 NASA announced that search for capsule had been 

canceled. 

Launched Dec. 14,1966, from ETR, BiosateUite I had been scheduled 

to reenter earth’s atmosphere by parachute and be recovered Dec. 17, but 

it‘ remained in orbit after retrorocket failed. It was first of three spacecraft 

in NASA’s Biosatellite program to study physiological effects of 

weightlessness and radiation on organisms. (NASA Release 67-25; Reis- 

trup, W Post, 2/14/67, A4; 2/23/67, A3; AI’, P Znq. 2/16/67,3) 

GAO report found LeRC innocent of alleged irregularities in construction of 

$25-dlKon tank chamber at Plum Brook Station but was critical of some 

of NASA’s managerial practices. GAO said it had been advised by NASA 

47


“that closer construction management controls had been estab- 

lished. . . .’, Allegations, brought by Plum Brook employee and referred 

to GAO by Rep. Charles A. Mosher (R-Ohio), had been denied by 

LeRC Director Dr. Abe Silverstein Jan. 19. (Text; Cleveland Plain 

Dealer, 2/15/67) 

* Boeing Co. would spend $165 million and General Electric Co. $65 million 

in Phase I11 (prototype construction) of SST program, M/G J. C. Max- 

well ( USAF) , FAA Director of Supersonic Transport Development, told 

American Marketing Assn., in Los Angeles. Total cost of Phase 111 work 

was estimated at $1.1 billion; most of the difference would be supplied 

by Government and the small remainder by several U.S. airlines. Boeing 

and GE contracts would not be effective until President Johnson’s au- 

thorization to begin Phase 111. (Reddig, Jr., W Star, 2/16/67, A17; 

WSJ, 2/16/67,4) 

February 16: Sen. Lee Metcalf (D-Mont.) urged on Senate floor ratification 

of space law treaty submitted to Senate by President Johnson Feb. 7: 

“So now, in the first flush of triumph over the obstacles of space, is the 

time to leave behind our terrestrial ambitions, disputes, and claims of 

sovereignty, and look to new ground rules for peace and cooperation 

in space. . . . The rivalries, the contentions, and the conflicts that have 

been our earthly heritage may be abandoned as we jointly and coopera- 

tively launch ourselves into this great adventure in space. It may be 

that as a result we will achieve a greater cooperative spirit on earth and 

as a result international confidence and international understanding will 

grow out of extraterrestrial achievements.” (CR, 2/16/67, 52072-3) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from Ft. Churchill, Canada, 

carried seven experiments to 100-mi (160-km) altitude measuring: spec- 

tral emission line intensity during an aurora as function of altitude; 

visible emission features of an aurora; and primary and secondary elec- 

tron streams. Except for high voltage arcing, instrument performance 

was satisfactory; rocket performance was good. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

February 17: President Johnson, in letter transmitting Sixth Annual Report 

of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency to Congress, said: “In 

1966 a significant link was added to the still slender chain of arms con- 

trol agreements-a treaty banning weapons of mass destruction in outer 

space and on celestial bodies. Its significance will grow as our mastery 

of space grows, and our children will remark the wisdom of this agree- 

ment to a greater degree than the present state of our own knowledge 

quite permits today. . . .’, (PD, 2/20/67,274) 

February 18: Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb” and 

recipient of AEC’S 1963 Enrico Fermi Award for his “outstanding con- 

tributions to theoretical physics and his scientific and administrative 

leadership,” died at age 62. (NYT, 2/20/67, 36M) 

February 20: NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. 

George E. Mueller stressed importance of manned spaceflight program 

in speech before IEEE meeting in Washington, D.C.: This is a partic- 

ularly appropriate date for us to review our manned space flight pro- 

grams. It was just five years ago today that John Glenn became the first 

American to orbit the earth in his Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7. 

Since that time, we have made noteworthy strides in the manned ex- 

ploration of space. . . . In the Mercury and the Gemini Programs, we 

learned much about man’s capabilities in space flight. . . . 

“We will learn much more from the Apollo missions. By 1970, we 

48


will have provided the capability to explore space out to 250,000 miles 

from earth and to conduct manned operations and experiments on flights 

of up to two weeks duration. The Saturn I and Saturn V boosters will 

have injected up to 140 tons of payload per launch into near-earth orbit. 

The Saturn V will have sent 48 tons to the vicinity of the moon. The 

Apollo spacecraft will have sustained a three-man crew for two weeks 

in a two-compartment, maneuverable vehicle and will have landed two 

men on the moon and returned them with samples of bar material, to 

earth. The U.S. manned space flight programs will have logged more 

than 500 man days in space, during which data and experience will have 

been acquired from approximately 100 in-flight experiments.” (Text) 

9 Former Astronaut John H. Glenn, speaking at National Space Club lunch- 

eon in Washington, D.C., criticized the press for uninformed discussion 

of the Jan. 27 Apollo tragedy: “I deplore comment in the press recently 

regarding the accident. The press has a responsibility not to comment 

in areas about which it is not informed.” Speaking on the fifth anni- 

versary of his space flight in Friendship 7, Glenn noted that the deaths 

of three Apollo astronauts were part of the price man must pay in his 

quest for knowledge: “Man tries something and sometimes he succeeds 

and sometimes he fails. It is very regrettable. We hate to lose good 

friends, but we think they went in a good cause.” (Sehlstedt, Jr., B Sun, 

2/21/67,8; AP, W Post, 2/21/67; NYT, 2/22/67,50) 

During week of Feb. 20: Princeton Univ. announced development of accelera- 

tor capable of raising electrically neutral atoms and molecules to energy 

levels never before obtained in controlled experiments. Utilizing super- 

sonic jets of mixed gases in high-vacuum container, accelerator could 

generate molecular beams of neutral particles with kinetic energies of 

10 or more electron volts. Particles at this energy level were necessary to 

many common gas-phase chemical reactions. Dr. John B. Fenn, profes- 

sor who directed NsF-sponsored project, said accelerator would aid 

studies in meteorology and aerospace technology. (NYT, 2/26/67,59) 

February 21: Reps. Samuel S. Stratton (D-N.Y.) and Durward G. Hall 

(R-Mo.) , members of House Armed Services Committee, released re- 

port charging that insuEcient safeguards were at least partly respon- 

sible for deaths of three Apollo astronauts in Jan. 27 fire at KSC and 

two airmen in Jan. 31 fire at Brooks AFB. “Our inquiry suggests that 

[fire prevention].procedures, not only at Brooks, but also at Cape Ken- 

nedy, were in fact inadequate,” they told newsmen. Congressmen noted 

what they considered to be questionable procedures in safeguarding 

against fires in space capsules with 100% oxygen atmosphere: (1) ab- 

sence of closed-circuit television monitoring of Apollo spacecraft or 

Brooks chamber; (2) absence of automatic or manually activated fire 

extinguishing system onboard either capsule; (3) use of sponges by 

airmen although sponge burns up to 80 times faster in pure oxygen; 

and (4) use of foam couches by astronauts although foam burns 20-30 

times faster in pure oxygen. The congressmen said they had begun their 

probe because of “an interest in the two fires as they bear on the safety 

of armed services personnel.” Future efforts would concentrate on 

Brooks AFB fire. (O’Toole, W Post, 2/22/67, A4) 

* MSC awarded Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. a $3.4-million, cost-plus- 

fixed-fee contract for development and testing of an improved fuel cell 

power system for Apollo Applications (AA) program. (NASA Release 

67-33) 

49


February 22: USAF launched unidentified satellite WTR using Thor-Ageha 

D booster; satellite reentered Mar. 11. (Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 

3/15/67) 

Illustrations of the predictive ability of the contemporary engineer we~e 

made by ARC’S Simulation Sciences Div. chief, George A. Rathert, Jr., at 

Moffett Field Scholarship Night Banquet for Bay Area Joint Engineers 

Council: “. . . FAA pilots were experiencing certain characteristics of 

the supersonic transport on simulators at the Ames Research Center 15 

months before the FAA asked for bids on the design studies. You will 

recall Astronaut Gordon Cooper having to manually control the attitude 

of his space ship during a reentry retrofiring to successfully complete his 

mission. Engineering test pilots at Ames were studying problems of 

coping with manual control of a simulated spacecraft reentering with 

partly failed control systems more than nine years ago.” (Text) 

* Soviet antimissile defense system could not prevent all enemy missiles from 

reaching their targets, Marshal Andrey A. Grechko, acting Soviet Defense 

Minister, and Marshal Vasily I. Chuikov, head of Soviet civil defense 

program, wrote in Zzvestiu article commemorating Soviet Armed Forces 

Day. Their assertion contradicted statement by Gen. Pave1 A. Kurochkin, 

head of Frunze Military Academy, at Feb. 20 news conference: “If 

enemy missiles fly, they will not arrive in MOSCOW.” (Anderson, NYT, 

2/23/67,1) 

0 France would launch 330-lb Saros comsat-138 lbs heavier than ComSat- 

Gorp’s INTELSAT 11 comsats-in 1970 from new French Guiana launch site 

using ELDO’S Europa booster, Reuters reported. Saros would provide 

direct telephone, radio, and television communications between France 

and French-speaking countries. (Reuters, W Post, 2/23/67, A3) 

February 23: GSFC selected Radiation, Inc., for negotiations on a $1-million, 

cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to develop Versatile Information Processor 

(VIP), an advanced telemetry system for the Nimbus D meteorological 

satellite. System would process, format, and store in the spacecraft 

scientific data obtained from experiments and monitor temperatures, 

pressures, power supply, and control system. (NASA Release 67-34) 

February 24: Astrobee 1500 sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops 

Station in third flight test carried 110-lb instrument package to 1,495-mi 

(3,007-km) altitude before impacting 690 mi downrange in the Atlantic. 

No recovery was attempted. The 11,600-lb solia-fueled rocket-most 

powerful sounding racket in U.S.-transmitted 30 min of data on flight 

characteristics. From preliminary examination of data test appeared 

successful, but scientific data on cosmic noise effects were lost because 

rocket’s spin rate was too high for proper deployment of experimental 

antennas. Astrobee 1500 was being developed by NASA “to provide 

a research rocket capable of carrying heavy scientific payloads to 

high altitudes, with a relative ease-of-handling. . . .” First launch 

attempt (April 8, 1963) failed 16 sec after launch because of a nose- 

fairing failure; second attempt (Oct. 21, 1964) was successful. (WS 

Release 67-5) 

* USAF launched an unidentified satellite from WTR using Titan 111-B 

booster; satellite reentered Mar. 6. (Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 3/ 

15/67) 

Phoebus 1B reactor was operated for 45 min-30 min at 1,500-mw design 

power-in test conducted by AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion Office 

at NRDS, Jackass Flats, Nev. Primary purpose of test, part of Rover 

50


program, was to study high-power-operation effects on reactor- 

including test conditions to be found in 5,000-mw Phoebus 2, slated for 

test late this year. Phoebus series would provide advanced technology 

for solid-core graphite rocket reactors, eventually providing 200,000- 

250,000 Ibs of thrust. (Joint AEC-NASA Release K 4) 

NSF awarded over $28 million in grants as part of expanded program 

cc 

aimed at accelerating the output of students with advanced degrees in 

science, mathematics and engineering.” Made under NSF’S graduate 

traineeship program, grants would enable 206 institutions to appoint 

5,077 students for full-time graduate study beginning in fall 1967 

and 896 graduate teaching assistants for full-time study beginning in 

summer 1967. (AF’, NYT, 2/25/67,10) 

* “High priests of science”-notably space scientists-were making excessive 

demands on Federal budget with possible dangers to remainder of 

the scientific community, Ralph Lapp, nuclear science consultant, told 

Purdue Univ. audience. He urged “a unified science budget which 

reflects a ‘fair share’ for all scientific fields.” (AP, B Sun, 2/25/67) 

February 25: Astrobee 1500 sounding rocket was launched from Wallops Island 

with radiometer payload to obtain spectral observations in high 

frequency within the near-earth (up to 2,500 km) environment. Some 

of the hardware would be for eventual use on proposed Pilgrim satellite. 

Peak altitude was 1,475 mi (2,380 km). Rocket performance was 

satisfactory. Improper antenna deployment probably caused loss of 

most scientific data. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Administrator James E. Webb issued statement based on third interim 

report by Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., on work 

of Apollo 204 Review Board. Webb observed: (I) “The risk of fire 

that could not be controlled or from which escape could not be made 

was considerably greater than was recognized when the procedures for 

the conduct of the test were established. Our experience with pure 

oxygen atmosphere included not only the successful Mercury and Gemini 

flights but a number of instances where a clearly positive source of 

ignition did not result in a fire. . . .” (2) Apollo spacecraft had been 

equipped with such items as Velcro adhesive pads to hold frequently 

used equipment and nylon netting to catch dropped objects. “While most 

of these [items] were constructed of low-combustion-potential material, 

they were not arranged as to provide barriers to the spread of a fire. 

Tests conducted . . . since the accident have shown that an oxygen fire 

in the capsule will spread along the surface of Velcro and along the edges 

of nylon netting much faster than through the material itself. (3) Soldered 

joints in piping carrying both oxygen and fluids were melted away, 

with resultant leakage contributing to the spread of the fire. . . .” (4) 

Capsule burst in such a way that flames traveled over and around astronauts’ 

couches toward rupture. “Under these conditions, and with just 

a few seconds of time available, the astronauts could not reach the hatch 

and open it. (5) This fire indicates that a number of items related to 

the design and performance of the environmental control unit will require 

the most careful examination and may require redesign. . . :’ 

Webb announced that Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences 

would hold open hearing on Review Board’s preliminary findings 

Feb. 27 and that House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee 

on NASA Oversight would conduct full investigation of accident 

after completion of Board’s inquiry, expected by late March. 

51

February 25 ASTRONAUTICS AM) AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Dr. Seamans said in his report that an “electrical malfunction” was 

regarded as “most likely source of ignition” of the fire but the “POS- 

sibility exists that no single source will ever be pinpointed.” Board was 

still considering chemical reactions in onboard materials, spontaneous 

combustion of certain materials, and possible electrical phenomena. Evi- 

dence indicated fire had had three distinct phases: originating in left 

side of spacecraft, it had burned several seconds unnoticed, then spread 

becoming more intense and causing cabin pressure to rise rapidly as 

atmosphere became heated. Fifteen seconds after crew first reported fire, 

cabin ruptured. During second phase, gases and flames flowed past as- 

tronauts’ couches and through hole moving from left to right. With 

cabin’s oxygen quickly reduced by rush of flames and gas outside, fire 

continued as localized flame, smoking heavily, in third phase. Dr. Sea- 

mans said Board noted: “The experience in flight and in tests prior to 

the accident had suggested that the probability of a spacecraft fire was 

low. Continued alertness to the possibility of fire had become dulled by 

previous ground experience and six years of successful manned mis- 

sions. . . . Potential ignition sources inside the spacecraft had been 

treated so as to be considered safe; neither the crews nor the test and 

development personnel felt the risk of spacecraft fire to be high. . . .” 

Dr. Seamans emphasized that Board did not recommend changing pure 

oxygen system or planned cabin pressure for space flight, but did urge 

that “trade-offs between one- and two-gas atmospheres be re-evalu- 

ated . . . [and] pressurized oxygen no longer be used in prelaunch 

operations.” It also recommended: (1) combustible materials be re- 

placed where possible with nonflammable materials; (2) nonmetallic ma- 

terials be arranged to maintain fire breaks; (3) systems for oxygen and 

liquid combustibles be made fire resistant; (4) full flammabiiicy tests 

be conducted with mockup of new configuration; (5) more rapidly and 

easily operated hatch be installed; and (6) on-the-pad emergency pro- 

cedures be revised to recognize possibility of cabin fire. (NASA Release 

67-38) 

astronaut 

* NAS had received 9223 applications for 20-30 positions in NASA’s 

training program. Academy was expected to forward NASA a list of 60-75 

recommended candidates in March for final selection. (Sehlstedt, Jr., 

B Sun, 2/26/67) 

* Europe was weak educationally and should greatly expand institutions of 

higher learning to close a “technological gap” that was widening in favor 

of US., Secrehry of Defense Robert S. McNamara told students at 

Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss. “Europe’s weakness is seriously crippling 

its growth. It is weak in general education, it is weak in its technical 

education, and it is particularly weak in its managerial education.” 

( W Post, 2/25/67,11) 

* Electrically powered cars, trucks, and buses, with limited ranges and speeds, 

could be produced with existing technology, and their general usage 

would greatly reduce air pollution, Federal Power Commission ( FPC) 

concluded in report to Senate Commerce Committee. Committee Chairman 

Sen. Warren G. Magnuson (D-Wash.) said he would hold hearings 

in March on the report which “hopefully will produce quick response 

from industry.” (Ayres, Jr., NYT, 2/26/67, 69) 

* Quasars, which radiate as much light and energy as a galaxy, appear to 

have a diameter only 1% as large as galaxies, scientists from U.K.’s 

Royal Astronomical Observatory and Royal Radar Establishment re- 

52


ported in Nature. Theory was based on measurements of radio signals 

of 30 quasars, obtained by using two radiotelescopes 80 mi apart in com- 

bination as if at extreme ends of single instrument. Data indicating 

quasars are smaller than previously believed compounded the prob- 

lem of explaining their enormous quantities of energy. ( W Post, 2/26/ 

67) 

February 26: US. astronauts would one day encounter “other living things” 

in outer space, Dr. Kurt H. Debus, Director of KSC, told Rollins College 

audience. “This prospect cannot be dismissed as metaphysical specula- 

tion. . . . It is much more a mathematical certainty than were the 

early theories expounded bv scientists and DhilosoDhers whose observa- 

tion$ and discoviries made possible many 4 our aGtivities today.” ( UPI, 

NYT, 2/27/67,12) 

9 Vice President Humphrey commissioned into service USN’S $130-million 

Atlantic undersea test ;enter, which he predicted might become the Cape 

Kennedy of oceanography. Speaking at West Palm Beach, the Vice Presi- 

dent said: “This center has been established primarily for purposes of 

national security. But the knowledge we gain here will help us in other 

ways.” It would contribute to man’s knowledge of tides and provide 

information on untapped mineral resources and unutilized food sources. 

“We may learn how to divert and even prevent hurricanes,” Mr. Hum- 

phrey said. “But perhaps the greatest promise of all lies in food from 

the sea.” (AP, NYT, 2/27/67,46) 

February 27: Cosmos CXLIII was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 302- 

km (188-mi) apogee, 2M-km (127-mi) perigee, 89.5-min period, and 

65 O inclination. All equipment was functioning normally. Satellite 

reentered Mar. 7. (Tech Wk, 3 /6/67, 15; GSFC SSR, 3/15/67) 

* NASA’s previous approach to preventing spacecraft fires by “preventing their 

ignition” had been inadequate, Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate 

Administrator for Manned Space Flight, testified at open hearing held 

by Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences on Jan. 27 

Apollo tragedy. Also present were NASA Administrator James E. Webb, 

NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and Dr. Charles 

A. Berry, MSC Director of Medical Research and Operations. NASA’s 

future approach would seek to: (1) minimize possibility of ignition, 

recognizmg “that this possibility will always exist”; (2) limit chance of 

fire’s propagating once it has started; and (3) minimize consequences of 

fire to crew. Dr. Mueller outlined an extensive program of testing, redesign, 

and procedural changes, which included escape hatch for Apollo 

spacecraft that could be opened in two seconds; search for new, less 

flammable materials for cabin interior and spacesuits; and revised 

emergency procedures. All improvements and changes would be incorporated 

into an advanced version-Black 11-of Apollo spacecraft. 

No more Block I spacecraft like Apollo 204 would be used for manned 

space flights. Dr. Mueller said no estimate of fire’s eventual cost in time 

or money would be made until completion of Apollo 204 Review Board’s 

investigation, but he indicated that it would be at least 8 to 10 months 

before next manned Apollo flight. Dr. Mueller testified that launch 

rehearsal during which fire had occurred had not been classified as 

“hazardous” because seven years of experience with Mercury and Gemini 

programs had never indicated such tests were particularly dangerous. 

Even if the test had been categorized as hazardous, he said, it would 

have still taken 90 sec for crew to open the double hatch and complete 

53


their egress. Crew died within 20 sec after detection of fire. Webb 

added that tbe handle for equalizing pressure, necessary precondition 

to opening hatch, had not been actuated. Dr. Berry said carbon mon- 

oxide had asphyxiated astronauts. He confirmed that bodies had had 

“some thermal burns of second and third degree” but “not of suilicient 

magnitude to cause death.” Dr. Berry warned that “we are never going 

to be able to completely eliminate the risk of fire as long as oxygen is 

available.” Dr. Mueller said “an atmosphere which will support life will 

also support combustion. Therefore the first answer . . . must be fire pre- 

vention in terms of strict control of both potential ignition sources and 

cornbustible materials.” During the questioning session, Sen. Walter F. 

Mondale (D-Minn.) inquired about a 1965 report by Apollo Program 

Manager M/G Samuel Phillips (LEAF). Dr. Mueller said that he did 

cc 

not recall such a report,” and when asked to supply a copy, Webb said 

NASA would try and identify the specific report and would make it avail- 

able to the Comptroller General “under any request that the Committee 

. . would make to him.” (Testimony; Transcript, 3-4, 247 41-2,61,70, 

Apollo Accident, Part 2,6566 , 86,97,1@3,115,125 ff., and 130 ff.) 

* NASA Administrator James E. W presented the Distinguished Service 

Medal-NASA’s highest award-to former NASA General Counsel Walter 

D. Sohier in special Washington, D.C., ceremony. Sohier was cited 

especially for his efforts on the space law treaty, patent policy, and NASA- 

university-industry relations. ( NASA Release 67-39) 

* ERC announced appointment of James M. Bayne, former chief of MSC’S 

Facilities Program Office, as Project Construction Office chief. Bayne 

would supervise construction of ERC’S multi-million dollar permanent site, 

already under way, at Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass. (ERC Release 

67-3) 

February 28: U.S.S.R. launched the meteorological satellite Cosmos CXLIV 

into orbit with 635-km (395-mi) apogee, 585-km (364-4 perigee, 96.9min 

period, and 81.20’ inclination. All equipment was functioning 

normally. (Tech Wk, 3/6/67, 15; Ten Years of Space Research in the 

U.S.S.R., USS-T Trans, vol. 5, No. 5,1967) 

0 President Johnson sent $149.8-million FY 1968 budget amendment to 

Congress which included $91 million for development of Rover nuclearpowered 

rocket engine. In his message, the President stated: “Government 

scientists and engineers have now concluded that a much more 

powerful nuclear engine would have distinct advantages over rockets now 

in use. I am recommending that . . . [US.] move ahead with the 

development of a nuclear engine having a potential of 200,000 to 250,000 

pounds of thrust. 

cc 

Such an engine could be used for a new and much more powerful 

third stage for our Saturn V launch vehicle. Because of its high efficiency, 

it could: [ 11 permit us almost to double the weight of the present payload 

of the Saturn V vehicle, [2] increase our ability to maneuver spacecraft, 

and [3] be used in future manned landings and explorations of far 

distant planets. . . .” (PD, 3/6/67,33&5) 

* President Johnson’s FY 1968 budget recommendations marked “a turning 

point in the Nation’s space program,” NASA Administrator James E. 

Webb testified before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. 

Webb said President Johnson had ‘‘placed before the Congress a program 

which says that this Nation must go forward in space and not call it 

quits at the end of this decade.” He summarized recommendations for 

54


( 1) completion of Apollo program; (2) development of capabilities 

for long-duration manned space flight in Apollo Applications (AA) 

program; (3) development of “practical applications of our space 

know-how” using capabilities of AA program and “advanced unmanned 

systems like the AT&”; (4) planetary exploration through Voyager 

program; (5) development of Nerva I1 nuclear rocket engine; and 

(6) increase in aeronautical research efforts to deal with “emerging prob- 

lems of civil as well as military aviation” [see Jan. 251. 

Webb announced that NASA had established Voyager program manage- 

ment responsibilities “designed to make the best possible utilization 

of the proved capabilities” of JPL “and of our field centers and labora- 

tories.” Voyager program, since 19a under NASA Hq. Division of Lunar 

and Planetary Programs, would become a separate division in OSSA with 

Oran W. Nicks as Director and Donald P. Hearth, Deputy Director. 

JPL would be responsible for surface laboratory, tracking, and mission 

operations systems; MSFC, for orbiting spacecraft and Saturn V launch 

vehicle systems; and LaRC, for landing capsule bus system. 

Discussing the NASA program, Webb said: ‘‘I should be very clear 

on the subject of risks. In moving ahead to utilize the resources made 

available to us, we have had to take technical risks in the development 

of our equipment and in establishing our schedules. These have included 

risks that a particular design or line of development would not succeed 

in meeting the specifications; risks that schedules might not be met; 

and that we could not recover from a serious setback because we did not 

have parallel or back-up developments. But we have not knowingly 

accepted a higher level of risks in order to meet our manned flight 

schedules. In our specifications, trade-off studies, test criteria, or 

mission plans, we have taken no risks to the lives or safety of the astro- 

nauts that we could find a way to avoid.” 

Webb urged that decisions on Voyager and AA programs and on 

Nerva I1 be made this year to avoid acceleration of the “dispersal of 

the know-how that we have built up in government, industry, and uni- 

versities that has already begun. . . .” 

Questioned by Rep. James G. Fulton (R-Pa.) on whether US. or 

U.S.S.R. led in space technology, Webb replied that U.S.S.R. would be 

ahead in large spacecraft until “we get the NERVA as a third stage for 

the Saturn V which will roughly double the capability of the Saturn V 

for Earth-escape missions.” While U.S.S.R. may lead in planetary 

exploration, he said, US. was superior in “the very sophisticated use of 

microminiaturization and many new techniques of handling data.” 

(Testimony; Transcript, 14-15, 28-9, 34; NASA Release 6740; NYT, 

3/1/67, 29) 

NASA awarded Carco Electronics Co. a $692,000 contract to design, fabri- 

cate, install, and check out a dynamic test stand for prototype Apollo 

Telescope Mount (ATM) control moment gyro system. Installation at 

L~RC was scheduled for completion by spring 1968. (NASA Release 67-41) 

NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. 

Homer E. Newel1 stressed importance of rocketsonde in speech at AIAA 

Sounding Rocket Vehicle Technology Specialist Conference in Williams- 

burg, Va. “There is still a lot of important research to be done between 

the maximum heights of balloons and the minimum heights of satellites. 

The sounding rocket gives us the means for carrying out such investi- 

gations. [It] is valuable for checking out equipment, testing the design 

3-01 0-49-5 

55


of an experiment, conducting an exploratory survey, probing for early 

discoveries, and in general providing an inexpensive means to lay the 

groundwork for more expensive satellite and space probe experiments to 

follow.” Important uses for sounding rockets included: detection of 

x-ray soums; generation of artificial plasma clouds in space; solar 

observations; investigation of eclipses; study of atmospheric and iono- 

spheric phenomena; and collection of micrometeoroids. Dr. Newel1 

concluded: “We at NASA regard the sounding rocket program as a vital 

part of our total national space effort. It will continue to receive our 

strong support.” (Text) 

0 NASA had presented monetary awards totaling $4,200 to six inventors, all 

employed by industrial contractors, for advancements in space tech- 

nology: Charles R. Peek and Lewis E. Boodley, RCA-$~,OOO for new 

type of interconnector for satellite solar cells; G. Richard Blair, Hughes 

Aircraft C0.-$1,000 for passive heat protective coating used on Sur- 

veyor spacecraft; Kenneth A. Ruddock and Robert G. Rempel, Spectra- 

Physics, Inc.-$1,000 for magnetometer to measure earth‘s magnetic 

field more precisely; and Paul A. Jensen, Hughes-$1,200 for low-noise 

antenna feed system used in all NASA Deep Space Network stations. 

(NASA Release 6742) 

During February: Space flights lasting one month or more should pose no new 

respiratory problems for astronauts, but additional research was neces- 

sary to ensure against respiratory problems that could arise from pro- 

longed weightlessness and an artificial environment, NRC Space Science 

Board study concluded. Only serious effects of weightlessness on respira- 

tory system anticipated were possibility that astronauts might inhale 

dust and other solid particles floating in the spacecraft and that muscles 

controlling the lungs might weaken because work was easier in weight- 

less environment. Areas recommended for further study included : tolera- 

tion limits for carbon dioxide in case spacecraft’s absorption system mal- 

functioned; problems of infection during long missions; possibility of 

intentionally filling astronauts’ lungs with a liquid to prevent collapse 

of blood vessels and tissues during acceleration greater than 15 g; and 

basic medical training and use of drugs for self-medication by crew 

during weightlessness. Committee also recommended efforts to improve 

methods to detect and extinguish spacecraft fires, and suggested that a 

two-gas system with nitrogen or helium be used until effective methods 

of fire control in 100% oxygen were developed. 

Report, to be released shortly by NAS, was the product of a June 

26-July 9,1966, conference held at Woods Hole, Mass., at OART request. 

(NAS-NRC-NAE News Report, 2/67) 

0 Soviet Academy of Sciences, using results obtained from Luna ZZZ and 

Zond ZZZ probes, had handed over to International Commission on Lunar 

Nomenclature list of objects on other side of moon and their names-list 

containing 153 objects of invisible hemisphere and two areas of visible 

hemisphere. Names would honor great scientists of the past and renowned 

contemporaries from many countries of the world. For two areas 

of visible hemisphere, it was proposed to call region of first impact of 

Luna ZZ (1959) , the Bay of Lunik; and region of first nondestructive 

lunar landing of Luna ZX apparatus (1966), Bay of Lunar Landing. 

(S/F, 2/67,38-9) 

0 Initial reaction by the press to Jan. 27 flash fire in which three Apollo 

astronauts died: 

56

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During February 

Business Week: “After 16 space flights, in which 19 astronauts re. 

turned from their missions safely, many had forgotten the inescapable 

peril of exploration. No previous frontier has ever been crossed without 

the loss of life; it was not to be expected that spacsthe most perilous 

frontier of them all-could be conquered without sacrifice. None of this 

lessens the grief that every man in NASA feels for fallen comrades. But 

it is the nature of test pilots . . . to accept disaster not as defeat but 

as a call for intensified effort and dedication.” (Bus Wk, 2/4/67) 

Washington Evening Star: “Now that the initial shock . . . is be- 

ginning to wear off, the second guessers are . . . wondering whether we 

should be going to the moon at all. . . . From any rational point of view, 

the only thing to do is to carry on. The Apollo program necessarily will 

mark time until the true cause of the spacecraft disaster is located and 

corrected. It is conceivable that the delay could cause the Dec. 31,1969, 

deadline to be missed. It is entirely possible that the Russians may get 

to the moon ahead of us. But so what? The world will not end nor the 

United States vanish, if the Russians beat us to the moon. . . . It would 

be senseless to stop now. Fortunately, it probably would also be im- 

possible.” (Hines, W Star, 2/2/67) 

Editor & Publisher: “The recent disaster at Cape Kennedy indi- 

cates we are no less reluctant to face up to disaster than anyone else. 

Not only were our reporters not prepared for it-none of them were 

there for the simulated flight test-but neither were our space of- 

ficials . . . [because] the full import of the tragedy was fed out piece- 

meal. . . . The lessons for NASA officials and for newsmen are obvious. 

Space travel is fraught with dangers in every test, every maneuver, every 

piece of equipment, but we became complacent about them because of 

our successes. NASA’s record of dealing with the press up to now has 

been pretty good and if it hasn’t already developed a ‘disaster plan’ for 

such accidents it soon will. News media have learned that nothing in the 

space program should be considered ‘routine’ and that front row seat 

should never be left unoccupied at any time.” (Editor & Publisher, 

2/11/67) 

Some press reaction to the accident later became increasingly critical 

Of NASA: 

Washington Evening Star: “The implication of the NASA story was 

that no fire extinguishing apparatus or quick escape mechanismneither 

of which was present on the Apollo l-could have saved the 

men. The implication of the truth is that if the spacecraft had been 

equipped with a means of blowing open the hatch, Grissom, White and 

Chaffee might have had a chance. NASA’s motive in attempting to distort 

the truth may have been to protect the families of the astronauts from 

undue mental anguish. But it also served the function of protecting NASA 

by heading off criticism of the agency . . . by deliberately misleading 

the press, Congress and the public.” (W Star, 2/9/67) 

New York Times: ‘The most basic issue . . . is not, as NASA has 

tended to emphasize, the source of the spark that started the fire. It is 

rather the question of why so much was permitted to hinge on the assump- 

tion that there would be no fire. . . . 

“The answer is only secondarily, as a NASA official has suggested, that 

‘alertness . . . had become dulled’ by previous successes. . . . More 

fundamental was the willingness to gamble for the sake of winning the 

race to the moon.” (NYT, 2/28/67,%) 

57

During February ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

* Congressional actions in response to Jan. 27 flash fire at ICSC in which three 

Apollo astronauts died : 

Sen. Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-N.J.) , urged Senate to ratify space 

law treaty [see Dec. 8,19661 as a worthy tribute to the astronauts. (CR, 

2/3/67, S144GO; NASA LAR VI/16) 

Sen. Spessard L. Holland (D-Fla.) and Rep. Edward J. Gurney 

(R-Fla.) introduced joint resolution (S.J. Res. 30) to establish a Com- 

mission “to formulate plans for a memorial to astronauts who lose their 

lives in the line of duty in the US. space program.” Astronauts Memorial 

commission would be composed of five Presidential appointees-one 

NASA representative, one DOD representative, and three civilians. (CR, 

2/7/67, ,31657; NASA LAR VI/17) 

Sen. Vance Hartke (D-Ind.) praised efforts of Mitchell, Ind., residents 

to erect a memorial to Apollo Astronaut Gus Grissom. “The memorial 

will preserve the memory of that record for future generations who 

might otherwise lose sight of the spectacular achievements of the few 

individuals who made the first forays into space.” (CR, 2/16/67, ,920’71) 

* Lift-drag space vehicle had been gaining more attention, Space/Aeronautics 

reported; reasons were said to be: “X-15 hypersonic tests, unmanned 

lifting-body reentry, manned subsonic glides and wind tunnel research.’’ 

For manned spacecraft, atmospheric lift would put an end to worldwide 

recovery alerts as in Mercury/Gemini experience. (S/A, 2/67, 52) 

58

March 1967 

March 1: Lewis Research Center awarded two one-year award-fee contracts 

totaling $22,500,000-$17,665,000 to General Dynamics Corp. and 

$5,171,000 to Honeywell, 1nc.-for management and sustaining engi- 

neering services on Centaur launch vehicle (NASA Release 6743) 

* Dr. Louis B. Arnoldi, former Command Surgeon of Air Force Logistics 

Command, had been named NASA Director of Occupational Medicine, 

succeeding Dr. Harold H. Stoddard, who resigned. (NASA Release 6745) 

Special NATO council began study to define and analyze technology gap 

separating US. and Western Europe. Project, initiated by Italian For- 

eign Minister Amintore Fanf ani, would reactivate cooperation within 

NATO and lead to cooperative programs to close the gap. (Mooney, NYT, 

3/2/67,12) 

March 1-2: Lunm Orbiter III continued transmitting photos of the lunar 

surface [see Feb. 8-28]. On March 2-during 149th orbit-final photo- 

graphic readout was interrupted when film failed to advance in the 

camera system. Efforts to clear the jammed film and continue readout 

were unsuccessful. Photographic data had been received on all but 29 

of 211 frames, including six of the 12 primary Apollo landing sites and 

29 of 31 secondary areas. NASA Hq. program and projeet officials and 

LaRC engineers would make an on-site analysis of telemetry time his- 

tones and engineering tapes at JPL to determine exact cause of failure. 

(NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 6746) 

* NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., testified in sup- 

port of NASA’s fl 1968 budget authorization before the House Com- 

mittee on Science and Astronautics. He reviewed 1966 accomplishments 

and discussed future spaceflight activities: “We completed 22 missions 

during 1966 successfully out of 29 attempts, or a 76% success. This 

record is somewhat lower than the previous year, but it is marked by 

qualitative advances greater than any before. 

“The FY 1968 request represents the first true post-Apollo deci- 

sions. . . . The combination of the 1971 Mariner flights and the initiation 

of a continuing, major Voyager program” represented effective transla- 

tions into action of President’s Science Advisory Committee’s recom- 

mendation that planetary exploration be given a high priority in the 

post-Apollo period. “During FY 1968 we will be decreasing somewhat 

our application of manpower effort on the manned space flight programs 

with a considerable shift in effort from the Apollo to the Apollo Appli- 

cations part of that activity. We will be increasing our total effort in 

space science and applications programs, particularly in the build-up 

of the Voyager program activity . . . [and devoting] more effort to our 

advanced research and technology activities. . . .” 

Emphasizing that he was “not prepared nor willing to state that a 

59

March 1-2 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

manned lunar landing cannot be achieved before 1970,” Dr. Seamans 

admitted there was a high probability that Apollo program would have 

to operate on a delayed schedule. “An important contributor to . . . 

success will be adequate resources and the flexibility to apply them when 

needed. . . . We cannot say today that the $2.6 billion requested for 

Apollo is not enough [but] we can say it is not too much. . . . It cannot 

be reduced and still accomplish the objectives we have defined.” (Testi- 

mony; Transcript, 118) 

March 2: Two Aerobee 150 sounding rockets carrying instrumented payloqds 

were successfully launched by NASA from WSMR. First rocket carried an 

ultraviolet stellar spectrometer and input telescope to 97.5-mi (156.8- 

km) altitFde to measure spectral irradiance of five early stars in 1,100 

to 4,000 A wavelength. Second, carrying detectors to observe sky in the 

infrared, reached 98.5-mi ( 158-km) altitude. Rockets and instrumenta- 

tion performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* President Johnson told White House press conference that Soviet Premier 

Aleksey Kosygin had responded to his Jan. 27 letter: “This reply con- 

firmed the willingness of the Soviet Government to discuss means of 

limiting the arms race in offensive and defensive nuclear missiles. 

“This exchange of views is expected to lead to further discussions of 

this subject in Moscow and with our allies. It is my hope that a means 

can be found to achieve constructive results. . . .” Asked if he viewed 

Senate passage of the consular treaty, the space treaty, the East-West 

trade treaty, and a nonproliferation treaty as “one movement,” the 

President responded: “I think they are all very desirable moves in the 

national interest of the United States. 

G< 

. . . we are exploring, with every means at our command, every 

possible way of relieving tensions in the world and promoting peace in 

the world.” (PD, 3/6/67,353-4) 

* Informed sources said U.S.S.R. had resumed sending meteorological data to 

US. from an orbiting satellite following a four-month pause, AP re- 

ported. Sent over a special teletype “cold line” established in 19a 

between Moscow and Washington, D.C., for exchange of weather infor- 

mation, data were apparently transmitted from Cosmos CXLIV, 

launched Feb. 28. National Environmental Satellite Center later con- 

firmed that it was receiving data from Cosmos CXLIV. (AP, NYT, 

3/5 /67,31; AP, B Sun, 3/9/67) 

* GSFC selected GE Missile/Space Div. to negotiate a $1.7-mi&on contract to 

develop, integrate, and test attitude control system for Nimbus D meteor- 

ological spacecraft. ( GSFC Release G-11-67) 

MSFC would design and build inhouse a multiple docking adapter (Mda) 

for use in Apollo Applications (AA) payload cluster scheduled for launch 

in 1968-69 [see Jan. 261. Preliminary designs called for a 10-ft-dia, 

15-ft-long cylinder surrounded by five 36-in-dia tunnels with docking 

collars and sealing hatches for orbital docking. (MSFC Release 6742) 

* Purdue Univ. had approved memorials for alumni Virgil I. Grissom and 

Roger B. Chaffee, who died in Jan. 27 Apollo spacecraft fire. Memorials 

included naming two campus buildings for astronauts, providing full 

four-year scholarships for the two children of each man, and establish- 

ing astronauts’ scholarship fund for worthy students. (AP, NYT, 

3/3/67) 

General Dynamics Corp. Convair Div. engineers said NASA had tentatively 

selected its double delta wing design for a hydrogen-fueled hypersonic 

60


March 2 

aircraft of the future. Aircraft would weigh 500,000 lbs and cruise at 

six times the speed of sound. (AP, NYT, 3/2/67) 

* It was essential to have a system of international law to protect health 

of extraterrestrial life, Soviet scientist Gennadi Zhukov told Tass in an 

interview. The space law treaty signed Jan. 27 was only the beginning 

of space law as a science, Zhukov said; additional legal controls would 

be needed to ban potentially harmful experiments, prevent man’s 

thoughtless use of planetary mineral resources, protect any existing forms 

of extraterrestrial life, and establish permanent orbital inspection 

stations around earth. (Reuters, NYT, 3/2/67,20) 

* US. should develop a 5,000-mph commercial aircraft and a 8,000-mph 

bomber, Dr. Antonio Ferri, Director of New York Univ.’s Guggenheim 

Aerospace Laboratories, told AIAA luncheon meeting in Washington, 

D.C. “Civilization has grown with the speed of moving around. The 

history of civilization shows that gradually you want to get in contact 

with people further away.” Dr. Ferri noted that jet aircraft had made 

Europe accessible, and the next generation of aircraft would bring 

other parts of the world within equally easy reach. He concluded that 

the technology and the “tremendous opportunities” of hypersonic air- 

craft were near at hand, but that necessary decisions and funds were 

still lacking. (Clark, NYT, 3/3/67,16) 

AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion Office awarded $64.5-million con- 

tract extension through September 1967 to Aerojet Corp. to continue 

technology research being performed for SNPO. (AEC Proj Off) 

March 3: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXLV into orbit with 2,135-km (1,327- 

mi) apogee, 220-km (137-mi) perigee, 108.6-min period, and 48.4O incli- 

nation. Equipment was functioning normally. (Tech Wk, 3/20/67, 13) 

NASA would delay scheduled 1967 launch of second Orbiting Astronomical 

Observatory (OAO) until late 1968 to incorporate changes made neces- 

sary after failure of Octo I, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Sci- 

ence and Applications Dr. Homer E. Newell said in testimony before 

the House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on 

Space Science and Applications. Third OAO would be launched in 1969 

and fourth in 1970 to continue studies in ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma- 

ray spectral regions. 

Dr. Newell explained that “the intensive investigations by NASA of 

Om-Z program development, test, and operations history have resulted 

in design and program modifications directed toward increasing the 

reliability and the operating efficiency of the OAO system in order to in- 

sure the success of the second OAO missions. . . . Although the re- 

maining three approved missions have been delayed . . . the scientific 

goals of these missions will be accomplished . . . [and OAO] will con- 

tinue to be the backbone of the NASA space astronomy program. . . .’, 

(Testimony) 

* Successful 15-sec captive firing of ground test version of Saturn V 1st stage 

(S-IC) was conducted at MTF by Boeing Co., prime contractor, to prove 

operational readiness of nzw S-IC test stand and support facilities and 

of the Boeing test team. Stage was powered by five Rocketdyne F-1 

kerosene- and liquid-oxygen-fueled engines capable of developing 7.5 

million lbs thrust. (Marshall Star, 3/8/67,1) 

* Lockheed Aircraft corp. was evaluating under a $65,000 NASA contract the 

usefulness of slush hydrogen for three proposed long-distance vehicles: 

Uprated Saturn I 2nd stage (S-IVB) as a lunar logistics vehicle to land 

61

March 3 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

payloads or manned modules on lunar surface; cryogenic service module 

for manned Apollo flights; and “space tanker” to be filled with hydrogen 

and used for inflight orbit refueling by other space vehicles. (Lockheed 

Release M3367-11) 

Rep. Chet Holifield (D-Calif.) challenged President Johnson’s budget pri- 

orities and attacked Administration plans to develop a nuclear rocket 

system for interplanetary space exploration. He told newsmen that 

it would be a much greater tragedy to limit school aid than to have a 

Russian cosmonaut welcome US. astronauts to Mars. “. . . We can’t be 

like the Roman Empire. They gave their people circuses when they 

needed bread. And that empire disappeared.” ( UPI, W Post, 3/4/67, A2) 

* Washington Evening Star writer William Hines criticized Apollo 2M Re- 

view Board’s failure to consult Walter C. Williams, operating head of 

Project Mercury from 1958-63, in investigation of Jan. 27 flash fire. 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 March 5 

like an orbital spacecraft and be maneuvered like an aircraft when it 

reentered and traveled through the atmosphere. First SV-SD vehicle, 

launched Dec. 21, 1966, performed successfully but was lost when para- 

chute malfunctioned. (AFSSD Release 77.67; Av Wk, 3/13/67,23; Miles, 

LA Times, 3/6/67) 

Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences staff report re- 

leased by Committee Chairman Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.Mex.) 

disputed theory that any nation would have a military advantage with 

orbiting nuclear weapons. Report, prepared “to provide information 

for . . . legislative evaluationn on the space law treaty [see Dec. 8, 

19661 submitted for Senate approval Feb. 7, noted: “Majority military 

opinion holds that orbital bombardment is not an effective strategic 

weapon as compared to land-based ballistic missiles. An effort to use 

space-based nuclear weapons would have the effect of a strategic warn- 

ing, thus placing an aggressor in the position of being open to retalia- 

tion by strategic weapons.” (Text) 

Two- to 12-day delivery time for letters between US. and Vietnam could 

be appreciably shortened with Satellite Mail ( S-Mail) system, National 

Environmental Satellite Center’s J. Gordon Vaeth suggested in letter to 

New Yorlc Times editor. S-Mail letters would be electronically scanned 

and converted to radio signals that would be sent by mid-Pacific comsat 

relay to Vietnam where they would be reconverted and reproduced on 

a recorder. (NYT, 3/5/67, E9) 

March 6: Distance between earth and moon had been calculated at 250,000 

mi with 20,500-mi variation by JPL scientis.ts Dr. J. Derral Mulholland 

and William L. Sjogren. New lunar values, which had an accuracy of 

less than 50 ft compared to previous discrepancy of one mile, were cal- 

culated from theoretical work by astronomer Dr. W. J. Eckert from 

spaceflight data; verified by ranging measurements of Lunar Orbiter I 

and ZI spacecraft; and used to revise a 50-yr table of lunar motion re- 

quired for plotting spacecraft trajectories, determining launch times, 

and scientific research. ( JPL Release 436) 

* Florida radio report that Apollo spacecraft 017 had so many manufactur- 

ing defects that NASA was returning it to North American Aviation, Inc.’s 

(NAA) Downey, Calif., plant was denied by NASA. HSC spokesman acknowledged 

that about 1,000 bcsquawks77 bad been found in spacecraft- 

40 of which would be corrected-but said that at the present time there 

was no indication it would be returned to NAA. Spacecraft was scheduled 

for unmanned suborbital flight in May. (W Star, 3/17/67, A4) 

NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh stressed at AIAA meeting 

in Baltimore the importance of space exploration as a contributor to 

peace: “. . . space activities can be a substitute for aggression, a bridge 

to understanding between the nations, and a major tool of arms control 

and disarmament. Once man accepts the challenge of exploring the great 

universe around us, he can more readily rise above the terrifying grip 

of parochial hatreds and fears. Space exploration helps satisfy man’s 

unquenchable thirst for knowledge-a basic characteristic which sets 

him apart from other creatures. Compared to the business of coercing and 

killing his own kind, the challenge posed by the prospect of crossing the 

established frontiers of the normal physical world is not only infinitely 

to be preferred, but its potential is limitless.” (Text) 

Advanced solid rocket motor capable of being fired or pulsed on command 

had been developed at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory 

63


(AFRPL) by Lockheed Propulsion Co. under two-year, $%million R&D 

program. Motor had been selected to power USAF’S short-range attack 

missile ( SRAM) . ( AFRPL Release) 

DC-8 Super 63, world’s largest commercial jet aircraft, was displayed by 

Douglas Aircraft Co. in Long Beach, Calif. Scheduled to fly withii 30 

days, aircraft had 187.4-ft-long fuselage, 1423.4-ft wingspan, 251-pas- 

senger seating capacity, and 4,600-mi range. (DAC Release 67-36) 

* Milwaukee Journal editorial on space law treaty signed Jan. 27: “What’s 

left unsaid in the new space treaty may be as important to world peace 

as what the treaty says. The treaty . . . prohibits stationing nuclear or 

other weapons of mass destruction in space . . . [but] makes no reference 

to use of spacecraft for military reconnaissance. 

GG 

Spy satellites already in orbit can detect activity on earth in unbelieving 

detail. Even more sophisticated satellites are (being developed. . . . 

Ground inspection, a barrier to nuclear control agreements, is therefore 

less important and airplane reconnaissance, which has strained Soviet- 

American relations, is unnecessary. . . . 

(6 

Reconnaissance satellites orbiting above may thus reduce the chance 

of war below.” (MI, 3/6/67,10) 

Washington Evening Star commented on Senate Committee on Aeronautical 

and Space Sciences’ open hearing Feb. 27 on the Apollo fire: “The 

nation’s space officials evidently have managed to keep their heads in 

the midst of the emotional chaos that followed the tragic accident at 

Cape Kennedy. They have resisted pressures from semi-informed sources 

condemning the pure oxygen environment that supported all Mercury 

and Gemini astronauts in space. And there is mounting evidence that 

the arbitrary 1970 goal for a manned lunar landing is no longer a major 

consideration in the space program . . . [and] that the space planners 

are determined that they will no longer be prompted to act because of 

any arbitrary timetable or out of a competitive desire to beat the Soviets 

to the moon, 

“This is as it should be. This nation should move outward into space 

with all deliberate speed. And right now, the emphasis should be heavy 

on that qualifying word.’’ (W Star, 3/6/67, All) 

* New York Univ. 5hool of Engineering and Science announced establishment 

of a new chair in aerospace science endowed by $500,000 grant 

from the Vineent Astor Foundation. Dr. Antonio Ferri, Director of New 

York Univ.’s Guggenheim Aerospace Laboratories, was named to the 

chair. (NYT, 3/7/67,29 j 

Australia might agree to operate first joint tracking station with U.S.S.R. 

in Western Australia if US. approved, Newsweek speculated. US. 

currently operated three stations in Australia, and two more were under 

construction; U.S.S.R. had to maintain contact with its satellites via 

picket ships in the Pacific. (Newsweek, 3/6/67,18) 

* 238,154 airmen certificates-a new annual record and a 32% increase 

over 1965 total-were issued by FAA in 1966. (FAA Release 67-18) 

March 6-7: Merits of nuclear rocket propulsion were discussed by William 

Hines in series of two articles in Washington Evening Star: “If Con- 

gress approves the [Nerva] project . . . the nation’s space horizons 

will be broadened considerably in the 1980’s. Manned flights to Mars 

and Venus and unmanned missions to even more distant planets could 

be a reality 15 years hence.” Although US. had not adopted a manned 

planetary landing program, Hines explained another advantage of a 

64

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 March 6-7 

nuclear racket-it could be used for continued exploration of the 

moon after first Apollo landings. “Using a non-nuclear Saturn 5, astro- 

nauts are restricted to landing areas in a narrow strip along the 

moon’s equator. A nuclear upper stage would permit a manned space- 

craft to land anywhere on the surface of the moon.” Other possible uses 

included manned flyby missions to Mars and Venus; unmanned flights 

of large payloads to Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury, or within a few 

million miles of sun; and manned orbital flights to Mars and Venus. 

(Hines, W Stur, 3/6/67,1; 3/7/67) 

&lurch 7: Secretary of State Dean Rusk, accompanied by US. Ambassador to 

the U.N. Arthur J. Goldberg, urged prompt Senate ratification of the 

space law treaty [see Dec. 8, 19661 at Senate Foreign Relations Commit- 

tee hearings: “In my view, the interests and security of the United States 

would be advanced by its ratification. . . . The conclusion of this 

Treaty, we feel, augurs well for the possibility of finding areas of 

common interest and agreement with the Soviet Union on other signifi- 

cant issues-especially in those fields in which there are genuine common 

interests affecting all mankind.” 

In response to charges by Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) that some of 

the provisions were too “vague and even fuzzy,” Ambassador Goldberg 

explained that Senate reservations were “unnecessary” because the 

treaty was ‘‘so crystal clear.” Reservations entered by the Senate, he 

warned, might invite other countries to also enter reservations and 

thus “impair the value of the treaty.” (Testimony; Finney, NYT, 

3/8/67,20) 

* Impact of Jan. 27 Apollo accident on Apollo program schedule was dis- 

cussed by NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. 

George E. Mueller, testifying before the House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics: “We will include in our schedules the time necessary 

to conduct a thorough program of reverification and requalification of 

changes . . . based on what we have learned from the AS-204 accident. 

. . . Our policy of full qualification prior to manned flight will remain 

unchanged. 

“I do believe we still have a reasonable possibility of meeting the 

major milestones for the Apollo program which were established in 1963. 

In particular, although the probability is lowered, I believe we will be 

able to land men on the moon and return them safely to earth before 

1970.” 

Asked about a manned lunar landing in 1968, NASA Administrator 

James E. Webb, who accompanied Dr. Mueller, replied that it was “not 

impossible, but almost impossible.” (Testimony; Transcript, 286) 

* Vesta rocket launched by France from Hammaguir Range carried macaque 

monkey Martine to 233-km (145-mi) altitude in experiment to measure 

effects of extreme altitude and weightlessness on reactions of the monkey, 

who had been trained to push a button in response to a red light, for 

possible application to problems of manned space flight. Monkey was 

successfully recovered when she landed by parachute 98 mi from launch 

site after 21-min flight and was reported to be in good health. (NYT, 

3/8/67,24; W Star, 3/7/67) 

Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman and six other Government 

officials visited MSFC. NASA Administrator James E. Webb had invited 

cabinet members and representatives of other agencies to visit NASA cen- 

ters to become more familiar with NASA activities. (MSFC Release 6745) 

65


U.S.S.R. would fly a prototype of her 1550-mph Tu-144, supersonic transport 

to the Paris International Air Show May 26, according to U.S. 

intelligence sources, UPI reported. If reports proved accurate, U.S.S.R. 

would become first country to fly a supersonic transport-about one 

year before scheduled flight of Anglo-French Concorde and several years 

before U.S. SST. (UPI, NYT, 3/7/67,69) 

0 Canadian government should establish a national space agency and develop 

an extensive space program to avoid losing its control over domestic 

communications to U.S., report to new Science Council of Canada by a 

four-man panel of scientists and engineers concluded. Report asserted 

satellite communications were best means of binding Canada’s five time 

zones and bringing advances to isolated northern communities. It advocated 

that Canada “make or buy” her own satellite launching facilities; 

centralize her fragmented space program for coordinated planning ; 

renegotiate cooperative agreement for sounding rocket launches with 

U.S. so that Canada could gradually assume complete control of project; 

and set up a nationwide comsat system within five years. (Walz, NYT, 

3/8/67,21) 

* United Aircraft Corp. vice president and chief scientist Perry W. Pratt 

received the American Society of Mechanica1.Engineers’ Gas Turbine 

Award for “his distinguished leadership and technical contributions in 

the development of aircraft turbojet and turbofan engines used widely 

throughout the world.” (United Release) 

March 8: NASA’s Os0 ZZZ (OSO E) Orbiting Solar Observatory was successfully 

launched from ETR with three-stage Thor-Delta booster to study 

the sun and its influence on earth‘s atmosphere. Orbital parameters: 

apogee, 354 mi (570 km) ; perigee, 336 mi (540 km) ; period, 96 min; 

and inclination, 33”. Third of eight spacecraft in NASA% oso program 

to provide direct observation of the sun, Os0 ZZZ weighed 627 lbs, carried 

nine experiments, and had two main sections: the wheel (lower) section 

provided stability by gyroscopic spinning and housed the telemetrycommand 

equipment, batteries, electronic controls, gas spin-control 

arms, and seven experiment packages; the sail (upper) section was 

oriented toward the sun and contained solar cells and two solar pointing 

experiments. 

Primary purpose of Os0 ZZZ was to obtain high-resolution spectral 

data in the range SA-1300A from pointed solar experiments during 

major portion of one solar rotation and adequate operational support 

of spacecraft subsystems to carry out acquisition of these scientific data. 

Spacecrafi’s experiments were designed to continue and extend work of 

Os0 Z (launched March 7, 1963) and Os0 IZ (launched Feb. 3, 1965) 

spacecraft by collecting data on solar x-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet 

radiation, and other solar activity. Project management officials at CSFC 

tested or turned on all nine experiments and reported that satellite spin 

rate, power level, charge rate, and temperatures were normal. Both 

tape recorders were operating. Last experiment, the high-voltage portion 

of GSFC’S x-ray spectrometer, was successfully turned on March 14. 

(NASA Proj Off; NASA Releases 67-32,67-52) 

* First contract for purchase from NASA of launch services for a foreign 

satellite was signed by NASA and ESRO in accordance with Dec. 30, 1966, 

Memorandum of Understanding on reimbursable launchings. Under contract, 

ESRO would purchase a Delta launch vehicle from NASA to launch 

its Heos-A interplanetary physics satellite from ETR in late 1968. The 

66


March 8: NASA’s Os0 I11 being prepared for spin balance tests before its successful launch 

into orbit to study the sun and solar influence on the earth‘s atmosphere. 

230-lb satellite, carrying eight experiments prepared by 10 scientific 

groups in six European countries, would be launched into 120,000-mi- 

altitude orbit to investigate interplanetary magnetic field and study 

solar- and cosmic-ray particles outside the magnetosphere. NASA would 

be reimbursed about $4 million. (NASA Release 67-48) 

NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket was launched from Churchill Re- 

search Range, Canada, and carried GSFC-instrumented payload to 141- 

mi (227-km) altitude to obtain data on charged particle fluxes and 

investigate distribution of electric fields in ionosphere during auroral 

displays. Rocket performance was satisfactory, but only partial data were 

received from electric field experiment. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 The House adopted H.R. 312 authorizing the Committee on Science and 

Astronautics, during the 90th Congress, to conduct studies, investigations, 

and inquiries on astronautical, aeronautical, and other scientific R&D. 

Rep. James 6. Fulton (R-Pa.) urged House to authorize an Inspector 

General in NASA to evaluate complaints and control launch operations. 

(NASA LAR VI/30) 


Homer E. Newell, accompanied by his deputy Edgar M. Cortright and 

OSSA Director of Space Applications Programs Leonard Jaffe, stressed 

67

March 8 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

importance of space science in testimony before the House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics. “The space research effort has been abun- 

dantly fruitful in answering first and second generation questions about 

our space environment, and in turning up a whole new generation of 

fundamental and important questions, and potentially fruitful practical 

applications. To answer these new questions, and to continue advancing 

in this important field, it is time to select new missions to replace old 

ones.” 

Past OSSA successes and proposed 196% program were outlined by 

Cortright: “During the past two years (1965 and 1966) 23 of the 28 

OSSA missions were successful, including 7 out of 8 deep space missions 

to the Moon and into interplanetary space. In addition, we successfully 

launched 6 out of 6 payloads for other organizations. Further, the Atlas 

Centaur development program was successfully completed and Centaur 

was used to launch Surveyors I and 11. The 1966 series of dramatic suc- 

cesses with second and third generation automated spacecraft demon- 

strated striking advances in the utility, durability, versatility, and ef- 

fectiveness of this equipment.” 

The 196% program-including Voyager, Mariner Mars ’71, Sunblazer, 

Nimbus (E and F) , ATS, and Voice Broadcast Satellit-had been care- 

fully planned to meet US.$ most urgent minimum future needs, Cort- 

right stressed. “. . . this is a critical year in the development of our 

Country’s program to explore space and to apply space technology to 

the benefit of man. . . . Those new missions which we have selected to 

pursue . . . constitute the most important of a long list of exciting 

opportunities for space exploration and practical application.” (Testi- 

mony; Transcript) 

March 8-9: First of five two-day symposiums for Federal supervisors on 

equal opportunity problems was held at ARC. Part of drive in San Fran- 

cisco area against minority discrimination within the Executive Branch 

of the Government, symposium was sponsored by ARC; Palo Alto VA 

Hospital: Menlo Park USGS; Moffett Field Naval Air Station; and Sun- 

nyvale Naval Plant Representative’s Office. (ARC Release 67-2) 

March 9: President Johnson told White House news conference he was “very 

hopeful” of landing men on the moon by 1970, but did not think “there 

is any guarantee that we will at all.” The President noted that a manned 

lunar landing was “a very difficult undertaking. I think it has been a very 

close question since the original target date was set.” (PD, 3/13/67, 

419) 

0 Australian government announced it would begin new search for NASA’s 

Biosatellite I, carrying more than 10 million tiny living organisms, be- 

lieved to have landed in western Australia Feb. 15. Initial search had 

been canceled by NASA, Feb. 22. (Reuters, C Trib, 3/10/67) 

* Report on spaceflight emergencies and spaceflight safety, released by 

House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA 

Oversight, made several specific recommendations: (1) NASA and USAF 

continue to devote intensive study effort to spaceflight safety and report 

periodically to the committee; (2) NASA and USAF establish joint work- 

ing-level committee to eliminate duplication of effort, assure com- 

patibility in equipment features, conduct joint accident reviews, and 

achieve a coordinated effort; (3) each agency establish a separate 

flight safety group to monitor system designs for specific missions to 

ensure close attention to the problem of flight safety; (4) development 

6%


of possible space rescue or escape capabilities be considered in the 

design and development of all future manned spacecraft; and (5) NASA 

prepare a long-range “plan for meeting future spaceflight emergen- 

cies”-including program identification and long-range funding re- 

quirements-by the end of 1967. (Text) 

NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology Dr. 

Mac 6. Adams outlined NASA% supporting role in SST development at 

hearings before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics: “In 

1965 NASA provided the FAA with the services of 50 technical people for 

six weeks for the evaluation of industry-proposed airframe and engine 

designs. During final evaluations last fall, 75 professionals were pro- 

vided for two months and two major facilities at Langley and Ames 

were operated 10 hours a day and 6 days a week during September. We 

are assisting FAA contractors by making available to them facilities such 

as wind tunnels and simulators and have helped solve specific problems 

growing out of detail design. The contractors used about 4100 hours of 

NASA wind tunnel time for each of the past two years.” 

NASA was carrying a major research responsibility as a member of 

a Federal team on the SST sonic boom program-including definition of 

sonic boom signatures and effects of sonic boom on structures, Dr. 

Adams said, and was also continuing its own study of materials suitable 

for SST structures. “In addition to supporting the FAA on the present 

SST, we are continuing our general research program aimed at an im- 

proved second-generation supersonic transport.” (Testimony) 

0 Development of a military base in space or on the moon would be the least 

expensive way to protect US. cities, Rep. William Jennings Bryan Dorn 

(D-S.C.) suggested in speech on the House floor. He said that the refine- 

ment of US. capabilities to destroy, on a moment’s notice, any poten- 

tial enemy anywhere in the world would be far superior to development 

of an antimissile missile system for the. protection of selected cities only. 

In addition, stations in space that could control the weather and cur- 

rent of the sea might well “deter a madman dictator” and a spacecraft 

capable of raining atomic warheads could ensure peace. (CR, 3/9/67, 

H2422-3) 

* Rep. Charles E. Goodell (R-N.Y.) introduced legislation to House authoriz- 

ing the President to “designate a day in January of each year as a day 

of remembrance” for Apollo Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. 

White 11, and Roger B. Chaffee, who died in Jan. 27 fire at KSC. (CR, 

3/9/67, H2460) 

WaLl Street Journal editorial challenged theory presented in RAND Corp.- 

Brookings Institution publication, Technology, Economic Growth and 

Public Policy, that massive Federal effort was necessary to supplement 

US. technology development “in nondefense areas, on projects that 

will add to the nation’s store of industrial technology and further spur 

economicgrowth. . . . 

“Improved technology is vital to the nation, and Federal help some- 

times is either desirable or unavoidable. But history indicates that the 

Government’s efforts usually should come, not as a matter of bureaucratic 

routine, but rather as a last resort.” ( WSJ, 3/9/67) 

March 9-13: Series of four NASA Nike-Apache sounding rockets launched 

from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station ( TERLS) carried 

India’s Physical Research Laboratory experiment to 114-mi (183-km) 

altitude to measure atmosphere winds above 62 mi (100 km) using 

69

March e13 


sodium vapor payload, and electron density using Langmuir probe. In 

two cases no wind data were collected due to nonejection of sodium 

vapor; Langmuir probe experiment performed satisfactorily. ( MSA Rpt 

March 10: Cosmos CXLVZ was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 310-km 

(193-mi) apogee, 190-km (118-mi) perigee, 89.2-min period, and 51.5” 

inclination. Fquipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Mar. 18. 

(Tech Wk, 3/20/67,13; GSFC SSR, 3/31/67) 

NASA had awarded Western Electric Co. a $1,453,000 contract for operation 

of ground services at KSC connected with Delta launch vehicle guidance 

system. (NASA Release 67-53) 

* Director of Laboratories (DOL) agency was established within AFSC Hq. 

“to provide policy and technical direction” to all phases of its eight 

laboratories’ programs and monitor their operations. ( AFSC Release 

50.67) 

March 11 : NASA officials dedicated at Corpus Christi, Tex., a 30-ft-dia dish 

antenna which would be used to receive signals from Apollo spacecraft. 

Operational responsibility for Corpus Christi tracking station, previously 

used for Gemini support, had been transferred from DOD to NASA in 1966. 

(UPI, NYT, 3/13/67,60) 

The Vatican had authorized the Roman Catholic apostolic delegate in U.K. 

to sign the International Treaty on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, AP 

reported. Unanimously approved by the U.N. General Assembly Dec. 8, 

1966, treaty was signed simultaneously by representatives of 62 nations 

Jan. 27 in Washington, D.C., London, and Moscow, and was kept open 

for additional signatures in those capitals. (AP, P Znq, 3/12/67) 

March 12: Apollo program was six months behind schedule because of Jan. 

27 accident, but time could be made up later, MSFC Director Dr. Wernher 

von Braun told Stuttgart, West Germany, audience. In Stuttgart to receive 

gold Boelsche medal for scientific achievement, Dr. von Braun said: “We 

have in no way lost our chance to fulfill the mission given to us: the 

landing of a man on the moon in this decade. I admit that the time has 

become tight. If further snags develop, this decade may run out . . . 

[but] we are firmly resolved not to take any undue risks.” (AP, B Sun, 

3/13/67; UPI, C Trib, 3/13/67) 

Technology gap was beginning to strain U.S.-European relations, Henry 

R. Lieberman wrote in the New York Times. Western Europeans, he 

said, expressed fear that “a widening gulf threatens to leave them 

further and further behind as the United States assumes command of 

the future by its grip on the ‘high technologies’-computers, micro- 

electronics, space, communications, nuclear energy, aircraft.” 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara had suggested that Euro- 

peans’ complaint “is that we are so surpassing them in industrial develop- 

ment that we will eventually create a technological imperialism.” 

Noting that Europeans’ frustration and resentment might cause in- 

creased nationalism, Lieberman cited recent warning by Vice President 

Humphrey: “Unless we are careful, our concept of the Atlantic partner- 

ship can be eroded by the fear and concern about the power of the 

American capital and technology.” (Lieberman, NYT, 3/12/67, 1) 

* U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXLVIZ into orbit with 317-km (197-mi) apo- 

gee, 198-km (123-4 perigee, 89.5-min period, and 65” inclination. 

Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Mar. 21 (UPI, NYT, 

3/14/67,3; GSFC SSR, 3/31/67) 

70


At the insistence of Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) , the Senate Foreign Rela- 

tions Committee agreed to qualify in its forthcoming report its inter- 

pretation of two clauses in the space law treaty [see March 71. One 

clause questioned said benefits of space exploration “shall be the 

province of all mankind”; the other said that each nation would be 

liable for damages to another caused by its space vehicles. Committee 

specified that (1) nothing would “diminish or alter the right of the 

United States to determine how it shares the benefits and results of its 

space activities”; and (2) damage “pertains only to physical, non-elec- 

tronic damage.” Senator Gore had suggested that if there were two com- 

peting US. and Soviet space communications networks, one nation might 

sue the other for damage from electronic interference of one system 

on the other. (W Post, 3/14/67, A7; Finney, NYT, 3/14/67, 20) 

NASA was negotiating nine-month, $275,000 contract with Planning Re- 

search Corp. to identify, analyze, and evaluate potential aconomic 

returns from possible space station activities in mid-1970’s. Earth- 

oriented application areas such as natural resources, meteorology, and 

communications would be considered as they might affect both the 

national and world economy. Univ. of Michigan would be major sub- 

contractor to Planning Research in technical feasibility of remote 

sensing. Contract would be managed by OMSF Advanced Manned Mis- 

sions Program. (NASA Release 6754) 

0 NASA had agreed to fly four DOD experiments on Apollo Applications 

( AA) missions to support USAF’S Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) , 

Aviation Week reported; more would be added. Experiments selected to 

date included: study of an inflatable elastic air lock; use of alternate 

restraints to determine standard workshop technique in weightlessness ; 

evaluation of suit donning and sleep stations; and integration of multi- 

purpose equipment maintenance. (NASA Proj Off; Av Wk, 3/13/67,18) 

9 Advanced Defense Satellite Communications Project (ADSCP) currently 

being revised by DOD was expected to reach capacity of 100-200 voice 

grade circuits, according to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, 

Aviation Week reported. In letter to Rep. Chet Holifield (D-Calif.) 

McNamara said that capacity expansion was being made in accordance 

with recommendations by House Government Operations Committee’s 

Subcommittee on Military Operations. (Committee Off.; Av Wk, 

3/13/67, 12) 

Technology Week editorial criticized Los Angeles Times editor Marvin 

Miles’ accusation that Jan. 27 Apollo accident was caused in large part 

by NASA’s shortsightedness and that NASA was trying to hide its negligence. 

“Mr. Miles discusses the hatch hazard and NASA’s failure to provide 

an explosive hatch and its failure to develop a fire suppression system. 

Then comes the ringing finale . . . ‘The nation should be told the whole 

truth.’ 

“It is our impression that the agency is trying valiantly to come up 

with just such information and we don’t understand the implication 

of a Cover-up.’’ 

Editorial noted that in the past NASA had often been criticized for 

being too stringent and that despite d precautions, “something some- 

where went wrong. . . . 

“We think the agency’s standard of conduct has been high. Its state- 

ment before Congress was a frank and honest appraisal of the fact that, 

despite very strong efforts, somehow it had failed to take the steps to 

324401 0 - 4 9 4 71


protect against the unlikely chain of circumstances that led to disaster.” 

(Coughlin, Tech Wk, 3/13/67,50) 

Dr. Marshall L. Rosenbluth, Univ. of California at San Diego, was selected 

to receive Princeton Univ. Institute for Advanced Study’s $5,000 Albert 

Einstein Award for 1967 for his ‘‘outstanding contributions in the area 

of plasma physics.” Selection of Dr. Rosenbluth, who helped develop the 

hydrogen bomb, was announced by Dr. Carl Kaysen, Director of the 

Institute. (AP, W Post, 3/14/67, A9) 

* Final report of New England Assembly on Nuclear Proliferation endorsed 

a nonproliferation treaty as “a modest but progressive stride toward 

nuclear control,” and urged that US. cancel Project Plowshare program 

of peaceful nuclear explosions, the Washington Post reported. Assembly 

concluded: “No present or immediate economic gains are apparent that 

are worth the political costs. We recommend that implementation of 

this program be stopped and not resumed unless its economic value is 

proven and suitable international controls agreed to.” (McElheny, W 

Post, 3/13/67, AS) 

March 14: Lunar Orbiter III photos of Surveyor I resting on the moonfirst 

pictures ever taken of an identifiable outline of a man-made object 

that had been landed on the moon-were released by NASA. Photos 

were taken Feb. 22 at 30-mi altitude from slant ranee ” of 82 mi. (Marshall 

Star, 3/31/67,2) 

NASA Aerobee 150A sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried 190-lb payload wi& AFCRL solar radiation experiment‘to 128-mi 

(206-km) altitude and impacted 60 mi downrange in the Atlantic. Protective 

nose cone was ejected during ascent, but payload did not separate 

from rocket. NASA later reported that desired results were not fully 

achieved because of partial failure in the spectrometer. 

Prime mission objective was simultaneom measurement of solar 

extreme ultraviolet radiation ( EUV) in upper atmosphere with Aerobee’s 

photoelectric spectrometer and similar instrument on NASA’s Os0 ZIZ 

Orbiting Solar Observatory, launched from ETR March 8. Data from two 

would be correlated to verify satisfactory operation of Os0 ZZZ’s instrument. 

Secondary experiment on Aerobee 150A involved measurements 

of ion and electron concentrations and changes in radiation along 

rocket’s trajectory. (NASA Release 67-56 ; WS Release 67-7) 

* President Johnson presented National Space Club’s 1967 Goddard Memorial 

Trophy to Rep. George P. Miller (%Calif.) , Chairman of House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics, in special White House ceremony. 

The Trophy, founded in 1958 to recognize outstanding national space 

leadership, was presented to President Johnson in 1966. (Off of Rep. 

Miller; CR, 3/9/67, H2N8-9) 

NASA-smithsonian Institution agreement providing for transfer of NASA’s 

historical artifacts to the Smithsonian for display in National Air and 

Space Museum became effective. Agreement also specified that Smithsonian 

would establish a Committee on NASA Artifacts, which would 

include the NASA Administrator or his designee, to make curatorial 

decisions on aeronautical and space artifacts “with regard to their significance, 

preservation, and ultimate disposition.” ( NMI 1052.85) 

* NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George 

E. Mueller, testifying before House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 

Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight, was asked about recent 

press reports that the Apollo program and the Apollo spacecraft had 

72


serious deficiencies. “I don’t recall the Apollo program in an overall 

sense as being in difficulty,” Mueller replied. “I sincerely believe that the 

basic Apollo spacecraft design is sound and that the reason we can 

accommodate the changes that we are anticipating within our budget 

is that the design is basically sound and the changes that are required 

are going to be relatively nominal.” Dr. Mueller denied reports that 

NASA was considering changing from North American Aviation, Inc., 

as prime Apollo spacecraft contractor. (Transcript, 32, 38) 

0 Dr. Mac C. Adams, NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Re- 

search and Technology, and his Deputy Dr. Alfred J. Eggers testified 

on NASA FY 1968 authorization bill before House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on Advanced Research and Tech- 

nology. U.S. space program was entering a period when NASA would 

. utilize existing capabilities, Dr. Adam said, and it was therefore par- 

ticularly important for OART to “emphasize new technology so that 

new systems will be available for the next major thrust in aeronautics 

and space.” He mentioned highlights of the program to develop new 

technology: (1) Nerva nuclear rocket engine; (2) experimental re- 

search related to hypersonic propulsion; (3) advanced cryogenic 

engine; (4) improved life-support systems; and (5) increased effort 

in electronics problems because “electronics systems may well be the 

limiting factor in our future exploration.” 

Dr. Eggers noted that R&D budget request in aeronautics for FY 1968 

nearly doubled that for 1967 and said the expansion reflected “rec- 

ognition of the rapidly growing importance of air transportation and 

the need for increased R&D to provide required advances in the asso- 

ciated technology. Aeronautics is already the order of a $24 billion a 

year industry and it is netting the nation better than $1 billion per 

annum in favorable balance of payments. Accordingly, our proposed 

major strengthening of aeronautics R&D will be to the great commer- 

cial as well as military benefit of the nation in the future.” (Transcript, 

8, 13; Testimony) 

Acting Under Secretary of Commerce Dr. J. Herbert Hollomon, in testi- 

mony before Senate Commerce Committee and Committee on Public 

Works’ Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution, recommended 

against direct Federal support of an electric car “at this time.” He urged 

instead a program to reward the “best designs of low-pollutant vehicles 

by basing Government purchase on performance competition. . . . If 

electric vehicles can compete successfully . . . a market could be made 

available on which production facilities and schedules could be 

based. . . .” (Testimony, 9, 11) 

March 14-15: AAS-NSC Fifth Goddard Memorial Symposium, “The Voyage 

to the Planets,” was held in Washington, D.C. 

Arthur 6. Clarke, author and past president of British Interplanetary 

Society, chided critics of space program expenditures because “ ‘there 

is so much to do on earth.’ . . . There was plenty to do in Europe when 

Columbus left-there’s still plenty to do there. But the opening up of 

the new world did more to revive the stagnant European culture and 

economy than an internal action could possibly have done. 

“. . . I welcome the so-called space race, despite the multiplication 

of cost and human effort that it involves. If we weren’t racing, we 

wouldn’t be moving quickly enough. . . .” (Text) 

Mariner spacecraft would be increasingly useful in returning scien- 

73

March 14-15 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

tific data from the planets, JPL Director Dr. William H. Pickering pre- 

dicted. He noted launch opportunities during 1970’s in which Mariner- 

type spacecraft could be flown to more than one planet in series of 

gravity-assist missions and said 1970-6 period offered several favor- 

able opportunities for closeup study of the comets by Mariner-type space- 

craft carrying up to 150 lbs of scientific instruments. (Text) 

GSFC Director Dr. John F. Clark, discussing possible first mission 

configuration for a Galactic Jupiter probe, said an initial flight could 

probably be launched during a 20-day launch window centered on first 

week of March 1972. Planetary encounter would occur between 17 and 

20 mos after launch. (Text) 

Sterilization of lander and surface laboratory constituted “the most 

difficult technological task” of NASA’s Voyager program to explore Mars 

and Venus with automated spacecraft during 1970’s, Edgar M. Cort- 

right, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and 

Applications, told the meeting. The most difficult scientific task M as 

developing an effective integrated set of biological experiments. (Text) 

Exploration of the planets would contribute to, not detract from, 

man’s ability to meet problems on earth, Dr. Charles Sheldon 11, Library 

of Congress, suggested. “Also one has the right to hope that even if 

elements of past history repeat in new forms, mankind with a shrinking 

world and shrinking solar system, and with a greater awareness of his 

place within the scheme of things will divert his restless energies and 

struggles to overcoming the space frontiers rather than wasting his 

talents and his treasures in fratricidal war. . . .” (Text) 

US. had achieved world leadership in the technology of space explora- 

tion, but that leadership was relative and by no means conclusive, Rep. 

George P. Miller (D-Calif.) asserted. “The challenge is no less great 

now than it was in 1957 when Sputnik I jolted us out of the narcosis of 

complacency. To our peril, we cannot allow the transient pressures and 

strains of American life to vitiate our determination to maintain that 

leadership. At the same time we cannot ignore or overlook any oppor- 

tunity to reach a rapport and an understanding with Russia that will 

be of material assistance in making the exploration of space for peace- 

ful purposes truly a monumental achievement of all mankind.” (Text) 

March 15: NASA and West Germany’s Federal Ministry for Scientific Re- 

search (BMWF) signed Memorandum of Understanding for study of 

electric fields in the upper atmosphere. NASA would furnish five Nike- 

Apache sounding rockets for launch from ESRO facilities at Kiruna, 

Sweden, beginning in April. Rockets would release barium clouds, 

particularly in the auroras, to be observed from the ground. BMWF 

would provide chemical payloads and ground observation equipment 

and would conduct launchings in cooperation with ESRO and Swedish 

Space Research Committee (SSRC) 

. Both NASA and BMWF would bear cost 

of their respective responsibilities. Results would be made available to 

world scientific community. (NASA Release 67-57) 

0 NASA and USAF announced agreement to transfer overall management of 

XB-70 supersonic aircraft research program to NASA Flight Research 

Center-effective March 25-and to utilize XB-70 “at a reduced rate.” 

Under new arrangement, which updated May 1965 agreement, XB-70 

research program would continue as joint NASA-USAF effort, with AFFTC 

mission support and DOD pilot participation, aircraft support, and research 

and test projects. Next flight of XB-70, which had been under- 

74

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 196’7 March 15 

going maintenance, modification, and installation of additional 

instrumentation since Jan. 31 in preparation for new program, was 

scheduled for late March or early April. (NASA Release 67-59; FRC 

Release 5-67) 

* Changes in NASA staff alignment: Harold B. Finger, Manager of NASA- 

AEC Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) since its formation in 

1960, was named to new NASA position of Associate Administrator for 

Organization and Management. He was succeeded in SNPO by his deputy, 

Milton Klein. Reporting to Associate Administrator Finger would be 

Assistant Administrator for Administration William E. Lilly ; Assistant 

Administrator for Industry Affairs Dr. Bernhardt L. Dorman ; Assistant 

Administrator for Technology Utilization Dr. Richard L. Lesher ; and 

former LaRC Assistant Director Francis B. Smith in new post of Assistant 

Administrator for University Affairs. University Affairs Office would 

integrate, coordinate, and guide NASA’s relationships with colleges and 

universities; manage the Sustaining University Program; and assume 

other duties previously assigned to OSSA’S Office of Grants and Research 

Contracts. Dr. Thomas L. K. Smull, formerly Director of Grants and 

Research Contracts, was appointed Special Assistant to the Adminis- 

trator on NASA-NAS and NASA-NAE relationships. 

Other changes: DeMarquis D. Wyatt became Assistant Administrator 

for Program Plans and Analysis and David Williamson was appointed as 

his deputy. Budget and programming functions previously under Wyatt 

were transferred to the Office of Administration, where they would be 

integrated into a NASA-wide system for resources management, including 

programming, budgeting, personnel management, and financial report- 

ing. Breene M. Kerr, Assistant Administrator for Policy Analysis, re- 

signed to return to private industry but would continue to serve as 

part-time consultant to NASA; Gen. Jacob M. Smart (USAF, Ret.) suc- 

ceeded Kerr in addition to continuing to serve as Special Assistant to the 

Administrator; William E. Lilly, Director of Program Control, OMSF, 

became Assistant Administrator for Administration, replacing General 

Smart; and John Biggs, Deputy Executive Secretary, became Executive 

Secretary, replacing Col. L. W. Vogel (USA), who returned to his previous 

assignment as Executive Officer. (NASA Releases 6747, 6749, 67-50) 


Homer E. Newell, testifying before House Committee on Science and 

Astronautics’ Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, said the 

scientific community saw a need to develop a spacecraft to make meas- 

urements at low altitudes-about 80 mi-to investigate transition be- 

tween the meteorology of the lower atmosphere and the aeronomy of 

the upper. In the lower atmosphere the constituents are thoroughly 

mixed; in the upper, they tend to separate by gravity with the heaviest 

below and the lightest above. “The importance of this transition region 

has been revealed by the [sounding] rocket program, but only satellites 

can provide the global measurements needed to establish the lower 

boundary conditions for the upper atmosphere as a whole,” Newell 

said. “Such a mission would require the development of a spacecraft 

with a restartable engine in order to achieve an adequate lifetime.” 

(Testimony) 

a Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.Mex.), on behalf of himself and Sen. 

Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.) , introduced to Senate new $S.l-billion 

FY 1968 NASA authorization bill (S. 1296) to reflect President Johnson’s 

75


Feb. 28 request for funds to develop nuclear rocket technology. Original 

NASA authorization bill for $5.05 billion (S. 781) had been introduced 

Jan. 31. (CR, 3/15/67, S3781) 

Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey told the National Space Club’s 1967 

Goddard Memorial Dinner that US. space program would continue to 

move forward despite the Jan. 27 Apollo tragedy. “On behalf of 

President Johnson, I assure you . . . that we have not lost heart-that 

we will not falter-that we shall move forward with renewed deter- 

mination in our exploration of space.” The Vice President said the 

first obligation was to “come as close as humanly possible to deter- 

mining the cause of the Apollo 204. accident, so that we can make sure 

it will never happen again.” He said he was impressed with the “tough- 

minded way the Review Board is going about its work.” (Text; AP, 

NYT, 3/3/67,31) 

0 Milton B. Ames, Jr., Director of Space Vehicles, and Dr. Walton L. Jones, 

Director of Biotechnology and Human Research Div., NASA O5ce of 

Advance Research and Technology, testified before House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on Advanced Research and 

Technology. Ames said land recovery of manned spacecraft was one of 

OART’S major objectives; NASA had enlarged research plans sub- 

stantially to acquire “without delay” the detailed technology neces- 

sary to “permit the confident application of steerable flexible-winged 

parachutes to the recovery of manned spacecraft.” Earliest major poten- 

tial application would probably be to Apollo, to provide for land re- 

covery in post-lunar-lading period of the early 1970’s. “Such a capabil- 

ity would greatly extend the operational flexibility and utility of the 

Apollo system and . . . contribute to the feasibility of refurbishment 

and reuse.” 

Dr. Jones said increased possibility of aspiration of particulate matter 

had been identified by NRC Space Science Board as a potentially serious 

effect of prolonged weightlessness. “In zero gravity conditions, dust parti- 

cles do not settle out. This could lead to deposits in the respiratory tract 

which could have important implications in the production of pulmonary 

disease.” Jones said a new instrument to measure and record the number 

and size of dust particles in a spacecraft was scheduled for an Apollo 

flight. (Testimony) 

* Satellite reconnaissance alone justified spending 10 times what US. had 

already spent on its space program, President Johnson told a group of 

Southern educators and Government officials in Nashville. Because of 

this reconnaissance “I know how many missiles the enemy has.” Before 

making his remarks on space, Mr. Johnson said he did not wish to be 

quoted on ,that section of his talk, but more than 100 persons not bound 

by press rules heard the statements. (Clark, NYT, 3/17/67,13; Loory, 

W Post, 3/18/67) 

NASA had successfully completed series of ground tests to qualify im- 

proved graphite nozzle insert in FW4S solid rocket motor which had 

malfunctioned during launch of Scout booster in January. Malfunction 

had caused postponement of Feb. 15 launch of ComSatCorp’s Intelsat 

114, because FW4 was 3rd stage of its booster, Thrust-Augmented 

Improved Delta. (NASA Release 67-60) 

* MSC had awarded Bell Aerosystems Co. a nine-month, $5.9-miUion fixed- 

price contract to provide three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles ( LLTV) 

for astronauts to practice simulated lunar landings. Capable of simulat- 

76


March 15 

ing % gravity environment of the moon, LLTV would be towed to about 

4,000-ft altitude and released; pilot could damp out 5/6 of gravity force 

on vehicle using jet engines; remaining % gravity would be supported 

by rocket motors simulating lunar landing conditions. (NASA Release 

67-58) 

* An electric rocket engine capable of operating off low solar cell voltage, 

which could be used for satellite station-keeping or attitude control, 

had been successfully tested for more than 400 hrs at LRC. (LRC Release 

67-11) 

US. should move its technology beyond the “building blocks” to break out 

of the “mental straitjacket which is confining the Nation to a stalemate 

of defeatism,” recommended a policy statement adopted by Air Force 

Assn., at meeting in San Francisco. Asserting that U.S.S.R. was “far 

ahead” of US. in a critical area of nuclear knowledge, AFA called for 

a “swseping re-examination of national strategy” to assess the impact of 

technology “on the world balance of power.” In a specific raolution, 

AFA urged a full-scale US. SST program, claiming that U.S.S.R. had 

been secretly flying a supersonic aircraft prototype for “more than one 

year.” (Davis, NYT, 3/16/67,10; W Post, 3/17/67, A4) 

Dr. Harold Agnew, Weapons Div. Leader at AEC’S Los Alamos Scientific 

Laboratory, said US. reluctance to deploy an antiballistic missile 

system reflected a new balance-of-power concept which was characterized 

by weapons judged on their contributions to world stability rather than 

their superiority. This philosophy was dangerous because it stifled 

innovation and placed the Nation continually on the defensive. “Whether 

we use our full technological advantage should be determined solely on 

whether it is to our advantage politically, militarily and economically 

as far as our adversary is concerned. I believe it has been a mistake to 

allow the fleeting opinions of every nation that has a vote in the U.N. to 

influence materially our actions. The inhibition of the use of our full 

technological advantage has hurt our technological future as well as 

prolonging whatever confrontation is at hand. The basis of advanced 

technology is innovation, and nothing is more stifling to innovation than 

seeing one’s product not used or ruled out of consideration on flimsy 

premises involving public or world opinion. . . .” (Av Wk, 3/27/67, 

11) 

* The possibility of using communications satellites to help expedite bordercrossing 

formalities on international flights was considered by Air 

Transport Assn.’s Facilitation Committee meeting in Fonce, Fuerto Rim. 

It was suggested that computers, working with numerical codes and 

aided by comsats, could file necessary papers on an aircraft’s cargo and 

passengers from point of departure, thereby facilitating clearances on 

arrival in the US. (NYT, 3/15/67,78M) 

March 26: Cosmos CXLVZIZ was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. Orbital 

parameters: apogee, 436 km (271 mi) ; perigee, 275 km (171 mi) ; 

period, 91.3 min; and inclination, 71O. Equipment performed satisfactorily. 

Satellite reentered May 7. (Sehlstedt, B Sun, 3/28/67; GSFC 

SSR, 5/15/67) 

* Cosmos CXLZY satellite, which began transmitting meteorological data to 

Washington, D.C., March 2, was equipped with an infrared camera for 

night photography of clouds and ice fields and two television cameras 

for daylight photography of weather patterns, lzvestia reported. 

Launched Feb. 28, satellite was powered by two wing-like solar batteries 

77


that turned automatically to trap solar rays. (Reuters, NYT, 3/17/67, 

13) 

NASA ‘Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried 96-lb payload with joint US.-India ionosphere experiment 

to #-mi (142-km) altitude before impacting 100 mi downrange in the 

Atlantic. Purpose of flight was to prove out instrumentation and test 

new antenna design. Experiment, which measured electron and ion den- 

sities and Lyman-alpha flux in lower ionosphere with a riometer-cosmic 

radio noise absorption device-and a Langmuir probe, was being de- 

veloped for series of cooperative NASA-INCOSPAR launches from Thumba 

range, India. (NASA Release 67-61; WS Release 67-8) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried NRL- 

instrumented payload to 120-mi (193-km) to obtain spectra from a 

stellar ultraviolet image converter spectrograph and stellar photometric 

data from two ultraviolet photon counters. Rocket and instrumentation 

performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* 110 scientists from US. and six other countries were selected by NASA 

Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. Homer 

E. Newell-upon recommendation of Space Science Steering Commit- 

tee-to conduct experiments with first lunar samples returned by US. 

Apollo astronauts. Principal US. investigators represented 21 univer- 

sities, two industrial firms, three private institutions, and 10 Government 

laboratories. Nine scientific institutions were represented in U.K. ; 

three in West Germany; and one each in Canada, Japan, Finland, and 

Switzerland. Most investigations would be conducted in scientists’ own 

laboratories, but time-critical experiments would be carried out in 

MSC’S Lunar Receiving Laboratory during quarantine period-antici- 

pated to last 30 days. Plans called for a total of 122 experiments on 

approximately 50 lbs of lunar material to study composition of lunar 

surface and search for evidence of its origin. Four major investiga- 

tive areas were: (1) mineralogy and petrology; (2) chemical and 

isotope analysis; (3) physical properties; and (4) biochemical and 

organic analysis. (NASA Release 67-55) 

* Francis J. Sullivan and Dr. Hermann H. Kurzweg of NASA Office of Ad- 

vanced Research and Technology testified before House Committee on 


Technology. Sullivan, Director of Electronics and Control Div., said that 

the development of technology for high-resolution, 60- to 120-in space 

telescopes for optical astronomy, communications, and other potential 

applications was a major OART effort. “Success in this research will 

provide the capability to study celestial objects which cannot be viewed 

from the ground because of atmospheric attenuation and will provide 

vastly improved resolution over that attainable through the earth‘s 

atmosphere.” 

Sullivan said because environmental, structural, and control problems 

of large mirrors in space were almost insurmountable with conventional 

fabrication and alignment, unique approaches were being studied. One 

was 24-in-dia, three-segment mirror feasibility model in which distortion 

sensor, located in front of primary mirror, determined which segments 

were out of alignment and to what degree. Electronic circuitry then proc- 

essed and used the alignment data to realign mirror surface segments 

with actuators located behind each segment. 

Dr. Kurzweg, Director of Research, said the JPL had developed a 

new mathematical approach for calculating energy requirements for 

78


Mars vehicles which provided, for the first time, a complete day-by-day 

listing of the energies necessary for a round trip. Calculations had 

been completed for launching during the entire 1970-80 decade. “The 

calculated trajectories went from a circular parking orbit about the 

Earth to the vicinity of Mars, into a circular parking orbit about 

Mars for a stay time of 7 days, out of the circular parking orbit about 

Mars to the vicinity of the Earth, and into a circular parking orbit 

about the Earth. It was assumed that the one-way flight times for 

both the departure and return trajectories are the same.” Dr. Kurzweg 

said information was very important for “fast trade-off calculations 

. .” (Testimony) 

for future advanced Mars missions. 

0 The J-2 liquid rocket engine was restarted twice in simulated altitude 

tests conducted by MSFC at AEDC. Shut down after an initial 30 sec burn, 

the engine was restarted and run for 5 sec, then started and stopped 

again. Total burn time was 70 sec. (Tech Wk, 3/27/67, 24) 

* Thiokol Chemical Corp. presented to Smithsonian Institution’s National 

Air and Space Museum historic liquid-propellant rocket engines made 

during World War 11. Gifts included primitive rocket test stand known 

as ARS Test Stand No. 2, used by members of original American Rocket 

Society (now AIAA) , on Dec. 10, 1938, to test first US. successful, fully 

regeneratively cooled rocket engine. Other Thiokol gifts included World 

War I1 liquid-propellant jet assist takeoff (JATO) units for aircraft, 

and engines for Lark surface-to-air missile, USAF MX-774 missile, and 

Viking research rocket. (Smithsonian Institution Release) 

Vice President and Mrs. Humphrey, accompanied by NASC Executive Sec- 

retary Dr. Edward C. Welsh, would visit MSFC and US. Army Missile 

Command (AMC) at Redstone Arsenal March 22-23, MSFC and AMC 

announced. Trip was later postponed because Mr. Humphrey felt he 

should remain in Washington, D.C., to greet President Johnson on his 

return from a Pacific trip. ( MFSC Release; Marshall Star, 3/22/67,1) 

* Request for stricter controls to prevent “instrument abuse” at KSC was 

made by R. L. Wilkiison, chief of Measurement Systems Div. at KSC, 

in memorandum to NASA employees and contractor officials. An increas- 

ing number of instruments were requiring repairs because of tamperbC 

ing, simple carelessness,” and apparent thievery, Wilkinson noted. He 

said he had instructed technicians in his instrument calibration shop to 

report all “cases of obvious instrument abuse or missing rechargeable 

batteries”; reports would be “reviewed and forwarded. through appro- 

priate management channels for corrective action.” (Hines, W Star, 

3/27/67, AI, AB) 

March 17: Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra, Australia- 

newest member of NASA’s 16-station network to support manned Apob 

missions-was dedicated in ceremonies attended by Australian Prime 

Minister Henry E. Holt, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Sea- 

mans, Jr., and Edmond C. Buckley, NASA Associate Administrator for 

Tracking and Data Acquisition. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey 

cabled congratulations to Prime Minister Holt : “The establishment of 

this tracking station is another link in the long chain of cooperative 

efforts in space between . . . Australia and the United States. 

“In its support of the Apollo program, this new station will play 

a vital role in communications with our astronauts in preparation for 

their landing on the Moon and return to Earth. . . .” (NASA Release 

6745) 

79


* President Johnson, in letter transmitting ComSatCorp’s 1966 Annual Re- 

port to Congress, said: “Accomplishments of the past year under the 

Communications Satellite Act of 1962 have brought mankind to the 

threshold of a full-time gldbal communications service to which all 

nations of the world may have equal access, from which all nations of 

the world may derive their share of the benefits. 

“Our Space Technology is opening new doorways to World Peace. 

Within the grasp of the world’s peoples is the potential for completely 

new, heretofore unimagined ways of peaceful cooperation for expand- 

ing world trade, for enhancing educational opportunities, for uplifting 

the spirit and enriching the lives of people everywhere. . . .” (PD, 

3/20/67, 494) 

* US. officials reported that Cosmos CXLVI, launched March 10, had split 

into three parts: two were spacecraft and one was final stage of launch 

vehicle, Evert Clark said in New York Times. Exact date of separation 

was not known. Some officials speculated that flight might have been in 

preparation for a manned flight on April 12-sixth anniversary of first 

manned space flight, by Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. (Clark, NYT, 

3/18/67, 11) 

* Three Athena missiles were successfuly launched_ within 4% hrs from 

Green Ever, Utah, to WSMR target area as part of continuing USAF 

study of missile atmospheric reentry. (AP, NYT, 3/19/67,57; Tech Wk, 

3/27/67, 28) 

NASA Javelin sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research Range 

carried a Rice UnivAnstrumented payload to 493-mi (794-km) to deter- 

mine spatial and temporal variations and transit times of auroral par- 

ticle fluxes and perform pitch angle studies including backscattered 

particles. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA 

Rpt. SRL) 

* U.S.S.R. Molniyu 1-2 comsat, launched Oct. 14, 1965, reentered. (GSFC 

SSR, 3/31/67; W Post, 4/4/67) 

Paper model of “possible lifting re-entry vehicle design” had flown at 

17 times the speed of sound and withstood 4,000” F temperature and 

pressure equal to 177,000-ft altitude in test to check out recently repaired 

wind tunnel at LTV Aerospace Gorp. in Dallas. Designed by LTV scien- 

tist Charles J. Stalmach, model emerged after X-sec test with only the 

nose and leading wing edges slightly blackened. (UPI, NYT, 3/17/67) 

President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee’s ( PSAC) report, The 

Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period [see Feb. 111, was criticized 

by DT. Philip H. Abelson in Science. Report did not fully discus the 

comparative value of space and nonspace activities and “quickly ducked” 

the difficult problem of priorities, Dr. Ab.elson said. Nowhere was there 

an evaluation of the chances of finding extraterrestrial life. “Another 

deficiency is the lack of a full discussion of the role of man in deep space 

exploration. To date, manned missions have contributed little scientifi- 

cally. The unmanned missions have had a cost effectiveness for scientific 

achievement perhaps 100 times that of the manned flights. Nevertheless, 

the report implicitly calls for a major role for man in the post Apollo 

program. . . .” (Abelson, Science, 3/17/67) 

Murch 19: Dr. Rem Khokhlov, Univ. of Moscow, predicted at Symposium of 

Modern Optics in New York that within one year “or a little more” com- 

bined Soviet and US. techniques could make it possible to tune laser 

light to any wavelength from shortest wavelengths of ultraviolet across 

80

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 March 19 

entire spectrum of visible and infrared light to the radio wavekngths 

used for radar. He described recent Soviet developments in the field and 

noted that US. and U.S.S.R. research was proceeding along parallel 

lines: both used certain crystals to alter wavelengths of light produced 

by a laser. Dr. Khokhlov believed tunable laser beam could be used in 

photochemistry to produce new materials and drugs and would have 

broad applications in basic physics. (Sullivan, NYT, 3/20/67,33) 

Murch 20: NASA would use AS204 booster-an Uprated Saturn I-to launch 

first Apollo Lunar Module (LM) on unmanned flight in summer 1967 

because it was last booster equipped with full research and development 

instrumentation. Original plans had been to use AS-206 booster. Un- 

damaged during Jan. 27 fire, AS2M launch vehicle would be moved 

from Launch Complex 34 to Launch Complex 37, which was equipped for 

unmanned launches of the LM. AS-206 booster would be stored for use 

in a subsequent mission. Purpose of first LM mission was to obtain data 

on ascent and descent propulsion systems, including a restart of the 

descent system; verify LM structure; and evaluate staging. (NASA 

Release 67-67) 

NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. 

Mueller, in testimony before House Committee on Science and Astro- 

nautics’ Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight, presented profile of 

a typical manned Mars mission. “We would launch as we approach the 

target planet, a series of [unmanned] probes, one would be an orbiter, 

another would be a Mars surface sample return probe. 

“There would also be some Lander probes which would provide us 

with information about the atmosphere and the surface on a continuing 

basis. All of this would be done in a matter of a few days while one 

was in the vicinity of the planet. 

“We would also be carrying out observations of the local environ- 

ment and conducting an extensive solar observation program and a 

planetary observation program from various vantage points one attains 

from an orbit that is far removed from earth.” Asked about the alterna- 

tive of launching an instrumented spacecraft into a long elliptical orbit 

with two focal points-the earth and Mars-and manning it from earth, 

Dr. Mueller replied: “The major problem associated with that is that we 

are talking about a . . . telescope at least forty inches in diameter. It 

is a quite difficult task and we are reaching a level of complexity when 

man becomes an essential part of the system. . . .” (Transcript, 180-1) 

In the year 2000, space satellites would be identifying soil, assessing crop 

yield, and determining the extent of disease, drought, or insects, Secre- 

tary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman predicted at National Assn. 

of Science Teachers’ convention in Detroit. “While the farmers of 

tomorrow study reports in their air-conditioned offices, relieved at 

last of the physical drudgery and occupational anxiety so traditionally 

theirs . . . these shining space satellites, equipped with the most sophis- 

ticated remote sensing instruments will be supplying the information 

needed to make key decisions. 

“Through information gathered by the satellites, the Government will 

be able to make accurate predictions to guide marketing and distribution 

of farm products to avoid waste and local shortages and surpluses.” 

(Text; AP, NYT, 3/21/67,34) 

MSFC awarded Bendix COT. $7.4 million cost-plus-award-fee contract for 

development and production of Apollo Telescope Mount ( ATM) pointing 

81


control system (PCS) . Bendix was scheduled to produce three units by 

August. ATM system would permit Apollo astronauts to point a telescope 

to selected regions of the sun during period of maximum solar flare 

activities beginning in late 1968. MSFC had awarded American Optical 

Co. $740,460 contract to build a dynamic simulator for use in develop- 

ing the PCS. ( MSFC Releases 67-54,67-58; NASA Release 67-66) 

0 Tokyo Univ.’s Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science would receive 

$11 million of Japan’s $17.5-million space budget for FY 1967 (April 

1967-March 1968), Technology Week reported. The Institute would 

launch 33 vehicles, including a 150-lb scientific satellite; a Mu 4s 

rocket; and three Lambda 4s vehicles. Remaining funds would go to the 

Transport Ministry, Meteorological Agency, and Ministry of Posts and 

Telecommunications. (Tech Wk, 3/20/67, 13) 

March 21 : U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXLIX into orbit with 297-km (185- 

mi) apogee, 248-km (154-mi) perigee, 89.8-min period, and 48.4’ 

inclination. Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered April 7. 

(Tech Wk, 3/27/67,28; GSFC SSR, 4/15/67) 

Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and 

Applications, defended the Mariner/Mars 1971 mission in testimony 

before House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on 

Space Science and Applications. Responding to criticism by Committee 

Chairman Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) that information from the 

mission would arrive too late to contribute to the design of the 1973 

Voyager spacecraft, Dr. Newell said: “. . . it is very important to 

recognize . . . that there are three areas of design involved. One is the 

hardware design. Two is software design, and three is design of the 

scientific mission. . . . The Mars 71 probe wil be fully in time for us to 

use in the software design, in other words, setting the profile of the 

mission to get the spacecraft into the atmosphere and onto the surface, 

and will be fully involved in continuing design of the scientific experi- 

ments and observations. . . .,, (Transcript, 433-5) 

NASA-Cal Tech cost-plus-fixed-fee contract providing for operation of JPL 

had been extended for two years through Dec. 31, 1968, without major 

change. Since October 1958, Cal Tech had staffed and operated JPL; 

NASA owned the property, facilities, and equipment. (NASA Release 67-68) 

0 Soviet Vostok spacecraft were equipped with quick-opening explosive 

hatches and jet-propelled ejection seats-equipment might have saved 

US. Apollo astronauts Jan. 27, Cosmonaut Valentina Nikolayeva- 

Tereshkova said in Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika. (UPI, NYT, 3/23/67) 

0 ComSatCorp’s annual report to its shareholders summarized accomplish- 

ments of 1966: “Satellite service brought a new era of communications 

to the Pacific area. Live transpacific television and other traffic was 

transmitted by the first of the INTELSAT 11 series of satellites even 

though the satellite did not achieve synchronous orbit as intended. A 

second INTELSAT 11 satellite was successfully emplaced in synchronous 

orbit and began regular, 24-hour commercial service over the Pacific, 

handling telephone, teletype, data, facsimile and television. . . .” 

Report also revealed that Intelsat’s Interim Committee had selected 

synchronous orbit configuration for basic global system, substantially 

reducing the number of satellites necessary for global coverage and the 

complexity of earth stations. Selection was made “after high-quality 

capability of synchronous satellites was established by the performance 

of Early Bird.” (Text) 

82


* 50-lb. radio backpack that could fix a soldier’s position precisely by 

signals from a satellite had been developed by Johns Hopkins’ Applied 

Physics Laboratory under sponsorship of USN Air Systems Command. 

Backpack would represent first dry land application of USN navigation 

satellites to military problems. In most cases, packs would be used in 

pairs : a forward fire controller would receive satellite signal and relay it 

to another soldier equipped with a backpack at an artillery base who 

also would have read satellite signal. Two readings would be transmitted 

to computer which would instantly tell each man his precise position. 

Navy sources predicted mass production models of backpack, 

working with existing satellites, could be in combat use in Vietnam soon. 

(Clark, NYT, 3/22/67,16) 

March 22: NASA launched ComSatCorp’s Intelsat II-C (nicknamed “Atlantic 

ZI”) comsat from ETR by three-stage Thrust-Augmented Improved 

Delta booster into elliptical transfer orbit in preparation for geostationary 

orbit. Transfer orbit had 22,115-mi (37,200-km) apogee, 183-mi 

294-km) perigee, 660.56-min period, and 27O inclination. On March 

25, ComSatCorp fired apogee motor transferring satellite into geostationary 

orbit over the Atlantic. 

Scheduled to enter commercial service April 6, Intelsat IZ-C would 

join Early Bird I, world’s first commercial comsat, in providing service 

across the Atlantic and in fulfilling Project Apollo communications 

requirements. It was third satellite in ComSatCorp’s Intelsat I1 program 

to place two comsats in synchronous orbit-one over the Pacific, one 

over the Atlantic. First satellitelntelsat II-A-was launched by NASA 

Oct. 27, 1966, but failed to achieve synchronous orbit because apogee 

motor malfunctioned; second-Intehat IZ-B was launched, Jan. 11, 

achieved synchronous orbit over the Pacific, and entered commercial 

service Jan. 27. Intelsat I1 comsats, larger and improved versions of 

Early Bird I (Intelsat I) satellite, were capable of handling television 

and data transmissions of up to 240 voice channels. (ComSatCorp PIO; 

ComSatCorp Release) 

* Cosmos CL was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 373-km 


inclination. Equipment performed satisfactorily. Satellite reentered Mar. 

30. (AP, NYT, 3/24/67; GSFC SSR, 3/31/67) 

* NASA Aerobee 150A sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried AFCRL solar radiation experiment to 142-mi (229-km) altitude 

in test to complement March 14 mission which was not entirely successful. 

Primary objective was simultaneous measurement of solar extreme 

ultraviolet radiation ( EUV) in upper atmosphere with Aerobee’s photoelectric 

spectrometer and similar instrument on NASA’s Os0 ZZI Orbiting 

Solar Observatory, launched March 8. (WS Release 67-11) 

* Maj. Michael J. Adams (USAF) flew X-15 No. 1 to 3,818 mph (mach 5.68) 

and 135,OOO-ft altitude during nine-min flight at Edwards AFB to: (1) 

provide pilot experience at high altitudes; (2) record stabilizer flow 

angle of attack; (3) test electrical loads; (4) check out 3rd landing 

skid; (4) check out pressure attitude indicator; (5) record data from 

X-15 sonic boom; and (6) check out ablative coatings on stabilizer. 

(NASA X-15 Proj Off) 

An electrical arc caused by a break in insulation on a wire was “the most 

probable cause” of the Jan. 31 flash fire at Brooks AFB in which two 

airmen died, USAF investigative board concluded. Board said an elec- 

83


trical cord powering a work lamp outside oxygen-filled pressure chamber 

apparently developed a break in its plastic insulation, allowing wire to 

create an electrical arc against the aluminum floor. (AP, NYT, 3/23/67, 

31 ) 

* Noise problems arising from commercial jet aircraft operations, and the 

Government’s attack on these problems were described by OST Director 

Dr. Donald F. Hornig in appearance before House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Advanced Research and Technology Subcommittee 

[see Feb. 11. He stated: “At the request of the Chairman of the Presi- 

dent’s Advisory Committee on Supersonic Transport, Secretary Mc- 

Namara, I assumed responsibility for defining and directing an inter- 

agency sonic boom program. Its goal is to determine the potential sources 

of difficulty or additional costs associated with commercial operation 

of supersonic transports.” OST, said Hornig, had framed “action pro- 

gram” with FAA, NASA, and Depts. of Commerce and of Housing and 

Urban Development-responding to President Johnson’s Transportation 

Message of Mar. 2, 1966. He added: “. . . NASA’s aeronautics research 

program in the sonic boom problem areas is both broadly conceived 

and well defined to provide technical support to the FAA and to the 

aerospace industry in the national SST Development Program.” (Text) 


Homer E. Newel1 told House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ 

Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications that NASA did not know 

whether U.S.S.R. was adequately sterilizing its interplanetary space- 

craft. “If we find . . . that . . . [Soviet] sterilization procedure is 

many orders of magnitude less good than ours, then we will be able to 

relax in our standards simply because there will be no value in our going 

through an expensive process only to find that they have already con- 

taminated the planet. 

“However, we do not know at the present time, and there is reason 

to believe that their procedures may well turn out to be adequate.” 

(Transcript, 446) 

North American Aviation, Inc., and Rockwell-Standard Corp. announced 

agreement on proposal to merge into new corporation called North 

American Rockwell Corp. Proposal was subject to approval by direc- 

tors and stockholders of each company. ( WSJ, 3/23/67) 

* A record 45-million takeoffs and landings were recorded in 1966 by 

FAA% 304 airport tra5c control towers. Figure represented 12% in- 

crease over 1965. ( FAA Release 67-24) 

* Dr. Eugene G. Fubini, an IBM vice president, told IEEE meeting in New 

York that too many scientists and engineers-as prime movers of 

change-were not sufficiently attentive to the results of their discov- 

eries and inventions. “Historically, scientists and engineers have under- 

estimated or ignored the social and moral consequences of their work. 

Don’t continue to make that mistake,” he warned. 

Dr. Charles H. Townes, MIT provost, received IEEE’s 1967 Medal 

of Honor for his “significant contributions in the fields of quantum 

electronics which have led to the maser and the laser.” (Lieberman, 

NYT, 3/26/67, F1; Av Wk, 3/13/67,97) 

March 23: NASA had discarded crew assignments for three manned Apollo 

missions originally scheduled for 1967 but postponed shortly after 

Jan. 27 fire, MSC Director of Flight Crew Operations Donald K. Slayton 

told the press at MSC. “We don’t have any crews assigned o5cially to 

84


any missions at the present time. There’s not much point in worrying 

about crew assignments until we know what we’re going to do.” Backup 

crew for AS-204 mission had been Astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr., 

Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham; prime crew for A!3-205/208 

mission had been James A. McDivitt, David Scott, and Russell Schweick- 

art; for AS-503, Frank Borman, Michael Collins, and William Anders. 

(UPI, W Star, 3/24/67, A2; AP, W Post, 3/24/67, A6; Wilford, NYT, 

3/24/67,1,15) 

* US. officials were studying possibility of live television coverage via Zntelsat 

II-C comsat of Latin American summit conference in Punta del Este, 

Uruguay, April 12-14, which President Johnson was scheduled to attend, 

Benjamin Welles reported in New York Times. Live coverage would 

require air-lifting a portable ITT ground station to conference site because 

necessary ground stations for picking up satellite signals did not yet e&t 

in Latin America. Use of ComSatCorp’s Intelsat ZI-C, launched by NASA 

March 22, would not only enhance interest in meeting, officials said, but 

would also dramatize US. technological and political support for 

Latin America. (Welles, NYT, 3/24/67) 

L~RC Director Dr. Floyd L. Thompson had been selected as one of 10 

public servants to receive National Civil Service League’s 1967 Career 

Service Award for his pioneering efforts as an engineer, scientist, and 

administrator in advancing the science of aeronautics and space flight 

in the US. Award would be presented to Dr. Thompson April 21 at 

Annual Career Service Awards banquet in Washington, D.C. (NASA 


* NASA Wallops Station employee James C. McConnell had been awarded 

$l,OOO for his invention “A Method of Plating Copper on Aluminum” 

by NASA Inventions and Contributions Board. Award was part of agencywide 

program to encourage and reward NASA employees for meritorious 

inventions and contributions. 

A second Wallops employee-Joseph W. McAllister-had been named 

one of the 1967 Economy Champions under President Johnson’s national 

economy program for his “Device to Salvage Power Line Guy Anchors.’’ 

An economy champion was a Government employee whose achievement 

or adopted suggestion during FY 1967 had shown first-year measurable 

benefits of $10,000 or more. (WS Releases 67-9,67-10) 

* Rep. Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.) introduced in the House a bill (H.R. 7798) 

to strike commemorative medals in honor of Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, 

Edward H. White 11, and Roger B. ChaHee who died in the Jan. 27 Apollo 

flash fire. (CR, 3/23/67, H3301) 

* US. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. Llewellyn E. Thompson and Soviet Foreign 

Minister Andrey A. Gromyko met briefly in Moscow for “preliminary 

discussions’’ aimed at mutual agreement not to deploy antimissile missile 

systems, US. Embassy announced. (AP, W Post, 3/23/67, A12) 

* Shortage of US.-manufactured high-reliability components because of the 

demands of the Vietnam war was one of the reasons Canada was postponing 

the launch of her Isis-A satellite from fall 1967 to 1968, Dr. John H. 

Chapman, Deputy Superintendent of the Defence Research Telecommunications 

Establishment, told Toronto Globe & Mail. Isis-A would 

measure characteristics of the ionosphere. (Toronto Globe & Mail, 

3/24/67,29) 

* A correlation between earthquakes and the forces exerted on the earth by 

the sun and moon was reported by Dr. Alan Ryall, Director of Univ. of 

85


Nevada seismological station. Dr. Ryall said he could support with 

scientific data the theory that where the earth‘s crust is fractured and 

weakened, all that is necessary to cause earthquakes might be the pulling 

force or gravity of the sun and moon. ( W Post, 3/24/67) 

* U.N. 17-nation disarmament conference in Geneva recessed until May 19 

at US. request. (Cook, W Post, 3/24/67, A12) 

ComSatCorp awarded two four-month study contracts-one to Lockheed 

Missiles and Space Co. for $272,000 and one to Hughes Aircraft Co. for 

$299,484--for research on advanced high-capacity synchronous satel- 

lites. Lockheed had proposed an inertia-wheel stabilization concept and 

Hughes a spin-stabilized approach for stabilizing a spacecraft in synchro- 

nous orbit. ComSatCorp had advised FCC Jan. 19 of plans to award 

contracts. (ComSatCorp Release) 

U.K.’s Royal Aeronautical Society had invited foreigners to enter an 

eight-year-old annual competition to stay aloft in a muscle-operated 

craft over a figure-eight course with two turning points half a mile apart, 

Reuters reported. Society had also increased prize from $10,000 to 

$28,000. (Reuters, NYT, 3/23/67,5) 

* US. astronauts were honored with a special award at American Personnel 

and Guidance Assn. convention in Dallas. Accepted by Charles Duke on 

behalf of his fellow astronauts, the award cited the “exemplary model 

astronauts display to American youth in intellectual achievement, self- 

discipline, personal dedication and physical fitness.’’ ( UPI, W Star, 

3/24/67, A6) 

0 ERC Deputy Director Dr. Albert J. Kelley had resigned to accept an 

appointment as Dean of Boston College’s College of Business Adminis- 

tration effective June 1, NASA announced. He would continue to act 

as a special consultant to NASA. ( ERC Release 67-5) 

March 24: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLZ into 630-km (391-mi) altitude 

circular orbit with 97.1-min period and 56” inclination. Equipment 

was functioning normally. (W Post, 3/25/67, A4) 

* Apollo 204 Review Board announced that completion of its final report 

on Jan. 27 fire would be delayed one week until April 8. Dr. Floyd L. 

Thompson, Director of LaRC and Chairman of the Board, issued an- 

other call for any information that might aid the probe. Board also 

announced that it had completed piece-by-piece disassembly of Apollo 

I spacecraft, although testing and analysis of spacecraft systems and 

parts were continuing. (UPI, W Star, 3/25/67, A5; W Post, 3/25/67, 

A51 

* US. policies for sterilizing planetary spacecraft were needlessly stringent 

and should be revised to take into account new scientific data and past 

and continuing Soviet activities, two groups of US. scientists suggested 

in companion articles in Science. First, by Drs. N. H. Horowitz and 

R. P. Sharp of Cal Tech and R. W. Davies of JPL, reviewed sterilization 

standards set in 1964 by COSPAR and agreed to by both US. and 

U.S.S.R. “In effect the [COSPAR] resolution requires that less than one 

viable microorganism be contained in each 10,000 spacecraft intended 

for planetary entry. Attainment of such a goal demands heroic measures, 

and current US. directives call for dry-beat sterilization of the completely 

assembled lander stage.” The authors asserted that COSPAR require- 

ments were based on the outdated assumption that terrestrial micro- 

organisms could thrive on other planets, particularly Mars; present 

knowledge, however, indicated that Mars is so dry, lacking in oxygen, 

86


and soaked with lethal forms of ultraviolet sunlight that proliferation 

of earth organisms would be unlikely. They suggested that COSPAR- 

recommended constraints “could be substantially relaxed without com- 

promising to any significant degree the biological condition of Mars.” 

Second article, by Dr. Bruce C. Murray, Gal Tech, Merton E. Davies, 

RAND Corp., and Dr. Philip K. Eckman, JPL, said US. policy should 

concentrate on seeing that “US. contribution to plantary contamination 

will remain significantly less than the Soviet contributions” thereby 

reducing “significantly the cost and time required to carry out serious 

scientific investigations of the surfaces of Venus and Mars.” The authors 

suggested that U.S.S.R. had already hit both Mars and Venus with space- 

craft not sterilized in accordance with COSPAR standards. Any require- 

ment for US. to apply more stringent restrictions “is illogical in that 

. . . the US. would be asked to increase greatly the cost and complexity 

of its planetary program without achieving any significant reduction in 

the probability of actual contamination.” (Science, 3/24/67, 1501-10) 

AFSC announced personnel changes. Effective March 27: (1) M/G Harry L. 

Evans, Vice Director of Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) , would 

become Assistant to the Commander, AFSC, pending his retirement from 

USAF May 31; (2) M/G James T. Stewart, Director of Space, Deputy 

Chief of Staff/Research and Development, USAF Hq., would succeed 

General Evans; (3) B/G Walter R. Hedrick, Jr., Assistant Deputy Chief 

of Staff /Systems, AFSC Hq., would succeed General Stewart. Effective 

summer 1967: (1) B/G Joseph S. Bleymaier, Commander of WTR, 

would become Deputy Director, MOL, with additional duty as Deputy 

Commander, Space Systems Div. for MOL; (2) B/G Clifford J. Kronauer, 

DOD Office of Director of Defense Research and Engineering, would 

succeed General Bleymaier ; (3) M/G Vincent G. Huston, Commander 

of ETR, would be reassigned to AFSC Hq. as Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Operations; and (4) M/G David M. Jones, NASA Deputy Associate 

Administrator for Manned Space Flight, would replace General Huston. 

(AFSC Releases 63.67, 64.67) 

* Life magazine disputed critics who advocated cutting back NASA’s Apollo 

program: “We do not share the attitude that it doesn’t matter who gets 

to the moon first, we or the Russians. It does matter. . . . Remember 

the astonishment, the embarrassment, the apprehension, the loss of 

prestige we all felt so keenly when Sputnik Z went up on Oct. 4, 1957? 

The prestige we then sought to regain was not mere prestige, an empty 

abstract symbol of superiority. The superiority at stake was real, not 

symbolic. . . . 

“NASA is now engaged in its customary annual defense of its budget 

requests. We recommend that its expenditures be kept at the $5 to $6 

billion level for now. As we continue to compare NASA’s budget with 

other pressing needs, we must be aware of the challenges and oppor- 

tunities that arise in space. . . .” (Life, 3/24/67) 

March 25: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLZZ, its eighth Cosmos satellite 

during March, to achieve record month of space launchings. Orbital 


period, 92.2 min ; inclination, 71 O. Equipment functioned normally. 

Satellite reentered Aug. 5. (UPI, W Post, 3/26/67, A3; GSFC SSR, 

8/15/67) 

* Capt. Robert F. Freitag (USN, Ret.) , Director of Field Center Development, 

OMSF, addressed the National Student Conference in Ann Arbor, Mich. : 

324-801 -9-7 87


6C . . . the more dramatic aspects of the space program sometimes tend 

to overshadow the fundamental purposes of the space effort. Just as the 

moon had influenced the course of young lovers for centuries, so has 

the excitement of lunar exploration blinded many to the deeper purposes 

and far reaching benefits of the nation’s overall space program, 

and its deep impact on present and future generations. 

CL 

. . . a dynamic space program will . . . bring rewards in knowledge, 

wonders, and resources far surpassing the investment it requires in 

money, materials, and brainpower. We do not know all that we shall 

learn when we are able to place men, instruments, telescopes, and lab- 

oratories beyond the envelope of the earth’s atmosphere. But we do 

know that we shall know a great deal more than we can possibly now 

know about the reality of which we are a part.” (Text) 

Soviet scientist Ruvin Garber revealed that U.S.S.R. had developed a thin 

thread-shaped tungsten crystal which was the “strongest substance” 

ever made on earth, UPI reported. Strand was reportedly BO02 cm in 

diameter and could withstand 230 tons of pressure per sq cm. (UPI, NYT, 

3/27/67, 67) 

March 26: White House Office of Science and Technology ( OST) had failed 

to move effectively in the direction of long-range planning and had 

been seriously hampered by a “thinly spread” staff, concluded report 

prepared by Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service and 

released by House Committee on Government Operations’ Subcom- 

mittee on Military Operations. Presented as a background document 

for future congressional action or legislation, report reached no direct 

findings or conclusions but noted that during four years OST had been 

in existence its “most conspicuous operating characteristic has been the 

wide span of issues in which it has become involved. 

“But with the office numbering only seventeen to twenty professionals 

its staff must be thinly spread.” Although OST had not moved spon- 

taneously in the direction of long-range planning, report said questions 

posed by various groups of Congress “at least imply a need for this 

policy planning, systems analysis capability, especially to deal with 

issues of transportation, waste management, water resources, and energy 

development.” (Text) 

March 27: MSC awarded $1 million in six-month study contracts to General 

Dynamics, Boeing Co., and McDonnell Co. for space station facilities 

that could be assembled in orbit early in the 1970s. General Dynamics 

would study engine room module, a separately launched unit to furnish 

electrical power and life-support equipment for space station. Boeing 

would study space station design to include a 38-in optical telescope 

that would be launched with the space station by a Saturn V booster. 

McDonnell would study logistics/ferry spacecraft to provide ground 

landing capability for astronauts. (Tech Wk, 3/27/67, 234) 

a Seven communications companies signed agreement for joint ownership 

of three existing ComSatCorp-owned earth stations and three new high- 

capacity stations for expanded international commercial satellite com- 

munications. The companies: ComSatCorp; AT&T; Hawaiian Tele- 

phone Co., ITT World Communications, Inc.; ITT Cable and Radio, 

1nc.-Puerto Rico ; RCA Communications, Inc. ; and Western Union Inter- 

national, Inc. Agreement established a policy-making committee com- 

posed of company representatives, provided for sharing of operating 

costs and capital, and described ComSatCorp’s role as manager. It was 

88


filed with FCC in accordance with Dec. 7, 1966, order for joint owner- 

ship. (ComSatCorp Release) 

NASA Nike-Tomahawk Iaunched from Barreira de Inferno Range, near 

Natal, Brazil, carried Univ. of New Hampshire-instrumented experiment 

to obtain data on neutron intensity at different latitudes, solar x-ray 

fluxes, Lyman-alpha radiation, and ionospheric electron densities. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SFU; 

Tech Wk, 4/10/67, 15) 

William Tier, Deputy Manager of Operations in MFSC’s Saturn I/IB Pro- 

gram Office, was named Manager to replace Lee B. James. Tier’s former 

position would be filled by William F. LaHatte. (MSFC Release 67-62) 

* New York Times editorial on US.% and U.S.S.R.’s competitive programs 

to land men on moon: “We fail to see that it makes any difference who 

reaches the moon first or whether the landing takes place in the 1960’s 

or the mid-1970’s. Moreover, we see large, unsatisfied needs here on 

earth-in this country and elsewherethat could very usefully employ 

some of the vast resources now being devoted to the Apollo program and 

its Soviet analogue. A cutback in those resources and their diversion to 

more pressing needs would make more sense. 

“The moon is not going away, and it can wait a little longer for 

visitors.” (NYT, 3/27/67) 

March 28: ComSatCorp’s Zntelsat ZZ-C comsat successfully relayed test 

signals over the Atlantic between ground stations at Andover, Me., and 

the Canary and Ascension Islands. Satellite was scheduled to enter com- 

mercial service April 6. (AP, NYT, 3/29;/67, 30) 

US. Government would receive in royalties more than the estimated $1.3 

billion it was contributing to SST development, ATA President Stuart G. 

* 

Tipton told the Aero Club of Washington (D.C.) : “The government 

investment is to be paid back with the 300th delivery. The manufacturer 

will thus pay royalties of 4.3 to 6.7 million dollars for each aircraft 

delivered. . . . Since these royalties are to continue for a 15-year period, 

they will go on well beyond the 300th delivery, and this phase of royalty 

payment will produce a return on the government investment comparable 

to levels normally received by industry.” (Text) 

* Soviet astronomers from Ukrainian Academy of Sciences had produced a 

lunar astronomical almanac containing data on the locations of stars 

as seen from the moon, Science Service reported. Star charts of the 

sky from earth become outdated after several years, but a star chart for 

the lunar sky had to be revised after only several days. Precession of 

earth’s axis causes each pole to complete a cone on the celestial sphere 

every 26,000 yrs; moon’s axis has only an 18.6-yr precessional period 

which makes construction of a star chart of the lunar sky extremely diffi- 

cult. (SciServ, NYT, 3/28/67) 

9 FAA announced new safety regulation to protect aircraft from off-course 

or abandoned balloons. Effective April 28, all unmanned free balloons 

must be equipped with reflective devices to permit tracking by ground 

radar and at least two independently operated self-destruction devices. 

(FAA Release 67-28) 

March 29: Pan American World Airways cargo jet aircraft approaching 

Wake Island participated in first public demonstration of a new data- 

link system €or transmitting navigation data from aircraft to gromd 

stations via an orbiting satellite. VHF signals beamed to NASA’s Ats I 

satellite by first data-link system ever installed on a commercial aircraft 

89


and relayed to Mojave Desert antenna, reached Kennedy International 

Airport by telephone to fix aircraft’s exact position. Experiment was 

part of a series using satellites to develop more reliable long-range communications 

and tracking contact with commercial aircraft on transoceanic 

flights. It was first test of aircraft antenna designed specially for 

transmitting satellite messages. Pan American officials predicted datalink 

svstem could be fullv operational bv late 1969 and could lead to 

instah automatic and cdntiAuous plotti& of flights across vast ocean 

areas. (Wilford, NYT, 3/30/67,53) 

report expressing confidence in NASA’s management of the Apollo pro- 

gram was released by House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ 

Subcommittee on NASA Oversight. Report was prepared before Jan. 27 

Apollo fire, but Sdbcommittee Chairman Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) 

said the findings of the study were “essentially unchanged. . . . The 

public may look with confidence to the management, engineers, scien- 

tists and technicians of NASA and industry as the Apollo program 

progresses.” Report praised the ability of the NASA-industry team to 

identify and solve the administrative, technical, and engineering prob- 

lems “inherent in performing a program contributing major technologi- 

cal progress. . . .” It identified the major Apollo pacing items as the 

Saturn V 2nd stage, the Lunar Module (LM) for the Saturn I and V, 

and the Command and Service Module (CSM) for the Saturn I and V. 

“Any significant delays in attainment of flight capability of these items 

could affect both program shcedule and cost adversely.” Report said 

that an additional $300 million in NASA’s FY 1967 budget would have 

provided: “( 1) increased confidence in meeting unforeseen development 

problems when encountered; (2) Broader latitude in providing system 

alternatives when engineering difficulties are identified; and (3) an 

increased assurance of meeting the national goal of a lunar landing in 

this deoade.” (Text: Sehlstedt, B Sun. 3/20/67) 

0 JPL had selected’Avco-Space Systems Div. for negotiations on a six-month, 

$240,000 contract to study feasibility of launching a flyby spacecraft 

and atmospheric entry capsule to Venus in 1972. NASA had approved 

selection of the firm, which would head a team effort with Northrop 

Systems Laboratories. Study, expected to begin in May, would investigate 

all aspects of launching by an Atlas-Centaur booster a Mariner-clas 

spacecraft weighing about 1,200 lbs. Near Venus, 100-lb capsule system 

would separate from flyby portion of spacecraft and enter Venusian 

atmosphere to take direct measurements during descent to surface. 

Capsule would not be designed to survive impact on Venus. (NASA Release 

67-72) 

0 United Air Lines 720 jet aircraft dropped 8,000 ft in clear air turbulence 

near Cheyenne, Wyo., before pilot could bring aircraft under control for 

an unscheduled landing. One passenger was killed when he released his 

seat belt and reached for his month-old grandson; other passengers were 

slightly injured but no one was hospitalized. (UPI, NYT, 3/30/67, 41) 

French President Charles de Gaulle launched France’s first nuclear-pow- 

ered submarine, Le Redoubtable. The 7,900-ton submarine, which would 

become fully operational in 1970, would carry 16 missiles that could be 

fired from submerged positions toward targets up to 1,800 mi away. 

( WSI, 3/30/67,1; UPI, W Star, 3/29/67,1) 

Murch 30: President Johnson, signing Executive Order 1134.0 establishing 

the Department of Transportation effective April 1, headed by Alan 

90


Boyd, said the new department would “consolidate 35 programs pre- 

viously dispersed through 7 departments and independent agencies. It 

will bring together nearly 100,OOO employees, and annual expenditures 

of more than $6 billion.” 

Tasks of the department, President Johnson said, would be to “mod- 

ernize and unify our national transportation policy” ; “bring greater 

safety to the travels of all American citizens”; “apply the best of an 

expanding technology to every mode of transportation” ; “strengthen our 

partnership with private enterprise and State and local governments in 

meeting America’s urgent transportation needs” ; and “improve our 

transportation links with the rest of the world.” (PD, 4/3/67, 559-60;) 

* NASA successfully launched three artificial cloud experiments from NASA 

Wallops Station. In first experiment Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket 

ejected multicolored barium vapor clouds over eastern US. at altitudes 

of 142 and 200 mi (246 and 322 km) to measure electric fields and wind 

motions in the upper atmosphere by photographing and tracking ionized 

clouds. Experiment had been scheduled for March 28 but was postponed 

because of overcast skies. 

In second and third experiments Nike-Apache sounding rockets 

carried separate triethylborane (Teb) experiments to 100-mi (161-km) 

altitude to investigate distribution of, and radiation from, atomic 

oxygen. Teb, a new test material for measuring upper atmosphere wind 

profiles, was ejected at 90- to 50-mi (145- to 81-km) altitudes and 

photographed by special photometer as it dispersed. Launches were 

followed by reported sighting of bright UFO’s. (NASA Release 67-74; 

WS Release 67-12; AP, W Star, 3/31/67, All) 

* NASA Nike-Caj un sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried GSFC-instrumented payload to 71.1-mi ( 114.4-km) altitude to 

obtain data on temperature, pressure, density, and wind between 35 to 

95 km at the transition from wintertime westerly to summertime easterly 

circulation. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA 

Rpt SRL; Tech Wk, 4/10/67,15) 

NASA Nike Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Sta- 

tion carried instrumented payload to 149.5-mi (237-km) altitude in a 

Univ. of Maryland-Geophysics Corp. of America experiment to evaluate 

capabilities and accuracies of pulse and thermal equalization probes, 

investigate electron energy distribution in a normal daytime ionosphere, 

and investigate the use of wing-slope techniques with Langmuir probes. 

One door covering GCA antennas prematurely ejected causing a complete 

loss of experimental data and a rocket apogee 4 mi lower than predicted. 

(NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station car- 

ried 180-lb Univ. of Maryland payload to 158-mi (254-km) altitude in 

mission that was coordinated with the overpass of Canadian satellite 

Alouette ZZ. Payload impacted 143 mi downrange in the Atlantic. Pri- 

mary objective of flight was to evaluate techniques for studying the 

ionosphere. (WS Release 67-14) 

USAF launched an unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB employing 

a mor-Agena D booster. (UPI, W Post, 3/31/67, A3) 

* Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) , Chairman of House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, told AP he did not 

think “we will ever know what caused that fire” in which three Apollo 

astronauts died. Thousands of NASA and industry technicians responsible 

91

March 30 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

for Apollo I spacecraft would always wonder whether they contributed 

to the accident, Teague suggested. Asked if he believed NASA officials 

had taken unnecessary risks to land a man on the moon by 1970, Teague 

said: “Maybe we were a little bit careless.” He said some of the safety 

checks probably should have been more thorough, but did not elaborate. 

(AP, W Star, 3/30/67) 

* FRC had awarded ls-mo, $8.9-million contract to North American Avia- 

tion, Inc. (NAA), for maintenance and support of XB-70 supersonic 

research aircraft. As under previous support contracts, NAA would 

provide manpower, facilities, material, and equipment to support flight 

operations and would conduct data reduction. Overall management of 

XJ3-70 program was assigned to FRC under March 15 NASA-USAF 

agreement. (NASA Release 67-75) 

Weather photos taken by NASA’s Ats I satellite in near-synchronous orbit 

over the Pacific would be relayed to World Meteorological Organization 

(WMO) conference in Geneva April 3-2% to demonstrate new meteoro- 

logical capabilities. Transmitted by satellite to Mojave, Calif., photos 

were traveling by land line to National Environmental Satellite Center 

in Suitand, Md., where they were being recorded for later transmission 

by ESSA surface facilities to Geneva. (NASA Release 67-77) 

* Small opaque diamonds, formed when graphite-bearing meteorites im- 

pacted on earth, had been identified by three General Electric Co. 

scientists at Schenectady, N.Y., AP reported. Similar to man-made dia- 

monds manufactured by using intense pressure and high temperatures, 

these diamonds had hexagonal crystal structure, thus differing from 

cubic structure of diamonds used in rings. Scientists predicted hex- 

agonal diamonds would also be found in meteorites on the lunar 

surface. (AP, NYT, 3/30/67) 

March 30-31 : NASA’s Space Science Steering Committee’s Space Biology 

Subcommittee met at MSFC. Agenda included, in addition to discussion 

of subcommittee business, a review of AA program by Leland F. Belew, 

manager of MSFC Saturn/Apollo Applications Program Office; a presen- 

tation on S-IVB space station module study; and a tour of AA payload 

mockup and simulation facilities. ( MSFC Release 67-65) 

March 31 : Langley Research Center engineers at JPL, after repeated efforts 

to reactivate Lunar Orbiter 111’s photo system which failed March 2, had 

concluded there was virtually no hope for transmission of further photos 

from the spacecraft. Analysis of events indicated failure had originated 

with momentary fluctuation in spacecraft’s electrical power which dis- 

turbed photo system logic by turning the film advance motor memory 

to forward mode. Cause of fluctuation had not been identified. Motor, 

following incorrect logic, stalled as it attempted to move film which 

was being mechanically held in a fixed position while readout was in 

progress. During stalled condition, motor overheated to failure point. 

Despite termination of photo transmission, Lunar Orbiter 111 continued 

to serve as a tracking target, providing practice for NASA Manned Space 

Flight Network stations, and to record information on radiation and 

meteoroids in moon’s vicinity. (NASA Release 67-76) 

0 Explorer XXXII (AE-E) aeronomy satellite, launched May 25, 1966, had 

ground support terminated; satellite had suffered complete depressuri- 

zation [see Jan. 171. As direct result of loss of internal pressure, battery 

failure had caused disablement of one electron temperature probe on 

March 3; ion mass spectrometer and the other electron temperature 

92


probe had remained operational and continued to produce quality data 

until March 22. Last radiofrequency contact had been made on March 26. 

Explorer XXXII mission objectives had been achieved and mission 

had been declared a success in December 1966. Scientific papers on 

initial results would be presented at American Geophysical Union 

meetings April 17-20 in Washington, D.C., and additional results 

would be reported to COSPAR meetings in London during July. (NASA 

SP4007,192 ; NASA Proj Off) 

0 First two of series of 20 Japanese and US. sounding rockets were launched 

from NASA Wallops Station as part of Japanese-US. meteorological rocket 

project to conduct comparative meteorological research between 12-mi 

(20-km) and 37-mi (60-km) altitudes. Japanese rocket was an MT-135; 

US. rocket was an Arcas. Payloads were ejected at programmed altitudes 

and descended on parachutes: wind measurements were obtained from 

radar tracking data ; temperature measurements were radioed to ground 

receiving stations. Objectives of the mission were to compare and cross- 

calibrate data from various payloads; verify flight and operating charac- 

teristics; obtain new information on operation of each rocket system as 

a whole; and obtain additional data on diurnal cycles of wind and tem- 

perature in the stratosphere. Flights were conducted under a Dec. 26, 

1966, agreement between NASA, Japanese Science and Technology 

Agency, and Japanese Meteorological Agency. Results of experiments 

would be made available to world scientific community. (NASA Release 

67-73) 

0 France’s Sahara Missile Proving Grounds at Hammaguir Range closed after 

20 yrs, signaling end of operational use of Daimant 1 booster which 

had launched four French, satellites from Hammaguir since Nov. 26, 

1965. Next French satellite, 200-lb D-2, would be launched from French 

Guiana in 1969 with Super Diamant booster. (NYT, 2/11/67; Av Wk, 

3/27/67,50) 

0 ComSatCorp requested FCC permission to substantially reduce television 

and telephone rates between US. and Europe effective April 6 when 

Intelsat II-C comsat was scheduled to enter commercial service. New 

rates, which would cover only the leasing of channels to authorized communications 

common carriers operating in the Atlantic, would apply 

both to Early Bird I and Intelsat II-C. (ComSatCorp Release) 

0 U.K.’s Royal Artillery Institution donated two 19th-century rockets to the 

astronautics collection of Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and 

Space Museum. One rocket was made by Sir William Congreve in 1815 

and used on the Woolwich Ranges; the other, William Hale’s 24-lb rotary 

rocket, was constructed in 1863. Congreve rockets were used in the US. 

in 1814 while Hale rockets were used in the Mexican War in 1846 and 

the Civil War. (Smithsonian Release) 

0 Soviet Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky, credited with having led 

Soviet military into the missile age, died in Moscow at age 68, apparently 

of cancer. (Rosenfeld, JV’ Post, 4/1/67, B6) 

a U.K. had agreed to buy 40 more F-111 supersonic military aircraft from 

US. at total cost of $785 million, Anthony Lewis reported in New York 

Times. Ten F-111’s had been ordered March 31, 1966, with a one-year 

option to purchase 40 more. Deliveries were expected to begin in 1969. 

To offset impact on U.K.’s balance of payments, US. had agreed to buy 

$785 million worth of British equipment during the next 10 yrs or 

help U.K. get orders elsewhere. (Lewis, NYT, 4/1/67, 1) 

93

During March ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

During March: Aerospace praised NASA’s contributions to U.S. aeronautical 

research : “Since the United States started sending experimental vehicles 

beyond Earth’s atmosphere nine years ago aeronautical research has 

been overshadowed by space exploration as far as the annual budgets of 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are concerned. . . . 

But dollar comparisons fail to tell the whole story. For its space work, 

NASA has had to build from scratch a variety of expensive ground facili- 

ties and equipment and to make heavy outlays for complex, nonreusable 

flight hardware. NASA’s aeronautical teams spend little on flight equipment 

and what they do buy is reusable; furthermore, they operate from 

facilities for the most part built and paid for prior to the Space Age. 

There is no question but that space has played the dominant role in 

NASA’s programs, but the aeronautical research effort has been far more 

substantial-and more rewarding-than an examination of budget figures 

would indicate. In the coming year, assuming Congressional approval 

of the pending budget, it will be increased.” (Aerospace, 3/67,3) 

NAS forwarded to NASA a list of 69 recommended candidates for 20-30 positions 

in NASA’s astronaut training program. A total of 923 applications 

had been evaluated. NASA was expected to make final selections before 

Aug. 15. ( NAS-NRC-NAE News Report, 3/67,3) 

Hugh L. Dryden Memorial Fund had received nearly $1 million in donations 

for construction of 700-seat auditorium at NAS Hq. in Washington, 

D.C., in honor of the late NASA Deputy Administrator. Fund’s ultimate 

goal was $2 million. (NAS-NRC-NAE News Report, 3/67,3) 

0 Charges that NASA’s Apollo program had serious deficiencies were reviewed 

by William Hines in series of articles in Washington Evening Star. 

A 55-page report submitted to NASA three days before Jan. 27 flash 

fire by Thomas R. Baron, former North American Aviation, Inc., inspector 

at KSC Apollo warehouse, charged that improper parts had been 

installed in Apollo I spacecraft. Careless and unorthodox warehousing 

practices had caused many parts and materials intended for spacecraft 

use to lose their identity, Baron told Hines in an interview. “As a result 

there was probably a bundle of stuff [in Apollo] that they don’t have 

any idea what . . . it is at all.” Baron also charged that on at least one 

occasion, NAA had installed a substandard part with deliberate subterfuge, 

without the knowledge of NASA. Truth about the part could easily 

be concealed because NASA had no quality-control men of its own in receiving 

warehouse, Baron said. He was particularly critical of deviation 

from test procedures: “When you deviate on your small components, and 

you deviate on all of them, and you put these in one system and you run 

a systems test and you deviate again, you’ve ended up with a system 

that really isn’t worthwhile.” 

James Parker, former NASA quality control inspector at KSC, told 

Hines that NASA quality control supervision on Apollo contractors’ 

work was “spotty” and said he had periodically cited instances of 

waste and improper expenditures in reports to his KSC superiors. (Hines, 

W Star, 3/15/67, Al, A6; 3/19/67, A7; 3/23/67,1, A6; 3/26/67, A3) 

ESRO’S Kiruna rocket range-muNGE-had been officially opened in 

March, Space Flight reported. The Kiruna facility was situated 30 mi 

north of Kiruna (north of Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland) and occupied 

about 300 sq mi of virgin forest and tundra; Kiruna range would 

be firing base for atmospheric sounding rockets [see Mar. 151. (S/F, 

4/67,1144) 

94

April 1967 

April 1 : NASA% March 24 decision to delay issuance of AS-204 accident 

report until April 8 would not restrict scope of inquiry in public hear- 

ings, Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) , Chairman of House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, told Wash- 

ington Evening Star reporter William Hines. Hearings would begin 

promptly “at 10 o’clock the same day the report is issued,” Representa- 

tive Teague said, and would be held at night if necessary. (Hines, W 

Star, 4/2/67) 

Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd outlined major goals of Dept. 

of Transportation (DOT) at ceremony in Washington, D.C., marking its 

first o5cial operating day. DOT would (1) “insist that all forms of trans- 

portation become safer and more reliable for the user” and make 

increased effort to meet transportation needs of the physically handi- 

capped; (2) strive for increased intermodal efficiency through promo- 

tion of integrated systems; (3) explore new possibilities to help 

transportation advance technologically apd keep pace with progress 

of American industry; (4) encourage transportation industry in a 

selective expansion program for the domestic market; (5) seek ways 

for transportation to assist economic development of underdeveloped 

areas; and (6) make more positive contribution to urban development 

and quality of urban mass transit service. “At the very least, this 

Department must work to make transportation more efficient, more 

economical, more expeditious, and more socially responsible. . . . 

America, today, has the best transportation system of any nation in 

the world. But it does have its faults. It can be, it must be substantially 

improved.” (Text) 

ComSatCorp requested FCC permission to establish a pilot US. domestic 

cornsat system with channels available without charge to educational 

broadcasters. Urging speedy approval of the plan, ComSatCorp stressed 

that “differences among private parties as to the best way to provide 

badly needed domestic satellite service should not be permitted to delay 

unduly inauguration of such a Program.” ComSatCorp proposed two 

8543 send-and-receive antennas-one near New York City and one in 

California-and 30 smaller receive-only antennas in Pacific and Rocky 

Mountain time zones; it was prepared to finance and start construotion 

of the system and act as trustee until FCC and Congress made final 

decision on ownership. System would become operational by late 1968. 

( ComSatCorp Release) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried instru- 

mented payload to 86.5-mi (139.2-km) altitude; it measured speEtral 

irradiance of two early-type stars in wave length intervals 1100 A to 

4000 A The other two target stars were pointed at but could not be 

95

April 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

observed through opacity of fuel and oxidizer released through control 

jets. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* Commemorative activities honoring DOT’S first official operating day and 

celebration of Smithsonian Institution’s third annual Rite of Spring, 

sponsored by the Institution, included these events : hourly ascensions 

in three-man-hot-air balloon by Don Piccard of the famous family 

of air and underwater explorers; very low speed operation of air 

cushion vehicle over the Mall (grassy area immediately adjacent to the 

Institution’s site) using Bell Aerosystems Co.’s “Hydroskimmeryy ; 

demonstration of Bell’s rocket belt to propel a man for short distances 

through the air; and showing of many models of transportation equipment. 

(Smithsonian Institution Release) 

Dr. Mervin K. Strickler, Jr., FAA Congressional Fellow, received National 

Aeronautic Assn.‘s 1966 Frank G. Brewer Trophy at National Aerospace 

Education Council’s annual banquet in Tucson, Ariz. Trophy was 

awarded annually for outstanding contributions to aerospace education 

of the Nation’s youth. ( NAA News 

* New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes proclaimed April 1, 1967, T’ iros- 

Essa Day in New Jersey to.mark seventh anniversary of first Tiros 

launch and to pay tribute to NASA and U.S. space program. (Text) 

April 2: One-inch-diameter hollow steel spheres for use in aerospace ball- 

bearing assemblies were being tested at Air Force Flight Dynamics 

Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB. Hollow spheres were half as heavy 

and equally as strong as solid ones currently used, had longer life ex- 

pectancy, and could easily be mass produced. (AFSC Release 44.67) 

April 2-5: National Assn. of Broadcasters held 45th annual convention in 

Chicago. FCC Chairman Rose1 H. Hyde strongly urged that U.S. com- 

mercial broadcasters support a system of public television and sug- 

gested that the broadcasters establish a national committee to aid 

noncommercial TV: “As diverse as our present commercial broadcast- 

ing system is, there is room for innovation, for more diversity, in short, 

for a viable, supplemental noncommercial service. Such a service could 

provide a further and differently based competitive spur to the com- 

mercial system. It would provide a place where new ideas and experi- 

mental techniques could more easily be tested. . . .” (Dallos, NYT, 

4/5/67, 78) 

ComSatCorp Chairman James McCormack termed “nonsense” a 

charge by the Ford Foundation that ComSatCorp was threatening to 

become a monopoly: “Comsat, far from being an evil octopus, is a young- 

ster trying very hard to employ private funds and private initiative to 

. . . maintain the leadership granted to us, under extraordinary com- 

plete regulation, to the benefit of the United States and the world more 

generally. . . .” Restating the corporation’s position that there should 

be one all-purpose domestic communications system, McCormack as- 

serted that ComSatCorp, as a representative of U.S. communications 

policy, was in best position to establish such a system. “We calculate 

that a multipurpose system will, from the beginning, provide broadcast 

transmission services at less cost than will a single-purpose system [and] 

initial costs will continue to reduce over the years,” affording a great 

deal of flexibility and security. (Text ; Dallos, NYT, 4/6/67,67 ; Reddig, 

W Star, 4/6/67) 

ApriZ 3: Ford Foundation and AT&T submitted briefs to FCC on domestic 

comsat system. 

96

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 April 3 

Ford Foundation brief sharply criticized ComSatCorp’s plan for a 

domestic comsat system and asked that ComSatCorp’s April 1 request 

for permission to develop an experimental system be denied. “To add 

to Comsat’s authority the exclusive francise for a domestic communica- 

tions satellite system . . . would give the corporation a world monop- 

oly. One entity would provide all communications satellite services. 

One company would be responsible for developing all satellite tech- 

nology. One customer would procure all satellite equipment. A monopoly 

of this sort would be unprecedented. . . .” Ford suggested instead that 

the system be developed and initially operated by NASA so that tech- 

nological knowledge could be gleaned without controversy over ultimate 

management or ownership. NASA could later be reimbursed by the 

entity finally chosen to operate the system. 

AT&T supported ComSatCorp’s proposal, suggesting the system be 

linked to and integrated with present ground systems. Rejecting Ford 

Foundation’s proposal for a separate nonprofit satellite TV broadcast 

corporation whose income would support noncommercial TV, AT&T said 

that such proposals reflected parochial disregard for their effects on 

other satellite systems and terrestrial (land) microwave systems. . . . 

Installation of such limited systems would . . . jeopardize the existing 

public communications systems, both domestic and overseas, and would 

severely inhibit their necessary continued growth.” (Text; Gould, NYT, 

4/3/67, 1; W Star, 4/4/67) 

0 Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd addressed Sixth Annual Editorial 

Conference of Magazine Publishers Assn. and American Society of 

Magazine Editors in Washington, D.C.: “Today, April Third, is a 

memorable day in the history of communication. On this day, one hun- 

dred and seven years ago, the Pony Express began. . . . The Pony Ex- 

press lasted only eighteen months. It was superseded by the transcon- 

tinental telegraph. And probably the managers of the Pony Express 

knew all along that that was going to happen. But they had customers 

who couldn’t wait, who were willing to pay for a faster mail service. 

bL. . . this episode illustrates the driving impatience of the American 

people for progress. . . . We’re doing the same thing today in the 

aerospace industry. We’re building the SST. We already have a grasp of 

the technology that will supersede the SST, fifteen or twenty years from 

now. But Americans are not the kind of people who’ll passively wait for 

new developments. . . . They’re engaged now in pushing jet aviation 

technology to its practical limits.”( Text) 

April 4: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLIZI into orbit with 291-km (181-mi) 

apogee; 202-km (126-mi) perigee; 89.3-min period; and 64.6’ in- 

clination. Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Apr. 12. 

(Tech Wk, 4/10/67; GSFC SSR, 4/15/67) 

NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, 

carried GsFc-instrumented grenade experiment to obtain data on tem- 

perature, pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 mi (35-95 km) at 

the transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly cir- 

culation. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA 

Rpt SRL) 

0 Astronaut Frank Borman told Cleveland Engineering Society that he and 

other astronauts hoped US. would immediately revitalize the Apollo 

program: “We’d like to see the crews regrouped and the program under 

way as soon as possible.” ( AP, W Post, 4/6/67,62) 

97


April 5: NASA’s 815% Ats ZZ (ATS-A) (Applications Technology Satellite) 

was launched from ETR by Atlas-Agena D booster on mission to evaluate 

gravity-gradient system for spacecraft stabilization in 6,900-mi-altitude 

orbit and to obtain useful data from experiments during first 30 days 

in orbit. Spacecraft successfully entered elliptical transfer orbit with 

6,878-mi (11,069-km) apogee; 120-mi (192.744 perigee; 218.3-min 

period; and 28.4O inclination. Agena engines, which were to have reignited 

to inject spacecraft into 6,900-mi (11,103-km) -altitude circular 

orbit, failed to ignite for the second burn; spacecraft separated and, 

tumbling uncontrollably, remained in transfer orbit. 

By April 7, all but one of the scientific experiments had been turned 

on and operated successfully, but usefulness of data could not be determined 

because spacecraft’s sensors were not compatible with its orbit. 

Last experiment was turned on April 15. Although it was apparent that 

mission could not be successfully completed, scientists continued to 

operate experiments to obtain as much data as possible on spacecraft 

performance, and ground stations received occasional TV pictures and 

meteorological photos. Gravity-gradient configuration functions would 

not be exercised until spacecraft’s attitude behavior could be better 

defined. 

Ats ZZ was second in series of five satellites designed to improve spacecraft 

technology; develop long-life control systems; advance spacecraft 

communications ; and improve long-range weather predictions. Record 

size-252 ft long with 123-ft booms extended from opposite sides- 

Ats ZZ was first US. gravity-gradient satellite to carry meteorological 

cameras and first with sdficient instrumentation to verify three-axis 

gravity control system in conjunction with detailed computer program. 

In addition to gravity-gradient experiment, satellite also carried communications 

equipment, two Advanced Vidicon Camera System ( AVCS) 

cameras, and eight scientific experiments to measure orbital environment. 

Ats Z was successfully launched Dec. 6, 1966, into a 22,300-mialtitude 

near-synchronous orbit over the Pacific and was still operating 

flawlessly. ATS program was managed by GSFC under OSSA direction. 

(NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-71; AP, NYT, 3/31/67, 12) 

NASA Aerobee 150, Mod I sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. payload to 99.6-mi (160.3-km) altitude 

to obtain quantitative measurements of spectrum and intensity of solar 

x-ray flux in the 2-30 kev interval and to look for x rays from recurrent 

nova T Pyxides. This was first flight of new Aerobee configuration Mod I. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 Chairman James McCormack of ComSatCorp, speaking at annual meeting 

of National Assn. of Broadcasters, in Chicago, made these predictions: 

“With new satellites, having flexibility to permit working with 

several earth stations simultaneously and having increased transmission 

capabilities, and with improved earth stations, we are coming on 

better days. For a year or so, we will continue to be handicapped by 

a lack of ground facilities to enable the United States to work efficiently 

and simultaneously with more than one satellite in either the 

Atlantic or the Pacific [and] we will continue for a while to be embarrassed 

by lack of system capacity there, primarily in the earth stations, 

to handle occasional TV transmissions without buying back other 

circuits then under annual or monthly lease.” He continued: “. . . in 

a very few years, you will have the potential of continuous, live, 

98

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 April 5 

world-wide TV transmission at well under one percent of your total 

costs.yy 

He went on to explain: “Given the geographic coverage of the satel- 

lite, capable of being used directly from a number of points. simultane- 

ously, and the rapid growth of all kinds of requirements for service, 

a single world-wide communications organization was deemed essen- 

tial from the beginning. The same set of considerations would seem to 

indicate at least a broadly based international forum for broadcasting, 

an important and rather unique use of those communications.” 

Turning to potential world-wide benefits, he said: “The establishment 

of a world-wide hoadcast capability, in being and operating continu- 

ously, will enable the almost casual accomplishment of some of the 

greatest purposes of the United States and many other nations seeking 

better understanding as one basis for a reasonable peaceful world. I 

refer in particular of course to cultural exchanges, information and 

education.” (Text) 

* NASA rejected industry bids ranging from $13.6-14.9 million for construc- 

tion of four buildings at NASA’s Electronics Research Center in Cam- 

bridge, Mass. ERC Director James C. Elms said that difference between 

bids and $10.4-million. Government estimate was too great to be ad- 

justed and that building plans would have to be revised. (McElheny, 

Boston Globe, 4/6/67) 

FRC awarded General Electric Co. a $2,782,272 contract for maintenance 

of XB-70 aircraft engines and support services. (NASA Release 67-81) 

April 6: Lunar Orbiter III press briefing was held at NASA Hq. 

Dr. Leonard Reiffei, Apollo Program, OMSF, said NASA had selected 

eight “candidate” locations along the moon’s equator as the smoothest 

and safest possible sites for first Apollo manned landings. Selection 

had been made after careful screening of photos taken by three Lunar 

Orbiters and Surveyor I. Detailed analysis of photos indicated that 

safest area might be a broad plain in the southeast part of the Sea 

of Tranquility-just east of Maskelyne D crater-where the surface was 

flat and there were few dangerous boulders and no deep craters. NASA 

officials emphasized, however, that no single site would ‘be selected: each 

mission would have three possible sites along the equator-one in the 

east, one in the center, and one in the west-to allow for launch 

delays. 

GC 

Harold Masursky, US. Geological Survey, described evidence of 

seismic erosion” as “one of the major processes on the moon’s surface 

that Lunar Orbiter has given us information about.” Several photos 

showed dunes of soil-like material that appeared to be debris from moon- 

quakes filling old craters. Some of the smoother plains on the moon 

might be caused in part by this process, Masursky suggested. (Wilford, 

NYT, 4/7/67, 1, 14) 

Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R-Ill.) introduced in the House H.R. 8145, a %ill 

to establish Aerospace safety Advisory Panel to “provide the [NASA] 

Administrator with independent advice and assistance in safety matters, 

regardless of operational ‘commitments’ or budgetary considerations. 

Regardless of the outcome of the current [Apollo accident] investiga- 

tion . . . the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s . . . 

safety practices need strengthening. Based on NASA statements and . . . 

[N 19681 testimony . . . the area of greatest weakness appears to be 

in the lack of a truly independent review of NASA’s facilities, operations, 

99


and procedures solely from the viewpoint of safety.” (CRY 4/6/67, 

H3657 ; NASA LAR VI/39) 

* Col. V. John Lyle (USAF, Ret.), former Assistant to the Comptroller of 

the Air Force, was made special assistant to NASA Associate Administra- 

tor for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller. (NASA Ann) 

* Reduced television and telephone rates between US. and Europe became 

effective when Zntelsat ZZ-C comsat entered commercial service. New 

rates, which covered only the leasing of channels to authorized com- 

munications common carriers operating in the Atlantic, applied to both 

Early Bird Z and Intelsat ZZ-C. Monthly charge for one leased voice 

channel was reduced from $4,200 for 16-hr daily service to $3,800 for 

24-hr service. Rates for one-way black-and-white television in the Atlan- 

tic area were $1,100 for first 10 min and $30 for each additional minute 

per half channel. New rates for color TV reduced existing 150% of 

black-and-white charge to 125% of black-and-white rate. All rates were 

based on providing voice-grade or TV half-channel service from a US. 

earth station to an appropriate satellite and did not cover charges for 

communication links from satellite to an overseas earth station. (Com- 

SatCorp Release) 

* Trans World Airlines retired the last of its propeller-driven Constellations 

and became first major US. airline to have an all-jet fleet on domestic as 

well as overseas routes. (NYT, 4/7/67,62) 

* Editorial comment on domestic satellite system controversy [see April 1,3]. 

New York Times: “The Ford Foundation and Communications Satel- 

lite Corporation are at odds about how best to set up a domestic satellite 

system that would carry educational television. Neither side, it appears, 

has all the answers. Ford is right to question Comsat’s demand to run 

a domestic satellite system . . . [but] Ford’s own plan for creating 

a new educational network is also unsatisfactory. It wants to give the 

job on a trial basis to the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- 

tration, which has enough problems with its present over-ambitious 

objectives and should not have its energies diverted or its resources 

increased for anything new. Ford’s suggestion that savings in com- 

munications charges made by the commercial networks should be used 

to finance educational TV has an inherent disadvantage in that the 

amount of savings would be inadequate to do a worthwhile job. . . . 

These differences in approach should not be allowed to hold up develop- 

ment of noncommercial network. The thing to do is to choose what is 

best from both plans.” (NYT, 4/6/67,36) 

Washington Post: “The issue is more than just a squabble over 

Comsat’s request. The Ford Foundation has proposed that the Nation 

establish more than one domestic satellite system, with one system 

reserved exclusively for television, both commercial and public. Comsat 

maintains that one system can do the entire job of communications 

adequately and will save large sums of money. . . . Given the com- 

plexities of the problem, and the need that it be solved, hand-in-hand 

with the general question of how public television is to be financed, 

we think Ford’s alternative is advisable. . . . NASA has the capabilities 

to do the job and would be involved, anyway, in putting Comsat’s satel- 

lite into orbit. This solution would leave all avenues open, for NASA 

is highly unlikely to become the permanent operator and could recoup 

its expenditures by selling the equipment and stations to the eventual 

operator.” (V Post, 4/6/67) 

100


April 7: Seven communications companies filed joint application with FCC 

for construction of new earth station near Cayey, Puerto Rico, and the 

transfer of ownership of three existing comsat stations. Companies- 

ComSatCorp ; AT&T; Hawaiian Telephone Co. ; ITT World Communica- 

tions, Inc. (WorldCom) ; ITT Cable and Radio, 1nc.-Puerto Rico; RCA; 

and Western Union International ( WUI) -submitted application pur- 

suant to March 27 earth-station ownership agreement. (ComSatCorp 

Release) 

0 Soviet scientist E. I. Taghiev told seventh World Petroleum Congress in 

Mexico City that U.S.S.R. planned to drill a 49,500-ft-deep test well to 

explore earth‘s crust and expressed regret that US. had abandoned its 

Mohole drilling project in the Pacific. Site of Soviet project was not 

revealed. (AP, W Star, 4/7/67, A14) 

April 8: Cosmos CLIV was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 232-km 

(144-mi) apogee, 186-km (116-mi) perigee, 88.5-min period, and 51.6’ 

inclination. Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Apr. 10. 

(Tech Wk, 4/10/67; GSFC SSR, 4/15/67) 

* Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, discussing Soviet space plans in Ogonyek, hinted 

that U.S.S.R. was preparing to launch a large manned space station in 

the near future. It had been speculated that U.S.S.R.-which had not 

launched a manned spacecraft since March 18, 1965-would conduct 

major manned launch in 1967 to commemorate 50th anniversary of the 

Bolshevik Revolution. Gagarin said there was little value in repeating 

feats already accomplished: “. . . it is not sensible in the future to put 

expensive spacecraft into orbit for several days. . . . It is apparent 

that they will have to stay in orbit a long time. It will be necessary 

to supply them and change crews with the use of simplified types of 

space vehicles. . . . The time is not far off when longer and more distant 

space flights will be made.” 

In later Novosti press agency report Soviet Academy of Sciences 

Chairman Anatoly A. Blagonravov supported Gagarin’s predictions and 

said: “Mankind is entering the 7th year of the age of man’s space 

flight, and we do not doubt that in the not very distant future we will 

witness new space victories which will exert a growing influence on the 

life of people.” (Anderson, NYT, 4/9/67; UPI, W Star, 4/9/67, A13; 

C Trib, 4/10/67) 

April 9: Most probable cause of Jan. 27 flash fire in which Astronauts Virgil 

I. Grissom, Edward H. White 11, and Roger B. ChafFee died was a spark- 

ing short circuit in worn, defective, or poorly insulated wire, Apollo 

204 Review Board concluded in its final report. Copies of report were 

distributed simultaneously to NASA Administrator James E. Webb, 

congressional committees, and the press. Board was unable to pinpoint 

exact ignition source, but identified conditions which led to the disaster : 

(1) a sealed cabin, pressurized with an oxygen atmosphere; (2) an 

extensive distribution of combustible materials in the cabin; (3) vul- 

nerable wiring carrying spacecraft power; (4) inadequate provisions for 

the crew to escape; and (5) inadequate provisions for rescue or medical 

assistance. Having identified these conditions, the Board addressed 

itself to the question of “how these conditions came to exist. Careful 

consideration of this question . . . leads . . . to the conclusion that in 

its devotion to the many difficult problems of space travel, the Apollo 

team failed to give adequate attention to certain mundane but equally 

vital questions of crew safety. 

101

April 9 


“The board’s investigation revealed many deficiencies in design and 

engineering, manufacture and quality control. When these deficiencies 

are corrected the over-all reliability of the Apollo program will be 

increased greatly.” 

Board offered a total of 21 recommendations, including: (1) an “in- 

depth” review of the entire Apollo life-support system; (2) an investi- 

gation of effective ways to control and extinguish spacecraft fires; (3) 

severe restriction and control of amount and location of combustible 

materials inside spacecraft; (4) reduction of time required for crew 

to egress and simplification of escape operations; (5) continuous mon- 

itoring of safety of all test operations to assure adequacy of emergency 

protections; (6) improved ground communications system; (7) con- 

tinued studies of two-gas cabin atmosphere; and (8) full-scale mockup 

tests to establish fire safety of reconfigured command module. Board 

emphasized that its report was not intended as a criticism of NASA’s 

entire manned program: “The board is very concerned that its descrip- 

tion of the defects in the Apollo program . . .will be interpreted as an 

indictment of the entire manned space flight program and a castigation 

of the many people associated with the program. Nothing is further 

from the board’s mind.” (Text; NYT, 4/10/67, 1, 28-9; W Star, 4/ 

10/67, Al, A6-7; W Post, 4/10/67, AI, A8) 

William H. Woodward was promoted from Deputy Director to Director of 

OART’S Space Power and Electric Propulsion Div.-formerly Nuclear 

Systems and Space Power Div.-succeeding Harold B. Finger, who 

became NASA Associate Administrator for Organization and Manage- 

ment March 15. Woodward would be responsible for planning, manag- 

ing, and coordinating advanced research and technology programs in 

the area of space power, including solar, chemical, nuclear, and electric 

propulsion. (NASA Release 67-78) 

0 NASA office-Downey at North American Aviation’s Downey, Calif., plant 

was disestablished and its functions transferred to MSC and MSFC, 

(NN 1136) 

* Completed section of USN’S $80-million radio communications center at 

Northwest Cape, Australia, was occupied by Navy personnel under Capt. 

Robert Friedman. Center, which would maintain contact with US. 

nuclear submarines in Pacific and Indian Oceans via very-low-frequency 

radio, would be fully operational in July. (Durdin, NYT, 4/9/67, 3) 

April 10: NASA Administrator James E. Webb, accompanied by Apollo 204 

Review Board members, NASA Deputy Administrator Robert C. Sea- 

mans, Jr., and NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight 

Dr. George E. Mueller, testified on Jan. 27 flash fire before House Com- 

mittee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Over- 

sight. Webb said the Board had found error, “but it has also found the 

capability within NASA and the Apollo team of contractors to over- 

come error.” NASA and industry would share their part of the blame “for 

what we have done or left undone,” Webb said, but the committee could 

have confidence that “NASA and its contractors have the capability to 

overcome every deficiency required to proceed to successfully fly the 

Apollo Saturn system and accomplish its objectives.” He said Board 

Chairman Dr. Floyd Thompson had reassured him that the “concepts 

and the basic design on which the Apollo system is based can be made 

to work in a reliable manner,” and Astronaut/Board member Frank 

Borman had reported he would be confident to 0y the Apollo spacecraft 

102


if reported deficiencies were eliminated. Webb concluded: “If any man 

in this room asks for whom the Apollo bell tolls, it tolls for him and me, 

as well as for Grissom, White and Chaffee. 

“It tolls for every astronaut test pilot who wil lose his life in the space 

simulated vacuum of a test chamber or the real vacuum of space . . . 

for every astronaut scientist who will lose his life on some lonely hill on 

the moon or Mars . . . for Government and industrial executives and 

legislators alike . . . for an open program continuously evaluated by 

the opinion makers with little time for second thought-operating in 

the brilliant color and brutal glare of real time, worldwik mass media 

with the speed of the television, from euphoria to exaggerated detail. . . .” 

Asked why six of the eight Board members were NASA employees, 

Webb replied that they were the best qualified people for the investiga- 

tion and noted that they were all familiar with the spacecraft or with 

similar types of investigations. He said that in his opinion the Board 

had “to a large degree . . . overstated the case.” Questioned about 

charges by the press that many qualified Project Apollo technicians were 

not called to testify before the Board, Webb responded: “It is easy to 

make allegations, hard to conduct an investigation, and even harder to 

make the Apollo Saturn fly at the earliest possible date. I do not believe 

these allegations are worth your consideration.” 

Dr. Thompson discussed methods and procedures followed by the 

Board, and key Board members traced the process of establishing the 

course of the fire, the “most probable” ignition source, and detailed 

findings and recommendations. (Testimony; Transcript 10, 15-8) 

0 Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R-Ill.) inserted in the Congressional Record his 

statement expressing concern over Apollo 204 Review Board’s failure 

to determine whether Apollo accident was result of a single oversight 

or “indicative of a basic weakness in the organization of NASA and/or 

the contractors. . . . I am deeply disturbed by the report of the Apollo 204 

Review Board. My concern is not that the Board was unable to discover 

the precise cause of the accident during the course of its rigorous techni- 

cal investigation, but, rather, that the Board failed to examine, or at 

least report on, the fundamental conditions which permitted the accident 

to occur and which, moreover, resulted in the tragic deaths of three fine 

young men. The report’s, and apparently the investigation’s, short- 

comings in this regard leave open the possibility of similar catastrophes 

in the future.” (CR, 4/10/67, H378G7) 

* Washington Evening Star suggested that House Committee on Science and 

Astronautics might have been “the victim of a high-level snow job last 

year when it did research for a 1,200-page report on Project Apollo” 

because report’s conclusions conflicted so greatly with findings of Apollo 

204 Review Board. Committee report issued March 29 praised ability 

of NASA and industry “to identify and solve technical and administra- 

tive problems” and stated that the Apollo accident did not “alter the 

basic conclusions of the report.’’ Board report, by contrast, criticized 

NASA and NAA for poor management and deficient quality control. 

(W Star, 4/10/67, A7) 

0 NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, 

carried GSFc-instrumented grenade payload to obtain data on tempera- 

ture, pressure, density, and wind between 35 to 95 km at transition from 

winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly circulation. Rocket and 


324-801 0--69---8 103


* “The Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) System: a Survey of Soviet 

Strategic Doctrine, Arguments on Deployment, Intentions and Fulfill- 

ment, American Reaction and Implications,” Library of Congress docu- 

ment F-239, evaluated the dangers for Soviet ABM deployment. Author, 

Specialist in Soviet and Eastern Europe Affairs Joseph 6. Whelan, sum- 

marized present state of affairs, noting Russia’s historic preoccupation 

with the defensive and her clear intent not to accept permanently a sec- 

ond position to the US. Whelan quoted from Feb. 23, 1967, speech of 

Presidential adviser Walt W. Rostow at Univ. of Leeds, Great Britain: 

“We are all actively trying to find the terms for a non-proliferation 

agreement; and the emergence of [ABM defense] for Moscow has posed 

for the United States and the Soviet Union the question of whether the 

nuclear arms race shall be brought under control or go into a vast and 

expensive round of escalation on both sides with respect to both offen- 

sive and defensive weapons.” (Text) 

* Soviet space dogs Veterok and Ugolyek, in orbit Feb. 22-March 16, 1966, 

aboard Cosmos CX, had both fathered normal puppies, Tass reported. 

Effects of prolonged weightlessness [see May 16, 19661 had gradually 

disappeared, Tass said : “For some time, their movements were languid, 

and the animals preferred to lie down. But . . . 2v2 months after their 

space voyage, the dogs fully recovered and became cheerful again.” 

(UPI, NYT, 4/12/67, 77) 

0 US. defense warning system was “highly vulnerable” to missile attack 

because of increasing Russian missile strength, report by Institute for 

Strategic Studies warned. Institute, an unofficial body of military and 

international affairs’ experts from 28 countries, recommended that U.S. 

establish a new back-up interceptor control against hostile missiles by 

mid-1970. (W Post, 4/11/67, A15) 

April 10-13: Aerospace Medical Assn. met in Washington, D.C. 

Computer technique which had been used to enhance 12 Surveyor I 

photos of the lunar surface in August 1966 might be applied to diag- 

nostic x rays, Dr. Robert Nathan, JPL scientist who developed the 

process, suggested in speech over closed-circuit TV broadcast. Process, 

which separated significant from insignificant detail, could remove 

distortions and obscurities that often make it difficult for physicians 

to interpret x-ray films. Dr. Nathan also predicted technique might 

enable scientists to see the inner details of human chromosomes and gain 

a new understanding of birth defects. (Randal, W Star, 4/11/67, A3) 

FAA would appoint 10 radiation biology experts to study the radia- 

tion aspects of SST operation, FAA Administrator William F. McKee re- 

vealed. “We want to assure ourselves, beyond any doubt, that high- 

level altitude flights can be made routinely.” FAA was also studying 

new pressurization on equipment to assure passenger safety at 40,000-ft 

flight levels as well as new escape devices and evacuation methods, 

McKee said. (NYT, 4/13/67,74) 

NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh predicted that US. 

would have the best SST in the world. “Despite its timing, I nominate 

it for the ‘clean-up’ position in sales, safety, and economy.” Dr. Welsh 

said expenditures for the SST could be justified because it was important 

to “our international balance of payments, to our technological progress, 

to our private enterprise system, to improved transportation, as well as 

to our international prestige.” (Text) 

104

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 April 10-13 

Philco-Ford Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. both displayed sev- 

eral monitoring devices which had grown out of technology acquired 

by NASA in the development of remote sensing equipment for astronauts. 

The corporations indicated they would attempt to market the devices 

for use in medical sciences. (Tech Wk, 4!17/67, 22) 

Dr. Charles F. Gell, chief scientist of Submarine Medical Research 

Laboratory at U.S. Naval Submarine Medical Center, received Eric J. 

Liljencrantz Award and $500 honorarium for his contributions to the 

advancement of aeronautics and space sciences through medical research. 

(Av Wk, 4/24/67,121) 

April 11: Apollo 204 Review Board, accompanied by NASA Administrator 

James E. Webb, testified before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and 

Space Sciences. Key Board members summarized the Board’s findings 

and recommendations. Astronaut Frank Borman, asked if he believed 

U.S. decision to use 100% oxygen atmosphere in spacecraft had been 

influenced by a desire to achieve first manned lunar landing, replied: 

“. . . never since I have been associated with NASA have I ever experi- 

enced any decision where a known detriment to crew safety was sacri- 

ficed to any operational requirement. And although I am willing to 

accept risk . . . I am not willing personally to accept undue risk and I 

would not participate in any decision which I thought was expediting 

a program in an unsafe manner. And in the final analysis the crew is 

the Review Board because if we do not like the way the spacecraft is 

configured, we don’t have to get in.” Borman said if on Jan. 27 he had 

had the information accumulated by the Board, he would not have 

entered the Apollo spacecraft because: (1) the test had not been classi- 

fied as hazardous; (2) the spacecraft contained too many combustibles; 

(3) the wire that provided the5gnition source was vulnerable. Borman 

said he would be “willing and eager” to enter a 100% oxygen Apollo 

spacecraft which incorporated Board’s recommended improvements. 

(Testimony; Transcript, 181,209-10,258) 

In testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ 

Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, North American Aviation President 

J. Leland Atwood denied that pressures to meet 1970 lunar-landing goal 

had prompted NAA engineers to take shortcuts in Apollo program. Term- 

ing the Apollo 204 Review Board’s study “a good and penetrating re- 

port,” Atwood conceded that deficiencies existed in the Apollo capsule, 

but disputed Board’s charge that “deficiencies existed in Command Mod- 

ule design, workmanship, and quality control. . . .” NAA’S Director of 

Research and Engineering Dr. John F. McCarthy said that although an 

electrical arc “probably” caused the fire, there were ‘tarious other 

possibilities”--such as Astronaut Gus Grissom accidentally kicking loose 

a wire that could have later initiated the blaze. Under stern questioning 

by subcommittee members, however, Dr. McCarthy admitted that this 

theory was pure speculation. 

In response to charge by Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) that pre- 

vailing attitude prior YO fire was not “just a feeling of over-confidence” 

but “real negligence” by NAA and NASA, Atwood reasserted that the most 

serious error made by NAA and NASA was classification of the AS-204 

test as “non-hazardous.” Questioned about the reasoning behind design- 

ing to minimize fire hazard, Dr. McCarthy pointed out that NAA had 

concentrated on eliminating possible ignition sources while it turned 

out that the amount and placement of flammable materials was crucial. 

105


He characterized this as a “grave error in judgment.” Atwood assured the 

Subcommittee that NAA and NASA had “placed great stress” on the im- 

portance of quality and workmanship: “The procedures followed and 

the depth of inspection which have been employed far surpass those . . . 

used on any other program. The fact of the accident itself makes it 

obvious that we must do more than we have done, that we must-guided 

by the finding of the board-redouble our efforts to approach perfection. 

Already we have gone over every other design feature of the spacecraft 

to identify any other area of possible failures . . . [and] we have found 

none.” (NYT, 4/12/67,34; W Star, 4/12/67, A6) 

* New York Times commented on Apollo 204 Review Board‘s final report on 

Jan. 27 flash fire: “TWO months ago, on the basis of the incomplete 

evidence then available, we suggested that the Apollo catastrophe had 

taken place because ‘many men miscalculated-grossly .’ The official 

report . . . suggests that that conclusion was too kind . . . [since] the 

report -_ convicts those in charge of Project Apollo of incompetence and 

negligence. 

“The core of the problem is indicated in the board’s fifth finding: 

‘Those organizations responsible for the planning, conduct and safety 

of this test failed to identify it as being hazardous. Contingency preparations 

to permit escape or rescue of the crew from an internal command 

module fire were not made.’ 

“How could those in charge of the test have ‘failed to identify it as 

being hazardous?’ The three astronauts had been put into what even a 

high school chemistry student would know was a potential oxygen 

incendiary bomb, one needing only a spark to initiate catastrophe. . . . 

But at Cape Kennedy, in the report’s words, ‘No procedures for this 

type of emergency had been established either for the crew or for the 

spacecraft pad work team.’ 

“The incredible complacency thus revealed overshadows even the 

other disgraceful and disheartening findings of the review board. . . . 

And as the record of incompetence and careless work-devastating in 

its impact-is recited in the report, one wonders how many of the previous 

manned space flights succeeded rather than how the Apollo tragedy 

occurred. . . .” (NYT, 4/11/67,44M) 

* Lunar Orbiter III, launched Feb. 4, had sent full photographic coverage 

of six primary Apollo sites west of 20” east longitude and partial coverage, 

including high-resolution photographs, of six remaining sites in east. 

One objective had been to photograph a landed Surveyor with sufficient 

resolution to detect the spacecraft. NASA-appointed study group established 

location of image on Lunar Orbiter photographs that fitted all 

Surveyor I identification criteria. (NASA Proj Off) 

* NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station carried 

GsFc-instrumented grenade payload to 78-mi ( 126-km) altitude to obtain 

data on temperature, pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 mi (35- 

95 km) at transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly 

circulation. Rocket was planned as companion shot with Nike-Cajun 

launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, April 10. Weather conditions at 

Wallops Station prevented launch on same day. Rocket and instrumentation 


FAA proposed that current noise abatement rules covering large aircraft 

be applied also to small turbine-powered aircraft. Many turbine-powered 

aircraft were not included under the large transport category, but 

106


created a higher noise level than piston-type aircraft of compataiSle size. 


Washington Daily Navs’editorial warned that U.S. eagerness to sign space 

law treaty-under consideration in Senate since Feb. 7-might be costly: 

“Since the risks of Soviet deception are so great, it seems unwise to have 

accepted the Russian-proposed no-inspection honor system. . . . Since 

there is no provision for a check on space activity, the Soviet Union could 

push ahead with a variety of secret military programs in space while 

publicly attacking the right of the U.S. to an American military defense 

program in space. . . . Since the U.S. is an open society, any U.S. space 

defense program would be known. Since the Soviet society is closed, 

Moscow might well be able to keep its programs secret. 

“The loose way in which this space treaty was written was due in part 

to the Administration’s eagerness to get a treaty in hand. But that loose- 

ness could lead the U.S. into a trap.” (Crornley, W News, 4/11/67, 12) 

April 11-13: Witnesses testifying before Senate Commerce Committee ex- 

pressed conflicting views on proposed Corporation for Public Television. 

Ford Foundation consultant Fred W. Friendly said he would oppose 

any long-range design that relied on Treasury Dept. appropriations to 

produce news and public affairs programming because such funds would 

be subject to annual review by Congress. Instead, he suggested, news 

and public affairs should be underwritten from private funds-preferably 

out of savings from a non-profit comsat system that would employ income 

from commercial programs to help meet educational television’s 

overhead. 

Dr. James R. Killian, Jr., chairman of Carnegie Commission on 

Educational Television, urged revision of the proposed legislation so 

that the Corporation would have continuing responsibility for program 

selection to ensure freedom “from the centralization and rigidity of a 

network system” and to protect autonomy of local stations. 

NET President John R. White argued that the Corporation’s role should 

be limited to matters of “high policy” and that operational activities, 

including the choice of programs to be carried on a network, should 

be subcontracted to other entities. The Corporation, he said, would not 

be able to make informed decisions until the programs had been sub- 

mitted for national distribution. (Gould, NYT, 4/12/67, 79; 4/13/67, 

75; 4/14/67,67) 

April 12: U.S.S.R. marked Cosmonautics Day-anniversary of first manned 

space flight by Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, in 1961-by launching Cosmos 

CLV. Orbital parameten: apogee, 286 km (178 mi) ; perigee, 203 km 

(126 mi) ; period, 89.2 min; and inclination, 51.8”. Satellite reentered 

April 20. (UPI, W Star, 4/12/67, 1; GSFC SSR, 4/30/67) 

a NASA had been concerned about oxygen fire danger prior to Jan. 27 flash 

fire and had taken steps to curb the danger, NASA Associate Administrator 

for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller told the House Com- 

mittee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight. 

NASA felt it “had control of the sources of ignition . . . [but] under- 

estimated badly . . . the course such a fire would take. If more thorough 

testing of flammable materials used in the cockpit had been conducted, 

the accident might not have happened.” He denied emphatically April 11 

suggestion by NAA Director of Research and Engineering Dr. John F. 

McCarthy that Astronaut Gus Grissom could have triggered the fire by 

kicking loose a wire, and said he generally agreed with the Apollo 204 

107

April 12 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

Review Board’s criticisms of deficiencies in project operations, conced- 

ing: “We were wrong in the standards we applied to the selection of 

materials for the spacecraft.” Efforts were currently being directed to- 

ward eliminating flammable cockpit materials such as nylon and replacing 

them with glass fiber cloth and Teflon plastic. Although a study was also 

under way to assess the relative merits of pure oxygen and two-gas 

life-support systems, Dr. Mueller doubted that present system would be 

abandoned. 

In answer to specific questions concerning escape and rescue, Dr. 

Charles A. Berry, Director of Medical Research and Operations at MSC, 

testified that the astronauts had died from asphyxia before the spacecraft 

hatch was opened and that their bums alone would not have caused death. 

Apollo Program Director M/G Samuel C. Phillips told the Committee 

that his concern “about the load of work on NAA” had prompted an 

inspection by a NASA team of NAA’S Downey, Calif., plant. Ne had reported 

to NAA President J. Leland Atwood Dec. 19,1965, “some of things that if 

done differently would contribute to the progress of the program,” and 

on April 22, 1966, noted that progress was satisfactory: NAA was “com- 

pletely responsive to the programs we described . . . and a very aggressive 

effort . . . was applied to these problems.” He declined to discuss specifics 

as requested by Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) but indicated that 

NASA would consider releasing his report to the subcommittee [see 

April 181. (Wilford, NYT, 4/13/67,52; Reistrup, W Post, 4/13/67, A2) 

* LaRC engineers successfully completed first of two planned orbit adjustments 

to place NASA’s Lunar Orbiter II and III spacecraft in favorable 

position for major lunar eclipse April 24. Adjustment, made by burn- 

ing velocity-control engine of Lunar Orbiter 111 for five seconds, de- 

creased spacecraft’s period by 57 sec to shorten length of time it would 

be in darkness during eclipse to 1 hr 20 min. Scientists speculated that 

power system of spacecraft-which experienced one hour of darkness 

per orbit-would not be able to survive four-hour dark period that 

would have occurred during eclipse without adjustment. Orbit of Lunar 

Orbiter ZI would be adjusted April 14. (NASA Release 67-87) 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Earle 6. Wheeler (USA) and 

Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance endorsed the space law treaty 

at hearings by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The treaty,” 

Vance said, “is one of the finest reflections of the people of our time 

meeting their duty-their duty to themselves and to future importance. 

It is a treaty of practical importance. We have studied this problem 

carefully . . . [and] looked at the implications for weapons develop- 

ment programs and at verification consideration, and we have concluded 

that this treaty will enhance our national security.” General Wheeler 

added that he had “no military objection” to the treaty and believed it 

could “potentially keep the vast new frontier of space free of obstacles 

to international peace and order.” (W Star, 4/12/67, AB; NYT, 

4/13/67, 52) 

8 At NASA request, NAS would conduct Space Applications Summer Study at 

Woods Hole, Mass., during summer 1967 and 1968 to determine how 

orbiting satellites could best be used for practical benefits on earth. 

Participants would review present US. programs and plans for peaceful 

applications of earth satellites; consider and evaluate probable future 

uses of satellites in a variety of areas; and provide advice on nature 

and scope of R&D programs necessary to achieve the possibilities. The 

108


1967 session would “provide first judgment on . . . most immediately 

useful applications of satellites.” The 1968 session would reach final 

recommendations on future satellite uses. Lehigh Univ. President W. 

Deming Lewis was named chairman of the Central Review Committee, 

which would oversee the study. Work would be conducted within 

NRC’s Engineering Div. with Laser Inc., vice-president Eugene T. Booth 

serving as study’s executive director. ( NAS-NRC Release) 

* Many building blocks of life, “and possibly life itself,” may exist on 

Jupiter, ARC scientists Dr. Cyril S. Ponnamperuma and Fritz Woeller 

suggested at American Chemical Society meeting in Miami. Using elec- 

trical discharges as an energy source the scientists had simulated 

activity of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere and produced nunzerous build- 

ing blocks common to life on earth. They concluded that energy transfer 

and resulting chemical processes in Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere-- 

similar to processes believed to have produced life on earth-“may 

produce organic chemicals such as the forerunner compounds of amino 

acids and of the living cell nucleus.” (NASA Release 67-79; ARC Release 

674) 

* Karl G. Harr, Jr., President of Aerospace Industries Assn., speaking before 

Aerospace Security Analysts in New York City, stated: “The aerospace 

industry today is the nation’s largest industrial employer accounting for 

in excess of 1,250,000 jobs [and] is the nation’s largest manufacturing 

exporter, in excess of $1.5 billion [and] employs more than one-fifth 

of the nation’s privately employed scientists and engineers.” He reported 

that 1966 sales approached $24 billion. Harr added: “. . . the industry 

as a whole has never been healthier or sounder.” This soundness he 

attributed to “. . . stability of the government segment of the market 

[and] recent and projected growth of civil aviation of all kinds [and] 

the beginnings of successful application of aerospace capabilities to a 

wide range of non-aerospace activities. . . .” (Text) 

* Hall of Aerospace Art would become “an integral part” of the new Na- 

tional Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution announced. 

Permanent collection already included paintings and drawings of NASA 

manned space flight projects by Norman Rockwell and Chesley Bonestell 

and 18th and 19th century prints illustrating balloon flight. (Smith- 

sonian Institution Release) 

0 Prof. G. A. Tokaty of The City University, LoDdon, speaking to Royal 

Aeronautical Society’s Astronautics and Guided Flight Section meet- 

ing, in London, said: “. . . the Soviets have been (from about 

1962) . . . working on a rocket system of 7 to 9 million Ib thrust. 

Evidence of a general nature suggests that they are making good 

progress and have now reached an advanced stage in achieving a 

payload-carrying capability of the order of 400,000 to 550,000 lb. . . .” 

He added: “In the USSR, space science and technology have become 

an impressive source of new ideas, theories, industrial methods, espe- 

cially in electro-radio-electronic instrument design [and] all these rev- 

olutionised the Soviet precision industry and accelerated the develop- 

ment of the national economy as a whole.” (Text) 

MSFC Director Dr. Wernher von Braun presented Henry Ricketts a $1,625 

NASA suggestion award-largest sum ever awarded for an employee sug- 

gestion-for new method of removing coating from printed circuit 

boards. Method shortened removal time from 15 min to two minutes 

and reduced costs by $571,750 the first year. (MSFC Release 67-80) 

109


* USAF successfully launched Titan I1 ICBM from Vandenberg AFB toward 

target in the Pacific. (UPI, W Post, 4/13/67, A22) 

* Javelin sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research Range, Canada, 

reached 496-mi (798-km) altitude in Southwest Center for Advanced 

Studies/Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment experi- 

ment to determine in conjunction with an overpass of an Isis satellite: 

vertical distribution of flux and energy spectra of soft electrons during a 

mild ionospheric disturbance; vertical distribution of thermal ion and 

electron densities and temperature of various species of ions; and flight 

qualification of a soft-electron spectrometer to be flown on ISIS-A space- 

craft. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. ( NASA Rpt 

SRL) 

* Number of mid-air aircraft collisions could be reduced “if pilots accept 

the idea that the plane can be quicker than the eye,” Lockheed Aircraft 

Co. aviation psychologist Dr. Earl J. Ends said in a Washington, D.C., 

interview. According to his calculations based on ideal conditions: “A 

pilot flying 600 miles an hour will travel 88 feet from the time his eye 

spots an oncoming plane until the message is relayed to the brain. 

By the time the brain interprets the message, the plane has flown 920 

feet. When the pilot decides to climb, descend or turn, he has already 

covered 2,680 feet. And by the time he carries out his decision the plane 

has covered 4,792 feet. Put another way, one of the pilots would have 

to see the other plane 9,548 feet away before he could change course to 

avoid a collision. ( UPI, NYT, 4/13/67,74) 

April 13: NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and 

Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller, 

testifying before the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences, absolved North American Aviation, Inc., of direct blame 

for the Jan. 27 Apollo fire but criticized contractor workmanship. NAA 

“has not always been sufficiently dedicated to engineering design or 

workmanship” in the Apollo program and “did not address itself prop- 

erly to the training and supervision of its personnel and the adequate 

inspection of the work that was done,” Dr. Seamans charged. As a result 

of NASA’s demand for numerous management reforms in late 1965, NAA 

had made “marked improvement . . . in the last year and a half,” Dr. 

Seamans noted, but he stressed that “it should not have been necessary 

for the Government to take this kind of strenuous action.” 

Dr. Seamans told the Committee that NASA would implement Apollo 

204 Review Board’s recommendations and build stronger discipline into 

technical requirements, schedules and management while placing the 

Apollo program “back on a firm operating schedule.” He asserted that 

nothing in the Board’s report suggested that the fundamental design or 

management structure was faulty. Basic revelation of the accident was 

fallibility, he stated. Dr. Mueller pointed out that the flammability and 

placement of cabin materials had been misjudged and compared this 

flaw in engineering judgment to those which resulted in catastrophic 

accidents in the course of aircraft develo ment. (Testimony; Wilford, 

NYT, 4/14/67,10; Abramson, W Post, 4)!l4/67, A2; W Star, 4/14/67, 

A71 

* President Johnson called for more Inter-American cooperation at confer- 

ence of Latin American leaders in Punta del Este, Uruguay. US., he said, 

would aid Latin American development by (1) helping to develop a new 

common market; (2) contributing additional funds to Inter-American 

110


Bank for “special operations” such as construction of comsat earth 

stations; (3) exploring possibility of temporary preferential tariff; (4) 

offering agricultural and educational assistance; (5) increasing food 

program for preschool and school-age children and operating a nutri- 

tion demonstration project; (6) establishing Alliance for Progress 

centers at US. colleges and universities; and (7) aiding development of 

science and technology, especially in areas of educational broadcast- 

ing, marine science, and atomic energy. (PD, 4/%/67,636) 

* USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Scout booster. (Pres 

Rep 1967) 

Japan’s third attempt to orbit a satellite was unsuccessful when 3rd stage of 

Lambda 4s-3 failed to ignite at Uchinoura Range. In first attempt, Sept. 

26, 1966, rocket went off course and missed orbital trajectory. Second 

attempt, Dec. 21, 1966, was unsuccessful because of 4th-stage ignition 

failure. (W Post, 4/13/67, A17; SBD, 4/14/67, 264) 

* Second of three phases of tests to evaluate use of heavy-lift helicopters for 

Apollo crew and spacecraft recovery in KSC launch areas was being 

conducted by NASA and DOD at Eglin AFB. Tests would develop operational 

equipment, techniques, and procedures to be used at KSC where standard 

recovery equipment would be ineffective in case of a launch escape sys- 

tem abort during liftoff because of the surrounding marsh, beach, and 

surf. (MSC Release 67-16) 

USAF and USN issued statements supporting development of F-111 fighter 

aircraft as an all-purpose military aircraft. 

Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown: ‘‘ne F-111A is designed 

to provide an all-weather strike potential superior to that of any tactical 

aircraft in the world today. It will fly faster, farther and carry a greater 

payload, nuclear or conventional, with an unexcelled capability to pene- 

trate sophisticated enemy defenses. . . . We are confident from the 

level of performance already displayed in the very extensive flight tests 

performed on development aircraft that the operational F-111A will 

provide these vitally needed capabilities, and will meet the military re- 

quirements established for the aircraft at the inception of the program.” 

Secretary of the Navy Paul H. Nitze: “. . . development of a system 

as complex as the F-lllB/Phoenix has produced sizeable engineering 

problems. I continue to be impressed with the manner in which they 

have been met and overcome. I have confidence that changes proposed 

by the Navy, approved by the Secretary of Defense and now being imple- 

mented, will make the F-111B suitable for operation from our first-line 

attack carriers and will give it the capabilities to perform its mission.” 

(CR, 4/17/67, S5300) 

* U.S. bombers were being guided to targets in North Vietnam by daily 

meteorological photos received from Essa and Nimbus satellites, USAF 

announced. Detailed photos, monitored by USAF’S weather stations in 

Saigon and Ugon, Thailand, permitted USAF to divert aircraft to areas 

that were unexpectedly free from clouds. Since equipment for reception 

was relatively inexpensive, USAF officials speculated that North Viet- 

namese might also be receiving the photos and using them for defense 

planning. (AP, NYT, 4/14/67,3) 

A 2,000-mph USAF SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft on routine training flight 

from Beale AFB, Calif., crashed and burned near Las Vegas, N. Mex.-60 

mi from site af Jan. 25, 1966, crash of another SR-71. Crew escaped 

major injury. Aircraft had been built for USAF by Lockheed as successor 

111


to the U-2 and had been undergoing tests since December 1964. (UPI, 

NYT, 4/15/67,13 ; AP, l7 Post, 4/14/67,9) 

April 14: L ~RC engineers successfully completed second of two planned orbit 

adjustments to place NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 11 and 111 spacecraft in favor- 

&le position for major solar eclipse April 24, by firing Lunar Orbiter 

Il’s velocity-control engine for three seconds and shortening spacecraft’s 

period by 65 sec. Similar maneuver had been accomplished with Lunar 

Orbiter 111 April 12. (NASA Release 67-92) 

0 Launch of ESRO’S scientific satellite Esro I1 from WTR was postponed from 

April 27 until late May because of tape recorder malfunction. Satellite 

was first of two scheduled for launch by NASA under cooperative agreement 

with ESRO. (NASA Release 67-91) 

MSFC had awarded one-year, cost-plus-incentive-award-fee contract extensions 

totaling more than $57 million for engineering, fabrication, and 

institutional support services for Saturn launch vehicle program. Recipients: 

Sperry Rand Corp., $12,695,727; Vitro Corp., $5,344,159; 

Brown Engineering Co., $12,350,140; Spaco, Inc., $5,971,638; Northrop 

Corp., $3,905,000; Hayes International Corp., $4,969,277 ; Management 

Services, Inc., $5,560,941; Rust Engineering Co., $599,090; and BCA 

Service Co., $5,749,907. (MSFC Release 67-81) 

* MSC awarded Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. a $97,000, cost-plus-fixed-fee 

study contract to evaluate Beta fiber, a noncombustible fabric, for possible 

use in Apollo spacecraft and crew systems equipment. (NASA 


* Informed sources speculated that U.S.S.R. had been conducting heat-shield 

reentry tests with Cosmos satellites since November 1966 in preparation 

for manned flights to moon, the New York Times reported. Spacecraft on 

missions from moon would reenter earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 

mph and heat to 5,000-6,000° F-too hot for heat shields currently used 

on earth-orbiting missions. (NYT, 4/15/67, 13) 

Employment in the aerospace industry would reach 1,384,000 by September 

1967-a 3.4% increase over September 1966-Aerospace Industries 

Assn. predicted. Forecast, based on survey of 60 companies representing 

80% of entire aerospace industry, cited continuing demand for civilian 

aircraft; stable levels of missile and space sales; and increases in 

nonaerospace activities as reasons for steady growth in number of 

employees. (MA Release 67-17) 

0 Former Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., had signed contract to appear in at 

least eight Wolper Productions’ TV documentaries on great explorations 

in history, the New York Times reported. Series, beginning in January 

1968, would include Henry M. Stanley’s African search for David Livingstone, 

Captain James Cook’s exploration of the South Pacific, and 

Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole. (Gent, NYT, 

4/14/67, 67) 

* NASA and USAF had completed loan agreement whereby USAF had loaned 

to NASA’s FRC three F-104 aircraft to “support NASA projects.” Agreement 

would terminate Dec. 31, 1968, unless extended by mutual arrangements. 

Logistical support of aircraft was included. ( NMI-1052.89) 

April 16: Astronaut Frank Borman objected to making anyone a scapegoat 

for Jan. 27 Apollo flash fire and said everyone connected with the program 

must be blamed. Interviewed on ABC television network with 

Chairman of House Science and Astronautics Committee’s Subcommittee 

on NASA Oversight Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.), Borman said he had 

112


L6 

never . . . seen safety sacrificed for anything” in US. space program. 

Both men suggested that the greatest safety problem was tendency toward 

complacency about dangers inherent in tests. (W Star, 4/17/67, A2) 

Delegates from U.S.S.R. and Communist-bloc countries, who met in Mos- 

COW April 3-15, had drafted a “joint satellite and rocket launching pro- 

gram” and had agreed to set up a satellite communications program 

“open to all countries willing to join,” Tass announced. No further 

details were released. ( UPI, NYT, 4/17/67, 10) 

US. technological lead might be lost because of increasing Vietnam war 

costs, L/G Ira C. Eaker (USAF, Ret.) wrote in the Newport News Press. 

He cited examples of this “dangerous possibility” : (1) defrayment of 

war costs at the expense of other military programs such as maintenance 

of strategic forces and development of new weapon;; (2) deferment 

and possible cancellation of SST program which “now appears to be 

stalled on dead center”; and (3) cutting of space program budget and 

jeopardizing of its goals. “Needed now in this emergency is a people 

alert and aware of their hazard and determined to maintain the world’s 

highest living standard the way they won it, with technological leader- 

ship.” (Eaker, Newport News Press, 4/16J67, 21) 

April 17: NASA’s Surveyor IlI (Surveyor C) was successfully launched from 

ETR by Atlas-Centaur (AC-12) booster on 65-hr lunar intercept trajectory. 

Primary mission for the 2,283-1b spacecraft was to perform a softlanding 

east of the Surveyor Z landing site within the Apollo zone and 

to obtain post-landing TV pictures of the lunar surface. As secondary 

mission spacecraft would obtain data on lunar surface bearing strength, 

radar reflectivity, and thermal properties and photograph use of a surface 

sampler to manipulate the lunar surface [see April 191. 

At 34:53 GET Surveyor IZI with two-burn Centaur-being used for 

the first time on a Surveyor mission-separated from Atlas and ignited 

to reach 100-mi-altitude circular parking orbit where it coasted for 

22 min; Centaur then reignited to escape earth orbit and boost spacecraft 

toward the moon. Surveyor 111 separated from Centaur, deployed 

its solar panels, and locked on the sun and the star Canopus. Based on a 

248-mi target miss estimate, a 4.2-mi midcourse maneuver was conducted 

shortly after midnight April 18 to assure precise landing on target in 

the Ocean of Storms. 

Surveyor IZI was third in series of seven spacecraft designed to prove 

out design, develop technology of lunar soft-landing, obtain post-landing 

TV pictures of lunar surface, and provide basic scientific and engineering 

data in support of Project Apollo. Surveyor program was directed 

by OSSA Lunar and Planetary Programs Div.; project management 

was assigned to JPL; Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle was managed by 

Lewis Research Center; and prime contractor for spacecraft develop. 

ment and design was Hughes Aircraft Co. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 

67-85) 

* Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter would never be able to fly in space again 

because of an arm injury suffered in 1964 motorcycle accident, the 

Washington Evening Star reported. Surgery performed six months ago 

had failed to restore full mobility of the arm. (AP, W Star, 4/17/67, 

A6) 

* Soviet scientists had succeeded in raising the temperature in lower atmosphere 

by as much as 14Ao F by dissipating clouds with carbon dioxide 

and other chemicals, Soviet Hydrometeorological Service director Dr. 

113


Yevgeny K. Federov told World Meteorological Congress in Geneva. 

Dispersal of “tens of thousands of square kilometers” of clouds could 

serve as “a mechanism for triggering off the modification of more mas- 

sive meteorological processes,” he said. (NYT, 4/18/67,26) 

The press praised Apollo 204 Review Board’s investigation of Jan. 27 

flash fire. 

Technology Week: “The harsh, scathing report of the Apollo 204 

Review Board has effectively laid to rest charges that the board was 

assembled to conduct a whitewash of the January 27 fire, which took 

the lives of three astronauts. The board should be commended for the 

vigor with which it undertook to establish the cause of the fire, the 

energy with which it attacked what it regards as dangerous practices and 

procedures and the directness with which it distributes the blame. . . . 

Perhaps the question that will linger longest about the January tragedy 

is the part played by the pressure of the lunar landing deadlines. We 

personally believe that such target dates play a large and important fac- 

tor in motivating the space program and keeping it moving at a healthy 

pace. But they should not be so sacred as to invoke carelessness. . . . 

Without waiting for another accident, it might be well to undertake the 

same sort of review of practices and procedures throughout the major 

elements of Apollo that has just taken place in regard to the spacecraft. 

. . . The Apollo 204 Review Board has set a good example of what can 

be accomplished.” (Coughlin, Tech Wk, 4/17/67,50) 

Aviation Week: “Its report is technically incisive and sharply criti- 

cal of NASA and the private contractors manufacturing Apollo hard- 

ware. It is as thorough and technically solid as any other investigation 

of aerospace disaster in the past three decades. It disproves earlier 

charges that NASA is incapable of investigating its own technical faults. 

In fact, it would have been impossible to assemble another group suffi- 

ciently knowledgeable about the Apollo system from any other source 

to complete a useful investigation within this time span. 

“. . . there are none of the pat answers, so often demanded by legisla- 

tors and harping critics, to the dangerous and complex problems of 

probing the unknown. Apollo is man’s most daring foray in his history 

on this planet. If all the problems involved in a lunar voyage were so 

obvious and the solutions so simple as many critics seem to think, we 

could all buy tickets for a lunar excursion tomorrow.” (Hotz, Av Wk, 

4]17/67, 21) 

A satellite capable of broadcasting directly to the home, bypassing local 

stations and national networks, might be technically feasible within 

five years, ComSatCorp President Dr. Joseph V. Charyk testified before 

FCC. Economic feasibility, however, might require more than five years, 

he said. Dr. Charyk appeared as a witness for the Justice Dept., which 

was challenging the proposed acquisition of ABC by ITT. (Mintz, W Post, 

4/18/67, A2) 

NASA Administrator James E. Weblb told the Senate Committee on Aeronau- 

tical and Space Sciences that NASA would present, within two weeks, 

detailed estimates of how much the Jan. 27 Ap0110 accident had cost; 

what changes in spacecraft would be made to reduce fire hazards; and 

the earliest date for the first manned Apollo mission. He declined to 

disclose his thoughts concerning canceling NASA’s contract with North 

American Aviation, Inc., because of failures to meet development schedules 

and stay within cost estimates: “They did not do all the things 

114


they should have done, but I can say the same thing about us at NASA.” 

He stated his conviction that he was obligated to “act responsibly in 

respecting confidences between himself and contractors.~’ Denying that 

undue risks were taken in order to speed the program, Webb emphasized 

that NASA had “never put schedule above safety.” Apollo 2044 Review 

Board’s study was “a good report,” he said, but it should not be con- 

strued to be an evaluation of the entire space program: “The board has 

done an outstanding investigation of one accident but it is not a full and 

fair appraisal of the space program . . . [and] cannot be taken as a guide 

to the realities of this program. . . .” In response to questioning Webb 

stated that, in his judgment, the pacing item in the manned lunar land- 

ing program remained the Saturn V booster, and when it was ready for 

manned flight there would be a spacecraft ready. 

Committee Chairman Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.Mex.) requested 

that NASA witnesses appear again not later than May 9 to detail changes 

the program, as suggested by Webb. (Wilford, NYT, 4/18/67, C26; 

O’Toole, W Post, 4/18/67, Al; SBD, 4/18/67, 275) 

Astronauts Donald K. Slayton, Alan B. Shepard, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., 

Frank Borman, and James A. McDivitt, testifying before the House 

Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, 

expressed confidence in NASA’s management of U.S. space program. 

They noted that there had been only one mishap in the program, compared 

with 16 successful manned flights under the same management. 

Since fire had been foreseen as a significant danger in orbit but not on 

the launch pad before fueling of the launch vehicle, everyone had been 

‘‘lulled into a sense of false security . . , [and] grossly underestimated 

the fire potential of the spacecraft,” they said. Schirra explained confidence 

astronauts felt prior to the fire Jan. 27: “The back-up crew [of 

which Schirra was commander] had left the Cape with the feeling that 

we had a good spacecraft behind us. . . . I was not at all prepared for 

the news I received when I arrived at Houston.” (Hines, W Star, 

4/18/67, 1) 

April 17-20: Some of the more important preliminary results from NASA’s 

interplanetary spacecraft Pioneer F’Z {launched Dee. 16,1965) and VZZ 

(launched Aug. 17, 1966) were presented at American Geophysical 

Union’s 48th annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Spacecraft, which had 

flown almost 200 million mi in their solar orbits, had provided: (1) better 

definition of solar atmosphere; (2) additional data on solar wind; and 

(3) improved measurement of earth’s magnetosphere. Report by ARC 

scientists Dr. John H. Wolfe, R. W. Silva, and D. D. McKibbin indicated 

that magnetosphere ends about 3.5 million mi from earth going away 

from the sun; previous estimates had varied from 240,000 mi to 100 

million mi. (NASA Release 674%) 

April 18: NASA Administrator James E. Webb submitted summary of M/G 

Samuel Phillips’ (USAF) report on North American Aviation, Inc.’s 

workmanship (the “Phillips Report”) to the Senate Committee on Aeronautical 

and Space Sciences: “Our main criticism was that the Space 

and Information Division was overmanned and that the S-I1 and CSM 

programs could be done, and done better by fewer people, better organized 

with particular emphasis on achieving greater competence in key 

management and technical positions. . . . Work tasks were inadequately 

defined and scheduled . . . and, largely as a result of these 

conditions, budget and control were deficient. 

115


bC . . . in each of . . . [the] problem areas we identified in December 

1965, we found . . . improvement in the situation in April 1966. I do 

not intend, however, to leave the impression that we were completely 

satisfied with North American’s performance. We did determine . . . 

that the corrective actions already taken and those in the process of being 

implemented in April 1966 were appropriate ones that reflected a respon- 

sive reaction by NAA to the criticism we had expressed during our review 

and provided some measure of confidence for improved future 

performance. . . .” 

Testifying in support of NASA’s FY 1968 budget, Webb warned against 

permitting the Jan. 27 Apollo accident to deter US. space efforts. It 

should not, he said, “lead us to lose sight of the continued progress 

and vigorous efforts the Soviets are making. . . . With the world 

situation what it is, and with clear indications that the Soviets are going 

ahead with a large-scale, long-term program in space, it is especially 

important this year for the United States to let the world know that we 

cannot and will not surrender our hard-won position, even though we will 

not mount the larger effort required to catch up with them.” Describing 

the proposed budget as “forward looking,” Webb conceded that it would 

not “enable us [NASA] to move toward important go& with as much 

assurance as we would like.” He outlined NASA’s planned program and 

urged support for all future projects: “If we fail to make these decisions 

in our consideration of the 1968 budget, they will go by default. . . . 

Later when we find we do not have the capabilities we could have had and 

that others are accomplishing what we might have achieved, it will be too 

late.” (Wood, W Post, 4/19/67, A9; Sehistedt, B Sun, 4/19/67, 1) 

NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, 

carried c;sFc-instrumented grenade payload to obtain data on tempera- 

ture,.pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 mi (35-95 km) at 

transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly circulation. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* Informed sources reported that U.S.S.R.’s Tu-144 supersonic transport 

would not be ready for the Paris International Air Show in May as UPI 

reported March 7 but would still fly before the Anglo-French Concorde 

and US. SST, according to AP. First test flight of Tu-144 would be in 

late 1967. (AP, NYT, 4/19/67,73) 

April 19: First manned Apollo flight had been delayed at least one year by 

Jan. 27 fire at KSC, Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Administrator 

for Manned Space Flight, told Senate Committee on Aeronautical and 

Space Sciences. He said he believed men could still land on the moon 

by the original 1970 deadline “although the probability is lowered.” 

Dr. Mueller told the Committee that the replacement spacecraft for the 

first manned Apollo mission, which incorporated “all changes resulting 

from the findings of the Apollo accident investigation,” was on the 

assembly line at North American Aviation, Inc.’s plant in Downey, 

Calif. (AP, B Sun, 4/20/67) 

* USAF SV-5D lifting body vehicle was successfully launched from WTR by 

Atlas booster on reentry mission and telemetered excellent performance 

data. Vehicl-third of four in USAF’S Precision Recovery Including 

Maneuvering Entry (Prime) program-was second to perform pre- 

programmed crossrange maneuvers and first to be successfully recov- 

ered. First SV-5D vehicle was launched Dec. 21, 1%6, and lost when 

parachute malfunctioned during reentry; second, launched March 5, sank 

116


in Pacific after losing its %otation gear. (Tech Wk, 4/%/67,13; Av Wk, 

4/24/67,35) 

NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station carried 

GsFc-instrumented grenade payload to 67-mi (108-km) altitude to ob- 

tain data on temperature, pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 mi 

(35-95 km) at transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time east- 

erly circulation. Rocket and instrumentation performance were only 

partly successful due to low apogee of rocket, which placed the highest 

grenade burst at only 42-mi altitude. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Administrator James E. Webb addressed Edison Electric Institute’s 

35th Annual Convention in New Orleans: “Our flight projects, both 

manned and unmanned, depend upon electronic links back to earth 

where their data are recorded and analyzed, where their actions are con- 

trolled, and where the new knowledge is put to use. We must therefore 

continue to provide and operate the tracking and data acquisition net- 

works and their associated communications. Our technology utilization 

program will continue to provide effective means for making available 

the fruits of our technological progress to the scientific and industrial 

community at large. And, in every area of our program effort, we are 

continuing the underlying supporting research and technology which 

make possible the development of experiments, the implementation of 

ideas, and the advances in technology which culminate in meaningful 

aeronautical and space projects. . . . Research and development, scien- 

tific inquiry and technological advance, are the province of men working 

here on earth. New knowledge and new tools for its application are 

major elements of our total national power-political, military, and 

economic.” (Transcript) 

* Edgar M. Cortright, NASA Depu’ty Associate Administrator for Space 

Science and Applications, testifying on NASA FY 1968 authorization 

bill (H.R. 6470) before House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ 

Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, said he had “high 

confidence that we can sterilize the Voyager system by 1973 to the satis- 

faction of the biologists.” He disagreed with the opinion of Dr. N. H. 

Horowitz (Cal Tech) that US. was adhering to sterilization standards 

which were exceedingly severe and represented an obstacle to US. plans 

for planetary exploration [see March 241. To support his view, Cortright 

presented a summary of the findings of Spacecraft Sterilization Advisory 

Board, chaired by Dr. Richard Bond, Univ. of Minnesota, which was 

“examining the statements” made by Dr. Horowitz. Cortright said it was 

felt that “probably Prof. Horowitz has overestimated the difficulty posed 

by the current sterilization requirements and underestimated the ability 

of aerospace companies and government laboratories to cope with it.” 

Most of the components and parts NASA planned to use in Voyager and 

sterilize were already b‘demonstrably sterilizable,” so there seemed to 

be no justification in abandoning a goal which the majority of the 

scientific community feels is legitimate.” (Transcript) 

* The “Phillips Report”-report by NASA’s Apollo Program Director M/G 

Samuel C. Phillips which “found insufficient competence in key manage- 

ment and technical positions” at North American Aviation, Inc., 16 mo 

before Apollo accident-was being suppressed by NASA, Rep. William 

F. Ryan (D.N.Y.) charged in an AP interview. Representative Ryan 

said he would ask Chairman of House Committee on Science and Astro- 

nautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) 

117


to demand NASA’s submission of the full report for examination by 

the subcommittee. (AP, W Star, 4/19/67, A6) 

* Letter to editor of Space Business Daily by unidentified leader in U.S. space 

program attacked NASA’s use of pure oxygen in life-support systems: 

Cb 

. . . most engineering people in industry, most reputable bio-engineer- 

ing people in USAF and NASA felt two gas was the way to go. In addition, 

there has never been an overwhelming engineering reason for a pure 

oxygen sytitem. . . . The argument of reliability and complexity is 

ludicrous when you examine the complexity of other systems in the 

spacecraft and booster. Now it is even more ironic in that, if pure oxygen 

is kept, all sorts of complicating compensations must be made. The truth 

is that a few key people in NASA flew in the face of strong industry 

technical advice against pure oxygen. To add to the problem, Gemini 

made them cocky and they forgot completely the sleeping monster they 

had created. Take anyone, regardless of skill and training, show him a 

fire in pure oxygen, and ask him if he’d agree to live in pure oxygen 

with that danger in the complex environment of a spacecraft. The answer 

is painfully obvious. Now we’ll make a bad situation worse by jury 

rigging a system to avoid pure oxygen on the pad-but-we’ll still have 

it in space. 

“NASA and everyone must face it. It was a bad decision compounded 

by complacency, for example, the hatch design. If the atmosphere were 

two gas, chances are, survival would have occurred. Let’s get guts, fix 

the basic deficiency and take the delay. That is the only answer and 

sooner or later it must be faced.” (SBD, 4/19/67, 282) 

* Five communications companies filed joint application with FCC for con- 

struction of new comsat earth station near Rowlesburg, W. Va. Com- 

panies: ComSatCorp; AT&T; ITT WorldCom; RCA; and WUI. Proposed 

station, to be completed in 1968, would handle all types of high-quality 

communications. ( ComSatCorp Release 67-31) 

* M/G Holger Nelson Toftoy (USA, Ret.) , a leading Army ordnance expert 

who recommended that former German V-2 development team under 

the leadership of Dr. Wernher von Braun be brought to US. at end of 

World War 11, died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a long 

illness. General Toftoy became commander of White Sands Proving 

Grounds immediately following World War 11. In 1952 he became 

Director of the Ordnance Missiles Laboratory at Redstone Arsenal, 

Huntsville, Ala., and in 1958, when Redstone was reorganized as the 

Army Ordnance Missile Command, he was named Dquty Commander 

under M/G John 3. Medaris. General Toftoy subsequently became com- 

mander of Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground until his retirement in 

1960. (UPI, NYT, 4/20/67) 

April 1940: NASA’s 

Surveyor III became second U.S. spacecraft to softland 

on the moon when it touched down in the Ocean of Storms after 

64 hr 59 min flight and began transmitting the first of 5,487 detailed 

television pictures to JPL Deep Space Facilities, Goldstone, Calif. 

Landing sequence began when Surveyor 111 shifted its normal cruising 

attitude to position main retrorocket. Triggered by radar (later 

ejected), main retromotor burned and slowed spacecraft to about 250 

mph. Vernier engines, which were to have slowed spacecraft to about 

3 mph, failed to cut off at 14 ft above lunar surface as planned, and the 

620-lb spacecraft made three separate landings-covering distance of 

33 ft-before engines shut off 37 sec after initial touchdown. 

118


April 19-30 

April 19-30: Lunar material scooped onto Surveyor 111 footpad by surface sampler on the 

moon was photographed through red filter in spacecraft’s TV camera April 26. Color 

calibration chart in fmeground is mounted on the spacecraft’s leg. 

First pictures transmitted were unclear because of sun’s brightness, 

but later photos were excellent. They revealed that spacecraft was rest- 

ing in a depression or small crater with 5” slope-which was expected 

to hinder photography of lunar horizon-and showed impressions made 

by footpads during multiple landing. Shortly after touchdown a telem- 

etry malfunction falsely indicated major drain on power system, but 

photos confirmed that spacecraft’s batteries were intact and undamaged. 

In addition to photographic equipment, including two additional 

mirrors to expand camera’s field of view, spacecraft also carried a 

shovel-like surface sampler which would scoop soil, move debris, and 

strike lunar rock with an expandable arm operated by radio signals 

from earth. On April 21-22 sampler began bearing strength tests and 

excavation of trenches up to six inches deep. On April 23-24, cooled 

by two-hour lunar eclipse, Surveyor 111 took 118 excellent color photos 

of Venus, a star cluster, and earth as it passed between the moon and 

the sun. On basis of preliminary digging operations and photos, project 

324-801 0-49-9 119

April 19-30 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

scientists concluded that lunar soil had consistency similar to wet 

sand and a bearing strength of about six pounds per square inch-firm 

enough to support Apollo spacecraft. Cal Tech professor and advisor 

to JPL on soil mechanics Dr. Ronald F. Scott explained: “The surface 

is lie ordinary soil . . . a lot like fine grained sod or damp beach sand, 

and it behaves in perhaps a disappointingly ordinary way. The area 

presents no hazardous conditions and looks good for a landing site. 

An astronaut waking across the surface would not need snowshoes.’’ 

On May 3 communications with spacecraft were halted temporarily to 

conserve battery strength throughout two-week lunar night. 

Performance of Surveyor IZZ, with equipment identical to Surveyor 

Z and Surveyor ZZ except for soil sampler and two additional mirrors, 

was near flawless, and expected lifetime was indefinite. Surveyor Z was 

launched May 30, 1966, successfully softlanded on moon June 2, 1966, 

in Ocean of Storms, and transmitted 10,338 pictures to earth. Surveyor 

ZZ was successfully launched Sept. 20, 1966, but failed to softland 

because of an ignition failure. (NASA Proj. Off; NASA Release 67-85; 

UPI, W Star, 4/23/67, A10; O’Toole, W Post, 4/22/67, A4; 4/23/67, 

All 

April 20: NASA successfully launched Essa V (TOS-C), fifth meteorological 

satellite in ESSA’S Tiros Operational Satellite (TOS) system, from WTR 

using Thrust-Augmented Thor-Delta booster. Satellite achieved nearlv- 

pols;, sun-syncGonous orbit with 883-mi (1,421-km) apogee; 840-mi 

(1,352-km) perigee; 113.5-min period; and 101.9” inclination. Wheel 

orientation maneuver would be completed during 18th orbit [see April 

241, at which time first photos would be programmed and NASA would 

check out spacecraft before turning its operation over to ESSA. 

An advanced version of the cartwheel configuration, 325.113 Essa V 

carried two Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) cameras which 

would provide 24-hr global weather coverage. Photos would be stored on 

magnetic tape until readout by ESSA’S Command and Data Acquisition 

(CDA) stations at Fairbanks, Alaska, and Wallops Island, Va., to supple- 

ment Essa ZZZ-expected to become almost completely inoperable by 

early June. 

ESSA financed, managed, and operated TOS system; GSFC was respon- 

sible for procurement, launch, and initial checkout of spacecraft in orbit. 

Essa Z was launched Feb. 3, 1966; Essa IZ, Feb. 28, 1966; Essa IZZ, 

Oct. 2,1966; and Essa ZV, Jan. 26, 1967. (NASA Proj Off; ESSA Release 

67-39) 

NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., testifying on NASA’s 

N 1968 authorization bill (H.R. 6470) before House Committee on 


Technology, urged congressional approval for funding to begin program 

to develop Nerva I1 nuclear rocket engine. Estimated cost over 10 yrs 

would be $2 billion: $500 million would be needed to develop nuclear 

stage and $1 billion for ground testing. NASA’s decision to develop 

Nerva II was based primarily on “our own national objectives in space; 

what do we do in the future; now looking ahead to the late ’70s and 

%Os, as a requirement for booster capability in this country. . . . However, 

we also must consider our capability in the world arena and, of 

course, specifically today we have to be cognizant the best that we can 

of the Russian capability and the Russian plans.” Dr. Seamans noted that 

Soviet Proton booster could launch 50,000 lbs into earth orbit, com- 

120


pared to 40,00~1,000-lb capability of Uprated Saturn I. “We have 

every reason to believe that in the [Soviet] program they recognized the 

same kind of needs that we recognized for our program and that they 

are moving on a broad front, including the development of very large 

boosters.” (Transcript, 1131-4) 


Homer E. Newell, testifying on NASA’s FY 1968 authorization bill 

(S. 781) before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 

urged congressional approval to begin lO-yr, $2.2-billion Voyager pro- 

gram. “Our concept in developing the Voyager spacecraft is to develop 

a technology that can be used for exploring the solar system. Although 

we talk in terms of going to Mars for the first missions, our plan is to 

modularize the system so that by rearranging and reorganizing pieces, 

one can go to Venus or one might develop a spacecraft to go out to 

Jupiter . . . we are planning on developing for planetary exploration the 

kind of technology that we developed in the Explorer series for explora- 

tion of the vicinity of the earth.” Dr. Newell said NASA had no proposal 

for manned exploration of the planets at the present time. (Transcript, 

320-2) 

* Testimony by NASA and NAA officials at congressional hearings on Apollo 

accident was loaded with technical information to avoid discussion of 

mismanagement and responsibility, William Hines charged in the Wash- 

ington Evening Star: “In execution, it was a masterful operation. Ex- 

perts avalanched data on the committees until . . . [they had] far more 

technical information than they could possibly handle. . . .” Hines cited 

statement by Sen. Walter Mondale (D-Minn.) which “got to the very 

core” of the problem: ‘‘ ‘I am not interested in knowing enough about 

building spacecraft so that I can build one in my backyard, but I do 

think I have a responsibility to know enough about questions of manage- 

ment, contractor performance and quality control so I can pass judgment 

on the question of whether these are fundamental issues that we need to 

deal with.’ ” 

“If members of the House committee had all kept their eyes on this 

central issue and refused to be confused by the irrelevant and the trivial, 

the hearings on that side of the Capitol would have been far more fruit- 

ful to date.” (Hines, W Star, 4/20/67, A6) 

Unconfirmed reports in Moscow indicated that “a spectacular and signifi- 

cant” space venture by U.S.S.R. would occur within one week, according 

to AP. (AP, W Star, 4/20/67, 1) 

* Third U.S. Redstone rocket in the “Projeot Sparta” antimissile-missile re- 

search program was fired from Woomera Rocket Range near Canberra, 

Australia, Supply Minister Denham Henty announced. (AP, C Sun- 

Times, 4/21/67) 

Large antennas on satellites, missiles, aircraft, and household rooftops 

might soon be replaced by a tiny two- or three-ounce microcircuit device 

called Subminiature Integrated Antenna ( SIA) being developed by USAF. 

Broad-banded SIA would have several octaves of bandwidth to cover 

entire VHF and UHF range; allow 50-100 times as much inflow of elec- 

trical current for sharper TV pictures; replace larger antennas that 

sometimes revealed presence of combat troops to the enemy; and reduce 

weight of future air and space vehicles by 10-500 lbs. (AFSC Release 

40.67) 

NATO was considering establishing a $45-million comsat system which 

121


would permit simultaneous consultation of its leaders during crisis, 

William Beecher reported in New York Times. US. would supply and 

launch two satellites; costs would be shared by NATO members. Proposal 

was expected to be formally approved during May. (Beecher, NYT, 

4/21/67, 11) 

ApriZ 20-21: Thirteen high school studenb from Northwestern states pre- 

sented scientific papers at regional Youth Science Congress at ARC. Con- 

gress was sponsored jointly by NASA and National Science Teachers 

Assn. to “encourage promising students to enter science as a career, and 

to develop their abilities in science through scientific investigation.” (ARC 

Release 67-6) 

April 21: Seven members of the House Committee on Science and Astro- 

nautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight continued hearings on Jan. 27 

Apollo accident at KSC by touring AS-204 launch pad and questioning 

eyewitnesses. 

Donald Nichols, assistant test manager at KSC, told the Subcommittee 

that the decision to keep the hatch closed during Jan. 27 Apollo re- 

hearsal might have cost the lives of the crew. On Oct. 31, 1966, he said, 

decision was made to change plans that would have kept the hatch open 

until the crew had been better trained on emergency procedures. Officials 

decided that hatch could be locked and emergency escape practice con- 

ducted after the test, he said. If test procedures had not been changed, the 

hatch would have been open or the astronauts not present in the space- 

craft. 

Thomas R. Baron, former North American Aviation, Inc., quality 

control inspector, said that Apollo 1 astronauts smelled smoke in their 

spacecraft 12 min before they died and tried for five minutes to escape. 

This information, he said, had been supplied by NAA electrical technician 

Mervin Holmberg. 

Holmberg later made a surprise appearance before the Subcommittee 

and denied Baron’s allegation: “I listened to his [Baron’s] speculation, 

but I didn’t make any comment” on what caused the fire. “I wasn’t even 

near the accident when it happened.’’ Baron, who had submitted a report 

to NASA [see During March] prior to Jan. 27 accident charging laxity, 

poor morale, and bad management on the part of NAA, was sharply 

criticized by subcommittee members, and his statement was disclaimed. 

( Abramson, W Post, 4/22/67, A4) 

0 USN F-111B fighter aircraft crashed on takeoff in test flight at Grumman 

Aircraft Engineering Corp.’s Calverton, N.Y., flight test center. Both 

Grumman pilots were killed. Adapted for use by USN and USAF, the F-111 

(formerly TFX) had been subject of continued controversy between 

Congress and DOD since Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in- 

sisted that the F-111 be used by both services and overruled military 

leaders’ objections to selection of General Dynamics Corp. for con- 

struction of the aircraft. Crash was first for USN test model, which had 

been stripped to remove excess weight; USAF test model (F-111A) 

crashed in January, killing one crew member. (Wilson, W Post, 4 122167, 

A51 

0 Aquanauts diving to extremely low ocean depths should breathe almost pure 

hydrogen in their diving suits, Dr. R. W. Brauer of Wrightsville Marine 

Bio-Medical Laboratory suggested at Federation of American Societies 

for Experimental Biology in Chicago. Dr. Brauer planned to subject him- 

self to such an atmosphere-gS% hydrogen and 2% oxygen-at a 

122


pressure equivalent to 700- or 800-ft depth within the next six months. 

Divers long ago passed the depth limits that were 

pressed air and were now approaching the probable 

atmosphere in which helium was the major ingredient, Dr. Brauer said. 

Yet oil drilling, prospecting operations, and other undersea activities 

were pushing divers to further depths which required new types of 

atmosphere and, possibly, drugs to modify the narcotic effects produced 

by the high pressure air. (Schmeck, NYT, 4/23/67,60) 

NASA awarded $213,000 contract to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. to 

design an orbiting primate spacecraft. (LaRC Release) 

9 US. scientists’ interes’t in military research had declined substantially, 

Bryce Nelson wrote in Science: “Since the beginning of the Second 

World War, many American scientists have regarded it as a duty to work 

on military research in times of national emergency and have often done 

so with enthusiasm. However . . . many scientists now seem to show 

little feeling of obligation to do military research.” Suggested reasons 

for lack of interest: (1) disagreement with US. policy in Vietnam; (2) 

boredom with defense problems; (3) higher salaries in private industry 

than in DOD; and (4) increased interest in civilian problems such as 

urban development, poverty, and transportation. (Nelson, Science, 

4/21/61, a) 

* The eficiency of Soviet scientific research was deteriorating and the price 

of getting an idea into production was rising, biologist Alexander Neifakh 

wrote in Literaturnaya Gazeta. Although scientists had doubled 

every 7 to 10 yrs, published works had doubled only every 13-15 yrs. 

6< 

This shows that the effectiveness of scientific activity per scientist or 

per ruble invested in science is consistently falling,” Neifakh con- 

cluded. (Reuters, NYT, 4/22/67,31) 

April 21-23: Editorial comment on NASA Surveyor Ill’s successful softlanding 

on the moon April 19. 

Miami News: “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

badly needed a victory to demonstrate that the moon program is not 

threatened by technical deficiencies, as the Apollo investigation seems to 

suggest. The landing of Surveyor I11 . . . and the transmission of TV 

picture fills the bill. . . . There is no denying, however, that Apollo is in 

serious dif&culty . . . [and] NASA is creating the impression that it is 

unwilling to see the investigation carried to a complete conclusion. . . . 

Surveyor and dozens of similar achievements demonstrate that the 

overall space program has been a remarkable success. NASA would make 

a mistake to see the luster of this record dimmed by its failure to cooper- 

ate fully in the Apollo investigation.” (Miami News, 4/21/67) 

New York Times: “Inevitably, Surveyor 3 calls attention to the fact 

that the first stages of lunar study and exploration do not require men, 

that the moon can be investigated to a considerable extent without in- 

curring either the great risks or high costs of manned lunar flight. From 

the scientific and technical points of view, Surveyor-type flights are a 

rational and feasible alternative to Apollo. . . . Manned space explora- 

tion has unavoidable dangers, but these are multiplied many times by 

the pressure of the 1970 deadline that dominates the Apollo project. 

What Surveyor 3 has done is to remind us that-aside from propaganda 

and prestige considerations-there is no need to endanger brave men’s 

lives.” (NYT, 4/23/67,10B) 

Washington Post: “With the success in landing Surveyor I11 . . . 

123

April 21-23 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

[NASA] once again exhibited its stunning scientific and technological 

skills. . . . Surely the time cannot be far off when men will be shuttling 

from earth to the moon-and far beyond. . . . Bold ventures of mankind 

are always undertaken in din of criticism, and the manned flight 

to the moon will be no exception to the rule. Space exploration will continue-not 

because it excites expectations of an El Dorado or a Fountain 

of Youth-but because it is an inescapable challenge to human curiosity 

and imagination.” ( W Post, 4/23/67, C6) 

April 23-24: U.S.S.R. successfully launched Soyuz Z spacecraft with Vladimir 

M. Komarov, but mission ended 26 hrs after launch when spacecraft 

failed to reenter properly and crash-landed, killing Cosmonaut Komarov. 

Launched April 23 from Baikonur by a “powerful new carrier rocket,” 

Soyuz Z entered initial orbit “close to the estimated one,” Tass announced 

with unprecedented speed, only one hour 20 min after launch. 

Orbital parameters: apogee, 224 km (139 mi) ; perigee, 201 km (125 

mi); period, 88.1 min; inclination, 51.4”. Onboard equipment was 

cc 

functioning normally” and Komarov was “in good health and feeling 

well.” During the flight Tass distributed only a few terse reports in con- 

trast to extensive publicity usually accorded manned missions. Final 

announcement, which followed 11-hr silence, said accident occurred dur- 

ing 18th orbit after program of test flight had been completed and 

spacecraft had been successfully braked with retrorockets for reentry. 

“. . . when the main parachute was opened at an altitude of seven kilome- 

ters [4.3 mi], the lines of the parachute, according to preliminary infor- 

mation, got snarled and the spaceship descended at great speed, which 

resulted in Komarov’s death.” Tass did not report whether the cosmo- 

naut had a personal parachute to attempt an escape. Western experts 

believed Soyuz I was tumbling or spinning out of control during re- 

entry: when parachutes were deployed, tumbling caused them to tangle 

among themselves or wrap around spacecraft resulting in crash-land- 

ing. Experts said daculties apparently developed earlier in the flight 

because Komarov tried to reenter during 15th orbit but was unable to 

control his spacecraft. 

Informed sources had speculated that mission involved the launch of 

a second spacecraft carrying several cosmonauts that would dock with 

Soyuz I and permit at least one cosmonaut to transfer from second space- 

craft to Soyuz I. Tass’s official announcement said mission would “test 

the new piloted spaceship, check the ship’s system and elements in con- 

ditions of space flight, conduct expanded scientific and physical-technical 

experiments and studies in conditions of space flight, and continue 

medical and biological studies on the influence of various factors of 

space flight on the human organisms.” Mstislav Keldysh, President of 

Soviet Academy of Sciences, said on April 26 that Soyuz I spacecraft 

had been tested previously in two to four unmanned flights. Weight, size, 

and capacity of new spacecraft were not revealed. 

Immediately following the accident, which was first known fatality 

during a space flight, the Kremlin announced it was appointing a Govern- 

ment commission to investigate “all the circumstances” of the cos- 

monaut’s death. Komarov would be cremated and buried in the Kremlin 

Wall-a final resting place for Soviet heroes-and a monument would 

be erected on the site of his birthplace in Moscow. (NYT, 4/24/67, 1, 

27; 4/25/67,1,20; 4/27/67,2; i8 Post, 4/23/67, AI, A16; 4/24/67, 

A5; 4/25/67, Al, A16; W Star, 4/23/67, Al) 

124


April 24: After successful wheel orientation maneuver Essa V‘s No. 1 meteorological 

camera was turned on for the first time and transmitted “high 

quality” cloud cover pictures. Photography, originally scheduled to 

begin April 22, had been delayed until analysis of spacecraft’s telemetry 

system confirmed that spacecraft and subsystems were working satisfactorily. 

Operation of Essa V, launched by NASA April 20, would be 

turned over to ESSA in early May. (NASA Release 67-98) 

US. leaders expressed sorrow at the death of Cosmonaut Vladimir M. 

Komarov. 

President Johnson: “The death of Vladimir Komarov is a tragedy in 

which all nations share. Like three American astronauts who lost their 

lives recently, this distinguished space pioneer died in the cause of 

science and in the eternal spirit of human adventure.” - 

Vice President Humphrey: “It is with great sorrow that we learn of 

the tragedy involving Vladimir Komarov. The loss of a dedicated life is 

indeed a heavy price. Yet progress and space development is necessary.” 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb: “All of us who have faced the 

di5culties of understanding and putting to use the forces of nature at 

the outer edge of Man’s knowledge of what is possible in this decade 

deeply regret the loss of life represented by the death of Cosmonaut 

Komarov, and extend our sincere sympathy to his family and associates. 

We feel certain that man will achieve great things in space. Some of these 

will determine what the men will be able to do on earth. 

“We also feel that at this dawn of the space age, man has the duty 

to seek cooperation between nations, such as the USSR and the United 

States on a realistic basis. 

66 

We at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration want to 

make every realistic effort. Could the lives already lost have been saved 

if we had known each other’s hopes, aspirations and plans? Or could 

they have been saved if full cooperation had been the order of the day?” 

US. astronauts: “We are very saddened by the loss of Colonel Koma- 

rov. We feel comradeship for this test pilot because we have met several 

of his fellow cosmonauts and we are involved in a pioneering flight 

effort which is not without hazards.” (Text; PD, 5/1/67, 660; AP, 

NYT, 4/25/67, 21) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried GSFC-in- 

strumented payload to 112-mi (181-km) altitude to observe solar spec- 

trum from 3 k to 400 A in conjunction with Os0 111 spectrometer in- 

strument [ see Mar. 81. Rocket and instrumentation performance were 

satisfactory. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA revised designations for Apollo and AA missions: (1) all Apollo 

missions would be numbered sequentially in the order flown with the 

next Apollo mission to be designated Apollo 4, followed by Apollo 5, etc.; 

(2) AA missions would be designated sequentially as UP-1, UP-2, etc. 

Number designations would not differentiate between manned or un- 

manned Uprated Saturn I and Saturn V missions. (Text) 

Report on space rescue prepared by RAND Corp. for NASA recommended that 

all future spacecraft be compartmented with crew spread among 

separate detachable modules. Each module would carry additional sur- 

vival equipment for use in space rescue missions in earth orbit, during 

lunar flights, and manned planetary missions, and would be equipped 

with a spare Earth Reentry Module (ERM) . Study estimated, however, 

that even with an emergency system available, rescues would be success- 

125


ful in only 80% of space emergencies. (Taylor, Tech Wk, 4/24/67,16) 

* MSC awarded MIT a $500,000 contract to study, develop, and test an ad- 

vanced control guidance and navigation system for long-duration, post- 

Apollo manned spaceflight missions. ( MSC Release 67-17) 

Water might have played an important role in shaping the lunar surface, 

Dr. Harold C. Urey, Univ. of California physicist, told National Academy 

of Sciences. As evidence to support his theory of the former existence 

of “lakes” on the lunar surface, Dr. Urey showed spacecraft photos of 

the moon’s surface in which material had filled in depressions as though 

it were free-flowing. He also cited carbon-rich meteorites which seemed 

to be fragments of ancient lake beds. Dr. Urey believed many, if not 

all, the stony meteorites were fragments dislodged from the moon by 

impacting objects such as iron meteorites. As further evidence of water 

action, he noted the presence of meteorites within which numerous 

founded fragments were embedded which appeared to have been shaped 

by frictional effects within flowing material. A body much smaller than 

the moon would not have had sufficient gravity for this flow effect, Dr. 

Urey argued. (Sullivan, NYT, 4/25/67,23) 

ComSatCorp selected Holmes & Narver, Inc., to provide architectural and 

engineering services for three new earth stations under two contracts- 

$361,600 for West Virginia and California facilities, and $194,200 for 

Puerto Rico station. (ComSatCorp Release 67-32) 

April 25: Senate unanimously approved space law treaty, under considera- 

tion since Feb. 7, and transmitted it to President Johnson for signing and 

formal ratification. Treaty would bewme effective when ratified by 

U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., and two other nations. (NASA LAR V1/51; Finney, 

NYT, 4/26/67,1; W Star, 4/26/67, A3) 

* Col. Joseph F. Cotton (USAF) and NASA test pilot Fitzhugh Fulton made 

successful emergency landing of XB-70 No. 1 at Edwards AFB after 

crew entry door opened on takeoff and main landing gear malfunctioned.. 

(XB-70Proj Off) 

M/G Benjamin D. Foulois (USA, Ret.), oldest US. military pilot and first 

American to fly in combat, died at age 87 at Andrews AFB, Md. A member 

of USA since 1898, General Foulois had been first person to operate an 

Army dirigible; first military observer on a cross-country flight (with 

Orville Wright) ; first military man to teach himself to fly; first military 

test pilot; first man to fly more than 100 mi nonstop; first man to use an 

aircraft in combat; and first Chief of Staff of the Army Air Corps to be 

a military aviator. He had received five campaign badges for field serv- 

ices, in addition to the Distinguished Service Medal, the French Legion 

of Honor, the Crown of Italy, and the Congressional Medal of Recogni- 

tion. (UPI, NYT, 4/26/67,43; Casey, W Post, 4/26/67, B8) 

NASA awarded Douglas Aircraft Co. a one-year, $13.5-million fixed-price- 

incentive contract extension to provide continued support services for 

Delta launch vehicle. Contract covered nine launches-seven at ETR, and 

two at WTR-for 12 mo beginning Jan. 1. (NASA Release 67-99) 

* Nearly 100,000 mourners filed past the bier of Cosmonaut Vladimir 

Komarov in Moscow. Premier Aleksey Kosygin and President 

Nikolay V. Podgorny briefly joined an honor guard of soldiers near 

the bier. (Anderson, NYT, 4/26/67,3; UPI, W Post, 4/26/67, A16) 

April 26: Italy’s San Marc0 IZ (San Marco B) scientific satellite was success- 

fully launched from Mobile Launcher in the Indian Ocean off coast of 

Kenya, Africa. Four-stage NASA Scout launch vehicle boosted satellite 

126


April 26: Italian scientific satellite Sun Murco II lifts off from platform at sea off coast 

of Kenya, Africa, on four-stage Scout booster supplied by NASA. 

into equatorial orbit with 748-km (465-mi) apogee; 219-km (136-mi) 

perigee; 94-min period; and 2.9" inclination. The 2851b satellite- 

first to be launched from a platform at sea-would measure air density 

by monitoring spacecraft's drag forces and investigate ionospheric char- 

acteristics which interfered with long-range radio transmissions. 

127


Sun Marc0 ZZ was second Italian satellite to be launched under May 31, 

1962, cooperative agreement between NASA and Italian Space Commis- 

sion (ISC) . First satellite, Sun Murco I, was successfully launched from 

NASA Wallops Station Dec. 15, 196LE. San Marco was a mutual program 

of NASA and ISC with no exchange of funds. NASA supplied launch vehicle 

and provided personnel training and tracking and data acquisition 

services. ISC was responsible for design, fabrication, and testing of pay- 

loads and for launching of satellite built by Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali 

(CRA) of the Univ. of Rome. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-93; WS 


0 NASA test pilot William H. Dana made successful emergency landing of 

X-15 No. 3 at Edwards AFB after low pressure developed in fuel pump. 

( AP, B Sun, 4/27/67) 

0 Ashes of Soviet Cosmonaut Col. Vladimir M. Komarov were buried in the 

Kremlin wall in a military funeral attended by Premier Aleksey N. 

Kosygin, President Nikolay V. Podgorny, and other high Government 

leaders and scientists. Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin, in a brief speech, 

pledged that Soviet cosmonauts would “continue the cause’’ for which 

Komarov gave his life. A NASA spokesman said plans to send US. Astro- 

nauts L. Gordon Cooper and Frank Borman to funeral had been aban- 

doned because U.S.S.R. denied permission, saying it was an internal 

Soviet affair. (AP, W Star, 4/26/67, A24; NYT, 4/27/67, 3; UPI, W 

Post, 4/27/67, A4) 

Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) , in statement on the House floor, charged 

that NASA refused to release the Phillips Report because “the truth concerning 

NASA’s failure properly to supervise Apollo operations and 

incredible mismanagement on the part of NASA’s major Apollo contractor 

is highly embarrassing.” He said that if NASA failed to officially release 

the report by April 29, he would make the full text available to the 

press. “In a democracy no agency should be permitted to withhold critical 

information for its own protection. On the contrary, the public 

which, at a tremendous cost is financing NASA’s efforts in space, has a 

right to know how its money is being spent.” (CR, 4/26/67, H4733) 

New York Times praised Senate ratification of the space law treaty April 25 

and called for increased international cooperation in space: “Ideally, 

the probing of space and the planets would be the province of a World 

Space Organization affiliated with the United Nations, financed by the 

contributions of all nations desiring to participate, and drawing upon 

the technical manpower and knowledge of all nations. This international 

organization could be the owner of the moon and other solar 

bodies, arranging for the exploitation of resources found there, and 

using any extraterrestrial profits for the benefit of all men. 

“It will take much time before such an ideal can be reached. But even 

now the more sober spirit evident in Moscow and Washington opens the 

door to greater bilateral cooperation. Both nations have technical 

knowledge in this field that they could exchange to their mutual advantage. 

Their space tracking and rescue facilities could be coordinated 

into a single world system; they could agree on a division of labor that 

would eliminate such duplication as is represented by Surveyor and 

Lunar Orbiter. The result could easily be major savings in money and 

increased safety for all astronauts, regardless of nationality.” (NYT, 

4/26/67) 

0 James Smith McDonnell, founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corp., received 

128


National Academy of Engineering’s second Founders Medal at NAE’S 

third Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Medal honored “outstanding 

contributions by an engineer both to his profession and to society.” 

( NAE Release) 

Former NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Tech- 

nology Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff was among 45 new members and 10 

foreign associates elected to MAS. (NYT, 4/27/67,57) 

April 27: U.S.S.R. launched the meteorological satellite Cosmos CLVZ into 

orbit with 640-km (398-mi) apogee, 586-km (364-mi) perigee, 96.9- 

min period, and 81.19” inclination. Initial plane of orbit was shifted 

relative to plane of meteorological satellite Cosmos CXLIV (launched 

Feb. 28) by 95”. These two satellites would form experimental system 

called “Meteor.” Mutual positions of orbits for satellites had been chosen 

to permit meteorological observations at intervals of about six hours ; 

system would obtain data on half of the earth’s surface during 24-hr 

period. (GSFC SSR, 4/30/67; Ten Years of Space Research in the 

U.S.S.R., USS-T Trans, vol. 5, no. 5, 1967) 

NASA awarded General Electric Co. and Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. 

$50,000, fixed-price contracts to conduct four-month parallel studies of 

a medical laboratory for Apollo Applications ( AA) flights. Designated 

Integrated Medical and Behavioral Laboratory Measurement System, 

laboratory would permit detailed measurements of human systems and 

crew functions during space flight. It could be flown as a complete labora- 

tory or as selected group of measurement modules on specific missions. 

(NASA Release 67-102) 

* Nuclear physicist Dr. Edward Teller, speaking at a Washington, D.C., 

press conference, recommended that U.S. proceed with a ballistic missile 

defense system. Qualifying his opinion as “inexpert,” Dr. Teller noted 

there were other factors to be considered in any decision for the deploy- 

ment of a missile defense system. Secretary of Defense Robert S. 

McNamara opposed the antimissile system on the grounds that it would 

not withstand a sophisticated assault. (B Sun, 4/28/67, 7) 

April 28: USAF Titan 111-C booster launched from ETR successfully orbited 

five unmanned satellites : two Vela nuclear detection satellites and three 

scientific satellites, Ers-XVIII, Ers-XX, and Ers-XXVII. The 508-lb 

Velas-improved versions of six Vela payloads previously launched- 

entered initial elliptical orbits with 69,000-mi (96,642-km) apogee and 

5,400-mi (8,690-km) perigee. On April 29, orbit of one Vela was dr- 

cularized at 69,000-mi (96,642-km) altitude; orbit of second would be 

circularized May 1. Designed to operate at least 18 mo in orbit, Vela 

satellites were part of DOD’S Vela program to monitor space for violations 

of nuclear test ban treaty. The 14- and 20-lb scientific satellites contained 

scientific and engineering experiments to (1) investigate effects of 

vacuum on characteristics of 16 metals, (2) monitor radiation of Van 

Allen belts, and (3) measure solar radiation. (NYT, 4/29/67, 17; W 

Post, 4/29/67, A4; Pres Rpt 1967) 

Maj. Michael J. Adams (USAF) flew X-15 No. 1 to 167,000-ft altitude and 

3,682 mph (mach 5.32) to provide pilot experience at high altitude and 

check out horizon scanner, horizontal stabilizer alpha, 3rd landing 

skid, and electrical loads. (X-15 Proj Off) 

* McDonnell Aircraft Corp. and Douglas Aircraft Co. merged to form MC- 

Donne11 Douglas Corp., pending Justice Dept. approval. (Av Wk, 

4/24/67,35) 

129

ApS 28 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Joint application for authority to construct new comsat earth station near 

Jamesburg, CaIif., was filed with FCC by ComSatGrp, AT~T, ITT 

WorldCom, RCA, and WUI. (ComSatCorp Release 67-34) 

April 29: President Johnson authorized construction of two SST prototypes 

by Boeing Co. and General Electric Co., who had been continuing 

development and refinement of aircraft and engine designs since their 

selection in design competition Dec. 31, 1966. He said he would a& 

Congress to appropriate $198 million to finance Government’s share of 

project during FY 1968. Construction of first flight model of the 1,800- 

mph, variable-sweepwing aircraft was scheduled for completion by 1970. 

(Frankel, NYT, 4/30/67,1; O’Toole, W Post, 4/30/67, Al) 

* NASA announced it was conducting series of conferences with Apollo prime 

contractors and “a number of other companies that may have resources 

which could be utilized to effect the most rapid feasible recovery from the 

setback to the Apollo program caused by the Apollo 204 accident.” Con- 

tractors with whom discussions were being held included: Aerojet- 

General Corp., Boeing Co., General Electric Co., Lmkheed Aircraft 

Corp., Martin Co., McDonnell Douglas Corp., and North American 

Aviation, Inc. (NASA Release 67-105) 

NASA launched two Nike-Cajun sounding rockets, one from NASA Wallops 

Station, the other two hours later from Point Barrow, Alaska, to obtain 

temperature, pressure, density, and wind data at 22- to 59-mi (35- to 

95-km) altitude during transition from winter-time westerly circulation 

to summer-time easterly circulation. Both rockets and instrumentation 


* Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) made public the full text of the Phillips 

Report which had been withheld by NASA. Full report contained no sig- 

nificant information that had not been included in the summary pre- 

sented by NASA Administrator James E. Webb to Senate Committee on 

Aeronautical and Space Sciences April 18. (UPI, NYT, 4/30/67, 38) 

April 30: Launch of first manned MOL had been postponed by USAF from 

1968 to 1970 because of “development problems,” George Wilson re- 

ported in the Washington Post. According to USAF officials, the problem 

was not money but the “meshing of the various parts that go into the 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory.” (Wilson, W Post, 4/30/67, C1) 

* Vladimir Komarov was twelfth Soviet cosmonaut to die in a spaceflight 

accident, Julius Epstein, a Stanford Univ. professor, told UPI. He claimed 

he had conclusive evidence including the names of Soviet cosmonauts 

who had supposedly died on space missions. Epstein said US. policy of 

not disclosing Soviet space disasters that U.S.S.R. does not publicize 

was based on the State Department’s desire “not to embarrass the Rus- 

sians.,’ (UPI, P Znq, 5/1/67, 1) 

During April: The US. press commented on the April 24 death of Soviet 

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. 

New York Times: “Men have risked their lives in pioneering since 

history began-explorers, mountain climbers, the first aviators who 

conquered the globe’s blanket of air, and now the cosmonauts who enter 

the ‘infinite spaces.‘ That much has to be accepted-but how much? It 

seems clear that the three Americans who died in the oxygen fire at 

Cape Kennedy were victims of insufficient care, slipshod work and haste. 

There is no way of knowing whether similar factors led to the death of 

Komarov yesterday; but it is a fact that the Russians are aiming at time 

schedules, hoping to beat the United States to the moon, trying to meet 

130

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During April 

special dates connected with the fiftieth anniversary of their Revolution. 

The United States still insists on trying to reach the moon by 1970. 

“Both nations are duplicating costly and dangerous work. Thus good 

and brave men die unnecessarily, vast sums are wasted, and without 

doubt the progress that humanity could make through cooperation in 

the thrilling quest for knowledge of the universe is being hampered by 

pride, prestige and the nebulous possibility of strategic gain.” (NYT, 

4/25/67,40) 

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin: “. . . hard on the heels of a test dis- 

aster that took the lives of three US. Apollo astronauts, tragedy has 

also struck the Russian space program with the crash of a new giant 

spacecraft and the death of its pilot, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. . . . 

“Had the Russians succeeded in mounting a new space spectacular 

at this time, it is possible that some of the sobering impact of the Apollo 

on this country would have been dissipated. Although there have been 

repeated disclaimers of a space ‘race,’ the sight of the Soviet Union 

again forging ahead would surely have fanned anew American competi- 

tive instincts. Surely the death of brave men on both sides will re- 

emphasize for both the element of human fallibility and the need for 

offsetting it with infinite pains and caution in space exploration.” (P EB, 

4/25/67) 

Technology Week: “The Soviet tragedy, by emphasizing the hazards 

of space flight, has perhaps eased some of the pressure of the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration and North American Aviation. 

There is more awareness now that the exploration of space will not be 

a series of glittering successes, one after another. There are dangers; 

there will be further tragedies, other brave men to mourn. While bringing 

home the care which must always be taken, the Soviet accident also 

makes it clear that in programs of this magnitude humans are not al- 

ways infallible. . . .” (Coughlin, Tech Wk, 5/1/67, 50) 

Aviation Week and Space Technology: “It is fortunate that the Apollo 

and Soyuz tragedies came this far downstream in the history of manned 

space flight. If they had occurred in the initial phases of Vostok or 

Mercury, the hue and cry of technical timidity in both countries might 

have killed the manned space flight programs before they had a chance 

to demonstrate their technical feasibility. Viewed against the perspective 

of Vostok, Mercury, Voskhod and Gemini and more than 2,000 hr of 

successful space flight logged by crews of both nations, the recent trag- 

edies spotlight development problems but do not raise any fundamental 

doubts about man’s ability to reach the moon. . . .” (Hotz, Av Wk, 

5/1/67,11) 

* Press commented on Congressional hearings on Apollo accident. 

Philadelphia Inquirer: “With both the House and Senate conducting 

their own investigations of the Apollo tragedy, in the aftermath of the 

exhaustive inquiry by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s 

own review board, there is a danger that what will result is a 

negative witch hunt instead of constructive criticism of benefit to the 

space program. Congress should strive to protect the Nation’s investment 

in this critically important and expensive venture and that is not 

to be accomplished by laboring the deficiencies of Apollo I. Above all, 

the concern should be for the safety of future space voyagers. It should 

be to certify that no unnecessary risks will be taken that might invite 

another lethal disaster.” (P Inq, 4/12/67) 

131

During April ASTRONAUTICS. AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

New York Times: “It is a new, and rather shocking, NASA image that 

is being projected by the current Congressional investigations into the 

Apollo tragedy. One would have expected that NASA would make avail- 

able every possible bit of relevant information. . . . The Space Adminis- 

tration cannot afford even to raise the suspicion that it may be covering 

up evidence relevant to the deaths of the three astronauts . . . [and] 

certainly does not want to reinforce the view of cynics who insist that 

NASA actually stands for ‘Never A Straight Answer.’ ’’ (NYT, 4/19/67, 

40) 

Washington Post: NASA “has merited the reproach of the investigators 

of the Apollo disaster and the searching scrutiny of the congressional 

committees reviewing the program. . . . What must not be overlooked 

however, are the risks of the space program that cannot be eliminated 

altogether without abandoning it. . . . When these catastrophes take place, 

the Government and the people must and should react as they reacted 

to the Apollo fire, by demanding new and further precautions, even 

more careful and complete protection. But there will not be much bold 

venturing in a society that visits a sanguinary fury upon those unfortu- 

nate enough to preside over calamity. For in that kind of society, more 

and more men will discover that the way to avoid getting any reproach 

is to avoid taking any risks.” (W Post, 4/19/67) 

Rep. Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich.) in joint dialogue with Rep. Carl Albert 

(D-Okla.) , appearing in Genera2 Electric Forum, when asked: “What 

is the present climate in the 90th Congress for other key legislative pro- 

grams such as space?” stated: “Congress is interested in space and will 

support a strong space program. Those who are knowledgeable recog- 

nize that we have gone past the point of no return in giving full support 

to the Apollo lunar landing program. But many Congressmen are con- 

cerned about our course in the future exploration of space. When you 

relate the financial demand of another big quantum jump in space tech- 

nology to our other fiscal burdens, you get the feeling that the 90th 

Congress will not be willing to embark on another major manned space 

program beyond the moon that will lead to another commitment of five 

or ten years or longer.” (GE Forum, 4/6/67,114) 

* NASA awarded Univ. of Arizona a $14,970 research contract for a case 

history of LaRC from 1917-47. (NASA Release 67-86) 

Dept. of Commerce announced it would construct a multimillion dollar 

oceanographic laboratory on Florida’s Virginia Key similar to West 

Coast Laboratory in Seattle. East Coast Laboratory would operate three 

ships and conduct research in geophysics, oceanography, and sea-air 

interaction. (UPI, NYT, 4/25/67, 26) 

132

May 1967 

May I: NASA established the NASA Lunar and Planetary Missions Advisory 

Board to “ . . . develop and review . . . scientific objectives and general 

strategy for manned and unmanned lunar and planetary missions [and 

to formulate] guidelines and specific recommendations for the design 

of missions and for the scientific payloads. . . .” The Board would have 

a close working relationship with all senior NASA officials involved in 

lunar and planetary exploration and would work “. . . through the As- 

sociate Administrator for Space Science and Applications.” ( NMI- 

1156.12) 

0 Five NASA officials were among 45 young business and Government execu- 

tives from U.S. and abroad selected to receive MIT’S 1967-68 Alfred P. 

Sloan Fellowships for one year of study at MIT’S Sloan School of Manage- 

ment “to accelerate their development into positions of major executive 

responsibilities. . . .,’ NASA recipients: R. Bryan Erb, Assistant Chief, 

Structures and Mechanics Div., MSC; Robert H. Kirby, Jr., Flight 

Mechanics and Technology Div., URC ; Calvin E:. Perrine, Jr., Assistant 

Chief, Mission Operations Div., Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, MSC ; 

Robert J. Schwinghamer, Technical Assistant to Director of Manufac- 

turing and Engineering Laboratory, MSFC; and William E. Scott, Deputy 

Chief, Research Div., Office of University Affairs, NASA Hq. (NASA Re- 

lease 67-104) 

* Orbit of second Vela nuclear detection satellite, launched April 28 by USAF 

Titan 111-C booster, was circularized at 69,000-mi altitude. First Vela’s 

orbit had been circularized April 29. Satellites were part of DOD’S Vela 

program to monitor space for violations of nuclear test ban treaty. 

(AP, NYT, 5/2/67,16) 

* Field Enterprises Educational Corp. announced that it would not exercise 

its option to extend its rights for book and newspaper distribution of 

the personal stories of NASA astronauts and their families. Present four- 

year agreement, which paid the astronauts $320,000 annually for ex- 

clusive publishing rights and provided each astronaut with $50,000 life 

insurance policy, would expire Aug. 31. Field Enterprises president 

Bailey K. Howard said large number of astronauts now, compared with 

number four years ago, made continuation of the project impractical. 

(AP, NYT, 5/3/67,13; US News, 5/15/67) 

* Director of FAA SST Development B/G J. C. Maxwell signed the contracts 

for construction of two SST prototypes by Boeing Go. and General Elec- 

tric Co. Industry representatives had signed earlier. President Johnson 

authorized FAA to proceed with Phase I11 (prototype construction) of 

SST program on April 29. (Sehlstedt, B Sun, 5/2/67,1) 

* U.S.S.R.’s May Day Parade was transmitted across US. for broadcast in 

Japan, but was not televised on American networks. The 1%-hr program, 

133

May 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

transmitted through the cooperation of ComSatCorp and U.S.S.R., 

originated live in Moscow and was picked up by Early Bird I over the 

Atlantic; relayed across US. by Andover, Me., and Brewster Flat, Wash., 

ground stations; and transmitted across Pacificvia Intelsat IZ for viewing 

in Tokyo. Japan paid approximately $30,000 for broadcast and transmission 

services. (Birger, M News, 5 15 167 ; ComSatCorp) 

Washington Evening Star editorial praised Senate’s unanimous approval of 

the space law treaty April 25: “The action lends timely support to 

President Johnson’s policy of seeking to promote a spirit of detente 

through various types of agreements designed to build bridges between 

our country and the Communist East. 

LL 

. . . the new space treaty is at best only a modest step in the direction 

of improved Soviet-American relations. Still, it is a step forward, and 

a good one. Anybody who objects to it on security grounds can rest 

assured: It will not interfere in the slightest with our country’s ability 

to detect Russian cheating between us and the stars if such cheating 

actually takes place.” (W Star, 5/1/67) 

* Haste might have contributed to the April 24 crash-landing of Soyuz Z 

in which Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died, Edmund Stevens suggested 

in Washington Evening Star. He speculated that Soviet leaders, 

influenced by the goal of orbiting men around the moon by Nov. 7-50th 

anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution-had launched Soyuz I before 

it was fully man-rated. (Stevens, W Star, 5/1/67, Al, A6) 

May 1-3: NASA’s Surveyor III spacecraft continued photography and digging 

operations on lunar surface. On May 3, communications with spacecraft 

were halted to conserve battery power during two-week lunar 

night. Photos taken during mission since April 19 soft-landing on the 

moon totaled 6,315. (NASA Proi Off) 

* American Astronautical Society’s ( AAS) 13th Annual Convention, “Commercial 

Utilization of Space,” was held in Dallas. 

MSFC Director Dr. Wernher von Braun stressed the importance of 

space exploration to man’s general welfare: “The space program is 

providing us with new and valuable scientific information about our 

environment in this universe. The space budget cannot be justified, 

however, solely on the basis of expanding scientific knowledge, even 

though the discoveries may be regarded priceless by one segment of 

society. Space technology must continue and expand its contributions 

to the satisfaction of the needs and desires of society in general if 

it is to become a permanent outlet for man’s creativity and energies.” 

Dr. von Braun later suggested to the press that the lunar module (LM) 

might not be ready for the Apollo lunar mission as soon as the other 

launch vehicle and spacecraft elements. In that event, he said, NASA 

might decide to “fly the lunar mission [as a manned circumlunar flight] , 

but just not activate one phase of it.” (Text; Av Wk, 5/8/67, 17) 

Future potentials of navigation satellites were outlined by Eugene 

Ehrlich, Navigation and Traffic Control Program Chief, OSSA. Navigation 

satellites could provide : (1) high-accuracy position determination 

service to craft, people, and shore stations; (2) communications service 

to pilots, tr&c controllers, and passenyers; (3) air traffic control and 

maritime coordination; (4) SST radiation warning; (5) search and 

rescue aid during emergencies; (6) weather routing for aircraft and 

ships; (7) iwberg warning; and (8) data on migratory habits of 

marine, land, and sea life. (Text) 

134

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 May 1-3 

George S. Trimble, Director of Advanced Planning, OMSF, called for 

increased industry responsibility in space exploration. NASA builds “the 

roads into space. It is beholden on . . . industry to make certain that 

we build the proper ones for . . . future use. . . . As we look forward 

to missions of ever-increasing complexity, it is important that we con- 

tinue to insure the most effective accomplishment of the most worth- 

while experiments that this country can devise.” (Text) 

Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , describing industry’s attempts to 

capitalize on non-Government space business opportunities as “sub- 

stantially insufficient,” urged industry to submit imaginative proposals 

for commercial development of space and to solicit Congress’ support 

fortheeffort. (Av Wk, 5/15/67,67) 

A more realistic basis for determining space transportation costs 

should be devised to refleot actual use of the object in space, KSC Director 

Dr. Kurt H. Debus suggested. Although cost reductions were being 

studied, prospective commercial users of space should expect to spend 

about 10% of their overall program costs for launch operations, he said. 

He emphasized that more substantial savings could be realized in other 

areas such as reusable boosters and payload; increased life cycle of 

payload ; reserviceable payload ; and booster and spacecraft propulsion. 

(Text; Av Wk, 5/15/67,69) 

NASA Assistant Administrator for International Affairs Arnold W. 

Frutkin noted that space program had to defend itself continuously to 

enlist international support : “In ten years of space development, no 

nation has been harmed in any way. We must point to this record con- 

stantly in order to improve the atmosphere and wisdom of international 

consideration . . . [and] emphasize the expansion of benefits rather 

than restrictions upon progress. The record makes clear that we can 

address the more complicated questions of international organization 

on an evolutionary basis with the advantage of growing experience. The 

needs of the developing world and the magnificent record of space 

applications so far combine to show that the issues of international 

organization are secondary to the task of accelerating benefits for the 

world.” (Text) 

MIT Head of Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics Dr. Raymond L. 

Bisplinghoff and NASA Assistant Associate Administrator for Advanced 

Research and Technology John L. Sloop discussed selection of tech- 

nology and optimum conditions for its development. They pointed out 

how such development “. . . triggered vast areas of accomplishment 

in [its] wake [and] produced a sustained and long-term stimulus to 

education [and provided] influence [that is] one of spirit rather than 

,Y 

power. . . . 

Turning to discussion of impact of space program on engineering 

practices, they cited a major stimulus which was produced by “. . . 

the extreme environment of outer space combined with the requirements 

for low weight, small size, and exceptional reliability.” They pointed to 

the new stimulus to “imagination and creativity” among engineers. 

Among important reasons for having a space program they listed satis- 

faction of society’s needs; developing technology should serve as 

66 . . . a solution to an existing or foreseeable social problem.” 

Calling attention to the international arena of technological devel- 

opment, the speakers urged “a balance of technologies in our favor 

[which] will . . . require wisdom in the selection of new tech- 

324-801 0-69-10 

135

May 1-3 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

nologies . . . so vital to our national well-being and survival that [we] 

must, to the greatest extent of our ability, use imagination, good judg- 

ment, and energy in their planning and execution.” (Text) 

TRW Systems Group President Dr. Ruben F. Mettler suggested that 

space environmental characteristics could be useful and, in some ways, 

unique for certain manufacturing operations. He stated: “An environ- 

ment so widely different from that to which we are accustomed suggests 

we [determine] whether the new features can be used for making con- 

ventional products of improved quality or performance or at lower 

cost, whether they can support new processes previously considered 

impractical, or if they can lead to new products of such characteristics 

that they create new and currently unidentified markets.” Mettler sug- 

gested these environmental characteristics for space operations which 

would be of interest to “possible specialized manufacturing operations”: 

low temperatures, approaching absolute zero with use of space cryostat; 

high temperatures with use of solar concentrator ; near-perfect vacuum 

of infinite extent; weightlessness in orbit; low gravitational forces on 

moon; and radiation environment. (Text) 

Awards for achievement in 1966 presented at convention included: 

(1) AAS Space Flight Award to MSC Director Dr. Robert R. Gilruth for 

Cb distinguished contributions to aeronautical and space research . . . 

direction of continuing investigation of man’s capabilities in space, 

and . . . active participation in the scientific community for the public 

good”; (2) AAS Flight Achievement Award to Astronauts Charles Con- 

rad and Richard F. Gordon for “their new space flight altitude record 

and the world’s first one-orbit rendezvous on Gemini XI”; (3) Mel- 

bourne Boynton Award to Col. William K. Douglas (USAF), Assistant 

Deputy Chief of Staff, Bioastronautics and Medicine, AFSC, for excep- 

tional accomplishments as the first flight surgeon in charge of astronaut 

medical operations; (4) W. Randolph Lovelace I1 Award to Dr. Robert 

M. Page, former Director of Research, Naval Research Laboratory, for 

pioneering work in rocket astronomy and contributions to radar de- 

velopment; and (5) AAS Fellowships to MSC Director of Medical Re- 

search and Operations Dr. Charles A. Berry “for providing exceptional 

medical support for the NASA manned spacecraft programs,” and to 

MSC Director of Engineering and Development Maxime A. Faget for 

“contributions to the basic conceptual design of the Mercury space- 

craft and . . . subsequent engineering efforts” on Mercury, Gemini, 

and Apollo Projects. (MSC Release 67-15) 

North American Aviation, he. (NAA) , NASA’s prime Apollo spacecraft con- 

tractor, announced major management changes: (1) William B. Ber- 

gen, former President of Martin Marietta Co., who joined NAA April 7, 

replaced Harrison A. Storms, Jr., as President of Space Div.-formerly 

Space and Information Systems Div.; (2) Ralph H. Ruud, corporate 

vice president in charge of manufacturing, replaced William Snelling 

as executive vice president of Space Div. Snelling assumed new post of 

assistant vice president ; (3) Bastian Hello, former Martin Marietta 

co. executive, assumed new post of vice president in charge of Space 

Div.’s launch operations at KSC; and (4) Paul R. Vogt, former vice 

president of engineering at NAA’S Rocketdyne Div., assumed new post 

of assistant to President of Space Div. in charge of quality control. 

(Clark, NYT, 5/2/67,1,53; UPI, W Star, 5/2/67, A13; O’Toole, W Post, 

5/2/67, A4; Wilford, NYT, 5/4/67,9) 

136

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 May 2 

May 2: NASA Assistant Administrator for Policy Analysis Gen. Jacob E. 

Smart ( USAF, Ret.) received National Aerospace Services Assn.’s Quar- 

ter Century award for “outstanding contributions to aerospace ad- 

vancement” and continuing leadership and service in NASA. (Natl Aero 

Serv Assn; Av Wk, 5/8/67,13) 

Turbulence-measuring device developed at 1J.S. Weathix Bureau’s Na- 

tional Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla., might be used by US. 

airports in 1968 to guide commercial airline pilots through severe and 

moderate turbulence areas, Martin Waldron reported in New York 

Times. Device measured severivy of thunderstorms by analyzing and 

averaging radar pulses reflected from cells within the storm and then 

registered cloud structure on a radar scope. Data were relayed to pilots 

by flight controllers on the ground. Chief of U.S. Weather Bureau’s 

radar systems section Stewart Bigler said a refined version of the 

device had been installed at Washington, D.C., National Airport in 

January and would be tested in June. If it performed satisfactorily, 

similar devices would be installed in other U.S. airports in 1968. 

(Waldron, NYT, 5/4/67,51) 

Washington Post editorial criticized suggestion by nuclear physicist Dr. 

Edward Teller that nuclear explosions be used to provide data about 

moon’s interior: “Speaking for a multitude of laymen, we want our 

moon left intact. If not many farmers are left who do their planting by 

the times of the moon, at least all of us like to remember moonlit nights 

when we were not thinking of nuclear fission. . . . If Dr. Teller wants 

to dig another Isthmian Canal with ‘a small nuclear explosive,’ we 

might consider that within the range of our needs. But let our moon 

alone. We look forward once again to sitting in the moonlight on a 

summer’s night and smelling honeysuckle without the thought that a 

chunk of moon might blast off suddenly into another orbit.” (W Post, 

5/2/67) 

May 3: NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Incentive Evaluation Board awarded Boeing 

Co. a $1,918,725 bonus-maximum amount permitted under May 1964 

contract provisions-for the Lunar Orbiter II mission. Spacecraft had 

obtained 98% of planned prime site photography after it entered lunar 

orbit Nov. 10, 1966; equipment failure resulted in loss of other 2%. 

Because Lunur Orbiter 11 also took excellent secondary photos-includ- 

ing two million square miles of the hidden side of the moon-Board 

ruled that usefulness of photographic data merited maximum award. 


* Dr. Mac C. Adams, NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Research 

and Technology, was featured speaker at MIT conference sponsored by 

Electronics Industries Assn. to acquaint aerospace industry with NASA’s 

requirements for electronic systems on future space missions. He outlined 

objectives of NASA’s electronics research program: (1) stabilization 

systems to maintain orientation in space environment and to point 

telescopes and other experiments at celestial bodies with precise 

accuracy; (2) communications systems to translate data acquired in 

space activities over millions of miles and at rates comparable to exchange 

of information on earth; (3) communications and navigation 

satellites to meet increasing demands in commercial air transportation ; 

(4) data-handling systems to quickly and e5ciently store, catalog, 

analyze, and edit data produced by space exploration; (5) instrumentation 

systems to detect and measure environmental characteristics over 

137

May 3 


broad ranges of temperature, pressure, and density; and (6) com- 

ponents and technology which could operate reliably for long periods 

of time despite extremes in radiation and temperature. (Text; NASA 


* Charles W. Harper, Director of OART’S Aeronautics Div., was appointed to 

new position of NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics. 

Aeronautics Div., renamed Aeronautical Vehicles Div., would be directed 

by A. J. Evans. (NASA Release 67-108) 

4 Confidential report submitted to NASA by General Electric Co. cited numer- 

ous serious workmanship flaws in Apollo spacecraft No. 17, scheduled 

to be launched by Saturn V booster on an unmanned mission no earlier 

than August, New York Times reported. Flaws included damaged parts, 

corroded valves, leaky pipes, three small holes in heat shield that “could 

have catastrophic implications” during reentry, and more than 1,300 

“discrepanciesyy in the 20 mi of electrical wiring. Report was prepared 

by GE’s Apollo Support Dept. under terms of a 1962 contract with 

NASA to conduct computer-assisted checks of all systems in Apollo space- 

craft prior to launch. George C. White, Jr., NASA Director of Reliability 

and Quality, OMSF, told New York Times reporter John Wilford in a 

telephone interview that report was “a working document that, in effect, 

summarizes known problems” for KSC supervisors and should not be 

taken as “an alert of really big problems.’’ NASA officials said many of 

the flaws cited in the report had already been corrected; others had 

yet to be changed. (Wilford, NYT, 5/3/67, 1, 2) 

May 4: NASA% Lunar Orbiter IV (Lunar Orbiter D) unmanned spacecraft was 

successfully launched by Atlas-Agena D booster from ETR on mission 

to photograph lunar surface [see May %June 11. 

Agena 2nd stage fired to boost 850-lb spacecraft into 100-mi (161- 

km) -altitude parking orbit, reignited after 21-min coast period, injecting 

spacecraft on 89-hr translunar trajectory, and separated. On schedule 

Luw Orbiter IV deployed its four solar panels and two antennas, 

locked its five sensors on the sun, and fixed its star tracker on Canopus. 

At 16:G GMT midcourse maneuver with 53.8-sec engine burn was 

successfully conducted to slow spacecraft’s speed and alter its aim point 

slightly. 

Primary objectives of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter IV mission, fourth in 

series of five, were (1) to place three-axis stabilized spacecraft into 

high-inclination lunar orbit; (2) to obtain broad systematic photographic 

survey of lunar surface; (3) to improve knowledge of the moon; 

and (4) to provide basis for selecting sites for more detailed scientific 

study by subsequent orbital and landing missions. Full photographic 

flight plan would require mme than 200 camera-pointing maneuvers, 

compared to 50 for Lunar Orbiter 111. Photos would cover more than 

80% of the moon’s front face and more than 90% of the hidden side. 

Spacecraft would also monitor micrometeoroids and radiation intensity 

in the lunar environment, refine definition of moon’s gravitational field, 

and serve as a target for tracking operations by Manned Space Flight 

Network stations. Lunar Orbiter program was managed by LaRc under 

OSSA direction. Tracking and communications were the responsibility 

of JPL-operated Deep Space Network. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 

67-101) 

North American Aviation, Inc., President J. Leland Atwood assured the 

Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences that NAA was 

138


making numerous technical, inspection, and management changes that 

would enable US. to “effectively accomplish the lunar mission in this 

decade.” He accepted NAA’S share of responsibility for Jan. 27 Apollo 

fire but urged the Committee to view the deficiencies cited by Apollo 204 

Review Board [see April 93 in the perspective of the standards involved. 

64 

. . . it must be recognized that in space work the standards are and must 

be extremely high. Literally perfection is the goal.” Noting that many 

of the problems in NAA7s management of the Apollo program had re- 

sulted from ‘ba rapid build-up in manpower . . . encountered in almost 

all large, complex developmental programs,” Atwood explained that the 

survey of NAA workmanship summarized in the Phillips Report [see 

April 181 had been conducted during time when these problems were 

reaching their peak. Thus the report did not truly reprepnt overall NAA 

performance “but reflected the fact that the [Apollo] mission criteria 

had been evolving towards their final form.” Atwood stressed, however, 

that General Phillips’ recommendations had been accepted and cor- 

rected to NASA’s “general satisfaction” by April 1966. 

To further improve Apollo program progress, Atwood said, he and 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb had reviewed “the overall working 

relationship” between NAA and NASA. As a result of this review efforts 

would be made to (1) improve coordination of management effective- 

ness and program control; (2) establish clearer and more specific objec- 

tives and measurement techniques for program performance; (3) con- 

duct more periodic surveys and audits of program progress and per- 

formance; and (4) include sharper incentives and penalties in contract 

relationships. Only major changes in Apollo spacecraft would be incor- 

poration of a quick-opening hatch and installation of additional insula- 

tion for interior wiring and tubing. (Hines, W Star, 5/4/67,2; Wilford, 

NYT, 5/5/67,19; SBD, 5/5/67,33-4) 

* Rep. William F. Ryan (D.N.Y.) recommended to the House that President 

Johnson appoint a high-level commission to fully investigate NASA and 

to determine whether NASA “has the competence to carry out the space 

program and to recommend changes in the agency to insure that our 

space program is e5ciently and safely administered.” Asserting that 

Americans ‘‘must have complete confidence in the administration of the 

space program” in order to give it unqualified support, he insisted that 

only a co?nmission of non-NASA officials could thoroughly evaluate NASA. 

“From the [Apollo accident] testimony and subsequent developments 

it is clear that the entire management capability and supervisory com- 

petence of NASA is in question. 

CC 

. . . NASA is not competently administering one of the largest Federal 

programs . . . [and] has been extremely reluctant to be candid about its 

operations. There is every reason to believe that NASA will not examine 

itself sufficiently to form the basis for the changes that are needed to 

insure that there are no further catastrophes.” (CR, 5/4/67, H5109-13) 

* Former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev made at least two offers in the 

early 1960’s to show to the US. photos of US. military bases taken by 

orbiting Soviet satellites “in return for certain favors,” Dr. Charles S. 

Sheldon, formerly an NASC staff member and currently at the Library of 

Congress, told an AIAA meeting in Atlanta. He declined to specify what 

favors Khrushchev wanted. Dr. Sheldon said frequent launchings of 

satellites into low circular orbits indicated strongly that U.S.S.R. was 

observing US. from space: “I think there’s little doubt they are in the 

139


observation business.” It was difficult to ascertain the status of the Soviet 

manned space program, he said, but U.S.S.R. might feel ready to attempt 

a manned orbit of the moon within the next year. Concerning reports that 

several cosmonauts had died during space flights, Dr. Sheldon said 

U.S.S.R. had definitely not lost any men in orbit and probably had not 

lost any men in the space program before the April 24 death of Cos- 

monaut Vladimir Komarov. He acknowledged the death of a man in a 

parachute accident and the death of a Soviet test pilot, but said he was 

not certain these deaths were involved in the space program. (AP, B Sun, 

5/5/67) 


GSFC-instrumented grenade payload to 72-mi (115-km) altitude to ob- 

tain data on temperature, pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 

mi (35-95 km) at transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time 

easterly circulation. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfac- 

torily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried GSFC- 

instrumented payload to 109-mi (176-km) altitude to study special uv 

radiation of star Zeta Ophiuchi. Rocket and instrumentation perform- 

ance was satisfactory; no spectra were obtained because a thin film of 

oil-like substance covered grating and mirrors. Source of substance 

was under investigation. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* Total estimated cost for USAF’S Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) had 

risen to $2.2 billion, according to March testimony by Secretary of 

Defense Robert S. McNamara released by House Armed Services’ 

Appropriations Subcommittee. Estimate represented $700-million in- 

crease over total cost of $1.5 billion predicted by President Johnson 

in his Aug. 25, 1965, announcement approving DOD development of 

MOL. (Text; Getler, Tech Wk, 5/8/67,14) 

May 5: U.K.’s Ariel ZZZ (UK-E) scientific satellite was successfully launched 

from WTR by NASA four-stage Scout booster into orbit with 373-mi 

(600-km) apogee, 306-mi (492-km) perigee, 95.6-min period, and 80” 

inclination. The 198-lb satellite, which had a one-year design lifetime, 

carried five experiments for the investigation of earth’s atmosphere; 

four were operating at liftoff and the fifth was turned on after third 

orbit. All five were functioning normally. 

Third in a series of US.-U.K. cooperative space projects, Ariel 111 

was designed to supplement and extend atmospheric and ionospheric 

investigations conducted by Ariel Z (launched April 26, 1962) and 

Ariel ZZ (launched March 27, 1964). Primary NASA mission objectives 

were to place satellite into planned orbit and provide tracking and 

telemetry support. NASA supplied Scout booster, conducted launch, and 

provided tracking and data acquisition services with STADAN facilities, 

under overall management of GSFC. Major portion of the technical effort 

on Ariel 111, including design and fabrication of spacecraft and five 

experiments, was accomplished in U.K. under management of Science 

Research Council’s Space Research Management Unit ( SRMU) . (NASA 

Proj Off; NASA Releases 67-96,67-115) 

US. should measure its return on space technology in terms of such 

things as the development of communications, meteorological, and 

simulation systems, rather than in dollars, NASA Administrator James E. 

Webb said in the Second Annual Cortez A. M. Ewing Lecture at the 

Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education in Norman. “The marginal 

14Q

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1969 

May 5 

May 5: Engineers check the United Kingdom’s Ariel 111 before successful launch by NASA 

from WTR for U.K. Science Research Council, to investigate atmosphere and ionosphere. 

return on the investment in the space program is greater than in any 

other area. . . . One must take into account the value of the services 

rendered.” 

Asserting that US. investment in the space program served as “a 

message to the world that we do not expect to be behind the world in 

the area of effective use of energy,” Webb noted the success of US. 

space efforts. “We have accomplished in a decade what most informed 

sources in 1957 thought would take several decades.” 

Webb presented the Cortez A. M. Ewing Foundation with several 

photographs of the moon taken by Surveyor spacecraft, two atlases of 

the moon made from photos taken by Rangers VIIZ and IX, and color 

photos of India and Saudi Arabia taken by Gemini astronauts. (Norman 

Transcript, 5/7/67, 3 ; Howard, Oklahoma Daily, 5/9/67) 

141


NASA Aerobee 150 sounding racket launched from WSMR carried GSFC- 

instrumented payload to 98-mi (159-km) altitude to measure spectral 

irradiance of Venus. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfac- 

torily, but telescope and camera separated from recovery body during 

reentry and were damaged at impact. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

6 NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research 

Range, Canada, carried Southwest Center for Advanced Studies experi- 

ment to 85-mi (136-km) altitude to: provide test of instrumentation; 

prove out feasibility of payload recovery and reuse; and provide geo- 

physical observations of auroral zone under either quiet or disturbed 

conditions. All experimental objectives were met except payload re- 

covery. ( NASA Rpt SRL) 

Dr. Heinz von Diringshofen, a German pioneer in flight and space medicine, 

died in Frankfurt, Germany, at age 67. Among the first to study the 

effects of weightlessness in vertical flight, Dr. Diringshofen recorded 

reactions of humans in weightless periods of up to eight seconds. He 

also developed systems currently used in the training of US. astronauts: 

including a centrifuge that produced 17 g’s pressure. (NYT, 5/9/67,43) 

* MSC awarded Rocket Research Corp. a $405,000 contract to deliver by 

February 1968 two hand-held Eva maneuvering units and two extra pro- 

pellant tanks for future manned spaceflight missions. ( MSC Release 

67-20) 

* Highest known temperature at which a material becomes superconducting- 

losing all resistance to electric current-was reported in Science by 

Bell Telephone Laboratories scientist Dr. Bernd T. Matthias. Conduct- 

ing experiments under USAF contract, Dr. Matthias and six colleagues 

discovered a composition of niobium, germanium, and aluminum that 

became superconductive at -434O F. Discovery was expected to lead to 

construction of “super magnets” which could be used to shield manned 

spacecraft from high-energy particles in space and development of 

66 

super-efficient” electric motors and electronic computers requiring 

virtually no power. (Science, 515167,645-6; NYT, 5/6/67,62; AP, W 

Star, 5 15 167, A9) 

Wilbur L. Pritchard, Group Director, Communications Satellite Systems, 

Aerospace Corp., was appointed director of ComSatCorp’s new labora- 

tories, scheduled for completion in Montgomery County, Md., by 1969. 

(ComSatCorp Release 67-35) 

* NASA had funded 1st flight unit of new $9-million Small Astronomy Satel- 

lite-A (SASA) project to map stellar x-ray sources. Spacecraft, scheduled 

to be launched in 1969 by four-stage Scout launch vehicle, would be 

placed into 330-mi-altitude circular orbit where it would measure posi- 

tion, strength, and time variation of all detectable x-ray sources. Project 

was under GSFC management. (NASA Release 67-111) 

* Alumni Assn. of Western High School, Washington, D.C., would honor 

alumnus Edward H. White 11, one of three Apollo astronauts who died 

in Jan. 27 accident, with a memorial, which would include furnishings. 

decorations, and possibly a space exhibit for school’s guidance library 

and counseling rooms. (W Star, 5/7/67, B1) 

May 7: Busts of Wilbur and Orville Wright were unveiled in the Hall of Fame 

for Great Americans at New Yoik IJniv.’s Bronx campus. They were 

among 93 people named to the Hall of Fame since its opening in 1900. 

(NY T, 4/2/67,24) 

During week of May 7: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J., an- 

142

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During Week of May 7 

nounced plans for what was believed to be the Nation’s first academic 

center for the study of cryogenics-a branch of physics related to the 

production and effects of very low temperatures. Dr. John G. Daunt 

was named to direct the new center. Stevens President Dr. Jess H. Davis 

said center would have two major objectives: “to help meet the pressing 

need for scientists and engineers who have substantial training and ex- 

perience in this developing science,” and “to conduct basic research, 

which seeks to extend man’s knowledge of cryogenics into areas as yet 

unexplored.” (Bird, NYT, 5/14/67,63) 

May 8: Maj. William J. Knight (USAF) flew X-15 No. 2 to 96,000-ft altitude 

and 3,239 mph (mach 4.8) in flight at Edwards AFB to check stabiliza- 

tion and control with dummy ramjet and check out thermalcouple sys- 

tem. Flight was successful except for break of dummy ramjet chute 

cable during landing sequence. (X-15 Proj Off) 

NASA turned over Essa V meteorological satellite to ESSA for operation in 

accordance with NASA-Dept. of Commerce agreement. Essa v was 

launched from WTR by NASA April 20. (NASA Release 67-114) 

mc-sponsored study of Direct Lift Control (DLC) -system to help reduce 

aircraft noise and improve handling-began at Oakland International 

Airport with specially-equipped Boeing 707 aircraft. System consisted 

of applying various methods, such as retracting spoilers, modifying 

main flaps, and controlling boundary layer, to increase aircraft’s lift 

directly. Tests would continue through July 1. (ARC Release 67-9) 

* Newsweek reported that Soviet diplomats in Washington, D.C., admitted 

to East European colleagues that Soyuz I mission had been launched 

one week early in an attempt to offset the impact of Svetlana Allilu- 

yeva’s press conference. Mrs. Alliluyeva, daughter of the late Joseph 

Stalin, defected to the U.S:in April. U.S.S.R. reportedly denied, how- 

ever, that rescheduling had any effect on the April 24 crash-landing 

which resulted in Cosmonaut Komarov’s death. (Newsweek, 5/8/67) 

U.S.S.R. was completing construction of several ground stations for use 

with second-generation Molniya comsats, Aviation Week reported. First 

Molniya 11, expected to be launched in late 1967, would be capable of 

transmitting to several stations simultaneously; Molniya 1’s could reach 

only one at a time. (Av Wk, 5/8/67,13) 

“Despite the high cost and dangers in exploring space, tragically dramatized 

by the deaths of three US. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut in re- 

cent months, Americans overwhelmingly approve of the U.S. effort 

to land men on the moon,” the National Observer reported. Survey in 

12 metropolitan areas showed that 77% of people questioned supported 

the lunar landing program; 17% opposed it; and 6% were undecided. 

There was less enthusiasm, however, for manned planetary exploration 

programs: 57% favored manned planetary expeditions; 31% opposed 

them; and 12% were undecided. (Natl Obs, 5/8/67) 

Earth had been cooling off rapidly since 1950 because of accumulation of 

atmospheric dust, Univ. of Wisconsin meteorologist Reid A. Bryson told 

UPI. Solid particles clogging paths of sun’s warming rays had caused 

earth to experience an average loss in temperature from 2/O to 1/2”, 

he said. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/9/67) 

May 8-June 1: NASA’s Lunar Orbiter ZV became fourth U.S. spacecraft 

to circle moon when it entered lunar orbit following successful deboost 

maneuver which reduced its speed by 1,475 mph, permitting lunar 

capture. Orbital parameters: apolune, 3,797 mi (6,111 km) ; perilune, 

143

May %June 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

1,681 mi (2,706 km) ; period, 72 hr 1 min; and inclination, 85.5”. 

Launched from ETR May 4, spacecraft performed 670 attitude changes, 

responded to 7,067 commands, and recorded two micrometeoroid hits. 

Spacecraft performed normally except for five-day period when camera 

thermal door operated improperly, causing overexposure and fogging. 

Problem was solved, however, and 193 medium- and high-resolution 

photos-including coverage of 99% of moon’s front face-were taken 

with almost a hundredfold increase in discernible detail for most of 

the area covered. Final readout, underway since mission’s photo-acqui- 

sition phase was terminated May 26 because of an encoder failure, 

was completed June 1. 

By its telephoto coverage of eastern limb areas, Lumr Orbiter ZV 

provided the basis for extending the cartographic grid system estzblished 

for front-face mapping around to the hidden side, so that features there 

could be precisely located for future mission planning and operations. 

Initial photos, taken at 2,176-mi altitude, showed broad panorama of 

moon’s South Pole region-which had never before been photo- 

graphed-with typical rugged terrain of craters and ridges. Closer, 

wide-angle pictures of this area revealed a 200- by 10-mi crevice which 

scientists speculated had been formed by volcanic action. Other photos 

transmitted included excellent pictures of the Alpine Valley and Mare 

Orientale, a large and relatively young impact crater whose center lay 

beyond the western rim of the visible face of the moon. (NASA Proj 

Off; NASA Releases 67-127, 67-143; w Post, 5/12/67, A10; 5/13/67; 

AP, NYT, 5/28/67,50) 

During week of May 8: A sandbox full of hundreds of thousands of bullet 

holes accurately simulates the crater-pocked lunar surface, US. Geologi- 

cal Survey reported. Dr. Henry J. Moore, one of Survey’s astrogeologists 

who fired projectiles of differing calibers into a sandtable at ARC, told 

UPI that results of experiment supported theory that moon’s craters were, 

for the most part, created by the impact of meteorites. (UPI, NYT, 

5/14/67,29) 

May 9: NASA Administrator James E. Webb, Deputy Administrator Dr. 

Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and Associate Administrator for Manned Space 

Flight Dr. George E. Mueller testified on Apollo project reprogramming 

before the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. First 

“man-rated” Apollo Block I1 spacecraft would be delivered to KSC in 

late 1967 and -launched three months later with Walter M. Schirra, 

Walter Cunningham, and Donn F. Eisele as prime crew, Webb said. 

Back-up crew would be Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene 

A. Cernan. Spacecraft would still have 100% -oxygen atmosphere, but 

use of noncombustible and fire-resistant materials would minimize fire 

hazard, he asserted. “We are confident that the results of the first Block 

11 Apollo flights will justify moving rapidly to follow-on flights, thus 

overcoming some of the effects of the present delay . . . [so that] we 

can carry out this plan within the funds now available for fiscal year 

1967 and in NASA’s budget for fiscal year 1968.” In order to “assure 

maximum progress” and reduce pressures on North American Aviation, 

Inc. (NU), prime Apollo spacecraft contractor, NASA was realigning 

its contracting arransements, Webb said. Contracting changes included : 

negotiation of a new strong-incentive contract with NAA for manufacture, 

test, and delivery of standard Block I1 spacecraft; extension of Boeing 

CO.)S present contract responsibility to include integration of command 

144


May 9 

and service module and lunar module with the Saturn booster system; 

selection of a third contractor to make necessary modifications to stand- 

ard Apollo spacecraft produced by NAA; and consideration of offers by 

other aerospace companies to provide contractor assistance in Apollo 

systems management and check-out and test procedures. 

Dr. Seamans described impact of Jan. 27 fire on Apollo schedule 

and budget. Lunar landing before 1970 “remains possible,” he said. 

“The impact . . . has been to reduce that probability, not eliminate 

it. . . . After the first manned Block I1 flight on the uprated Saturn I 

in 1968, we plan three to four manned Saturn V missions . . . [and] in 

1969 . . . up to six Saturn V missions.” Resulting $75 million of addi- 

tional costs through FY 196Cfor materials and equipment changes, 

flammability testing, launch facility modifications, and spacecraft de- 

livery rescheduling-would be absorbed within the total budget plan 

currently before Congress. 

NASA’s responses to recommendations by Apollo 2044 Review Board 

were outlined by Dr. Mueller: (1) bulk combustibles and other flam- 

mable materials had been replaced with flame-resistant materials, and 

necessary flammables stored in fireproof containers; (2) emergency 

procedures would be reviewed and exercised prior to each hazardous 

operation, and a quick-opening hatch installed for simplified egress 

from capsule; (3) new NASA Office of Flight Safety would be established 

under OMSF to review and evaluate safety provisions and monitor test 

operations; (4) all emergency equipment had been reviewed and addi- 

tions or substitutions-including installation of water fire extinguish- 

ers-made where necessary; (5) detailed design review of spacecraft 

communications system had been conducted and minor changes made 

to assure reliable operation; (6) full-scale mockup tests had been con- 

ducted to assess fire hazard and problems of gas detection and control; 

and (7) management and organizational changes had been instituted 

to clarify responsibilities and improve coordination between NASA 

centers and contractors. 

In response to questions by Sen. Margaret C. Smith (R-Me.) re- 

garding rating of companies in the 1%1 Apollo spacecraft contract 

competition, Webb said that Martin Co. had been rated first, on the 

basis of its technical proposal, by the source evaluation board. However 

he, Dr. Dryden, and Dr. Seamanwonsidering other factors such as 

lower cost estimate, outstanding company performance record, overall 

capability offered, and experience with X-15 experimental aircraft- 

chose NAA as prime candidate. 

Senator Smith expressed concern that the Committee was not kept 

informed of serious problems revealed in the Phillips Report and asked 

whether NASA followed any guidelines to determine when situations 

should be brought to the attention of the Committee. Webb replied that 

no such guidelines existed and indicated that he thought it unnecessary 

to detail the problems to the Committee since he thought that NASA 

could control them. Several other committee members also expressed 

their desire to be informed of any problems approaching the magnitude 

of those surrounding the Phillips Report. When Sen. Walter F. Mondale 

(D-Minn.) continued to criticize NASA’s reluctance to make the report 

public, Webb offered to discuss it, in complete context, in executive 

session, and repeated his objection to releasing such evaluations of 

145


contractor performance out of context. (Testimony; SBD, 5/10/67, 

57-66; O’Toole, W Post, 5/10/67, Al) 

* NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket with grenade payload was launched from 

Point Barrow, Alaska, to obtain temperature, pressure, density, and 

wind data between 22-59 mi (35-95 km) at transition from winter-time 

westerly circulation to summer-time easterly circulation. Rocket and 

instrumentation performed well. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched by NASA from WSMR carried Naval 

Research Laboratory payload containing two coronagraphs to 113-mi 

(180.8-km) altitude. Primary purpose of flight was to launch exter- 

nally occulted coronagraphs during period when moon was very close 

to the sun. Rocket also carried a photographic spectroheliograph, a 

photographic extreme ultraviolet heliograph, and an ion chamber to 

measure total solar flux at Lyman-alpha. Rocket and instrumentation 


NASA successfully conducted fifth test of a rocket-launched parachute as 

part of an advanced technology effort to investigate possible parachute 

landing systems for Voyager program. Two-stage Honest John-Nike 

rocket launched from WSMR, ejected ringsail parachute at 130,000-ft 

altitude, where earth atmosphere resembles that of Mars. Parachute 

descended to earth with 200-lb payload carrying camera and instru- 

ments to record deployment of parachute and its characteristics in flight. 

Test was part of L~RC’S planetary entry parachute program. (NASA Re- 

lease 67-120) 

* Second Bell Aerosystems Co. X-22A V/STOL research aircraft successfully 

underwent 18-min demonstration flight at Niagara Falls International 

Airport. During test, which increased aircraft’s total accumulated flight 

time to nine hours, X-22A achieved speeds of up to 130 mph, made sev- 

eral vertical and short takeoffs and landings, and executed series of fast- 

climb-out turns. Designed and built by Bell under UsN-administered 

program for Tri-Service V/STOL research project, aircraft would undergo 

18-mo flight-test program at Bell and would then be delivered to Naval 

Air Test Center, Patuxent, Md., for further evaluation. First X-22A 

aircraft had been damaged beyond practical repair after crash-landing 

in summer 1966. (Tech Wk, 5/15/67,18) 

USAF launched two unidentified satellites from WTR using Long Tank 

Thrust-Augmented-Thor-Agena D booster as first stage. One satellite 

reentered July 13. (Pres Rep 1967) 

* ComSatCorp President Joseph V. Charyk, speaking at ComSatCorp’s fourth 

annual meeting in Washington, D.C., said a shortage of gronnd stations 

was delaying development of a complete international comsat network. 

“A fourth satellite of the Intelsat-I1 series exists and could be launched 

this fall. . . . Unfortunately, appropriate earth station facilities do not 

exist and even after approval of the necessary applications . . . [by FCC], 

operational availability will still be 14 to 18 months away.” Because of 

this lag in number of earth stations and because a satellite failure could 

cause severe service interruption, ComSatCorp was seriously consider- 

ing “the desirability of placing the fourth satellite of the Intelsat-I1 

series as a spare in orbit this fall and . . . [seeking] a limited solution to 

the high-traffic demands by interim utilization of this satellite through 

a transportable earth station in Hawaii.” (Text; Smith, NYT, 5/10/67, 

63) 

* In February and March testimony released by Senate Foreign Relations 

146


Committee’s Subcommittee on Disarmament, Director of Defense Research 

and Engineering Dr. John S. Foster, Jr., indicated that US. was 

developing a new type of nuclear warhead designed to destroy enemy 

missiles with high-intensity x-rays. X-ray method, which would be used 

with three-stage Spartan missile, could destroy enemy missile by (1) 

disrupting avionic circuits used for guidance and detonation; (2) 

heating warhead to such high temperatures that it would ablate prematurely 

and burn up during reentry; or (3) triggering the warhead 

and causing premature detonation. (Committee 0%; Av Wk, 5/15/’67, 

22; UPI, P Inq, 5/11/67,3; Finney, NYT, 5/10/67,1) 

L/G Nikolay P. Kamanin, military commander of Soviet manned space- 

flight program, hinted in Zemlya o Vselennaya that U.S.S.R. would use 

Soyuz-type spacecraft for manned lunar landing. He made no direct 

mention of Soyuz I spacecraft [see April 23-241-believed to be heaviest 

Soviet space vehicle ever launched-but said “payloads of more than 15 

tons have already been put into orbit.” These payloads, he said, could 

soft-land on moon from lunar orbit. (AP, B Sun, 5/10/67) 

0 End of the “space race” between US. and U.S.S.R. was nowhere in sight, 

Holmes Alexander speculated in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin: “As 

matters stand today, the space contest is pretty much a race between 

the Communist and capitalistic systems. . . . Percentagewise the Soviet 

government is investing 2.5 times as much of its gross national product 

in the moon dash as we are. Moneywise, the investment is about equal. 

But the Russian economy, being much more ‘managed’ than ours, per- 

mits the ordering of what our economists call axl ‘internal brain drain.’ 

Russian consumer industries are raided in order to feed the USSR space 

programs, whereas . . . NASA must compete . . . [with other agencies]. 

“It is wishful thinking to believe that the Russians will make any 

substantive concessions to ease the cost of the space race. As in Vietnam, 

we are locked in an expensive contest against Communism. Nobody has 

yet found a way to the negotiation table.” (Alexander, P EB, 5/9/67) 

Muy 10: M2-F2 lifting body vehicle crashed on landing at Edwards AFB 

about three minutes after air-launch from B-52 aircraft, injuring NASA 

test pilot Bruce A. Peterson. Vehicle, on mission to evaluate effects of 

reduction in automatic damping for roll and yaw, turned over several 

times after touchdown and was heavily damaged. Although exact cause 

of crash was unknown, one unidentified NASA official speculated that 

pilot had been distracted by a helicopter flying nearby. NASA immedi- 

ately set up a committee to investigate crash and said that powered 

M2-F2 flights scheduled for June would be delayed indefinitely until 

after repairs and conclusion of investigation. (Av Wk, 5/15/67, 34; 

Tech Wk, 5/15/67, 14; W Post, 5/11/67, C21; West, LA Times, 

5/12/67) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. 

Seamans, Jr., and Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight 

Dr. George E. Mueller appeared before the House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on NASA Oversight to submit Apollo 

project reprogramming plans presented to the Senate May 9. Dr. 

Seamans assured the Subcommittee that schedules could be met and 

urged that Congress continue to support NASA: “We have confidence in 

the ability of our technical and administrative teams, both in govern- 

ment and industry, to meet the challenge before us. But that is not 

su3icient; the Congress, representing the people of the Nation, must 

147

May 10 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. 1967 

May 10: Prime crew for first manned Apollo mission-shown here preparing for mission 

simulator tests at North American Aviation plant-are, left to right, Donn F. Eisele, senior 

pilot; Walter M. Schirra, Jr., command pilot; and Walter Cunningham, pilot. 

feel and show this same confidence if the work and the sacrifice of 

the past are to have meaning and the objectives of manned space ex- 

ploration are to be achieved.” 

Several subcommittee members, however, condemned NASA for with- 

holding facts about cost and management problems with North American 

Aviation, Inc. (NU) , and indicated that they would be more critical of 

NASA in the future. In response to charges by Rep. William F. Ryan 

(D-N.Y.) that Webb had “an obsession with secrecy,’y Webb asserted 

that NASA had been exceptionally cooperative: “No program of this 

magnitude has ever been operated with greater public scrutiny. No 

agency has ever given its committees more information on what it is 

trying to do.” He offered to elaborate on the Phillips Report [see April 

181 in closed session but declined to discuss it publicly, insisting that 

further public discussion would destroy close relationship between 

NASA and its prime Apollo spacecraft contractor. (Testimony; Wilford, 

NYT, 5/11/67,26; O’Toole, W Post, 5/11/67. A9) 

Prime and backup crews for NASA’s first manned Apollo mission [see 

May 91 told a news conference at North American Aviation, Inc.’s 

Downey, Calif., plant that they were “very impressed” with the design 

changes being made in the Apollo spacecraft as a result of the Jan. 27 

flash fire. Major changes included: (1) a new hinged hatch that could be 

opened outward in about two seconds by activating a springed lever; (2) 

148


replacement of many highly flammable mate such as nylon netting; 

(3) sheathing of open wiring with hard ; and (4) flame-re- 

sistant spacesuits. In addition, spacecraft would be pressurized with nitro- 

gen rather than oxygen on launching, and in orbit-where oxygen is in- 

dispensable-pressure would be reduced one third to 5 psi. 

Questioned about his attitudes toward the program since the Jan. 27 

Apollo accident, Command Pilot Walter M. Schirra replied: “. . . we 

went through a very agonizing self-appraisal; we suffered through three 

months of recrimination; we’ve culminated these three months with some 

very firm ideas.” These ideas, Schirra said, were being phased into an 

orderly program that “will continu-with orderly haste . . . [and] 

we are not going to run rampant on schedules.” The crews anticipated 

that Apollo 101 spacecraft would be delivered to ICSC in December and 

that first manned mission would be flown in first quarter of 1968. Pri- 

mary mission objective would be to “exercise the vehicle in earth 

orbit,” Schirra said. Asked if the April 24 death of Soviet Cosmonaut 

Vladimir Komarov had had any adverse effects on plans for earth land- 

ings in the Apollo program, Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford replied: 

“The earth landing system that consists of the three main parachutes and 

the two drogue chutes. had been qualified completely. . . . We still 

have some earth landing drops to be made. But right now as far as the 

crew is concerned, either the parachutes in this vehicle are qualified or 

we don’t fly.” (Transcript; Newsweek, 5/22/67, 94; Hill, NYT, 

5/11/67,27) 

NASA awarded Douglas Aircraft Co. a $4,665,000 modification to an existing 

contract for reliability and verification testing of Saturn S-IVB stage 

components. (NASA Release 67-118) 

* Small fire in KSC building housing an astronaut training simulator dam- 

aged $1,200 worth of equipment, AP reported. Fire occurred in a rack 

of gear which provided electricity to the equipment, but which was not 

connected to the spacecraft simulator. NASA 05cials said no astronauts 

were inside simulator when fire broke out but even if they had been there 

would have been no damage. NASA issued no 05cial announcement on 

the fire. (AP, NYT, 5/13/67,15) 

* Fifteen outstanding young scientists received Air Force O5ce of Scientific 

Research ( AFOSR) Postdoctoral Research Awards “for advanced study 

and fundamental research in the sciences.” Selections, made by a board 

of NAS-appointed senior scientists. were based on “demonstrated com- 

petence and creativity in original research and on the scientific merit 

of the proposed postdoctoral investigation.” ( NAS-NRC Release) 

* DoD awarded General Dynamics Corp. a $l.S-billion fixed-price-incentive 

contract for production of 493 F-111 aircraft: 331 F-111As for USAF; 

64 F-111 strategic bombers for SAC; 24 F-111Bs for USN; 24 F-111Cs 

for Royal Australian Air Force; and 50 F-111Ks for British Royal Air 

Force. Contract included only costs of basic airframes and minor elec- 

tronic equipment; additional costs for engines, major eleotronic equip- 

ment, and modifications had not yet been fully determined and were 

not included. There was speculation that congressional opposition to 

adaptation of F-111 (formerly TFX) as an all-purpose military air- 

craft-heightened by large increases in estimated costs and by January 

and April crashes of USAF and USN test models-might delay appropria- 

tion of production funds. (DOD Release 427-67; Wilson, W Post, 5/11/ 

67, H11; Sheehan, NYT, 5/11/67,1) 

149


May 11: President Johnson submitted to Congress NASA’s 15th Semiannual 

Report, covering January to June 1966, and praised the continued prog- 

ress of US. space program: “The achievements reported here reflect 

not only our progress in space flight, but also new steps taken toward 

the real objective of all our efforts in space-the application of new 

knowledge to bettering the lives of all people. Already, we see dramatic 

examples of success in the satellites which have improved our weather 

forecasts and navigation, and which are extending radio and television 

communication to the farthermost regions of the earth. . . . 

(( 

The United States space program, as reflected in this report, con- 

tinues to exemplify our Nation’s conviction that the road to peace, 

progress, and abundance is through continued cooperation among all 

nations.” (PD, 5/15/67,729-30) 

0 To clarify apparently conflicting statements presented during Congressional 

testimony, NASA Administrator James E. Webb issued statement re- 

garding selection of North American Aviation, Inc., as prime Apollo 

spacecraft contractor. In separate appearances before Senate Com- 

mittee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Webb had indicated (1) 

that NAA was the unanimous choice and (2) that Martin Co. had been 

recommended by the NASA Source Evaluation Board in 1961. Webb 

explained: “Dr. Robert Gilruth, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, and Dr. Hugh 

L. Dryden. . . were unanimous in their judgment that of the five com- 

panies submitting proposals . . . [NAA] offered the greatest experience 

in developing high-performance manned flight systems and the lowest 

cost. 

“In the selection . . . the work of the Source Evaluation Board was 

not rejected or discarded. It was used as the basis for a more extensive 

and detailed examination of all pertinent factors . . . necessary to de- 

termine whether the facts then available formed an adequate basis for 

our selection of a contractor. We decided in the affirmative and then 

proceeded to select the contractor the facts indicated offered the most 

to the government. ” (NASA Release 67-122) 

Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight, in its report to House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics, recommended that $445.8 million be cut from 

$3.4 billion requested by NASA for N 1968 manned space flight pro- 

gram. Recommendation, which included $25-million reduction in Apollo 

program, was approved by full committee May 16. (W Post, 5/12/67, 

A13) 

0 Glennan Space Engineering Building in Cleveland at Case Institute of 

Technology was dedicated. NASA Administrator James E. Webb said : 

“we need more men like NASA’s first administrator . . . Dr. Keith 

Glennan . . . men who are willing. . . to seek out new facts, new concepts 

of reality as to the current human situation and [who] have the courage 

to base new and untried political, professional, industrial and tech- 

nological ventures on information they test and learn to trust.” 

Recognizing the value of institutions who provide graduate education, 

he said: “There is little further room to doubt that a high level of basic 

research, an intellectual activity that must be closely associated with 

graduate education, is indispensable to an advancing front of scientific 

knowledge. . . .’, 

Webb referred to a June 1957 speech of J. S. McDonnell of St. Louis 

who had made predictions to graduating students at Rollak Missouri 

School of Mines. Prediction No. 1 had a satellite circling earth and moon 

150


in 12 years. Webb said accomplishment was completed in three months 

for earth and in two years for moon. Prediction No. 2 had a satellite 

circling earth and Mars in 23 years. Webb said this was accomplished 

in seven years. Prediction No. 3 had manned space flight in earth orbit 

in 33 years. Webb pointed out this was done in four years. 

Webb continued: “If we look backward, we can easily see that it took 

37 years to conquer the earth’s oceans . . . by the Caravelle sailing vessel 

[and] after that 37 years, the mind of man was never the same again. 

Control of the earth‘s ocean avenues by England through the main- 

tenance of a favorable balance of ocean technology was a predominant 

force for stability in the affairs of men for over 400 years [but] no 

clear favorable balance of air technology was heldby any one nation 

long enough to create world stability. It was, in fact, a predominant 

force in the affairs of men for less than 60 years. Space technology will 

be a dominant force far longer than was the case for those of ocean and 

air. Not limited as was the ship to the water or the airplane to the air, or 

by international boundaries, or to the fuel that its tanks can carry, space- 

craft are today unlimited tools to explore and measure the environment 

within which the earth itself moves and has its being.” (Text) 


GSFC-instrumented payload to 44-mi (68-km) altitude to develop ex- 

perimental atmospheric composition profiles in mesospheric region and 

to measure ozone distribution in regions of 12-40 mi (20-65 km) . 

Because of malfunction in parachute system only two minutes of ozone 

data were acquired. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* Naval Research Laboratory scientists reported the Milky Way galaxy was 

not capable of producing numerous new stars; instead, its star-produc- 

ing days were virtually over, based on data gathered from rocket-borne 

instrument, a Far-Ultraviolet Image Intensifier Spectrograph [see Mar. 

161. Mission of spectrograph was to measure amount of invisible, gase- 

ous, molecular hydrogen in interstellar space along the Milky Way; 

should bountiful amounts of hydrogen be indicated by the spectrograph, 

proof of Milky Way’s capability to produce numerous new stars would 

have been obtained. Instead, spectrograph measurements had found no 

such evidence. (AP, NYT, 5/14/67) 

NASA awarded 28 12-mo, $2,400 predoctoral training grants to Univ. of 

Pittsburgh for public administration and to Georgia Institute of Tech- 

nology, Univ. of Kansas, Cornel1 Univ., Purdue Univ., and Stanford 

Univ. for engineering design. (NASA Special Releases) 

* US. industry would spend $16.6 billion for R&D in 1967-double the 

amount spent in 1957, McGraw-Hill, Inc., reported in its annual eco- 

nomic survey. Federal Government had financed 54770 or $8.4 billion of 

the $15.5 billion spent for research in 1966. Survey estimated that 1970 

expenditures would reach $21 billion. It noted that more than half of the 

R&D was concentrated in two industries-aerospace, and electrical ma- 

chinery and communications-both of which were heavily involved in 

defense and space exploration. (Koshetz, NYT, 5/12/67,67) 

* Civic groups such as the Lions, Kiwanians, and Rotarians could make signif- 

icant contributions to UFO investigations by equipping police squad cars 

with cameras, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, USAF consultant on UFOS and Chair- 

man of Northwestern Univ.’s Astronomy Dept., told the MIT Club meet- 

ing in Washington, D.C. Policemen, whom Dr. Hynek characterized in 

general as good observers, often sighted UFOS but were not believed, he 

324-801 0--69-11 151


said: “For some reason we thii that a policeman whose testimony could 

be sufficient to send a man to the electric chair is simply not to be 

believed when he makes a UFO report.” Charging that Americans had 

46 neglected looking at flying saucers scientifically too long.” Dr. Hynek 

suggested that a “two-dimensional” assessment which considered both the 

“strangeness” of the event and the credibility of the witness be undertaken 

by physical and social scientists. (Hines, W Star, 5/12/67, A5) 

* France had informed shipping companies and airlines that a zone of 185 

km (115 mi) around Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific would be con- 

sidered dangerous beginning June 1 because of imminent atomic tests. 

(AP, W Star, 5/11/67, Al) 

* U.K. was considering developing jointly with France a new generation 

of nuclear missiles to replace US.-made Polaris and Poseidon missiles, 

Karl E. Meyer reported in the Wushington Post. British Prime Min- 

ister Harold Wilson had hinted in telephone interview that U.K. would 

soon announce its decision not to acquire additional US. missiles be- 

cause of economic, political, and strategic considerations, Meyer said. 

Development of new missiles with France would be more beneficial to 

U.K. than purchasing US. missiles, Meyer suggested, because (1) it 

would prove that British were “European-minded” in defense policy 

and were weakening their ties with US.; and (2) it might persuade 

France to accept British application for admission to European Common 

Market. (Meyer, W Post, 5/11/67, A28) 

May 12: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLYZZ into orbit with 296-km (1Wmi) 

apogee, 202-km (126-mi) perigee, 89.4-min period, and 51.3” inclination. 

Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered May 20. ( UPI, NYT, 

5/14/67; GSFC SSR, 5/31/67) 

0 Memorandum of understanding on participation of NASA with DOT in R&D 

and testing of high-speed ground transportation became effective. DOT 

would plan, manage, and conduct tracked air cushion vehicle (TACV) 

program and keep NASA informed, especially of areas in which NASA 

participation and facilities would be most valuable. NASA would assist 

by performing at LaRc aerodynamic research on possible high-speed 

ground vehicle configurations and on various interference effects. ( NMI- 

1052.88) 

0 Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N. Mex.) , Chairman of Senate Committee 

on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, issued statement on Jan. 27 Apollo 

accident, commending “the diligence, integrity, and patent independence” 

of the Apollo 2W Review Board which would serve as a model for future 

inquiries. Noting the “admitted mood of overconfidence” exhibited by 

NASA and North American Aviation, he urged that a “renewal of chain 

successes . . . never again be permitted to encourage indulgence in such 

a potentially dangerous attitude. 

f.6 . . . the Apollo accident may well move the date for an American 

landing on the moon beyond the reach of this decade. That would be 

regrettable. But there is nothing sacred about the goal. When set in 1961 

it was a goal which was technically achievable. A target date was, and 

still is, essential to efficient planning and to maintaining a vigorous and 

competent organization. . . . The accident has taken a toll in morale and 

in momentum within the program . . . [but] that momentum will be 

regained and NASA will emerge stronger. I intend to support NASA 

in its requests for manpower and funds to get on with the important 

job.” (Text) 

152


May 12 

Sensors aboard two Vela nuclear detection satellites, launched April 28 by 

USAF Titan 111-C booster, were turned on, and large amounts of data 

were being received. Satellites were part of DOD’S Vela program to 

monitor space for violations of nuclear test ban treaty. (AP, NYT, 

5/14/67) 

May 13: Manned expeditions to every part of the solar system would be 

achieved by the end of the 20th century, Vice President Humphrey pre- 

dicted in his opening statement to a student panel at North Dakota State 

Univ. in Fargo. He envisioned “the development of a whole family of 

earth orbiting stations, manned and supplied by regular ferry services; 

the launching of unmanned probes to every part of our solar system, 

and probably manned expeditions as well.” (UPI, NYT, 5/14/67) 

Australia would be able to maintain its prominence in radio-astronomy with 

a new 150-in optical telescope to be constructed at Siding Spring, New 

South Wales, the New York Times reported. Construction of the $11,- 

760,000 telescope, a joint British and Australian project, was expected to 

be completed in six years to provide Australian scientists-who currently 

had to send findings to Mt. Palomar (Calif.) Observatory for verifica- 

tion-with a suitable size optical telescope to check their observations. 

(NYT, 5/14/67, 37) 

* L/G James H. Doolittle (AFR~S., Ret.) received the Sixth Annual Thomas D. 

White National Defense Award at Air Force Academy ceremonies in 

Denver. An aviation pioneer and Medal of Honor holder, General 

Doolittle was cited for making “outstanding contributions to the 

national defense and security . . . [and giving] a lifetime of leadership 

to military and civil aviation.” (Denver Post, 5/14/67, 32) 

May 14: U.S.S.R. was training more scientists, faster, than any other coun- 

try in the world, Dr. 6. M. Dobrov, Kiev Academy of Science professor, 

told a London meeting of scientists from 14 countries. During the last 

50 yrs, the number of scientists in the world had doubled every 15 yrs: 

US. had doubled its personnel every 10 yrs; U.S.S.R., every seven years. 

Dr. Dobrov said U.S.S.R. had 10,000 professional scientists in 1917, 

compared to 700,000 in 1967. He suggested that women be encouraged 

to enter scientific professions to enlarge resources of potential man- 

power. (Reuters, NYT, 5/14/67,85) 

A 59-lb, $350,000 computer used on Gemini V mission had been recondi- 

tioned and was being used by USN in tests of new airborne weapons sys- 

tem designed to locate and destroy enemy radar, AP reported. USN de- 

clined to name the aircraft or reveal where the tests were being con- 

ducted. (AP, Denver Post, 5/14/67) 

May 19-18: Aviation-Space Writers’ Assn. met in Las Vegas. 

Dr. Mac C. Adams, NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Re- 

search and Technology, discussed NASA’s attempts to solve the increas- 

ing problem of aircraft noise. Efforts included: (1) active participation 

in the interagency task force established by President Johnson to study 

aircraft noise [see Feb. 11, (2) study of methods to reduce noise of con- 

ventional aircraft engines, (3) investigation of the use of steeper descent 

angles during approach to landing and steeper climb on takeoff to re- 

duce noise by moving the source farther from the ground, and (4) re- 

search on a new turbine engine with low noise as a basic requirement. 

(Text; N News, 5/16/67) 

Former AFSC Commander Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF, Ret.) 

charged that the Johnson Administration was not “pushing technology” 

153

May 14-18 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

and suggested that $400-700 million more should have been spent an- 

nually on exploratory and advanced development during the past four 

or five years. He was particularly critical of the “arbitrary separation of 

space activities into peaceful and military. . . . It simply serves to em- 

phasize, by comparison, the straightforwardness of the Soviet program. 

Their single-purpose program seeks only to attain a versatile tech- 

nological superiority which, once attained, will serve the political pur- 

pose they choose regardless of what kind of a space program we have 

or how we categorize it. . . .” (Text) 

Anglo-French Concorde supersonic aircraft, scheduled to enter com- 

mercial service in 1971, would pioneer three markets, monopolizing the 

first two until “pushed away” by US. SST, scheduled to enter passenger 

service in 1974-5, W. J. Jakimiuk, president of Sud-Aviation, pre- 

dicted. Concorde would dominate the North Atlantic market where SSTS 

would first be used; however, “as soon as the US. SST penetration of the 

North Atlantic pushes away the Concordes, they will be introduced on 

the major other markets, where a position of monopoly again will be 

found,” Jakimiuk said. When US. SST “pushes” Concorde away from 

these routes, it would then move to a new series of routes where traffic 

density would be so low that “there will be no SST competition.” (NYT, 

5/21/67, 88) 

Director of FAA SST Development B ~ J. G C. Maxwell, referring to report 

by Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) which suggested that SST 

program could seriously weaken the Nation’s balance of payments [see 

May 161, said that “our balance of payments will continue to benefit if 

American and foreign airlines continue to b2uy and operate American 

aircraft in the upcoming supersonic area.” General Maxwell said FAA 

estimated that 1990 market for SSTS, if operations were limited by sonic 

boom considerations, would be 500 aircraft, improving balance of payments 

position by $17 billion. If sonic boom did not limit operations, 

1,200 aircraft would be sold, improving balance of payments position 

by $32 billion. IText; Lardner, W Post, 5/17j67, C1) 

Dr. John S. Foster, Jr., Director of Defense Research and Engineering, 

responded to criticism that US. was losing its strategic superiority. 

(6 

For many years, the Soviet Union apparently had been following our 

lead in every important strategic system technical development. . . . This 

is still the case. We are following their activities with great care. We see 

no evidence that our planned strategic capabilities will be endangered 

by recent Soviet technological actions. . . .” Dr. Foster announced that 

first MOL would be launched by USAF in 1970, confirming rumors that 

program was two years behind schedule. (Av Wk, 5/22/67,11) 

Awards presented included: (1) Monsanto Aviation Safetv Award 

for the ‘Lmost significant and lasting contribution to air safety” in 1966 

to FAA Deputy Administrator David D. Thomas, who was recognized 

as “the principal architect of the US. air traffic control system”; and 

(2) 1967 Robert S. Ball Memorial Award for distinguished and meritorious 

aerospace writing to Howard Benedict, AP senior aerospace 

writer, for series of articles from Aue. 8-Sept. 19, 1966, on Gemini XI 

mission. (Editor & Publisher, 5/13/67; FAA Release 67-7) 

Muy 15: Cosmos CLVIII was launched by U.S.S.R. into circular orbit with 

with 850-km (528-mi) altitude, 100.7-min period, and 74’ inclination. 

Equipment was functioning normally. (AP, NYT, 5/16/67) 

NASA announced that Os0 III Orbiting Solar Observatory, launched from 

154


KSC March 8, had not only achieved but exceeded its primary and 

secondary objectives. Primary objective was to obtain high-resolution 

spectral data from pointed solar experiments during major portion of 

one solar rotation and adequate operational support of spacecraft sub- 

systems to carry out acquisition of these scientific data. Secondary 

objective was to obtain useful data from the non-pointed experiments, 

and to obtain data from pointed experiments during more than one 

solar rotation. Os0 111 had operated satisfactorily for over two solar 

rotations and was continuing to acquire useful scientific data from 

both pointed and wheel experiments. (NASA Proj Off) 

* NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rocket, launched from Point Barrow, Alaska, 

carried GSFC-instrumented grenade payload to obtain data on tempera- 

ture, pressure, density, and wind between 22-59 mi (35-95 km) at 

transition from winter-time westerly to summer-time easterly circula- 

tion. Rocket and instrumentation performed well. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Administrator James E. Webb, at White Sulphur Springs 86th Annual 

Meeting of Proprietary Association, presented social implications of the 

Nation’s space program. He asked: “If our future is now more de- 

pendent than ever on human intelligence, and if these activities made 

possible by the rocket engine are adding large increments of grist for 

the human intelligence mill, and trained workers to use the result, how 

much more important is it today than ever before for leaders in an 

industry like yours to understand those institutions of organized society 

that will foster, encourage, and make proper use of the vast powers the 

human mind is deriving from its understanding and use of the forces, 

materials and forms and activities of life which are provided by nature 

in this universe?” He added : “The comprehension of space exploration 

and its implications for mankind is a tremendous human intellectual 

enterprise . . . and our capability to use it effectively is only limited by 

our ability to systematically order it into viable patterns.” (Text) 

0 NASA’s Nimbus 11 meteorological satellite successfully completed one year of 

operation and was still transmitting useful data. Spacecraft had taken 

more than one million weather photos since its launch from WTR May 15, 

1966. (AP, B Sun, 5/15/67) 

* David S. Gabriel, former Program Manager for the Advanced Agena at 

Bell Aerosystems co., was named Deputy Manager of AEC-NASA Space 

Nuclear Propulsion Office ( SNPO) . (NASA Ann; NASA Release 67-131) 

* Technique for predicting solar flares by the positions of the planets was 

described by Rex Pay in Technology Week. Predictions were made by 

calculating time rate of change of the gravitational field at sun’s surface, 

taking into account local areas of persistent solar activity and their 

alignment with respect to earth. “Principal influences on rate of change 

of the gravitational field at the solar surface are the planets. Although 

their gravitational effects are many orders of magnitude less than that of 

the Sun itself, the time rate of change of the resultant planetary field 

vector appears to have some triggering effect on the release of solar 

flares. It appears, therefore, that solar flares can be predicted from the 

positions of the planets.” Dr. Richard Head, ERC, told Technology Week 

that technique had been used to predict intense proton storm in late 

August 1966 which occurred shortly after NASA’s Lunar Orbiter f had 

completed its photographic mission. (Tech Wk, 5/15 f 67, 35 1 

Scientists at National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) , Green Bank, 

W. Va., and Naval Research Laboratory successfully demonstrated new 

155

May 15 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

technique to obtain high-resolution pictures of quasars. Radiotelescopes 

at both locations were focused simultaneously on a quasar 240 trillion mi 

away, and radio signals beamed to earth by the quasar were recorded on 

magnetic tape at both centers; processed by a computer; and matched to 

form a single, clearer tape. NRAO Director Dr. David Heeschen speculated 

that facilities even farther away could be cohined for sharper pictures: 

“Using this technique, there’s no reason why we can’t link up two 

telescopes 1,000 miles apart and improve our resolution 100 times over 

what we had.” (O’Toole, W Post, 5/25/67, D18) 

U.S.S.R. planned to display two new jet passenger aircraft at Paris Inter- 

national Air and Space Show in late May, Tass announced. First was 24- 

passenger Yak40, scheduled to replace propeller aircraft on Soviet 

secondary air routes; second was 164-passenger Tu-154, scheduled to be 

main medium-range Soviet passenger aircraft. (AP, C Trib, 5/16/67,3) 

9 Washington Evening Star columnist Richard Wilson compared “cloud of 

suspicion over large undertakings” in both DOD and NASA programs: 

“An identical parallel is now disclosed between the award of the 

multi-billion dollar TFX fighter-bomber contract and the award of the 

very large contract for the Apollo capsule. In both instances the recom- 

mendation of the experts was rejected and a handful of public officials 

chose the contractor they favored. . . . In both instances many other facts 

and expert opinions were suppressed. 

“Contrary to the findings of expert boards and committees and of the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff, the TFX contract was awarded to a company with 

good political connections which was temporarily in financial trouble. 

Contrary to the findings of a group of 200 space experts, the Apollo con- 

tract was awarded to North American Aviation, strongly represented in 

Washington’s political life, instead of to the Martin Company. 

“Congress and the public need to know how these huge undertakings 

have been handled because there will be many more of them in the future.” 

(Wilson, W Star, 5/15/67) 

May 16: House Committee on Science and Astronautics voted to report $4.9 

billion NASA authorization bill (H.R. 10340) -$107.8 million less than 

$5.1 billion NASA had requested for FY 1968. Committee reductions 

included $46.8 million from manned space flight; $35.3 million from 

space science and applications; and $25.6 million from advanced re- 

search and technology. Report was filed with the House June 6. (O’Toole, 

W Post, 5/17/67, Al, A6; Hines, W Star, 5/17/67, A9; Av Wk, 

5/22/67,24) 

* Sen. Stephen M. Young (D-Ohio) , speakiig on the Senate floor, urged US. 

and U.S.S.R. to cooperate in the exploration of outer space. “Let us 

proceed to inquire together seeking to effect a treaty with officials of 

the Soviet Union for the joint exploration of outer space for peaceful 

purposes, including efforts for a joint lunar landing, sharing the cost 

on a 50-50 basis. The tremendous expense would be shared equally by 

our two great nations. Also, if we were no longer engaged in a race with 

the Soviet Union for space achievements, the likelihood of tragedies 

resulting from too much haste-such as both nations have recently wit- 

nessed-would be greatly diminished. 

“This would save the taxpayers of our country at least $1 billion next 

year and billions of dollars in future years. Even more important, it 

would be a great advance toward permanent‘peace in the world.” (CR, 

5/16/17, S6903) 

156


* Twenty-sixth meeting of Interim Communications Satellite Committee 

( ICSC) -17-member governing body of International Telecommunica- 

tions satellite consortium ( INTELSAT) -accepted invitation of Japan 

to meet in Tokyo, May 18-23. Comsatcorp, representing U.S. in INTEL- 

SAT and acting as its manager, announced that international participa- 

tion had expanded from 13 countries in 1964 (when interim agreements 

were opened for signature) to 56 countries that now account for more 

than 95% of world’s commercial communications. Tokyo meeting would 

be first to be held in Asia, and was second time ICSC had convened away 

from headquarters offices in Washington, D.C., Paris having been site 

of meeting in July 1965. 

* ComSatCorp announcement summarized commercial satellite communica- 

tions in operation around the world: Early Bird Z (INTELSAT I series) 

launched April 6, 1965, and Atlantic ZZ (INTELSAT 11 series) launched 

March 22, 1967, linking North America and Europe; and Lani Bird IZ 

(INTELSAT 11 series) launched Jan. 11, 1967, linking US. and Hawaii, 

Japan, and Australia. Fabrication had been started in 1966 on advanced 

satellites in INTEISAT m series that would have five times the communica- 

tions capability of Early Bird I. ComSatCorp reported that these latest 

satellites would be launched beginning in 1968 to expand communica- 

tions system to global capability. As to ground facilities, 14 earth sta- 

tions were now operating in countries with more than 40 planned for 

by the end of 1969. (ComSatCorp Release) 

SST program recommended by the Johnson Administration could seriously 

weaken the Nation’s balance of payments, Institute for Defense Analyses 

(IDA) concluded in report prepared for and released by FAA. Report 

said gains from foreign sales of SST would be more than offset by a large 

increase in US. tourist spending abroad as well as by a reduction in 

sales of subsonic U.S. aircraft. IDA study was one of four reports com- 

missioned by FAA for $633,000 but withheld pending President John- 

son’s decision to proceed with Phase I11 (prototype construction) of 

SST program [see April 291. 

New York Times later commented: T he very fact that there can be 

no certainty about the sales prospects for the SST or its impact on the bal- 

ance of payments argues for a deliberate and conservative approach in 

financing it. Statements based on hope and supersalesmanship are con- 

siderably less convincing than the hard facts of supersonic economics. 

The SST is supposed to be a commercial venture. It should meet com- 

mercial standards of investment.” (Lardner, W Post, 5/17/67, C1; 

NYT, 5/21/67, E12) 

May 17: NASA Argo D-4, (Javelin) sounding rocket launched from NASA 

Wallops Station carried Syracuse Univ. Research Corp. payload con- 

taining vacuum-ion chamber to 625-mi (1,006-km) altitude on flight to 

measure ion densities in the upper atmosphere. Telemetry signal was 

received for 18 min. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA test pilot William H. Dana flew X-15 No. 1 to 3,205 mph (mach 4.84.) 

and 71,0001-ft altitude in flight at Edwards AFB. Purposes of test: (1) 

PCM system checkout; (2) measurement of coldwall heat transfer; (3) 

measurement of step panel heat transfer; (4) boost guidance checkout; 

(5) energy management checkout; (6) check of tip-pod accelerometer ; 

(7) sonic boom study; and (8) study of horizontal tail loads. (X-15 

Proj Off) 

* U.S.S.R. successfully launched two Cosmos satellites : Cosmos CLZX entered 

157


orbit with 60,600-km (37,655-mi) apogee, 380-km (236-mi) perigee, 19- 

hr 33-min period, and 51” inclination; Cosmos CLX entered orbit with 

205-km (127-4 apogee, 142-km (88-mi) perigee, and 49.6” inclina- 

tion. Equipment on both satellites functioned normally. Cosmos CLX 

reentered May 18. (UPI, W Star, 5/18/67, C18; GSFC SSR, 5/31/67) 

* NASA’s Surveyor III spacecraft, resting on the moon, would not be reactivated 

until about May 23 despite the end of the two-week lunar night, 

NASA announced. Officials said they wanted spacecraft to warm up gradually 

before resuming communications. ( UPI, NYT, 5/18/67, 22) 

Congress, the Administration, and the press had failed to put the US. space 

program-particularly the Apollo fire--into proper perspective, Rep. 

Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , Chairman of the House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, 

told National Space Club meeting. ‘LDespite reports and statements 

to the contrary, neither the Apollo nor the rest of the space program 

is falling apart. Despite reports to the contrary, NASA has revealed and 

discussed its errors and those of the contractor to an unprecedented 

degree. In fact, I have never heard more candid admissions of failures 

and responsibilities. Yet, these errors must be weighed in the overall 

balance with the tremendous accomplishments of NASA and its contractors 

during the past nine years. It is unfair and super-bad-judgment 

to measure this present ‘low water’ mark with any other yardstick. . . .” 

(Text; Clark, NYT, 5/18/67,30) 

* Soviet space program would be seriously delayed because of the April 24 

accident which killed Cosmonaut Vladiinir Komarov, Soviet Cosmonaut 

Yuri Gagarin disclosed in Komsomolskaya Pravda. “Flights of spaceships 

of the type of Soyuz I will be possible only after a complete determination 

of the causes of the accident, their elimination and then test 

flights. This, of course, will take time.” Gagarin confirmed that Soyuz I 

mission had been first of a series of flights planned for summer 1967. 

Concerning rumors that Komarov had survived the crash landing of 

Soyuz I, he said: “How we all wish that Volodya Komarov was alive. 

. . . But one must look facts in the face.” (NYT, 5/18/67, 31; AP, W 

Post, 5/18/67, A26) 

* Michigan’s Governor George Romney said US. exhibition at Expo ’67 in 

Montreal was ‘La discredit to the Nation and the people of this Nation. 

. . . The only thing inside the exhibit that I could see that had any merit 

were the space capsules.” ( UPI, W Post, 5/18/67) 

May 18: USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Scout booster. 

(Pres Rep 1967) 

* NASA personnel changes: (1) George H. Hage, former Engineering Manager 

for Boeing Co.’s Lunar Orbiter Program, had been appointed Deputy 

Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications (Engineering), 

replacing Robert F. Garbarini, who resigned effective ,4pril 27. 

Hage would be responsible for maintaining the highest possible standards 

of engineering excellence and discipline, systems performance and 

project management on the spacecraft and launch vehicles in the OSSA 

program. (2) Bernard Moritz, former NASA Deputy Assistant Administrator 

for Industry Affairs, had been appointed Assistant Administrator 

for Special Contracts Negotiation and Review. Moritz would be responsible 

for negotiation and review of certain assigned contracts involving 

new policy or administrative arrangements requiring consideration or 

decision by the Administrator or Deputy Administrator. (3) M/G John 

158


May 17: United States exhibits spacecraft at Expo ‘67 in Montreal: Lunar Orbiter (top 

left), Surveyor (center), and Apollo Command Module suspended from parachutes 

(right) . 

G. Shinkle (USA, Ret.) Apollo Program Manager at KSC, resigned for 

cc 

personal reasons.” Dr. Kurt H. Debus, KSC Director, commented: “I 

deeply regret the decision of General Shinkle to leave the program. 

Throughout his association here, his experience has been of major assistance 

in our contribution to the Apollo program.” (NASA Releases 67- 

128,67-129; AP, NYT, 5J2Oj67, 2) 

0 NASA announced it would negotiate three-month $500,000 fixed-price con- 

159


tracts with Martin Marietta Corp. and McDonnell Aircraft Astronautics 

Co. for preliiary design studies (Phase B) of planetary entry cap 

sules for the Voyager program. Phase B contractor efforts were the responsibility 

of JPL in conjunction with URC. Responsibility for system 

design and hardware development subsequent to Phase B would be 

divided between JPL and L ~RC with JPL responsible for surface laboratory 

and L ~RC responsible for capsule bus system, which included entry 

and landing equipment. (NASA Release 67-126) 

* NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh, delivering the Steinmetz 

Memorial Lecture at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y ., emphasized 

the contributions of the US. space program to national security. “Surely, 

we must all realize that the more certain potential aggressors are that 

we are informed and alert, the less is the likelihood of attack and the 

greater is the likelihood of peace. Space competence contributes significantly 

to our state of alertness and awareness. . . . We are not developing 

space weapons systems which might threaten the security of 

other countries, but rather we are developing insurance against the 

violation of international treaties as well as against surprise attacks. 

Those who want to live within the reasonable limitations of international 

law and who desire and are willing to work for world peace surely 

should welcome a program which lessens the risks of world conflict. 

Our space activity constitutes such a program.” (Text) 

May 19: U.N. space law treaty had been ratified by the Presidium of the 

Supreme Soviet, Tass announced. Presidium acted on behalf of the 

Supreme Soviet when the full body was not in session. Ratified by US. 

Senate April 25, treaty would become effective when US., U.S.S.R., U.K., 

and two other nations had filed ratification papers. 

Washington Evening Star later commented: “. . . [the space law 

treaty] may not be one of the most significant agreements of our time, 

but it is surely the most far-reaching, encompassing nothing less than 

the infinities between us and the stars. It is an agreement, moreover, 

that puts America and Russia on the same side. It can be helpful as 

an example of what the two of us can do together-down here on the 

troubled earth-to promote a good and enduring peace.” (NYT, 5/20/ 

67, 1, 5; AI?, W Star, 5/20/67, A5; W Post, 5/20/67, 1; W Star, 

5/22/67, A16) 

* Press briefing on Esro I1 satellite and NASA International Cooperative 

Programs was held at NASA Hq. 

Arnold W. Frutkin, NASA Assistant Administrator for International 

Affairs, discussed the areas of cooperation between NASA and ESRO, 

emphasizing the “unprecedented data exchange agreement. . . . I don’t 

think there is anything quite as sophisticated or as extensive in the 

international field. Under this agreement. . . ESRO assumes responsibility 

to collect all of the European technical report literature relevant to 

space activities, indexes and abstracts it, reduces it to a standard microfiche 

or microcard format which is compatible with our own system, 

and provides that material to us. We incorporate it in a single combined 

publication eveiy two weeks, listing all of the US. and European literature 

in the field so that it is available to both sides. . . .’’ 

Brian M. Walker, ESRO Project Coordinator for Esro 11, announced 

that next ESRO satelliteEsro I-would be launched in late 1967 to 

study the ionosphere. Esro I1 was scheduled for launch from WTR May 

29. (Transcript) 

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* USAF awarded two fixed-price incentive-fee contracts to continue develop- 

ment of the MOL: (1) Douglas Aircraft Corp., contractor €or the labora- 

tory vehicle, received $674,703,744; and (2) McDonnell Aircraft 

Corp., contractor for Gemini B spacecraft, received $180,469,000. ( DOD 


A street and school in Warsaw, Poland, had been named for Vladimir 

Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut who died April 24 when Soyuz Z spacecraft 

crash-landed, AP reported. (AP, NYT, 5/19/67, 4) 

May 20: Air Transport Assn. (ATA) issued statement urging FAA to expedite 

its program for automatic equipment to improve the control of air 

traffic. Statement noted that by 1970 airlines would have more than 

two thirds of their share of the equipment installed compared to FAA, 

which would have only one third of its ground stations suitably equipped. 

ATA urged that FAA temporarily abandon plans for a complex and costly 

system and proceed instead with less elaborate equipment. (AP, NYT, 

5/22/67, 25) 

May 21 I Astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Thomas P. Stafford, and Frank 

Borman were interviewed on NBC-TV’S “Meet the Press.” Borman said 

he had “nothing but admiration for the way NASA had conducted its 

investigation of the Jan. 27 Apollo accident and that, far from losing 

confidence in the agency, he had gained confidence in it. Asked if he 

believed that some other group should also investigate the fire, he 

replied: “Absolutely not. I don’t understand the desire for another 

investigation.” Schirra, asked if he believed it were necessary to send 

men to the moon when unmanned spacecraft were obtaining valuable 

information, responded: “It is only natural that man must go out there 

and see for himself.” The computer in unmanned flights is only a prod- 

uct of man’s mind, and, “if something different occurs, man is best 

equipped to make the move.” (AP, Newsday, 5/22/67) 

* One remaining “lightweight” prototype of USN’S F-111B fighter aircraft 

had been grounded pending investigation board’s determination of 

cause of April 21 accident in which an F-111B, which had been stripped 

of excess weight, crashed on takeoff. “YOU can’t lose that high a pro- 

portion of your total assets and not have it hurt . . . a lot,” Capt. 

K. C. Childers, deputy director of F-111B-Phoenix program, told Wash- 

ington Evening Star. He emphasized, however, that three other USN 

models of the aircraft were still flying, and two of them were being 

used in tests of the Phoenix missile that formed an integral part of 

the F-111B weapon system. (W Star, 5/21/67, A7) 

May 22: Cosmos CLXl was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 343-km 

(213-mi) apogee, 205-km (127-mi) perigee, 89.8-min period, and 

65.7” inclination. Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered 

May 30. (AP, W Post, 5/23/67, A9; GSFC SSR, 5/31/67) 

* USAF launched two unidentified satellites by Atlas-Agena D boosters from 

WTFL One satellite reentered on May 27; other reentered May 30. (UPI, 

W Post, 5/23/67, A9; Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 5/31/67) 

9 France and Quebec had agreed on joint use of a comsat for transmission 

of French radio and television programs to the French-speaking areas 

of Canada, Quebec’s Premier Daniel Johnson disclosed at a Paris press 

conference. (NYT, 5/23/67,77) 

* The time had to come to end the “belabored post-mortems of the Apollo 

fire” and to restore confidence in the Apollo program, William Cough- 

lin suggested in Technology Week. “NASA certainly has its faults, par- 

161


ticularly in the quality control area. But we believe that the overall 

record of the Apollo 204 probe offers some inspiration for confidence 

in NASA management. It takes a great deal of integrity to give an acci- 

dent review board full freedom and support when the outcome can 

only be critical of those setting up the board-and NASA provided that 

freedom and support. It then takes courage to stand up and disagree 

with some of the findings of the board-and NASA did that. The Phillips 

report, damaging as it was, also was testimony that NASA had been on 

top of the problems at North American and was making progress in 

solving them. . . . 

‘Tonfidence in Apollo must be restored and the program allowed to 

move ahead, without undue restriction, on its new lunar schedule. 

“Anything less will diminish the sacrifice made by three brave men.” 

(Coughlin, Tech Wk, 5/22/67,58) 

0 Cosmos, Minn.-a community of 560-had given all its streets astronomi- 

cal names such as Mars, Jupiter, Pegasus, and Comet. (AP, NYT, 

5/22/67) 

Dr. J. Herbert Hollomon, Acting Under Secretary of Commgrce and As- 

sistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology, had been 

appointed President of Oklahoma Univ., effective Sept. 1. (AP, NYT, 

5/23/67,32) 

* USAF F-111A jet aircraft was flown from Loring AFB, Me., to Le Bourget 

Airfield, France, for display at the Paris International Air and Space 

Show. ( UPI, NYT, 5/23/67,77) 

May 22-23: Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, accompanied by NASC 

Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh, toured MSFC and US. Army 

Missile Command (AMC) at Redstone Arsenal. During his visit, the 

Vice President watched a full-duration static-firing of an TJprated Saturn 

I 1st stage which lasted 145.6 sec. (Marshall Star, 5/24/67, 1) 

May 23: Science press briefing on Surveyor 111 was held at NASA Head- 

quarters. 

Dr. Ronald F. Scott, Cal Tech, showed a movie composed of a time- 

lapse sequence of still pictures of the surface sampler digging a small 

lunar trench. The device also picked up a small rock in left side of 

scoop and tried unsuccessfully to crush it, exerting between 200-300 

psi. Dr. Scott concluded that rock examined was at least harder than 

sandstone, which would have broken under impact of about 200 Ibs. 

Surveyor 111 also confirmed that moon’s surface could support manned 

lunar landing. Consistency of surface was found to be comparable to 

wet sand with bearing strength between three and eight psi. Dr. Scott 

said of an exploring astronaut: “He’ll leave a definite footprint, that’s 

all.” 

Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, US. Geological Survey, said a series of 50 

color photos taken by Surveyor 111’s cameras using color filters indicated 

that lunar surface was gray. “The gray varies in shade from a pale to 

a very dark gray, but it appears to be basically all gray.” He said this 

color probably resulted from lack of moisture and of air on moon. 

Minerals on earth were brightly colored because of higher state of 

oxidation possible under earth environment. Dr. Shoemaker noted that 

some of the lunar material photographed by Surveyor 111 was very 

dark, suggesting that it had been coated with a darkening substance 

which he nicknamed “lunar varnish.” 

Among photos displayed were two pictures of the eclipse in which 

162


earth was depicted as a dark circle sitting between spacecraft and sun. 

Earth appeared to have partial halo of deep sunset color in one photo 

and orange areas connected by a faint purple halo in the other. (O’Toole, 

w Post, 5/24/67, A12; Clark, NYT, 5/24/67, 50; Hines, W Star, 

5/25/67, A13) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, speaking at colloquium on “Urban 

Government in the Decade Ahead,” at Fels Institute of Local and State 

Government, Pennsylvania Univ., discussed urban American goals and 

the urban society: “What can one say about the use of new scientific 

approaches for governing such a complex [society] ?” 

Referring to earth-orbiting spacecraft achieving dynamic equilibrium 

in their mastery of space, he asked if the “ability of theY human mind” 

could translate this concept of dynamic equilibrium into an entirely 

new way of thinking. Webb stated: “Here I believe we do have some- 

thing to learn from the perspective the earth satellite gives us [and] if 

we continue to expose this kind of overview to the largest possible 

number of able minds, there can be little doubt that new knowledge, new 

capability, new perception of worthwhile and quite specific goals will 

emerge.” He added: “. . . I believe that what the space frontier opened 

up in 1957 is the kind of frontier on which pioneers can experiment and 

learn to use many facets of modern technology here on earth-here in 

America’s cities. In urban America, as elsewhere, men need the constant 

development of new concepts of reality and the inspiration that comes 

from a chance. to better know this city and this universe in which we 

live.” (Text) 

* First SV-5D lifting body vehicle ever recovered from a suborbital space 

flight was displayed by USAF at Pentagon press briefing. Seven feet long 

and weighing 860 lbs, it was heatdblackened and slightly charred on its 

outer surface from 3,000” F reentry heat. Col. Curtis L. Scoville, AFSC, 

said vehicle, launched April 19 by an Atlas booster, had achieved an 

orbital speed of 17,000 mph and reentered in a maneuvering descent 

that took it “hundreds of miles” off its straight-line trajectory. A USAF 

aircraft recovered it in mid-air during final parachute descent. Mission 

was third successful flight in USAF’S Precision Recovery Including 

Maneuvering Entry (PRIME) program; first two vehicles were not 

recovered, but program was considered so successful that planned 

fourth flight had been canceled. (Schmeck, NYT, 5/24/67,50) 

* Soviet Institute of Oceanology’s Marine Electronics Laboratory was devel- 

oping a television-equipped robot to probe the ocean floor at depths of 

four-six km (21h-four mi) , Science Service reported. Controlled elec- 

tronically through a specially made cable, robot would carry a manipu- 

lator to pick up objects sighted by TV camera. Engineers hoped to 

eventually develop a robot that could be controlled entirely by ultrasonic 

signals transmitted through the water. (SciServ, NYT, 5/23/67, 50) 

May 24: NASA successfully launched Explorer XXXIV Interplanetary Moni- 

toring Platform ( IMP-F) from WTR by three-stage Thrust-Augmented 

Improved Delta booster into near-perfect polar orbit. Orbital param- 

eters: apogee, 133,131 mi (214,348 km) ; perigee, 150 mi (241 km) ; 

period, 106 hrs; inclination, 67.2”. Preliminary data indicated that all 

spacecraft systems and the 10 of its 11 experiments which had been 

turned on were operating normally. Final experiment would she turned 

on by ground command June 1. 

Explorer XXXIV would make measurements of solar and galactic 

163


cosmic rays within and at the boundary of earth’s atmosphere and 

interplanetary space during period of maximum solar activity. Primary 

mission objectives were to: (1) place spacecraft into orbit with an 

apogee of approximately 92,000 mi, or greater, to investigate the region 

between the magnetosheath and the shock front; and (2) to obtain 

scientific data on the cislunar environment from a number of its experiments. 

Explorer XXXZV was ten times more complex than any of four 

previous satellites launched in NASA’s Interplanetary Monitoring Plat- 

form (IMP) series, two of which-Explorer XXVZZZ (launched May 29, 

1965) and Explorer XXXZZZ (launched July 1, 1%6)-were still oper- 

ating and providing scientific data. IMP series was managed by GSFC 

under OSSA direction. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-21; UPI, NYT, 

5/26/67,9; WSJ, 5/25/67,1) 

* President Johnson, in a White House ceremony, presented M/G James W. 

Humphreys, Jr., of the Air Force Medical Corps, the Distinguished 

Service Medal for helping to develop “a national medical program for 

the Vietnamese people.” General Humphreys would become Director of 

Space Medicine, OMSF, June 1. (PD, 5/29/67, 778: W Post, 5/25/67) 

NASA announced that 2nd stage of the first Saturn V booster would be 

dismantled at KSC to check for any “hairline” cracks. Decision was made 

after similar cracks had been found in an identical stage of the vehicle 

at North American Aviation, Inc.’s Seal Beach, Calif., plant. Additional 

checks were not expected to delay first Saturn V flight-an unmanned 

mission scheduled for mid-August-by “more than a week or so.” 


Ronnie J. Lagoe, 17-yr-old high school senior whose %-scale model of 

NASA’s Surveyor spacecraft had made five successful soft-landings on 

earth from varying heights, was introduced at a New York news conference 

by Dr. Allen E. Puckett, Executive Vice President of Hughes 

Aircraft Co., manufacturer of Surveyor spacecraft. Lagoe built his 

2-lb model-designated Surveyor-R (“for revised”) -with wood strips, 

foam rubber, bathtub calk, glue, ping-pong balls, cork fishing floats, a 

battery, and four tiny rockets. Total cost: $28.95. He described the 

85-ft flight sequence following Surveyor-R’s launch from the top of a 

water tower: “After retro-fire, a marked decrease in spacecraft velocity 

was noted until retro-burnout occurred at 20 feet and the verniers 

burned alone. Complete counteraction of gravity was achieved at two 

fket, after which vernier shut-off occurred and the craft dropped to the 

surface.” Hughes presented Lagoe with a summer job at KSC, a free 

trip to its Culver City, Calif., plant, and a $5,000 college scholarship. 

(Wilford, NYT, 5/25/67,43) 

* 1967 Robert J. Collier Trophy was presented to James S. McDonnell, 

founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corp., by Vice President Humphrey 

in ceremony at Smithsonian Institution. Making the award on behalf 

of President Johnson, Mr. Humphrey said McDonnell had been selected 

because of his leadership in aeronautics and astronautics as 

demonstrated by the performance of the McDonnell Gemini spacecraft 

and the F4 Phantom I1 jet fighter. Trophy was presented annually by 

Look and National Aeronautic Assn. “for the greatest achievement in 

aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the 

performance, efficiency, or safety of air or space vehicles.” (NAA News; 

AP, NYT, 5/25/67,81) 

* The creation of a European Institute of Science and Technology to help 

164


narrow the technological gap between US. and Western Europe was 

proposed at a Deauville, France, conference of 70 US. and European 

businessmen, scientists, academicians, and public officials. Institute, 

which would be supported initially by private funds, would offer one- 

year postgraduate course. Faculty and student body would be inter- 

national. Conference concluded that such an institute would be “a 

considerable stimulant for the various European educational systems 

and a rich source of trained engineers.” Meeting was sponsored by 

North Atlantic Assemblv’s Science and Technoloev Committee and 

Univ. of Pennsylvania’s ‘Foreign Policy Research htute. (Mooney, 

NYT, 5/30/67,25) 

May 25: U:S.S:R. successfully launched Molniya 1-5 comsat into orbit to 

relay television signals from the Soviet Far East to Moscow and on 

to Paris. Orbital parameters : apogee, 31,658 km (19,672 mi) ; perigee, 

459 km (285 mi) ; period, 11 hr 55 min; and inclination, M.8’”. Tass 

said primary goal of the Molniya I series of comsats was “further 

checking and experimental exploration of a system of long-distance 

two-way television, telephone, and radio communications.” Molniya I 5 

comsat was believed to be replacement for Molniyu I-2 comsat which 

had reentered prematurely March 17. (UPI, NYT, 5/2G/67, 3) 

0 Report by NRC Space Science Board on the concept of orbiting large re- 

flecting mirrors concluded that there was no overwhelming evidence 

that scientific damage would result from the deployment of a single 

reflector system. It recommended, however, that such a satellite not 

be considered in the future unless the ability to destroy it by ground 

signals were an inherent part of the design and unless detailed studies 

of its effects on ecology, biology, and astronomy were previously con- 

ducted and made public. It said it could see no scientific merit for 

such a satellite system commensurate with its cost to the public and 

its nuisance to science. Report was prepared by Board‘s Committee on 

Potential Contamination and Interference from Satellites as a result 

of NASA’s 1966 announcement that it had asked five aerospace com- 

panies to study feasibility of orbiting large reflecting mirrors that 

could illuminate land masses at night. Dr. Donald F. Hornig, Special 

Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, confirmed in 

a letter to NAS President Dr. Frederick Seitz that the Government no 

longer had plans for such a project. (NAS-NRC-NAE News Report, 

5/67,2) 

0 National Academy of Sciences Panel on Applied Science and Technologi- 

cal Progress had concluded that the “most important iiivention in the 

pursuit of modern . . . applied science is the big mission-oriented 

industrial or Government laboratory,” and had underlined importance 

of a symbiosis between mission-oriented institution and university. 

Panel’s report, forwarded to House Committee on Science and Astro- 

nautics, also recognized Government’s special responsibility for integ- 

rity and sufficiency of man’s environment and for dealing with national 

and regional social questions. It urged adaptability of large, interdis- 

ciplinary Government laboratories to new national problem areas. 

(Text) 

JPL announced that 24-hr efforts-begun May 23-to reactivate NASA’s 

Surveyor IIZ spacecraft on the moon after two-week lunar night were 

continuing. Officials said they were not concerned about spacecraft’s 

temporary failure to respond, noting that it had taken seven days to 

165


reestablish contact with its predecessor Surveyor 1. (UPI, NYT, 

5/21/67, 2) 

May 26-31: 27th Paris International Air and Space Show at Le Bourget 

Airport was opened ;by French President Charles de Gaulle, who toured 

the French, British, US., and U.S.S.R. exhibits. More than 450 aerospace 

companies representing 16 countries participated in the show. 

Exhibits in US. pavilion traced the progress of aviation during the 

40 yrs since May 20-21, 1927, when Charles A. Lindbergh flew from 

New York to Paris, becoming the first man to fly the Atlantic non-stop 

alone. Included were: (1) a replica of Lindbergh’s aircraft, “The Spirit 

of St. Louis”; (2) Douglas Aircraft Co.’s DC-8 Super 63, world’s largest 

commercial jet aircraft; (3) SV-5J, first manned jet lifting body vehicle; 

(4) USAF F-111A swingwing jet fighter; and (5) models of 

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft. Soviet exhibit 

featured first public display of Vostok booster, similar to the one used 

to launch Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on world’s first manned space flight 

April 12,1961. 

On May 29, Cosmonaut Pave1 Belyayev entered the Apollo spacecraft 

during a visit to the US. pavilion and discussed the instruments, 

levers, and buttons inside the spacecraft with Astronaut David Scott. 

Belyayev was first Soviet cosmonaut ever to have entered a US. spacecraft. 

On May 31, it was announced that two USAF rescue and recovery 

helicopters had left New York enroute to Paris, attempting to achieve 

the first nonstop helicopter crossing of the Atlantic. Helicopters would 

refuel in flight about eight times during flight, which was expected to 

take 28-32 hrs. USAF said purpose of the crossing was to demonstrate 

“the long-range capability of the HH-3E [helicopter] for employment 

in long range recovery of personnel who may be forced down at sea 

a great distance from land.” Helicopters landed safely at Le Bourget 

Airport hne 1. (Long, NYT, 5/21/67, 88; UPI, NYT, 5/27/67, 50M; 

W Post, 5/27/67, D20; W Post, 5/30/67, Al) 

May 27: Venus is devoid of water and, therefore, of life, Dr. Gerard P. 

Kuiper, Univ. of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, told New 

York Times reporter Richard D. Lyons in a telephone interview. ‘We 

now know that Venus is a dead planet. The astronomical literature is 

full of references to water clouds and ice crystals. These two things 

are definitely wrong. The complete absence of water means that the 

chemistry of Venus is gotally different from the chemistry here.” Practical 

absence of water in the Venus atmosphere provided new information 

on the constitution of the planet, Dr. Kuiper said: “It is probable 

now that the Venus clouds are dust and that a substantial fraction of 

the high surface temperature must be attributed to internal heat reaching 

the planet’s surface through a thin solid crust.” Dr. Kuiper’s conclusions 

were based on astronomical observations made May 13 from a 

specially fitted NASA-owned Convair 990 jet aircraft which flew at 

37,OOO-ft altitude over Canada. His theory conflicted with one set 

forth in 1966 by Johns Hopkins Univ. astrophysicists Drs. William 

Plummer and John Strong that surface temperatures of Venus were 

low enough to support life in certain areas. (Lyons, NYT, 5/28/67,21) 

The frontier of space is limited only by man’s “ability to maintain 

individual freedom and yet join many minds in concerted action,” 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb said at the Celebration of The 

166


Prelude to Independence in Williamsburg, Va. “It is the essential require- 

ment for each of us to do what we can as individuals and as groups 

to make our system of representative government work, and then work 

better. More and more this means that each of us must find a way to 

reach through complexity and organized prejudice to trusted sources 

of information and organized facts. We must not do less than to make 

sure we understand the fundamentals in the many important disciplines 

of human activity. Without this understanding of at least the funda- 

mentals . . . today’s citizen cannot play the role only he can play in 

representative society, cannot bridge the gap from the old to the new, 

from one discipline to another. Without this capability, a citizen today 

cannot be a fully effective participant in a free society. Indeed, without 

this basic understanding on a large scale at all levels our nation is 

likely to forfeit the capability of collectively responsible action, and with 

it, the basis for an effective free society. . . .” (Text) 

* NASA Administrator James E. Webb had been encountering a “storm of 

criticism” since the Jan. 27 Ap11o accident, but “odds are he’ll see his 

job through,” Business Week concluded in an article summarizing 

Webb’s career. It noted some of Webb’s accomplishments as NASA Admin- 

istrator: “. . . Webb has steered steadily growing budgets-from 

$1-billion in 1961 to this year’s $5-billion-among the Congressional 

reefs. He runs a NASA organization of nearly 35,000 people in 16 facili- 

ties that stretch from Boston to Cape Kennedy, from Houston to the 

West Coast-and a worldwide network of tracking stations. At the 

same time, he has had to deal directly or indircctly with nearly 21,000 

contracting companies, which employ about .0,000 people. . . .” 

Article concluded that Webb had been “bruised, not beaten” by the 

controversy surrounding the Apollo accident. “. . . odds-makers in 

Washington are betting that when the smoke clears Webb will emerge 

still at the helm of NASA. Further, they think NASA still may meet its 

deadline of a moon landing before 1970.” (B Wk, 5/27/67, 71-7) 

May 28: Dept. of Agriculture scientists, in April testimony released by 

House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Dept. of Agri- 

culture, predicted that the application of remote sensing techniques 

developed in conjunction with US. space program, could revolutionize 

agriculture. They requested $34.0,000 for FY 1968 to adapt equip- 

ment to agricultural requirements. Equipment, currently flown in air- 

craft, was used to identify accurately and within minutes the soil 

conditions and moisture, crop yield, and incidence and severity of 

diseases. Dr. G. W. Irving, Jr., Agriculture Administrator of Agricul- 

tural Research Service, predicted: “Once we are in operation from 

satellite-type spacecraft, the possibilities for securing vast amounts of 

useful information within extremely short time periods are almost 

limitless.” ( AP, B Sun, 5/29/67) 

Some of the developments in the US. space program which had benefited 

the field of medicine were cited by John G. Rogers in Parade magazine. 

“A TV camera so tiny it can be dropped down your throat to study your 

ulcers . . . an ultra-sensitive device to detect the now undetectable first 

faint muscle quivers of dread Parkinson’s disease . . . a heart exami- 

nation table that escapes all foreign vibrations by suspending the patient 

on a sheet of air . . . a versatile electronic system that can keep close 

watch on 128 intensive-care patients at one time and ‘shout’ an alarm 

if one needs instant attention.” Rogers also noted “magic glasses” which 

324-801 0-49-12 167


enable paralysis victims, by moving their eyeballs, to regulate elec- 

tronically many activities necessary to daily life. (Rogers, Parade, 

5/28/67, 145) 

May 29: Esro II, first satellite designed, developed, and constructed by ESRO 

under July 8, lW, NASA-ESRO agreement, was launched from WTR by 

four-stage Scout booster but did not achieve planned polar or‘bit. NASA 

officials were studying telemetry in an attempt to determine cause of 

Scout’s failure. 

Primary NASA mission objectives were to place Esro N in planned 

orbit and to provide tracking and telemetry support. 153-lb satellite 

carried seven experiments for solar astronomy and cosmic ray studies 

representing six different organizations from U.K., France, and the 

Netherlands. ESRO was responsible for delivery of satellite to launch site, 

for equipment and personnel necessary to mate spacecraft to launch 

vehicle, and for testing spacecraft. (NASA Proj Off; UPI, NYT, 

5/31/67,1) 

* GAO had begun “detailed examinations into certain specific areas of the 

Apollo program,” Assistant Comptroller General Frank H. Weitzel wrote 

in a letter to Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) , who had inquired about 

GAO reviews of NASA-NAA contracts. Examinations were begun “on the 

basis of information developed during” a preliminary review, started in 

October 1966, which had covered NASA Hq., “several NASA centers,” and 

plants of NAA and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. (Hines, W Star, 

6/1/67, C16) 

0 LaRC selected Northrop Ventura Co. to negotiate $3-million contract to 

conduct research flight-test program using an all-flexible parawing. 

Experiments would be performed at various scales with remotely 

controlled unmanned vehicles to establish a body of parawing technology 

which could be potentially adapted to manned spacecraft recovery 

systems. NASA’s goal was to extend recovery capdbilities for the AA Program 

command module (CM) to include land landings in the early 

1970’s. Northrop, relying on design criteria gained in earlier LaRC parawing 

research programs, would evaluate parawings in the 20;0-600-lb 

and 5,000-lb payload capacities, including flight tests, before designing 

15,OOO-lb payload system required for the Apollo CM. (NASA Release 

67-134) 

* Edward R. Mathews, chief of KSC Saturn systems oflice, was named acting 

Apollo Program Manager at IGC, r.eplacing M/G John G. Shinkle (USA, 

Ret.) , who resigned May 18. (AP, NYT, 5/30/67, 44) 

AFSC awarded General Electric Co. $110,02O,o(ro cost-plus-incentive-fee 

contract for experiment integration work on the MOL. (DOD Release 

49747) 

U.S.S.R. would launch test series of “carrier rockets of space objects” into 

the Pacific between May 30 and June 30 “to further explore outer space 

and accumulate experimental data,” Tass announced. Aircraft and ships 

were warned not to enter 129-km (80-mi)-wide target area about 

161 km (100 mi) from Jarvis Island, a U.S. possession, between noon 

and midnight local time each day. (UPI, NYT, 5/30/67, 2) 

* Dr. Peter Franken, Deputy Director of Advanced Research Projects Agency 

(ARPA) , was appointed Acting Director of ARPA, succeeding Dr. Charles 

M. Herzfeld, who resigned to take an executive position with ITT. (DOD 


* Paul C. Aebersold, a pioneer nuclear physicist who worked on the Man- 

168


hattan Project which developed the first atomic bomb, jumped to his 

death from the top of an apartment building in Chevy Chase, Md. 

Aebersold had retired as Director of AEC’S Office of Isotopes Development 

in 1964. (AP, NYT, 5/31/67,18) 

-May 30: House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Dept. of 

Defense Appropriations released testimony on US. missile strategy by 

DOD officials at closed hearing March 20. Dr. Charles M. Herzfeld, who 

resigned as Director of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) 

May 26, testihd that advanced missile systems based in space rather 

than on land were being studied. He recalled that DOD had studied, 

until 1964, the ‘‘Bambi” system designed to use satellites to locate and 

destroy enemy missiles shortly after they had been launched. Work 

had been stopped because it was “much too costly,)) but “we think the 

time is getting ripe again to look at the whole question because the costs 

of putting things in orbit have gone down dramatically, the reliability 

of space engineering has gone up dramatically so that the overall cost 

of the system ought to come down significantly.” 


revealed that repairs had had to be made on all Minuteman ICBMS 

because of missile’s failure to fire in three tests during October 1966. 

He emphasized, however, that all missiles were operational at the time 

of his testimony and said overall readiness of the Minuteman and 

Polaris missile forces was “exceUent.” (Beecher, NYT, 5/31/67, 1, 28; 

W Star, 5/31/67, A6) 

Muy 31: NASA completed membership of its Lunar and Planetary Missions 

Board and expanded its scope of activities to include: (1) assistance 

in the “planning and conduct of all manned and unmanned missions to 

explore the Moon and planets,” and (2) development of “scientific 

objectives and general strategy for such missions including specific 

recommendations for mission design and scientific payloads.” Board 

would report to NASA Administrator James E. Webb through Associate 

Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. Homer E. Newell. 


9 USAF launched 8 satellites by nor-Agena D booster from Vandenberg 

AFB. This solar-cell-powered, 85-lb, satellite experiment, designed for 

developing satellite navigation technique as easy to use as celestial 

navigation and more accurate, would assist pilot or navigator of ship 

or aircraft who could make direct, simultaneous measurements. Signal 

measurement from two or more satellites with known positions to de- 

termine location of ship or aircraft would make use of signal trans- 

mission times and standard navigation techniques. Experiment had 

been built by Naval Research Laboratory as one to be compatible with 

Doppler equipment for low-altitude satellites. Naval Air Systems Com- 

mand had been project sponsor. (UPI, W Post, 6/1/67, G4; NRL News 

5/31/67) 

NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried instru- 

[mented payload to %-mi (42-km) altitude to gather micrometeoroid 

particles during a quiet period immediately before the Zeta Perseid/An- 

e@d meteor shower. No scientific data were obtained because “burn- 

through” near the igniter headcap caused an explosion. (NASA Rpt 

* NASA had amended its contract with Bendix Corp. for the Apollo Lunar 

Surface Expekiments Package (ALSEP) to add a heat flow experiment 

169


substation. $2.4-million amendment increased total value of contract 

to $23.6 million, plus incentive fees. Heat flow subsystem woud measure 

net outward flux of heat from moon’s interior, providing a comparison 

of radioactive content of the moon’s interior and eaIth’s mantle, a 

thermal history of moon, a lunar temperature-depth profile, and thermal 

parameters of the first three meters of moon’s crust. (NASA Release 

67-135) 

* Proposal that ‘Canada immediately begin developing a Canadian-owned, 

multipurpose communications satellite system to be operational by 

1970 was made to Transport Minister John W. Pickersgill by eight 

major companies of Trans-Canada Telephone System and Canadian 

Pacific and Canadian National Telecommunications. $80-million system 

would involve 54 earth stations, the purchase of three comsats, and 

the launching of two of them into synchronous orbit. Proposal recom- 

mended that system be fully integrated with existing networks to carry 

TV, telephone calls, data, and other services. (Can Press, NYT, 6/1/67) 

Two-part report evaluating land use on and around airports and its re- 

lation to noise and hazards in the operation of aircraft was released 

by the FAA [see Feb. 11. Report, which included surveys of 70 different 

types of land use on and around 120 U.S. and Canadian airports, pointed 

out land uses which were compatible with airports and land uses which 

adversely affected the safety of flight operations. It also considered the 

problem of aircraft noise. (FAA Release 67-51 ) 

* A national information system for assuring the availability of every 

significant scientific or technical document, regardless of its origin, was 

“inevitable,” Edward J. Brunenkant, director of AEC’s Division of 

Technical Information, predicted at New York meeting of the Special 

Libraries Assn. Noting that over 1 million scientific articles were being 

printed annually in 35,000 journals, Brunenkant conceded that the 

establishment of a national system would be “extraordinarily complex,” 

but said the need for it was “urgent.” (NYT, 6/1/67, 33) 

* New York‘s Mayor Robert Lindsay announced plans to construct a $10- 

million Hall of Science in Queens during the next 14 mos. Structure, 

which would be connected to science building used during 1M.5 

World’s Fair, would constitute the second stage of a center for science 

study and general education. “The Hall of Science when completed 

. . . will be not only one of the great science museums of the nation 

and the world, but also a major center for science research and train- 

ing,” the Mayor said. One feature of the new building would be a 

$1.5-million nuclear reactor donated by AEC. (Knowles, NYT, 6/1/67, 

33 1 

* Soviet carrier Aeroflot would begin operating two flights a week from 

Moscow to Montreal in early June to accommodate “the big inflow of 

Soviet tourists to the Expo 67 exhibition,” Tass announced. (NYT, 

5/31/67,66M) 

During May: NASA conducted contract negotiations for KSC support serv- 

ices. Federal Electric Co. and RCA Service Co. were selected for com- 

petitive negotiations on a five-year, cost-plus-award-fee contract to pro- 

vide operational communications and instrument services at KSC ; 

Catalytic Construction Co. and Dow Chemical Co. were selected to 

jointly provide KSC facilities support services under $42-million7 four- 

year, cost-plus-award-fee contract; Trans World Airlines received a 

$17,006,394 contract extension for installation support services; and 

170

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During May 

Bechtel Corp. received a $2,033,957 contract extension for specialized 

facility maintenance, repair, and minor construction services. (NASA 

Releases 67-106,67-107,67-109,67-119) 

0 Editorial comment on Apllo accident hearings: 

New York Times: NASA “went to great lengths . . . to assure the 

Senate Space Committee that all the expensive lessons taught by the 

fatal January fire will be taken into account before the next try. Yet 

doubts mwt persist because the pressurized oxygen system is retained. 

So is the prime contractor, North American Aviation, whose past errors 

and deficiencies contributed so much to the debacle. Moreover, NASA 

has preferred to ignore the pointed questions that have been raised about 

its own competence to supervise and manage this intricate endeavor.” 

(NYT, 5/10/67,40) 

Washington Sunday Star: “Webb and his associates are not solely- 

perhaps not primarily-to blame for their attitude in time of crisis. In 

its formative years, the agency was pampered and spoiled by Congress 

like a favored child. The press willingly cooperated in the creation 

of NASA’s shining image of a superagency staffed by supermen. . . . In- 

evitably, NASA became the spoiled brat of the federal establishment. 

“But NASA, of course, is no different than any other federal agency. 

It is composed of wise and foolish men, of dedicated and self-serving 

public servants, of heroes and of knaves. It is doing an extraordinary- 

and, in our opinion, a worthwhile-task [and] deserves continued 

public support.” (W Star, 5/14/67, Cl) 

New York Times: “Now that the public finally knows that North 

American was picked for the Apollo project by a few high officials- 

and not by a large group of technical experts as originally imag- 

ined-the question of why it was picked becomes even more intriguing 

than before. The cynics, of course, have always believed that the 

award went to North American as the result of a battle among influ- 

ence peddlers, including Bobby Baker, former Secretary to the Senate 

Democrats. The cynics may be wrong, but the public cannot know 

without a full investigation. Congress has the obligation to force out 

all the facts.” (NYT, 5/11/67, 44) 

0 Editorial comment on authorization for SST prototype construction [see 

April 291: 

Washington Post: “President Johnson made the right decision in 

requesting that Congress appropriate Federal funds for the development 

of the supersonic transport plane. . . . But in proposing what it calls 

‘a creative partnership betweep our Government and American industry,’ 

the Administration should provide more adequate protection for the tax- 

payer who will bear a substantial share of the development costs. 

“Why should not the taxpayers, who are to provide about 25 per cent 

of the capital required, be permitted to share proportionately in the 

enormous profits that would be earned by a successful SST? Although 

it is necessary to launch the SST project with the shortest possible delay, 

Congress should be concerned with a more adequate protection of the 

public interest.” ( W Post, 5/1/67) 

World Journal Tribune: “Actually, the basis of the SST project is 

coldly commercial. At stake is not some vague blue ribbon of achieve- 

ment but American leadership in the highly profitable business of supply- 

ing planes to the world’s airlines. 

“SST, by its size, speed and sonic boom, will cause a number of prob- 

171

During May ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

lems which have not yet been solved. But it was inevitable that this 

country should enter the supersonic race-not for national pride or out 

of scientific curiosity, but as a matter of good business. 

“The international plane market is too good for America to let it go 

by default.” ( WJT, 5/4/67,22) 

New York Times: “Mr. Johnson acknowledged that the building of an 

American SST ‘carries high technical and financial risks.’ Yet in his 

anxiety to get on with the job he has increased the potential hazards to 

the taxpayer. . . . 

“Congress has a responsibility to establish guidelines to keep the 

Administration’s investment in the SST from getting out of hand. It 

should see to it that the Government does not write any blank checks and 

become overly involved in what is supposed to be a commercial venture. 

And industry, too, should recognize that if it asks Washington to shoulder 

the costs, then Washington may well end up running the entire opera- 

tion.” (NYT, 5/2/67,43) 

American Helicopter Society, meeting in Washington, D.C., presented 

the Dr. Alexander Klemin Award to Avco Corp. executive Dr. Anselm 

Franz for “leadine. the develoDment of a noteworthy series of gas 

turbine engines fzr helicopters’ and other VTOL aimraft. . . .” CAv 

Wk, 5/29/67, 55) 

0 NASA’s broad program of lunar exploration included, according to Space/ 

Aeronautic;, “quickening conve;sion of data and designs into hardware 

and techniques for . . . planting a coordinated set of instruments on 

the lunar surf ace for remote, year-long readout; bringing back those 

lunar samples for exhaustive, quarantine-flavored analysis in custom 

labs; going back with wheels, rocket pogos, and sophisticated drills for 

more extensive exploration ; [and] exploiting, eventually, the moon’s 

capacities as a base for astronomy, or as a source for fuel.” 

(S/A, 5/67,68) 

172

June 1967 

June 1: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXZZ into orbit with 280-km (174- 

mi) apogee, 201-km (125-mi) perigee, 89.2-min period, and 51.8O 

inclination. Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered June 

9. ( AP, w Star, 6/1/67,1; GSFC SSR, 6/15/67) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried GSFC- 

instrumented payload to 111.5-mi (179-km) altitude to measure and 

record spectra of Spica and Zeta Ophiuchi in extreme ultraviolet range. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed well. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

NASA reported success of Lunar Orbiter ZV, launched May 4, noted that 

final readout of all photographs had been completed. Photographs 

would provide photo coverage of 99% of the moon’s front face and show 

high resolution photos of polar and limb areas with extensive geologi- 

cal detail. Report said convergent stereoscopic coverage had been 

obtained of entire Apollo zone of interest; photographic coverage ob- 

tained of the back side of the moon was still urder review (NASA Proj 

Off) 

* NASA’s Ats ZZ mission had been adjudged a failure “based upon review 

of the [spacecraft’s] assessed performance . . . in its unplanned elliptical 

orbit,” NASA announced. Satellite, launched from ETR April 5 on 

mission to evaluate gravity-gradient system for spacecraft stabilization, 

had remained in transfer orbit, tumbling uncontrollably, after Agena 

engines failed to ignite for second burn. All experiments were functioning, 

but possibility of obtaining useful data was poor. (NASA Proj Off) 

NASA personnel changes: 

M/G James W. Humphreys ( USAF) , recently returned from a Vietnam 

assignment as Chief of the Public Health Service Div., Agency for 

International Development (AID) , became Director of Space Medicine, 

OMSF, replacing B/G Jack Bollerud (USAF), who had been Acting Di- 

rector since the December 1965 death of Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace 11. 

General Bollerud returned to duty with WAF. 

Jerome Lederer, vice president and technical director of Flight Safety 

Foundation, Inc., and director of Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety 

Center, was appointed Director of Safety, OMSF. Lederer would develop 

policies and procedures related to manned spaceflight systems safety; 

act as focal point for consideration of and decisions on matters related 

to syetem and flight safety; and provide continuing review and evalua- 

tion of safety provisions. 

M/G Charles R. Roderick, who retired May 31 from USAF where he 

was serving as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Legisla- 

tive Affairs, was named Special Assistant to NASA Administrdor James 

E. Webb. 

Harold Sims, retired career foreign service officer currently serving 

173

June 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

as mayor of Sparta, Tenn., and Gerald J. Lynch, president and chairman 

of the board of Menasco Manufacturing Go., were sworn in as 

consultants to NASA Administrator James E. Webb. (NASA Release 67- 

84, 67-138, 67-139, 67-140, 67-141) 

NASA turned on the last of 11 experiments onboard Explorer XXXIV 

satellite, launched from WTR May 24. Data from experiments, designed 

to measure solar and galactic rays, were being transmitted, and equip- 

ment continued to operate satisfactorily. ( NASA Release 67-144) 

Dr. Albert J. Kelly’s resignation as ERC Deputy Director became effective. 

Now dean of Boston College’s School of Business Administration, he 

would continue to serve as a part-time consultant to NASA. (Tech Wk, 

3/27/67,13) 

First nonstop helicopter crossing of the Atlantic was successfully com- 

pleted when two USAF HH-3E helicopters landed at Le Bourget Airport, 

opposite the U.S. pavilion at the Paris International Air and Space 

Show, following 30-hr 48-min flight from New York [see May 26-31]. 

Helicopters, which followed the route taken by Charles Lindbergh in 

1927 when he became first man to fly the Atlantic nonstop alone, 

traveled 4,160 mi and made nine refuelings in flight. First flight crew 

was commanded by Maj. Herbert B. Zehnder (USAF) ; second by Maj. 

Donald B. Maurras (USAF) . Both crews were submitting claims to 

FBdBration ABronautique Internationale for new speed records from 

New York to London and New York to Paris. (UPI, P EB, 6/1/67, 1; 

NYT, 6/2/67,17) 

0 F-111B was “a very easy plane to fly” with outstanding low-speed quali- 

ties, V/Adm. T. F. Connolly, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), 

said in April 18 testimony released by the House Committee on Appro- 

priations, Subcommittee on the Dept. of Defense. Admiral Connolly’s 

description of the F-111 (formerly TFX), subject of increasing criti- 

cism since April 21 crash of USN test model, was described by Rep. 

George Andrews (D-Ala.) as “the most complimentary statement 

[about the F-1111 . . . which has been made before this committee.” 

Basing his views on his personal inflight observations, Admiral 

Connolly conceded that there was “a lot of work to do on the airplaneyy7 

including making configuration changes to improve pilot visibility. 

He asserted that when difficulties involving engine stall were overcome 

there should be no major problems and said that aircraft’s anticipated 

weight satisfied USN requirements. (Transcript; AP, NYT, 6/2/67, 23) 

* Dr. Alexander H. Flax, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research 

and Development, was awarded National Geographic Society’s General 

Thomas D. White Space Trophy for outstanding contributions to U.S. 

aerospace progress. First civilian to receive the award since its estab- 

lishment in 1961, Dr. Flax was cited for “his effective direction of Air 

Force aerospace research and development programs enhancing na- 

tional security and advancing space technology.” ( NGS Release) 

0 Robert F. Allnutt, assistant general counsel of NASA, was named NASA’s 

Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs, effective June 15. 


June 2: Col. Joseph Cotton (USAF) and NAA test pilot Van Shepard flew 

XB-70 No. 1 to mach 1.43 and 42,200-ft altitude during two-hour 

performance evaluation flight at Edwards AFB. (XB-70 Proj off) 

NASA selected RCA to negotiate $38-million contract to maintain and operate 

portions of the Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network 

174

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 June 2 

(STADAN) at Rosman, N.C., and Fairbanks, Alaska, STADAN sites, and 

at GSFC control centers for individual spacecraft. Effective Oct. 1 for 

three-year period with NASA options for two one-year extensions, contract 

covered actual cost-plus-incentive award based on performance. (NASA 


* GAO, responding to March 14 request by Sen. Margaret Chase Smith 

(R-Me.) , member of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences, had reviewed NASA’s Apollo contract with North American 

Aviation, Inc. (NAA), and published a “Summarization of National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration Management Review of North 

American Aviation, Inc., Activities” based on the Phillips Report. 

According to GAO, the Phillips Report “stated that, at the start of the 

CSM and S-I1 programs, key milestones were agreed upon, perform- 

ance requirements were established and cost plans were developed . . . 

[but] as the program progressed, there were slippages in key mile- 

stone mmplishments, degradation in hardware performance, and in- 

creasing costs.” In evaluating the probability of NAA’S ability to “meet 

future commitments, the report stated that, for both the S-I1 and the 

CSM, significant technical problems still remained which had to be 

resolved. The review team did not find significant indication of actions 

underway, for the S-11, to ‘build confidence that future progress will be 

better than past performance.’ While some progress was indicated to 

improve the outlook for the CSM, the report stated that ‘there is little 

confidence that NAA will meet its schedule and performance commit- 

ments within the funds available for this por~on of the Apollo program. 

. . .’ ” (Text) 

* Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin received first honorary membership awarded by 

International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at IAM Aerospace 

Conference in Houston. Aldrin, considered by the Union to be 

the first space mechanic, was cited for his work with tools outside 

Gemini XZZ spacecraft Nov. 13, 1966. Astronaut Alan 8. Shepard, Jr., 

received an Award of Merit for being first American in space. (Howton 

Chron, 6/2/67) 

June 3: U.S.S.R.$ next manned space flight would use a Soyuz spacecraft 

similar to the one which crashed April 24, according to Astronauts 

Michael Collins and David Scott who had discussed future space plans 

with Soviet cosmonauts at the Paris International Air and Space Show 

[see May 26-31]. In UPI interview Collins and Scott said they were 

“amazed by the similarities between the two [US. and U.S.S.R. spay] 

programs.” Collins said that Cosmonauts Pave1 Belyayev and Konstantm 

Feoktistov indicated ‘‘that there would be several earth orbital flights 

and then . . . a circumlunar flight” (UPI, W Post, 6/4/67, A9) 

June 8: USAF launched unidentified satellite with Atlas-Agena D booster from 

WTR; satellite reentered June 12. (UPI, NYT, 6/6/67; Pres Rep 1967) 

Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner, a leading scientific pioneer in the US. space program, 

died at age 62. He collapsed, apparently of a heart attack, while 

attending a Washington, D.C., meeting of the NAS Council, and died 

the next day. Credited with being the “father” of the International 

, Geophysical Year (IGY), Dr. Berkner was the principal administrator 

of the U.S. part of the IGY program during its operation in 1957 and 

1958. From 195S-1%2, he was chairman of NRC’S Space Science Board, 

which advised the Government on the national program of space research. 

For his “outstanding and pioneering leadership,” of SSB, he 

175


received NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal Oct. 7, 1966. He 

served as President of the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest 

in Dallas from 196O.until 1%5, when he retired because of health. He 

continued until recently as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and 

was a member of the NASA Historical Advisory Committee. A Rear 

Admiral in the US. Navy Reserve, Dr. Berkner would be buried with 

full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery June 7. (NYT, 

6/5/67, 41; W Star, 6/5/67, B5; Science, 6/9/67, 1349) 

* Charles F. Bingman, Director of Management Programs, OMSF, became 

Deputy Director of the Office of Organization and Management 

Planning. (NASA Ann, 6/9]67) 

June 5: Cosmos CLXIII was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 593-km 


inclination. Instruments performed satisfactorily. Satellite reentered Oct. 

11. (UPI, NYT, 6/6/67,3; GSFC SSR, 10/15/67) 

* The Washington Post commented on the death of Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner: 


Pilot performing with the French Patrol, the aerobatic team of the French 

Air Force, was killed when his jet aircraft crashed and burst into flames 

during final aerial display at the Paris International Air and Space Show. 

Aircraft failed to pull out of a dive, bounced along the airfield, and then 

exploded about 100 yds from the grandstand, injuring several spectators. 

(NYT, 6/6/67, 77M) 

* France exploded nuclear device from a balloon over Mururoa Atoll in the 

Pacific. Test was first of four in 1967 series designed to perfect a trigger 

for the hydrogen bomb France planned to explode in 1968. (UPI, 

NYT, 6/23/67, 2) 

June 6: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

ARC-instrumented payload to %-mi (137-km) altitude to collect meteoritic 

debris during peak of meteor shower. Rocket and instrumentation 

performance was satisfactory. Further examination of the 12 collection 

modules would be required to determine if micrometeoroid particles were 

collected. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Churchill Research 

Range carried Univ. of New Hampshire experiment to provide data on 

the neutron intensity at different altitudes using a neutron detector, solar 

x-ray fluxes using an x-ray counter, and 2-10 A Lyman-alpha radiation 

using a photoionization chamber. Rocket and instrumentation performed 

satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

House Committee on Science and Astronautics filed $4.9-billion NASA 

authorization bill (H.R. 10340) with the House and recommended that it 

be passed without amendment [see May 161. (NASA LAR VI/64) 

Japan Air Lines jet aircraft carrying American and Japanese scientists from 

San Francisco to Tokyo successfully maintained radio contact with 

Mojave, Calif., ground station via NASA’s Ats I satellite (NASA Proj 

Off; P EB, 6/8/67) 

* 37-yr-old Astronaut Edward G. Givens, Jr. (Maj., USAF), was killed near 

Houston when the car he was driving missed a curve and crashed into an 

embankment. Two other USAF officers with him were injured, one criti- 

cally. Givens was the first US. astronaut to die while off duty. Six others 

had died in connection with the space program: three in air crashes and 

three in the Jan. 27 Apollo fire. He was selected to join the NASA astro- 

naut team April 4,1966. (MSC Roundup, 6/9/67,1; UPI, NYT, 6/7/67, 

30; UPI, W Post, 6/7/67, A7) 

MSFC Director Dr. Wernher von Braun was presented the Smithsonian 

Institution’s Langley Medal by Dr. Fred L. Whipple, Director of Smith- 

sonian Astrophysical Observatory, in Washington, D.C., ceremony. Dr. 

von Braun was cited in “recognition of his creative vision of the practical 

application of rocket power to space flight leading to the first US. 

satellite, and of his technical leadership in development of the Saturn 

class of large launch vehicles upon which the Apollo moon flight is 

based.” He was the 13th recipient of the award, which was established in 

1908 to commemorate the aeronautical achievements of Samuel Pierpont 

Langley, third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Other recipients 

included Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles A. Lindbergh, Robert H. 

Goddard (posthumously), Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, and Astronaut Alan B. 

Shepard, Jr. 

In making de presentation, Dr. Whipple said US. could have launched 

the world’s first satellite if it had endorsed the proposal which he and Dr. 

von Braun developed in 1954 to launch small spacecraft from the equator 

177

June 6 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

using existing rockets. Government decision to fund, instead, USN’S Van- 

guard project, allowed U.S.S.R. to win “the first space race.” (Text; 

Smithsonian Release; Marshal2 Star, 6/7/67, 1; AP, NYT, 6/6/67. 3) 

0 President Johnson appointed Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., Special Con- 

sultant to the President for Physical Fitness, to replace Stan Musial who 

resigned in January. Lovell would assume the new position in addition 

to his regular duties as an astronaut. (PD, 6/12/67, 833-4) 

Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics George P. 

Miller (D-Calif.) , in a Letter to the Editor of the Washington Evening 

Star, commented on William Him’ May 25 column criticizing Com- 

mittee member Joseph E. Karth’s (D-Minn.) speech before the National 

Space Club May 17. ‘‘The article unfairly alleged that Rep. Joseph E. 

Karth . . . by speaking out . . . was the ‘tool’ chosen by the adminis- 

tration to do a public relations job for NASA and the space program. . . . 

“What Mr. Hines failed to say was that Congressman Karth has led 

a number of hard-hitting congressional space investigations over the 

years for me. Both NASA and the contractors involved were ‘taken to 

the woodshed.’ The Apollo progi-am is no exception. Mr. Karth has been 

critical-and made it clear that the accident responsibility falls squarely 

on NASA and the contractor. 

“Very simply, Mr. Karth said that perhaps the Congress, the adminis- 

tration and the press could do a better job of giving the public objective 

information on the space program. The wide swings from ‘everything 

is great’ to ‘everything is wrong’ must be confusing. . . .” (W Star, 

6/6/67, A12) 

NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Might Dr. George E. 

Mueller outlined Apollo Applications (AA) program at AIAA meeting in 

Washington, D.C. Series of innovations would $be made, he said, to 

permit sufficient reductions in unit costs: (1) reuse of Command Mod- 

ule ( CM) ; (2) addition of land-landing capability which would facilitate 

CM reuse, permit increase in crew capacity, and, possibly, make use of 

naval recovery forces unnecessary; (3) “double use” of Uprated Saturn 

1’s 2nd stage as booster during launch phase and as Orbital Workshop 

in space; (4) repeated use of Orbital Workshop as an embryonic space 

station; (5) longerduration flights of one year or more; and (6) use 

of Apollo flight hardware and physical plant and employment of Apollo 

program officials and industrial organizations as they become available. 

“. . . this is a program that provides for a detailed measurement of 

the utility of man in space at a relatively low cost. The measurement is 

obtained by doing useful things-astronomical observation, extended 

exploration of the moon and experiments with sensing equipment that 

can lead to benefits of enormous significance to all mankind.” (Text) 

AFSC Director of Communication Satellite Programs Col. M. B. Gibson 

(WAF), speaking to annual convention of Armed Forces Communica- 

tions and Electronics Assn. in Washington, D.C., explained manage- 

ment of Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) : 

‘6 . . . [we] recognized need for the innovation of special management 

techniques [and] a rigorous, streamlined procedure for Government 

acceptance of satellites under a high production rate . . . [and] satel- 

lites which have a requirement for long-life operation in space. . . .,, 

Gibson concluded : ‘The thoroughness of satellite acceptance procedures 

is evident from the performance of the 15 communication satellites in 

orbit today.’, (Text; AP, W Post, 6/7/67,10) 

178


* Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson presented Phoenix, Ark., Mayor Milton Graham 

with FAA’s Airport Beautification Award for the city’s “outstanding 

community-wide program to make its airport premises a center of culture 

and beauty.” (FAA Release 67-53) 

June 7: Launch of the first manned Apollo mission by March 31,1968, “is 

a very difficult milestone to achieve, but it is possible,” George M. Low, 

Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program at MSC, told the press at MSC. 

All changes in the Apollo spacecraft necessitated by the Jan. 27 Apollo 

fire had been planned, he said, but until daily scheduling was completed, 

no date could be set for the mission. Low noted that Apollo parachute 

landing system might require requalification because design changes 

had increased spacecraft’s weight by 200-300 lbs, but he indicated that 

testing, if necessary, could be conducted in summer 1%7 without 

seriously affecting the Apollo schedule. (Tech Wk, 6/12/67, 15; SBD, 

6/8/67,217) 

Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) warned the Senate that U.S. deficit could 

reach $30 billion unless drastic cuts were made in Federal spending. 

He suggested that a $5-billion reduction in proposed FY 1968 spending 

be made by: (1) postponing public works programs such as highway 

construction until economic and military demands were lowered; (2) 

foregoing the “expensive frill” of SST development; (3) curtailing mili- 

tary costs by further reducing U.S. troop strength in Europe; and 

(4) cutting NASA% post-Apollo funds by over $1 billion by postponing 

“such projects as a soft-landing on Mars, which has nothing to do with 

our present goal of a moon landing. 

“The situation that we face in fiscal 1968 involves an economy 

dominated by a heavy Federal budget, no matter how it is measured. 

If these circumstances materialize, there is no question about the 

immediate urgency of substantial expenditure reductions. . . . We may 

need a tax increase too, but first priority by all means should go to the 

reduction of spending.” (Text) 

NASA selected Bendix Field Engineering Co. for negotiations on $21- 

million contract to provide maintenance and operations services at two 

U.S. and four foreign Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network 

(STADAN) sites, and at NASA Communications Center and Network Test 

and Training Facility, both at GSFC. Effective Oct. 1 for three-year 

period with NASA options for two one-year extensions, contraot covered 

actual cost-plus-incentive award based on performance. It completed 

maintenance and operations arrangements for STADAN. (NASA Release 

67-148) 

OAR’S AFCRL would launch four 812-ft-long balloon systems from walker 

AFB in summer 1967 to complete series of five launches conducted by 

NASA to investigate possible parachute landing systems for Voyager pro- 

gram [see May 91, OAR Commander M/G Ernest A. Pinson announced. 

Scheduled for June 27, July 20, Aug. 9 and 24, flights would evaluate 

performance of different types of parachutes at pressures and velocities 

equivalent to a descent through the Martian atmosphere. Each balloon 

would carry, for release at high altitude, a simulated Voyager capsule 

and a parachute designed to softland the capsule on Mars. Five cam- 

eras-two on the capsule and three on the parachute-would be used 

to evaluate each test. First flight in the series was conduoted Aug. 30, 

1%6. (OAR Release 67-17; AP, NYT, 6/8/67,3) 

* MSFC had awarded Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. a $334,031 contract to 

179


study methods of increasing the number of astronauts that could be 

delivered to the moon with the Saturn V booster and to determine the 

most promising concepts for efficient delivery of logistic payloads. For 

the purposes of the study, Lockheed would consider: (1) a hypothetical 

1975 mission involving two “product improved” Saturn V boosters- 

one to launch a modified Apollo spacecraft and one to launch a cargo 

payload; and (2) a hypothetical 1980-82 mission in which two Up- 

rated Saturn V boosters would launch a six-man spacecraft directly 

to the moon. ( MSFC Release 67-123) 

Widow of NASA X-15 test pilot Joseph A. Walker filed $1-million damage 

suit for the June 8,1966, death of her husband when his F-104 fighter 

aircraft collided with an Xl3-70 experimental bomber near Barstow, 

Calif. Aircraft had been flying in tight formation “to allow photographic 

coverage of aircraft powered by General Electric engines” for publicity 

purposes. Mrs. Walker’s suit, filed in Federal Court in Los Angeles, 

charged negligence on the part of General Electric Co. and its chief 

test pilot John M. Fritz, and North American Aviation, Inc., manufac- 

turer of the XB-70. (UPI, W Post, 6/9/67, A2) 

* Scientists have an increased responsibility to relate the merit of their 

research to the public “in understandable terms,” M/G Ernest A. Pinson, 

commander of USAF Office of Aerospace Research, suggested at 12th 

Annual Science Seminar in Albuquerque, N. Mex. “Science has to do 

a better job in making known its values and its needs. Science has to 

remember that the past 25 years, when everything came comparatively 

easy for financial support of research, are gone and that science has 

to compete with many other high priority sectors of the economy” for 

operating funds. (OAR Release 67-13) 

* Two ten-week programs for college faculty members-administered 

jointly by Auburn Univ., Univ. of Alabama, and MSFC-opened at 

MSFC. First program would be summer institute in space-related sciences, 

sponsored by NASA and American Society for Engineering Education 

(ASEE) , and would be conducted by Univ. of Alabama. (Five other summer 

institutes, sponsored by NASA and ASEE, would be conducted by 

NASA centers and nearby colleges at MSC, GSFC, ARC, L~RC, and IRRC.) 

Second ten-week program, administered by Auburn Univ., would be 

1967 NASA Engineering Systems Design Summer Faculty Fellowship 

Program. ( MSFC Release 67-124) 

June 8: U.S.S.R. successfully launched Cosmos CLXZV. Orbital param- 

eters: apogee, 320 km (199 mi) ; perigee, 202 km (126 mi) ; period, 

89.5 min; and inclination, 65.7”. Satellite reentered June 14. (AP, NYT, 

6/9/67,3; GSFC SSR, 6/15/67) 

Adjustments of Lunar Orbiter IV’s orbit were successfully conducted June 

5 and 8 to place spacecraft on path similar to that intended for Lunar 

Orbiter V. Adjustments, which lowered apolune to 2,450 mi (3,943 

km) and perilune to 48 mi (77 km) , were made to enable L ~RC engi- 

neers “to gather useful tracking and gravitational field experience” in 

preparation for flight of Lunar Orbiter V. (NASA Release 67-154) 

* Memorial services in Houston for Astronaut Edward G. Givens, Jr., were 

attended by many of his fellow astronauts and their families. Givens 

would be buried June 9 in Quanah, Tex. ( MSC Roundup, 6/9/67,1; AP, 

W Post, 6/9/67, B8) 

Single global time zone would be advantageous with the speed of com- 

munications and transportation in the space age, OSSA Director of Space 

180


Applications Programs Leonard Jaffee told the Armed Forces Communications 

and Electronics Assn. in Washington, D.C. “We are almost 

approaching the point where the remaining obstacle to global business, 

aside from the political problems, will be the zonal time differences. 

66 

At the moment time differences are aggravations to the total realiza- 

tion of our new-found communications and transportation capabilities, 

but not complete deterrents. . . . Today, if it is important enough, we 

make allowances for and tolerate time differences-tomorrow we may 

have to do something about [them] . . . because as our business and 

cultural patterns change in this space era, these time differences will 

become intolerable. 

C< . . . the space age has already contributed the concept of ‘one worldone 

time.’ By creating a common time and acceptance of a day not geared 

to the rising and setting of the Sun, we may be able to extend this to 

an acceptance of ‘one day’ consisting of 24 hours . . . during which we 

will make optimum use of our roads, our schools, our factories, our 

communications and transportation facilities . . . [with] 3-shift use . . . 

[so that] current facilities could handle three times as many people.” 

(Text) 

* “Although junior colleges constitute a major segment of higher education 

in terms of number of institutions (about one-third), their resources 

for science, in terms of expenditures and manpower, are meager,” 

NSF reported to House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Science, 

Research, and Development Subcommittee. NSF report, The Junior Cdlege 

and Education in the Sciences, stated that junior college “share 6f 

expenditures for separately budgeted research and development, in 1963a, 

was one-tenth of 1 percent of the total for all colleges and universities; 

for science ‘plant,’ 3.7 percent; and for instruction and departmental 

research, 4.8 percent.” (Text) 

FAA Administrator Gen. William F. McKee received Washington, D.C., 

Air Line Traffic Assn.’s 1967 “Man of the Year” award. (Av Wk, 

6/19/67,13) 

June 9: USAF launched an experimental reentry vehicle !by Atlas-F booster 

from Vandenberg AFB as part of Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry Systems 

(ABRES) program. (Tech Wk, 6/19/67,15) 

* Ground-based optical astronomy had been throttled by lack of large telescopes, 

especially in southern latitudes, said Director Horace W. Babcock 

of Mt. Wilson and Palomar Observatories, who explained that 

66 

optical astronomy occupies a central position and will continue to do 

so.” He deplored the fact that, in recent years, vital support had been 

“woefully small” for construction of ground-based telescopes of large 

size (up to 200411 class). He cited 1964 NASA-sponsored study by Panel 

on Astronomical Facilities (chaired by Lick Observatory’s Albert E. 

Whitford) which had recommended $1-million study for construction 

of “the largest feasible optical reflector,” and construction of three 150- 

to 200-in telescopes, four 60- to Win telescopes, and eight 36- to @-in 

models. (Babcock, Science, 6/9/67,1317-22) 

Rep. J. Edward Roush (D-Ind.) introduced to the House H.R. 10674, a 

bill to rename the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in honor of Astro- 

naut Virgil I. Griwm who died in Jan. 27 Apollo accident. (NASA LAR 

VI/65) 

* US., France, and U.K. had had excellent displays at Paris International 

Air and Space Show [see May 23-31], but visitors had seemed most 

181


flocked to a huge mock-up of the 13.6-ton Proton satellite, [to] . . . a 

model of their advanced Molniya communications satellite, [and to] 

. . . the variety of new Russian jet liners. 

“. . . the US. went all out . . . [and] Britain and France also put 

their best fleet forward. . . . But it was the Russians who stole the 

show, simply by taking the wraps off space hardwaresome of it a decade 

old-that they had never before displayed in the West. . . .” (Time, 

6/9/67) 

* Decrease in worldwide air temperature since the 1940’s might be due to 

emission of man-made pollutants into the atmosphere, National Center 

for Air Pollution scientists Robert A. McCormick and John H. Ludwig 

suggested in Science. Increasing amount of solid material made atmosphere 

more turbid and thus reduced amount of solar radiation reaching 

earth. Although excessive amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere 

as a result of prolonged coal and oil burning should have made earth 

warmer, the authors noted, its effect had been offset by the turbidity 

caused by the pollutants. (McCormick, Ludwig, Science, 6/9/67, 

1358-9) 

June 10: L~RC selected Lockheed California Co. for negotiation of a $750,000 

contract for a 19-mo R&D program leading to design of a hypersonic 

aircraft wing structure. Lockheed wculd “assess the validity of several 

wing structural concepts . . . and provide the technology required for 

NASA to determine which combination of concepts is best. . . .” (NASA 


* President Johnson announced that he had accepted “with deepest reluc- 

tance and regret” the resignation of Cyrus R. Vance as Deputy Secre- 

tary of Defense, effective June 30. Vance would be succeeded by Secre- 

tary of the Navy Paul H. Nitze. (PD, 6/19/67,860) 

lune II: Recent experiments by USAF scientists had proved that satellites 

could communicate directly-unaided by relay stations-from opposite 

sides of earth, AFSC announced. Experiment, in which HF and VHF sig- 

nals were transmitted between two satellites launched Nov. 3, 1966, 

confirmed theory that ionosphere resembled a “whispering gallery” in 

which sound waves traveled along a curved area with only minor volume 

loss. (AFSC Release 116.67) 

US. and Australian scientists would begin extensive survey off coast of 

western Australia Aug. 8 to test continental drift theory-hypothesis 

that earth’s continents were once part of one or two “supercontinents” 

that broke apart millions of years ago and have since been constantly 

drifting in earth’s mantle. Survey, which would be conducted as part 

of a global expedition currently underway by USC&GS Oceanographer, 

would use echo soundings to determine depths and angles of ocean 

floor and measure seismic waves produced by underwater explosions in 

as once joined with Antarctica, 

by U.S.S.R. in world’s largest 

reflector telescope was nearing completion, Walter Sullivan reported in 

the New YOT~ Times. After cooling from a molten state for 11h years, 

mirror had been cut to produce concave, parabolic configurations and 

was currently undergoing final grinding at a factory near Moscow. It 

182

June 12: Venus ZV unmanne 

a parking orbit and then injected on a trajectory “close to the prescribed 

one.” All onboard equipment was functioning normally. There was no 

indication whether spacecraft-launched two days before scheduled 

launch of NASA’s Mariner v Venus flyby mission-woulzattempt a flyby 

of the planet or a soft-landing. (NYT, 6/13/67, C19; AP, W Post, 

6/13/67, All ; Nordlinger, B Sun, 6/13/67) 

Cosmos CLXV was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 1,542-km (958-mi) 

apogee; 211-km (131-mi) perigee; 102.1-min period; and 81.9O inclina- 

tion. Equipment was functioning normally. ( UPI, W Star, 6/13/67, A70) 

* Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.), speaking on the House floor, urged Con- 

gress to reopen its investigation of NASA, with particular emphasis on 

management policies and procedures. He said the Phillips Report indi- 

cated NASA “has had grave difficulty in enforcing standards of work- 

manship, implementing safety and inspection procedures and in properly 

supervising contractor costs and time schedules. The results of more 

recent reviews of North American and reviews of other contractors have 

again not been made public. 

cc 

Under such unsatisfactory conditions, accidents and failures can 

well be expected. Congress should be less concerned with the technical 

cause of a particular fire and more with the space agency’s lack of control 

over its own program. It is with this in mind that I have regretted the 

untimely close of the congressional hearings and requested further 

substantive investigation into the area of NASA management. . . .’, 

(CR, 6/12/67, H7033) 

Although ARC was the smallest NASA field center, Newsweek said, it was 

producing “some of the agency’s biggest ideas.” Summarizing ARC his- 

tory, the article noted that when center opened in 1940 it had been 

primarily a site for testing warplane aerodynamics. “Ames still maintains 

its original wind tunnel-the world’s largest-as well as 29 others, [but 

aeronautics] . . . represents only a quarter of the effort at Ames today. 

Most of the scientists are otherwise engaged in pure research in such 

fields as planetology, exobiology . . . and chemical evolution. 

“. . . the center’s laboratories enable more than a thousand scien- 

tists, engineers and technicians to pursue as wide a variety of problems 

as their imaginations and the broad guidelines of the space program 

permit. The problems now range from designing a new hard space suit 

to studying the effect on mice of reproducing in a 2G environment.” 

(Newsweek, 6/12/67) 

ERC awarded MIT a three-year, $7.9-million contract for R&D of high-per- 

formance gyroscopes and accelerometers “to guide and control the 

vehicles planned for the complex aeronautical and space missions of the 

1970s and 1980s.” It was anticipated that instruments would make pos- 

sible systems which would navigate advanced supersonic aircraft to 

intercept runway landing beams without present runway aids ; provide 

highly precise pointing references for satellites; and guide interplane- 

tary vehicles on missions lasting one year or more. (NASA Release 67-155) 

324-801 0-69-13 183

June 12 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%” 

* NASA awarded Aerojet-General Corp. a two-year, $l7-million contract 

extension for R&D work on SNAP-8 nuclear reactor electrical power 

system. (NASA Release 67-156) 

and with 

individual aircraft companies on a proposed research program which 

would support areas of general aviation, Technology Week reported. 

At the request of several users, NASA had identified a number of technical 

areas where the application of advanced technology seemed 

warranted but emphasized that NASA’s efforts should be with aircraft 

* NASA was consulting with Aerospace Industries Assn. (AIA) 

designers and it should have no responsibility for the application of 

technology. (Tech Wk, 6/12/67, 3) 

June 13: NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station 

carried American Science and Engineering experiment to 112-mi (179- 

km) altitude to measure neutron flux in vicinity of earth using direc- 

tional neutron detector. Once proven, detector was planned for use in 

OGO-E program. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. 


* Twenty-one US. astronauts began a week of training at USAF’S Tropical 

Survival School in Panama. Their first meal was iguana thermidor and 

baked armadillo. (W News, 6/13/67; AP, C Trib, 6/14/67) 

* Donald L. Mallick, a pilot and engineer at FRC, and L/Col. Emil Sturm- 

thal (USAF) , chief of AFFTC’S bomber section, were selected as pilots 

in joint NASA-USAF XB-70 research program. (FRC Release 17-67) 

NASA test pilot Milton 0. Thompson received AIAA’S 1966 Octave Chanute 

Award in Los Angeles for “his contributions both as an engineer and 

a pilot in the development and conduct of the manned lifting body 

flight test program.” Award was presented annually to the pilot who 

had contributed most to the aerospace sciences during the preceding 

year. (FRC Release 15-67) 

9 Average US. taxpayer would not help finance any space program beyond 

manned lunar landing unless he could understand it and identify with 

its purpose, M/G John B. Medaris (USA, Ret.) told AAS Symposium in 

Huntsville. “Putting a man on the moon was a good objective. People 

can see the moon. They can understand communication and weather 

information and possible defense benefits from a moon landing. 

“But after the astronaut puts an American flag on the moon’s surface 

and satisfies the public, what will happen to our program then? We 

have to have a steady commitment of great resources to keep this pro- 

gram going. We have got to convince the public that there is a link 

between them and our next objectives . . . [and] give them some sort 

of objective they can identify with their own welfare.” 

Noting that “people recoil in fear from the concept of the endlessness 

of interstellar space,” General Medaris suggested that public would 

approve of an objective such as establishment of a lunar colony. “We 

better forget the spectacular and use a public relations approach like 

the soap companies do and figure out what the public will pay for.” 

(Houtz, B News, 6/14/67) 

* ITT had signed contract “involving several million dollars” with Indo- 

nesian Government to build Indonesia’s first satellite communications 

earth station near Djakarta. Project was subject to obtaining financing 

under investment guarantees requested from Agency for International 

Development (AID). ITT predicted that station would be operational 

within 16 mos. after finances were arranged. (DJNS, W Star, 6/13/67, 

A21 1 

184


0 Sen. Howard W. Cannon (D-Nev.) inserted in the Congressional Record 

a UPI dispatch stating that U.S.S.R.’s Tu-14 supersonic aircraft would 

be test-flown “within a few months.” Noting that US. SST program was 

“from 3 to 3% years behind the time when the [Anglo-French] Con- 

corde and the TU-144 will enter into commercial service,” Senator 

Cannon urged the House to qhickly approve the $198-million authori- 

zation request for SST construction. “The supersonic transport is an 

important program . . . [and] it is imperative that this country pro- 

ceed with the construction. . . . This is an arena of industrial competition 

in which the United States cannot afford to finish second.” (CR, 

6/13/67, S814l-2) 

* U.S.S.R. preferred “to wait for technical reasons” until its 11-62 aircraft 

was ready and thus was postponing first direct Moscow-New York flights 

until “later this year,” US. State Dept. announced. Commercial service 

by Aeroflot and Pan American World Airways had been scheduled to 

begin in late spring under Nov. 4, 1966, agreement. (AP, NYT, 

6/14/67, 47) 

Prime Minister Harold Wilson confirmed U.K.’s decision against the pur- 

chase of US. Poseidon missiles [see May 111. Asked in the House of 

Commons if he planned to keep the House informed on any major 

changes in the British nuclear armory, Wilson replied: “If you are 

referring to a proposal to replace Polaris by Poseidon, the answer is 

that the Government has no such intention.” (NYT, 6/14/67, 11) 

0 Current FAA R&D programs were discussed by FAA at its first annual “Re- 

port to Industry” meeting in Washington, D.C. Meeting was designed 

to keep aviation public informed of R&D programs which would result 

in new elements in the National Airspace System. (FAA Release 67-8) 

* USAF had developed new transportable “fold away” radar system which 

could be assembled or dismantled in less than 20 min. Called TPS-44, 

system would be used in tactical aerospace operations. (AFSC Release 

88.67) 

June 13-28: Rep. J. Edward Roush (D-Ind.), member of House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics, attended tri-annual meeting of Interna- 

tional Organization for Standardization in Moscow. He urged increased 

US. participation: “If the United States is to take full advantage of 

world markets, if we are to have a louder voice in the process of es- 

tablishing international standards, if we are to be persuasive in obtain- 

ing standards of our own choosing, and if we are to have immediate 

access to information relative to standards which are accepted on an 

international level, then we must be more effective in our participation 

in the setting of international standards.” (Text) 

June 14: NASA’s Mariner V (Mariner E) spacecraft was successfully launched 

from ETR by Atlas-Agena D booster on four-month, 212-million-mi Venus 

flyby mission-NASA’s only attempt to conduct a Venus flyby during 

the 1967 launch window. Agena stage separated from Atlas on schedule 

and ignited to reach 115-mi (185-km) -altitude parking orbit, where 

it coasted for 13 min before reigniting to inject spacecraft onto transfer 

trajectory toward Venus. Spacecraft then separated from Agena, deployed 

its four solar panels, and locked its sensors on the sun and the 

star Canopus. Midcourse maneuver was successfully conducted June 

19 to assure that spacecraft would fly to within 2,500 mi of Venus Oct. 

19. [U.S.S.R.’s Venus ZV, launched June 12, was expected to reach 

Venus around same time.] 

185


June 14: NASA’s Manner V being weight-tested at Cape Kennedy before its successful 

launch on a four-month mission to perform a close flyby of the planet Venus. 

Mariner V, fifth in a series of interplanetary probes, had originally 

been built as a Mars probe to back up Mariner IV but was remodeled 

to accomplish Venus ’67 mission. Primary mission for the 541)-lb space- 

craft was to fly by Venus to obtain scientific data which would comple- 

ment and extend data obtained by Mariner I1 pertaining to the origin 

186


and nature of Venus and its environment. Spacecraft’s secondary mis- 

sion was to obtain data on interplanetary environment during a period 

of increased solar activity and provide engineering experience in con- 

verting and operating spacecraft designed for flight to Mars into one 

flown to Venus. Mariner V carried automatic sensing devices to record 

data for derivation of radiation levels, temperatures, pressures, magnetic 

fields, and atmospheric density near Venus. 

First Venus probe, Mariner Z, was destroyed during launch July 22, 

1962; second, Mariner IZ, was successfully launched Aug. 27, 1962, 

and flew within 21,600 mi of Venus Dee. 14, 1962. Mariner ZZZ, a 

Mars probe launched Nov. 4, 1964, failed to achieve desired orbit when 

shroud remained attached to spacecraft. Mariner ZV was successfully 

launched Nov. 28, 1964, and transmitted first close-up photos of Mars 

in July 1965. Mariner program was directed by OSSA Lunar and Plane- 

tary Programs Div. ; project management and responsibility for space- 

craft, mission operations, and tracking and data acquisition were as- 

signed to JPL; and Atlas-Agena launch vehicle was managed by Lewis 

Research Center. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-124) 

NASA announced incorporation of at least seven changes in Apollo Lunar 

Module (LM) program “to reduce the possibility of fire and to increase 

crew safety” in accordance with Apollo 204 Review Board findings 

[see April 91. Changes, which would increase total weight by 25-125 

Ibs, included : (1) reassessing combustibility of all nonmetallic mate- 

rials and substituting or redesigning where necessary; (2) reevaluating 

material acceptability by intentionally startirig fires in LM mockup ; 

(3) modifying water hose and providing a hose nozzle to permit use of 

water as a fire extinguisher; (4) using a built-in handle, rather than 

a removable tool, to open hatches; (5) instituting more stringent 

standards and controls on electrical systems and wiring; (6) adding 

isolation switches to electrical systems to ensure that no connector is 

“hot” while being connected or disconnected; and (7) installing TV 

camera to monitor activity inside LM cabin during ground tests. 

Changes were being made at Bethpage, N.Y., plant of Grumman Air- 

craft Engineering Corp., LM prime contractor. (NASA Release 67-159) 

0 Special tests to determine best way to recover and reuse Saturn V 1st 

stage (S-IC) were being conducted at MSFC. In tests, a 1/10 scale 

model of the S-IC was dropped from altitudes of up to 156 ft into a 

20-ft-deep water tank to simulate descent of stage through earth’s 

atmosphere and into the ocean. Tests were studying a “soft splash” 

concept designed to bring back S-IC with a minimum of damage. MSFC 

engineers said a workable recovery method would save “millions of 

dollars” in future years. (MSFC Release 67-127) 

0 Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., told the press at MSC that he did not fore- 

see any problems in combining his new assignment as President’s 

Consultant on Physical Fitness [see June 61 with his duties as an 

astronaut. He said he would devote about one fourth of his time to 

the fitness program and the rest to keeping “in a state of readiness” 

for future space flights. “The fact that I am not spending all of my 

efforts on my new assignment does not mean I consider it any less 

important than my role in space. In fact, I can’t think of any mission 

more important than that of persuading the American people to keep 

themselves healthy and fit. These qualities are basic to everything we 

do. Whether we are trying to reach the moon, or merely running to 

187


catch a bus, it helps to be in good physical condition. . . . A healthy 

population is the backbone of a strong nation.” (Text) 

KSC awarded General Electric Co. a $7.7-dliony cost-plus-fixed-fee con- 

tract modification for additional Apollo engineering support services. 

Modification, effective through Sept. 30, 1967, increased total value of 

original contract to $49 million. (NASA Release 67-158) 

0 Four US. universities-Cal Tech, Univ. of California, Univ. of Michigan, 

and Stanford Univ.-had formed Associates for Radio Astronomy to 

design, build, and operate world’s largest, fully-maneuverable radio- 

telescope. The 328-ft-dia dish-shaped radiotelescope-78 ft larger than 

one at Jodrell Bank Experimental Station which was largest in opera- 

tion at present time-would be constructed northeast of Pasadena in 

Owens Valley, Calif. ( UPI, St. Louis P-D, 6/14/67) 

0 Joint Senate-House Atomic Energy Committee approved Weston, Ill., as 

site for AEC’s 200-billion electron volt (bev) proton accelerator. (UP& 

WSJ, 6/15/67, 5) 

Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd received National Aviation 

Club’s Award for Achievement in Washington, D.C., for “leadership in 

the development and establishment of . . . [DOT] and for his long 

and successful career in . . air transportation and public utilities.” 

(NAC; Av Wk, 6/12/67, 23) 

0 Aircraft flown by pilots “lacking professional ability7y-usually those in 

general aviation-were responsible for most air accidents, according to 

study by Cornell Univ;.’s Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Aviation 

Center. Fatalities involving general aviation aircraft in 1966 in US. 

totaled 1,069, compared with a loss of 59 passengers by scheduled 

domestic airlines, the study noted. “It is apparently futile to try to 

persuade the majority of pilots to secure and maintain instrument 

proficiency. . . . It would seem more effective to attack the problem of 

requiring manufacturers to incorporate better aircraft stability and 

controllability characteristics. . . .” Other methods suggested to improve 

air safety included: (1) raising airport standards by improving lighting 

and increasing landing aids, anti-collision devices, and weather data ~ 

aacuracy ; (2) reviewing pilot certification procedures and incorporating 

more “human factors” into aircraft design; and (3) intensifying 

methods of crash fire protection and reevaluating emergency evacuation 

procedures. (NYT, 6/15/67, 81) 

June 15: Maj. Michael J. Adams (USAF) flew X-15 No. 1 to 3,570 mph 

(mach 5) and 227,000-ft altitude in test to build up pilot altitude and 

check out horizon scanner and horizontal stabilizer. (X-15 Proj Off) 

New $1.3-million science laboratory for extensive research on problems of 

fatigue in aircraft structures and space vehicles was being placed in 

operation at LaRC. Laboratory would utilize 50 testing devices to simulate 

loads, temperatures, and other environmental conditions encountered 

by the materials in the structures of aircraft and space vehicles. (L~RC 

Release) 

June 16: USSR. launched Cosmos CLXVI into orbit with 578-km (359-mi) 

apogee; 283-km (175-mi) perigee; 92.9-min period; and 48.4” inclination. 

Instruments performed satisfactorily. Satellite reentered Oct. 25. 

(UPI, W News, 6/16/67; GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

0 USAF launched two unidentified satellites with a Thor-Agena D booster 

from WTR; one satellite reentered July 20. (AP, KC Times, 6/17/67; 

Pres Rep 1967) 

188


* NASA, in cooperation with West Germany’s Ministry for Scientific Research 

(BMWF) and Brazilian Space Activities Commission ( CNAE) , success- 

fully launched an Argo D-4 (Javelin) sounding rocket from Barreira 

do Inferno range near Natal, Brazil, on ballistic trajectory through 

Van Allen radiation belts to 650-mi (1,000-km) altitude. Purpose of 

mission was to flight-test instruments being developed for West German 

research satellite, scheduled for launch in 1969 to investigate earth’s 

radiation belts. Several German organizations provided scientific experi- 

ments; CNAE provided range and launching services; NASA provided 

sounding rocket, downrange telemetry, and radar. (WS Release 67-23) 

e NASA had completed post-launch evaluation of Essa V meteorological satel- 

lite and adjudged the mission a success. Launched by NASA from WTR 

April 20, satellite had been turned over to ESSA for operation May 8. 

(NASAP~~~ Off) 

* NASA and Boeing Co. signed a $20-million letter contract extending the 

scope of Boeing’s work with NASA to include integration of Apollo 

spacecraft’s three modules with Saturn V launch vehicle [see May 91. 

Boeing would: (1) assist and support NASA and its three manned spaceflight 

centers-MSC, MSFC, and KSC-in performance of certain technical 

tasks for Apollo missions AS-501 through AS-515; and (2) be respon- 

sible for supporting Apollo Program Office in integrating Saturn V 

booster with Apollo Command Module ( CM) , Service Module (SM) , 

and Lunar Module (LM) . Work would be performed under overall 

direction of OMSF Apollo Program Office. Boeing CO.’S currently con- 

tracted Saturn work included engineering, cons;ruction, and testing of 

Saturn V 1st stage; support of assembly and system integration of 

Saturn V 2nd and 3rd stages with the 1st; and design engineering 

support of certain ground support equipment at KSC. (NASA Release 

67-161) 

* NASA approved Phase I1 of a Dec. 14,1966, contract and awarded Goodyear 

Aerospace Corp. $650,000 to design, fabricate, and test a full-scale model 

of a 30-ft-dia parabolic antenna. Antenna, planned as part of experi- 

mental package on proposed second-generation Applications Technology 

Satellites (ATS F and G), would be used for advanced communications 

research. ( GSFC Release G32-67) 

The use of ammonia as a fuel for central power plants, turbine-driven 

buses, trucks, and trains, and possibly private cars, would solve the 

problem of air and water pollution, Lockheed Aircraft Corp. executive 

Leon Green, Jr., wrote in Science. He suggested that fossil fuels such as 

gasoline, oil, coal, and natural gas be converted into ammonia rather 

than burned diractly. Heat for the conversion could be provided by 

nuclear power plants. The economic feasibility of the process would 

depend on “the economic value of the byproducts of sulfur, carbon 

dioxide, water and possibly nitrogen,” Green said, “and upon the price 

we are willing to pay for a clean environment.” (Green, Science, 

6/16/67, 144s50; AP, NYT, 6/17/67, 15) 

June 17: Cosmos CLXVII was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. into 

orbit with 286-km (178-mi) apogee, 201-km (125-mi) perigee, 89.2-min 

period, and 51.8” inclination. Satellite reentered June 25. (SBD, 6/20/ 

67,280; GSFC SSR, 6/30/67) 

* Nation’s most powerful 260-in solid-propellant rocket motor, SL-3, 

developed 5.7 million lbs thrust and burned 1.6 million lbs of pro- 

pellant in 80-sec test-firing conducted for NASA by Aerojet General at 

189


Homestead, Fla. Only flaw was explosion of a portion of the exhaust 

nozzle at the end of the test. Purpose of firing, third in NASA’s Large 

Solid Rocket Twchnology Program, was to test “a large, submergedtp, 

ablative nozzle; the use of inert slivers to control the burn-out of 

propellant; elements of a motor failure warning system; and a higher 

burning rate propellant.” First two 260-in motors, SL-1 (fired Sept. 

25, 1965) and SG2 (fired Feb. 23, 1966), both operated about two 

minutes and produced 3.5 million lbs thrust in tests to check strength 

of the maraging steel motor case, structural integrity of the case propellant, 

insulation and ablative nozzle, and the repeated performance 

of test hardware. Managed by L ~RC under OART direction, program was 

designed to demonstrate feasibility of building and operating solid 

motors of greater size than those in current use for multistage launch 

vehicle systems carrying heavy payloads into space. (NASA Release 67- 

151; Lewis News, 6/9/67, 1; Reistrup, W Post, 6/18/67, A2; NYT, 

6/18/67,6; Marshall Star, 6/21/67,10) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb received an honorary Doctor of Science 

in Commerce degree from Drexel Institute of Technology in commence- 

ment exercises in Philadelphia. (‘NASA PAO; P SB, 6/18/67) 

Communist China, using ground site, successfully explored her first hydro- 

gen bomb over western region of country, Hsinhua, Chinese Communist 

press agency, announced. (NYT, 6/18/67,1,3) 

June 18: NASA published Earth Photographs from Gemini ZZZ, IV, and V, 

an atlas containing reproductions of 244 high-quality earth photos 

taken by Gemini astronauts. Pictures, which were taken with hand-held 

cameras from 100- to 215-mi altitudes as scientific, meteorological, and 

terrain experiments, showed major. natural features and some man- 

made ones in 50 countries around the world. (NASA SP-129; NASA Re- 

lease 67-153) 

* Citizens League Against the Sonic Boom, an organization with 230 mem- 

bers in 18 states, had started a campaign to stop the construction of a 

US. SST, New York Times reported. Harvard Univ. physicist Dr. Wil- 

liam A. Shurcliff , director of the campaign, said in a Cambridge, Mass., 

interview that the League would attack the SST program in Congress. 

“The amount of money provided thus far by Congress is less than one- 

quarter of what is needed to get a prototype in the air. The government 

must put about $1.1 billion together, and to date Congress has only 

supplied $200-million or $299-million. 

“I think our chances of stopping the program are good.” (NYT, 

6/18/67, 60) 

June 19: Tiros VZZ, oldest US. meteorological satellite in operation, com- 

pleted its fourth year in orbit. Designed with a three- to six-month op- 

erational lifetime, satellite had traveled 594,000,000 mi, completed 

21,600 earth orbits, and taken over 124,500 photos of 50,000,000,- 

000 sq mi of earth and its cloud cover. NASA said Tiros VZZ, which had 

tracked the major hurricanes of 1963, 1964, and 1965, was now com- 

manded to transmit photos only occasionally. (AP, NYT, 6/18/67) 

NASA and USAF were expected to sign an agreement in fall 1967 for a joint 

lifting-body vehicle research program, Technology Week reported. 

NASA would probably have overall management responsibility of pro- 

gram, which would include test flights by USAF’S SV-5P and NASA’s 

HGlO lifting-body vehicles. (Tech Wk, 6/19/67,3) 

* McDonnell Corp. was proposing an enlarged 9- to 12-man version of the 

190


Gemini spacecraft to meet NASA’s requirements for a manned advanced 

logistics space ferry in the 1970’~~ George Alexander reported in Avia- 

tion Week. He predicted that MSC would award a $150,000 extension to 

a $300,000 study contract already held by McDonnell to further explore 

theconcept. (Alexander, Av Wk, 6/19/67,20) 

* NRL announced world‘s lowest recorded temperature-less than one-mil- 

lionth of a degree Kelvin above absolute zero-had been achieved by 

Naval Research Laboratory scientists Dr. Arthur Spohr and Edwin 

Althouse through use of magnetic cooling technique, described as nuclear 

cooling. Previous lowest recorded temperature had been about 1.3 mil- 

lionths of a degree above. The difference was of great significance 

because in this range most physical properties, including degree of ori- 

entation of atomic nuclei, varied markedly with even a slight change of 

temperature. At absolute zero, nuclei of most materials would have the 

highest state of order possible for the material. New record at Naval 

Research Laboratory would further advance development of an ap- 

paratus to study interaction forces between nuclei and to examine 

effects of oriented nuclei. ( NRI. Release) 

June 20: NASA successfully conducted sixth of 10 planned rocket-launched 

flight experiments to investigate possible parachute landing systems 

for Voyager program. Two-stage Honest John-Nike rocket launched 

from WSMR ejected 40-ft cross-type parachute, one of three designs being 

studied, at 130,000-ft altitude where earth atmosphere resembles that 

of Mars. Parachute descended to earth carrying 200-lb payload. Test 

was part of LaRC’S Planetary Entry Parachute Program. (NASA Release 

67-162) 

* USAF launched unidentified satellite with Titan 111-B booster from WTR; 

satellite reentered Jun. 30. (Tech Wk, 6/26/67, 15; Pres Rep 1967) 

* Apollo spacecraft 017 was mechanically mated to Saturn V booster at 

KSC in preparation for AS-501 unmanned mission scheduled for launch 

in third quarter of 1967. ICSC officials said no major problems had been 

discovered in additional inspection of Saturn V’s 2nd stage [see 

May 241. (Marshall Star, 6/21/67, 1) 

June 21: NASA Argo D 4 (Javelin) sounding rocket launched from NASA 

Wallops Station carried 120-lb payload containing an ionosphere exper- 

iment prepared by GSFC and Southwest Center for Advanced Studies to 

493-mi (793-km) altitude. Flight was coordinated with the overpasses 

of Alouette 11, the Canadian satellite, and Explorer XXXI, the US. 

satellite, launched pickaback by NASA Nov. 28, 1965. Primary purpose 

of mission was to measure properties of the ionosphere and to correlate 

results with simultaneous measurements made by the two Isis satellites. 

(WS Release 67-24) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried Univ. of 

Minnesota experiment to 131-mi (210-km) altitude to measure compo- 

sition and determine temperature of atmosphere in altitude range 

62-124 mi (100-200 km) . Experiment used three mass spectrometers 

and a yoyo despin system. Rocket and instnunentation performed 


All-weather landing capability would be a requirement for SST operations 

because long-range SST used fuel too quickly to permit prolonged hold- 

ing in airport tra5c patterns, Dr. Richard M. Head, ERC, told NASA 

Hq. press briefing on aeronautics research. He predicted that landings 

under zero visibility could be practical within a decade. Dr. Head also 

191


noted that, because of sun’s influence on the ionosphere, SSTS with 

VHF radios might be subject to communications blackouts during the 

1,200 mi of a transatlantic flight when they were too far from land for 

line-of-sight VHF reception. Use of satellites to relay communications 

might be a possible solution to the problem, he suggested. (Schmeck, 

NYT, 6/22/67,6) 

* MSFC had awarded three parallel contract~94,000 to Boeing Co.; 

$95,000 to TRW, Inc.; and $%,OOO to General Electric Co.-for further 

project definition work on the Voyager program. Objectives of the 

contracts, effective through Oct. 15, were to furnish,NASA with current 

data on Voyager spacecraft systems design and perform engineering 

study tasks. (MSFC Release 67-129) 

* U.S.S.R., East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland withdrew 

from live international telecast scheduled for June 25 [see Feb. 71 for 

political reasons. U.S.S.R. charged that Western broadcasters were 

conducting “a slanderous campaign” against the Arab nations in the 

current Middle East crisis. (Gent, NYT, 6/22/67, 67M) 

* Astronomers at Lick Observatory, Santa Cruz, Calif., were beginning 

a new study of star movement against the background of galaxies so 

distant they appeared to be fixed in space, Lick astronomer Dr. 

Stanislavs Vasilevskis told a Santa Cruz news conference. “The Lick 

proper motion study will open a new approach to research in astronomy 

using modern electronic equipment.’’ A primary purpose of the study 

would be to gain further information on the rotation of the earth‘s 

galaxy, he said. Completely automated equipment installed at Lick for 

the study was financed by $367,120 NSF grant. (AP, NYT, 6/25/67,12) 

June 22: Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences voted to 

report $4.851 billion NASA authorization bill (S. 1296)-$249 million 

less than $5.1 billion NASA had requested for FY 1968. Committee 

reductions included $120 million from Apollo Applications (AA) pro- 

gram and $71.5 million-total amount requested-from Voyager pro- 

gram. Responding to Committee report, NASA Deputy Administrator 

Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., issued a statement saying that the affected 

programs were of “first-rank importance to mankind. The scientists 

of this country have expressed deep concern that the United States is 

not making enough progress in the exploration of the planets. 

“We feel that many members of Congress will want to give further 

consideration to the President’s recommendations” for the AA program. 

(Reistrup, W Post, 6/24/67) 

House completed general debate on NASA N 1968 authorization bill 

(H.R. 10340) and was scheduled to resume discussion of bill June 27 

when amendments would be considered and final vote taken. During 

debate Rep. Delbert L. Latta (R-Ohio) criticized the $444.7 million 

recommended by Committee on Science and Astronautics for the Apollo 

Applications (AA) program: “. . . we could spend [that money] 

toward research and possible cure of cancer, stroke, and heart disease, 

rather than some nebulous undefined program that will take place 

when-and I emphasize this point-and after we get to the moon. This 

money is to be spent on hardware after we get to the moon. No cine 

knows when we are going to get there . . - [and] if we spend this 

money perfecting these vehicles and this hardware today, it might be 

out of date when we get to the moon. . . .” Rep. Olin Teague (D-Tex.) , 

Chairman of House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Subcom- 

192

‘ 


mittee on Manned Space Flight, defended the $444.7-million recom- 

mendation. “The manned space flight program-Apollo, Apollo appli- 

cations and advanced manned missions-drives the Apollo effort into 

its final phases and begins the work of realizing benefits for man on 

earth. It supports national security, fosters national growth, expands 

knowledge, and retains options for the future at a cost the country 

can well afford. To delay this program is, in effect, to cancel it. Such a 

decision would put the space plum in the hands of the Soviet 

Union. . . .” (NASA LAR V/68; CR, 6/22/67, H7782, H7797) 

0 NASA test pilot William H. Dana flew X-15 No. 3 to 82,OOO-ft altitude 

and 3,682 mph (mach 5.52) in flight at Edwards AFB. Purposes of test: 

(1) cold-wall heat transfer; (2) step-panel heat transfer; (3) boost 

guidance checkout; (4) sonic boom study; and (5) PCM checkout. 

(NASA Pro j Off) 

* NASA test pilots Fitzhugh Fulton and Donald Mallick flew X-70 No. 1 

to mach 1.8 and 55,OOO-ft altitude in test to check out stability and 

control of handling qualities, by-pass aidow calibration, and nose 

ramp flutter. (XB-70 Proj Off) 

MSFC awarded contract extensions--$l49,914 to Bendix Corp. and $149,485 

to Boeing Co.-to conduct specified design study tasks on the Local 

Scientific Survey Module (LSSM) , a vehicle being proposed for trans- 

porting men on the lunar surface. Modifications extended through 

August 1967 two parallel six-month contracts awarded the firms June 

29,1966. ( MSFC Release 67-130) 

June 23: NASA and Dept. of Interior’s Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 

announced an agreement whereby KSC would add 11,436 acres to the 

46,530 acres currently available for controlled public usage under 

Bureau-managed programs. (NASA Release 67-163) 

June 24: Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., Director of Flight Operations at MSC, 

received Virginia Press Assn.’s (VPA) “Virginian of the Year” award 

at joint banquet of the VPA and National Newspaper Awn. (NNA) dur- 

ing NNA’S annual meeting in Richmond. Kraft said US. might miss 

1970 target date to land the first man on the moon. “If we are lucky, 

and if everything works well, we can probably do it. But if we have 

a normal share of problems, as happens with any large research effort, 

then I don’t think we can.” (AP, W Star, 6/26/67, B5) 

June 24-25: Series of three NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rockets launched 

from Natal, Brazil, carried GsFc-instrumented experiments to obtain 

wind, temperature, pressure, and density data at intervals within 24-hr 

period near the fall equinox. These data would be used to investigate 

validity of the thermally driven diurnal tide theory of the upper atmos- 

phere. Rocket and instrumentation performance was satisfactory, and 

good experimental results were expected after data analysis. (NASA Rpt 

SRL) 

June 25: Thirteen nations participated in first live global telecast linking 

five continents. Program was transmitted to a potential viewing audi- 

ence of nearly 500-million persons in more than 30 countries via NASA’s 

Ats I and ComSatCorp’s Early Bird I and Intehat IZ-B comsats. Entitled 

“Our World,” two-hour telecast featured the Beatles, Van Cliburn and 

Leonard Bernstein, Japanese shrimp fishermen, a Canadian mermaid, 

and a Wisconsin farmer. Five Communist nations-including USSR., 

whose Molniya I comsat was to have been used to transmit the telecast- 

had withdrawn from the program June 21 as a protest against Western 

193


involvement in current Middle East crisis. (NASA Ann, 6/20/67; NET 

Proj Off) 

During week of June 25: Ceremonies at NASA% Rocket Engine Test Site at 

Edwards AFB marked delivery of the millionth ton of cryogenic rocket 

propellants and pressurants. Fluids were used by North American Avia- 

tion, Inc.’s Rocketdyne Div. to test fire F-1 engines prior to shipping 

them to MSFC for use in Saturn v 1st stages. (MSFC Release 67-139) 

June 26: NASA’s 

Mariner V spacecraft successfully completed two scheduled 

functions in preparation for Oct. 19 Venus flyby mission by switching its 

amplifiers to increase radio transmitting power and, 30 min later, turning 

off its battery charger on commands from Goldstone, Calif., Deep 

Space Network station. All systems onboard spacecraft, launched from 

ETR June 14, were continuing to operate satisfactorily. (NASA Release 

67-165) 

KSC awarded Federal Electric Corp. a one-year, cost-plus-award-fee contract 

containing provisions for four additional one-year renewals to 

provide operational communications and instrumentation support services 

at KSC. Estimated value for five-year period beginning July 1 was 

$85 million. Federal Electric would operate and maintain instrumentation 

for telemetry, tracking, instrument calibration, and computation 

equipment and would provide computer programming services. (NASA 


June 27: Both House and Senate considered NASA FY 1968 authorization 

bills. Final votes would be taken June 28. (NASA LAR VI/68) 

* NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., visited MSFC and 

MTF to discuss progress in AA and Saturn launch vehicle programs. 

He would visit MSC June 28. (MSFC Release 67-132; Marshall Star, 

6/28/67, 1) 

* The wife of Soviet Cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov, first man to walk in space, 

gave birth to their second daughter, Soviet press reported. ( UPI, W Post, 

6/28/67, A18) 

9 Survey by New Yorlc Times correspondents indicated that Western Europe 

had taken little action to close the “technology gap” with the US., Brendan 

Jones reported. Discussions and meetings had helped clarify the 

problems but had also caused discouragement about achieving any 

quick solutions. Survey, which covered 10 countries, also indicated that 

increases being made in research spending in Western Europe were 

still comparatively small. Plans for combining technical knowledge by 

Common Market countries or increasing exchange of technology with 

U.S. through NATO were in only the proposal stages. (Jones, NYT, 

6/27/67,51) 

France exploded a nuclear device of “low yield” near Mururoa Atoll in 

the Pacific. (AP, NYT, 6/28/67,3) 

June 28: House and Senate both passed NAS.4 FY 1968 authorization bills 

which were less than the $5.1 billion originally requested by NASA. 

Senate bill (S. 1296) authorized $4.851 billion: $4.136 billion for R&D; 

$648 million €or administrative operations; and $67 million for construction 

of facilities. House bill (H.R. 10340) authorized $4.791 

billion: $4.076 billion for R&D; $648 million for administrative operations; 

and $67 million for construction of facilities. 

Senate defeated two amendments by Sen. William Proxmire (D- 

Wis.) to reduce NASA authorization-one by $317 million; one by 

$98 million. An amendment by Sen. Charles Percy (R-Ill.) which would 

194


require NASA to keep Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences “fully and currently informed” was also defeated. Committee 

Chairhaan Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (Df-N.Mex.) said the proposal 

had been considered by the Committee and rejected as unnecessary: 

“It’s not needed. What is needed is enforcement and compliance with 

existing legislation.” 

House bill authorized $200.7 million less than Committee on Science 

and Astronautics had recommended [see May 161. An amendment by 

Rep. Richard L. Roudebush (R-Ind.) to an amendment by Rep. James 

6. Fulton (R-Pa.) cut $65 million from $455 million proposed by Com- 

mittee for AA program. Fulton’s original amendment had recommended 

cutting the program by $250 million. Remaining reductions, totaling 

$135.7 million, were contained in surprise recommittal motion offered 

by Representative Fulton at the end of the day. They included: (1) 

$6.2 million from advanced missions (funding eliminated) ; (2) $21.5 

million from Voyager; (3) $20 million from nuclear rockets; (4) $78 

million from launch vehicle procurement; and (5) $10 million from 

sustaining university program. Amendment also contained provision 

to establish an independent safety review board within NASA. Estab- 

lishment of the board had been urged by Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R-Ill.) 

as one means of avoiding another accident like the Jan. 27 Apollo fire. 

Differences between Senate and House authorization bills would be 

resolved by joint House/Senate Conference Committee. (CR, 6/28/67, 

S9078-94, H8150-200; UPI, NYT, 6/29/67, 11; Reistrup, W Post, 

6/29/67, A6) 

a AFCRL successfully launched 65-lb payload by Trailblazer I1 booster from 

Wallops Station in experiment to study reentry communications prob- 

lems by carefully measuring plasma sheath properties and their effects. 

Booster’s 3rd and 4th stage engines fired at 187-mi altitude to propel 

nosecone downward; at 60-mi altitude rocket achieved a velocity of 

18,OOO fps creating an envelope of plasma identical to the envelopes 

which block radio and microwave communications with reentering space- 

craft. Since a pure plasma was essential to the success of the experi- 

ment, reentry vehicle had no ablative coating and burned up completely 

in the atmosphere. AFCRL would use results of measurements to develop 

techniques for predicting exact behavior of a radiating system during 

reentry. (OAR Release 67-9) 

a FRC awarded RCA a $2.59 million, fixed-price contract to design, fabricate, 

and install an instrumentation radar system at NASA’s Ely, Nev., tracking 

site. Scheduled for completion by Dec. 30, 1968, system would 

be used to provide highly accurate position and velocity data on such 

high-performance aircraft as the X-15 and the XB-70. (NASA Release 

67-172) 

0 NAE announced establishment of an Aeronautics and Space Engineering 

Board to advise NASA and other Federal agencies. Board would operate 

under contract with NASA that estimated expenditures of $186,500 dur- 

ing first year of operation. Chairman was Dr. H. Guyford Stever, Presi- 

dent of Carnegie Institute of Technology. Col. Robert J. Burger, Execu- 

tive Secretary of Scientific Advisory Board, USAF Hq., would become 

Executive Director Aug. 1, following his retirement from USAF. Board’s 

first meeting would be held in Washington, D.C., in mid-July. (NAE 

Release) 

* On presentation of Distinguished Service Medal to L/G Leighton I. Davis 

195


(WAF), Commandant of Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Air 

Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. McConnell cited him for outstanding 

management of range support of US. ballistic missile and space vehicle 

programs and as DOD Manager for Manned Space Flight Support Operations--specifically, 

Projects Mercury and Gemini. Davis had been Commander 

of Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) and National Range 

Div. from May 1960 through June 1967. (AFSC Release 14.67) 

On presentation of NASA Exceptional Service Medal to M/G David M. 

Jones ( USAF) , Commander of AFETR, NASA Associate Administrator 

for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller stated: “As Deputy 

Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight (programs) and as 

Acting Director, Apollo Applications, General Jones played an important 

role in guiding the definitions and development of future manned space 

missions.” Jones had been assigned to NASA from December 1964 through 

April 1967. (AFSC Release 137.67) 

June 29: USAF launched two satellites: EGRS-9 and Aurora I. Thor-Burner 

I1 boosters were used in WTR launchings. EGRS-9, a Secor satellite, 

would provide an aid to geodetic survey of the earth sphere. Aurora I 

would study charged particles that precipitate in the upper atmosphere. 


Maj. William J. Knight (USAF) made successful emergency landing of X-15 

No. 1 at Edwards AFB 59 sec after takeoff because of an electrical power 

failure. (X-15 Proj M) 

* NASA awarded Philco-Ford Corp.’s Western Development Laboratories a 

$45,757,000, multiple-incentive contract modification for continued 

engineering and operational support at MSC’S Mission Control Center 

(MCC). (NASA Release 67-173) 

* Eight Apollo astronauts flew from New York to Iceland for eight-day 

expedition to gather geological data from an area believed to be similar 

to the lunar surface. Fifteen more astronauts were expected to join the 

expedition June 30. (NYT, 6/30/67,13) 

NASA released “Opportunities for Participation in Space Flight Investigation” 

( NHB 8030.1A) describing opportunities available to scientists and 

technical groups for including their experiments and equipment on NASA 

missions. Handbook, which superseded earlier edition published in July 

1965, described each of NASA’s present flight programs and noted opportunities 

available in automated and manned flights and in flight-related 

programs so that scientists would have an up-to-date review of missions 

currently being sponsored by NASA and could develop compatible experiments. 


June 30: MSFC awarded two contracts: (1) a $2.4-million, two-month contract 

extension to Chrysler Gorp. for procurement of long-lead time 

items for additional Uprated Saturn I 1st stages. Extension would enable 

Chrysler to continue procurements necessary to maintain capability to 

assemble four Uprated Saturn I boosters annually; (2) a $14,811,540 

fixed-price-incentive-fee contract to NAA for 60 additional H-1 rocket 

engines for use on 1st stages of Uprated Saturn I boosters. Order 

increased total number of engines purchased to 322. Delivery would 

continue through September 1%8. ( MSFC Releases 67-136,67-138) 

USAF named four USAF pilots to train for DOD’S Manned Orbiting Laboratory 

(MOL) program: Maj. James A. Abrahamson; L/Col. Robert T. 

Herres; Maj. Donald H. Peterson; and Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 

the first Negro selected for a mission in the Nation’s space program. All 

196

which was suspended from gimbals and weighted so that floor would 

always remain level. Crew would steer vehicle with jet engines attached 

to cabin. (Jones, NYT, 7/1/67, 26) 

During June: NASA had failed to locate Surveyor Ill’s transmitting fre- 

quency after repeated attempts to reactivate spacecraft since May 23. 

*Efforts to reestablish contact would be resumed on a limited basis after 

end of third lunar night which would begin July 1. (NASA Proj Off; 

SBD, 6/5/67,194) 

Contract to develop ESRO’S TD-1 and TD-2, largest satellites to be de- 

signed in Europe, had been awarded to MESH consortium. European 

members of MESH-Engins Matra of France, E.R.N.0. of West Ger- 

many, S.A.A.B. of Sweden, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Limited of 

Great Britain-would get 28-million contract to develop the two satel- 

lites; Engins Matra would be prime contractor. Hawker Siddeley 

Dynamics Limited and Engins Matra had jointly designed, developed, 

and manufactured Esro ZZ satellite. TD-1 and TD-2 would be launched 

in 1970 and 1971 and would perform astrophysics missions. 

(S/F, 6/67, 198) 

* Full size dynamic model of Canadian Defence Research Board’s ISIS-A- 

third ionosphere satellite for Canada-had successfully completed series 

of vibration tests at GSFC. Joint Canadian/U.S. program of International 

Satellites for Ionospheric Studies would include ISIS-B and ISIS-c during 

the 1960s as solar activity would pass through its intensity, causing a 

variety of changes in ionosphere and outer space. Launch of ISIS-A was 

planned for early 1968 [see Mar. 231. Like its predecessors (Alouettes I 

and ZZ) , ISIS-A would be spheroid and have 11,000 solar cells on its outer 

surface to power internal batteries. (S/F, 6/67, 197-8) 

Variety of ion engines could be used in satellite stationkeeping and attitude 

control, and solar-powered ion engines for primary propulsion would be 

feasible for Voyager-class missions of early 1970s, Spme/Aeronautics 

reported. Nuclear-powered ion propulsion was still about a decade 

off. (S/A, 6/67,92) 

* Computer system which furnished selected scientists with biweekly listings 

of the new technical developments in their fields was put into operation 

ofiles of subscribers.

During June ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Ft. Monmouth Commander M/G William B. Latta said the goal of the 

system was “to increase the productivity of our technical personnel by 

making sure that each scientist is kept abreast of the latest work in his 

specialty. 

“Our researchers will thus be able to make maximum use of the scien- 

tific advances of their eo-workers throughout the country and avoid 

costly duplication.” (Lyons, NYT, 6/2/67, 22) 

Col. Maynard E. White (USAF, Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Personnel, USAF Hq. in Europe, was appointed Director of Manned 

Space Flight Program Control, OMSF. (NASA Ann) 

198

July 1967 

July 1 : USAF Titan 111-6 booster launched from ETR successfully inserted 

six satellites-three Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program 

(IDCSP) comsats, one Lincoln Experimental Satellite Les Y, one DOD 

Gravity Experiment (DODGE) satellite, and one Despun Antenna Test 

Satellite (DATS ) -into circular, near-synchronous orbits. 

Powered flight of Titan 111-C was close to planned parameters. Tran- 

stage and payload were inserted into parking orbit with 103-mi (166-km) 

apogee and 89-mi (143-km) perigee. First transtage burn made neces- 

sary course corrections; second transtage burn moved stage and pay- 

load into transfer orbit with 20,920-mi (33,666-km) apogee and 111-mi 

(179-km) perigee. Third burn put satellite dispenser frame and six 

satellites into final orbit with 20,809-mi (33,438-km) apogee and 

20,453-mi (32,91544 perigee. Between 3 :21 and 3.23 pm EST satellites 

were ejected separately into slightly different orbital paths. 

Three IDCSP comsats, combined with 15 others launched June 16,1966, 

and Jan. 18, 1967, completed Pacific link of DOD’S IDCSP system de- 

signed to provide reliable, full-time radio communications between 

Washington, D.C., and US. troops in Vietnam and other distant out- 

posts. Les Y, first all solid-state UHF band comsat, would transmit radio 

signals and test communications to front-line troops. DODGE satellite 

would extend 10 metal booms to test satellite’s stability, determine 

whether it could keep one side always facing earth, and transmit first 

color TV pictures of earth taken’from orbit with a 22’ camera. DATS, ad- 

vanced version of IDCSP comsats, carried new antenna designed to trans- 

mit 75% of radio signal strength-rather than current 15%-back to 

earth. USAF 05cials reported all satellites were functioning properly. 

(DOD Proj Off; UPI, NYT, 7/2/67, 20; W Post, 7/2/67, A4; Av Wk, 

7/10/67,39; Aero Tech, 7/17/67,20) 

AFSC’s Ballistic systems Div. (BSD) and space systems Bv. (SSD) were 

combined to form new Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) 

with headquarters in Los Angeles. New organization would be com- 

manded by M/G John W. O’Neill, former Commander of Electronic Sys- 

tems Div. M/G John L. McCoy, former BSD CGmmander, was named 

Deputy Commander for Missiles; M/G Paul T. Cooper, former SSD Com- 

mander, was appointed Deputy Commander for Space. (AFSC Release 

101.67; SSD Release 67-207) 

MSFC awarded McDonnell Douglas Corp. a $496,024 contract to study 

advanced versions of Saturn S-IVB orbital workshop. Study would 

explore concepts for a follow-on workshop for the Uprated Saturn I 

and several more sophisticated versions for the Saturn V, with initial 

emphasis on uses of the stage in Awl10 Applications (AA) program. 

(MSFC Release 67-16) 

324401 +69-14 199

July 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Princeton Univ. astronomers were studying photos of ultraviolet spectra 

of Venus and Jupiter taken by a rocket-borne telescope launched from 

WSMR May 5 in an effort to provide additional data on Venusian atmos- 

phere, New Yorlc Times reported. Photos, taken at 118-mi altitude, 

provided “SO times more detail than ever obtained before,” Dr. Donald 

C. Morton, diredor of Princeton’s rocket astronomy program, ex- 

plained. Princeton astronomers would continue analyzing spectrograms 

to determine composition of planets’ gaseous atmospheres, and would 

compare findings with data transmitted by U.S.’s Mariner V and 

U.S.S.R.’s Yews ZV spacecraft-both expected to reach Venus by late 

October. (NYT, 7/2/67, 21) 

M/G Vincent G. Huston, former Commander of Air Force Eastern Test 

Range {AFETR) and recipient of NASA Leadership Medal, became Com- 

mander of AFSC’S National Range Div. He succeeded L/G Leighton I. 

Davis, who became Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed 

Forces in Washington, D.C. (AFSC Release 103.67) 

July 2: SSTS would solve sonic boom problem by flying at subsonic speeds 

where necessary over densely populated areas, Secretary of Transporta- 

tion Alan S. Boyd said on ABC TV’s “Issues and Answers.” Since de- 

velopment of SST was “very worthwhile” to national prestige, balance 

of payments, US. leadership in aviation industry, and advances in 

related technology, it should be continued despite rising costs of Viet- 

nam war, he said. Citing urban congestion as U.S.’s major transporta- 

tion problem, Boyd said DOT was trying to develop a balanced system of 

transporting people to and through cities. Even with expanded airport 

facilities, relief by aviation would be limited by ground congestion, 

he said. (Smith, W Post, 7/3/67, A17) 

NASA personnel changes: (1) John S. Brown, Division Director in the 

Office of Legislative Affairs, NASA Hq., became Deputy Assistant Admin- 

istrator for Legislative Affairs; (2) John P. Jewett, Assistant Chief for 

Administration, Nevada Extension of AEC/NASA Space Nuclear Pro- 

pulsion Office (SNPO-N) , became Chief of SNPO-N. (NASA Ann, 7/2/67, 

7/25/67) 

France exploded nuclear device from a balloon over Mururoa Atoll in 

the Pacific. Test, originaIIy scheduIed for July 14, was last in summer 

1967 series of three designed to perfect a trigger for hydrogen bomb 

France planned to explode in 1968. (UPI, W Star, 7/3/67, B4) 

ruly 3: Minor fire broke out during an unmanned vacuum chamber test of 

Lunar Module (LM) descent stage mockup at WSMR. NASA officials said 

vehicle was under a vacuum soak condition when fuel escaped into the 

vacuum chamber ; fire apparently developed from spontaneous combus- 

tion. It was extinguished immediately by the water deluge system, and 

damage was believed to be minor. ( WSMR Release) 

* Rep. Emilio Q. Daddario (D-Conn.) , Chairman of House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Science, Research, and Development Sub- 

committee, emphasized that, “with the immensity of consequences and 

the irreversible nature of many technological changes, the propensity 

for risk taking must be coupled with a deeper assessment of both deficits 

and benefits.” His statement, Technology Assessment, to subcommittee 

proposed a seven-step approach which would place technology within 

the total societal framework; “identify all impacts in the natural, social, 

economic, legal and political sectors;” and examine causes, effects, and 

alternatives. A three-phase Subcommittee program would include hear- 

200

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 July 3 

ings and seminars, a request for National Academies of Science and 

Engineering working group on pilot projects, and a number of other 

analyses. (Text) 

“Unless US. space program moves much faster than now seems likely, 

US. consumption of helium this year . . . may be down as much 

as . . . 25%,” Chemical and Engineering News reported. Since Jan. 27 

Apollo fire and resulting ccslowdown” in space program, use of helium 

to pressurize rocket fuels-which accounted for 45% of helium con- 

sumption-had dropped to about half of its former level. Despite the 

1967 recession, however, helium industry was optimistic that trend 

would be reversed when manned space flights were resumed in 1968. 

(C&E News, 7/3/67, 18-9) 

USN had selected six companies to compete for six-month study contract to 

design ship-based antimissile missile system which could support Nike-X, 

William Beecher reported in New York Times. Companies were Hughes 

Aircraft Co., Martin Marietta Corp., Boeing Co., Aerojet-General Corp., 

McDonnell Douglas Co., and Raytheon Co. Code-named Seaborne Anti- 

Ballistic Missile Intercept System (SABMIS), it would be deployed on 

submarines and warships stationed in international waters off Communist 

China and U.S.S.R. to intercept long-range missiles launched from those 

countries. A USA Nike-X official commented: “The Navy system is both 

feasible and attractive. It could intercept enemy ICBM’s before they can 

deploy most of their penetration aids; it would reduce the number of 

missiles Nike-X would have to contend with; and it would tremendously 

increase the enemy’s technology problems by forcing him to become very 

sophisticated indeed if he wants to stand any chance of getting his ICBM’s 

past both the mid-course and terminal phase defenses.” (Beecher, NYT, 

7/4/67,1,2) 

* ERG Director James C. Elms announced appointment of Dr. Francisc C. 

Schwarz as head of ERC’S Power Conditioning and Distribution Labora- 

tory. (ERC Release 67-22) 

* Col. Robert A. Merchant (USMC, Ret.), former Assistant Chief of Staff, 

USMC Hq., became Director of the new International Technology Affairs 

Div., Office of International Affairs, NASA Hq. He would be responsible 

for coordinating dissemination of NASA scientific and technical infor- 

mation abroad, developing recommendations for the disposition of 

export control cases, and exploring broader use of space technology 

overseas. (NASA Ann, 7/3/67) 

Harold W. Yates, former chief engineer of Barnes Engineering Co.’s Field 

Research and Systems Dept., became Director of the National Environ- 

mental Satellite Center’s Satellite Experiment Laboratory. (USA 


JuZy 4: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXVZII into orbit with 268-km (167-mi) 

apogee, 199-km (124-mi) perigee, 89-min period, and 52” inclination. 

Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered July 12. (SBD, 

7/6/67,12; GSFC SSR, 7/15/67) 

July 5: George H. Hage, former Engineering Manager of Boeing Co.’s Lunar 

Orbiter Program, became NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for 

Space Science and Applications (Engineering) . His appointment had 

been announced May 18. (NASA Ann, 7/6/67) 

July 6: NRL Aerobee sounding rocket launched May 17 had detected x-rays 

from quasar 3C-273 (believed to be 15-billion light years from earth) 

and Virgo A (a galaxy believed to be 30-million light years from earth), 

201


Dr. Herbert Friedman, Superintendent of Naval Research Laboratory’s 

Atmospheric and Astrophysics Div., announced at news conference in 

Washington, D.C. Rocket experiment, he said: (1) provided first evidence 

that x rays were produced as far away as the “rim” of the 

universe; (2) detected quasars, previously detectable only by their 

radio waves or by visible light seen through high-power telescopes; (3) 

lent support to theory that universe is saturated with background radiation 

from explosion of universe 10 billion yrs ago; and (4) detected 

three new x-ray sources, apparently outside our galaxy and not traceable 

to any known object. These findings, Dr. Friedman said, indicated that 

x-ray astronomy had “come of age” as a tool to explore the universe. 

TO explore x-ray sources further, he suggested installing x-ray detection 

equipment on proposed satellites such as NASA’s orbital workshop and 

launching larger equipment for longer periods of time to map the whole 

sky for x-ray sources. (Text; Reistrup, W Post, 7/7/67) 

USAF successfully launched an Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry System ( ABRES) 

vehicle from Vandenberg AFB with Atlas-D booster. (Aero Tech, 

7/17/67,13) 

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Incentive Evaluation Board awarded Boeing Co. a 

$1,053,405 bonus for the Lunar Orbiter III mission. Board said pic- 

tures prod4uced were “of high quality, properly exposed and with good 

positioning,” although of unsatisfactory quantity, and noted that secon- 

dary site photography “had considerable value scientifically.” Space- 

craft, launched from ETR Feb. 4, had transmitted 154 of 211 photos 

taken and was gathering data on meteoroids, radiation, and lunar 

gravitational field. (NASA Release 67-177) 

July 7: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMK carried 

MIT x-ray experiment to %-mi (142-km) altitude to search for undis- 

covered x-ray sources and to obtain data on celestial locations and 

energy spectra of “discrete celestial X-ray sources” in three regions. 

Rocket and instruments performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. 

Homer E. Newell and OSSA Director of Space Applications Programs 

Leonard Jaffe discussed impact of space research on science and tech- 

nology in Science. As a result of space research, they said, science and 

technology could contribute to the arts by furnishing new media for 

human expression; enrich the humanities by furnishing new media for 

broader basis for understanding himself and his place in nature; pro- 

vide the historian with a better approach to history because of scientific 

methodology; and enable archeologists more accurately to date mate- 

rials and identify their sources. 

As the entire world “absorbs the increased understanding of man 

and nature that science generates, and reflects that understanding in 

its literature, its social, political, and economic institutions, and its 

application to human daily living . . . it may be hoped that this com- 

mon bond will . . . give increased motivation to solve peaceably the 

problems that beset the world . . . rand] provide increased means for 

doing so. . . . To use properly and effectively these powerful tools 

of our times is an inescapable challenge to men and governments the 

world over.” (Newell, Jaffe, Science, 7/7/67,29-39) 

ComSatCorp filed notice with FCC of three proposed contract awards 

totaling more than $13 million for antenna subsystems and related equip- 

ment to be installed at West Virginia, California, Puerto Rico, and 

202

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 Jdy 7 

Hawaii earth stations. Fixed-price contracts proposed included 

$7,600,000 to Philco-Ford Corp. for four antenna subsystems ; 

$4,500,000 to Raytheon Co. for four ground communications equipment 

subsystems ; and $1,015,000 to Cutler-Hammer, Inc., for four low-noise 

receiver subsystems. Construction on three new earth stations and expan- 

sion of facilities at Hawaii station were expected to begin in late 1967. 

(ComSatCorp Release 67-36) 

0 H. Frank Hann became Director of the Financial Management Div., Office 

of Administration, NASA Hq. He had been Acting Director since April 3. 

(NASA Ann, 7/12/67) 

Jdy 8-9: The 1967 Soviet air show-first in six years-was held at Domode 

dovo Airport near Moscow. Program included aerial displays and ground 

exhibits of seven new types of supersonic jet fighters, including one 

VTOL and two variable-sweep-wing aircraft similar to US. F-111 ; Proton 

and Vostok spacecraft; World War I1 fighters; and four-engine IL-62 

commercial aircraft. U.S.S.R. claimed that its new variable-sweep-wing 

models-a fighter and a missile launcher-were first and lightest in the 

world and could fly at mach 1 at sea level and mach 2 at higher altitudes. 

New VTOL aircraft was reportedly capable of rising vertically 130-160 

ft before beginning forward flight. Western sources speculated that 

absence of any large new bombers suggested that U.S.S.R., like US., was 

concentrating on versatile missile-launching aircraft which had long- 

range striking power. (Reuters, NYT, 7/9/67, 17; W Post, 7/10/67, 

A10; Av Wk, 7/24/67,38--44) 

Jdy 9: USN decision to study a ship-based antimissile missile system [see 

July 31 was praised by Hanson Baldwin in the New York Times. “Stra- 

tegically and tactically the role of the Navy has been transformed by the 

nuclear age; the depths of the sea, the space above the atmosphere and 

every part of every land mass on earth are now accessible to modern naval 

power.” Proposed SABMIS system would be especially effective because: 

(1) nuclear submarines’ ability to remain completely submerged indefi- 

nitely gave them unequaled defense invulnerability ; (2) submarine- 

launched ballistic missile would draw enemy attack toward seas rather 

than toward populated land as land-based missiles do; (3) sea-based 

system would be more effective against enemy missile containing several 

warheads, each capable of maneuvering along different trajectory ; and 

(4) system would be able to intercept enemy missiles in midcourse, 

rather than terminal phase. (Baldwin, NYT, 7/9/67) 

Effect of sonic boom on SST flight routes and sales prospects was discussed 

by Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd, FAA Administrator William 

F. McKee, and Director of SST Development BJG J. C. Maxwell (USAF, 

Ret.) in May and June testimony released by House Committee on 

Appropriations’ Subcommittee on the Dept. of Transportation. Condi- 

tions under which supersonic flight would be permitted over populated 

land areas had still not been determined, Gen. Maxwell explained. “The 

available sonic boom data indicate that the present SST design may 

possibly be restricted from supersonic operations over populated land 

areas . . . [and we] have based our SST program decisions on the con- 

servative assumption that this design will be operated primarily on 

water.” 

DOT did not have to force the American public to tolerate sonic booms 

to make SST program an economic success, Secretary Boyd assured the 

Committee. “We are satisfied that we can have a . . . highly successful 

203


program, assuming the sonic boom is intolerable over populated areas. 

. . . The only thing that is involved here is whether we sell more aircraft, 

not whether the program is a success. . . .” Even if SST were limited to 

subsonic flight over inhabited areas at least 300 aircraft could be sold 

initially, he said, and market studies indicated “that there is a possibility 

of going up to 1,200 aircraft by 1990.” (Transcript, 41, 294, 942) 

0 NATO had begun to modernize its communications network by using com- 

sats, Clyde H. Farnsworth reported in the New York Times. Initial 

$900,000 test phase of project had been inaugurated by Supreme Allied 

Commander in Europe Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer in a transmission from 

his headquarters in Casteau, Belgium, to Naples, Italy, via one of DOD’S 

15 Initial Defense Communications Satellite Project (IDCSP) satellites. 

US., which had proposed the NATO project, was permitting NATO to use 

the IDCSP satellites temporarily. Following approval of the second phase 

of the project, $45 million-of which US. would pay 25%-would be 

spent to link 12 alliance countries via two 100-lb cornsats owned by 

NATO and launched by USAF into synchronous orbits over the Atlantic. 

Two ground stations would be in US. and one in each NATO country 

except France (who had not been invited to participate in the project), 

Luxembourg, and Iceland. (Farnsworth, NYT, 7/9/67, 17) 

July 10: Chicago Daily News urged House/Senate Conference Committee on 

NASA FY 1968 authorization bill to accept Rep. Donald Rumsfeld’s (R- 

Ill.) proposals to establish an independent safety review board and to 

require NASA to keep Congress fully informed on its operations [see 

June 281: “There is ampIe justification for these requirements. 

“Part of it can be found in the scandalous record of fumbling, bum- 

bling and pure carelessness unearthed in the investigation of the blazing 

death of three [Apollo] astronauts . . . [and part from] the perils of 

an alliance between big government and the big industries that serve 

it and profit by its contracts. 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 July 10-13 

Island Newsday series by AP writer Howard Benedict. US., he said, 

was quietly developing a strong military space capability because: (1) 

U.S.S.R. “is vigorously pushing for a military space capability”; 

(2) Titan I1 and Minuteman missiles “are threatened by new warhead 

guidance system 10 times more accurate than any previous system”; 

(3) Polaris missiles deployed at sea “are threatened by new satellite 

reconnaissance devices” that may soon be able to locate submerged 

submarines; (4) US. missiles designed to penetrate Soviet defenses 

were threatened by potential Soviet capability to neutralize and destroy 

them before they reached enemy territory; and (5) “world strategic 

situation has been changed sharply by Red Chinese achievements in 

nuclear explosives and by steadily decreasing costs which will permit 

other nations to deploy missile forces.” 

DOD was developing “fantastic” weapons *and military equipment, 

Benedict noted: “reconnaissance satellites that will spt a soldier hiding 

in underbrush or a missile buried underground; satellites to locate sub- 

merged submarines; communications satellites that will enable infantry- 

men . . . to converge on strategy; rockets to knock down enemy satel- 

lites; laser and radiation beams to pulverize space or ground targets; 

rocket-borne nuclear bombs to destroy missile warhead rockets with 

great power and versatility; and manned spaceships that will take off 

and land like conventional airplanes.” USAF’S Manned Orbiting Labora- 

tory (MOL) program, he said, would determine whether man is more 

effective at performing tasks currently done by unmanned satellites and 

whether space itself could become a battlefield. (Benedict, LI Newsday, 

7/10-13/67) 

July 11 : MSC engineer Caldwell 6. Johnson was granted patent for a cocoon- 

like escape device for orbiting astronauts. Device, which would be 

stored in an external compartment on the spacecraft, consisted of an 

insulated zippered nylon bag with a retrorocket. Astronaut would don 

his pressure suit with oxygen supply, seal himwlf in the bag, and fire 

retrorocket to thrust toward a landmark on earth. He would then inflate 

a bladder to shape the bag into a sphere for stability during reentry. 

Sphere would deflate during reentry, notifying astronaut when it was 

time to deploy parachute for safe landing. (US. Patent Off; MSC Round- 

up, 7/7/67,8; Jones, NYT, 7/15/67,29) 

Second Saturn V booster’s 1st and 2nd stages were mechanically mated 

at ICSC in preparation for AS-502 unmanned mission to test Apollo 

spacecraft’s reentry heat shield. Booster’s 3rd stage was added July 13; 

instrument unit, July 14. (KSC Proj Off; Marshall Star, 7/12/67, 1) 

NASA contract awards: (1) Brown and Root-Northrop Corp. were se- 

lected for negotiations of a one-year, $10-million, cost-plus-award-fee 

contract to provide jointly operational support services to MSC’S lab- 

oratory and test facilities; (2) Graham Engineering Corp. and LTV 

Range Systems Div. were selected for competitive negotiations of a 

one-year, $10-million, cost-plus-award-fee contract for facility support 

services at MSC. (NASA Releases 67-180, 67-181) 

* First aerial drop in test series to develop and qualify Earth Landing Sys- 

tem (ELS) for heavier Block I1 Apollo spacecraft was conducted by 

Northrop Ventura at El Centro, Calif. Tests were studying the use of 

a two-stage reefing system for three main ELS chutes and larger diameter 

drogue parachutes for the ELS. Block I Apollo spacecraft used only a 

singlestage reefing. (NAA Skywriter, 7/21/67,1,2) 

205


X-24A (formerly SV-5P) , NationH newest manned lifting-body vehicle, 

was publicly displayed and officially turned over to USAF in ceremonies 

at Martin Marietta Corp.’~ Baltimre plant. The 5,000-lb wingless 

vehicle, constructed by Martin Marietta Corp. under AFSC contract, 

would be air-launched from B-52 aircraft at AFFTC and would be driven 

by Thiokol rocket engines to higher altitudes and supersonic speeds 

before gliding to controlled landing. Flight tests would be conducted 

by five USAF and NASA pilots in late 1967 under joint NASA/USAF lifting- 

body program. (AFSC Release 59.67; Clark, NYT, 7/12/67, 1) 

0 First regular data reports of activity on sun’s “invisible hemisphere”- 

side visible from eaah only once every 13.5 days-were being made 

to ESSA’S Solar Disturbance Forecast Center in Boulder, Colo., by 

NASA’s Pioneer VI and VII satellites, in orbit around sun. Satellites’ 

observations on physical characteristics of solar storms would allow 

continuous scientific study of solar surface and provide Apollo astronauts 

with additional warning time to avoid solar radiation hazards. 


July 12: Soviet space officials hinted that they were conducting an advanced 

lunar exploration program and said that series of spacecraft 

from Luna IX through Luna XIII would not be used again, Space 

Business Daily reported. Officials did not elaborate on the “new material,, 

that would be used, but indicated that new plans would include 

unmanned mobility on lunar surface. (SBD, 7/12/67,42) 

American Security Council (ASC) released results of study prepared for 

House Armed Services Committee which concluded that U.S.S.R. would 

achieve a marked nuclear superiority over US. by 1971 unless steps 

were taken immediately to improve American strategic capabilities. 

Study, conducted by ASC’S National Strategy Committee under chairmanship 

of former AFSC Commander Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF, Ret.), 

found that US. had “exchanged its goal of a war-winning strategic superiority 

for a strategy of mutual deterrence” while U.S.S.R. “is driving 

hard toward a goal of overwhelming superiority. . . .” Report predicted 

that by 1971 U.S.S.R. would have a 30,000- to 50,000-mt nuclear 

delivery capability, contrasting with 6,000- to 15,008mt for US., and 

recommended a rapid arms buildup or development of an antiballistic 

missile system. It warned that “by placing our sole reliance for deterrence 

on ICBMS, POLARIS and POSEIDON missiles, and the remaining 

manned bomber force . . . [US.] places itself in the dangerous position 

of having only one option left if it is faced with a Soviet ultimatum 

to surrender. It must either fire its offensive nuclear weapons or give up 

its sovereignty. An ABM [Antiballistic Missile System] would at least 

strengthen the hand of the President if he is confronted with such a 

fateful decision, and it might stay the hand of an enemy at a critical 

moment. . . .” (Text; ASC News) 

July 12-19: “Cold flow” test series of Phoebus 2 nuclear reactor was successfully 

conducted at NRDS as part of NASA-AEC Project Rover program 

to develop a nuclear-propelled rocket. Purpose of tests was to check 

reactor design under gas-flow conditions and at liquid-hydrogen temperatures 

; measure variations in pressures, temperatures, and flow rates 

during simulated “start-upyy operations ; and obtain initial experience 

on the hook-up and test operations of Phoebus 2 reactors in test facility. 

Assembly used for experiments in “cold flow” tests was identical to that 

used in “hot” tests, except that it contained no fissionable material and 

206


did not produce a nuclear reaction. (NASA Proj Off; UPI, NYT, 

7/22/67, 11) 

Jdy 13: Short circuit of electrical connector in Atlas-Centaur’s upper 

stage caused 24-hr postponement of Surveyor IV launch. (UPI, W 

Star, 7/13/67, B11) 

0 Adm. David L. McDonald, Chief of Naval Operations, and Gen. John P. 

McConnell, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, presented Distinguished 

Flying Crosses to the military astronauts who had made space flights in 

special Pentagon ceremony. Included were posthumous awards to L/Col. 

Virgil I. Grissom (USAF) and L/CoL Edward H. white I1 (USAF) , who 

died in Jan. 27 Apollo fire. Capt. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., speaking on behalf 

of his fellow astronauts, said they were “proud members of the military, 

but also . . . representatives of a great and significant national effort,” 

who had grown “to enjoy the [space program’s] successes and live with 

ita failures.” (DOD Release 642-67; AP, B Sun, 7/14/67, 6; 

SBD, 7/17/67, 68) 

House Appropriations Committee reported .$l.53-billion DOT authorization 

bill (H.R. 11456) which included $142.3 million for development of 

two SST prototypes. Bill was approved by House July 18. (AP, NYT, 

7/14/67,5) 

Senate passed $2.6-billion AEC FY 1968 authorization bill (H.R. 10918) 

which included $7.3 million for a new proton accelerator in Weston, Ill. 

Amendment by Sen. John 0. Pastore (D-R.I.) to delay approval of the 

Weston site until the community Qr the state passed open-housing laws 

which would enable Negro employees to find suitable housing near 

the plant was defeated. (CR, 7/13/67,89&521) 

The New York Times later commented: “. . . credit goes to Senators 

. . . who exposed the real issues at stake, and who won a moral vic- 

tory when the vote margin in Weston’s favor proved much narrower 

thanhadbeenexpected. . . . 

cc 

But there is an even more basic objection to any commitments or 

expenditures for this expensive research tool at this time. That objection 

is simply the irrelevance of a 200 billion electron volt accelerator to any 

real present national problem. . . . The budget cutters are now in full 

cry demanding reductions in already inadequate expenditures for human 

needs. It is a distortion of the national priorities to commit many millions 

now to this interesting but unnecessary scieatific luxury.” (NYT, 

7/16/67,12) 

0 NASA awarded Pratt & Whitney Div., United Aircraft Corp., a $458,000 

contract to “study desirable characteristics of components for a quiet 

turbofan engine and define a development program” [see Feb. 13. 

Contract was first awarded in NASA’s Quiet Engine program to combine 

all known noise-control techniques to produce a 20,000-lb-thrust engine 

which would be 15-20 db quieter than present subsonic jet engines and 

could be used in current aircraft models. Program was being conducted 

by NASA as part of national noise abatement program. (NASA Release 

67-la; Clark, NYT, 7/14/67,27) 

NASA was studying feasibility of launching two navigation satellites to 

keep SST under constant surveillance and be alert to slightest malfunction, 

Mohammed Rauf, Jr., reported in the News American. NASA Chief 

of Navigation and Tra5c Control Eugene Ehrlich, who conceived the 

plan, told Rauf in an interview that the system would provide maximum 

safety against accidents: “The program calls for the building of two 

207


tracking stations on each side of the Atlantic. The wings of the plane and 

all its other important parts will be fitted with small transponders, which 

will continually relay information about the plane’s wnditicin to the 

satellites . . . [which would] relay the signals to the tracking stations, 

where giant computers will process them within minutes for appropriate 

action.” Eventually, Ehrlich predicted, all aircraft and ships would 

be equipped with transponders “because the [ propsed] navigation 

satellites . . . will be capable of handling the increasing amount of 

air and sea traffic predicted for this century. 

“Four satellites can have the whole world under surveillance for air 

and sea traffic control, and will cut down both the cost of such control 

as exercised by conventional methods, and also the time required for it.” 

(Rauf, News American, 7/13/67) 

Rep. Donald Rumsfeld (R-Ill.) , speaking on the floor of the House, urged 

House to support Rep. Charles Mathias’ (R-Md.) bcill (H.R. 69) to establish 

a commission to review organization of Executive Branch: “Congressional 

review has often been piecemeal and after the fact. For example, 

the recent congressional hearing concerning the tragic Apollo 

spacecraft fire unearthed a shocking amount of information about 

NASA’s operations which should have been reported to Congress long 

ago. . . . Legislation has been proposed to correct this, and hopefully, 

the provisions in the House version of the NASA authorization bill . . . 

will be accepted and thereby require NASA to keep Congress ‘fully and 

currently informed’. . . . I am convinced such language is needed with 

respect to NASA. I am equally convinced that, if the operations of the 

executive branch are studied and reviewed for organizational deficiencies 

and economy of operation, there would be far less need to wage battles on 

the floor on a piecemeal, hit-or-miss basis.” (NASA LAR VI/75) 

July 14: Second anniversary of Mars flyby by NASA’s Mariner ZV, during 

which spacecraft flew within 6,118 mi of Mars, took 22 close-up photos 

of the planet, and transmitted scientific data on Martian atmosphere. 

Launched from ETR Nov. 28, 196LE, Mariner ZV had traveled 1.3 billion 

mi during its 959 days of flight and had operated continuously for more 

than 23,000 hrs-exceeding its 6,000-hr design lifetime by more than 

4000/0. NASA announced that satellite, which was expected to continue 

operating satisfactorily until early 1968, had been assigned a new mis- 

sion. It would be used in an experiment to conduct simultaneous com- 

parison of solar radiation during August 1967 “solar system line-up” 

involving Mariner IV, Mariner V (launched June 14), the earth, and the 

sun. (NASA Release 67-182) 

* U.S.S.R.’s Venus IV unmanned Venus probe, launched June 12, was about 

5 million mi from earth and was performing satisfactorily, U.S.S.R. 

announced. Spacecraft was expected to reach Venus in mid-October. 

(AP, W Star, 7/15/67,1) 

* Bistatic radar detection-experimental technique for mapping celestial 

bodies by bouncing signals off them from an orbiting spacecraft-had 

been used successfully to map a portion of the lunar surface, Stanford 

Univ. Center for Radar Astronomy scientists Dr. G. L. Tyler, V. R. 

Eshleman, G. Fjeldbo, H. T. Howard, and A. M. Peterson reported in 

Science. Radar waves emitted Oct. 12, 1966, from an antenna on NASA’s 

Lunar Orbiter I spacecraft had reached earth as two signals: one directly, 

and one after being reflected by the moon. Both underwent different 

shifts in frequency. From a measurement made on the ground scientists 

208


were able to tell the direction from the spacecraft to the site on the moon. 

Other measurements related to the same site enabled them to triangulate 

the position. (Science, 7/14/67,193-5) 

US. space program was a sound investment which would pay “handsome 

dividends” to all Americans and to humanity in general, UCLA professor 

of chemistry Dr. Willard F. Libby told AAS meeting in Denver. Winner 

of the 1960 Nobel Prize in chemistry and discoverer of radio-carbon 

dating, Dr. Libby suggested that space program opponents “quit grum- 

bling about going-to-the-moon extravagance with taxpayers’ money” and 

realize that large expenditures were necessary to maintain US. world 

leadership in space. 

“And we can’t stop at the moon. . . . Once we’ve ventured that far, 

we should establish a base there for manned takeoffs to Mars ana Venus. 

“Now Congress is debating the merits of authorizing space explora- 

tion beyond the moon in the early ’70s. They have dyty to debate such 

a venture, costing more than $2 billion. But what . . . would Congress 

do with that money if it weren’t spent on future space research?” Space 

research had already made great contributions to medicine, microelec- 

tronics, worldwide communications, and many other fields, he said, and 

could continue to achieve much more “for the good of humanity and the 

expansion of frontiers of human knowledge.” (Lindbergh, Denver Post, 

7/16/67) 

Harry N. Atwood, an associate of the Wright Brothers, died at age 83. 

On July 1, 1911, during 17-hr 12-min flight from Boston to Washington, 

D.C., Atwood became first man to fly over New Yolk City. The following 

month he successfully flew his biplane, the “Baby Wright,” 1,265 mi from 

St. Louis to New York City in 28 hrs 58 min, setting a new air distance 

record and winning a $10,000 prize. In 1927 Atwood announced the 

development of a motor that would “develop power without the use of a 

propeller, by exhausting exploding gases into the atmosphere or water, 

thus driving itself forward much as a rocket does.” In 1935 he developed 

strong, lightweight plywood for aircraft bodies. (AP, NYT, 7/16/67,65) 

* U.S. tourist vacationing on beach at Harbour Island in the Bahamas had 

found a 10-ft-long piece of metal bearing words “United” and “destruct 

mechanism here,” Sun Diego Union reported. Assuming metal to be part 

of a rocket, the tourist had notified KSC officials, who retrieved the part 

and determined that it was an insulation panel from the upper stage 

of an Atlas-Centaur used Oct. 26, 1966, to launch a Surveyor model on 

a test flight. (AP, SD Union, 7/14/67) 

Jdy 14-16; NASA’s Surveyor ZV (Surveyor D) was successfully launched 

from ETR by Atlas-Centaur booster (AC-11) on an excellent 65-hr 

lunar-intercept trajectory, but mission ended prematurely when communications 

with spacecraft were lost seconds before it was scheduled 

to softland on the moon. The abrupt termination of the spacecraft’s 

signal made it impossible to determine whether spacecraft had landed 

safely or crashed out of control. 

Launched by the last direct-ascent (single-burn) Centaur vehicle in 

Surveyor program, 2,290-lb Surveyor IV performed all required sequences 

on schedule, including a midcourse maneuver which narrowed 

estimated target miss from 1% mi to 2.4 mi. Landing sequence began 

as planned when spacecraft shifted its normal cruising attitude to position 

main retrorocket downward toward moon. Radio contact was lost 

two seconds before retrorocket ended its planned 42-sec burn to slow 

209


spacecraft’s speed from 5,900 mph to 350 mph. Repeated attempts to 

reestablish radio contact with spacecraft failed. 

Surveyor IV carried photographic equipment, a surface sampler, and 

a magnetic device on one of its footpads to test for magnetic materials 

in the lunar soil. Primary mission objectives: (1) to softland on the 

moon in the Sinus Medii and (2) to obtain TV photos of the lunar sur- 

face. Secondary objectives: (1) to conduct a vernier engine experiment; 

(2) to manipulate lunar surface with surface sampler in view of TV 

camera; (3) to obtain touchdown dynamics data; and (4) to obtain 

thermal and radar reflectivity data on lunar surface. Target zone in the 

Sinus Medii was almost in the exact center of moon’s visible hemisphere 

and was rougher than the Ocean of Storms where Surveyor I and Sur- 

veyor III had landed. Benjamin Milwitzky, NASA Surveyor Program Man- 

ager, said the site was so rugged that spacecraft had only a 50-50 

chance of landing intact. “But this region is extremely important to 

Apollo and that’s why we’re going there.” 

Surveyor IV was fourth in series of seven spacecraft in NASA’s Sur- 

veyor program: Surveyor I (launched May 30, 1966) and Surveyor III 

(launched April 17, 1967) both softlanded successfully and transmitted 

photos to earth; Surveyor II (launched Sept. 20, 1966) did not softland 

because of ignition failure in one of its three vernier engines. 

Program was directed by OSSA Lunar and Planetary Programs Div.; 

program management was assigned to JPL. (NASA Release 67-172; NASA 

Proj Off; UPI, NYT, 7/15/67, 22; AP, NYT, 7/17/67,16; Reistrup, W 

Post, 7/15/67, W; 

7/16/67, A5; 7/17/67, 1; UPI, W Star, 7/14/67, 

Al; 7/15/67, A2; 7/16/67, B5; 7/17/67, Al) 

July 15: DT. Athelstan F. Spilhaus, Univ. of Minnesota geophysicist, an- 

nounced that he was resigning to become president of the Franklin 

Institute in Philadelphia, succeeding Wynn L. LePage who would be- 

come board chairman. (UPI, NYT, 7/16/67,33) 

July 16: Lunar Orbiter II, Lunar Orbiter III, and Lunar Orbiter IV, all circling 

the moon, were being used by NASA’s Manned Space Flight Network 

personnel and stations for practice tracking exercises. Satellites served 

as “stand-ins” for the manned Apollo spacecraft which would eventually 

orbit the moon. (NASA Release 67-183) 

* Jerald Kubat, formerly Special Assistant to the Apollo Program Director, 

OMSF, had been appointed Director, Apollo Program Control. He would 

have overall responsibility for program planning, configuration management, 

logistics, resources control, and procurement operations to 

ensure the attainment of Apollo goals. (NASA Ann, 7/17/67) 

* A U-2 photographic aircraft was flown at Edwards AFB to test missile system 

that would intercept and then incapacitate enemy satellites, George 

Wilson reported in Washington Post. “The idea is to equip the United 

States with a missile or spacecraft that could blind reconnaissance satellites 

in time of war or national emergency. 

66 

There is no intention now of ending the gentlemen’s agreement 

under which both the US. and the Soviet Union spy on each other by 

satellite. 

“But there may come a day, Air Force leaders say, when the US. 

will want to hide the movements of its bombers and missiles. . . .” 

(Wilson, W Post, 7/27/67, 17) 

July 17: Cosmos CLXIX was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 208-km 

(129-mi) apogee, 144-km (89-mi) perigee, 88-min period, and 50” in- 

210


clination. It reentered later in the day. (Aero Tech, 7/31/67, 18) 

* Congressional reaction to the FY 1968 space budget pointed up the need 

€or the Johnson Administration to “take a fresh, hard look at shaping a 

truly national space program” in the 1970s, Michael Getler suggested in 

Aerospace Technology. “What we have now, on one hand, is the already 

big and expensive civilian space program which, though enormously 

successful and of great importance to national technological 

strength, is unfortunately vulnerable to on-again/off -again Congressional 

support and to the continuing challenge of finding dramatic new 

undertakings which can attract the necessary backing. 

On the other hand, we now have a rapidly growing military space 

program which appears to be on its firmest footing and which has 

demonstrated an ability to request and get new funds even when dollars 

are very tight. . . .” 

There were many areas where the two programs should remain sepa- 

rate, Getler said, but there were also many areas where cooperation would 

be advantageous: “Rather than representing a loss of funding, we be- 

lieve that joint development [in some areas] will lend stability to pro- 

grams that might otherwise run into trouble as single agency under- 

takings, will lend more logic to the national commitment to space, and 

end some of the sniping about parallelism that has hurt in the past. . . .” 

(Getler, Aero Tech, 7/17/67, 70) 

Six airlines reserved delivery positions for 16 SSTS at a cost of $750,000 each 

[see June 51, bringing to 129 the total number of delivery positions re- 

served. (AP, NYT, 7/18/67) 

* Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) , speaking on the House floor, repeated his 

request that CongreB reopen its investigation of NASA [see June 121: 

CC 

C< 

The Apollo hearings should be reconvened-not for the purpose of con- 

tinuing further a technical discussion of possible technical causes for 

the Apollo fire-but to undertake a serious and far-ranging management 

review of the sort that would force NASA to take stock and develop sound 

management practices for the protection of the public’s investment in 

the space program. This is not to mention the safety of our astro- 

nauts. . . .” (CRY 7/17/67, H8750) 

a RCA announced it had received $38-million NASA contract [see June 21 to 

maintain and operate portions of the Satellite Tracking and Data Ac- 

quisition Network (SZADAN) . ( WSJ, 7/17/67, 3) 

* Many valid conclusions could be drawn from the displays and exhiabits at 

the Soviet Air Show [see July 8-91, Robert Hotz suggested in Aviation 

Week. Program indicated that U.S.S.R. had: (1) replaced “peaceful” 

Soviet aerial image projected at Paris International Air and Space Show 

with a “mighty brandishing of military might”; (2) begun to devote 

an increasingly large effort toward hardware and tactics for modern, 

non-nuclear war; and (3) exhausted her “creative design capability in 

the current generation of aerospace technology’’ and was relying more 

heavily on Western design concepts. (Hotz, Av Wk, 7/17/67, 21) 

* Legal Subcommittee of U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 

meeting in Geneva reached provisional agreements on aiding and return- 

ing astronauts who landed in foreign countries and on payment of dam- 

ages caused by space launches. Agreements would be submitted to full 

U.N. Committee for approval and then placed before U.N. General As- 

sembly for final action. ( UPI, P EB, 7/18/67; UPI, W Post, 7/18/67, A3) 

Jdy 27-20: NASA personnel changes: (1) Albert P. Little, former Chief, 

211

July 17-20 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Program Plans, OMSF Plans and Analysis Directorate, had been ap- 

pointed Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Administration 

effective July 17; (2) R/Adm. Roderick 0. Middleton (USN), former 

Deputy Director of OMSF Missions .Operations Directorate, had been 

appointed Apollo Program Manager at KSC, replacing M/G John G. 

Shinkle (USA, Ret.), who resigned May 18; (3) Stanley de Jongh Os- 

borne, a general partner of Lazard Freres & Co. investment banking 

firm in New York, had been sworn in as consultant to NASA Adminis- 

trator James E. Webb on Government-industry relations and on the 

impact of space technology on the national economy; and (4) Erskine 

E. Harton, Jr., former Assistant Safety Director, had been appointed 

Acting Safety Director, replacing George D. McCauley who recently 

retired from Government service. (NASA Ann, 7/20/67; NASA Releases 

67-189,67-190) 

July 17-21 : Upper atmosphere, ionosphere, solar-terrestrial physics, sound- 

ing rockets, and probes were discussed in London Symposium on Re- 

sults of the International Years of the Quiet Sun (IQSY 1964-65) and the 

concurrent annual plenary meeting of the Committee on Space Research 

( COSPAR). Nigel Calder, in Science, cited views of Univ. of Illinois 

physicist S. A. Bowhill: “The F-region of the ionosphere is now becoming 

fairly well understood, and the outstanding prdblems are yielding to 

theoretical treatment. The new explanations often involve large-scale 

movements of charged particles in the upper atmosphere. Attention will 

now turn to lower layers (the D-region and below) where recent studies 

indicate unexpected interactions between the ionosphere and the strato- 

sphere.” (Calder, Science, 8/11/67, 666-8) 

July 18: JPL scientists abandoned attempts to contact Surveyor IV space- 

craft resting on the moon [see July 14-16]. A JPL spokesman said both 

Canberra and Goldstone tracking stations had sent signals to the space- 

craft July 17, but had received no response. A committee was attempting 

to determine whether Surveyor IV had softlanded on the moon as 

planned or crashed out of control. (AP, W Star, 7/18/67, A3; AP, NYT, 

7/20/67,11) 

0 A minimum of four manned space flights would precede the first US. 

attempt to land men on the moon, Astronauts Joe H. Engle and Alfred M. 

Worden, recently returned from a geology survey in Iceland, told NASA 

Hq. press conference. Three of the four missions would involve ren- 

dezvous with another spacecraft in earth orbit. Astronauts also said that 

they and their colleagues had even more confidence in the Apollo pro- 

gram now than they had before the Jan. 27 fire. (B Sun, 7/19/67; 

W Post, 7/19/67) 

0 House passed $1.53-billion DOT FY 1968 authorization bill (H.R. 11456) 

which included $142.3 million for SST prototype development. Amend- 

ment by Rep. Clark MacGregor (R-Minn.) to delete SST funds was 

defeated. (CR, 7J18/67, H8813-58) 

Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., Director of Flight Operations at MSC, received 

the Spirit of St. Louis medal from the American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers (ASME) meeting in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was cited for his 

(6 

meritorious service in the advancement of aeronautics.” (NYT, 7/19/ 

67,32) 

* LeRC awarded four contracts totaling over $5 million for major systems of 

the SERT II (Space Electric Rocket Test) spacecraft: (1) $2,462,678 

to Fairchild Hiller ICorp. for system definition selection and qualifica- 

212


tion of components for spacecraft support t; (2) $1,308,065 to 

Hughes Aircraft Co. to develop prime power ditioning and control 

system for ion thrusters; $91,055,757 to Westinghouse Electric Corp. to 

develop backup power conditioning and control system; and (4) $290,- 

987 to Cutler-Hammer Corp. to develop a radio frequency interference 

experiment to measure interference with radio communications generated 

by the ion engines. SERT 11 was an orbital mission scheduled for 

late 1968 to advance the development of ion engines as propulsion units 

for future long-duration space missions. (NASA Release 67-188) 

Astronauts on long-duration space flights might have to accept greater radiation 

exposure than the amount considered safe for industrial workers 

and, in some cases, this additional exposure could heighten the risk of 

cancer and shorten life expectancy, NRC’S Space Science Board concluded 

in report entitled Radiobiological Factors in Manned Space Flight. 

Board recommended that criteria different from those used in industry be 

set up to gauge radiation risks in space fiight and to decide what was 

acceptable. “Manned space flights are high risk endeavors. They take 

place in a hostile environment that cannot be permitted to encroach 

beyond the limits of human endurance if the missions are to succeed.” 

Report noted, however, that radiation was “only one of many recognized 

and accepted potential risks” to space flight and shielding against 

it added weight to the spacecraft. Consequently, protection against radiation 

had to be balanced against other needs vital to the success of the 

mission. (NRC Release; Schmeck, NYT, 7/18/67,38M; Reistrup, W Post, 

7/18/67, A3 ; AI’, W Star, 7/18/67, A3) 

* AFSC had presented its ninth Craftsmanship Award-highest of three honors 

that could be won by a defense contractor under USAF’S Industrial 

Zero Defects Program-to RCA’S Aerospace Systems Div. To qualify for 

the award, a firm had to show performance records for at least 18 mos 

dearly reflecting achievements against predetermined goals. WAF personnel 

then validated performance data and determined adequacy and 

realism of the goals. (AFSC Release 71.67) 

A monument had been erected on the spot where Cosmonaut Vladimir M. 

Komarov was killed when his Soyuz I spacecraft crash-landed April 24, 

Pravda reported. It was located on the Orenburg Steppe, 1,207 km (750 

mi) southeast of Moscow. (Reuters, NYT, 7/19/67; W Post, 7/19/67, 

C7) 

July 19: First experimental tactical communications by satellite among USN, 

USAF, and USA units had been successful, DOD announced. Messages had 

been exchanged among airborne aircraft, a submarine, a ship, and fixed 

and mobile terminals via Lincoln Experimental Satellite (Les V ) , one of 

six satellites launched by USAF July 1. (DOD Release 661-67; AP, NYT, 

7/21/67,6) 

USAF announced that first unit to be equipped with F-111 variable-sweep- 

wing aircraft would be activated at Nellis AFB, Nev., in summer 1967. 


Rep. John J. Rhodes (R-Ariz.), speaking in the House on behalf of 3he 

Republican Policy Committee, urged that HouseJSenate Conference 

Committee on NASA J?Y 1968 authorization bill accept key Republican 

amendments adopted by the House. Amendments would reduce NASA’s 

FY 1968 budget request by $201.4 million, establish an independent 

safety panel in NASA, and require NASA to keep Congress fully and cur- 

rently informed of problems. (CR, 7/19/67, H9045) 

213

July 19 


President Johnson, in letter to Congress transmitting NSF’S N 1966 report 

on Federal activities in the area of weather modification, wrote: “This 

report provides clear evidence that progress is being made toward our 

goal of developing the capacity to modify the weather for the benefit of 

all mankind. 

“In the period covered by this Report, we found that: (1) Precipita- 

tion from some types of clouds may be increased by as much as ten 

per cent by seeding; (2) Seeding of thunderstorm clouds may reduce 

significantly the number of lightning strikes; (3) The incidence of hail 

may be reduced by heavy seeding; (4) Large bodies of cold ground fog 

may be dissipated through the use of dry ice or silver iodide; and (5) 

Mathematical models will be increasingly useful for experimentation 

with techniques for controlling hurricanes and tornadoes. . . .,’ (PD, 

7/24/67,1035) 

July 19-22: NASA successfully launched Explorer XXXV Interplanetary 

Monitoring Platform ( IMP-E) from ETR by three-stage Thrust-Aug- 

mented Delta booster on direct-ascent lunar-transfer trajectory. On July 

21 retromotor burned 23 sec, decreasing spacecraft’s velocity and per- 

mitting lunar capture; retromotor separated as planned two hours later 

and spacecraft entered elliptical orbit with 4,780-mi (7,692-km) apolune, 

497-mi (800-km) perilune, 11.5-hr period, and 147’ inclination. 

Sixth of 10 Interplanetary Explorers planned by NASA and second 

designed to collect data at lunar distances, Explorer XXXV carried eight 

experiments, seven scientific and one engineering-a solar cell damage 

study. Preliminary data indicated that all experiments were performing 

satisfactorily. Primary mission objective was “to place the spacecraft 

into either a captured lunar orbit or a geocentric orbit with apogee near 

or beyond the lunar distance, to investigate out to and at lunar distances 

and to obtain scientific data on the characteristics of the interplanetary 

plasma and the interplanetary magnetic field.’’ Secondary objective, if 

spacecraft achieved lunar orbit, was collection of data on dust distribu- 

tion around the moon, the lunar gravitational field, the weak lunar 

ionosphere, and the radiation environment. IMP series was managed by 

GSFC under OSSA direction; two of the five previously orbited satellites- 

Explorer XXXllI (launched July 1, 1966) and Explorer XXXIV 

(launched May 24, 1967) -were still providing data. (NASA Releases 

67-178, 67-193; NASA Proj W; NYT, 7/20/67, 14; 7/22/67, 3; 

7/23/67, 63; AP, W Star, 7/19/67, 1; 7J20/67, A9; 7/21/67, 1; W 

Post, 7/25/67, A8) 

July 20: NASA test pilot William H. Dana flew X-15 No. 3 to 84,000-ft altitude 

and 3,682 mph (mach 5.51) at Edwards AFB. Purpose of test flight was 

to check (1) cold-wall heat transfer, (2) wavy panel heat transfer, 

(3) boost guidance, (4) PCM, (5) horizontal tail loads, (6) nose gear 

loads, and (7) tip-pod accelerometer. (NASA Proj Off) 

NASA’s 

Mariner V Venus probe, launched June 14 from ETR, had traveled 

55,327,194 mi of its 216-million-mi flight to Venus and was continuing 

to operate normally,. JPL project officials announced. oh July 23 central 

computer and sequencer would change amount of data transmitted from 

33% bits per second (bps) to 8% bps to meet slower transmission 

requirements of rapidly increasing communications distance. New trans- 

mission rate would remain in effect for duration of flight. (NASA Release 

67-194) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried Univ. of 

2 14


Minnesota experiment to 131-mi (210-km) altitude to measure com- 

position of atmosphere and determine temperature in altitude range 

62-124 mi (100-200 km) using three mass spectrometers. Two of three 

spectrometers did not function properly; however, data obtained 

appeared satisfactory. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* ComSatCorp announced NASA would launch fourth satellite in the INTELSAT 

II series Sept. 20. Plans called for satellite to be launched from ETR into 

synchronous orbit over the Pacific to increase communications capa- 

bility and serve as a backup against interruption of satellite communi- 

cations service. (ComSatCorp Release) 

1968 budget were due in part to lack of Con- 

* Recent cuts in NASA’s 

gressional understanding of the US. space program, NASC Executive 

Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh told AIAA’S Joint Propulsion Conference 

in Washington, D.C. “Many members of the Congress understand” 

certain areas of the space program, but “not enough of our legislators 

seem to have sufficient comprehension of the vast benefits flowing from 

space activities. And if many members of Congress and very many of 

their constituents don’t know about these benefits, then they may well 

feel justified in cutting back on the amount of money to be spent. . . .” 

To help increase understanding, Dr. Welsh recommended that the space 

industry avoid “confining their advertising to superlatives” about prod- 

ucts and communicate the overall benefits of the space program. (Text) 

A. 0. Tischler, director of OART’S Chemical Propulsion Div., received AIAA’S 

1967 Wyld Propulsion Award for leadership and management of rocket 

programs. He was cited for his “outstanding contributions to the research 

and development of Liquid Rocket Propulsion Systems and overall 

management of the NASA Liquid Rocket Propulsion Program.” (NASA 


Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.), speaking on the House floor, suggested 

that SST program was progressing too rapidly. “. . . it is not clear why 

the United States is so anxious to rush into a costly program of SST 

development involving many unsolved problems and great economic 

risk on the strength of a nebulous national prestige. It may well be that 

our prestige will lose a great deal more if we show ourselves to be a 

nation whose commitments and investments are based largely on a 

hysteria about our ‘image’-largely and simply because the British and 

French are building the Concorde-unable to wait and learn from their 

experience-and unable to take the advice of a multitude of technical 

and economic experts within our own country as to the inadvisability of 

this effort. . . .” (CR, 7/20/67, H9128) 

* European leaders had realized in recent months that only they could close 

the “technology gap” between their countries and the US., Dr. Donald 

F. Hornig, Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, 

told New YOT~ Times reporter Evert Clark. Dr. Hornig reached this conclusion 

after a 16-day tour of six European capitals. The belief that US. 

had created the gap and should therefore assume the burden of closing 

it “has entirely disappeared,” he said. “What we found [on the tour] 

was a realistic approach, a realization that most of these things are basic 

problems, ones they have to tackle themselves.” This realization was “a 

most important advance” that represented an “enormous closing of the 

understanding gap” and meant that discussion of the many problems 

making up the larger technological gap “has now come down to earth.” 

(Clark, NYT, 7/21/67,15) 

324-801 0-69-15 215

July u) 


0 Barry Goldwater, 196p Republican presidential candidate, told National 

Retail Hardware Assn. in San Francisco that he believed U.S.S.R. had 

orbited military weapons: “We have every reason to believe that the 

Russians have a weapon in orbit that can be called down at any time 

against any target.” Goldwater said he could not prove his statement, 

but that information from Soviet technical journals indicated it was 

accurate. ( AP, B Sun, 7/21/67) 

July 21 : A new star just bright enough to be visible to the naked eye had 

been discovered in the constellation Delphinius by G. E. D. Alcock of 

Peterborough, U.K. Discovery was confirmed by M. P. Candy, British 

Astronomical Society, who estimated star’s brightness as magnitude 

five, which is near the limit of visual observation. (SciServ, NYT, 

7/21/67) 

* Wind tunnel tests at USAF’S Arnold Engineering Development Center 

(AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tenn., indicated “NASA has miscalculated the 

control spacemen would have over the Apollo spacecraft at the critical 

point it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere,” the Nashville Tennessean 

wrote in a copyrighted story. Loss of control “means that the Moon 

spacecraft’s maneuvering ability would be cut, perhaps to a dangerous 

degree.” Results of tests, which had been forwarded to MSC, “will cause 

NASA to alter its computer projections of the Apollo’s reentry path.” 

(AP, H Chron, 7/21/67) 

July 14 promotion of career administrator Herman Pollack from Acting 

Director to Director of State Dept.’s Office of International Scientific 

and Technological Affairs was accepted reluctantly by the scientific 

community, Science reported. “The role and potential of the office . . . 

[is a] fuzzily defined relationship between science, technology, and 

foreign policy,” and the scientific community had tended to think of the 

office as its own. “. . . many elder statesmen of science . . . are not 

altogether pleased to find . . . [the directorship] in the hands of a 

nonscientist,” but have admitted grudgingly “that Pollack has done an 

outstanding job [as Acting Director] and that the office is likely to im- 

prove still further now that he is free of the uncertainties of an acting 

appointment.” (Science, 7/21/67,292) 

Center for European Research (CERN) , West Germany, and France signed 

an agreement in Geneva to share the estimated $19.5-million cost of 

constructing a bubble chamber in which particles of smashed atoms 

could be tracked photographically to provide further information on 

the properties of matter. Scheduled to be built at CERN Hq. near Geneva, 

the structure would be cylindrical, about 11.5 ft in dia and 10 ft high- 

the largest bubble chamber in existence. (NYT, 7/22/67, 11) 

July 22: NASA successfully launched first of five Nike-Apache sounding rock- 

ets from NASA Wallops Station but canceled remaining four in the dusk- 

to-dawn series of launches because of unfavorable weather. Rocket ejected 

a trimethylaluminum (TMA) vapor trail of bluish color between 50- and 

125-mi altitudes in experiment to measure wind velocities and directions 

at various altitudes in the upper atmosphere. Launching were conducted 

for GCA Corp., under contract to GSFC. OSSA had overall program respon- 

sibility. (NASA Release 67-179; WS Release 67-25; W Post, 7/23/67, 

A3 ) 

NAA’S incentive fees for the Apollo Command Module (CM) destroyed in 

Jan. 27 fire would be reduced by NASA to $41 million, Sen. Clinton P. 

Anderson (D-N. Mex.) , Chairman of Senate Aeronautical and Space 

216


Sciences Committee, told the press. He said information provided him 

showed “that amount is $15 mill at North American’s 

estimated potential incentive earn been if the accident 

had not occurred.)y Senator Anderson said he believed the settlement was 

realistic and fair: “A stricter penalty would have served no purpose and 

could have adverse effects on the relationship between [NASA and NAA] .” 

(Text) 

e Twelve science experts met in Washington, D.C., to discuss implementing 

the April 13 promise made by 20 Latin American Presidents at Punta del 

Este, Uruguay, to “harness science and technology for the service of 

our [M million] peoples.” MIT Chancellor Dr. James R. Killian, US. 

representative, told the New York Times that “it would be of enormous 

value and importance if we were able to devise a quick transfer of what 

is already available, both within the other Latin countries and between 

the United States and the others.” Strengthening of existing “centers of 

excellence” in science and engineering, and the creation of multinational 

centers that would overcome the problems of national boundaries could 

rapidly increase the diffusion of skills among Latin American industries 

and society, he said. (Clark, NYT, 7/23/67, 52) 

e John Cobb Cooper, former president of International Institute of Space 

Law and founder of McGill Univ.’s Institute of International Air Law, 

died in Princeton, N.J. Cooper devised a legal code for outer space in 

1961 when he was legal adviser to the International Air Transport Assn. 

Code included recommendations that: (1) the lower boundary of outer 

space be fixed at the point above the earth’s surface where it is possible 

to launch a satellite into orbit at least once around the earth; (2) outer 

space have the same status as the high seas, and that no one be permitted 

to assert sovereignty over outer space or any celestial body in it; (3) 

satellites and other spacecraft have the nationality of the country that 

launched them unless otherwise agreed; and (4) a nation have the right 

to take action in outer space for its self-protection and self-defense. 

(NYT, 7/24/67, 27‘) 

Jdy 23: Dr. Roger W. Heyns, Chancellor of the Univ. of California at 

Berkeley, was named chairman of NASA’s Ad Hoc Science Advisory Com- 

mittee, replacing Dr. Norman F. Ramsey of Harvard Univ., who re- 

signed to devote more time to his new duties as president of the Univer- 

sities Research Assn. Established in March 1966, the Committee advised 

NASA on the conduct of future space programs, including manned pro- 

grams. (NASA Release 67-191) 

e NASA had awarded 12 inventors a total of‘ $9,100 for the advancement of 

space technology : ( 1) Warren E. Armstrong, Donald S. La France, Car- 

roll Z. Morgan, Lloyd B. Ryland, and Hervey H. Voge of Shell Develop- 

ment Gorp., $3,000 for their contribution relating to a catalyst for 

monopropellant decomposition of hydrazine used in liquid propulsion 

technology; (2) Erwin Baker of Hughes Aircraft Co., $1,400 for a con- 

stant lift device used to simulate lunar landing conditions for spacecraft; 

(3) Joseph A. Goodrich and Kenneth T. Ingham, NAA, $1,200 for a 

turbine blade-locking device to retain rotor blades on rotor wheels 

for turbines employed in the J-2 engine program; (4) Richard G. Tur- 

ner, RCA, $1,000 for a thermocouple assembly used in thermo-vacuum 

tests for TV systems in Ranger, Tiros, Lunar Orbiter, and other similar 

programs; (5) Richard A. McKay, JPL, $1,000 for temperature control 

system for circulating fluids used in mixing units for propellant develop- 

217


ment systems; and (6) John B. Schutt, GSFC, and Charles M. Shai, Elec- 

tro Mechanical Research Corp., $1,500 for an alkali-metal silicate pro- 

tective coating used for thermal control on spacecraft and for fire- 

resistant paint in both Government and commercial applications. ( NASA 


July 24: Soviet launch rate for recoverable Cosmos reconnaissance satellites 

had leveled after six-year increase, Aviation Week reported. Number 

launched as of mid-July 1967 was same as number launched during same 

period in 1966, and annual 1967 total was expected to be similar to 

annual 1966 total of 21. “The Russians now are launching recoverable 

reconnaissance satellites on the average of one every 16-17 days, each 

of which remains in orbit for approximately eight days. When the pro- 

gram began in 1962, the launch rate averaged one every 73 days and 

the following year the pace accelerated to an average of one every 46 

days. In 1964 the figure was every 28 days, in 1965 the frequency had 

increased to an average of one every 19 days and last year it began to 

taper to one every 17 days. . . .” (Av Wk, 7/24/67,26) 

0 France had taken two steps to strengthen the Franco-German Symphonie 

communications satellite program, Donald E. Fink reported in Aviation 

Week: (1) she had reorganized the industrial teams to ensure that 

French and German companies received equal shares of work; and ’( 2) 

she had reassured representatives at the European Ministerial Space 

Conference (EMSC) in Rome that she was still interested in participat- 

ing in planned European comsat system. “The moves demonstrate 

France’s determination to develop a national regional comsat system- 

with financial and technical assistance from Germany-to strengthen 

its position in the International Communications Satellite (Intelsat) sys- 

tem. This drive is a direct challenge to U.S. domination of Intelsat. . . .” 

Fink said French officials at the EMSC had justified development of the 

Symphonie system by saying it would be based on state-of-the-art tech- 

nology: “This would permit the European effort . . . to be directed 

toward developing a second-generation advanced system.” (Fink, Av 

Wk, 7/24/67,27) 

0 Soviet aircraft designer Alexander Yakovlev had criticized US. exhibit 

at the Paris International Air and Space Show [see May 26-31], Avia- 

twn Week reported. US. space pavilion was too complicated for the 

general public, he said, whereas Soviet exhibit showed “simplicity and 

clarity.” Although U.S. showed several of its commercial aircraft, it 

alienated visitors, as it had in 1965, by exhibiting military weapons. 

“The United States couldn’t restrain itself, for example, from again 

showing the Phantom bomber, which is sadly known for its piratical 

attacks in Vietnam. But evepything shown in the Soviet Union’s salon 

had peaceful significance.” (Av Wk, 7/24/67,4) 

LaRc was developing a new airfoil that could improve performance of ad- 

vanced variable-sweepwing fighter aircraft, increase efficiency of sub- 

sonic jet transports, reduce helicopter blade tip stalling, and virtually 

eliminate local shock wave formation, B. K. Thomas, Jr., reported in 

Aviation Week. Airfoil, which was actually a “transonic wing,” delayed 

boundary layer separation at high subsonic speeds, thereby delaying the 

rapid rise in aerodynamic drag in the transonic region. It was currently 

undergoing wind tunnel tests at LaRC, but no aircraft flight testing was 

planned before N 1970. (Thomas, Av Wk, 7/24/67, 25) 

MSFC had awarded Astro Space Labs, Inc., a $93,136 contract for further 

218


development and testing of a remotely controlled device to handle tools, 

equipment, and men in space. Called a serpentuator, device was in- 

vented by Hans Wuenscher of MSFC’S Manufacturing Engineering Labo- 

ratory. It consisted of links connected by powered hinges, which could 

be remotely controlled from either end of the device; one end would be 

connected to the spacecraft; one would be free. Small versions of the 

device could be powered by a hand pump or batteries; larger versions, 

by electric motors. (MSFC Release 67-151) 

During week of July 24: West German Cabinet approved $456-million five- 

year plan which would substantially expand national space program. 

Commenting on the approval, Dr. Gerhard Stoltenberg, Minister for 

Scientific Research, told the press that enlarged national program was 

necessary to create a basis for improved cooperation with other tech- 

nologically advanced nations. Plan would emphasize projects that pro- 

vided a “rapid spin-off” of technical knowledge for industry and the 

economy, he said. Among the areas of special interest would be new 

materials, energy sources, electronic components, and new methods of 

planning and managing. (NYT, 7/30/67,13) 

July 25: USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Thor-Agena D 

booster. (Pres Rep 1967) 

* First color photos of the full earth (full disc) had been taken by DOD 

satellite Dodge, launched July 1 and designed to use 10 extendable booms 

for stabilizing satellite by earth’s gravitational force. The Johns Hopkins 

Univ. Applied Physics Laboratory, under contract to Navy’s Air Sys- 

tem Command, used a gravity gradient stabilization method and near- 

synchronous orbit to point Dodge always in right direction and to keep 

it within line of sight of northeastern US. 5 days out of every 12. 

Slow-scan TV systems aboard Dodge obtained TV images which were 

transmitted to earth station; color images were obtained by successive 

exposure of vidicon tube through blue, green, and red filters. The two 

TV cameras also observed fluctuations of satellite from vertical and 

studied sdar pressure effect on satellite’s booms. (DOD Fact Sheet) 

NASA personnel changes: (1) Dr. Joseph F. Shea, Deputy Associate Ad- 

ministrator for Manned Space Flight, resigned effective Aug. 1 to 

become a vice president of Polaroid Corp.; (2) B/G Carroll H. 

Bolender ( USAF) , OMSF, was named manager for the Lunar Module 

(LM) at MSC’S Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, replacing Dr. Wil- 

liam A. Lee, who resigned for personal reasons. Bolender would be 

responsible for management of the LM program including design, de- 

velopment, and fabrication of the vehicle by Grumman Aircraft Engi- 

neering Corp., LM prime contractor; (3) Col. Maynard E. White 

(USAF, Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, WAF Hq. in 

Europe, became Director of Program Control, OMSF, replacing Wil- 

liam E. Lilly, who was appointed Assistant Administrator for Admin- 

istration March 8. White would be responsible for the total financial, 

administrative, and business management support services for OMSF 

and the administration and direction of approved facility projects in 

support of the manned flight program. (NASA Releases 67-196, 67-198; 

O’Toole, W Post, 7/26/67, A10; AP, W Star, 7/26/67) 

U.K., France, and West Germany would develop a short-to-medium-distance 

aircraft designed to reduce cost of air travel by the early 197Os, John 

Stonehouse of the British Ministry of Technology told a London news 

conference. Known as the European Airbus Project, plan called for a 

219


300-passenger twin-engine aircraft with a 1,931-km (1,200-mi) to 2,253km 

(l,.u)o-mi) range to begin commercial service by 1973. Expected to 

cost $532 million, Airbus would be designed jointly by Sud-Aviation of 

France, Hawker Siddeley of U.K., and Arbeitsgemeinschaft Airbus of 

West Germany. (NYT, 7/26/67,61M) 

* France and U.K. did not believe Concorde supersonic aircraft, scheduled 

to enter commercial service in 1971, would be forced out of the world 

market by US. SST in 1974, Sir George Edwards, chairman of an Anglo- 

French management organization for the Concorde, told the Washington, 

D.C., Aero Club. One distinct selling advantage for the Concorde 

was its price-about $16,000,000, compared to an estimated 

$40,00,00 for SST. He predicted 150 Concordes would be sold by 1975 

and about 4.0-50 per year after that date. (Sehlstedt, B Sun, 7/26/67) 

AFSC announced it would purchase eight production models of Titan 111-C 

Standard Space Launch Vehicle. New boosters, along with four of the 

17 original R&D vehicles which had not yet been flown, were expected 

to “support mission requirements through the 1969-1971 period.” ( AFSC 

Release 126.67) 

July 26: NASA awarded Boeing Co. a $2.275-million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract 

for procurement of long-lead-time materials for two additional 

Saturn V launch vehicles. Contract, which would expire Jan. 1, 1968, 

was first Saturn V procurement in support of Apollo Applications (AA) 

program. (NASA Release 67-200) 

* NASA selected Martin Marietta Corp. to negotiate 27-mo, $25million, costplus-incentive-award-fee 

contract for payload integration of experiments 

and experiment support equipment on Apollo Applications ( AA) space- 

craft. Tasks would be performed at NASA’s three manned spaceflight 

centers: (1) MSFC work would involve the orbital workshop and Apollo 

Telescope Mount (ATM) ; (2) MSC work, the meteorological and earth 

resources payloads; and (3) KSC work, the test integration planning 

and support for launch operations. Selection of contractor followed 

competitive definition phase in which Martin Marietta Corp. and Lock- 

heed Missiles and Space Co. studied AA payload integration under paral- 

lel, $2-million, fixed-price contracts. (NASA Release 67-199) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb testified on NASA FY 1968 authoriza- 

tion bill before Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on 

Independent Offices. Asked by Sen. Spessard Holland (D-ma.) to make 

a choice between a substantial cut in funding for the Apollo Applica- 

tions (AA) program and the Voyager program, Webb replied that both 

were vital to the U.S. space effort. “The Apollo application is a small 

investment to expend on something you have already spent $15 billion to 

get and it seems to me that this is important. 

“On the other hand, the United States, if it retires from the explora- 

tion of the planetary field, in my view . . . [will face] the most serious 

consequences because the Russians are going to be moving out there 

and our knowledge of the forces that exist in the Solar System can 

affect the Earth and can be used for many purposes to serve mankind 

or for military power. . . .” Criticized by Sen. Holland for refusing 

to make a choice, Webb said he did not want “to give aid and comfort 

to anyone to cut out a program. I think it is essential that we do them 

both.” (Transcript, 2382-3 

20th Anniversary of USAF, established as a separate military service under 

1947 Armed Forces Unification Act. (EH) 

220


July 27: USAF launched two unidentified satellites from WTR on one Atlas 

booster. Satellites were later identified as OV 1-12 and OV 1-86. (Pres 

Rep 1967) 

Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.) , speaking on the Senate floor, urged President 

Johnson to appoint a commission to study the need for construction 

and deployment of an antiballistic missile (ABM) system. “. . . the 

ABM question is of such a magnitude that it is essential to have a careful 

and objective evaluation of the course the United States should follow. 

I do not believe . . . that the military-industrial complex is objective 

enough to advise the United States Congress or the President on how 

we should proceed. This being the case, I strongly suggest that a temporary 

blue ribbon commission drawn from all sectors of national life 

is the best way to bring a thorough,inquiry into the issues. 

66 

Our very national survival may be at issue in the ABM controversy. 

It is time we put the best minds in the country to work.” (CR, 7/27/67, 

S103644) 

NASA’s Apollo program was “back on the track” six months after the Jan. 27 

fire at ICSC, Washington Evening Star columnist William Hines concluded 

after a tour of NASA centers. “Half a year after that unforgettable 

night of Jan. 27 the process of trauma, shuck, and recuperation has 

run its course. Much remains to be done, of course-and it will be 

another nine or 10 months before astronauts fly again-but things are 

moving once more. 

“At Downey . . . where Apollo spacecraft are built, at Houston, where 

flights will be controlled, and at Cape Kennedy, where they will begin, 

there is a noticeable air of confidence (but not over-confidence) mingled 

with caution (but not over-caution) . 

“A sadder but wiser Apollo team has emerged from the disaster at 

pad 34 with the realization that ‘pretty good’ simply is not good 

enough. . . .” (Hines, W Star, 7/27/67, Al) 

* DOD officials were concerned about serious mechanical problems that had 

44 

undermined the readiness” of the Minuteman I1 ICBM, William Beecher 

reported in the New York Times. “As recently as this spring, reliable 

sources say, nearly 100 missiles-about 40 per cent of all the advanced 

Minuteman 2 missiles and 10 per cent of the entire 1,000-missile Minute- 

man force-were out of action because of trouble with the weapon’s 

guidance and control system.” Although DOD’S “more or less official 

view” was that the problem was “worrisome but well in hand,” many 

officials “while observing that mechanical problems will always group 

up in any complex electronics system and can be corrected, cite the 

Minuteman 2 trouble in questioning the wisdom of the near total reliance 

that Mr. McNamara places on intercontinental ballistic missiles in the 

strategic field.” [See July 28.1 (Beecher, NYT, 7/28/67, 1, 2) 

LaRC would negotiate with Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. (LTV) , for 24-in0, 

$10-million, firm-fixed-price contract to provide 15 Scout launch vehicles, 

NASA announced. Deliveries would begin about the 10th month at a rate 

of one vehicle a month. Scout was a multistage booster which could 

launch a 320-lb satellite into 300-mi orbit or a 50-lb satellite into an 

11,000-mi orbit. (NASA Release 67-201) 

NASA and Centre National d’gtudes Spatiales ( CNES) were conducting series 

of laser tests with five orbiting satellites-three U.S. and two French- 

to make precise geodetic measurements, NASA reported. In experiments, 

221

July fl 


a laser beam was fired at a satellite equipped with a reflector designed to 

return beam to the transmitting station. Time elapsed from transmission 

to reception was measure of the distance between station and satellite. 

If satellite’s position was known by independent means or if several 

stations fired lasers simultaneously, it was then possible to determine 

distance between observing ground stations. NASA said initial tests, 

which began in April from stations in U.S., Europe, and North Africa, 

had been so successful that it might soon be possible to prove or disprove 

the theory of continental drift by determining the movements of continents 

relative to one another. (NASA Release 67-197) 

* A fir tree had been tested in the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s wind tunnel 

at Farnborough, U.K., to study the effects of high storm winds on forests. 

(Can Press, NYT, 7/27/67,3) 

July 28: NASA’s Ogo ZV (OGO-D) Orbiting Geophysical Observatory was 

successfully launched by a Thrust-Augmented Thor-Agena booster from 

WTR into polar orbit with 564-mi (908-km) apogee, 256-mi (412-km) 

perigee, 97.9-min period, and 86” inclination. Primary mission objective 

was “to acquire data for studies of latitude-dependent atmospheric 

phenomena, from an attitude stabilized platform, during the period of 

perigee rotation from the Northern Hemisphere across the Arctic pole 

into the Southern Hemisphere.” Secondary objective was to conduct 

CC detailed correlative investigations in atmospheric physics, energetic 

particle physics and polar region physics with known spacecraft attitude 

for the greater part of one diurnal cycle.” Carrying 20 experiments, 

1,240-lb satellite was fourth of six spacecraft in NASA’s Orbiting Geo- 

physical Observatory ( OGO) program. Ogo Z was launched Sept. 4,1964; 

Ogo ZZ, Oct. 14, 1965; and Ogo ZZZ, June 7, 1966. To date these missions 

had provided over 450,000 experiment hours of data on earth’s environ- 

ment and had resulted in over 100 scientific papers and published reports. 

OGO program was managed by GSFC under OSSA direction. (NASA Release 

67-187; NASA Proj Off; AP, NYT, 7/29/67, 7) 

0 NASA successfully conducted at WSMR second of five balloon-launched para- 

chute tests to determine effectiveness of parachutes as decelerators in 

soft-landing unmanned instrumented capsules on Mars. On ground com- 

mand, 815-ft-long balloon released disc-shaped flight unit containing 

parachute, eight acceleration rockets, and 500-lb payload at 129,000- 

ft altitude, where earth atmosphere is as thin as that of Mars. Rockets 

then propelled unit to 140,000-ft altitude; parachute deployed and 

descended with payload into planned recovery area. Test was part of 

LaRC’s Planetary Entry Parachute Program to investigate parachute 

landing systems for Voyager program. (NASA Release 67-170; Roswell 

Daily Record, 7/28/67; AP, NYT, 7/29/67, 7) 

0 ComSatCorp informed FCC that it was prepared to finance, build, and 

operate a pilot program for domestic satellite services. Explaining pro- 

gram ComSatCorp proposed March 31, ComSatCorp Chairman James 

McCormack said pilot system would include two synchronous satellites 

serving 34 domestic ground stations. Estimated total cost was $104.7 

million: $35.7 million for two satellites, $22 million for 34 earth sta- 

tions, and $47 million for operating costs during two years. Charges 

for each type of service could not yet be established accurately, but 

ComSatCorp would provide, without fee, the capacity equivalent to 

two television channels for noncommercial TV service. McCormack con- 

cluded: “We believe that the pilot program offers the American people 

222


July 28: NASA’s Ogo ZV folded for vacuum chamber tests before launch into polar orbit 

to study the sun’s influence on the earth’s environment during high solar activity. In 

orbit, with booms and solar panels extended, Ogo ZV is 49 ft long and 20 ft wide. 

a beginning to their realization of the benefits of satellite communica- 

tions, a beginning to their dividend from space technology in which the 

Federal Government and American industry have played such an impor- 

tant role. . . .” (ComSatCorp Release 67-38) 

0 Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Harold Brown released a statement on the 

Minuteman I1 IBCM [see July 271: “The effectiveness of a missile de- 

pends not only on its alert rate but on the reliability and accuracy with 

223

July 28 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

which it will fly to its destination and place its payload on a predeter- 

mined target. The overall performance of Minuteman I1 when fired from 

alert status has been outstanding by any standard. . . . 

“Therefore, while the Minuteman I1 guidance and control system is 

proving to require more maintenance than predicted earlier, the alert 

Minuteman I1 missile force is indeed reliable. . . .’, (DOD Release 696- 

67) 

MSC Director of Flight Operations Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., said that 

new technological developments might enable NASA to make up some of 

the time lost when three astronauts died in Apollo capsule. In commence- 

ment address at St. Louis Univ.’s Parks College of Aeronautical Tech- 

nology, Cahokia, Mo., he said, “If things go very right for us, we may 

still put a man on the moon by 1970.” He predicted space exploration 

would contribute solutions to problems posed by world’s growing popula- 

tion, specifically in communications, transportation, food production, 

and weather forecasting. (St. Louis P-D, 7/29/67) 

Increased appropriations for riot-torn cities should take precedence over 

NASA’s request for funds to finance unmanned exploration of the planets, 

Washington Daily News suggested in an editorial. “James E. Webb . . . 

is concerned over cuts in the agency’s $5 billion budget including reduction 

in money for unmanned exploration of Venus and Mars. Russia, 

he says, is about to send up the biggest . . . rocket you ever saw. 

In the present state of domestic affairs, we’d say let ’em! 

U 

From all appearances our scientists already have more and more 

exact information about conditions on Venus and Mars than our 

police and war-on-poverty experts have on Los Angeles and Cleve- 

land. . . .” (W News, 7/28/67, 16) 

July 29: Seventh attempt to launch ELDO’S Europa I rocket from Woomera, 

Australia, failed when mechanical fault developed in release system of 

the French Coralie 2nd stage. (Reuters, C Trib, 7/31/67) 

President Johnson had approved USN recommendation that Navy Naviga- 

tion Satellite System be released for use by US. civilian ships and for 

commercial manufacture of shipboard receivers, Vice President Hubert 

H. Humphrey told a group of marine scientists at Bowdoin College, 

Brunswick, Me. “Our all-weather satellite system has been in use since 

1964 by the Navy and has enabled fleet units to pinpoint their posi- 

tions anywhere on the earth. The same degree of navigational ac- 

curacy will now be available to our non-military ships.” Humphrey 

noted that close allies would probably request permission to purchase 

US. receivers and said “policy and procedures for responding to these 

requests are currently under consideration.” (Text; Wilford, NYT, 

7/30/67,1,28) 

Supersonic aircraft fares should be 25% higher than subsonic fares, ATA 

president Stuart G. Tipton, touring facilities where Anglo-French Con- 

corde supersonic aircraft was being built, told a Paris press conference. 

He predicted that $l8-million price of the Concorde would make it 

necessary for airlines to impose a premium fare at first. Tipton believed 

French prototype would be flown on schedule in February 1968. (NYT, 

7/29/67,38) 

July 30: NASA’s Nimbus ZZ meteorological satellite had made the first wellsubstantiated 

observation from space of a volcanic eruption when it recorded 

the eruption of Iceland’s Surtsey volcano in 1966, US. Geological 

Survey reported. “During August 1966, the Nimbus ZZ satellite was in a 

224


near-polar orbit and passed over the island the day after the eruption 

began with its infrared sensing devices working. 

u 

The Surtsey eruption in its entirety was recorded as a minute black 

spot on infrared images during more than eight orbital sweeps of the 

Nimbus II satellite-first on August 20 and definitely identified as late 

as October 3.” Nimbus ZI was participating in a three-dimensional study 

of Surtsey by scientists from US. Geological Survey and AFCRL using 

infrared survey techniques. Experiment marked first time volcanic heat 

had been monitored almost simultaneously from ground, aircraft, and 

space. Scientists believed the ability to measure heat radiation could be 

applied to studies of volcanoes on the earth, moon, and planets. (USGS 

Release, 7/30/67; Clark, NYT, 7/30/67,41) 

July 31 : U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXX into orbit with 208-km (129-mi) 

apogee, 145-km (90-mi) perigee, and 50” inclination. All equipment 

functioned normally, but satellite reentered later in the day. (SBD, 

8/10/67,202) 

* ComSatCorp reported net income of $2,088,146 for first six months of 1967 : 

a net operating loss of $755,603 was offset by a net interest gain of 

$2,843,749. ComSatCorp entered full commercial operations May 1. 

( ComSatCorp Release 67-39) 

Latest Harris poll indicated American people, by 54%-to-34% margin, did 

not believe US. space program was worth an annual $$-billion expendi- 

ture. By 60%-to-30%, public would oppose continuing program at pres- 

ent rate of expenditure if U.S.S.R. were not active in space. People were 

divided sharply by income and age: (1) low-income persons opposed 

Apollo manned lunar landing program by almost three-to-one, while 

upper income favored it by nearly two-to-one; (2) 62% of persons over 

50 opposed program, while 58% under 35 favored it. A 1965 poll had 

showed public supporting space program by 45% -t0-42% margin. 

( W Post, 7/31/67, A2) 

* The aerospace industry had a special responsibility to try to respond to 

the critical challenges posed by the Vietnam war and the urban riots, 

Robert Hotz suggested in Aviation Week. “Perhaps the aerospace indus- 

try has been so much absorbed in its traditional task of providing de- 

fense against external enemies that it has never given much thought to 

the contributions it can make to strengthen this nation internally. We 

submit that the events of this summer should stimulate the industry to 

take a long hard look in re-evaluating its role on the American scene 

and to make a bolder and more imaginative bid to offer its services to 

meet the new challenges of our times. . . .” (Hotz, Av Wk, 7/31/67,11) 

* House/Senate Conference Committee agreed on $4.86-billion NASA author- 

ization bi11-$234.2 million less than NASA had requested for FY 1968. 

It included $42 million for Voyager program, $347.7 million for AA 

program, $73 million for nuclear rocket program, and $157.7 million 

for launch vehicle procurement. Bill, which required Senate and House 

approval, was passed by the Senate Aug. 2. (NASA LAR VI/83; Com- 

mittee Release; Clark, NYT, 8/1/67, 13) 

NASA investigative board concluded that immediate cause of the M2-F2 

lifting body vehicle crash at Edwards AFB May 10 was “an unusually low 

landing flare maneuver and premature ground contact” resulting from 

an unusual set of circumstances “that individually would not have ended 

in an accident.” These circumstances were: (1) “Pilot was overburdened 

in his normally exacting task by a combination of events that dis- 

225


oriented and distracted him and denied him normal height information; 

(2) The large amplitude roll oscillation during final approach . . . 

caused a temporary loss of lateral control . . . and changed the landing 

heading”; (3) presence of rescue helicopter mar path of landing heading 

represented a collision potential; (4) lack of visual height cues in 

landing area; and (5) unavoiddble absence of radioed attitude callouts 

from chase aircraft. Board recommended: (1) easing pilot workloads 

in landing lifting-body vehicles ; (2) maintaining an enlarged cleared 

area where inadvertent landings might ocour; and (3) improving the 

information flow on flight planning, briefing, and monitoring procedures. 

(FRC Release 20-67; NASA Release 67-205) 

NASA would negotiate with Bendix Corp. for one-year, $25-million contract 

extension to provide KSC launch support services. (NASA Release 67-204) 

* A Polaris A-3 missile fired from nuclear submarine U.S.S. Will Rogers, 

submerged off the coast of Cape Kennedy, traveled 1,500 mi down 

Eastern Test Range (ETR) and impacted close to target area near 

Antigua Island. Scheduled to begin her first patrol in September, U.S.S. 

Will Rogers was 4lst and last ballistic weapon submarine in U.S. fleet. 

(Baldwin, NYT, 8/1/67,13) 

William C. Schneider, formerly Mission Director for NASA’s Apollo Applications 

(AA) program, was named Apollo Mission Director and Apollo 

Program Deputy Director for Missions, OMSF. Schneider would be 

responsible for management, direction, and coordination of mission and 

flight plans, schedules, and associated activities. (NASA Release 67-206) 

During July: Editorial comment on proposed NASA FY 1968 authorization 

bills [see June 281 : 

Science: “The political atmosphere surrounding the US. space program 

is today murkier and less hospitable than at any time since 1961 

when President Kennedy-decided to send men to the moon. This does 

not necessarily mean that NASA is in any danger of falling off its $5billion-a-year 

budgetary plateau . . . [but] it is clear that, where 

Congress is concerned, the agency has lost much of its innocence and 

therefore its plans are to be reviewed with caution and skepticism. 

“Some members of Congress are remarkably frank in indicating that 

their principal interest in the space program lies in the economic benefits 

it brings their districts. . . . Indeed, one might be justified in 

predicting that the major budgetary struggles of the future will be less 

concerned with how much money NASA gets than with how NASA spends 

the money it does get.” (Carter, Science, 7/14/67, 170-3) 

Washington Evening Star: “If continuity and momentum are to be 

maintained in the space program . . . the [congressional] conferees 

must act with special wisdom this year. 

“TWO . . . items in the House bill should be embodied in one final 

version. . . . One would establish an independent safety panel in NASA, 

and the other would require . . . [NASA] to keep Congress ‘fully and 

currently informed’ of problem areas in the space &ort. 

“Both proposals were strongly opposed by administration spokesmen 

on grounds that seem shallow and legalistic. It would be well to embody 

both in the final 1968 authorization bill, if only to put NASA on firm 

notice that it is time to shape up.” (W Star, 7/7/67, A16) 

New York Times: “To read the record of the Congressional debate 

on NASA’s budget is a melancholy experience. . . . Behind the rhetoric 

it was easy to see the pressure of the many corporations and commu- 

226

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During July 

nities now sharin fearful of the impact of any 

major cut in this 

“A rational 1968 sp been substantially lower 

than either the House o ould have cut particularly 

severely at the Apollo project. . . . It would have changed the present 

emphasis . . . to lay greater stress on the exploration of the cosmos with 

relatively cheap, unmanned rockets. Instead, the enormously expensive 

manned lunar landing effort is left virtually intact, while the highly 

promising program for sending unmanned Voyagers to Mars and other 

planets could be entirely eliminated. 

“The lobbyists can rejoice, but the nation’s real interests have been 

dealt a severe setback.” (NYT, 7/3/67,10) 

e AIAA President Harold T. Luskin, in Astronautics and Aeronautics editorial, 

proposed a joint Soviet-American safety program to reduce hazards of 

manned space flight. He urged that representatives of US. and U.S.S.R. 

meet to exchange technical data on spacecraft safety features, to set up 

a common communications network for use in emergencies, and to plan 

joint rescue operations. “Cooperation for safety could be a step forward 

in promoting the greatest possible success of manned space exploration. 

The world would regard it as a meritorious indication that nations can 

find ways to compete and cooperate at one and the same time. . . . 

“Let both countries work toward the day when a flight crew is saved 

through cooperative action. That event would be the finest space spec- 

tacular, the best space first ! ,’ (A& A, 7/67,334) 

* AFCRL Space Physics Laboratory scientists Drs. Graham R. Hunt and John 

W. Salisbury said, “Major ‘hot spot’ on the moon is not volcanic,” a 

conclusion based on measurements made by AFCRL imaging device to 

produce thermal photographs of infrared emissions of lunar surface 

during dark of moon. Images had been obtained by using infrared 

imager in association with AFCRL Strawberry Hill Observatory’s optical 

telescope at Concord, Mass. The hot spot, associated with crater Tycho, 

had heat distribution pattern very similar to solar illumination pattern 

just before lunar sunset. Because of clear relationship between heat re- 

lease and solar illumination, Salisbury and Hunt had concluded that 

crater was emitting stored solar heat rather than volcanic heat. (OAR 

Res Rev, 7/67, 12-3) 

International Council of Scientific Unions’ Inter-Union Commission of 

Solar-Terrestrial Physics ( IUCSTP) had planned coordination of ob- 

servations and data exchange during and beyond period of solar maxi- 

mum activity expected to arrive before end of 1%8. Members had been 

preparing list of projects in six major areas: solar activity; particles 

and waves in interplanetary space; particles, fields, and waves in 

magnetosphere; external geomagnetic field; ionosphere; and aeronomy. 

Much if not most of this work would be carried out from ground;based 

observatories and geophysical stations, but spaceborne instruments 

would be essential to supply key information not obtainable from ground. 

IUCSTP recommended that “ground-based, rocket and balloon programs 

should . . . take advantage of the fact that certain space vehicles will 

be making related measurements at particular times.” ( NAS-NRC-NAE 

News Report, 8/9/67,6-7) 

e Federal Suppofi for Academic Science and Other Educational Activities in 

Universities and Colleges, NSF’S report to OST for fiscal years 1963-66, 

showed these Federal obligations were $3.0 billion in 1966, more than 

227

During July ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

double 1963’s $1.4 billion. Although R&D support increased from $813.2 

million to $1,257.7 million, its percentage share of the total dropped 

from 58 to 42. Federal agencies expected a drop in annual rate of 

growth in MD support from 16% in 1%3-66 to 8% in 1966-68. Sup 

port for nonscience activities, however, had increased ninefold, from 

$85 million in 1963 to $847 million in 1966. (Text) 

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy reported that internal Chinese Com- 

munist strife had had little effect on nuclear weapon program, that 

Chinese Communists could possibly launch a “low order” missile attack 

on US. by early 19709, and that their progress in developing thermo- 

nuclear weapons had been “excellent.” Joint Committee report, Zmpuct 

of Chinese Communist Nuclear Weapons Progress on United Stutes 

National Security, was based on testimony by officials from State Dept., 

DOD, AJEC, CIA, and nuclear weapon laboratories. (Text) 

* Low-orbit space operations from a manned orbital base “has the potential 

to reduce operating costs by a factor of two” for the mission traffic 

anticipated for post-1970, G. A. Sears of the RAND Corp. had concluded. 

His paper, Orbital Basing: Key to Low Cost Space Operations?, com- 

pared present earth-based manned spaceflight program with concept of 

basing spacecraft at manned space station. Spacecraft would be injected 

into mission orbits as required and later rejuvenated for reuse by 

rendezvous with station. Spacecraft would have to operate nearly co- 

planar with base, a constraint acceptable to many but not all low-orbit 

missions; however, as method of reducing cos&, orbital basing “deserves 

attention on a par with recovery-to-earth and reuse and extended-life 

concepts,” Sears stated. (Text) 

228

August 1967 

August 1 : NASA’s Lunar Orbiter V (Lunar Orbiter E) unmanned spacecraft 

was successfully launched by Atlas-Agena D booster from ETR on mission 

to photograph the lunar surface [see Aug. 5-27]. 

Agena 2nd stage fired to boost 860-lb spacecraft into parking orbit of 

100-mi (161-km) altitude, reignited after 30-min coast period to inject 

spacecraft on 89-hr translunar trajectory, and separated. On schedule, 

Lunar Orbiter V deployed its four solar panels and two antennas and 

locked its five sensors on the sun. On Aug. 2 the star tracker encountered 

slight difficulty in locating Canopus because of “glint” from the sun 

and “earthshine,” but obtained a fix at 18:34 GET, before midcourse 

maneuver. At 06:OO on Aug. 3 midcourse maneuver with 26-sec engine 

burn was successfully conducted to slow spacecraft’s speed and alter 

its aiming point slightly. 

Primary objectives of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter V mission were: (1) to 

place three-axis-stabilized spacecraft into high-inclination lunar orbit; 

and (2) to obtain photography of selected scientifically interesting areas 

on lunar surface and supplemental photography of candidate Apollo 

lunar landing sites. Photos would cover five Apollo sites, 36 scientific 

sites, and areas of the moon’s hidden side previously unphotographed. 

Spacecraft would also provide precision trajectory information to refine 

definition of lunar gravitational field, monitor micrometeoroids and 

radiation intensity in lunar environment, and serve as a target for track- 

ing operations by Manned Space Flight Network stations. 

Last in series of five spacecraft designed to improve knowledge of 

the moon, Lunar Orbiter V differed from four earlier missions because 

it would concentrate on targets of primary interest to science. Lunar 

Orbiter I (launched Aug. 10,1966) , Lunar Orbiter 11 (launched Nov. 6, 

1966), and Lunar Orbiter 111 (launched Feb. 4, 1967) were in direct 

support of Apollo and Surveyor programs, identifying at least eight 

areas suitable for manned landings. Lunar Orbiter IV (launched May 4, 

1967) completed broad photographic survey of 99% of moon’s front 

face with 10 times finer resolution than best existing telescopic views. 

Lunar Orbiter program was managed by LaRC under OSSA direction. 

Tracking and communications were the responsibility of JpL-operated 

Deep Space Network. (NASA Proj .Off ; NASA Release 67-192) 

* NASA announced that Mariner V Venus probe8,225,000 mi from earth, 

86,830,000 mi from sun, on trajectory toward Venus-had detected 

two solar flares of medium intensity. Data transmitted to JPL from space- 

craft via Goldstone, Calif., tracking station showed large increases in 

measurements of solar radiation at 1:30 pm and 8:47 pm EDT. Occur- 

rence of flares was confirmed by visual observations at Solar Geomag- 

netic Monitoring Service, Ft. Belvoir, Va. (NASA Release 67-209) 

229

August 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

House Committee on Science and Astronautics’ Science. Research. and De- 

velopment Subcommittee released report, Science, Teihnology, knd Pub- 

lic Policy during the Eighty-Ninth Congress, January 1965 through 

December 1966. Rep. Emilio Q. Daddario (D-Conn.) , subcommittee 

chairman, emphasized : “Congress does indeed recognize the impact of 

science and technology on modern society and is moving expeditiously 

to meet its challenge and shape its potential on behalf of human welfare 

[and] . . . is becoming aware of the difficulties and dangers which 

technologically applied science may carry in its genes-and is searching 

for effective means to counter them.” 

NSF Director Dr. Leland J. Haworth, in statement before Subcommit- 

tee, said: “In all honesty, it must be admitted that thus far there have 

been no broad, systematic, and intensive studies designed to develop an 

understanding of alternative policy structures and options open to the 

Nation as a whole and to assess the associated opportunities and risks, as 

well as the impact, which such policies and choices might have on the 

individual agencies, disciplines and the Nation’s goals.” Haworth re- 

ferred to the major lack in the studies concerning long-range national 

needs. (Text) 

KSC held dedication ceremonies for its $1.1-million Visitor Information 

Center. One hour later a visitor purchased the 500,OOOth ticket for the 

center’s guided tour. (LaMont, Cocoa Trib, 8/1/67) 

B/G Harold C. Teubner (USAF), formerly with Hq. USAF comptrol- 

ler’s office, became AFSC Deputy Chief of Staff for Comptroller, succeed- 

ing M/G Wendell E. Carter, who was being reassigned to the Pentagon 

as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller/Information) . 

(AFSC Release 152.67) 

Miami’s Opa Locka Airport was the Nation’s busiest airport in FY 1967, 

with a record 596,949 takeoff and landing operations, FAA reported. 

Chicago’s O’Hare International was second with 588,527 operations. 


Scientists at Royal Aircraft Establishment, near Farnborough, U.K., were 

firing bullets at raindrops because they believed damage inflicted on 

a bullet impacting with a raindrop was same as damage that would be 

inflicted on an aircraft flying at high speed through a squall. Scientists 

feared raindrops, relatively minor’ problem to subsonic aircraft, might 

cause serious fuselage and wing erosion to the Concorde SST. (Reuters, 

NYT, 8/1/67,29) 

Cost estimates for developing Anglo-French Concorde supersonic trans- 

port had risen to $1.47 billion, House of Commons Committee of Public 

Accounts revealed in a report. Additional $75.4 million would probably 

be incurred by Ministry of Technology in R&D costs directly connected 

with the aircraft. Estimates for develoDment costs were $476 million in 

November 1962 when Concorde projkt began. (NYT, 8/3/67, a) 

August 2: Senate passed, by routine voice vote, and sent to the House the 

$4.86-billion NASA FY 1968 authorization bill (S. 1296). House/Senate 

Conference Committee had agreed on a $4.86 billion bill July 31. (CR, 

8/2/67, S10578-80) 

Five of the 11 scientist-astronauts selected for NASA’s Apollo program were 

announced in the Nation’s press. NASA released complete and official list 

Aug. 4. (AP, NYT, 8/3/67, 8; UPI, W Post, 8/3/67, Al) 

a NASA Arcas sounding rocket launched from Point Mugu, Calif., carried 

Naval Ordnance Test Station experiment to 33-mi (521cm) altitude to 

230

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 August 2 

flight-test internally modified version of standard ROCOZ payload, de- 

signed to measure ozone distribution for support data on Ogo IV satellite. 

No experimental results were obtained because of loss of telemetry. 

There was evidence of payload malfunction near time of experiment 

ejection. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

MSC selected NAA’S Rocketdyne Div. to negotiate $5-million, cost-plus-fixed- 

fee contract for design, development, and qualification of a backup in- 

jector for Apollo Lunar Module (LM) ascent engine. Contract would 

provide initially for design feasibility and development testing with 

provision for delivery of four production injectors if required. Two of 

the injectors would be used in ground testing at WSMR and remaining 

two would be held for possible use in flight engines. NASA said present 

injector, which was being built by Bell Aerospace Corp., was causing 

unstable combustion in engine chamber and excessive erosion of abla- 

tive thrust chamber. Bell was attempting to correct the deficiencies, but 

“it was decided to develop an injector of a different design in the event 

the problems cannot be corrected.” (NASA Release 67-207) 

* The number of scientists, engineers, and physicians immigrating to the 

US. had increased 77% between 1956 and 1966, according to report 

released by House Committee on Government Operations’ Research and 

Technical Programs Subcommittee. Report said this influx from poor 

nations was an “involuntary gift of valuable resources. 

U 

Such a loss by the developing countries is. of direct concern to the 

United States. To the extent that it undermines development, it also de- 

feats a major United States foreign policy objective for the sake of which 

this country is currently spending about $3.7 billion per year. . . .” Re- 

duction of this influx would probably have to bethe joint responsibility of 

the US. and the nations that were losing their skilled professionals, report 

said. (Text; Science, 8/18/67, 783; NYT, 8/3/67, 13) 

O5ce of Science and Technology released an interim report on USAF test 

flights at Edwards AFB to study the effects of the sonic boom June 3-23, 

1966, and Oct. 31, 1966-Jan. 17, 1967, 11 types of aircraft made 367 

supersonic and 261 subsonic flights. Report concluded that flights caused 

little or no physical harm to test structhres, 393 test subjects, or 220,570 

test animals, and noted relative annoyance of booms of differing intensity 

and of booms compared to jet aircraft engine noise. Between 33% and 

98% of the test subjects objected to booms in the 2.0- to 3.5-lb-psf 

overpressure range that SSTS were expected to produce under the worst 

possible conditions. Other preliminary conclusions : (1) sonic booms 

sounded louder outside than inside; (2) walls of houses were more 

effective in blocking out jet engine noise than sonic booms; and (3) 

annoyance increased faster with increasingly bigger booms than with 

increasingly louder engine noise. (Text; Clark, NYT, 8/3/67, 1, 24) 

* A farmhouse in the village of Mauron, France, collapsed seconds after a 

loud bang was heard, killing three workmen and seriously injuring a 

fourth. French military and civil o5cials immediately began an inves- 

tigation to determine whether a sonic boom had been responsible for 

the accident. The New York Times later commented: “The latest dis- 

coveries about sonic boom . . . provide scant comfort for enthusiasts 

of supersonic commercial air transports. 

“Further research will undoubtedly turn up additional useful informa- 

tion, but by now the results of several years’ investigation of this phe- 

nomenon are beginning to fall into a pattern. In a world where everyone 

324-801 0-69-18 23 1


was healthy and vigorous, where all buildings were relatively new and 

well constructed, sonic booms would be just one more source of annoy- 

ance and frayed nerves among the many such ‘blessings’ modern civiliza- 

tion and technology have produced. But in the real world-where any 

large community has many sick and infirm people and many old and 

poorly constructed buildings--sonic booms, especially if repeated fre- 

quently, pose appreciable hazards to the more fragile human beings and 

structures. . . .” (Hess, NYT, 8/3/67, 24; NYT, 8/3/67, 30) 

August 3: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR reached 

93-mi (130-km) altitude in flight to measure the radiation from celestial 

objects in the spectral region, 2,800-1,200 A, 40-50 A, and 2-8 A. EX- 

periments performed satisfactorily, but parachute did not deploy and 

payload crashed because of faulty wiring. Recovery was not required 

to obtain scientific data. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 Astronaut-Aquanaut M. Scott Carpenter (Cdr., USN) was detached from 

NASA at USN’S request for assignment in Navy’s Deep Submergence Sys- 

tems Project (DSSP) . One of the Nation’s seven original astronauts, Car- 

penter became the second American to orbit the earth when he piloted 

Aurora 7 spacecraft on three-orbit mission May 24, 1962. Active in 

USN’s Man-in-the-Sea program since 1965, he set a world record in 

underwater work during Aug. 28-Oct. 10, 1965, Sealab I1 experiment 

when he lived 205 ft down in the Pacific for 30 consecutive days. Under 

DSSP he was tentatively assigned as an aquanaut in Sealab 111, a 60-day 

experiment 600 ft down in the Pacific scheduled to take place in 1968. 

As USN’S senior aquanaut, Carpenter’s duties would include respon- 

sibility for Sealab 111 ocean floor operations, experiments, and equip- 

ment and for coordination of aquanaut team training. 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb commented on Carpenter’s de- 

parture. “. . . we are grateful to him and the United States Navy for 

his services over the past eight years. During the past two years, he 

has demonstrated that many of the technologies, techniques, and psycho- 

physiologica! factors related to space flight have direct applications to 

the Man-in-the-Sea program. Thus, Cdr. Carpenter becomes the first 

astronaut to return to his parent service in order to apply the skills, 

knowledge, and experience acquired during his assignment to 

NASA. . . .” (NASA Release 67-208) 

MSFC had successfully completed 11-mo dynamic test program of Saturn 

V booster and Apollo spacecraft, which qualified the Saturn V configura- 

tion as dynamically and structurally sound. Conducted by Boeing Co., 

program included dynamic tests of Saturn V’s lst, 2nd, and 3rd stages, 

Instrument Unit (IU) , and Apollo spacecraft. ( MSFC Release 67-161) 

* Dr. Smith J. De France, Director Emeritus of ARC, was presented the Na- 

tional Aeronautic Assn.’s (NU) Elder Statesmen of Aviation Award at 

ARC. Award honored outstanding Americans for contributions to aero- 

nautics. Dr. De France was cited “in recognition of his significant and 

enduring contributions over the years to the progress of aeronautics, and 

his demonstrated qualities of patriotism, integrity, and moral courage 

worthy of emulation.” (ARC Astrogram, 8/17/67,2) 

* ComSatCorp had issued three separate RFPS for construction of buildings 

and facilities at three new earth stations, at Cayey, Puerto Rico; Green 

Valley, W. Va.; and Jamesburg, Calif. Construction was scheduled to 

begin in 1967 and end in late 1968. Also issued was an RFP for multiplex 

subsystems at the three new stations and at existing stations in Andover, 

232


Me., and Paumalu, Hawaii. All RFPS were filed with FCC. (ComSatCorp 


August 4: ELDO’S Europa I rocket, launched from Woomera Rocket Range 

after 10 postponements, crash-landed when French Coralie 2nd stage 

failed to ignite. Malfunction was traced to equipment associated with 

the release system designed to separate the Coralie from U.K.’s Blue 

Streak 1st stage. Rocket, which should have flown 4,828 km (3,000 mi) 

into the Pacific, landed 965 km (60 mi) north of Woomera in the Simp- 

son desert. (Reuters, NYT, 8/5/67,7) 

NASA announced selection of 11 civilian scientist-astronauts: Dr. Joseph P. 

Allen, 30, a physicist research associate at the Univ. of Washington; 

Dr. Philip K. Chapman, 32, a naturalized citizen born in Australia and 

staff physicist at MIT’S Experimental Astronomy Laboratory; Dr. An- 

thony W. England, 25, a graduate fellow in geophysics at MIT and the 

youngest man ever to be named an astronaut; Dr. Karl G. Henize, 40, an 

astronomy professor at Northwestern Univ. and experimenter in the 

Gemini program; Dr. Donald L. Holmquest, 28, who would report for 

duty in one year after completing his medical internship at Baylor College 

of Medicine; Dr. William B. Lenoir, 28, an assistant professor of elec- 

trical engineering at MIT; Dr. John A. Llewellyn, 34, a naturalized citizen 

born in Wales and associate professor in chemistry at Florida State Univ. ; 

Dr. Franklin S. Musgrave, 31, a post-doctoral fellow at Univ. of Ken- 

tucky with a doctorate in medicine from Columbia Univ., a Ph. D. in 

physiology from Univ. of Kentucky, and four other college degrees; Dr. 

Brian T. O’Leary, 27, who held a Ph. D. in astronomy and was in the 

NASA trainee program at Univ. of California Dept. of Astronomy’s Space 

Sciences Laboratory; Dr. Robert A. Parker, 30, assistant professor of 

astronomy at Univ. of Wisconsin; and Dr. William E. Thornton, 38, who 

recently completed two-year tour of duty with Brooks AFB Aerospace 

Medical Div. 

The new astronauts, except Dr. Holmquest, would report for duty at 

MCS Sept. 18. After two weeks orientation, they would begin “ground 

school” training, which would include orbital mechanics, astronomy, 

computers, spacecraft orientation, general mathematics and physics 

refresher courses, and field trips for contractor facility orientation. In 

March they would start Air Force flight training to become qualified jet 

pilots. The new group, which increased number of NASA astronauts to 56, 

was sixth class to be selected and second to be chosen specifically for sci- 

entific education. They were selected from a group of 69 nominees sub- 

mitted to NASA in March by NAS after evaluating 923 applications. ( NASA 

Release 67-211; MSC Roundup, 8/18/67,13) 

Conclusion in Mar. 24 Science article by Bruce C. Murray of Cal Tech and 

his associates about probable contamination of Mars and Venus by 

U.S.S.R.’s Zond ZZ and Venus ZZZ received comment from Dr. Richard 

W. Porter, member of International Relations Committee of NRC’S Space 

Science Board, and from Britain’s leading radio astronomer, Sir Ber- 

nard Lovell. Murray and associates had presented information : tracking 

data from Jodrell Bank Experimental Station had indicated that Zond 

ZZ, launched Nov. 30, 196p, had been on collision course with Mars, 

terminating Aug. 6, 1965; Mstislav Keldysh, President of Soviet Acad- 

emy of Sciences, had said Zond ZZ would pass within 1,4& km (900 mi) 

of Mars; Venus ZZZ, launched Nov. 12, 1965, may have crashlanded on 

Venus’ surface Mar. 1, 1966; radio communications had been main- 

233


tained with Venus ZIZ throughout the flight but were lost as the probe 

approached Venus; no telemetric data were received in final moments 

before impact. 

In a letter to editor of Science, Porter wrote: “Their conclusion with 

respect to Venus is based largely on what was not said by the Soviets 

about sterilization of the flyby bus and on the authors’ assumption that 

the capsule separation and bus deflection maneuvers were not made 

automatically, even after loss of radio contact.’, Porter said authors’ 

conclusion about Mars was also based on insufficient evidence and noted 

that in discussions with “highly placed” Soviet scientists during spring 

1965, he had received impression that Zond Il’s miss distance was 

likely to be much greater than 980 mi. 

In his letter to editor of Science regarding Murray and associates’ 

statements on probable contamination of Mars and Venus, Sir Bernard 

Lovell noted that Zond ZZ’s signals were so strong that there should have 

been no difficulty in tracking the probe at Mars encounter; also, miss 

distance of 1,500 km (932 mi) was within the accuracy of Jodrell 

Bank calculations. Sir Bernard Lovell would “prefer to accept the state- 

ment of the President of the [Soviet] Academy [of Sciences (Keldysh) ] 

about the miss distance. . . .” (Science, 3/24/67, 1505-11; 8/4/67, 

487-8) 

* After analysis of Surveyor ZV failure and Surveyor Z and ZZZ successes, 

NASA Surveyor ZV Technical Review Board recommended that signifi- 

cant changes in spacecraft hardware be avoided. Board was unable to 

identify cause for failure of Surveyor IV mission, but indicated that 

spacecraft’s performance had been virtually flawless from launch until 

communications signal disappeared abruptly less than three minutes 

before touchdown. (NASA Proj Off) 

* President Johnson appointed Paul R. Ignatius, Assistant Secretary of 

Defense (Installations and Logistics) , as Secretary of the Navy, succeed- 

ing Paul H. Nitze, who became Deputy Secretary of Defense July 1. 

John T. McNaughton, who had been nominated and confirmed as 

Nitze’s successor in June, was killed in an aircraft crash July 19. The 

President approved reassignment of Thomas D. Morris, Assistant Secre- 

tary of Defense (Manpower) , to replace Ignatius. (PD, 8/7/67, 1100) 

August 5: NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

Dudley Observatory instrumented payload to 93-mi (150-km) altitude to 

test modified parachute recovery system and evaluate performance of 

Dudley Observatory micrometeoroid collection payload before flight 

during meteor shower. Malfunction of recovery system resulted in hard 

impact of scientific payload and loss of collection material. Flights using 

modified recovery system were discontinued until cause of malfunction 

was determined. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 NASA% selection of two foreign-born astronauts [see Aug. 41 was praised 

by Erwin D. Canham in the Christhn Science Monitor: “The Aus- 

tralian, Dr. Philip K. Chapman . . . and the Welshman, Dr. John A. 

Llewellyn, . . . are both naturalized Americans. They are, one may 

assume, part of the brain drain which has brought so many able persons 

to the United States in the last quarter of a century. Nothing like this 

flow of talent has been seen on such a scale in history before. 

“The outreach of science also has become profoundly international. 

It is a deeper bond than we have yet recognized it to be. Someday, 

perhaps, it will transcend politics. That is the challenge: to bring politi- 

234


cal institutions into line with the basic unities which are evidenced in 

men’s constantly changing relationship to the physical universe. . . .” 

(Canham, CSM, 8/5/67) 

August 5-27: NASA’s Lunur Orbiter V became fifth US. spacecraft to circle 

I 

the moon. It entered lunar orbit following successful deboost maneuver 

which reduced ita speed by 1,440 mph and permitted lunar capture. 

Initial orbital parameters: apolune, 3,734 mi (6,023 km) ; perilune, 

121 mi (194 km) ; period, 8 hrs 30 min; and inclination, 85’. Launched 

from ETR Aug. 1, spacecraft performed 513 attitude changes, responded 

to 4,524 commands, and recorded one micrometeoroid hit. Spacecraft 

systems were functioning normally. Photographs taken beginning Aug. 6 

included 23 previously unphotographed areas of the moon’s far side, 

first picture showing the “full earth”; 36 sites of primary interest to 

science; and five additional candidate Apollo landing sites. Transmitted 

were 212 medium- and 212 high-resolution photos. Final readout was 

completed Aug. 27. Mission substantially filled in blanks in previous 

LO photography so that entire lunar surface, front and back, had now 

been photographed at resolutions about 10 times better than obtainable 

from earth-based observations. 

Harold Masursky, US. Geological Survey, told news conference at 

JPL that several of the pictures indicated there might be frozen liquid 

on the floor of perpetually shaded craters near the lunar poles. The 

nature of the “fluidal materials” was open to speculation, he said, but 

“meandering rills appeared to have been caused by some form of material 

flowing from a vdcanic eruption-similar to terrestrial streams found 

in desert areas on earth.” (NASA Proj Off; AP, W Post, 8/9/67, A3; 

UPI, C Trib, 8/15/67; NYT, 8/15/67, 1) 

August 6: New York State Univ. had acquired two of 12 Atlas F ICBM sites 

near Plattsburgh, N.Y., for use as earth and space research laboratories. 

Sites had been turned over to CSA for disposal by USAF after deactivating 

and removing Atlas ICBM’s. (NYT, 8/6/67,2) 

August 7: NASA issued three modifications totaling $30.9 million to NU’S 

Saturn V 2nd-stage contract: first, valued at $5.5 million, provided 

for equitable adjustment of 2nd-stage changes previously ordered; 

second, valued at $5.8 million, covered seven changes involving KSC 

ground support equipment; and third, valued at $19.4 million, was for 

12 changes covering alterations of selector switches and insulation of 

the entire 2nd stage. (NASA Release 67-212) 

Sen. William Promire (D-Wis.) , releasing testimony earlier submitted 

to Senate Appropriations Committee’s Independent Offices Subcommittee, 

urged that $427 million be cut from NASA’s FY 1968 authorization 

bill (S. 1296). “We have to establish our priorities, and when it comes 

to parceling out money the space program stands far below defense, 

education and many other vital programs.” Specifically, Proxmire rec- 

ommended: (1) temporarily delaying initiation of programs that would 

commit US. to a manned Mars mission and other deep-space probes; 

(2) cutting AA funds; and (3) cutting advanced missions funds. (Text) 

USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Thor-Agena D booster; 

satellite reentered Sept. 1. (Pres Rep 1967) 

Congressional cuts in NASA’s FY 1968 authorization bill (S. 12%) indi- 

cated that a new era was beginning for NASA and the US. space program, 

Robert Hotz suggested in Aviation Week editorial. “We do not think it 

was the intent of this Congress to either repudiate or emasculate the 

235


US. national space program. We think it was the aim of these legislators 

to mark the end of the era when NASA got everything it wanted simply 

because it asked for it in a strident and persistent voice. We think it 

was also the goal of Congress to put the national space program in a 

better perspective in relation to such other high-priority problems as 

the Southeast Asia war and the urban riots. . . .” Hotz predicted that 

the future of the space program as a valid, continuing national goal 

C< 

will depend in the long run on the successful development of its new 

hardware and the successful operation of this equipment on missions of 

increasing complexity and greater value. The most significant contribu- 

tion that NASA and its industrial contractor complex can make to the 

future of the space program now is to bend their every effort to assure 

that the Apollo hardware will function flawlessly, not only for its mis- 

sions to the moon but also for long-duration earth-orbital opera- 

tions. . . .” (Hotz, Av Wk, 8/7/67, 17) 

US. and Soviet delegates attending COSPAR’S International Years of the 

Quiet Sun (IQSY) symposium in London [July 17-21] had recom- 

mended that cooperative solar studies begun during IQSY be extended 

into the period of maximum solar activity, Herbert J. Coleman reported 

in Aviation Week [see Jul. 17-21]. NRL scientist Dr. Herbert Friedman, 

President of the Inter-Union Commission on Solar Terrestrial Physics 

(IUCSTP) which initiated the proposal, said the application of new tech- 

nologies, including space techniques, “had opened up new fields of 

investigation such as the relationship between the solar wind and the 

magnetosphere. A period of increased solar activity could provide valu- 

able data.” Soviet physicist R. V. Pushkov pledged full Soviet coopera- 

tion in extending the program. (Coleman, Av Wk, 8/7/67, 67) 

ComSatCorp’s plans to launch a satellite by 1970 for relaying VHF com- 

munications from transoceanic airliners might be delayed by high 

costs, Electronics reported. “As far as the FAA is concerned, the only 

issue is cost. The agency is still reeling from a Comsat proposal earlier 

this year pricing such communications services at $5 million per chan- 

nel per year; the FAA told Comsat it was not interested at that price. To 

make matters worse, one FAA official says current estimates from hard- 

ware makers are even higher.” (Electronics, 8/7]67) 

Second phase of NATO’s proposed comsat project (NATO/SatCOm) [see 

July 91 was being delayed by dispute over which countries would 

develop satellite systems, Aviation Week reported. Several member 

countries reportedly opposed use of US.-supplied, Philco-Ford Co. 

Skynet satellites because it would eliminate participation by European 

avionics industry and give US. dominant role. Satcom officials were 

considering alternate plans in the event that agreement on original 

Phase I1 proposal could not be reached: (1) delaying satellite develop 

ment until Phase I11 to allow sufficient time to reach agreement on the 

work-sharing formula; or (2) dropping satellite development from 

Phase I1 and constructing a ground station network compatible with 

DOD’S IDCSP satellites which were being used temporarily during initial 

test phase. (Av Wk, 8/7/67,28) 

August 8: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR achieved 

180-mi (289-km) altitude in flight to measure: (1) vertical profiles of 

neutral and ion composition and electron densities; and (2) dissociation 

of molecular oxygen and atomic nitrogen density using mass spectrom- 

eters designed for the POGO satellite. Preliminary data indicated that the 

236


rocket and all experiments had performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from Wallops Station carried 

univ. of Illinois-GCA Corp. experiment to 884 (141-km) altitude to 

determine electron density in lower ionosphere (during period of non- 

blanketing Sporadic-E) , electron collision frequency, electron tempera- 

ture, and positive ion densities of species in the 8- to 60-a.m.u. range. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily, and excellent re- 

sults were anticipated. ( NASA Rpt SRL) 

U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXZ into orbit with 220-km (137-mi) apogee, 

145-km (90-mi) perigee, and 50” inclination. All equipment was func- 

tioning normally. Spacecraft reentered the same day it was launched. 

( SSR; Aero Tech, 8/14/67,13) 

House passed $4.86-billion NASA FY 1968 authorization bill (S. 1296), 

completing congressional action on the authorization. (CR, 8/8/67, 

H10054-60) 

* NASA had modified TRW Systems’ $34.7-million contract for Orbiting Geo- 

physical Observatory ( OGO) satellites to a $53.7-million fixed-price in- 

centive contract. Revised agreement provided for assembly, test, and 

launch of OGO-D, OGO-E, and OGO-F, in addition to incorporating pre- 

viously authorized work. (NASA Release 67-213) 

* Report by House of Commons Estimates Committee urged U.K. to ap- 

point a space minister and initiate a five-year national space program at 

a cost of $8&$98 million annually. Program should be directed toward 

the 1971 launch of a comsat which could be used for both commercial and 

military operations. Report criticized U.K.’s current space effort for lack 

of purpose and organization, noting that money “had been poured into 

international projects without a properly conceived national program.” 

(W Post, 8/9/67, A16; SBD, 8/10/67, 205) 

* Eastern Airlines named A. Scott Crossfield, NACA test pilot from 1953 to 

1961, Systems Director of Research and Development for Flight to help 

prepare airline for its first Concorde and Boeing 2707 supersonic air- 

craft. Crossfield in 1953 became the first man to fly at twice the speed 

of sound when he piloted the rocket-propelled D-558-11 aircraft. He was 

also the first pilot to fly the X-15 to mach 2.97 (Nov. 15, 1960). In 

1961, he became division director of test and quality assurance for 

NU’S Hound Dog Missile, Apollo, Saturn, and Paraglider projects. For 

his contributions to aviation he was awarded the Harmon International 

Aviator’s Trophy in 1961 and the Robert J. Collier Trophy in 1962. 

(NYT, 8/9/67,61) 

August 8-9: NASA successfully launched five Nike-Apache sounding rockets 

with chemical cloud experiments and one Arcas sounding rocket with 

a small live animal payload from NASA Wallops Station between 10.43 

p.m. and 7:27 a.m. Five Nike-Apaches ejected vapor trails between 50- 

and 125-mi altitudes to measure wind velocities and directions at various 

altitudes in the upper atmosphere. Nike-Apache launched at dawn was 

sodium experiment which created reddish-orange trail; remaining four 

were trimethylaluminum (TU) experiments which created bluish-green 

trails. Data were obtained by photographing continuously the motion 

of the trails from five ground-based camera sites within 100-mi radius 

of Wallops. Arcas sounding rocket carried payload with small live white 

rat to 25-mi altitude; payload descended by parachute and was re- 

covered from the Atlantic by helicopter. Subsequent examination by 

Wallops scientists indicated rat was in excellent condition. 

237

August 8-9 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Nike-Apache launches were conducted for GCA Corp., under contract 

to GSFC. Arcas launch was part of Wallops Station’s Bio-Space Technology 

Training Program to assist biological experimenters in 

evaluating the engineering and operational aspects of spaceflight research. 

(WS Release 67-27) 

August 9: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXII into orbit with 301-km (187mi) 

apogee, 202-km (125-mi) perigee, 89-min period, and 52” inclination. 

Equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Aug. 17. (Aero 

Tech, 8/14/67, 13; GSFC SSR, 8/31/67) 

Explorer XXXV, launched July 19, had completed 33 orbits of the moon. 

Results from GSFC’S magnetic field experiment aboard spacecraft indicated 

moon was not magnetized. Capture of interplanetary magnetic 

field lines by the moon and formation of lunar magnetosphere (theorized 

by T. Gold in 1966) was not substantiated. A lunar bow shock wave 

had not yet been observed when moon was Iocated in the interplanetary 

medium or the magnetosheath of the earth. (NASA Proj Off) 

* A balloon carrying 9,000-lb instrumented payload for NASA was successfully 

launched from Chico, Calif., by Univ. of California Space Sciences 

Laboratory. Approximately 10 hrs later, however, parachutes failed to 

deploy after ground stations had commanded payload to separate and 

payload fell into the Pacific. Equipped with flotation gear, it landed 

within 20 mi of the recovery barge, but had not yet been located. Believed 

the heaviest ever carried by a balloon, payload contained instruments 

to: (1) measure cosmic radiction, nuclear interactions of primary 

particles, and interference background of secondary particles; 

and (2) gain information on mass and momentum of incoming particles. 

Scientists were uncertain whether instruments had survived the impact, 

but said they had obtained excellent telemetry data during 9X-hr flight. 


* NASA had selected RCA Defense Electronics Products Div. for negotiation of 

a $5-million, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for 16 pairs of flight-qualified 

dual spacesuit communications (SSC) systems to be used by Apollo 

astronauts on the moon. ssc systems-each consisting of AM and FM 

transmitters and receivers, warning system, and related equipmentwould 

(1) permit two Apollo astronauts on lunar surface to maintain 

constant voice communications with each other and with flight controllers 

on earth and (2) simultaneously transmit telemetry data from 

each astronaut back to the lunar module (LM) for relay to earth. Contract 

would be managed by MSC. Delivery of first two flight units was 

scheduled for October 1968. (NASA Release 67-214) 

* Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.) , Chairman of the House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics, praised NASA’s Lunar Orbiter program on 

the House floor: “In the short span of just under 1 year, all five Lunar 

Orbiters have been launched and have provided the world with more 

information about the moon than has been obtained in all previous history. 

Lunar Orbiter photography has certified four potential landing 

sites for our Apollo astronauts, and has provided detailed photographs 

for 99 percent of the front side of the moon and 60 percent of the back 

side. 

“Successful completion of the present mission [Lunar Orbiter VI will 

provide supplementary data for the certification of five more Apollo 

landing sites, detailed photography of virtually the entire moon’s sur- 

238


face, front and back, and very close view of 36 areas of great scientific 

interest on the front face of the moon. 

“I wish to compliment the NASA team that has made the Lunar Orbiter 

program one of the most successful in the 9-year history of that 

agency. . . .” (CR, 8/9/67, H101175) 

* Informed sources said U.S.S.R. had launched Cosmos CLXX (July 31) and 

Cosmos CLXXI (Aug. 8) to test new parachute system designed to avoid 

the malfunction blamed for the death of Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. 

U.S.S.R. attributed the April 24 crash-landing of Soyw I to a tangled 

parachute that failed to decrease spacecraft’s speed during reentry. Both 

satellites had gone into orbit but had reentered the same day as launched. 

(AP, B Sun, 8/10/67; AP, C Sun-Times, 8/11/67) 

French cabinet authorized France to sign U.N. space law treaty [see Dec. 8, 

19661. Signed by representatives of 62 nations Jan. 27, treaty now had 

about 80 signatories. (NYT, 8/10/67) 

August 9-1 I : 05cials from NASA Hq. and field centers and MSFC prime and 

local support contractors participated in MSFC conference on organiza- 

tional communication. Purposes of conference were to: (1) review the 

state-of-the-art and current academic pursuits in organizational commu- 

nication in government and industry; (2) exchange experiences and 

knowledge among NASA personnel; and (3) identify areas of common 

interest with MSFC contractors. Representatives from US. Civil Service 

Commission and selected universities attended as observers. ( MSFC 


August 10: NASA’s Mariner IV (launched Nsv. 28, 19a) and Mariner Y 

(launched June 14) satellites drew into a unique “solar system lineup” 

which would enable JPL scientists to obtain their first three-point meas- 

urements of solar plasma and space magnetism. Orbiting about 70 million 

mi apart on a direct line from the sun, with earth approximately in the 

middle, satellites were expected to remain in about the same position 

relative to each other until Oct. 10. Positions would enable JPL to corn- 

pare the densities and velocities of solar rays simultaneously from three 

points in space-two satellites and earth. (JPL Release; Wilford, NYT, 

8/13/67,54) 

NASA had converted $13.5-million systems-integration portion of Chrysler 

Corp.’s Uprated Saturn I contract to cost-plus-incentive-fee agreement 

and extended contract through April 1969. Under new arrangement, 

which raised total value of systems-integration portion to $35.5 million, 

Chrysler’s fee would be judged according to the performance, quality, 

and timeliness of the work, which would be performed at MSFC and 

Michoud Assembly Facility. (NASA Release 67-216; MSFC Release 67- 

168) 

Military, congressional, and industrial sources agreed that F-111A vari- 

able-sweep-wing aircraft had developed new technical di5culties and 

that old problems had not yet been completely solved, Hanson Baldwin 

reported in the New York Times. Original plans had called for some 

F-111A’s to reach Vietnam for combat tests in fall 1967; “now Decem- 

ber or January appear to be the target dates if ‘fixes’ to the present 

difficulties are successful.” Sources said that excessive vibration- 

a problem believed to have been completely solved-was recurring 

in tests. Aircraft was also experiencing di5culty with its speed brakes, 

and the problem of partial engine stall during flight persisted. Col. 

Charles W. Reed, project officer for the F-111A at Nellie AFB, Nev., 

239


told Baldwin there were no “real serious problems” with the aircraft and 

said that accelerated testing and training project which began at Nellis 

in July was “ahead of schedule.” He conceded, however, that aircraft at 

Nellis had not yet carried bomb loads. Flight and combat testing of the 

F-lllh was continuing at Edwards AFB and Eglin AFB. (Baldwin, NYT, 

8/11/67,1,2) 

The universe was 70 billion yrs old-about seven times older than gener- 

ally believed, Soviet astrophysicists Iosif Shklovsky and Dr. Nikolay 

Kardashov told a Moscow news conference. When it was formed it first 

expanded, then remained static for about 50 billion yrs, and now was 

expanding again. Scientists said they made their conclusions after 

analyzing the red light shift in spectrograms made of quasars-a method 

of measuring the distance and velocity of celestial objects. (AI’, NYT, 

8/13/67,69) 

August 11: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

ARC-instrumented payload to 88-mi (141-km) altitude to collect for 

analysis meteoritic debris during the peak of meteor shower. Three 

deployable module support arms held four module trays each, to entrap 

meteoritic debris. Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. 


OGO “handlers” were hoping that Ogo ZV (launched July 28) might be 

economical enough with its gas supply to permit it to continue for 

one year at the peak of its investigative capabilities. Achievement of 

one-year performance would enable satellite to gather data on earth, 

its upper atmosphere, and its near-space environment during period 

of peak solar activity, which occurs every 11 yrs. Ogo ZV’s gas system, 

used to supply thrust to series of small attitude-stabilized jets, had been 

improved by installation of gas bottle filled with krypton instead of 

argon. This increased gas pressure from 3,000 psi to 4,000 psi and 

doubled available impulse from 900 to 1,800 pound-seconds. NASA re- 

ported that if present gas expenditure rate were maintained they were 

assured the minimum 50 days of three-axis stabilized operation that 

would permit mission success. (NASA Release 67-210) 

* Universities should not rely so heavily on NASA and DOD to advance and 

support basic science, Cal Tech president Lee A. DuBridge suggested 

in Science. A moderate fraction of these agencies’ budgets was neces- 

sarily used to advance basic research, he said, and in the space program 

cc 

the resulting technologies are providing a valuable tool for carrying 

on scientific investigations which would otherwise be impossible. 

CC 

However, it must . . . be stressed that neither NASA nor any other 

agency charged with implementing a national-policy goal is intended 

to be a philanthropic agency authorized to provide benefactions to university 

science departments. They are agencies seeking to get a job 

done, and they turn to universities only when the universities can render 

a service. . . .” DuBridge urged that Federal Government develop a 

more adequate and balanced program for strengthening basic science 

by charging “suitable agencies (principally the National Science Foundation) 

with this particular task” and providing adequate funds for carry. 

ing it out. (DuBridge, Science, 8/11/67,648-50) 

Commercial applications of a miniaturized TV aerial developed by USAF 

after four years af research were being explored by at least 100 electronic 

companies, Jack Gould reported in the New York Times. Firms 

believed device, originally developed for military communications, might 

240


accommodate public preference for small antennas without sacrificing 

picture quality. Inventor Edwin M. Turner, attached to the Air Force 

at Wright-Patterson AFB, told the press that the “heart” of the minia- 

turized antenna was the use of transistors. (Gould, NYT, 8/12/67, 27) 

August 12: GSFC scientists were predicting that NASA’s Echo I comsat, launched 

Aug. 12,1960, would decay from orbit during the next year, AP reported. 

Once a perfect sphere 100 ft in dia, balloon had deflated and its speed in 

orbit was steadily decreasing. It had been launched to demonstrate that 

large inflatable spheres could be used as passive communications re- 

flectors in space. (AP, H Post, 8/13/67; Volker, M News, 8/12/67) 

* AIAA Board of Directors endorsed hobbyists who built model rockets from 

paper, plastic, and balsa wood, but warned against the hazards of ama- 

teurs mixing their own fuels and experimenting with homemade metal 

rockets. Action preceded the National Model Rocket Championship con- 

test scheduled to open in Mankato, Minn., Aug. 15. AIAA, which had for 

many years withheld endorsement of any type of nonprofessional rocket 

experiments, recommended that model rocketry be conducted only with 

adult supervision. (Wilford, NYT, 8/14/67,37) 

* US. and Australia were engaged in a joint program to build a highly tech- 

nical installation in the Australian desert to intercept information trans- 

mitted by Soviet reconnaissance satellites, UPI reported. On Aug. 11, DOD 

statement said only that US. was “cooperating with the Australian gov- 

ernment in a space defense research project.” US. officials admitted 

privately, however, that project was a “ferret” installation to detect 

radar, electromagnetic radiation, and other electronic impulses em- 

anating from Soviet satellites. ( UPI, W Star, 8/12/67) 

August 14: President Johnson, in a message to Congress on communications 

policy, announced that he was appointing a 15-man task force headed by 

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Eugene V. Rostow to 

formulate “a national communications policy.” Among questions the 

group would examine were: (1) how soon would a domestic satellite 

system be economically feasible? (2) should a domestic system be 

general purpose or specialized? and (3) should there be more than 

one system? Task force’s report was due in one year. The President also : 

(1) reaffirmed US. commitments made in 1962 and 1964 in support of 

the development of a global system of comsats “to make modern commu- 

nications available to all nations”; (2) pledged US. support to the con- 

tinuation of the INTELSAT consortium, saying, “we seek no domination 

of satellite communications to the exclusion of any other nation-or 

group of nations”; (3) stated that US. “should take no action in the 

establishment of a domestic [comsat] system which is incompatible with 

our support for a global system”; and (4) urged U.S.S.R. and the na- 

tions of Eastern Europe to join INTELSAT. “Here is a rare opportunity to 

join in an activity to bring benefits to all nations and loss to none.” He 

suggested there might be an eventual linkage between Soviet Molniya 

system and INTELSAT system. 

The President concluded: “Historians may write that the human race 

survived or faltered because of how well it mastered the technology of 

this age. 

“Communications satellites now permit man’s greatest gifts-sight, 

expression, human thoughts and ideaeto travel unfettered to any por- 

tion of our globe. The opportunity is within our grasp. We must be pre- 

pared to act.” (PD, 8/21/67, 1146-54; WSJ, 8/15/67) 

241


ComSatCorp Chairman James McCormack, welcoming President Johnson’s 

message to Congress on communications policy, offered full cooperation 

“in forwarding the President’s objective of bringing high quality, de- 

pendable satellite communications to users throughout he world.” He 

reaffirmed support of a “global system, and the continuation and expan- 

sion of [INTELSAT] as the foundation on which to build a permanent 

structure for this system.” (ComSatCorp Release) 

William S. Aiken, Jr., former Chief of Operations Research Branch, OART, 

was appointed Deputy Director, Aeronautical Vehicles Div., OmT. 

(NASA Ann, 8/15/67) 

NASA’s Manned Space Flight Network would be tested for the first time 

with the unmanned Apollo 4 mission, tentatively scheduled for early 

October, Barry Kalb reported in the Washington Evening Star. Dr. 

Friedrich 0. Vonbun, chief of GSFC’S Mission and Trajectory Analysis 

Div., told Kalb in an interview that the “reliability of the system is 99.5 

percent.” Network included a new system, he said, which combined 

functions of tracking, signaling, and voice communication. Previously 

a separate system was required for each. Only certain portions of the 

network would be used for the Apollo 4 mission, Von Bun said. The en- 

tire system consisted of 13 earth orbit tracking stations, three deep-space 

stations (each with a backup unit), five tracking ships, and eight 

specially fitted jet aircraft. Three deep-space stations, located in Gold- 

stone, Calif ., Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia, were designed 

specifically for “communicating with vehicles at lunar distance.” (Kalb, 

W Star, 8/14/67, A6) 

National Aeronautics and Space Council was accumulating data on various 

approaches to earth resources satellites with the goal of forcing com- 

peting agencies to agree on a single coordinated program for FY 1969, 

Aerospace Technology reported. A decision was expected by mid-Sep- 

tember. The Depts. of Interior and Agriculture favored an operational 

program, but NASA believed current technolo@ justified only an R&D ap- 

proach at this time. (Aero Tech, 8/14/67,3) 

Electronics Research Center was studying a qavigation satellite system 

capable of providing location information to ships and aircraft ac- 

curate to within 0.1 mi, Aerospace Technology reported. System would 

be competitive with recently declassified Navy Navigation Satellite Sys- 

tem [see July 291, but would be aimed primarily at small users such 

as private aircraft and pleasure craft. User cost for receiving equip- 

ment would range from $1,000 to $5,000. Current phase of program 

involved three contractors: (1) Philco-Ford Corp., which had com- 

pleted study on fan beam navigation satellites; (2) RCA, which was 

studying a hyperbolic L-band ranging system providing continuous 

radiation of the signal; and (3) TRW Systems which was designing a syn- 

chronous-orbit satellite system, also operating in the L-band. The next 

phase, pending NASA Hq. approval, was laboratory testing followed, pos- 

sibly, by flight experiments in Applications Technology Satellite ( ATS) 

or Apollo Applications (AA) program. (Aero Tech, 8/14/67, 10) 

The time had come to “fix” the responsibility for the total results of US. 

technology, Michael Getler suggested in Aerospace Technology. There 

was no single group or agency to “link the broad spectrum of American 

technological development with social development. There is no single 

group with the expertise available to probe all forms of technology 

and its effects, to pump funds into a truly important new applied sci- 

242


ence not able to capture headlines, to speed the transfer of defense and 

space technology into other areas, and to put the special interest groups 

on the line for blockage of improvements within the state-of-the-art. 

There is no group directly responsible to the citizenry to develop and 

carry through legislation to try and save us from tomorrow’s smog and 

urban clutter; for we have not, by a long shot, run out of self-inflicted 

ills. . . .” Getler urged that the overall responsibility be given to Con- 

gress. “It is the Legislative branch of Government, properly augmented 

with a permanent staff of specialists, that is best equipped to serve as 

a responsive arbiter between the good life of our people, the promise 

of technology, and the pressure of the marketplace.” (Getler, Aero Tech, 

8/14/67,62) 

Soviet mathematician Dr. Alex M. Letov, visiting Huntsville for the 

Guidance, Control, and Flight Dynamics Conference sponsored by 

Alabama chapter of the MAA, said he supported the exchange of tech- 

nical information between US. and U.S.S.R. After delivering an im- 

portant technical paper, Letov remarked: “I am hopeful that I may 

have initiated some steps in this area of exchange. I am completely 

satisfied with my presentation and the response of the American scien- 

tist. In my report I will reflect this.” One of the world’s leading authori- 

ties on spacecraft guidance and control, Letov outlined a complex 

theory for stabilizing a large manned spacecraft, which he considered 

a major problem. “You can’t consider the other problems of engineer- 

ing if your system is not stable. It must be stable.” (KC Star, 8/15/67) 

August 14-18: US. scientists “still cannot provide definite protection from 

the biological hazards” of 1,000-day duration planetary mission, accord- 

ing to experts at Blacksburg, Va., Bioastronautics Conference, sponsored 

by VPI and NASA. Discussions had indicated: “Extremely long periods 

of ground simulation and experiments in space with animals will be 

necessary before man can undertake a 1,000-day journey to a near 

planet like Mars.” Scientists had discussed several problem areas: ability 

nf man to function in weightlessness for more than 90 days (midcourse 

goal of Apollo Applications program) ; weight, volume, and content 

of food, water and atmosphere requirements; and biological reactions 

of crew to spacecraft contaminants. Toxicologists considered reaction to 

be “most insidious potential problemyYy respiratory system taking on 

contaminants in “subtle, long-term reactions.” (Normyle, Av Vk, 8/ 

21/67,17; 9/11/67,75-8) 

August 15: NASA Administrator James E. Webb, testifying at a closed hear- 

ing before House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on In- 

dependent Offices and Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

said NASA hoped to keep an approximate $5.5-billion annual budget fol- 

lowing a manned lunar landing. “. . . we believe it would be wise to 

keep the budget approximately level, approximately at where it is now 

or even going up a half billion dollars a year, and use this capability 

for some further landings on the moon, for ability to move around, for 

synchronous orbital work with large stations using men for a multipli- 

city of other purpposes related to the earth, and further studies in 

space. . . .” 

“This is very much what the Russians are doing. They are develop 

ing a very large number of options and maintaining the ability to select 

those that are most useful to them at a particular time and move rapidly 

with it and creating the image that they are out in front with respect 

243


to all these modern technologies.” Webb said he believed four recent 

launchings of large unmanned spacecraft by U.S.S.R. were “preparations 

for manned flights shortly to come. I believe they are flights to 

work out the difficulties that resulted in the death of their cosmonaut.” 

(Transcript, pp. 8,34) 

* Selection of NASA’s sixth astronaut class [see Aug. 41 indicated that astronaut 

“glamour” grew with each new peril, Neal Stanford reported in 

Christian Science Monitor. “Scientists . . . compete more intensively 

for the few scientist-astronaut jobs open than do jet pilots in the military 

services for the pilot jobs available. 

“The glamour has not entirely gone out of space flying. What has 

happened is that its perils have become more apparent, its scientific 

opportunities more exciting, and its financial rewards less considerable. 

“There have been 6 selections of astronauts, 4 of flier astronauts, and 

2 of science astronauts. In this sixth and latest selection 939 [sic] scientists 

applied for the 11 positions open. In the previous selection of pilot 

astronauts only 403 applied for 19 positions open. . . .” (Stanford, CSM, 

8/15/67) 

Proposal to operate a 55-passenger STOL airliner in the greater New York 

area as a three-year demonstration project had been advanced to Federal, 

state, and city transportation officials, Robert L. Cummings, president of 

New York Airways, told New Yorh Times. Developed jointly by New 

York Airways, McDonnell Douglas Corp., and Cutler-Hammer, Inc., 

proposal called for four-engine turboprop that could cruise at speeds 

ranging from 50-250 mph and land on strips 1,200-1,400 ft long. 

Financing the estimated $12-$15-million demonstration project would 

probably require “some sort of contract operation, presumably with a 

Government agency,” Cummings said. (NYT, 8/16/67,66) 

August 15-17: Divers Arthur Pachette and Glen Taylor set records for longest 

and deepest underwater excursions outside a protective capsule in series 

of three saturation dives in Gulf of Mexico. Sponsored by Ocean Systems 

Inc., and Esso Production Research, tests studied new deepdiving system 

designed to enable men eventually to walk and work on the ocean floor 

at depths of 1,000 ft or more. During tests divers descended 636 ft in a 

steel hull sphere, donned rubberized “wetsuitsyy and, breathing a heliumoxygen 

gas mixture, worked on a dummy oil well outside the capsule 

for nearly seven hours. Ocean Systems spokesman said they experienced 

no decompression problems and were able to manipulate nuts and bolts 

and replace valves. In Westinghouse Electric Corp. tests in June, divers 

descended to 600 ft in similar operation, but did not remain at the depth 

long enough to achieve saturation-condition in which the body tissues 

become completely saturated with gases contained in breathing mixture. 

. 

(Wilford, NYT, 8/25/67,19; Aero Tech, 8/28/67,22) 

August 16: WAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Titan 111-B 

booster; satellite reentered Aug. 28. (Pres Rep 1967) 

9 Astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham 

toured McDonnell Douglas Test Facility near Sacramento to inspect 

3rd stage of the Saturn V booster which would be used to launch them on 

first manned Apollo mission in 1968. Schirra told newsmen that NASA 

would not be “pressed by the press” into flying the mission on a specific 

clate. Asked if he believed pressure from the press was in any way re- 

sponsible for the Jan. 27 fire, Schirra replied: “. . . I found that 

whenever we . . . get together with the members of the press that you’re 

244


right away asking us, ‘Well, now when are you going to fly?’ That’s 

almost the first question, and it’s not a very unique question. . . . It 

seems you want that answet that may be hard news, but when we give 

YOU that answer then if we don’t make that date, for some reason or 

another it appears that we’re failing our goal. While the goal is to have a 

successful flight at a reasonable time rather than an early failure. . . .” 

(Transcript) 

0 NASA’s Mariner V spacecraft had reached the halfway point in elapsed time 

in its 128-day, 216-million-mi flight to Venus. Scheduled to fly by the 

planet Oct. 19, spacecraft had traveled 98,667,000 mi in 64 days. It 

was scheduled to reach midway mark in distance Aug. 22. (NASA Release 

67-223) 

* The Federal Government had involved itself in the SST program because 

failure to do so would have resulted in a loss of jobs and progress in 

U.S. aviation industry, M/G J. C. Maxwell (USAF), Director of FAA 

SST Development, told the National Space Club. “The aircraft industry 

had been challenged by a powerful consortium [Concorde] of two 

large aircraft companies fully subsidized by two major governments. 

Our aircraft companies did not have the resources to meet this challenge. 

The government acted.” Federal participation had resulted in some 

major side effeds, Maxwell said. “We were able to make available to all 

potential SST contractors a vast amount of technological information 

that the government had acquired in its own huge aircraft endeavors. 

The flight test experiences of the B-70, the SR-71, and the F-111 were 

and are being provided to our SST contractors. . . . We were able . . . 

to contribute some 49,000 hours of SST wind tunnel tests conducted by 

NASA. The military . . . has logged some 300,000 hours of supersonic 

experience. . . . The SST program is founded on the experience and 

know-how from other programs sponsored and paid for by the govern- 

ment-and that includes the space effort. 

“Another benefit . . . [was] the fact that the resources of the whole 

aviation industry were brought into the project. Our search for the 

best design was, in every sense of the word, a competition. The best 

talent and genius of American aeronautical engineering was put to 

work.” (Text) 

August 17: Photo of the earth in the near full phase transmitted by Lunar 

Orbiter V [see Aug. 5-27] was a “fraud, a fake, a piece of trickery 

or deceit,” Samuel Shenton, Secretary of the International Flat Earth 

Research Society, told newsmen in London. “Look at the photograph 

the satellite supposedly took. Notice those lines across the bottom of 

the picture. They show it’s a composite, a mock-up.” Asked why U.S. 

should seek to perpetrate such a deception, Shenton replied: “‘It’s all 

part of the great global earth conspiracy, and it’s a shame.” Members 

of the International Flat Earth Research Society believed that the earth 

is not only flat, but static in space. They also maintained that the theory 

of gravity was advanced only to support the belief that the earth spins. 

(AP, B Sun, 8/18/67) 

St. Louis Univ. scientists Drs. F. C. Bates and Albert Pallman were studying 

structure and circulation of the lower Martian atmosphere to aid NASA 

in deciding whether to use a hard- or soft-landing spacecraft on first 

Mars mission. (UPI, NYT, 8/17/67,24) 

* North American Air Defense Command (NORAD ) announced officially that 

no flying saucers, no extraterrestrial spacecraft, and no “unfriendly 

245


objects” had ever been identified by air forces over U.S. or Canada: 

“There have been thousands of reports about official air force stands 

on UFOS from the widest variety of sources over the years-but so far 

as the command is aware, it never has been shown anything but natural 

atmospheric or astronomical phenomena or airborne objectebirds, 

insects, hardwareseen under unusual circumstances, or misinter- 

preted.’, (Thomis, C Trib, 8/18/67,1) 

August 18: House Committee on Appropriations reported $4.6-billion NASA 

N 1968 appropriation bill-$516.6 million less than NASA had requested 

and $282 million less than NASA N 1968 authorization bill (S. 12%). 

Committee said the bill was “less than would be recommended under 

less stringent fiscal circumstances,” but it would support “a viable space 

program, and one that is consistent with available resources. 

“The reductions . . . should in no respect be interpreted as an ex- 

pression of a lack of confidence in our space endeavors. . . .” Cuts 

included: (1) $50.5 million from Apollo program; (2) $154.7 million 

from AA program; (3) $27.5 million from Nuclear Rocket Program; 

(4) $37.7 million from Tracking and Data Acquisition; and (5) $71.5 

million from Voyager (funding eliminated). (NASA LAR VI/91; WSJ, 

8/21/67,4; O’Toole, W Post, 8/19/67, A4) 

0 First two Apollo spacesuits incorporating changes recommended by NASA’s 

Apollo 204 Review Board were scheduled to arrive at MSC in early Sep 

tember for thermo-vacuum and compatibility testing. New suit, desig- 

nated A-7L, was an im roved version of the original A-6L suit. Changes, 

primarily replacing B ammable materials with nonflammable or low- 

flammability materials, included substitution of: (1) Beta fabric, a 

nonflammable fiberglass cloth, for Nomex, a high-temperature nylon, 

in outside layer; (2) Nomex for a more flammable nylon inner layer; 

and (3) fire-resistant Kapton/Beta fiberglass insulation for aluminized 

Mylar-Dacron insulation. In addition to its greater fire-resistant prop- 

erties, spacesuit, which was white rather than blue, was more com- 

fortable and mobile than A-6L. It would be used in all manned Apollo 

missions during prelaunch and launch phases, and reentry. First pro- 

duction model of spacesuit, manufactured by International Latex Corp.’s 

Government and Industrial Div. under MSC contract, was scheduled for 

mid-October delivery. (NASA Release 67-222) 

* Rocket engine for Apollo service module’s propulsion system had been 

undergoing tests at Arnold Engineering Development Center during past 

31/2 years. Initially, engine performance was unknown; it would use an 

ablatively cooled thrust chamber and a high expansion ratio nozzle of 

thin metal and would operate at relatively low combustion chamber pres- 

sures. Initial tests were on configuration of engine’s fragile nozzles. 

Follow-on tests, for prequalification of engine combined with heavy 

duty replica of propellant tankage, had checked ballistic performance. 

Simulated high-altitude testing would lead to eventual man-rating of 

propulsion system. ( AEDC Release 67-212) 

0 NASA had awarded NAA’S Rocketdyne Div. a $l.g-million contract for con- 

tinued technological investigation of the advanced aerospike rocket en- 

gine. Studied by OAET for 1% yrs, the engine utilizes a doughnut- 

shaped combustion chamber which discharges exhaust gases against the 

surface of a short center cone. In conventional rocket engines, gases are 

expanded inside long bell-shaped nozzles. Current concept specified an 

engine 8 ft in diameter and 4Yz ft high-about 50% shorter than con- 

246


ventional bell nozzle engines. A new “aerodynamically compensating 

nozzle” would permit use of the engine at sea level or high altitude, 

making it potentially suitable for both lower and upper stages of launch 

vehicles. Contract completion date was May 31, 1968. (NASA Release 

67-221) 

A completely fireproof version of the spacecraft fabric Velcro had been 

perfected and would be used on NASA’s first manned Apollo mission in 

1968, William Hines reported in the Washington Evening Star. In tests 

conducted at MSC early in August, the all-metallic fabric did not ignite, 

even in pure oxygen atmosphere at 16.5 psia. Velcro Corp. vice presi- 

dent Jack Mates told Hines in an interview that NASA had not yet placed 

an order for the improved Velcro, but that his company was beginning 

production of a substantial quantity. In the Jan. 27 Apollo fire, flames 

in the spacecraft had quickly spread along the surface of ordinary nylon 

Velcro adhesive pads which were used to hold frequently used equipment. 

(Hines, W Star, 8/18/67) 

0 Inexpensive and easily acquired property was not necessarily the best site 

for a new airport, according to airport site selection guide published 

by FAA. Other factors such as accessibility to users, construction costs, 

future expansion possibilities, obstructions, anticipated community re- 

sponse to aircraft noise, and proximity to other airports could be even 

more important factors. Airport site selection was a local responsibility, 

guide noted, but all sponsors of civil airport projects were required to 

notify FAA of proposed construction so agency could review project’s 

effect on surrounding airspace. (FAA Release 67-62) 

August 19: Negotiations were being conducted in Washington, D.C., to move 

Canada’s High Altitude Research Project (HARP) from McGill Univ. 

to Univ. of Vermont, Jay Walz reported in the New Yo& Times. Move 

was a result of Canada’s decision to cut off funding because it believed 

program should be self-supporting. HARP, which maintained a launch 

site in Highwater, Quebec, near the Vermont border, used 16-in naval 

guns to launch payloads inexpensively into the ionosphere for scientific 

and meteorological experiments. Project, which received about $1.2 

million annually from US. Army, employed 50 persons at McGill Univ., 

70 at Highwater, and 60 at a launch site in Barbados, West Indies. (Walz, 

NYT, 8/20/67,20) 

0 An unusual sequence of Soviet launches had led some US. officials to 

conclude that U.S.S.R. was testing techniques for reentering warheads 

from space, Evert Clark reported in the New York Times. “This could 

mean that the Russians are developing weapons to be stationed in orbit. 

Weapon re-entry techniques can be tested with or without the use of 

weapons, and the same re-entry techniques can be used for either nuclear 

or conventional weapons.” Clark said all of the flights (1) were very 

short, (2) had been launched from Tyuratam range, (3) had entered 

orbits with 49” inclination, and (4) had been given a Cosmos number. A 

resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1%3 asked all 

nations to refrain from orbiting weapons of mass destruction. The ques- 

tion of whether resolution prohzbited the development of such weapons 

had never been clarified, Clark said. (Clark, NYT, 8/2QJ67, 17) 

Hugo Gernsback, an inventor, author, editor, and publisher who was often 

called the father of modern science fiction, died in New York at age 83. 

Gernsback described radar in 1911-35 yrs before communications 

experts bounced a radar signal off the moon. In 1927 he began pub- 

324-801 -9-17 247


lishing Amazing Stories, one of the earliest magazines devoted entirely 

to science fiction. In 1928 he sponsored New York’s first television 

broadcasts: images only slightly larger than postage stamps were received 

on crude scanners owned by 2,000 amateurs. (NYT, 8/21/67,29) 

August 20: NASA published the first extensive chart of the far side of the 

moon. Compiled by USAF Aeronautical Chart and Information Center 

using NASA-supplied photos, map covered more than 75% of the moon’s 

hidden side. Approximately 85% of the photos used were provided by 

NASA Lunar Orbiters I, II, III, and IV; remaining 15% were provided 

by Soviet Zond 111. Map was released to assist astronomers at the 

International Astronomical Union, convening Aug. 22 in Prague, in 

naming features on moon’s far side. (NASA Release 67-220) 

0 USN successfully conducted first underwater launch of the Poseidon mis- 

sile off the coast of San Clemente, Calif. Missile was expected to be 

operational by 1970 aboard 30 of the 41 Polaris submarines. ( W Post, 

8/21/67) 

August 21: President Johnson signed $4.86-billion NASA FY 1968 authori- 

zation bill (S. 1296) into law. Noting that on Aug. 18 House Committee 

on Appropriations reported $4.6-billion NASA FY 1968 appropriation 

bill, $516.6 million less than NASA had requested, the President said: 

“Under other circumstances I would have opposed such a cut. However, 

conditions have greatly changed since I submitted my January budget 

request. . , . 

6b I recognize-as also must the Congress-that the reduction in funds 

recommended by the House Appropriations Committee will require the 

deferral and reduction of some desirable space projects. Yet, in the face 

of present circumstances, I join with the Congress and accept this reduction.’, 

(PD, 8/28/67, 1192-3) 

Two-stage Nike-Cajun sounding rocket launched from Natal, Brazil, failed 

when rocket strayed from planned trajectory. Failure was first in Brazil’s 

space program which opened Dec. 15, 1965, with the launch of a Nike- 

Apache sounding rocket. (Reuters, W Post, 8/23/67) 

NASA Arcas sounding rocket launched from Point Mugu, Calif., carried 

Naval Ordnance Test Station experiment to 33-mi (53-km) altitude to 

flight-test internally modified version of standard ROCOZ payload, designed 

to measure ozone distribution for support data on Ogo IV satellite. 

Rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. Scientific data 

were usable. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 Charles W. McGuire, formerly an aerospace engineer in the test directorate 

of NASA’s Gemini program, became Director of Safety for the Apollo 

Program. He would be on the headquarters staff of and report directly 

to the Apollo Program Director while being administratively assigned 

to the Safety Office, OMSF. (NASA Ann, 8/7/67) 

Maj. William J. Knight (USAF) flew X-15 No. 2 to 3,409 mph (mach 5.10) 

and 90,000-ft altitude in first flight with a new ablative coating and 

sealer designed to permit aircraft to fly at mach 7.4 without basic airframe 

modification. Flight also tested: (1) stability and control with 

dummy ramjet and ablative; (2) H.jcom phase-I1 camera (KA-51A) ; 

(3) ramjet local flow; (4) ramjet separation characteristics; and (5) 

wing tip accelerometer. (NASA Proj Off; Av Wk, 8/28/67, 33) 

* Special NSF panel to screen radio astronomy proposals advised NSF Director 

Leland J. Haworth to accept immediately only two of the six recommendations 

presented to the panel during July hearings: (1) Cornel1 

248

ASTRONAU D AE 7 Augus 

August 21: The X-15 research aircraft stands with the XB-70 research plane outside 

the hangar at NASA’s Flight Research Center. The X-15’s new white ablative coating is 

designed to protect its metal skin from overheating during speeds of more than mach 6. 

Univ.’s proposal to improve accuracy of the surface of 300-m antenna 

at Arecibo, Puerto Rico; and (2) Cal Tech’s proposal to add seven dish 

antennas to one already in existence at Owens Valley Observatory. Panel 

rejected or deferred: (1) National Radio Aqstronomy Observatory’s 

(NMo) proposal for a very Large Array (VU) consisting of 36 25-m 

dish antennas distributed along three arms of a Y; (2) Northeast Radio 

Observatory Cop’s (NEROC) proposal for 135-m fully steerable dish 

antenna under plastic steel-ribbed radome; (3) Associates for Radio 

Astronomy’s (AM) proposal for 100-m fully steerable dish antenna 

without radome; and (4) Committee on Institutional Cooperation’s 

proposal for a device to study upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Eightmember 

panel was chaired by Princeton Univ. physicist Dr. Robert H. 

Dicke. (McElheny, Science, 8/18/67, 7824; 8/25/67, 907-10) 

0 Rep. William L. Hungate (D-340.) expressed on the House floor concern 

about NASA’s FY 1968 budget request “at a time when the Nation’s economy 

is threatened by inflation and when we are spending $24 billion 

annually on the war in Vietnam.. . . 

“As an example of untimely NASA spending, $21,100,000 of the funds 

requested are to be devoted to research directly applicable to the super- 

. . . . Before more millions are 

onsideration should be given t 

by this costly innovation. . . 

10,000-channel satellite- 

cs reported. Procurement of four or more of the 

satellites would have to be approved by INTELSAT, but “chances of a go- 

ahead look good.” ComSatCorp’s plan was based on design studies 

recently completed by Hughes Aircraft Co. and Lockheed Aircraft Corp. 

249


for a high-capacity, multipurpose satellite [see March 231. (Electronics, 

8/21/67) 

* A space rescue blanket for campers and sportsmen was being manufactured 

by National Research Cop., using a superinsulation material it had 

developed to store cryogenic materials in spacecraft, Douglas W. Cray 

reported in the New York Times. Made of a plastic base one half of one 

thousandth of one inch thick with an aluminum coating one millionth 

inch thick, blanket weighed two ounces, measured 56 by 84 in, and 

could be folded into a cigarette-pack size. It was waterproof and wind- 

proof, remained flexible at temperatures as low as -60” F, and could 

reflect 80% of user’s natural body heat. (Cray, NYT, 8/21/67,45,48) 

Layis Research Center’s Quiet Engine Program should produce a sig- 

nificant reduction in jet-engine noise and reverse the rising noise levels 

which had created serious problems at major airports, Michael L. Yaffee 

reported in Aviation Week. Expected to cost $50 million, program was 

seeking to develop a new turbofan demonstrator engine that would show 

a reduction of 15 PNdb (perceived noise in decibels) on takeoff and 

20 PNdb on landing, below noise of current transport engines. Definition 

phase of Quiet Engine Program began under $458,000 contract LeRc 

awarded United Aircraft Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney Div., July 13. Re- 

maining $750,000 allotted to program for FY 1967 was being used to 

purchase supporting services and hardware. (Yaffee, Av Wk, 8/21/67, 

38-9) 

August 22: House voted 312-92 in favor of $4.6-billion NASA FY 1968 a p 

propriation bill (H.R. 12474) -NASA’s lowest in five years. This was the 

sum recommended by the House Appropriations Committee [see Aug. 

181. Two amendments by Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.)-one to 

reduce R&D funds by $100 million, one to reduce administrative opera- 

tions’ funds by $37 million-were defeated by voice vote. (NASA LAR 

VI/93; CR, 8/22/67, H10909-30) 

Leonard Rawicz, former patent counsel for CSFC, had been appointed 

NASA Assistant General Counsel for Patent Matters, succeeding Robert 

F. Allnutt, who was named NASA Assistant Administrator for Legislative 

Affairs June 15. (NASA Release 67-226) 

Tass announced that U.S.S.R. would build more than 20 relay stations 

during 1%7 so that Moscow telecasts could be transmitted via Molniya 

comsats to Siberia, the Soviet Far East, and the “extreme north.” (Reu- 

ters, W Post, 8]24/67; Clark, NYT, 8/25/67) 

0 USAF announced it was sending teletype messagea between two aircraft 

flying 10,OOO mi apart via a satellite in 20,000.mi-altitude earth orbit. 

Scheduled over six-month period, communications tests were being con- 

dwted over Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, North and South America, the 

polar regions, and Europe. ( AFSC Release 144.67) 

* A college which would train 2,000 pilots and technicians annually for 

the expanding aviation industry was proposed in report by a study 

group sponsored by the Economic Development Administration. Report 

recommended that various segments of the aviation industry join to 

form a nonprofit organization to operate flight training portion of the 

college. Academic side would be handled by Arizona State Univ. Report 

estimated college would cost $13-million and could be opened by 1969. 

(UPI, NYT, 8/23/67,73) 

August 22-31 : International Astronomical Union (IAU) met in Prague. 

Dr. Robert B. Leighton of Cal Tech reported that there were about 

250


three times as many craters on Mars as preliminary photos transmitted 

in 1965 by Mariner IV spacecraft indicated. Citing data from two-year 

study of photos using new computer-enhancement technique, Dr. Leigh- 

ton said pictures showed 300 clearly defined craters and more than 300 

additional possible craters. Original estimate from unprocessed pictures 

was less than 100. Mars appeared to be about as densely pitted as the 

moon but its craters were smoother because of more effective erosion 

processes. Several photos showed a number of linear features similar 

to lines formed by rifts and faults on the moon. These features were not 

the ‘cmuch-discussed” canals of Mars because they were too narrow to 

be visible from earth, Dr. Leighton said, but they might be related to 

some of the markings identified earlier as canals. (NASA Release 67-225) 

Dr. and Mrs. Pierre Connes of Haute Provence Observatory and 

Meudon Observatory, France, respectively, reported evidence that might 

indicate Venusian clouds are not formed by water. Observation tech- 

nique which greatly increased precision with which planets’ spectra 

could be analyzed showed spectral lines of hydrogen chloride and hydro- 

gen fluoride in the light reflected from Venus. When hydrogen fluoride 

combines with water it creates hydrochloric acid which absorbs radar 

waves; yet radar waves are known to penetrate Venutian clouds, re- 

turning echoes to the surface of the earth. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/24/67) 

The “mysterium phenomenon”-peculiar radio emissions from the 

Milky Way which display almost all the characteristics of artificial 

interstellar communication-was the subject of a report by Dr. T. K. 

Menon, National Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, W. Va., and a 

later panel discussion. Dr. Menon said most recent observations of 

the emissions in the nearby part of the galaxy had been made simulta- 

neously from California, Massachusetts, and U.K., using almost the 

entire width of earth as a baseline for measurement. They had identi- 

fied sources of emissions which were smaller than the smallest star 

as seen by the human eye and discovered some of these emissions were 

fluctuating on time scales measured in hours or even less. Panel raised 

the possibility that emissions might be from stars in the process of 

formation. They were being transmitted at four closely spaced wave- 

lengths associated with hydroxyl, a molecule formed of a single oxygen 

and hydrogen atom, and were being given off when such molecules shed 

energy. Emissions also appeared to have various properties associated 

with a maser-man-made device in which a radio or light wave is beamed 

through certain atoms whose energy has been raised, enormously ampli- 

fying original wave and, if wave is confined to a single axis, producing 

a beam of extreme intensity. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/26/67,1,10; 8/28/67, 

22) 

Lunar Committee postponed naming of surface features on moon’s 

far side pending the results of Lunar Orbiter V mission. A list of 228 

names for approximately 500 major features had been submitted by 

Soviet scientists, but US. delegates cited errors in their designations 

and asked that features be assigned numbers until a more definitive map 

could be prepared using Lunar Orbiter V photos. Commission agreed to 

interim number designations and accepted US. map temporarily, assign- 

ing study group to report on specific names at next assembly. (Sullivan, 

NYT, 8/25/67, 13; NASNRC-NAE News Report, 10/67, 6-7) 

IAU president Dr. Pol Swings of Belgium confirmed an observation 

made by two obscure Irish astronomers in 1882. Astronomers Lohse and 

251


Copeland had observed a comet during the day, apparently with a hand- 

held spectroscope, and reported that it glowed strongly with spectral lines 

of iron as it passed the sun. All earlier observations of light emitted from 

comets as they neared the sun indicated they were composed of very 

light materials, and the idea that they were rich in iron was viewed 

skeptically. However, photos and electric recordings taken of the comet 

IkeyaSeki as it passed the sun in 1966 showed unmistakable spectral 

lines of iron, Dr. Swings said. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/27/67, 51) 

Dr. Gordon H. Pettengill, MIT’S Lincoln Laboratory, said that results 

from an experiment which studied Martian terrain by bouncing radar 

signals off the planet indicated: (1) Mars was roughly as mountainous 

as earth; (2) there were no large bodies of water on Mars; and (3) there 

was no clear correlation between height of land and presence of dark 

areas on Mars. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/30/67, 15) 

Dr. Bradford A. Smith, New Mexico State Univ., confirmed report by 

French astronomer Pierre Guerin that atmosphere of Venus was moving 

around the planet in a clockwise direction at a remarkable rate of speed. 

Conclusion was based on photos of Venusian atmosphere taken suc- 

cessively both at night and during the day, which recorded changes in 

wavelengths of ultraviolet light. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/30/67, 15) 

August 23: USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Thor-Burner 

I1 booster. (Pres Rep 1967) 

The New York Times commented on the task force appointed by President 

Johnson to formulate a national communications policy [see Aug. 191 : 

“The . . . task force . . . has an unprecedented opportunity to break 

internal governmental deadlocks that stand in the way of a domestic satel- 

lite system and other needed forward steps in communications. It can do 

much to advance public television and to give all TV, both commercial 

and noncommercial, a firmer root in public service. Perhaps most im- 

portant of all, it can point a path for the interconnection of international 

satellites so that all countries can be encouraged to see and speak to 

one another across the heavens. . . . 

“The major challenge is to clear channels through which revolutionary 

new developments in communications can be used with maximum effec- 

tiveness for total human service and enlightenment. The last thing that 

should happen is for Congress to postpone action on President Johnson’s 

proposal for a Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Such a planning body 

should be in existence to move speedily on any sound recommendations 

the task force makes.” (NYT, 8/23/67,40M) 

August 24: Cosmos CLXXIII was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 5288- 

km (328-mi) apogee, 280-km (174Cmi) perigee, 92-min period, and 71” 

inclination. All equipment functioned normally. Satellite reentered Dec. 

17. (UPI, NYT, 8/25/67,5; GSFC SSR, 12/31/67) 

0 US. and U.S.S.R. submitted to disarmament conference in Geneva identi- 

cal texts of a draR treaty to prevent the further spread of nuclear weap- 

ons. Treaty would bar the five nuclear powers from transferring nuclear 

weapons or nuclear explosive devices to nations that did not have them 

or from assisting them in the production of nuclear weapons. After a 

draft was agreed to by 17-nation disarmament conference, it would be 

submitted to U.N. General Assembly for discussion. 

President Johnson commented: “If we now go forward to completion 

of a worldwide agreement, we will pass on a great gift to those who follow 

us. 

252


“We shall demonstrate that-despite all his problems, quarrels, and 

distractions-man still retains a capacity to design his fate, rather than be 

engulfed by it. 

“Failure to complete our work will be interpreted by our children and 

grandchildren as a betrayal of conscience, in a world that needs all of its 

resources and talents to serve life, not death. . . .” (PD, 8/28/67, 

1204-5; Hamilton, NYT, 8/25/67,1) 

* NASA test pilots Fitzhugh Fulton and Donald Mallick flew XB-70 No. 1 to 

mach 2.27 and 58,000-ft altitude in flight at Edwards AFB to check out: 

(1) three pacer airspeed calibration points; (2) photos of the tufted 

right upper canard; (3) boundary layer noise data; (4) stability, con- 

trol, and handling qualities; (5) bypass close unstart of left inlet; (6) 

nose ramp flutter data; and (7) radar airspeed calibration. (NASA Proj 

off) 

* Ten cosmonauts were practicing parachute jumps over the water, indicating 

that future Soviet space missions might attempt American-style splash- 

downs, Krasnaya Zvezda reported. All previous Soviet manned space 

missions had come down on dry land. ( UPI, NYT, 8/25/67,29) 

Soviet aircraft would drop bombs into two large areas of the Pacific from 

Sept. 2-10 in series of seismic tests which would aid Soviet study of 

world oceans and research into forecasting tidal waves and earthquakes. 

Tass asked foreign governments to warn their ships not to enter first 

area from 1O:OO a.m. to 6:OO p.m. local time, Sept. 2-5; or second area 

during same hours Sept. 5-10. (Reuters, NYT, 8/25/67, 12) 

* Republic Aviation Gorp. offered $10,000 each to 12 well-trained men willing 

to spend 270 consecutive days in 28-ft-long simulated space chamber. 

Applicants had to be qualified psychologists, microbiologists, or systems 

engineers. Tests, at Wright-Patterson AFB under $646,434 USAF grant, 

would try to determine how men would react during a long space voyage. 

(AP, NYT, 8/25/67,16) 

August 25: Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space 

Science and Applications, would become NASA Associate Administrator 

Oct. 1, NASA Administrator James E. Webb announced. He succeeded 

Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., who became Deputy Administrator Dec. 21, 

1965. In his new position, Dr. Newell would work closely with Webb and 

Dr. Seamans on the planning, development, and conduct of the space pro- 

gram. D. D. Wyatt, Assistant Administrator for Program Plans and 

Analysis, would report directly to Dr. Newell. (NASA Release 67-228) 

* NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried Lockheed 

Missiles & Space Co. experiment to ‘76-mi (125-km) altitude to determine 

x-ray spectra in the 0.3- to 3-kev energy range of several previously 

discovered cosmic sources and to search for variation with galactic 

latitude of diffuse x-ray background. Rocket and instrumentation per- 

formed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

Mariner V spacecraft had traveled more than 114 million mi of its 216- 

million-mi flight to Venus and was now closer to Venus than to earth, 

NASA announced. JPL officials said spacecraft’s star tracker had been 

successfully updated for the first time Aug. 24. This electronic change 

of the tracker’s “look-angle,” commanded by the spacecraft’s on-board 

computer, would occur three more times during the flight. (NAS4 Release 

67-229) 

* Prof. Jacques-Emile Blamont of the University of Paris would receive the 

International Academy of Astronautics’ ( IAA) 1967 Daniel and Florence 

253


Guggenheim Award, IAA President Dr. C. Stark Draper announced. 

Given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the progreas of 

astronautics through work done during the last five years, award would 

be presented during International Astronautical Congress to be held in 

Belgrade Sept. 24-30. (IAA Press Release 32) 

Maj. Michael J. Adam (USAF) flew X-15 No. 3 to 82,000-ft altitude and 

3,136 mph (mach 4.71) at Edwards AFB. Purposes of test flight were to 

check: (1) phase I1 tail loads; (2) boost guidance checkout; (3) tra- 

versing probe; (4) tip pod accelerometer; and (5) boundary layer 

’noise. (NASA Proj Off) 

August 26: First Saturn V booster was moved to its launch pad on a crawler- 

transporter from KSC’S Vehicle Assembly Building. Three and one half 

mile trip took about 10 hrs. The 364-ft tall ‘booster would undergo at 

least six weeks of additional testing at the pad before being used to 

launch unmanned Apollo 4 mission, tentatively scheduled for October. 

Apollo Program Director M/G Samuel C. Phillips ( USAF) told newsmen 

at KSC that the movement of the Saturn V was an important milestone 

in the Apollo program. He predicted that, barring any major problems, 

US. could still achieve its goal of landing a man on the moon in 1969. 

He warned, however, that “it’s a long way to the moon and we have a 

major job ahead. Dangers go with this business. We’ve done everything 

we can to improve the equipment. But, remember, we’re treading on new 

ground and it’s a risky business. We feel we can overcome the risk and 

make it work.” (NASA Release 67-219; AP, W Star, 8/27/67, A3; NYT, 

8/27/67,1,29; W Post, 8]27/67,1) 

* FAA announced allocations of $70.2 million in Federal matching funds to 

construct and improve 386 public civil airports under FY 1968 Federal- 

aid Airport Program (FAAP). Program provided $64.1 million to im- 

prove 348 existing airports and $6.1 million to construct 38 new public 

airports. (FAA Release 67-64) 

August 28: National Academy of Sciences had corJcurred in House Com- 

mittee on Government Operations recommendation that outside experts 

as well as those in Government be used to advise decisionmakers of 

R&D deficiencies and remedies. Committee released report of NAS and 

Bureau of the Budget comments on recommendations to improve Fed- 

eral R&D decisionmaking process, which also showed NAS had concurred 

that Executive Office should examine program-level recommendations 

but had warned of danger of attempting to determine gaps or establish 

levels of support on too centralized a basis. NAS also had voiced strong 

reservations on a cost-benefit approach to R&D evaluation. (Text) 

Ralph W. Tyner, former Industrial Relations Officer at GSFC, ‘became Dep- 

uty Director for Labor Relations at NASA Hq, replacing C. Stuart Broad, 

who transferred to DOD July 17. (NASA Ann, 8/25/67) 

* NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr. 

Homer E. Newel1 wrote to the Editor of Aerospace Technology: “In 

1973, NASA proposes to conduct the first of the Voyager series of mis- 

sions to Mars, using the Saturn launch vehicle. We wish to call the 

attention of the scientific community to the opportunity of proposing 

experiments for thii initial flight. , . . 

“. . . Regardless of the level of funding support obtained for Voyager 

this’fiscal year, it is our plan to begin evaluating scientific proposals 

on Nov. 1, 1967, and to select scientists for participation in the plan- 

ning and development steps by Feb. 1968. . . .” (Aero Tech, 8/28/67,8) 

254


study contract 

conomical gen- 

orted. Contract 

asis on general aviation and 

would be designed to support in-house work that ARC had been conduct- 

ing for the last year. Basic objective was to find areas where new tech- 

nology could be applied to present or future propulsion systems that 

would lead to a more economical general aviation engine. (Av Wk, 

8/28/67,113) 

* Report released by House Committee on Government Operations’ Sub- 

committee on Military Operations said that DOD’S Initial Defense Com- 

munications Satellite Program ( IDCSP) had many inadequacies and 

urged that steps be taken “forthwith” to reinforce it by adding syn- 

chronous satellites. Report argued that undue reliance on present system 

would stretch it “skintight,” impairing its capabilities if unexpected fail- 

ures developed. The subcommittee expressed concern over DOD’S appar- 

ent intent to use IDCSP “for a longer period than originally planned” 

and its tendency to lean “rather heavily on the future promise of tech- 

nological breakthroughs and improvements in the state-of-the-art.” It 

conceded it would be wrong to settle for a limited system when new 

technological advances could be made, but also felt it would be an error 

to inflate the possibilities of present system as an excuse to defer needed 

improvements. (Jones, M/S Daily, 8/29/67) 

USAF had awarded letter contract to Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. to 

begin Program 612, a new reconnaissance satellite system, Aerospace 

Technology reported. It was estimated that program would cost $350 

million. (Aero Tech, 8/28/67,3) 

* European aerospace industry assn., Eurospace, was urging formation .of 

an optional regional communications satellite system to provide TV 

and telephone coverage for Europe, Donald E. Fink reported in Auk- 

tion Week. An expanded version was also being studied to link the 

continent with the entire Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and 

major portions of Africa. Designated Eurosat, system would consist 

of one 375-1b comsat launched into stationary orbit by an ELDO Europa 

I1 booster and at least 18 ground stations in Europe and North Africa. 

Fabrication of satellite and ground stations would be restricted to Euro- 

pean aerospace companies. Initial cost estimate for satellite system was 

$100 million. (Fink, Av Wk, 8/28/67,29) 

ComSatCorp had requested proposals for construction of its new labora- 

tories near Clarksburg, Montgomery County, Md., to house initial staff 

of about 300 [see May 51. Mission of laboratories would include re- 

search in radio-frequency transmission, communications processing, 

spacecraft systems, and physics. (ComSatCorp Release 67-41) 

Augllst 28-30: AIAA meeting on “Space Program Issues of the ’70’s” was held 

in Seattle. 

Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.), Chairman of House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Space Science and Applications Subcom- 

mittee, said in panel discussion that the civilian part of the Nation’s space 

program “no longer has a very high priority,” partly because of the Viet- 

nam war and partly because NASA had not convinced the public and 

Congress of the economic and technological benefits of space research. 

Spending on space exploration was not likely to be increased sig- 

nificantly for several years and accomplishments in the 1970s could be 

255


“severely limited.” He said: “Recent Congressional action on the 1968 

NASA budget was a direct reflection of these changing [economic, 

political, and social] values; it was also a reflection of how the mood 

of a majority of those in the Congress has changed [and] there is little 

doubt that the worth of the space program, in terms of economic, 

political and social values, has been judged and found wanting by large 

numbers of the public and their representatives in government.” He 

added that, “in spite of great advances, scientific and technological pro- 

grams are among the least understood of our national efforts [but, on 

the other hand] every nation in the world that is unable or fails to 

carry out an aggressive R&D program also fails to develop an economy 

that educates, feeds, houses and clothes its people.” Karth urged that 

NASA consider “an evolution to a functional organizational arrange- 

ment . . . on such a breakdown as: earth orbital, lunar, solar, planetary 

and deep space.” He hoped to see “the emergence of a better system” 

for long-range planning which was not simply a “pasting together of 

manned and unmanned plans,” but said that “long-range prospects for 

progress are enormous [and] these prospects must be sold to the public 

and top policy-makers in terms of what makes sense for the overall 

benefit of society.” (Text; Wilford, NYT, 8/30/67, 17) 

NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh described national 

space program planning as having “characteristics of complexity, flexibil- 

ity, and continuity.” He recalled that NASC had recommended to the 

President that the Nation undertake the Apollo program, with its 

“within this decade schedule” and added: “Apollo project was planned 

at a time when we were in a secondary position to the Soviets in space 

competence [and] when we needed a policy decision and specific plans 

to accomplish that decision in order to. energize our entire space effort. 

Along with a number of other space projects, this major project has 

given substantial spirit and substance to our program and we are no 

longer behind any country in over-all space performance.” Welsh con- 

cluded: ‘“this country does not now need such a special source of im- 

petus [like Apollo] to keep it going in the right direction in space [and] 

to maintain our competence or sense of purpose.” (Text) 

Dr. Albert J. Kelley, formerly Deputy Director of ERC and currently 

Dean of Boston College’s Graduate School and School of Business Ad- 

ministration, argued that clearly defined post-Apollo goals had to be 

formulated if full potential of the Nation’s space program were to be 

realized. “If we set forward well-defined goals and plans we have a good 

possibility of continuing to maintain a strong national space program; 

if not, then we stand a chance of losing by default much of our gains to 

date, but even more important of not realizing our potential payoffs in 

the 70’s.” (SBD, 8/30/67,312) 

August 28-31 .- Aviation Subcommittee of Senate Committee on Commerce 

held hearings to explore needs, problems, and means of maintaining an 

adequate airport system for a forecast 400% air passenger growth by 

1980. Proposals heard on financing included passenger head tax, fuel 

tax, landing fees, Federal loan progrzm, interest subsidy, and expanded 

FAAP funds. Among other proposals were noise standards, engine and 

airframe redesign, CAB diversion of traffic, reliever airports, air taxis, 

helicopter service, and high-speed ground transportation. Also recom- 

mended to the committee were increased state participation, tightened 

congressional control, and a national air transport system. (Text) 

256


August 29 

August 29: Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.) expressed concern on Senate 

floor that the Nation’s space program suffered from a “serious lack of 

centralized leadership within the administration. Leadership is needed 

to weigh and decide on the merits of proposed space projects; to coordi- 

nate program requirements and development efforts of civil and defense 

agencies; and to establish long-range national space goals and to seek 

the resources necessary to achieve them. 

“I believe that this failure to assert administrative responsibility has 

resulted in the costly and needless development of two families of launch 

vehicles-one for NASA and one for the Department of Defense. Cur- 

rently, NASA and the Department of Defense are each separately under- 

taking manned space programs having similar, if not identical, basic 

objectives-to determine whether man can effectively operate in 

space. . . .” 

Criticizing President Johnson’s support of NASA N 1968 budget cuts 

recommended by House Appropriations Committee [see Aug. 211, Sen. 

Smith said: ‘‘I am mindful that some significant budgetary decisions 

must be made because of our commitments in Vietnam and social strife 

at home. But is the Congress to supply the initial decisionmaking power 

for the executive branch? Is so little consideration and concern given to 

determining the required resource level for space technology programs 

that across-the-board reduction recommended by a legislative committee 

can be accepted so lightly? 

‘6 

There are many of us who feel that science and technology may well 

be the key to our future existence-to the very survival of freedom in 

the world of tomorrow. In the past, I believe that the administration 

also held this to be true. However, the present lack of responsible action 

in regard to our space program leads me to wonder whether the admin- 

istration plans and manages the future course for our country with any 

foresight or merely reacts to events with fear and trepidation.” (CR, 

8/29/67, S12399) 

a NASA Deputy Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr., reporting on gravity 

of budget situation in the light of pending congressional action, said that 

study of program alternatives would continue while hiring of additional 

personnel would be suspended. He gave elements of NASA Hq. guidance 

on restricting activities, to provide maximum flexibility for future deci- 

sions when budget and expenditure limits were clarified. (Text) 

A 180-man crew working a 10-hr day six days a week had completed 14- 

week construction job of 15-building installation in the Australian desert, 

which would be used to intercept information transmitted by Soviet 

reconnaissance satellites [see Aug. 121. (AP, NYT, 8/29/67,2.4) 

August 30: NASA engineers maneuvered Lunar Orbiter III, launched Feb. 4, 

by firing spacecraft’s velocity control engine 125.5 sec, with intent to 

simulate planned orbit for manned Apollo. Planned 100-mi circular 

orbit for Apollo was approximated in 196-mi apolune and 89-mi perilune 

achieved by maneuver from Lrcnar Orbiter Ill’s prior 1,133-mi apolune 

and 87-mi perilune. Data on lunar gravity fields would be obtained for 

Apollo program. Lunar Orbiter series of four spacecraft orbiting around 

moon was providing valuable tracking target activity for NASA’s Manned 

Space Flight Network ( MSFN) . (NASA Release 67-233) 

NATO intelligence had learned that French President Charles de Gaulle 

would begin extensive cooperation with U.S.S.R. in the field of space 

exploration, including the orbiting of nuclear weapons, Henry J. Taylor 

257


reported in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Taylor claimed U.S.S.R. 

was devoting a “substantial percentage’’ of its total military budget to 

the orbiting of nuclear weapons. (Taylor, P EB, 8/30/67) 

Augmt 31 : Two NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rockets, launched from Andoeya, 

Norway, carried GSFC payloads containing chemicals to produce 

barium clouds. Peak altitude attained by rockets would be determined 

by triangulation and by magnetometer measurements; no radar track 

was made. Missions of the cooperative Norway-US. project were (1) 

to compare electric field measurements made by two techniques, double 

probe and barium release; and (2) to analyze electric fields from observed 

motions of neutral and ionized barium clouds during an aurora 

condition. In this first of three pairs of launchings, good data were obtained 

and excellent results were expected. ( NASA Rpt SRL; NASA Release 

67-234) 

* U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXIV into orbit with 39,750-km (%,699- 

mi) apogee, 500-km (311-mi) perigee, 715-min period, and 64.5” in- 

clination. (GSFC SSR, 8/31/67) 

During August: “Despite the rancor and doubt of the moment [about U.S. 

space program], the evidence is persuasive that the nation has been 

well served indeed,” Fortune magazine said in an article reviewing 

NASA problems, shortcomings, and accomplishments. The article, “Jim 

Webb’s Earthy Management of Space,” said: “Webb . . . has developed 

a managerial doctrine as extraordinary as the space mission itself. 

Essentially it is a bold extension of the systems-management principle 

first applied in the Pentagon for weapon development. This approach 

means that the Pentagon tries to relate design and procurement plans 

to the weapon system’s maximum potential, to other weapon systems, 

to cost effectiveness, to foreseeable strategic situations, and to other 

spacial considerations. In NASA’s case, the ‘system’ is usually an exotic 

research objective, like landing a package of instruments on Mars. 

Such an undertaking, of course, requires management consideration 

of costs and engineering feasibility, but NASA also tries to relate it to 

the social, economic, and even political impact the new knowledge may 

have on some of the most basic mysteries of human life. In one sense, 

the system becomes an exercise in applied philosophy. To master such 

massively complex and extensive problems, the agency has mobilized 

some 20,000 individual firms, more than 4@0,000 workers, and 200 colleges 

and universities in a combine of the most advanced resources of 

American civilization.” (Mecklin, Fortune, 8/67) 

The Nation’s press commented on photos transmitted by Lunar Orbiter V. 

New York Times: “Orbiter 5 is currently adding some enduring contributions 

to mankind‘s cultural heritage as photographic by-products 

of the space effort. 

6L 

Some of the close-up pictures of the moon have been among the 

wildest, most disordered and most surrealistic scenes ever viewed by 

human eyes. Yet its distant views of the far side of the moon convey a 

sense of desolate tranquillity, of peace achieved after many storms. 

“This new art form has been produced by machines hundreds of 

thousands and millions of miles away, in realms where men have never 

been. Yet many of these pictures have far more power to move than 

much of the output of contemporary artists. . . .” (NYT, 8/13/67,10E) 

Washington Evening Star: “The pictures of the moon we have been 

getting back from our assorted orbiting cameras have been fine and 

258

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During August 

fascinating, but the most interesting of all has turned out to be the picture 

of the earth from the distance of the moon. 

a 

This is natural enough: self-portraits are always the best portraits, es- 

pecially from the point of view of the sitter. 

“But the thing about this self-portrait is the inescapable conclusion 

that the earth is really a rather lovely place, when seen from 214,806 

miles away. . . .” (W Star, 8/18/67) 

Choice of spacecraft atmosphere, according to Space/Aeronautics, “won’t be 

pure oxygen, but whether the diluent will be nitrogen, helium or late- 

comer neon is far from clear.” It emphasized oxygen regeneration would 

require difficult hardware tradeoffs to satisfy variety of missions. (S/A, 

8/67, 71) 

Federal civilian employment of professional scientific and technical per- 

Bonnel rose by 9% from October 1962 to December 1964, NSF stated in 

report on occupational characteristics of scientific and technical em- 

ployees of Federal Government in December 1964. Engineers, largest of 

three major groups-scientists, engineers, and health professionals- 

made up 40% of the total 189,500 in 1964. Scientists made up about 

36%. DOD continued to be the major Government employer. (Text) 

* Soviet northern cosmodrome, whose existence was first publicly announced 

at British Interplanetary Society’s November 1966 meeting following 

radio-tracking activities at Kettering Grammar School [see Dec. 12, 

19661, had maintained steady rate of satellite launches since beginning 

with Cosmos satellite in March 1966. New launch site, about 100 mi south 

of Archangel and between towns of Yarnerna and Tarasova, still had 

not been acknowledged by Soviet authorities. (Perry, S/F, 8/67, 274) 

* First issue of Soviet magazine Space Biology and Medicine had been pub- 

lished in Moscow. Contributors included medical experts, biologists, 

physiologists, and psychologists. Subjects included space psycho- 

physiology, and life support systems. (S/F, 8/67, 271) 

259

September 1967 

September 1: Need for design modifications had required shipment of a 

manned orbital workshop to the McDonnell Douglas Space Systems 

Center, Huntington Beach, Calif., said Marshall Space Flight Center. 

Workshop, built by McDonnell Douglas, was model for the Saturn S-IVB 

stage and when modified would represent Saturn stage as it was to be 

used in Apollo Applications program as a manned space laboratory. 

Some 50 ft long and 21.5 ft in diameter, workshop was used at MSFC as an 

engineering tool in designing structures, equipment, and experiments 

for the initial mission of 28 days. ( MSFC Release 67-181) 

FAA proposed maximum speed of 250 knots per hr (288 mph) for all air- 

craft operating below 10,000-ft mean sea level (MSL) in move designed 

to give pilots more time to “see and avoid” other air traffic in Nation’s 

moat heavily traveled airspace. Proposed rule would mean a change only 

for en route aircraft below 10,OOO ft MSL. Aircraft arriving at an airport 

and flying below 10,000 ft MSL had previously been placed under speed 

limitations: an indicated air speed of 250 knots for all such aircraft 

within 30 mi of their destination; within immediate terminal area, 200 

knots for turbinepowered aircraft and 156 knots for piston-engine air- 

craft. FAA cited growing numbers of high-performance aircraft using 

airspace below 10,OOO ft MSL where virtually all VFR (visual flight rules) 

flying is done, as well as about half of all IFR (instrument flight rules) 

flying. FAA said proposed rule would promote safer and more efficient 

utilization of airspace, since pilots of many high-speed aircraft probably 

would choose to operate above 10,ooO ft MSL for optimum performance 

and economy. (FAA Release 67-66) 

September 2: The second of three pairs of NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding 

rockets in cooperative Norway-US. project [see Aug. 311 was launched 

from Andoeya, Norway, carrying GSFC payloads, one of which con- 

tained chemicals to produce four barium clouds. Investigating electric 

fields during an aurora condition, experimenters obtained good data. 


9 Soviet Union announced a new series of rocket tests believed designed to 

perfect a sea-landing system for Russian astronauts in preparation for 

a resumption of manned space flights. Soviet news agency, Tass, said the 

test of “carrier rockets” would begin Sept. 3. It warned all ships and 

planes to stay clear of two 80-mile-wide “bulls’ eyes” in the Pacific 

Ocean, one about 900 miles northeast and one 300 miles northeast of 

Midway Island, from noon until midnight every day through Oct. 30. 

(Reuters, W Post, 9/3/67, A16) 

September 3: Lunar Orbiter V’s photographs had revealed flow patterns char- 

acteristic of hardened fluid material on the floor of the moon’s Tycho 

Crater, NASA announced [see Aug. 5-27]. Preliminary study of new 

260

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 September 3 

photographs tended to confirm prevailing theory held by scientists that 

the big crater had been formed by a great meteoroid crashing into the 

visible side of the moon. Some scientists believed much of the fluid mate- 

rial ejected when the three-mile-deep crater was formed might have 

resulted from the intense heat generated by the meteoroid‘s impact. They 

also suggested that the appearance of the dark halo resulted from the 

manner in which pulverized ejected material had been deposited. Material 

might have traveled outward from the impact point in a “base surge” 

close to the moon’s surface, giving a windswept appearance to the 

terrain. NASA photo afforded scientists first close-up view of the crater 

floor, providing new clues to its origin. Orbiter V’s high resolution tele- 

photo picture showed fractures, flow markings, and protruding dome- 

like hills with exposed layers. The Tycho region was one of the 36 

areas of high scientific interest on the moon photographed by Lunar 

Orbiter V. (NASA Release 67-231) 

Soviet Academician Leonid I. Sedov hinted at cooperation between the 

Soviet Union and the United States in manned exploration of space. The 

vice president of the International Aeronautical Federation dropped the 

hint in an interview with Tass: “Flight to Mars and the creation of large 

orbital scientific bases . . . will certainly demand joint efforts of all 

nations.,, The Soviet Union previously had declined all suggestions of 

joining its space efforts with those of the United States, although it had 

a limited agreement with France. (Reuters, NYT, 9/5/67) 

September 4: NASA-sponsored research on equipment used for surviving hard 

landing on the moon and planets had been conducted by Cal Tech- 

JPL engineers in simulated operations. Split-second JPL impact tests, 

which used powerful compressed air guns and a giant slingshot, hurtled 

equipment against solid backstops at speeds up to 500 feet per second 

(340 mph) . JPL’S engineer, Stan Taylor, explained : “During the brief 

instant that the test specimen is experiencing the 10,000 g shock, every 

part of it behaves as though it weighed 10,000 times its normal weight. 

The bolts supporting a one pound test item have to be good for about 

five tons.” The experiments had proved that intricate, delicate com- 

ponents required in sophisticated unmanned spacecraft of today and 

tomorrow could be protected to withstand shocks of 10,000 g. (JPL 

Release) 

a NASA’S work on advanced air-breathing engines was aimed at development 

of significantly improved propulsion systems, primarily for second- 

generation supersonic transports, Aviation Week and Space Technology 

reported. Based mainly at LeRC, advanced engine component research 

program was designed to improve overall performance by improving 

efficiencies of individual components such as the compressor, combustor, 

turbine, and nozzle. Although program was directed primarily to super- 

sonic powerplants, most anticipated improvements were expected to be 

applicable to future subsonic jet engines. (Av Wk, 9:4/67, 64-71) 

The House Committee on Government Operations in H.R. 613 urged DOD 

to proceed with plans for an advanced communications satellite sys- 

tem that would eventually replace the present Initial Defense Communi- 

cations Satellite Program (IDCSP). The Committee said it “would be 

a mistake” to lean too heavily on the IDCSP because its limited channel 

capacity was already strained. Several possible system configurations 

were under study by DOD. (Av Wk, 9/4/67, 18) 

Current attacks on the SST project appeared to stem from ignorance of the 

261

September 4 


plan and a failure to appreciate what it would contribute to the economy 

and security of this country, reported columnist L/G Ira C. Eaker ( USAF, 

Ret.). He had presented estimates of the sales volume and financial 

aspect of the SST programs which had been developed, checked, and 

rechecked by civil advisory groups, the airlines, and individual experts 

in transportation, industry, and finance. He said no Federal program 

since World War I1 had had the thorough analysis, careful examination, 

and close scrutiny accorded the present SST plan. He emphasized that the 

SST was not competitive in any way with social reform programs. On the 

other hand, it would stimulate continued growth of the economy, create 

employment, and provide a higher standard of living for thousands. 

(Eaker, Detroit News, 9/4/67) 

* Michael E. Gluhareff, Russian-born engineer and associate of helicopter 

pioneer Igor I. Sikorsky, died in Bridgeport, Conn., at 74. GluharefE was 

engineering manager of Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of United Aircraft. 

His many patents had included a dart-shaped plane, sailplane (glider) , 

tail-less airplane with rear-mounted propeller, and device to use exhaust 

gases of engines to increase the speed and load of the plane (co-inven- 

tor) . (AP, W Post, 9/6/67, B8) 

September 5: ATS Hydrolic Communications Experiment system, designed to 

report river height and rainfall measurements automatically via satellite 

was the object of a cooperative program by the Weather Bureau’s Office 

of Hydrology and NASA, ESSA announced. The synchronous satellite, Ats I, 

would be the communications link between automatic measurement 

devices at three locations in the US. and the Office of Hydrology in 

Washington, D.C. Purpose was the development of a fast, reliable, 

operational system by which potential flood conditions would be relayed 

instantly so public warnings could be issued. Sites chosen were Benton, 

Ark., which started transmitting data to the satellite on Aug. 1; Salem, 

Ore., which began operating Aug. 4; and Sacramento, Calif. (ESSA 


Trained monkeys completed a two-month simulated space flight which 

indicated that astronauts could return their spacecraft to earth even 

after a near-fatal dose of solar radiation. Sixteen rhesus monkeys, trained 

to operate an instrument panel, were used in a test at Los Alamos Scien- 

tific Laboratory. Some of the animals were exposed over a 10-day period 

to from 500 to 1,000 roentgens of gamma radiation. Three of the 

monkeys in the high-dose group died but the others survived. This 

evidence of monkey vitality was of great importance to man because 

the US. target date for moon landings would come at a peak of the 

sun’s 11-year-cycle for emitting deadly radiation. (C Trib, 9/5/67) 

September 6: Early Bird I communications satellite passed its test as a device 

for expediting clearance of passengers and cargo through airports when 

jet aircraft would be put in service in 1970. Moments after an airline 

flight took off from Frankfurt, Germany, for Dulles International Airport, 

data on passengers and cargo were sent via satellite to Government 

officials at Dulles so they could process the data in advance of the plane’s 

arrival. OEcials in Frankfurt relayed facsimiles of the cargo manifest, 

health certificates, and Customs declaration forms of the 120 passengers. 

(NYT, 9/7/67) 

* NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket, launched from Puerto Rico in Univ. 

of Illinois experiment to probe lower regions of ionosphere up to about 

125 mi (200 km), achieved satisfactory results. In first of three such 

262


rocket flights, measurements were made simultaneously with those of 

Ohservatory’s giant radar-radio telescope, 30 mi 

port launch site. World’s largest radar-radio telescope 

took ionospheric readings, using its 1,000-ft-dia wire mesh reflector. 

(NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-230; WS Release 67-28) 

* Army contract awards to the Western Electric Company, totaling $231.4 

million, for Nike-X work had been announced. Specific totals and contract 

purposes: $215.2 million for continued R&D; $13.2 million for 

deployment planning activities; and $3.0 million for support facilities. 

(DOD Release 837-67) 

3eptember 7: Reorganization of the Bureau of the Budget had created the 

Economic, Science and Technology Division, headed by John D. Young, 

reported Jerry Kluttz, in Washington Post. Young, at one time NASA’s 

Assistant Administrator for Administration, had headed the task force 

that recommended the shakeup. Reporting to his new division would be 

the Departments of Commerce and Transportation, AEC, NASA, NSF, 

Small Business Administration, and the regulatory agencies. Both NASA 

and AEC were transferred from the Military Division. (Kluttz, W Post, 

9/7/67) 

Navy contract award had been made to Radio Corporation of America 

in letter contract for $2.0 million, for six navigation satellites. The Special 

Projects Office, USN would be contracting activity. (DOD Release 

846-67) 

September 7-9: NASA’s Biosatellite II (Biosatellite-B) was successfully 

launched from ETR by a two-stage Thrust-Augmented Improved Delta 

launch vehicle into orbit with 202-mi (326-km) apogee, 187-mi (302km) 

perigee, 90.8-min period, and 33.5” inclination. The 940-lb research 

spacecraft consisted of three main sections : an adapter section which 

would remain in orbit; the reentry vehicle carrying the retrorocket and 

heat shield for reentry into the earth’s atmosphere; and, within the reentry 

vehicle, the experiment capsule containing the scientific experiments, 

life support equipment, parachutes, and radio beacon to aid in 

recovery. Biosatellite II carried 13 experiments to determine effects of 

the space environment on various life processes. 

Performance of the spacecraft was satisfactory except for some difficulty 

with completely reliable response to command transmission from 

the ground stations and out-of-spec accelerations during the first few 

orbits. The spacecraft’s temperature, attitude control, and atmospheric 

pressure readings were normal, and few additional anomalies were experienced. 

Mid-air recovery of NASA’s Biosatellite II experiment capsule, 

by aircraft at 3:15 pm EDT Sept. 9, within 15 mi of predicted impact 

location of 7’15’N and 162Oi’W, marked a new first. Biosatellite I, 

which had remained in orbit for two months after the retrorocket failed, 

landed in the ocean near Australia following reentry Feb. 15, but was not 

recovered. 

The most important single question for Biosatellite II wils whether 

the changes produced in organisms by radiation are slowed or hastened 

under weightless conditions. Biosatellite scientists had noted that early 

recovery had resulted in less risk to the experiments than if recovery 

had been delayed beyond the planned three days. Despite the delayed 

launch and early recovery, scientists reported only a small decrease in the 

expected data return from the experiments. Indications were that all 

programmed events in orbit, such as fixation of frog eggs, fixation and 

324-801 0-69-18 263

September 7-9 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

Before launch. 

4 hours and 4Q minutes of 

weightlessness. 

12 hours and 29 minutes of 


17 hours and 4Q minutes of 


September 7-9: Pepper plant, subjected to 45 hrs in orbit aboard NASA’s Biosatellite II, 

shows progressive effects of weightlessness on leaf orientation. Scientists believe loss of 

gravity causes growth hormone to move from bottom to top of leaves, in turn causing 

cells on top to grow and induce downward curling. 

264

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 September 7-9 

Biosatellite II was under management of ABC and under direction of 

OSSA. The Delta launch vehicle was managed by GSFC. Communications 

and tracking were handled by NASA’s Satellite Tracking and Data Acqui- 

sition Network, operated by GSFC. BiosateUite I1 was built by the General 

Electric Reentry Systems Dept. The Delta launch vehicle was built by 

Douglas Aircraft Co. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-239; Av Vh, 

9/18/67; AP, W Post, 9/11/67; Myler, UPI, W Post, 9/15/67, 

9 f 18/67; B Sun, 9/8/67; Yuenger, C Trib, 9/15/67) 

September 8: Explorer XXXIV, launched May 24, demonstrated that all its 

spacecraft systems and 10 of 11 experiments were operational and per- 

forming satisfactorily. No scientific data had been received from TRW 

spherical electrostatic analyzer experiment since launch because of elec- 

trical system malfunction. (NASA Proj Off) 

Col. Joseph F. Cotton (USAF) , pilot, and L/Col. Emil Sturmthal (USAF) , 

copilot, flew XB-70 No. 1 to 59,700-ft altitude and 1,510 mph (mach 

2.3) in flight at Edwards AFB. Purposes of test: longitudinal stability 

and control and handling qualities checkout; throat unstart checkout ; 

variable nose ramp functional test; radar airspeed calibration ; and 

handling qualities approach sidestep maneuvers. Flight was successful 

except for lost radar contact. (XB-70 Proj Off) 

NASA’s Mariner IV, launched Nov. 28, 1964, after 1,014 days of flight, 

reached its closest approach to earth at 29.1 million mi (46.9 million 

km) . (NASA Proj Off) 

September 8-1 0: Engineers and scientists on three continents secured aerial 

recovery of Biosatellite II, approximately 15 mi from the recomputed 

impact point over the mid-Pacific, and softlanded Surveyor V on the 

moon at a speed just over eight miles an hour and within 18 mi of its 

original target site. The work had involved hundreds of men in tracking 

stations (certain of which could track simultaneously up to three separate 

objects: deep space, manned capsule, or near-earth satellite) and 

control centers in the U.S., South America, and Australia. Surveyor V 

and Biosatellite II projects were carried out by two different NASA 

teams. Participants had included scientists and engineers from JPL and 

Hughes Aircraft Co. for Surveyor V, ARC and GSFC for Biosatellite II, 

and tracking-station and control-center personnel from around the 

world. (NASA Release 67-241 ; NASA Proj Off) 

September 8-30: NASA’s Surveyor V (Surveyor-E) unmanned spacecraft was 

successfully launched by Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle from ETR on a 

two-burn ascent mission to softland in the Apollo area of interest on 

the moon and to take television pictures of the lunar surface around 

its landing area. Surveyor V was the first of the Surveyor series to carry 

an instrument to study the chemical characteristics of the lunar soil and 

the first to attempt a landing in the eastern portion of the Apollo zone. 

The coast period between burns was 6 min 44 sec. Spacecraft insertion 

into a lunar trajectory occurred at 04:15:12.9 EDT Sept. 8. The trajectory 

appeared to be satisfactory. After separation from the launch 

vehicle, Surveyor V automatically acquired the sun and responded to 

265


September 8-30: First chemistry set on the moon, Surveyor V's alpha-backscattering in- 

strument slid several inches downhill Sept. 12 when it was gently nudged by firing 

of the spacecraft's three vernier rockets. The picture at left shows the instrument as 

deployed Sept. 11. The picture at right, after half-second engine firing, shows edge of 

instrument's flange covered with lunar soil. Fragments against uphill edge of instrument 

range from a few tenths to one inch in size. 

commands to turn its transmitter to low power. Spacecraft telemetry indi- 

cated that all systems were operational. The Surveyor V midcourse cor- 

rection was accomplished at 21:45 EDT Sept. 8. Immediately after the 

correction, the pressure in the helium supply tank was determined to be 

decreasing, indicating that the regulating vahe did not make a positive 

closure. Correction of leak was not possible; a descent strategy was 

developed to overcome the resultant degradation of the vernier engine 

retrograde capability. 

Surveyor V softlanded on the moon at 20:46:38 EDT on Sept. 10. 

The landing site was in the Sea of Tranquility at approximate coordinates 

23.19"E7 1.52"N, some 18 mi from the target point. The spacecraft 

took 200- and 600-line pictures of the lunar surface and conducted an 

alpha backscattering experiment. At lunar sunset, 6:40 am EDT, Sept. 

24+, 18,006 high-quality lunar photographs had been obtained (more 

than the combined totals from Surveyors I and 111). The alpha-backscat- 

tering instrument had operated for 83 hours on the lunar surface, pro- 

viding excellent data on the relative abundance of chemical elements in 

lunar material. To optimize the conditions for lunar-night survival, the 

spacecraft was operated for short periods at 21/2-hr intervals, using com- 

partment heaters, until the battery charge was down to 30 ampere hours, 

about 4-6 days after lunar sunset. The spacecraft then would be placed 

in hibernation for the remainder of the lunar night. 

The vernier engine erosion experiment was conducted at 01.38 EDT 

on Sept. 13, to obtain information on effects of impingement of a high 

velocity jet-gas stream on the lunar 'surface. TV pictures were taken of the 

area under study before and after vernier engine firing. Initially no sig- 

266


nificant erosion was noted, but follow-on operations with low sun angle 

photographs and shadow progression studies revealed a crater-like de- 

pression under vernier engine number 3 which had not been visible at 

the higher sun elevations. Surveyor Y accomplished all mission objec- 

tives. Before touchdown, radar reflectivity data were obtained; touch- 

down dynamics data were determined at landing time (bearing strength 

of lunar surface as the ultimate objective). Thermal data were obtained 

(accumulation of. data throughout the mission was the ultimate 

objective). 

The Surveyor program was managed by JPL under OSSA direction. 

Hughes Aircraft Co., under contract to JPL, designed and built the 

Surveyor spacecraft. Tracking and communications were the responsi- 

bility of JPL-operated Deep Space Network. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Re- 

lease 67-227; B Sun, 9/11/67; AP, W Star, 9/25/67; Hines, W Star, 

9/29/67; W Post, 9/14/167; O’Toole, W Post, 9/30/67; Clark, NYT, 

9/30/67) 

September 9: Sen. John 0. Pastore (D-R.I.) , Chairman of Joint Committee 

on Atomic Energy, speaking at launching oi Navy’s latest nuclear sub- 

marine, the Narwhal, in Groton, Conn., called for “full speed ahead” on 

building an ABM system. (Av Wk, 9/18/67; ,CR, 9/19/67, 93207-9) 

* TO astronauts, Maj. Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr. (WAF), and Capt. 

James A. Lovell, Jr. (USN), had won the 1967 Harmon Interna- 

tional Aviation Trophy, the Clifford B. Harmon Trust announced in 

New York. Trophies also would go to Miss Sheila Scott of Britain, who 

had established speed records during a 28,633-mi solo flight around 

the world in a single-engine plane, and to Alvin S. white. White, now 

manager of supersonic flight research and development for Trans World 

Airlines, was named the outstanding airplane pilot for test flights of the 

XB-70 at mach 3 as chief test pilot for North American Aviation Com- 

pany. The awards are made annually for exceptional feats of individual 

piloting skill. (NYT, 9/10/67) 

* Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was dedicated. Two-mile-long building 

would contain the world’s longest research instrument, one of the most 

complex and precise machines ever built by man. Director of the Stan- 

ford Linear Accelerator Center would be Professor Wolfgang K. H. 

Panofsky. The energy of the linear accelerator would be three times 

that of any other electron accelerator in the world, producing more than 

20 billion electron volts. Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of AEC, in his 

speech of dedication, hoped that “these forces of science, these common 

quests that men can undertake and work together on, . . will in large 

part be responsible for the fulfillment of one of man’s most basic needs- 

that of being able to live together in peace and understanding.” Dr. Sea- 

borg emphasized that the center “is open . . . to qualified scientists from 

all parts of the United States and the world.” (AEC Release S-35-67) 

September 10: Soviet Union reportedly had been giving top priority to 

efforts to develop multiple warheads for its big missiles, William Beecher 

wrote in New York Times. If the report was correct and if the Soviet 

effort succeeded, Moscow could increase several-fold its ability to hit 

a number of targets in the US. simultaneously. In Britain, Air Commo- 

dore Neil Cameron described the new weapon in Royal Air Force Quar- 

terly. “It is widely believed that the Russians have developed the multi- 

ple individually guided reentry vehicle, known as MIRV, which could 

revolutionize nuclear strategy. . . . It would mean that each Soviet mis- 

267

September 10 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

sile dispatched could carry ten or more individually guided warheads 

in the megaton class, which could neutralize the Americans’ numerical 

lead in this field and make a counter-force strategy as far as the Soviets 

are concerned a realistic possibility.” (Beecher, NYT, 9/10/67; AP, B 

Sun, 9/15/67; Cameron, RAF Quart, Autumn 67, 175-83) 

September 11 : An all-metal payload shroud which separated in three sections 

would be used when an Air Force Titan 111 launch vehicle placed a DOD 

communications satellite into space in the €all of 1968. Developed and 

produced by Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc., under a $2.6-million contract, 

the shroud would be made up of fairings to protect the sensitive instru- 

mentation of scientific payloads during passage through the earth’s 

atmosphere. (AFSC Release 171.67) 

Cosmos CLXXV was launched into orbit with 386-km (240-mi) apogee, 

210-km (130-mi) perigee, 92.0-min period, and 72.9’ inclination. Satel- 

lite reentered Sept. 19. ( W Post, 9/12/67; GSFc SSR, 9/30/67) 

September 12: Two NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rockets, launched from 

Andoeya, Norway, carried GSFC electric field experiments. Four barium 

clouds released by the first were photographed from all sites for analysis 

of electric fields from motions of neutral and ionized barium clouds 

during aurora condition. The second rocket was launched to correlate 

electric field measurements with measurements of magnetic fields, flux, 

and energy spectra of low-energy particles, but failed on loss of radio- 

frequency signals. ( NASA Rpt SRL) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket, laucched from WSMR to verify launch 

compatibility of rocket and modified Nike-Ajax military rail launcher, 

failed on premature staging at 150 ft; launch verification was successful. 


* The world’s largest aircraft would begin to take shape in October when 

three sections of the Air Force’s C-5A Galaxy would be joined to form 

a nearly 230-foot-long structure, AFSC announced. The aircraft, scheduled 

for completion early in 1968, had been under construction by Lockheed- 

Georgia Co. at Marietta, Ga., under AFSC contract. With engines and 

operating equipment installed-minus fuel and payload-the C-5A 

would weigh 323,900 pounds. It would be capable of airlifting all types 

of combat and support forces anywhere in the world--complete with 

tanks, equipment, and supplies-within 24 hours. Its total length would 

be 246 feet, with a wingspan of 223 feet and a tail tip more than 65 feet 

off the ground. ( AFSC Release 149.67) 

0 An Army Pershing ballistic missile fired from Utah by US. troops overshot 

the White Sands Missile Range and smashed into the Mexican country- 

side. The Mexican government gave permission for a US. helicopter to 

cross the Rio Grande to look for it. No injuries or property damage were 

reported. The test firings had been part of an annual training for West 

German Air Force personnel and US. troops based in Europe. The 

Utah-to-New Mexico range had been used because there was no range 

large enough in Europe. ( W Post, 9/13/67) 

Cosmos CLXXVZ was launched into orbit with 1,581-km (982-mi) apogee, 

206-km (128-mi) perigee, 102.5-niin period, and 81.9’ inclination. 

Soviet Union had successfully launched its second unmanned satellite 

in three days, according to Tass. (NYT, 9/14/67; GSFC SSR, 9/15/67) 

September 12-15: The Soviet supersonic transport, the Tu-144, designed 

to fly at 1,559 mph, should be ready for flight tests in the first quarter 

of 1968, according to AP. It was understood that the Soviets had hoped 

268


to get the plane in the air before the celebration of the 50th anniversary 

of the Bolshevik Revolution on Nov. 7. A visiting British aviation dele- 

gation saw the incomplete Tu-144 prototype on Sept. 12 and was told by 

its builders that it would fly in the first quarter of next year at the earli- 

est. Soviet Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation, Leonid Zheludev, said “we 

need to test it very well, and we cannot say when it will be put into opera. 

tion on civilian passenger flights.” The British-French supersonic Con- 

corde, similar in delta-wing shape and in projected performance to the 

Tu-144, was scheduled to make its first flight by February 28,1968, and 

go into passenger service in 1971. (AP, W Star, 9/13/67; AP, W Post, 

9/16/67) 

September 13: ComSatCorp announced the selection of B. F. Parrott & Com- 

pany, Roanoke, Va., as contractor for general construction work ($1.1 

million) on the new comsat earth station in Preston County, about 35 

miles southeast of Morgantown, W. Va. The high-capacity earth station 

would serve the Atlantic area and would be capable of sending and re- 

ceiving all forms of international communications via commercial satel- 

lites-television, telephone, telegraph, and data. The station would be in 

operation by the fall of 1968. Earth stations also had been started near 

Cayey, Puerto Rico, and near Jamesburg, Calif. Three existing stations 

were located at Andover, Maine; Brewster Flat, Washington; and Pau- 

malu, Oahu, Hawaii. (ComSatCorp Release 67-43) 

Safety of combat air crews in Southeast Asia would be greatly improved 

by application of a new material (polyurethane foam) first used on the 

Indianapolis speedway. ASFC’S engineers had successfully adapted the 

foam, which would be installed in the fuel tanks of combat aircraft in 

Vietnam. Under an Air Force contract, the Monsanto Research Corp., 

Dayton, Ohio, confirmed compatibility of the foam with military air- 

craft fuels. It would virtually prevent explosion in a direct hit on the fuel 

tank by machine gun tracer bullets or other incendiaries and would sup- 

press slosh in the fuel tanks during flight. (AFSC Release 158.67) 

TV coverage of space launches and press coverage of rising costs of space 

program had been almost the only source of public exposure of US. 

space effort, said Aerospace Systems Group Vice President J. Lynn 

Helms at Rotary International meeting during Michigan Univ.’s Ses- 

quicentennial Celebration. Speaking on “A Citizen’s Return on Invest- 

ment,” he outlined many accomplishments of US. space program that 

affect daily life, stating that “money spent in the quest for new informa- 

tion keeps coming back to us again and again . . a society that con- 

tinually invests part of its annual profits into the future is a progressive 

society. Progressive societies serve their people better, in living stand- 

ards, medicine, and health, and consideration for and by other nations 

of the world.” (Text) 

Dept. of State announced appointment of Office of Outer Space AfEairs Di- 

rector Robert F. Packard as director of new O5ce of Space and Environ- 

mental Science Affairs. This office would be a part of the International 

Scientific and Technological Affairs offices, whose responsibility is to 

advise and assist the Secretary on scientific and technological factors af- 

fecting foreign policy. Packard would be responsible for the interna- 

tional aspects of U.S. programs in space, atmospheric science, marine 

science, and earth sciences. Packard had served from 1961 to 1962 in the 

Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary for Atomic Energy and 

Outer Space. (State Dept. Release, 9/13/67) 

269


September 14: Richard J. Keegan, Chief of the Procurement Division, GSFC, 

was appointed to new position of NASA Assistant Director of Procurement 

(Policy and Review). (NASA Ann) 

The Institute for Strategic Studies of London, England, had said that the 

US. was way ahead of the Soviet Union in missiles, but that the Russians 

were closing the gap, reported New York Times. The Institute’s 

annual report, “The Military Balance,” said deployment of a limited 

ballistic defense system around Moscow had increased protection of 

Soviet land-based ICBMS. The new Soviet defense system now being installed 

along the eastern Baltic coast-the so-called Tallin Line-might 

be primarily an extension of radar coverage. The report also noted a 

“probable reduction in the combat effectiveness” of the Chinese armed 

forces because of the domestic upheaval. (NYT, 9/15/67) 

NASA Arcas sounding rocket was launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii, to 

38-mi (6O.km) altitude in NOTS experiment to measure incident solar 

ultraviolet irradiance in support of Ogo ZV’s mission. First of a series 

of seven, rocket failed to attain experimental results because of parachute 

malfunction. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

France delayed the signing of an agreement with Britain and West Germany 

for development of a European “airbus” to carry 250-300 passengers 

in the 197Os, reported Reuters. Officials insisted that there were 

only “minor differences’’ and that the agreement, reached last July, 

would be approved. Britain’s Rolls-Royce Company would supply the 

engine, the RB-207, to be constructed in cooperation with the French 

firm of SNECMA and MAN of West Germany. France would build the 

aircraft. (Reuters, W Post, 9/15/67) 

September 15: Ats Z (Advanced Technical Satellite) was used experimentally 

to relay weather photographs of current storms to the US. Weather 

Bureau’s National Hurricane Center in Miami and other hurricane 

watchers in the Caribbean. The satellite was launched by NASA into its 

synchronous orbit on Dee. 7, 1966, and was positioned over Christmas 

Island in the Pacific at an altitude of 22,cpoO miles. The satellite had 

been used as a testbed for advanced meteorological, communications, and 

satellite control systems, and also had made scientific measurements of 

its orbital environment. Photographs were recorded and radioed to 

earth by the Essu Y weather satellite while passing over the storm area. 

The collected photographic data were then compiled as a mosaic and 

gridded by computers at ESSA before delivery to the Goddard Space 

Flight Center ground station at Mojave, Calif., for radio transmission to 

the Ats 1. The satellite then retransmitted the gridded data to earth by 

means of its weather fascimile (WEAFAX) experiment. Any ground 

station equipped with the relatively inexpensive Automatic Picture 

Transmission receivers could read out the pictures. Mosaics would be 

transmitted daily on an experimental basis in this manner between 9 and 

10 pm, EDT. WEAFAX was a joint NASA-ESSA experiment. (NASA Release 

67-243) 

0 Mariner IV, launched Nov. 28, lW, survived apparent micrometeoroid 

shower. Spacecraft’s cosmic dust detector registered 17 hits within 

15 min, while MGriner ZV traveled between orbits of earth and Mars. 

Spacecraft was 29.6 million miles from earth and had traveled about 

1.4 billion miles in its 1,020 days of flight. Micrometeoroid shower 

had caused temporary change in spacecraft’s attitude but no loss of 

power. Scientists concluded, from one-degree temperature drop inside 

270


spacecraft, that only the thermal shield was damaged. Within about 

a week, spacecraft was operating without any apparent effect from 

incident. Since photographing Mars in July 1965, Mariner IV had 

been used for engineering experiments and acquisition of scientific 

data. (O’Toole, W Post, 9/16/67, A7; NASA Proj Off) 

USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Thor-Agena D booster; 

satellite reentered Oct 4. (Pres Rep 1967) 

* Findings of 14mo study by Denver Research Institute (DRI) , under NASA 

contract, of methods governing acquisition of new technology in 62 

firms in four industries-electric batteries, printing and reproduction, 

industrial controls, aqd medical electronics-were summarized in 

Science. Report, ‘The Channels of Technology Acquisition in Commer- 

cial Firms and the NASA Dissemination Program,” concluded that (1) 

few organizations were vigorously seeking to acquire new technological 

know-how from space research; (2) little had been done to increase 

the technical awareness of the manufacturer outside the space and 

military fields; and (3) the technologist faced with an immediate 

problem was inclined to use information in standard manuals two to 

five years behind the state of the art. The report noted that ‘Lmost 

individuals felt it too di5cult to retrieve relevant material from the 

mass of government publications and indicated that they expected 

to learn of important government-developed technology through trade 

and professional channels. In several firms, those interviewed felt it 

wasn’t really practical to keep up with and use government technology 

unless one’s firm had government R&D contracts.” (Greenberg, Science, 

9/15/67,1016-18) 

* William Markowitz, physics professor at Marquette Univ., summarized 

his study of the reported flight dynamics of UFOS (unidentified flying 

objects) in Science. Study was made because of letter in Oct. 21, 1966, 

Science by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, consultant to USAF’S Project Blue Book, 

urging investigation of residue of puzzling UFO cases by physical and 

social scientists. Markowitz’s findings: (1) the control of reported 

UFOS by extraterrestrid beings is contrary to the known laws of 

physics and (2) the data published do not justify the holding of in- 

vestigations. He added that he would not believe that earth had ever 

been visited by any extraterrestrial until he was shown such a visitor. 

(Markowitz, Science, 9/15/67,’1274-79) 

* A Soviet astronomer, V. Makarov, had said UFO reports were not all hoaxes, 

according to the magazine Technica Molodezhi. The astronomer added 

that he did not believe they were full of little men from far out in 

space either. Previously, UFOS had been written off by Soviet com- 

mentators as inventions of the foreign press or the hallucinations 

of disturbed persons. Mr. Makarov wrote that “the files of some 

private persons and organizations dealing with these phenomena either 

as their 05cial job or out of curiosity are filled with considerable 

information. Whatever they may be, we cannot say that some phenomena 

which are still hard to explain exist in reality.” Mr. Makarov said 

data had come from radar stations, pilots, and scientists “about whose 

common sense and honesty we have no right tg be doubtful.” (NYT, 

9/14/67) 

September 16: The likelihood of aircraft collisions and ship collisions would 

be reduced considerably by an advanced navigation satellite, NASA’s 

Eugene Ehrlich, chief of NASA’s Navigation and Tra5c Control program, 

271

September 16 


explained. By providing accurate position fixes, a system of such satel- 

lites also could reduce the separation distances between aircraft; auto- 

matically steer ships across oceans; warn high-flying supersonic jets of 

radiation dangers; guide craft around bad weather; monitor airplane 

systems for possible trouble; and pinpoint ditched planes or ships in 

distress. “The navigation satellite of 1970-1980 will be an entirely 

different spacecraft from the presently operational navigation satellites 

of the United States Navy.” The Navy orbited its first Transit navigation 

satellite in 1960. Attention had focused on the Navy system recently 

when the US. announced that the previously classified network would 

be made available to America’s civilian ships. The Navy satellites orbit 

at 700 miles. NASA envisioned a network of evenly spaced synchronous 

satellites 22,300 miles above the earth. A ground craft could be in touch 

with as many as six of them simultaneously for extremely accurate 

positioning. Mr. Ehrlich said advanced satellites “will contain a position 

determination capability, communications service, weather relay service 

and scientific sensors.” He said the Maritime Administration and ad- 

vanced thinkers in the shipping field had been looking to the day of the 

automated ship. “The satellite-derived position information would be 

fed directly into the ship’s computer to keep the ship on a preset path.” 

Mr. Ehrlich also had said that the reduction of the present widely spaced 

separation standards for aircraft was estimated to be capable of saving 

some $46.5 million annually for the North Atlantic region alone. 

(B Szm, 9/18/67) 

* The 20,000 concerns that work for NASA under contract have laid off 

employees at the rate of 4,000 a month, largely because of cutbacks in 

funds, James E. Webb, NASA Administrator, told an audience at the 

dedication of the Olin E. Teague Research Center, Texas A&M Univ., 

College Station, Texas. He said about 100,000 persons had been laid 

off and the figure might reach 200,000. Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) , 

in a short conference following the dedication, said lack of money would 

be the biggest detriment to US. space programs. (UPI, NYT, 9/18/67; 

Bryan Daily Eagle, 9/17/67) 

* Cosmos CLXXVII was launched into orbit with 267-km (166-mi) apogee, 

201-km (125-mi) perigee, 89.1-min period, and 51.7” inclination. 

Satellite, announced as part of a program of space research, reentered 

Sept. a. (GSFC SSR, 9/30/67; Krasnaya Zvezda, 9/19/67, 1) 

September 17: NASA Arcas sounding rocket was launched from Barking 

Sands, Hawaii, to 35-mi (56-km) altitude as second in NOTS series to 

measure incident solar ultraviolet irradiance in support of Ogo lVs 

mission. Rocket and payload performed satisfactorily, and achieved all 

experimental objectives. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

September 18: NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from NASA Wal- 

lops Station carried GSFC payload containing Pitot-static probe to measure 

atmospheric density, pressure, and temperature in observing diurnal 

variation in the fine structure of the region from 15 to 110 km. Probe was 

launched in conjunction with thermosphere probe experiments. The 

2nd stage of the sounding rocket did not ignite because of low current ap- 

plication. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried Univ. of Michigan payload to 178-mi (286-km) altitude on 

flight to measure simultaneously density and temperature of neutral N2 

and of electron temperature and density; to compare day and night 

272


measurement of these parameters; to compare a new design for the 

Omegation Gauge System with the flight proven system; and to compare 

the 120-km region of the Pitot-static probe and thermosphere probe 

density measurement. All experimental data appeared good. Excellent 

results were expected (NASA Rpt SRL) 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced his approval for 

production and deployment of a “thin” Nike-X antiballistic missile 

(ABM) system at a meeting of UPI editors and publishers in San Francisco. 

He explained: “Were we to deploy a heavy ABM system throughout the 

United States, the Soviets would clearly be strongly motivated to so in- 

crease their offensive capability as to cancel out our defensive advantage.” 

He opposed a more advanced, heavy, anti-Soviet system and approved 

the “thin” ABM system because “the system would be relatively inexpen- 

sive-preliminary estimates place the cost at about $5 billion-and we 

would have a much higher degree of reliability against a Chinese attack 

than the much more massive and complicated system that some have rec- 

ommended against a possible Soviet attack.” McNamara stated : “An ABM 

deployment designed against a possible Chinese attack . . . would pro- 

vide an additional indication to Asians that we intend to deter China 

from nuclear blackmail, and thus would contribute toward our goal of 

discouraging nuclear weapon proliferation among the present non- 

nuclear countries.” 

The Secretary of Defense said the defensive move was being made with 

China in mind, not the Soviet Union. He warned the Soviet Union, how- 

ever, that if it decided to expand its limited antimissile system, the US. 

would respond by increasing its offensive forces to maintain its over- 

whelming retaliatory capacity. 

The decision was generally applauded by congressional leaders but 

also unleashed an offensive-expected to be focused in the Joint Com- 

mittee on Atomic Energy-for building a “heavy” defense system against 

Soviet missiles, reported John W. Finney in New York Times. 

The proposed “thin” ABM system would provide each region of the 

US. with at least one battery of warhead interceptors, reported AP. 

The exact locations of the batteries, each with several missiles, remained 

a secret. (DOD Release 868-67; Av Wk, 9/25/67, 11; Beecher, NYT, 

9/19/67,1; Finney, NYT, 9/19/67,1; AP, SF Exam, 9/19/67,5) 

* Interchange of ideas, technology, hardware, and personnel had helped 

to make progress in space possible, said B/G Edmund F. O’Connor 

( USAF) , MSFC’S Industrial Operations director, in a talk before the Ten- 

nessee Valley Chapter of the Air Force Association, at Huntsville, Ala. 

“Today’s space program is a joint effort of both military and civilian 

agencies, and there exists a cooperative give-and-take relationship in the 

finest sense,” he stated. ( MSFC Release 67-191) 

* Britain’s leading radio astronomer, Sir Bernard Lovell, was convinced 

the Soviet Union would attempt one or more space spectaculars during 

1967, possibly during October, reported Richard Lewis of Chicago Sun- 

Times. October would mark the 10th anniversary of the launching of 

the first satellite, Sputnik I, and the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik 

Revolution. The possibilities included a flight around the moon or a 

lunar landing with animals as passengers, a manned space station in 

earth orbit, and the first photographs of the planet Venus, the astronomer 

said. Sir Bernard Lovell said: “I have always believed that 1967 was 

the year they would try the circumlunar (around the moon) flight, but 

273


I should think they would do it unmanned because of the difficulties 

of the return at lunar flight velocity.” (Lewis, C SIT, 9/18/67, 16) 

September 19: Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s decision to go 

ahead with “thin” Nike-X antiballistic missile (ABM) system [see 

Sept. 181 was praised by Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.Mex.) , Chair- 

man of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, on floor 

of Senate: “I indicate my support of this decision [and] under present 

world circumstances, we have no choice but to go ahead with [ABM] 

system.” (CRY 9/19/67, S13207-9) 

Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (060) satellites, Ogo I, ZZ, Ill, and 

ZV, transmitted data simultaneously for the first time. Launching dates 

for four satellites had been : Ogo I, Sept. 4,1964; Ogo ZZ, Oct. 14,1965; 

Ogo ZZZ, June 6, 1966; and Ogo ZV, July 28, 1967. (NASA Release 

67-252) 

a USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Titan 111-B booster; 

satellite reentered Sept. 30. (Pres Rep 1967) 

* Fabrication of five S-11s (Saturn V’s 2nd stage) would be accomplished 

under a contract modification awarded by NASA to North American 

Aviation, Inc. Purchase of the five stages would complete the S-I1 

requirement for the 15 Saturn V launch vehicles currently approved for 

development as a part of the Apollo program. The first of the stages 

would be delivered to NASA in Feb. 1969. The Marshall Space Flight 

Center, Huntsville, Ala., managed the Saturn program. (NASA Release 

67-244) 

* The three Pegasus spacecraft launched by NASA in 1965 had far exceeded 

the most optimistic expectations and were still operating as the end 

of a one-year lifetime extension drew near. The spacecraft were launched 

aboard the last three Saturn I launch vehicles on Feb. 16, May 25, and 

July 30, 1965. They had completed their assigned tasks-to measure 

the meteoroid environment of near-earth space-and had telemetered 

back to earth much information on other subjects of interest to space 

scientists. Scientific results of Project Pegasus had been covered in an 

interim report prepared by MSFC’S Space Sciences Laboratory. ( MSFC 


0 Examples of air, sea, and space technology “working together as partners 

for the better understanding of our total environment” were cited by 

Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., NASA Deputy Administrator, in a speech to 

the 2nd International Buoy Technology Symposium, Marine Technology 

Society, Washington, D.C. The Interrogation, Recording and Location 

System (IRLS) , developed by Goddard Space Flight Center, would dem- 

onstrate the use of a satellite to locate and determine the position 

of sensors, receive data from the sensor, record that data on the 

Spacecraft, and later relay the data to ground stations. Possible ter- 

restrial sensors are meteorological stations or buoys, oceanographic 

buoys, gauges for measuring the strains in the earth’s crust, drifting 

balloons, ice islands, or any of a wide variety of data platforms 

located on the surface of the earth or in its atmosphere. Seamans 

said, “It is quite easy to conceive how such a system could begin to 

solve many of the problems hindering world-wide fixed or free buoy 

systems for the study of currents and ocean-depth profile data.” He 

also noted that “photographs and images returned by such satellites 

as Nimbus, Tiros, and Gemini are being analyzed to assess their ocean- 

ographic value.” (Text) 

274


* Three Lewis Research Center engineers received “I-R 100” awards at 

National Industrial Research Week ceremonies in New York City. The 

“I-R 100” awards were sponsored by Industrial Research Magazine 

and presented in observance of National Industrial Research Week. 

LeRc recipients William D. Klopp, Peter L. Raffo, and Walter R. 

Witzke were cited for the development of tungsten RHC, the highest 

strength metal known at temperatures above 3,500”F. The alloy would 

have eight times the tensile strength of pure tungsten at the same tem- 

perature with no sacrifice in ductility at low temperatures. At tempera- 

tures below 250”F, pure tungsten would be very brittle and alloying 

it to increase strength usually made it more brittle. (LeRC Release 

67-60) 

* Addressing the House on means for a terminal-phase missile interception 

system, Rep. William R. Anderson (D-Tenn.) called for a sea-based 

antiballistic missile intercept system ( SABMIS) . Pointing to the popular 

estimate that Red China would have a ballistic missile delivery capability 

in the early 197Os, the Congressman stated: “. . . deployment of a 

SABMIS unit would place in the seas close to an adversary’s homeland 

and across his ‘launch trajectory window,’ a mobile, partly submerged 

screen of antimissile forces.” (CR, 9/19/67, H12137) 

* Mayor Henry Maier of Milwaukee, addressing a conference of UPI editors 

and publishers in San Francisco, said: “The central city cannot be 

saved without a reallocation of our national resources to spend as 

much to build decent cities for man on earth as we spend on sending 

a man to the moon.” ( CTNS, C Trib, 9/19/67) 

* U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXVIII into orbit with 310-km (193-mi) 

apogee, 137-km (85-mi) perigee, 88.6-min period, and 50” inclination. 

Satellite, announced as part of a program of space research, reentered 

on same day it was launched. (GSFC SSR, 9/30/67) 

September 20: In informal remarks at Kennedy Space Center, NASA Admin- 

istrator James E. Webb predicted that congressional cuts in the space 

budget would slow up the launch rate and lead to the phasing out of 

Apollo equipment after man landed on the moon. Webb said that only 

nine of the 15 Saturn V launch vehicles could be launched before 1970, 

instead of 13 planned launchings. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that 

to absorb this cut for $500 million, after already having absorbed a $600 

million cut back in 1964, means that we will have to slow up the launch 

rate,” he stated. The cut had also knocked out any new planetary mis- 

sions before 1975. Space budget cuts would likely mean the elimination 

of the Saturn IB from the middle-term space program, Webb explained 

in a brief press conference. NASA was committed to the purchase of 16 

Saturn IB launch vehicles. Three had been flown; the next one would 

propel the first manned Apollo into earth orbit in mid-1968. NASA 

planned to switch manned flights to the three-stage Saturn V as soon a5 

possible. The first Saturn V flight, an unmanned test, was scheduled fm 

Oct. 19. The Saturn IB had been planned for continued use on flights 

not requiring the huge power of the Saturn V, but Webb said that em- 

phasis inatead would switch to the Air Force’s Titan IIIM launch vehicle, 

beiig developed for the military Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Webb 

listed several future checkpoints: (1) fewer orders for new Apollo space- 

craft equipment after the moon landing, in such programs as Apollo 

Applications; (2) definition of the next system after ApoUo, which 

could be a 100,000-lb space station, or something bigger, launched 

275


with Saturn V, or a new launch vehicle; (3) development of new and 

better concepts since planetary missions have been knocked out until 

1975 ; and (4) massive reorganizational changes a possibility for NASA. 

Webb and West Germany Minister for Scientific Research Dr. Gerhard 

Stoltenberg, at the press conference, stated jointly: five West German 

scientists would participate in studying Apollo program results, and 

two research satellites and a solar probe would be launched in West 

German4J.S. cooperative program. Stoltenberg also said that West 

German industry would be main contractor for an ESRO satellite for 

1969 launching, the “first German satellite.” Webb said Associate Ad- 

ministrator Dr. Homer E. Newel1 had been asked to examine question 

“How do we . . . decide whether a mission should use man or not use 

man?” (Text; UPI, W Star, 9/21/67; Hill, H Chron, 9/22/67) 

* NASA Arcas sounding rocket, launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii, to 

33-mi (53-km) altitude, third in NOTS series to measure incident solar 

ultraviolet irradiance in support of Ogo W s mission, achieved excellent 

results. Rocket and payload performed properly. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

U.S. public and communications users would be deprived of “early attain- 

able ‘benefits” if ComSatCorp’s proposed pilot program for domestic 

satellite services were delayed, ComSatCorp stated. “In the end, a pilot- 

scale demonstration is essential, and nothing is gained by postponing for 

over a year the planning and building of the demonstration model,” 

James McCormack, ComSatCorp’s chairman said. Comments had been 

filed before the FCC in the pending domestic satellite case, in reply to the 

Ford Foundation, which had asked FCC on Sept. 18 to withhold approval 

of ComSatCorp’s pilot program. ComSatCorp argued that valuable ex- 

perience could be gained by implementatio’n of the pilot program, that 

this would supplement, not hinder, the work of the Task Force appointed 

recently by President Johnson to develop national telecommunications 

policy. Mr. McCormack had said the pilot program would provide vital 

experience for voice, broadcast, data, and the press in the economical 

utilization of high-capacity satellite and earth station facilities. (Com- 

SatCorp Release 67-47) 

ComSatCorp announced the selection of Vanguard Construction Corpora- 

tion, NYC, as contractor for general construction work ($864990) on 

the new earth station near Cayey, about 30 miles south of San Juan, 

Puerto Rico. The earth station would serve the Atlantic area, including 

communications between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and would be capable 

of sending and receiving all forms of international communications via 

commercial satellites-television, telephone, telegraph, and data. The 

station would be in operation in the fall of 1968. (ComSatCorp Release 

67-44) 

* New rules designed to improve substantially the passengers’ chances for 

surviving airplane crashes were announced by the FAA. For the first time, 

airplane manufacturers would have to demonstrate a 90-sec emergency 

evacuation (instead of present two-minute evacuation) using a full and 

representative passenger load before they would be issued type cer- 

tificates. The new rules (“Crashworiiiness and Passenger Evacuation 

Standards for Transport Category Airplanes”) would require exten- 

sive safety improvements in both airline equipment now in service and 

in designs of new planes not yet type-certificated. In general, the new 

rules would take effect October %I, 1967. Aircraft now in service or already 

type certificated would have to meet most of the retrofit changes 

276

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 September 20 

required under the new rules by October 1, 1969. (FAA Release 67-67) 

The Soviet Union had urged the U.N, Committee on the Peaceful Uses of 

Outer Space to take action on the Soviet draft treaty on rescuing cosmonauts 

in emergencies, reported Space Business Daily. The Soviets 

had expressed regret that the Legal Subcommittee had not completed 

action on the proposal. Soviet representative P. D. Morozov said the 

Soviets would not object to amendments. He praised the recent U.N. 

space treaty as “a great achievement of the progressive forces on the 

road of using outer space in the interests of mankind. It is a serious step 

fodmard in the development of cooperation and mutual understanding 

between states and peoples.” Morozov also noted that the April meeting 

of “experts of the socialist countries outlined new steps for broader COoperation 

in space meteorology, biology and medicine,” as well as communications. 

(SBD, 9/20/67,100) 

* Japanese defense specialists had expected the first Red Chinese test of an 

intercontinental missile by the end of this year, reported Washington 

Star. Before they would test a full-scale missile, Chinese would test-fire 

the first stage of missile. This could come at any time. However, Prof. 

Tetsushi Okamoto of Tokyo Institute of Technology believed that Peking 

regime would first launch a satellite, probably on Oct. 1. Fear of China’s 

progress toward a system that could deliver a nuclear bomb lay behind 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s Sept. 18 announcement 

that US. would begin production of a limited antiballistic missile system 

designed to guard against a Chinese attack. China’s ICBM was expected 

to be fired from a site at Shwangchengtse, north of Chiuchuan in Lanchow, 

central China. (Axelbank, W Star, 9/20/67) 

France and Quebec would launch a joint communications satellite for relaying 

French television programs to Canada, UPI reported. The satellite 

would permit programs to be relayed without depending on existing 

American Early Bird satellites, informed sources said. (UPI, C Trib, 

9/2 1/67) 

September 21 : Defense of the US. supersonic transport program against 

charges the Administration had bankrolled an industrial monopoly was 

made by Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd in a speech before 

New York’s University Club, reported David Hoffman of Washington 

Post. Critics had alleged that Boeing and General Electric could reap 

huge profits because of a loosely worded Federal contract. Boyd had said 

C< 

there are very good economic reasons to believe” that at least 500 

planes would be sold, and if so, the Federal treasury would get back 

its $1.25 billion and another $1.1 billion in royalties. He had said the 

SST program would involve no monopoly for Boeing and General Electric. 

Far from being a monopoly, the SST program would provide economic 

activity for: two prime contractors, 20,000 subcontractors, 12 US. 

airlines, 14 foreign airlines, and 65 R&D firms working with seven Government 

agencib. (Hoffman, W Post, 9/22/67) 

Hawker Siddeley P-1127 Kestrel VTOL strike fighter crashed on ferry 

mission over Great Britain with heavy damage. Pilot, Sqdn. Ldr. Hugh 

Rigg, ejected and sustained cuts and bruises. 

In US., LaRC had decided against repairing one of two P-1127s obtained 

for flight testing; NASA’s aircraft had crashed at WS Aug. 21 with 

heavy damage. Parts would be used as spares for remaining aircraft. 

(Av Wk, 10/2/67,17) 

September 21-22: Rep. Emilio Q. Daddario (D-Conn.), ChaiEman, House 

277

September 21-22 ASTRONAUTICS AND 

on Science and Astronautics’ Science, 

Subcommittee, addressed House Semi 

: “The past few years have brought a c 

toward science and technology, both in the public which is more tech- 

nically literate, and in the Congress with its enhanced understanding. 

Faith in science, and awe of technology, have been supplanted by a rec- 

ognition of a grave responsibility for decision-that is, what should we 

do with what we know? Technology assessment is a major key to dis- 

charging that responsibility. We are now turning to the natural sciences 

and asking them to move further in achieving a collective wisdom with 

politics, law, economics, and social interests for the management of 

technology. . . . The technical community must introduce a concern 

for public policy impacts and methods of operation-at an early point and 

in considerable detail. We believe that technology assessment will in- 

volve the scientific method and will be largely accomplished by scien- 

tists and engineers. But the purpose of assessment is to enable decisions 

for the public good.” (Text) 

September22: Cosmos CLXXIX was launched into orbit with 157-km (98-mi) 

apogee, 141-km (88-mi) perigee, 87.3-min period, and 49’ inclination. 

The satellite was announced as part of a program of space research; 

like CLXXVIII, it reentered on the same day it was orbited. ( GSFC SSR, 

!9/30/67 ; Pravda, 9/23/67) 

More than 2,000 major construction and supply firms in the U.S. received 

invitations to bid on the second phase of NASA’s Electronics Research 

Center at Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass., announced the New England 

Division Engineer, Corps of Engineers. The construction package 

would include three brick-faced buildings: one at least 10 stories high 

to house laboratories, offices, and cafeteria; 350-seat auditorium; and 

a center support building for service utilities. The Electronics Research 

Center had been in operation since Sept. 1,1964, in temporary quarters 

at Technolorn Square near the permanent site in Kendall Square. (USA 

Release, 9/22/67) 

Expanded memory units for tracking facility computers of the Apollo 

lunar landing program had been added by NASA as a modification to its 

fixed price contract with the Sperry-Rand Corp. The work would be performed 

at Sperry-Rand’s Univac Defense Systems Div., St. Paul, Minn., 

which would expand existing memory bank units for digital data processing 

systems from a storage capacity of 32,000 to 48,000 words. The 

systems would be installed in ground stations and aboard ships in the 

worldwide tracking network for Apollo flights. Work would be performed 

under the direction of GSFC. (NASA Release 67-246) 

North American Aviation, Inc, merged with Rockwell-Standard Corp. 

to create North American Rockwell Corp. (North American Rockwell 

Corp. Release 092267) 

September 23: Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.) , chairman of the House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics, described correction of “serious 

procedural deficiencies in the flow of timely information” from NASA 

to the Committee, J. V. Reistrup reported. A letter from Rep. Miller 

to Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) had explained the corrective measures, 

worked out with NASA Administrator James E. Webb. NASA would 

notify the Committee staff immediately of any accident involvin death 

or serious property damage; NASA Oversight Committee would be ! ’ riefed 

every three months on Committee-defined “critical problem areas”; 

278


NASA would report significant program changes and problems as soon 

as they occurred; and NASA would furnish budget data in October, up- 

dating the data monthly. (Reistrup, W Post, 9/23/67) 

September 25: The scientific data required for the Orbiting Geophysical 

Observatory (Ogo IV) primary mission had been obtained, and ex- 

tended data acquisition with three-axis stabilization was continued. 

With the exception of two experiments which had ceased operating 

after several weeks in orbit and an oscillatory perturbation introduced 

by an experimental antenna, all observatory systems were functioning 

and operating well. From July 31 to Sept. 17, Ogo IV had acquired 

over 19,000 hours of data on latitude-dependent atmospheric phenomena, 

energetic particle characteristics, VLF noise and magnetic fields, and 

incoming solar radiation. Initial reports from experimenters were im- 

pressive and underscored the importance of interdisciplinary measure- 

ments and global coverage for studies of the near-earth environment. 

Ogo I, 11, and 111 were functioning and had obtained useful data. On 

Sept. 19, all four OGOS were transmitting data, in over 50 experiments 

providing high-data-rate measurements at widely separated spatial loca- 

tions within the magnetosphere. The period of coordinated operation 

of four OGOS would continue for the next several weeks. (NASA Proj Off) 

USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR on Scout launch vehicle. 


0 Plumbing leaks in the first model of LEM had delayed flight testing at 

Cape Kennedy. Portions of the plumbing system had been sent back 

to the plant of the main contractor, Grumman Aircraft Engineering 

Corp., Bethpage, N.Y. The plumbing leaks had virtually eliminated any 

chance of launching this year the first model of the craft that would 

land American astronauts on the moon. (AP, W Post, 9/26/67, A9) 

0 Congressional cuts in the NASA budget had forced an agency-wide hiring 

freeze, Aerospace Technology reported. No job vacancies might be 

filled or new positions created unless there were exceptionally mitigating 

circumstances. JPL expected to lose about 200 engineers during the 

freeze, but no estimates had been released by NASA field centers. There 

was no indication of how long the freeze would last. (Aero Tech, 

9/25/67,3) 

* Airport development sparked the economy of five communities in Texas, 

South Carolina, California, Maryland, and Minnesota, the FAA had 

reported. “The Airport-Its Influence on the Community Economy,” a 

study report related economic growth to general aviation (lion-airline) 

airport development at Hereford, Tex. ; Sumter, S.C. ; Hayward, Calif. ; 

Frederick, Md.; and Fairmont, Minn. Public airports had been de- 

veloped or improved in each of the communities with Federal assistance 

under the Federal-Aid Airport Program administered by FAA. (FAA 


USAF Space and Missiles Systems Div. had awarded a contract to Lockheed 

Missiles & Space Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., for $1.2 million for Agena 

launch services at Vandenberg AFB Oct. 1,1967, through Sept. 30,1968. 


September 25-30: International Astronautical Federation 18th Congress 

was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 

Detailing systems engineering activities of U.S. manned space flight 

program, NASA Saturn Apollo Applications Director Charles W. Mathews 

said that efforts had encompassed three flight systems-Mercury, Gemini, 

324-801 0-69-19 279


and Apollo-and included many other aspects, worldwide instrumenta- 

tion and communications networks, control centers, recovery support 

elements, and scientific and technical experimental equipment. Thus, 

systems engineering had had to be all inclusive in providing for logical 

development of flight hardware, successful conduct of flight operations, 

and achievement of maximum benefits from each mission. (Text) 

T. J. Gordon, L. M. Dicke, and J. S. Nieroski of McDonnell Douglas 

Corp.’s Douglas Missile & Space Systems Div. (MSSD) presented “ECO- 

nomies of Commercial Space Stations.” Space station would pay its own 

way by taking a share of increased customer profits. According to MSSD 

representatives, customers would be “those enterprises who, by virtue 

of their use of the orbital services, can offer new or higher quality 

profits or services, or lower operating costs for existing products or 

services.” Possible space station uses were described as locating fish, 

reducing ocean shipping transit time and hazards, locating petroleum 

and mineral reserves, controlling and routing air traffic, reducing air 

and water pollution by detecting sources, improving fresh water reserves 

by surveying sources, and improving agricultural and forest produc- 

tivity by use of detectors of disease, damage, and other factors. 

(Haggerty, J/Armed Forces, 11/25/67, 9) 

Soviet Academician L. I. Sedov described “Ten Years of Space Ex- 

ploration in the Soviet Union” and said: “Cosmic systems have become 

necessary not only for the study of fundamental problems of physics and 

the Universe, but also for various practical purposes of importance to 

national economies [and] there is no doubt that cooperation will favour- 

ably affect many sides of international life. We hope that this coopera- 

tion and its benefits will grow deeper in the future.” (Text) 

Worldwide cooperation in space was urged by MSFC’S former advanced 

mission planner, Dr. H. H. Koelle, now professor of space technology 

at Technical Univ. of Berlin. To get around tremendous costs and avoid 

reduction in space activity in all countries, he urged “international 

organizations to plan and coordinate advanced manned missions in the 

1980s.” He said space powers should begin by increasing coordination 

of mission objectives in their national space programs. For a coopera- 

tive concept, he called for annual investment of $4 billion and work 

force of 350,000 persons, with 200,000 persons from U.S., 60,000 

from U.S.S.R., 60,000 from Western Europe, and 30,000 from rest of 

world. (Fink, Av Wk, 10/2/67, 21-2; Van Osten, Aero Tech, 10/9/67, 

43-7) 

September 26: The first manned Apollo space flight might be delayed from 

springto mid-summer of 1968 by modification of the Apollo spacecraft 

by its prime contractor, North American Rockwell Corp., according to 

NASA spokesman Julian Scheer. Scheer, NASA Assistant Administrator for 

Public Affairs, told UPI the anticipated delay, among other things, 

could be because of considerable changes in the capsule after last 

January’s fire. (UPI, W Post, 9/27/67, A6) 

An ordinance outlawing sonic booms was adopted by Santa Barbara’s 

city council, Reuters reported. This was believed to be the first such 

municipal ordinance in the U.S. The mayor had voted against it. He 

explained, “I do not believe the law is enforceable.” Councilman Klaus 

Kemp, introducing the ordinance, said booms caused damage to homes 

and physical injury to individuals. At Hamilton AFB a spokesman said 

64 

presumably nothing” would be done about the new law. The presump- 

280

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 19G7 September 26 

@ Cosmos 

tion was based on court decisions ruling the Federal Goverment (FAA) 

had sole jurisdiction over aircraft movements. “We are not attempting 

to prohibit supersonic flights . . . [but] proposing that unnecessary 

flights over or immediately adjacent to this city at unreasonable 

and unnecessarily low altitude be prohibited,” said Kemp. (Reuters, 

NYT, 9/28/67) 

CLXXX was launched into orbit with 350-km (218-mi) apogee, 

206-km (128-mi) perigee, 90.1-min period, and 72.9” inclination. 

Satellite reentered Oct. 4. (Krasnaya Zvezda, 9/28/67, 3; GSFC SSR, 

10/15/67) 

September 27: President Johnson proclaimed Oct. 9 Leif Erikson Day to give 

46 

national recognition to Leif Erikson today, when men of similar courage 

and imagination are confronting equally formidable challenges in the 

heavens and under the seas.” (PD, 10/2/67, 1350) 

* Development of an advanced direct sensing system for the Nimbus-D 

Meteorological Satellite, scheduled for launching in 1970, was subject 

of NASA contract awarded to Radiation Inc., Melbourne, Fla. Interroga- 

tion Recording and Location System (IRLS) would involve development 

of a satellite-borne device and remote platform electronics to obtain 

measurements of atmospheric and other data from fixed and free floating 

sensory platforms, including balloons and buoys. Work would be per- 

formed under the direction of GSFC. (NASA Release 67-247) 

* NASA appointed an interim working group composed of Dr. Alfred J. Eggers, 

Dr. Floyd L. Thompson, and Gen. Jacob E. Smart (USAF, Ret.) to 

review NASA safety procedures and prepare a plan under which the 

Administrator could establish an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. 

Gen. Mark Bradley (USAF, Ret.), Garrett Corp., would serve as a con- 

sultant to the chairman, Dr. Eggers. The action would implement Sec- 

tion 6 of Public Law 90-67 (the NASA Authorization Act for N 68). 

Eggers was Special Assistant to the Administrator and Deputy Asso- 

ciate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology. Thompson, 

Director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, served as chairman of 

the Apollo 204 Accident Review Board. Gen. Smart was NASA’s Assistant 

Administrator for Policy. (NASA Release 67-249) 

* Space Nuclear Propulsion Office, Germantown, Md., had extended its 

contract with Aerojet-General Corp. for development of nuclear propul- 

sion. Aerojet, which had been the prime contractor since 1961 on the 

NERVA project, would receive an estimated $14.7 million on the interim 

contract for work to be performed through Nov. 30. The Space Nuclear 

Propulsion Office, a joint operation of AEC and NASA, would receive 

$6.8 million of the funds on the contract extension from NASA, the 

balance from AEC. (NASA Release 67-250) 

Rep. Theodore R. Kupferman (R-N.Y.), speaking on the House floor, ex- 

pressed concern about the “noise pollution problem’’ [see Feb. 11. He 

quoted from a speech which he had presented on Sept. 12 to a luncheon 

meeting of the US. Chamber of Commerce, held in Washington, D.C.: 

“It is possible to have noise control and industrial development without 

penalty to each other. . . . The idea that noise is a necessary price of 

industrial and economic progress is as antiquated as is the belief that 

contaminated waters and a polluted atmosphere must also accompany 

civilization’s material advances. . . . Noise pollution, however, unlike 

water and air pollution, is only now beginning to receive a proper share 

of public attention.” (CR, 9/27/67, H12606-13) 

281


* Dr. Edward U. Condon, Director, University of Colorado’s study of Uniden- 

tified Flying Objects (UFOS) , said that “such studies ought to be discon- 

tinued unless someone comes up with a new idea on how to approach the 

problem.” Condon said “it’s been extremely difficult to gather informa- 

tion on this subject” and asked anyone with any “hard information to 

speak now---or forever hold your peace.” He stated: “We have ap- 

proached the problem in an unprejudiced way, seeking to find whatever 

there is to find by objective scientific means with no scientific results so 

far. Some of the difficulties associated with belief in visitors from outer 

space are well set forth in an article by Prof. William Markowitz in 

Science for Sept. 15 and should be studied by all who wish to be in- 

formed on the subject,” he added. (Harkins, Boulder Camera, 9/27/67; 

AP, LA Times, 9/28/67) 

September 274ctober 2: NASA launched for ComSatCorp the fourth of INTEL- 

SAT 11 series of commercial communications satellites (Intekat Il-D) - 

designated Pacific II-and second of them in the Pacific. Launch was 

from ETR by Thrust-Augmented Delta (DSV-3E) launch vehicle. Satel- 

lite went into transfer orbit over Pacific at approximately 176O east with 

29,056-mi (37,105-km) apogee, 186-mi (299-km) perigee, 658.8-min 

period, and 26.4” inclination. Satellite would supplement services of and 

replace current Pacific satellite, Zntelsat II-B (174OE), in event of its 

failure. NASA support nominally would terminate after about three days, 

subsequent to providing backup transfer orbit data and calculations. 

Final orbit and spin axis orientation would be made by ComSatCorp with 

onboard hydrogen peroxide system. Approximately 15 days after 

launch, satellite would be available for commercial use. Satellites could 

handle TV data transmissions, or up to 240 voice channels (480 circuits) 

between “first class” ground stations such as Andover. Part of satellite 

capacity would support NCS/NASCOM for Apollo program. It would 

serve as backup against interruption of satellite communications service 

and would add communications capability across the Pacific. 

On Sept. 30, apogee motor was ignited at 7:45 pm EDT, on command 

from ComSatCorp-operated earth station at Paumalu, Hawaii, and kicked 

new satellite from its elliptical transfer orbit into a planned, near-syn- 

chronous orbit over Pacific. Reorientation and velocity correction 

maneuvers were carried out Oct. 1 and 2 to place spin axis in orbit plane 

and to improve circularity with predicted orbit (resulting from these 

maneuvers) of apogee, 22,531 mi (36,260 km) , perigee, 21,805 mi 

(35,091 km), period, 1,430.5 min. drift rate, 1” east per day. As Intel- 

sat II-D approached Intelsat II-B, launched Jan. 11, now located be- 

tween 174” and 175”, drift rate would be reduced and intersatellite in- 

terference tests would be conducted to determine minimum angular 

separation which could be employed without mutual interference (NASA 

cooperating with ComSatCorp in planning tests) . The INTELSAT satellite 

system, in addition to this new Pacific II satellite, included the Pacific I 

satellite and two satellites serving the Atlantic area, Early Bird I, 

launched Apr. 6, 1%5, and Atlantic II, launched Mar. 22, 1967. (NASA 

Proj Of€; ComSatCorp Releases 67-45 and 67-48) 

September 28: NASA Administrator James E. Webb testified before the Sub- 

committee on Independent Offices, Senate committee on Appropriations. 

His prepared statement made these principal points: NASA would not be 

able to achieve for this Nation “a position of leadership in space” for 

less money than an annual budget of between $5.5-$6.0 billion a year. 

282


At the proposed level of funding, after launch vehicle #216, production 

of the Saturn IB and the earth-orbital portion of the Apollo Applications 

Program would be terminated. Rather than continue to use the Apollo 

system for work in orbit at conclusion of Apollo flights, NASA would 

accept a hiatus in the continuous development of manned space flight, 

deciding on a fresh start for the years ahead. A new study would be 

begun in FY 1968 and FY 1969 on purposes and form of future develop- 

ment of spacecraft and “the national family of large launch vehicles 

that should be available in the 1970’s.” This “basic change in the 

United States space outlook” would make it “clearly prudent to pre- 

serve the physical facilities which have been built and paid for and 

which would be required if a decision is made to construct a large 

solid rocket vehicle.” Because the budget level approved by the House 

would prevent beginning work an NERVA 11, development of a flight 

weight engine of the NERVA I class, “with probably from 60,000 to 

75,000 lbs of thrust” would be initiated in FY 1968. Because we would 

have “no choice” but to accept the fact that Voyager cannot be initiated 

in FY 1968, and, in order to preserve “a capability for future planetary 

programs,’, NASA would propose about $10 million for the “lunar and 

planetary program for studies and supporting research in the technology 

of planetary exploration.” NASA would propose no changes in the budget 

for the Apollo program but would “accept the legislative history as a 

clear signal that we should proceed with a hard-hitting carefully man- 

aged effort to achieve the objectives of the Apollo program.” NASA would 

be able to launch “a total of nine Saturn V unmanned and manned 

missions before the end of Calendar Year 1969.” A further reduction 

in funding in FY 1968 could only cause “complete havoc” and would 

be a blow to the national aeronautical and space effort from which 

it would be extremely difficult to recover. 

Webb told the subcommittee: “In this situation, we cannot ask, 

as we otherwise would have done, that the Senate restore in full the 

amount reduced by the House. . . . We are here to ask the commit- 

tee that the Senate approve the amounts passed by the House and accepted 

by the President, and to make a clear record in the legislative history 

that will give us the flexibility we will need to permit us to carry 

out the strongest possible program within the amounts made avail- 

able to us. . . . Long leadtimes requiring timely initiation of new pro- 

grams and implying commitment to proceed over a period of years 

would . . . make it perfectly clear to all that we cannot somehow 

find a way to carry forward the same program and give the Nation 

the same assurance of a strong position in aeronautics and space with a 

$517 million cut in our budget.” 

He said he had been in touch with the President in the last 24 hours and 

(6 

he still believes the recommendations he made in January represent” 

the best budget for the country. But the President also believed his proposed 

10 percent income tax surcharge “is more important to press for 

than extra money for the space bill.” Webb said he had drastically reshaped 

the space program to comply with the $4.5 billion fund for this 

year voted by the House and approved by the President. But Subcommittee 

Chairman Warren G. Magnuson (D-Wash.) and several senators, 

with major space installations in their states, gave strong indications 

they would plan to restore some of the millions of dollars cut by the 

House. Webb promised to revise his multi-billion-dollar space plans 

283


again “and bring you the best program possible for the money.” (NASA 

LAR VI/lOl; Text; Testimony; AP, NYT, 9/29/67, A3; 9/30/67,52) 

a Senate Appropriations Committee activities were listed by Wall Street 

Journal: voted $142 million for this year’s development of the SST; 

doubled the House-approved $20 million for highway safety grants; 

added $50 million to FAA’s budget for improved air safety (versus the 

$7 million requested by the Administration) ; and, in all, voted nearly 

$1.7 billion for the Department of Transportation$ N 1968 budget. 

Sponsor for the improved air safety figure of $50 million had been 

Sen. John Stennis (D-Miss.) , chairman of the Appropriations Subcom- 

mittee that handled FAA’s budget, who proposed $20 million for opera- 

tion of air control towers and overtime payment for their crews, plus 

another $30 million for such new safety equipment as airport ground 

Lighting and improved radar. Sen. Stennis had stated his hope that 

someday air safety projects could be financed partly with special user 

charges. ( WSI, 9/28/67,3) 

The LTV Range Systems Division, LTV Aerospace Corporation, Dallas, was 

awarded a contract valued at about $10 million to provide facilities 

support services to the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. The services 

would cover 12 mo, beginning Dec. 1,1967, contained provisions for four 

one-year renewal options. (NASA Release 67-253) 

USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory Systems Program Office, Los Angeles, 

Calif., issued a $3.5-million initial increment to an $8.7-million fixed- 

price contract to Hamilton Standard, Windsor Locks, Conn., for develop- 

ment, procurement, and support of astronaut pressure suit systems for the 

MOL program. USAF Space and Missile Systems Organization issued a $4- 

million increment to an $8.1-million definitive contract for engineering 

services in support of the Agena space vehicle program. (DOD Release 

912-67) 

September 29: The Senate had unanimously passed S.J. Res. 109, which would 

mark the 50th anniversary of the Langley Research Center in October 

1967. (NASA WR VI/102) 

0 Dr. Donald H. Menzel of the Harvard College Observatory said in a letter 

to Time that he planned to propose naming features of moon’s far side 

for the three American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut who lost 

their lives in accidents connected with space research. Features were to 

be named at 1970 meeting of International Astronomical Union. (Time, 

9/29/67,11) 

A contract for operation of NASA’s Scientific and Technical Information Fa- 

cility at College Park, Md., had been renewed by NASA with Documenta- 

tion, Inc., Bethesda, Md., at an estimated $5.6 million for one year. The 

company had been operating the facility since its inception in 1962. The 

facility used modern computer techniques ,to store and retrieve a large 

volume of scientific and technical reports for the benefit of Government, 

university, and industrial users. (NASA Release 67-255) 

* Western Electric received a $43.4 million addition to an existing Nike-X 

research and development contract. Approximately $18.0 million of 

this was initial implementation of the decision announced Sept. 18 by 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara to deploy a Communist 

Chinese-oriented ABM system. The remainder of the announced addition 

of $43.4 million would be for continuino. research and development on 

the Nike-X system, supplementing the F? 1968 contract signed early in 

September. Under that contract Western Electric had received initially 

284


$215.3 million for continued research and development effort on Nike- 

X. The Communist Chinese-oriented ABM system would consist of two 

types of radar and two interceptor missiles. (DOD Release 992-67) 

September 30: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket, launched from NASA Wal- 

lops Station to 134-mi (216-km) altitude, in AFCRL experiment to meat- 

ure incident solar radiation in upper atmosphere from 1,206 to 284 A 

with monochromator while similar instrument was in operation in Os0 

ZZZ satellite. Monochromator operated successfully; data were somewhat 

degraded by partial instrument failure. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

ComSatCorp Report to Shareholders for third quarter of 1967 indicated 

operating revenues were at record high of $5,2%,219. For second quarter 

in a row, operations showed over $0.5-million loss, but income from 

interest more than offset loss, to proFide net income of over $0.8 million. 

(Text ) 

During September: Suggestions for restoring public confidence in and ac- 

ceptance of the US. space program were advanced by William Leavitt in 

Air Force and Space Digest: “We can husband our resources by looking 

carefully at the question of whether we need two expensive and com- 

petitive manned orbital laboratories, one run by the National Aero- 

nautics and Space Administration and one run for the Defense Depart- 

ment by the Air Force. . . . 

“We can increase the funding and sharpen the planning of the un- 

manned working satellites. . . . We can begin to look seriously at 

the potential of aerospace systems analysis and engineering in the 

solution of nonspace and nonmilitary public problems, with an emphasis 

on building into these techniques . . . social, economic and political 

factors. . . . And we can begin to put to work in our schools, suburban 

and urban, many of the space-age training techniques that have been a 

beneficial by-product of the technological age we live in.” (AF/SD, 

9/67,158-159,162,165) 

* M/G Alvin R. Luedecke ( USAF, Ret.) , Deputy Director of JPL, resigned 

He had come to JPL on Aug. 1, 1964, after five years as general man- 

ager of the Atomic Energy Commission and 25 years as an Air Force 

officer. ( JPL Lab-Oratory, Sept. 67) 

* NAA announced that Igor I. Sikorsky, popularly known as the father of the 

helicopter, had been selected to receive the 1%7 Wright Brothers Me- 

morial Trophy. Presentation would be made at the Dec. 14, 1967, annual 

memorial dinner in Washington, D.C. (NAA Release) 

NSF’S Office of Economic and Manpower Studies published report show- 

ing independent nonprofit institutions employed more than three times 

as many scientists and engineers in January 1965 as they did in January 

1954. Scientific Activities of Nonprofit Institutions, 1964 said expendi- 

tures for R&D performance in these institutions were a little more than 

51/, times as much as in 1953, increasing the nonprofit sector’s share 

of the Nation’s total R&D outlay from two percent in 1953 to three 

percent in 1964. (Text) 

0 More than two thirds of 1%’~ public intercity travel had been by air, 

SpacelAeronautics reported. While long-haul air traffic demand would 

be shifted to aircraft like the SST, the airlines would need to come up 

with short-haul systems of equal caliber. Past studies, sponsored by 

FAA, had revealed that V/STOLS, complex and costly to operate as they 

are, would capture a substantial share of the short-haul market with 

285

During September ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

their time savings and convenience and would, in fact, even increase 

the market by inducing more travel. (S/A, 9/67, 102-15) 

* General aviation fatal accidents for the first time fell below 3 per 100 

million hours, the CAB estimating 2.5 for 1966. (#National Pilots Assn 

News, 9/67) 

The overall national security significance of space, in both tactical and 

strategic terms, were discussed by Dr. Harold Brown, Secretary of the 

Air Force, in General Electric Forum. “The Department of Defense 

does not view space as a mission, but rather as a place,” he said, ex- 

plaining broad Air Force responsibilities and goals in space. He cited 

representative features of the military unmanned space programs: (1) 

ballistic missile warning; (2) antisatellite defense; and (3) nuclear 

detonation detection. (Brown, General Electric Forum, Autumn 1967) 

U.S.S.R. and Great Britain planned to sign a joint technological agree- 

ment shortly as result of British government and industry team visit to 

Moscow during September, reported Aviation Week. Agreement would 

cover automatic landing, aircraft engine technology and reliability, 

engine noise, and sonic boom research, Minister of State John Stone- 

house, team leader, stated. Britain had substantial lead over U.S.S.R. 

in these fields, but Stonehouse contended sharing of information would 

lead to new export markets for British hardware in Soviet and Soviet- 

bloc countries. (Av Wk, 10/2/67,16) 

* Earth-orbiting satellites, according to Soviet cosmonaut Pave1 Popovich’s 

report in Aviation and Cosmonuutics, would render practical help to 

agriculture, assessing crop and forest resources and discovering areas of 

vegetation affected by disease, fires, locusts, and underground springs. 

His report specified regularly photographing areas under cultivation 

from sowing to harvesting and processing data in computers to obtain 

yield forecasts. (S/F, 9/67,310) 

Soviet radio astronomer Professor Vsevolod Troitski, in statement 

to Tass, said new information had provided convincing proof that 

moon’s surface was su5ciently strong to support spacecraft landings. 

He stated that substance composing top layer of moon’s surface con- 

sisted of loosely connected particles averaging 0.01 in and that contacts 

between particles were very weak. On an average, porous substance 

covered moon to a depth of about 13 ft, according to Troitski. (S/F! 

9/67, 305) 

286

October 1967 

October 1 : Ninth anniversary of NASA, established by the National Aeronautics 

and Space Act of 1958. 


Homer E. Newell became NASA Associate Administrator. His appointment 

had been announced Aug. 25. Dr. Newell would be replaced as 

Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications (Sciences) 

by Dr. John E. Naugle. (NASA Release 67-228; NASA Ann, 10/20/67; 

Hines, W Star, 10/3/67, A4) 

* NASA announced that solar radiation and magnetic properties around 

planet Venus as well as in interplanetary space would be studied as 

Mariner V (launched June 14) approached closer to Venus. Flight plan 

would take spacecraft within 2,500 mi of surface of Venus Oct. 19. 

NASA hoped to acquire valuable information to supplement that learned 

from Mariner II, which in 1962 had detected no radiation belts and no 

magnetic field at miss distance of 21,600 mi. Added investigations 

included: properties of solar wind; electron count by radio beam passing 

through Venus’ atmosphere; study of so-called “solar plasma cavity” 

on dark side of Venus; and investigation of unexplored region 54 million 

mi from sun. (NASA Release 67-248) 

Introduction to current US. research on use of spacecraft to study oceans, 

“United States Activities in Spacecraft Oceanography,” was published 

by National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development 

and jointly prepared by NASA, Naval Oceanographic Office, Bureau 

of (Tommercial Fisheries, and ESSA. Scientists reported on progress in 

photographic and spectral scanning; when done from orbital locations, 

scanning yielded data equivalent to that obtained by thousands of 

globally distributed ocean-surface sensors. “Although data acquired 

from space will initially appear coarse compared with measurements 

from surface platforms, a sensing system with global coverage reporting 

as often as desired, and with increasing scope and accuracy will 

offer unique opportunities for broad unified synoptic analysis,” study 

reported. (Text) 

* New York Times editorial praised success of NASA’s Surveyor V, launched 

Sept. 8: “If present indications are confirmed, Surveyor 5 has made one 

the fundamental scientific discoveries of the century . . . that earth’s 

natural satellite is made up of the same kind of material as is the earth. 

Oetober 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

required to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth.” 

(NYT, 10/1/67, 12E) 

October 2: NASA Administrator James E. Webb announced resignation of 

Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., effective Jan. 5,1968. 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 October 2 

space rivalry have been enormous’’ and prediction that “the economic 

and technical problems ahead will force the space race to stop at 

the moon with cooperation replacing rivalry,” AIAA Executive Secretary 

James J. Harford defended space program in letter to New York Times: 

“The modest scientific dividends which he [ Schwartz] credits the space 

program with producing are puny, indeed, compared to the effects 

space technology will certainly have on civilization in eons to come. . . . 

Technologically, both the US. and the U.S.S.R. are enormously stim: 

dated. . . . Politically, the space rogram has produced the first international 

treaty in history. . . . Khilosophically, the space program 

has made the world vividly aware that it is, itself, a spacecraft with 

three billion passengers, traveling in a solar orbit, in a vast universe. . . . 

bL 

Everyone is for international cooperation, but two nations with 

ICBM’s aimed at each other have understandable problems working out 

cooperative programs. . . . Perhaps the time for serious joint effort 

is coming. . . In the meantime, a peaceful program costing less 

than 1 per cent of the G.N.P., which has produced new technology 

at a rate that only wars have equaled in the past, . . . should not be 

diminished because of serious domestic problems.” (Schwartz, NYT, 

10/2/67,47; NYT, 10/14/67,26) 

* Ralph K. Bennett, writing in the National Observer, described F-111 

aircraft [formerly TFX] as “an Airplane Lemon” and questioned its 

capabilities: “On paper it is the most sophisticated, flexible, yet 

economic air-weapons system yet devised-a single airplane capable 

of performing the divergent missions of both Navy and Air Force . . . 

[but] in reality it may be the most costly bungle in the . . . history 

of military procurement. . . .” 

Sen. John L. McClellan (D-Ark.) later told Senate he agreed 

with Bennett: “. . . I am not implying that commonality [of one 

aircraft for USAF and USN] cannot be a valid and economical concept. 

There is no way, however, to build with identical parts an effective 

single weapons system which will carry out separate and widely diverse 

military missions. Mr. Bennett’s article points out that the TFX pro- 

gram was an attempt to combine . . . drastically different design and 

performance characteristics. . . . The result is . . . [a] hybrid craft 

that cannot capably perform to the requirements of either service” (Ben- 

nett, Natl Obs, 10/2/67; CR, 10/4/67, 94225-7) 

October 3: NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from NASA 

Wallops Station ejected barium vapor at 75-, 115-, and 14-mi altitudes, 

forming three distinct green and purple clouds visible for hundreds of 

miles. Experiment was conducted for AFCRL to (1) measure electric 

fields and wind motion in upper atmosphere by photographing and 

tracking movement of ionized barium clouds, and (2) measure attenua- 

tion on passage of radio signals through ionized barium plasmas. (WS 

Release 67-32; UPI, W Star, 10/4/67, D2) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket was launched from WSMR to 114-mi 

(184.km) altitude in GSFC experiment to obtain x-ray and EUV photos of 

the sun and to flight test SCAT solar pointing system. Flight, first for 

SCAT, proved to hold pointing to within a few arc sec. Rocket and other 


Maj. William J. Knight ( USAF) set new winged aircraft speed record when 

he flew X-15 No. 2 to 4,534 mph (mach 6.72) and 99,000-ft altitude 

in flight at Edwards AFB to: (1) test Martin ablative coating and ramjet 

289

October 3 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

October 3: Among those attending the 50th Anniversary Celebration and Inspection of 

NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, Oct. 2-6, were (left to right) : Dr. 

Floyd L. Thompson, Director of L~RC; James C. Elms, Director of NASA’s Electronics 

Research Center; Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Deputy Administrator of NASA; and Dr. 

Abe Silverstein, Director of NASA’s 

Lewia Research Center. 

local flow; (2) check out stability and control with dummy ramjets and 

characteristics of external tank separation and wing tip accelerometer ; 

and (3) conduct fluidic temperature probe. Previous speed record of 

4,250 mph (mach 6.33) had been set by Major Knight Nov. 18, 1966. 

(X-15 Proj Off; FRC &Press, 10/20/67,3) 

0 U.S.S.R. successfully launched Molniya 1.6 comsat to relay television 

signals from the Soviet Far East to Moscow and on to Paris. Orbital 

parameters: apogee, 39,870 km (24,774 mi) ; perigee, 499 km (308 

mi) ; period, 11 hr 55 min; and inclination, M.96”. Tass said comsat 

would relay television, radiotelephone, and telegraph messages and 

form part of new television network scheduled to be in operation by 50th 

anniversary of Bolshevik Revolution Nov. 7. (GSFC SSR, 10/15/67; 

W Post, 10/4/67, A17; UPI, NYT, 10/4/67,3) 

In accordaace with congressional resolution, President Johnson issued 

Proclamation 3811 designating first week in October for commemora- 

tion of LaRC’s 50th anniversary. He noted some of LaRC’s numerous 

contributions to astronautics and aeronautics since its establishment in 

1917 as the first national laboratory to conduct basic aeronautical re- 

search: (1) cowling for radial air-cooled engines in late 1920’s; (2) 

scientific information and technical skills to increase performance and 

utility of World War I1 aircraft; (3) research facilities for advancement 

290


of SST; (4) investigations into concepts of advanced supersonic and 

hypersonic vehicles, helicopters, and V/STOL aircraft; (5) research 

which contributed to development of Scout launch vehicle and to management 

of Project Mercury, Lunar Orbiter Program, and Project Fire; 

and (6) support services for Gemini and Apollo programs through 

use of simulators and special laboratories. 

Messages of congratulations from President Johnson, Vice President 

Humphrey, and Director of U.K.’s Royal Aircraft Establishment Sir 

Robert Cockburn were inserted in Congressional Record by Rep. Thomas 

N. Downing (D-Va.), who said: “. . . this Nation can be proud today 

and always of the system that maintains the Langley Research Center.” 

At LaRC the week was marked by a daily inspection, with hundreds of 

industry, university, and Government visitors. (NASA Release 67-251 ; 

CR, 9/29/67, S13885; 10/2/67, H12787-9; 10/3/67, H12913-4; 

PD, 10/9/67,1387-8) 

Senate Appropriations Committee ordered favorably reported, with amend- 

ments, NASA FY 1968 appropriation bill (H.R. 12474). Action restored 

$96 million of $516 million cut by House [see Aug. 221. Two projects- 

Voyager Mars and NERVA 11-were restored by increased funding in 

Senate move; as approved, bill totaled $4.7 billion. Bill moved to floor 

of Senate. (NASA LAR VI/104; O’Toole, W Post, 10/4/67, A2) 

Mass meeting in U.S.S.R.’s Palace of Congresses inside the Kremlin Wall 

heard L/C Aleksei A. Leonov recall heritage of fellow pioneers; he had 

‘been an associate of Col. Komarov who had been killed on Apr. 24 in 

the first flight of third-generation Soyuz I spacecraft. Cosmonaut Leonov 

said: “We cannot help recall our friend, test pilot Vladimir Mikhailovic 

Komarov. Grateful mankind will always preserve the memory of these 

wonderful people in its heart.” The mass meeting was the highlight of 

Soviet celebration of the loth anniversary of Sputnik: I’s launching 

[seeOct.4]. 

In the Soviet press on the same day, scientist Konstantin P. Feoktisov, 

veteran of three-orbit flight in 1964, listed a manned laboratory in orbit 

as first among coming space developments, then a moon landing, then 

a “starting to Venus and Mars.” (UPI, AP, NYT, 10/5/67, C20) 

October 4: 10th anniversary of the space age, inaugurated with the launching 

of first man-made satellite, U.S.S.R.’s 184-lb Sputnik 1. During first 

decade of space age 803 spacecraft were successfuly orbited: US. or- 

bited 529; U.S.S.R., 269; France, 4; and Italy, 1. US. total included 

14 manned orbital space flights with 677 orbits and 1,993.4 man hours; 

U.S.S.R. had 9 flights with 310 orbits and 532.5 man hours. 

Of 45 worldwide flights related to the moon, 20 were successful- 

including 5 softlanding-providing high-quality photos and on-site 

analyses of lunar surface. Some 24 planetary flights provided close-up 

photos of Mars and atmospheric data on Mars and Venus. Some 17 

bioscience payloads, including mice, dogs, mold spores, plants, insects, 

a chimpanzee, and an anthropomorphic dummy, were successfully 

launched and recovered, providing data on effects of space flight on living 

systems. Space applications satellites totaled 292; advanced technology 

satellites, 26; and military support and observation satellites, 158. (EH; 

Sheldon, “Review of the Soviet Space Program,” Report of the House 

Committee on Science and Astronautics) 

0 To commemorate first decade of space age, Deputy Assistant Secretary of 

Interior S. Fred Singer, first Director of US. Weather Satellite program, 

29 1


wrote in the Washington Post under dateline, “Oct. 4,2007”: “It is now 

a half century since the first man-made satellite went into orbit around 

the earth, and an opportune time to examine how space technology and 

exploration have contributed to the economic development of the United 

States and to human welfare generally. The effects have been subtle 

none of the early spectacular predictions have come to pass: the planets 

have been explored but not colonized; rockets have become more power- 

ful but rocket transportation has not replaced aircraft and ramjet ve- 

hicles.” He cited three major technological changes as a result of space 

program: increased reliance on electronic computer and data processor; 

a managerial revolution which created highly trained technologist-man- 

agers; and increased understanding of natural environment. (Singer, 

W Post, 10/1/67, F1) 

U.S.S.R.’s Academician Dr. Anatoli A. Blagonravov, chairman of Soviet 

[Commission for Exploration and Use of Outer Space, reviewed first 

decade in space in AP article: “The Space Era is not a chance phenom- 

enon in the development of natural sciences. It is a legitimate and in- 

dispensable stage in the history of development of human society.” 

(Blagonravov, AP, W Star, 10/1/67, C3) 

* NASA test pilot William H. Dana flew X-15 No. 3 to 250,000-ft altitude 

and 3,886 mph (mach 5.35) at Edwards AFB. Purpose of test flight was 

to check : ultraviolet exhaust plume; solar spectrum measurement; 

micrometeoroid collection; air density; x-ray air density; ARC boost 

guidance; and tip-pod camera. (NASA Proj Off) 

* Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s decision to go ahead with 

“thin” Nike-X antiballistic missile (ABM) system was criticized by Rep. 

W. J. Bryan Dorn (D.S.C.) on floor of House: “. . . the best defense 

is an offense. Command of the skies, space, and the seas is the way to 

keep war and destruction from the shores of our homeland.” He 

recommended use of “sea-based anti-ballistic missile intercept system.” 

(CR, 10/4/67, A4923) 

MSFC used AEDC facilities to investigate preparation of spent rocket stage 

for human occupancy in space by dumping. 840 gal of super-cold liquid 

nitroeen through “dead” or inactive J-2 rocket engine. Simulating 

100,000-ft altitude, dumping experiment would pave way for astronauts 

to move inside orbiting stage and use tanks as living quarters for space 

station. ( MSFC Release 67-203) 

Static launch from motionless rocket sled of F-111 aircraft’s crew escape 

module at Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC) was suc- 

cessful. Under severe conditions pilot might encounter in emergency 

before takeoff, module would allow crew to escape. (Av Wk, 10/16/67, 

19) 

* For the Saturn V program NASA purchased nine S-IVB stages from 

McDonnell Douglas Corp. for $146.5 million, fulfilling requirements 

for currently approved 15 Saturn V and 12 Uprated Saturn I launch 

vehicles. Delivery would begin in April 1968 and end in May 1970. 

Purchase brought total S-IVB contract for both vehicles to $957,- 

182,093. 

McDonnell Douglas also received a $24-million, cost-plus-fixed-fee 

contract extension for S-IVB launch services at KSC, which increased 

total value of contract to $34 million. Included were stage receipt, 

checkout, launch, and launch evaluation. (NASA Releases 67-258, 67- 

259) 

292


October 4 

* U.N. Secretary General U Thant stated that “the very important treaty 

governing the activities of states in outer space, on the moon and other 

celestial bodies, forged in the conference room of the United Nations, 

has reaffirmed the principle first stated in the General Assembly that 

outer space is the province of all mankind.” [Space law treaty signed 

Jan. 27 would go into effect Oct. 10.1 (NYT, 10/5/67) 

* NASC Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh was interviewed by Chris- 

tian Science Monitor’s Neal Sanford. Comparing American and Soviet 

space budgets, he expressed belief that U.S.S.R. was spending more 

than twice the US. percentage of gross national product on space. 

“Their [GNP] is less than half of ours. While they are spending about 

the same amount of money that we are on space it is about twice the 

percentage of GNP. They are putting a greater priority on space than we 

are.” Soviet space program for 1967 had been “the most active in . . . 

[their] history, so far as launches go,,’ he said. “I don’t know if they 

are cutting [their budget] back. They are going along at a good rate 

. . . [and] from the progress they are making, we assume they are 

going along at about the same funding.” (Sanford, CSM, 10/4/67, 5) 

News on failures of Soviet manned space flights was “at least in part, 

‘managed’ by Washington,” Julius Epstein, research associate at Hoover 

Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, wrote in Los Angeles Times: 

“According to reliable information, the CIA submitted a confidential 

document to the White House early this year reporting the deaths of at 

least 11 cosmonauts in addition to that of Komarov. The Washington 

decision not to disclose information on . . . failures was made during 

the last days of the Eisenhower Administration, presumably to protect 

intelligence sources.” This decision, he said, was recorded in DOD-NASA 

agreement, Jan. 13,1961. Mr. Epstein asked that the US. give an honest 

accounting of what it knew about Soviet space losses, so that U.S. losses 

could be assessed with proper perspective. (Epstein, LA Times, 10/4/67) 

* FCC’S concern for future communications facilities in Atlantic basin area 

was expressed in letters to ComSatCorp, AT~T, and international telegraph 

carriers. Data were requested on the various requirements, to permit 

evaluation of proposals for launching InteEat IV in 1970 time frame and 

laying TAT v cable between US. and Spain about same time. Response 

and exchange of comments were requested by end of October. (Text) 

October 5: NASA Aerobe 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

NRL payload to 107-mi (173-km) altitude on flight to measure, with FLJV 

heliograph and coronagraph, micrometeoritic particles close to rocket 

and to take pictures of solar disc. Excellent results were obtained; 

coronagraph package yielded more than 50 photographs of white-light 

solar corona from three to 10 solar radii. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* Astronaut Clifton C. Williams, Jr. (Maj., USMC) , was killed during routine 

flight when his “-38 jet aircraft crashed and disintegrated near Tallahassee, 

Fla., apparently after he had blacked out from an oxygen deficiency. 

A Lunar Module specialist and Gemini X backup pilot, Williams 

was eighth astronaut to be killed in an accident and third to die in a 

T-38 crash: one other astronaut had died in an air crash; three in Jan. 

27 Apollo fire; and one in an automobile accident. He would be buried in 

Arlington National Cemetery Oct. 9 with full military honors. ( W Post, 

10/6/67, A1 ; 10/10/67, B3) 

* Senate, approving (71-1) DOT’S FY 1968 appropriations bill (H.R. 11456) , 

accepted figures of its Appropriations Committee, where special attention 

293


had been given to air and highway safety programs [see Sept. 281. Despite 

persistent efforts of Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisc.) , who would 

have allowed only $1 million for SST development, amount was fixed at 

$142 million. Senate-approved bill was sent to conference committee. 

(CR, 10/5/67,514299-333) 

Displeasure with NASA’s administrative officials was voiced by Rep. William 

F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) , member, House Committee on Science and Astro- 

nautics, on floor of the House. “NASA continues to evade the serious 

responsibility of candor,” said Rep. Ryan while inserting a series of 

documents in Congressional Record, including Feb. 15 letter from MSFC 

Director Wernher von Braun to S. K. Hoffman, NAA Rocketdyne Div. 

president, on “. . . hardware failure, most . . . traceable to human 

error, inadequate manufacturing, quality control, or test procedures.” 

NASA Hq. news conference, called at 5:OO pm same day by NASA Ad- 

ministrator James E. Webb, accompanied by key NASA and industry offi- 

cials, responded to Rep. Ryan’s charges and explained that letter to 

Hoffman had been a case of normal Government-contractor business. 

Webb pointed out that subcommittees of the House Committee on Sci- 

ence and Astronautics were kept informed each month so that emergency 

matters could be brought to their attention. 

Dr. von Braun explained how inspection and quality control pro- 

cedures were continued as rocket engines were processed at contractor’s 

plant and at Government test sites. He stated that NASA-Rocketdyne co- 

ordination on inspection continuity and quality control were applied to 

both the rocket engine as an entity and the rocket engine/launch-vehicle- 

stage complex. 

As trend of news conference discussion turned from quality control to 

Saturn/Apollo weight problems, M/G Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Pro- 

gram Director, said the heavier Lunar Module resulted from fire-hazard- 

type design changes. He stated that LM was now 31,500 lb against a 

32,000-lb control weight. Referring to weight-lifting capability of Saturn 

V, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, Dr. George E. 

Mueller, said lunar payload had increased from 90,000 to 100,OOO lb 

by increasing engine efficiency. Similar improvement was expected in 

LM’S propulsion, which would ease the weight problem. (CR, 10/5/67, 

Ip13046-8; Transcript) 

* Boeing Co. won seven USAF Industrial Zero Defects Program awards, in- 

cluding one for the largest value engineering change submitted to and 

approved by USAF-an improved cable connection for Minuteman missile 

launch facilities which saved USAF $7,749,258. Other awards: Award 

of Achievement to Boeing’s Aerospace Group; two additional awards for 

value engineering to Boeing’s Minuteman organization; and three 

awards to individual Boeing employees for cost-reduction ideas. (Boeing 

Releases S-9429,5-9434) 

Brian Todd O’Leary, one of NASA’s 12 new scientist-astronauts, was appointed 

assidant professor of Astronomy Dept., Univ. of Texas. Although 

flight training portion of astronaut’s program would continue 

for next two years, 30% of O’Leary’s time would be available for scienti& 

activities. (AP, B Sun, 10/6/67) 

F-111 aircraft, under development by USAF and USN, was defended by 

Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Harold Brown in letter to Sen. Stuart 

Symington (D-Mo.) , ranking member of Senate Armed Services Committee’s 

Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee: “There has never 

294


been and will never be a major development program that does not 

provide grist for the critic% mill, and I say this without questioning 

either the sincerity of the critics or the utility of the function they 

perform.” He professed confidence in “comprehensive testimony” be- 

fore congressional committees and asserted “the F-111 is the aircraft 

we want and need.” (CR, 10/9/67, S14445) 

* According to National Aeronautic Assn., Soviet authorities had filed 

with FGdhration Ahronautique International two new world speed rec- 

ords and one new world altitude record for their Mikoyan E-266 twin- 

tailed fighter aircraft. Pilot Peter Ostapenko had completed 1,000-km 

(621-mi) closed course with 4,410-lb load at average speed of 2,910 

km/hr (1,808 mph) . With same load, pilot Mikhail Komarov had com- 

pleted 500-km (311-mi) closed course at 2,928 km/hr (1,820 mph) . 

Alexandr Fedotov reached an altitude of 98,462 ft. (Av Wky 12/18/67, 

54-5; NAA/PIO) 

October 5-6: JPL engineers conducted series of exercises with NASA’s Mariner 

ZY spacecraft (launched Nov. 28, 1964) to demonstrate techniques for 

controlling Mariner Y (launched June 14, 1967) if its startracker were 

to fail during Venus flyby Oct. 19. Mariner IVY after traveling more than 

1.3-billion mi in solar orbit, successfully responded to commands by 

breaking lock on its unidentified guide star and locking instead on 

Canopus ; breaking lock on Canopus; maintaining stability by turning 

on inertial control gyros for first time since December 1964; and pointing 

high-gain antenna toward earth and using it-with a 20-db signal 

strength increase at DSN ground stations-for first time since October 

1965. Practice of procedures gave JPL engineers confidence in ability to 

stabilize Mariner V by gyros and to keep it oriented by ground command. 

Spacecraft would remain on inertial control with high-gain 

antenna oriented toward earth until completion of planned second midcourse 

maneuver motor firing and other engineering tests. (NASA Proj 

Off; NASA Release 67-264) 

October 6: NASA announced that Ogo ZV Orbiting Geophysical Observatory, 

launched from WTR July 28, had passed its primary test objective of collecting 

scientific data while remaining stable in all three axes for more 

than 50 days and was continuing to radio data from 18 of its 20 experiments. 

Unexpected oscillation in 60-ft-long experiment boom, apparently 

caused by heat from the sun, had been controlled by manually 

operating satellite’s control system and thus expending less controljet 

fuel than with automatic control. (NASA Release 67-252) 

Senate, in approving (60-5) NASA FY 1968 appropriations bill (H.R. 

12474) of $4.7 billion, accepted figures of Senate Committee on Appropriations. 

Measure would go to conference to reconcile differences 

between House and Senate versions. NASA FY 1968 funding in three 

categories tallied : R&D Senate appropriation of $3.955 billion was increase 

of $96.0 million over House appropriation, decrease of $152.1 

million from authorization, and decrease of $356.5 million from budget. 

Construction of Facilities Senate appropriation of $55.4 million was 

increase of $19.5 million over House appropriation, decrease of $14.6 


Administrative Operations Senate appropriation of $628.0 million was 

decrease of $20.0 million from House appropriation, decrease of $20.2 


Sen. John C. Stennis (D-Miss.), Chairman, Senate Committee on 

324-801 0--89----20 

295


Armed Services’ Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee, said : “Ten 

years ago we did not have the knowledge or the equipment to meet the 

Russian challenge. . . . But today. . . we are at the crossroads of decision 

as to what our space program is going to be in 197Q and beyond. . . .” 

Sen. Margaret C. Smith (R-Me.) , ranking minority member, Senate 

Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, stated that President’s 

signing of FY’ 1968 authorization bill “clearly signaled a new policy of 

relegating the space program to a secondary position.” (Testimony; 

CR, 10/6/67, $2436742) 

* Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s decision to go ahead with 

“thin” Nike-X antiballistic missile (ABM) system was criticized by Sen. 

Gale W. McGee (D-Wyo.), member of Senate Appropriations Com- 

mittee, on floor of Senate: “. . . there is a touch of tragedy involved. It 

lies in the fact that such a system, designed to guard us against possible 

attack by the unstable Chinese nation, can be effective in neutralizing 

the danger of nuclear holocaust but not the danger of continued guer- 

rilla warfare as practiced by Mao-Tse-tung and his followers.” (CRY 

10/6/67, 594359) 

Vexing problem of the direction and period of Venus’ rotation had acquired 

a new dimension in recent ultraviolet photographs, according to an 

article in Science by Bradford A. Smith of the New Mexico State Univ. 

Observatory. Smith recounted the history of 60 yrs of visual and spec- 

troscopic observation of Venus that produced inconclusive evidence. 

Radar observation begun in 1961 by 1967 had produced what was con- 

sidered firm evidence that the solid globe of Venus in 244 days rotated 

once in a direction retrograde to that of its planetary neighbors earth 

and Mars. Recent ultraviolet photos taken at the New Mexico State 

Univ. Observatory with a new 61-cm reflector indicated that ultraviolet 

clouds of the Venusian atmosphere rotated retrograde in five days. This 

large discrepancy between movement of the globe and atmosphere of 

Venus could be explained only by the existence in the Venusian atmos- 

phere of a persistent and widespread planetary wind system blowing at 

more than 180 mph, Smith said. Although earth‘s jet stream reached 

such speeds, it was narrow and zonal, in contrast to the massive system 

that would have to exist on Venus if these observations were correct. 

(Science, 10/6/67, 114-6) 

October 7: New York Times commented on congressional cuts in NASA’s FY 

1968 budget: “The Senate, ignoring the most obvious of all opportunities 

to cut nonessential spending, has not only matched the $4.5 billion the 

House voted for space excursion but tacked on nearly $100 million more 

to start new programs after the first Americans land on the moon. The 

certainty that another huge space appropriation. will come out of conference 

on Capitol Hill adds special interest to the fact that twice 

recently the leading space scientist of the Soviet Union, Prof. Leonid 

Sedov, has publicly stressed the importance of large-scale international 

cooperation for manned flights beyond the moon. . . . Now that Professor 

Sedov has opened the door, the Administration has an opportunity 

to begin diplomatic explorations to see if the Russians really are serious 

about replacing senseless rivalry in space with rational international 

cooperation.” (NYT, 10/7/67,28) 

Launches of military espionage spacecraft dominated US. space program, 

Soviet scientists Dr. V. Denisov and F. Soluyanov charged in Krasnaya 

Zvezda. According to the scientists, of 455 US. spacecraft launched by 

2%

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 October 7 

mid-1967, 346 were military satellites which the Pentagon “proposed 

to use . . . for reconnaissance on a so-called real-time scale, followed 

by an immediate transmission of information.” Although US. “con- 

tinues to persist that its aspirations are the peaceful utilization of 

space,” they said, officials “do not hide the fact that NASA builds the 

scientific-technological foundation for the development of military-space 

facilities . . . [while DOD] finances and controls the planning . . . of 

space armament.” (Miles, P Znq, 10/8/67,13C) 

October 8: President Johnson addressed International Conference on World 

Crisis in Education, Williamsburg, Va.: “. . . I would like to suggest 

. . . these challenges: How can we use what we already know about 

educational television to accelerate the pace of basic education for all 

the children of the world? How can we use modern technology to 

economize on that most essential and that most needed educational 

resource: the good teacher?” He added: “If future historians . . . seek, 

a name for this period in America, I hope they will give consideration 

to calling it the age of education. If our children’s children want to 

measure what we tried to achieve, I hope they will remember one thing: 

The American Government in only 3 years multiplied its commitment 

to education and to health four times over. Congress passed more laws 

and committed more funds to education and health in the last 3 years 

than in all previous history.” (PD, 10/16/67,1419-23) 

October 9: Sen. Joseph S. Clark (D-Pa.), member of Senate Foreign Rela- 

tions Committee, on Senate floor called proposed Nike-X ABM system 

cc 

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 N 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.” (BSun, 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 

297


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 sur- 

face to free their radio frequencies. Lunar Orbiter 111, 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) 

October 10: President Johnson, in White House ceremony marking entry 

into force of space law treaty, greeted ambassadors from 13 countries 

and key US. officials and renewed America’s offer to cooperate fully 

with any nation in exploring planets and solar system, using tracking 

facilities, mapping the earth, exchanging bioscientific information, and 

communicating via comsats. 

Responding, Soviet Ambassador Anatoli F. Dobrynin said: “These 

[international legal] principles . . . are aimed at insuring peaceful 

activities of states in outer space for the benefit of all mankind. We 

hope that [the treaty] will contribute to the settlement of major inter- 

national problems still facing the mankind on our planet.” 

British Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean said: “We welcome [the treaty] 

all the more because the treaty removes outer space from the effect of 

the rivalry and dissension between nations. . . . It is a treaty about 

. . . rule of law and the extension of that field within which interna- 

tional law is to regulate the conflicts of interests, which arise between 

men and nations.” 

Secretary of State Dean Rusk said: “The treaty also takes steps to 

limit and reduce the competition in armaments, a terrible burden on 

peoples everywhere.” He added: “It is evident that men and nations 

can, in fact, achieve the maturity necessary to embody in binding form 

their points of agreement, despite political differences in other areas.’’ 

(PD, 10/16/67,1425-8) 

Planned launch of Apollo 4/Saturn V for Oct. 17 was postponed until 

early November, according to NASA spokesmen at ETR, reported UPI. 

Troubles with ground support equipment had stalled countdown re- 

hearsal. Once rehearsal was finished, engineers would evaluate results 

and set date for unmanned launch. (UPI, W Post, 10/11/67, A18) 

a R/A Albert C. Read (USN, Ret.), commander of first heavier-than-air air- 

craft to cross the Atlantic ( USN NC-4 seaplane) , died in Miami, Fla. He 

had received the Distinguished Service Medal for the 4,500-mi, 23-day 

flight he made in May 1919, from Rockaway, N.Y., to Plymouth, U.K. 

and in 1965 was elected to the Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton. ( W Post, 

10/12/67, EK) 

October 11: NASA test pilots Fitzhugh Fulton and Donald L. Mallick flew 

XB-70 No. 1 to 58,000-ft altitude and 1,581 mph (mach 2.43) in flight 

at Edwards AFB. Purpose of test was to check lateral-directional stability, 

control, and handling qualities at mach 2.35 and 55,000 ft; inlet unstart 

at mach 2.4 and 57,500 ft ; variable nose ramp functional test at mach 1.6 

and 38,000 ft, and at mach 1.4 and 32,000 ft. Flight was successful. 

(XB-70 Proj Off) 

298


* U.S.S.R. successfully launched Cosmos CLXXXI into orbit with 863-km 

(536-mi) apogee, 668-km (415-mi) perigee, 101.1-min period, and 

99.16’ inclination. Satellite reentered Oct. 18. ( GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

USAF launched unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB employing a 

ThorBurner I1 booster. (UPI, P EB, 10/11/67,2; Pres Rep 1967) 

* NASA announced organizational changes in preparation for changes that 

would occur when Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., 

left NASA Jan. 1 : (1) General Counsel Paul G. Dembling and Executive 

Secretary John R. Biggs would report directly to NASA Administrator 

James E. Webb; (2) Assistant General Counsel for Procurement Matters 

S. Neil Hosenball would fill new post of Deputy General Counsel; and (3) 

OMSF Secretariat representative Frank J. Magliato would serve as Spe- 

cial Assistant to the Administrator and direct organization of a Head- 

quarters Communications Center. ( NASA Release 67-263) 

* Executive Order 11374, abolishing Missile Sites Labor Commission, and 

transferring its functions and responsibilities to Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service, was signed by President. (PD, 10/16/67,1430-1) 

Sen. Henry n/l. Jackson (D-Wash.) expressed concern about US. de- 

fense policy in speech to the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, 

and Peace meeting at Stanford Univ. He cited three specific ideas with 

which he disagreed: (1) exaggerated picture of US. as catalyst in Soviet 

desire to “possess a first-rate military establishment,” (2) theory that 

military technology had reached a plateau and stabilized, and (3) seem 

ing trend toward nuclear parity. Some scientists and defense planners, he 

said, had “a mirror image interpretation of Moscow’s decisions . . . 

seeing them as reflex actions” and believed that if U.S. did not act 

U.S.S.R. would not act. He also argued, “Ordinary economic technology 

is always finding better ways to do things and there is no reason to sup- 

pose that military technology will cease in this effort.” Sen. Jackson be- 

lieved that “international peace and security depend not on a parity of 

power but on a preponderance of power in the peacekeepers over the 

peace-upsetters. Our aim is not . . . an unlimited accumulation of weap- 

ons . . . [but] to create and maintain . . . a relationship of forces 

favorable to the deterrent of adventurism and aggression.” (Text) 

“The ceremonies in Washington, Moscow and London putting the space 

treaty into effect mark not only the first major East-West agreement 

since the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963 but a potential starting point 

for an even more momentous accord,” New York Times commented on 

space law treaty which went into effect Oct. 10. It added that “recent 

statements by the Soviet Union’s leading space scientist, Professor 

Leonid Sedov, indicate that the Russians too may be coming around 

to the conclusion that the costs of going it alone to the moon and beyond 

outweigh the dimming propaganda magic.” (NYT, 10/11/67) 

* Jonathan Spivak in Wall Street Journal commented on congressional cuts 

in NASA’s Fy 1968 budget: “Plans to launch unmanned satellites to 

Mars or Venus in 1971 and 1973 and conduct extended exploration of 

the moon by astronauts face probable abandonment because of a lack 

of funds. There will also be sharp curtailment of proposals for longduration 

manned flights in orbit about the earth to enhance the nation’s 

space technology and exploit practical and scientific applications of 

space. Thus, say space officials, the present outlook is that only a limited 

national space program will continue in the 1970s after the lunar landing.’’ 

(Spivak, WSJ, 10/11/67, 24) 

299


October 12: Vertical probe launched by U.S.S.R. carried instrumented pay- 

load to 4,400-km (2,734-mi) altitude to study “characteristics of iono- 

sphere . . . general intensity of cosmic rays . . . doses of radiation for 

various protections at the time of the flight in radiation belts . . . [and] 

density of neutral hydrogen.” Equipment and instruments-including 

a telemetry system-functioned normally. (UPI, P Znq, 10/14/67, 1 ; 

SBD, 10/16/67,239) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb held press conference on management 

changes: (1) George S. Trimble, Jr., Director of Advanced Manned 

Missions Program, OMSF, was appointed Deputy Director of MSC. (2) 

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applica- 

tions Edgar M. Cortright was appointed Deputy Associate Administra- 

tor for Manned Space Flight. He would be replaced by Donald P. Hearth, 

Voyager Program Manager. (3) MSFC Deputy Director Eberhard F. M. 

Rees was named to serve as Special Assistant in Manufacturing Problems 

to MSC Apollo Spacecraft Program Manager George M. Low. 

Discussing space law treaty [effective Oct. 101 after making an- 

nouncements, Webb said it was a valuable further advance of the rule 

of law into space but noted that laws could be broken. “We have an 

agreement in the Antarctic . . . not to introduce military operations or 

equipment and this has worked well. . . . We now have this agree- 

ment in space, and . . . the most important enforcer of these that relate 

to space technology is momentum and continued development of tech- 

nology. The forward capability is what in essence has produced CO- 

operation when we have had it. . . . [U.S.S.R.] and other nations must 

recognize that they’re not going to have a monopoly in this field. [Our 

being] . . . there is the most important way to make sure we get the 

benefits of the treaty. Without continued development of this kind I am 

not sure what the treaty means.” (Transcript; NASA Release 67-268) 

All-weather landing system (AWLS) was certified by FAA for use on Usk~ 

C-141 StarLifter aircraft under minimums of 1,200-ft visibility and 

100-ft decision altitude. Capable of bringing the 316,000-lb fanjet trans- 

port to a landing within 12 ft of either side of runway center line and 

within 300 ft of either side of a touchdown point, AWLS would consider- 

ably improve all-weather landing capability. Developed by AFSC and FAA 

and produced by Lockheed-Georgia Co., AWLS would program aircraft’s 

Right path, speed, angle of approach, and attitude; generate and pro- 

vide data to pilot or autopilot; and be nearly self-sufficient. Ultimate 

goal of AWLS was to enable aircraft tb make totally blind landings when 

ceiling and visibility both were zero. (AFSC Release 185.67) 

Satellites should be used to enable land-based air traffic control centers 

to track constantly commercial airliners flying over oceans, urged Pan 

American World Airways’ chief electronic engineer Ben F. McLeod at 

NATO’s Advisory Group for Aerospace Reseallch and Development 

(AGARD) meeting at New York City. McLeod said that within five to 

10 years traffic increases and new aircraft would demand improved air 

traffic control system with positions of hundreds of aircraft being sent 

automatically by satellites to ground stations for plotting. (NYT, 

10/12/67, 50) 

October 13: President Johnson presented Harmon International Aviation 

Trophies for 1967 to Astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr. (Capt., USN), 

and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (L/c, USAF) , and Alvin S. White, former NAA 

test pilot. Lovell and Aldrin were cited for successful Gemini XII mission 

300


October 13: President Lyndon B. Johnson presents the 1967 Harmon International 

Aviation Trophy to two NASA astronauts and a veteran test pilot in the White House Rose 

Garden. From the left are North American Aviation XB’!70 test pilot Alvin S. White, 

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Astronaut James A. Lovell. Jr.. and the President. 

(Nov. 11-15, 1966) during which Aldrin spent 5 hrs 28 min outside 

spacecraft. White was cited for mach 3 XB-70 flights. British aviatrix 

Sheila Scott, scheduled to receive award for her record-setting solo 

flight around the world in a single engine aircraft, was unable to attend 

ceremony. (PD, 10/16/67, 1436-7; AP, NYT, 10/14/67, 7) 

e NASA Arcas sounding rocket was launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii, 

to 37-mi (59-km) altitude, fourth in NOTS series to measure incident 

polar uv irradiance in direct support of Ogo ZV‘s mission. Excellent 

data were obtained. Rocket and payload performed satisfactorily. 


e NASA announced it had asked Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. to 

deliver second Lunar Module (LM-2) in unmanned configuration, 

changing earlier plan for manned configuration. With the change, NASA 

could provide a backup for the Apollo V launch scheduled for early 

1968 without a wait for modifications. If backup for LM-2 was not 

needed, manned launch would make use of LM-2 at later date. (NASA 

Release 67-266; Transcript) 

301


* NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications 

(Engineering) George Hage was named Deputy Director (Engineering) 

of the Apollo Program, OMSF. (NASA Ann, 10/13/67) 

Inquiry into economic impact of building SST was made by Dael 

Wolfle in Science editorial. Congressional arguments on whether to build 

SST “illustrate why members of Congress want to increase congressional 

competence to assess the consequences of technological developments 

and proposals. . . . What Congress needs in deciding about the SST or 

other technological matters is essentially what it needs in deciding about 

taxes, military affairs, education, or other matters with which it deals: 

ability to ask the right questions and ability to evaluate critically the 

information it receives from advocates and opponents of proposed 

actions." (Wolfle, Science, 10/13/67) 

* In its fourth year of full operation ESRO was entering a more expensive 

and ambitious phase and consequently was encountering financial, polit- 

ical, and organizational difficulties, John Walsh reported in Science. 

ESRO was currently appraising its eight-year program and seeking ways 

to coordinate its activities with ELDO, European Conference on Communi- 

cations Satellites ( GETS), and new European Space Conference. Accord- 

ing to 1962 convention which became effective in 1964, ESRO was to have 

launched 300 sounding rockets and 10-12 satellites within eight years 

under $300-million budget. Although ESRO council was empowered to 

adjust budget authorization in response to major scientific and tech- 

nical developments, it lacked unanimity necessary for change. As a 

result, Walsh noted, scheduled number of satellites-including $170- 

million Large Astronomical Satellite ( LAS) -would probably not be 

launched. Expenditures for buildings and equipment for ESRO’S new 

four-station satellite tracking, telemetry, and telecommand network, and 

its five main research installations had been particularly heavy. European 

Space Technology Center ( ESTEC) , for example, responsible for applied 

research and payload development, had a 456-man staff-nearly half 

of total ESRO staff-which was expected to reach 1,000 by the end of 

1967. In addition to financial problems caused by expansion, Walsh 

said, ESRO had to overcome a sensitivity to what national aerospace 

industries would get back in relation to national contributions, differ- 

ences over selection of projects, and lack of unity and coordinated 

effort. Differences of opinion between larger countries such as U.K., 

Germany, and France, which contributed 23.13%, %.31%, and 20.17%, 

respectively, to ESRO budget, and smaller countries such as Denmark, 

which contributed 2.15%, had to be resolved before a real sense of pur- 

pose could be acquired, Walsh said. “ESRO until now has been primarily 

an agency providing technical services and support for university scien- 

tists who prepare actual experiments. As experiments grow more com- 

plex, more work .will be done in ESRO labs and by industry,” and new 

dimensions would be added to its tasks. (Walsh, Science, 10/13/67, 

2424) 

October IP: USAF launched experimental reentry vehicle on Atlas-F booster 

from Vandenberg AFB in Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry Systems (ABRES) 

program. (P Znq, 10/15/67,7) 

Saturn V’s countdown rehearsal was completed; final flight preparations 

would be completed for scheduled launch in about three weeks, reported 

UPI. ( UPI, W Star, 10/14/67, A3) 

* Apollo spacecraft would carry two fire extinguishers, designed and 

302


built for NASA by Southwest Research Institute, the New York Times 

reported. Foam from new extinguishers would provide fire protection 

for astronauts. Extinguishers would weigh about eight pounds, measure 

nine inches long with five-inch diameter, and would have removable 

safety pin and pistol-type grip with thumb button for release of foam. 

(NYT, 10/15/67,29) 

* Christian Science Monitor, commenting on space law treaty which went 

into effect Oct. 10, noted that space exploration had evolved this 

treaty which banned military installations and nuclear weapons from 

moon and planets and which could evolve into space cooperation be- 

tween U.S. and U.S.S.R. Treaty did not halt use of reconnaissance 

satellites but it provided for international inspection of vehicles and 

installations on moon and other bodies. Although there would be no 

right of inspection to see whether satellities were carrying nuclear 

weapons, and vigilance would always be vital in this regard, treaty was 

one more visible proof that Moscow and Washington could make useful 

progress. Space law treaty was agreement, following Antarctic Treaty, 

which could remove installations of war from one more section of man- 

kind’s expanding environment. (CSM, 10/14/67) 

October 1615: Three NASA Nike-Cajun sounding rockets-first in series 

of five three-rocket launcheewere successfully launched from Natal, 

Brazil, in GSFC program to isolate effect of changing sun angle on 

mesospheric temperature structure over six-month time period. Altitude 

would be computed by sound arrivals in track-through-grenade-sound- 

ing method. Of 19 grenades, 18 ejected and exploded. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

October 15: JPL announced development of double vacuum chamber, designed 

by JPL’S James B. Stephens, to simulate extreme effects of interplanetary 

space on spacecraft. Called Molsink (molecular sink of outer space), 

chamber was expected to determine what happened to paint, compo- 

nents, and even microorganisms on spacecraft. The eight-foot-dia cham- 

ber would be capable of capturing 99.97% of all condensable mole- 

cules emanating from test item by freezing the molecules to the walls 

at - 400’F with super-cold helium gas. Conventional vacuum chambers 

had not been able to pump, or capture, more than half of gas molecules 

flying off test item. Space scientists believed Molsink chamber would 

provide reliable tool to measure and counteract problem of spacecraft 

out-gassing. In testing, long periods would simulate actual flight time 

of spacecraft to planets-four months to Venus, seven months to Mars, 

for example. The chamber was expected to be fully operational early 

in 1968, when testing would be stepped up for NASA’s Mariner Mars 

1969 exploration program. ( JPL Release 459) 

October 15-31: Surveyor V responded to commands on Oct. 15. Spacecraft 

had been in hibernation for its first lunar night that had begun Sept. 

24, and had survived in fair condition. TV camera had weak video 

level; alpha-backscattering instrument was noisier ; and thermal control 

was reduced in Compartment A. Thermal data, which exhibited effects 

of lunar eclipse on Oct. 18 (03:58-043:59 EDT) would be analyzed for 

both engineering and scientific implications. 

Local sunset for second lunar day occurred on Oct. 23. Spacecraft 

operating time from turn-on command until second sunset was 232 hrs. 

Total of 1,043 TV pictures were obtained. By sunset Surveyor V had 

been configured for hibernating through second lunar night. Estimates 

were that engineering interrogations and compartment heating would 

303

October 15-31 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

be discontinued Oct. 31. (NASA Proj Off; UPI, W Post, 10/16/67, A3; 

AP, NYT, 10/17/67, 9) 

October 16: Cosmos CLXXXII was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. Orbital 


period, 89.9 min; and inclination, 65”. Satellite reentered Oct. 24. (NYT, 

10/17/67,12; GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

* FAA issued forecast of aviation activity at 22 large air transportation 

centers and selected airport facilities required to service increases in 

air activity. By 1980, takeoffs and landings were expected to increase by 

270%; air passengers by 433%; air cargo on scheduled airlines by 

1,400%; and general aviation (non-airline) aircraft by 146%. (FAA 


U.S.S.R. had invited U.K. to help track its Venus probe, Yenas IVY in telegram 

from Mstislav V. Keldysh, President of U.S.S.R. Academy of 

Sciences, to Sir Bernard Lovell, Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory, 

reported Washington Post. U.S.S.R. did not furnish code to signals; Sir 

Bernard had said that tapes of signals would be sent to Moscow. Keldysh‘s 

telegram referred to “this experiment’s extraordinary importance 

and significance for mankind.” Sir Bernard speculated that U.S.S.R. 

might attempt softlanding on planet Venus. Not since launch of Venus I 

in 1961 had the Soviets requested British working assistance. (Schmidt, 

NYT, 10/17/67, 13; W Post, 10/17/67, A17) 

* Three possible military reasons why U.S.S.R. used one-orbit spacecraft 

in Cosmos series during period from Sept. 17, 1966, through Aug. 8, 

1967, when seven were launched, were suggested by Phillip J. Klass in 

Aviation Week: launches evaluated (1) missile defense radars and ICBM 

penetration aids, (2) very-long-range ICBM attacking from south, or (3) 

orbital weapon. Other reasons had been noted-including test of recovery 

systems for Soyuz manned spacecraft. In all cases, a principal 

object reentered after one orbit and other objects after a day or two. 

Soviets had never mentioned orbital period nor had they explained low 

perigee of 90 mi-an indication spacecraft would remain in space for 

only one orbit or less. 

Orbital weapon theory was also suggested by Evert Clark, in New 

York Times: “Most analysts . . . now believe the flights are exploring 

the techniques of bringing down a nuclear warhead from an orbiting 

platform.” [Such tests would not violate space law treaty which became 

effective Oct. 10, he said, because treaty did not prohibit engineering 

tests necessary to station weapons in orbit. Nor would it prohibit nuclear 

armed flights that were less than one full orbit, as these were.] 

Schedule for series of seven launches had been: two in 1966, Sept. 17 

and Nov. 2, both unannounced, and five in 1967. Cosmos CXXXIX 

Jan. 25, Cosmos CLX May 17, Cosmos CLXIX July 17, Cosmos CLXX 

July 31, and Cosmos CLXXI Aug. 8. First two in series had exploded 

into many fragments during day of launch. (Klass, Av Wk, 10/16/67, 

26-7; Clark, NYT, 10/17/67,1) 

October 17: Maj. William J. Knight (USAF) flew X-15 No. 3 to 3,818 mph 

(mach 5.18) and 277,000-ft altitude, becoming fourth USAF X-15 

pilot to meet 264,000-ft-minimum-altitude requirement for USAF astronaut 

rating. Purposes of flight: (1) ARC boost guidance system evaluation; 

(2) solar spectrum measurement; (3) micrometeoroid collection; 

and (4) ultravoilet plume and tip-pod camera evaluation. (X-15 Proj 

Off; FRC X-Press, 10/20/67,1) 

304


The five-out-of-five successful missions of $200-million Lunar Orbiter 

project to photograph moon to aid in selecting Surveyor and Apollo 

landing sites and to contribute to scientific knowledge of moon were 

reviewed at NASA Hq. press conference. Photographic data provided 

by Lunar Orbiter I, 11, and 111 and Surveyor Z resulted in selection 

of eight candidate sites. Lunar Orbiter IV provided basis for extending 

cartographic grid system for front-face mapping around to moon’s 

hidden side by photographing eastern limb areas. Lunar Orbiter V 

photographed scientifically interesting areas on moon’s front side, completed 

farside coverage, and provided supplementary photography of 

potential Apollo landing sites. 

Apollo Program Director, M/G Samuel C. Phillips, said that, when 

G< 

approaching on a pretty flat trajectory at about 30 miles from the 

landing site . . . details of the topography and the radar return which 

is coupled into the automatic control and landing system [must be 

known] .” In planning details of approach and landing maneuvers, 

Phillips said that “a very great deal” had been learned from Orbiter 

“about the rather unusual light conditions and:the effect of light 

reflections from the lunar surface under various angles.” 

Harold Masursky, USGS, explained Lunar Orbiter photographs showed 

that “apparently the earth and the Moon are very similar in their 

distribution of high and low ground.” He hoped that “by examination 

and comparison of . . . geologic plot with the selenodetic information 

. . . [from] the Orbiter series, we will be able to plot the geopotential 

field . . . and tie it in with geology. . . . By studying the Moon we 

know that it has a long, complex geologic history, that many of the 

same kinds of things that happen on the earth happen on the Moon. 

We can now play these two against each other, compare their simulari- 

ties, contfast their differences, and perhaps’be able to arrive at a greater 

understanding of the fundamental processes that affect the earth.” 

Strange moon features looking like watercourses might be dry-gulch 

arroyos, Harold Spradley said. Because watercourses had originated 

in volcanic craters and carried “fluidal materials,” volcano’s output- 

possibly slurry of ash and water-would exist long enough to cut its 

way through dry lunar surface material. Scientists agreed that orthodox 

existence of water on “the airless moon” was improbable. 

Clifford Nelson, LaRC Lunar Orbiter Project Manager, described 

results of experiments: “. . . density distribution [very nearly homo- 

geneous] in the moon now seems to be resolved . . . center of mass 

of the moon is displaced toward the earth from the center of its geomet- 

rical figure, a situation which would have interesting scientific implica- 

tions as to the stability of the moon and its origin and history.” Meteoroid 

penetration rate “in the region covered by lunar orbiter spacecraft is 

less than one-half the rate in the near earth environment. . . .” He said 

all 13 MSFN stations had successfully tracked and communicated with 

lunar orbiter, and “orbit determination programs . . . in the initial 

stages of checkout. . . will continue with Lunar Orbiter V.,’ 

NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Homer E. Newel1 stressed overall 

significance of Lunar Orbiter program: “Before the first Lunar Orbiter 

mission this country had never placed spacecraft into orbit about any 

other celestial body other than the earth. In all five . . . missions, the 

spacecraft were not only placed into initial orbits as desired, but then 

the orbits were changed in accordance with a plan . . . set up before- 

305


hand, in . . . a precision type of operation. . . . Lunar Orbiter and 

its companion, Surveyor, have shown that we can use sophisticated 

technology in complicated spacecraft for automated missions to other 

bodies of the solar system. And it is this kind of capability that we will 

be using again and again as we continue the exploration of our solar 

system.” (Transcript) 

NASA’s Mariner v would fly within 2,5130 mi of planet Venus at 1.34 pm 

EDT, Oct. 19, at communications (direct) distance of about 49 million 

mi from earth, NASA announced. Launched from ETR June 14, space- 

craft would have traveled about 217 million mi in its arching trajectory. 

Scientists and engineers hoped their instruments would record precise 

data on planet’s atmosphere, ionosphere, temperatures, and perhaps even 

surface qualities. As Mariner V approached Venus, its scientific in- 

struments would begin measuring planet’s magnetic field, charged 

particles, gases present in upper atmosphere, and radiation levels. Space- 

craft’s flight path would curve behind Venus and would vanish from 

view of tracking stations on earth. Just before spacecraft went behind 

planet (as seen from earth) its radio signals would pass through at- 

mosphere of Venus. Effect of Venusian atmosphere on Mariner V’S 

radio signals would be measured, thereby providing measure of density 

of planet’s atmosphere. Current scientific theory on density ranged 

from five times earth’s atmosphere to several hundred times. Density 

measurement by occultation was one of prime objectives of spacecraft’s 

flight. 

Since launch of spacecraft, engineering and science subsystems had 

performed as planned. Master timer hadcommanded Canopus cone angle 

update as scheduled on Aug. 24, Sept. 10, Sept. 26, and Oct. 10; timer 

had also commanded spacecraft transmitter to switch to high-gain 

antenna on Oct. 2. Encounter sequence would be initiated by command 

from DSN station in Australia, at 10:49 pm EDT, Oct. 18. (NASA Proj Off; 

NASA Releases 67-260,67-267) 

* NASA Administrator James E. Webb reviewed NASA-university relations at 

dedication of Univ. of Illinois’ Coordinated Science Laboratory building 

in Urbana, Ill.: “During NASA’s first year of operation . . . [$3 mil- 

lion] was invested in research at universities. . . . The second year, ap- 

proximately $6 million went to universities, and the third year about 

$14 million . . . [primarily for] solution of immediate problems. . . .” 

Appraisal of program in 1961 concluded the universities were already 

making significant contribution to the space program, but that with 

the right kind of help they could do more for themselves and for NASA. 

Expansion included support of research, construction of facilities, and 

establishment of graduate fellowships, until program reached peak in 

1966 with 10,600 campus participants. Today, however, need was “to 

reduce expenditures for research, to preserve at minimum cost the 

essential strength needed for the future, and to increase the multi- 

disciplinary flux that will magnify the values the nation can derive 

from the activities we can support.” To find the best ways of reducing 

the program, he said, NASA had formed a “special task force to evaluate 

all our relationships with the academic community and to come up 

with specific recommendations as to least harmful methods we can use. 

There is no longer any doubt that NASA’s university support programs 

will have to be redefined quite drastically in some areas.” Since much 

of the program was funded in three one-year steps, this would help 

306


spread the impact over a longer time period. Ph. D. candidates now 

holding NASA grants would be able to obtain their degrees. Looking to 

the future, Webb urged the universities to think, reorganize, and work 

in interdisciplinary groupings. “The development of a few university 

teams working together across the traditional disciplines, combining 

the best efforts of technology, the social sciences and management oapa- 

bility which they have created and which make them the best available 

source of trusted information in our society can write a new chapter 

of history of problem solving in this nation.” (Text) 

* FAA adopted new rule banning unauthorized aircraft from designated 

manned and unmanned spaceflight recovery areas to prevent inter- 

ference with aircraft and pararescue personnel participating in re- 

covery operations. Areas selected by NASA and DOD and effective dates 

would be published before launch in a Notice to Airmen. (FAA Release 

67-78) 

Progress in F-111B aircraft development was discussed by Assistant Sec- 

retary of Navy (R&D) Robert A. Frosch, at 1967 Electronics and Aero- 

space Systems Technical Convention, Washington, D.C.: “. . , we are 

convinced that in its primary air defense interceptor role the F-lllB, 

equipped with the PHOENIX airborne missile control system, and firing 

multiple shots of the long-range PHOENIX air-to-air missile, represents 

the finest fleet air defense system available in the immediate future.” He 

further stated: “. . . aircraft will probably not meet all of the initial 

specifications and the contractor will have to accept some responsibility 

for this lack. It is, of course, not unusual for a military aircraft that uses 

advanced state-of-the-art to fail to meet some of the specifications, the real 

question is whether it meets military needs.” He added: “. . . we find 

that it meets our fleet air defense requirements better than any com- 

peting system available for study.” (Text) 

F-5 supersonic fighter aircraft manufactured by Northrop Co. could be 

sold to Latin American governments, Covey T. Oliver, Assistant Secre- 

tary of State for Inter-American Affairs, was reported to have told key 

members of Congress. Because of shortage of pilots, facilities, and finan- 

cial resources, only five nations would be interested-Peru, Brazil, 

Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela. Initial congressional reaction was 

reported favorable, the decision being displayed as no change in US. 

policy. State Dept. informants, however, conceded that recent reports of 

Peru’s negotiations with France on purchase of 12 Mirage V jet fighters 

had a major effect in hastening DoD’s and State Dept.’s action. (Welles, 

NYT, 10/18/67,1) 

October 18: NASA’s Os0 ZV (OSO-D) Orbiting Solar Observatory was successfully 

launched from ETR with three-stage Thor-Delta booster to study the 

sun and its influence on earth’s atmosphere. Orbital parameters: apogee, 

358.8 mi (577 km) ; perigee, 336.7 mi (542 km) ; period, 95.8 min; and 

inclination, 32.9”. Fourth of eight spacecraft in NASA’s oso program to 

provide direct observation of the sun during most of an 11-yr solar cycle, 

Os0 IV weighed 599 lbs, carried nine experiments, was designed for a 

six-month lifetime, and had two main sections: the wheel (lower) section 

provided stability by gyroscopic spinning and housed the telemetry. 

command equipment, batteries, electronic controls, gas spin-control arms, 

and six experiment packages; the sail (upper) section was oriented 

toward the sun and contained solar cells and three solar pointing 

experiments. 

307


Primary purpose of Os0 ZV was to obtain high-resolution spectral 

data within the range 1A-13503 from pointed solar experiments in the 

spacecraft during major portion of one solar rotation and adequate oper- 

ational support of spacecraft subsystems including raster scan of solar 

disk to carry out acquisition of these scientific data. Secondary objective 

was to obtain useful data from nonpointed experiments and from pointed 

experiments during more than one solar rotation. Experiments, designed 

to continue and extend work of Os0 I (launched March 7,1%2) , Os0 Z1 

(launched Feb. 3,1965) , and Os0 ZZZ (launched March 8,1967) by col- 

lecting data on solar x-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet radiation, and other 

solar activity, were provided by two American and two British univer- 

sities, one U.S. Government agency, and one private company. Os0 ZV 

was first in series to carry foreign experiments and second (Os0 ZZ was 

the first) capable of scanning entire solar surface by means of a Solar 

Ultraviolet Scanning Spectrometer which could record a “picture” 

(digital number) of the sun and transmit it to receiving stations. Space- 

craft also had an improved ground-control system whichpermitted it to 

receive up to 140 different commands-compared to 10 for Os0 Z, 70 for 

Os0 ZZ, and 94 for Os0 ZZZ. Project officials at GSFC reported that satellite 

spin rate, power level, charge rate, and temperatures were normal and 

that both tape recorders were operating; all experiments were fully op- 

erational by Oct. 25. os0 program was managed by GSFC under OSSA 

direction. (NASA Psoj Off; NASA Release 67-262) 

* U.S.S.R.’s Venus ZV planetary probe (also designated Venera ZV) entered 

atmosphere of planet Venus at 12:34 am EDT and ejected instrumented 

capsbule intended for softlanding on Venus. After aerodynamic braking, 

automatic parachute system provided gradual descent through 15-mi 

dense, hot, windy atmosphere, and capsule made [purported] softlanding 

at 2:08 am EDT. Mstislav Keldysh, President of Soviet Academy of 

Sciences, later presented scientific proof for softlanding [see Oct. 301. 

Launched June 12, the 2,438-133 Venus IV had traveled trajectory of 

more than 210 million mi; 49 million mi would be covered by trans- 

mitted signals from capsule to earth antennas. 

According to Soviet scientists, atmosphere as recorded by instrumented 

capsule had almost whole carbon dioxide composition with about 1.5% 

oxygen and water vapors; no significant traces of nitrogen; and a 

temperature range of 104-536” F. Reports indicated no noticeable mag- 

netic field and no radiation belt, but detectable weak hydrogen corona. 

“Because Venus rotates so slowly around its axis [purported to be once 

in BM earth days] half the planet is cold,” said Soviet scientist Josif 

Shklovski. Because the other half heated to “monstrous temperature,” 

he said surface of Venus would appear to be “a dry hot desert.” He 

noted that temperature extremes would cause constant winds on Venus 

u 

of about 450 mph” [accounting for large amount of drift of capsule 

during descent]. 

Moscow news reports from Zzvestia and Tass said: Venus Zv‘s mission 

had been accomplished and instruments had ceased functioning after 

radioing data from softlanding site on heat, pressure, and carbon dioxide 

hostile to most forms of life; mother spacecraft burned in Venus’ atmosphere. 

Some reports did not claim softlanding. Soviet astronomer Vitali 

Bronshtein’s claim that radio contact was being maintained with instrumented 

capsule was unconfirmed. Also, cessation of signals from 

instrumented capsule received vaned explanations from international 

308


sources. Tass reported antenna of package had failed to point in the 

right direction and that package’s bulk had blocked direct contact with 

earth. Jodrell Bank Observatory Director Sir Bernard Love11 expressed 

doubt that any electronic device could withstand high temperatures on 

Venusian surface. (Friendly, W Post, 10/18/67, 1; Kamm, NYT, 

10/19/67, 1; Bishop, WSJ, 10/19/6’7, 4; AI?, B Sun, 10/20/67; AP, 

W Star, 10/22/67, A3; SBD, 10/24/67, 283-5) 

Communist Party and Soviet government leaders hailed Venus IV instru- 

ment package landing on planet Venus as honor to Bolshevik Revolu- 

tion’s 50th anniversary, Nov. 7. (Shub, W Post, 10/19/67, A9) 

0 U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXXIZZ into orbit with 212-km (132-mi) 

apogee, 145-km (90-mi) perigee, 89.9-min period, and 49” inclination. 

Equipment and instruments functioned satisfactorily. Satellite reentered 

same day. (UPI, NYT, 10/20/67,40; GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

A total lunar eclipse began at 3:lO am EDT; the earth cast an almost 

900,000-mi-long moving shadow on its journey around the sun. A 

meteor shower-the Orionids-added to the meteorological event. 

Weather permitting, these events would have been visible over most of 

North America. Schedule for meteor shower was Oct. 16-21. 

During eclipse, infrared studies of lunar soil were made by MSFC 

Space Sciences Laboratory and tniv. of Georgia research team. Perfect 

weather at Athens, Ga., permitted 20 traverses of moon during the 

eclipse. Using university observatory equipment-infrared radiom- 

eter attached to large telescope-to look for volcanic hot spots, scien- 

tists saw crater Tycho against cooler background during eclipse. The 

more general radiation pattern would be heat being radiated from lunar 

surface, including anomalies. Results were highly successful, reported 

Space Sciences Laboratory’s deputy director Gerhard B. Heller. (W Star, 

10/15/67, B6; McCandlish, NYT, 10/19/67,49; MSFC Release 67-214) 

0 JPL scientists Robert J. Parks and Jack N. James were awarded Franklin 

Institute’s Stuart Ballantine Medal for 1967 by Institute President Wynn 

L. LePage. Parks and James were cited for excellence in systems engi- 

neering and extraordinary skill in applying techniques of eleotromag- 

netic communications to first successful reconnaissance on Mars by 

Mariner ZV. The Ballantine Medal was awarded for outstanding achieve- 

ment in the fields of communication and reconnaissance which em- 

ployed electromagnetic radiation. [ JPL Lab-Oratory, 11/67, 3) 

0 California study of education in urban poverty communities and ac- 

companying social problems was made by Lockheed Missiles & Space 

Co. and California State Dept. of Education’s Office of Compensatory 

Education. Systematic Effort to Analyze Results (Project SEAR) used 

systems approach and aerospace techniques in studying impact of com- 

pensatory education on students, parents, and communities. (Lockheed 

Release) 

* Government authority to ground private planes during poor weather would 

lead to a substantial reduction in accidents, Flight Safety Foundation 

President M/G J. D. Caldara ( USAF, Ret.) told fourth biennial convention 

of National Assn. of Air Traffic Specialists in Atlantic City. Study of 

5,300 general aviation accidents in 1965 showed 250 charged to pilots 

who took off, lost control, or continued visual flight in poor weather. 

(AP, NYT, 10/19/67,81) 

0 U.S.S.R. and North Vietnam signed agreement to establish a satellite 

tracking station in North Vietnam and cooperate in synchronic photog- 

309


raphy of earth satellites. (Reuters, NYT, 10/19/67,9) 

October 18-19: National Security Industrial Association Symposium was 

held in Washington, D.C. 

Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics, spoke on role of Congress in R&D in 1970s. 

Citing increasing “Government concern for the involvement of science 

and technology in the welfare and security of the American people,” 

he said it was increasingly obvious that science and technology, a prime 

source of many environmental problems, must be means by which they 

are solved. He also called for realism in minimizing influence of com- 

petition between political philosophies on implementation of scientific 

knowledge for human problems. “We must direct more and more atten- 

tion . . . to the effects of urbanization, such as the pollution of air, water 

and the land, the practical control of population, to offsetting the con- 

stantly decreasing supply of natural resources such as fresh water, arable 

land, and fuels.” (Text) 

Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (WAF, Ret.), speaking on techniques for 

forecasting technological advances, emphasized need for enlightened 

and comprehensive planning and bold, imaginative management. He de- 

scribed technological forecasting as one of most valuable new tools 

for planners and managers. Indicating that forecasting must go beyond 

advanced planning, he called for its use in determining long-range 

implications of technological progress. If a manager, keeping a program 

open to possible advances in technology, chose improved performance, 

then he could be assured that when his truly advanced item entered the 

market or the military inventory, it would be effective for the maximum 

number of years. (Av Wii, 12/4/67,21) 

October 18-22: NAS President Frederick Seitz cabled congratulations on 

Venus ZV to President of U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences M. V. Keldysh, 

adding, “As our two nations enter the era of direct planetary explora- 

tion, we affirm the increasing need for full and prompt exchange of 

scientific data and our willingness to further such exchange through 

all appropriate international media.” Keldysh replied, “On behalf of 

the USSR Academy of Sciences, I thank you for your congratulatory 

message and in my turn congratulate American scientists and techni- 

cians on . . . Mariner 5.” (NAS-NRC-NAE News Report, 11/67, 6) 

October 19: NASA% Mariner V made successful flyby of planet Venus to 

obtain scientific data on nature and origin of planet. Distance from 

surface of Venus at time of closest approach-estimated at 1 :39:21 pm, 

EDT-was 2,54 mi (4,094 km). Launched June 14, Mariner V was 49 

million mi from earth at time of flyby. 

All scientific instruments and spacecraft subsystems performed prop 

erly during encounter sequence, as they had throughout flight. Sequence 

of 15 significant events during encounter, occultation, closest approach, 

exit occultation, and return to cruise mode, had begun at 10:49 pm EDT 

Oct. 18 and had ended at 3:55 am EDT Oct. 23. Full recorded account of 

experiments performed by Mariner V-first and second playbacks- 

exhibited clear and steady signals. JPL scientists obtained meaningful 

scientific data from all of spacecraft’s experiments. 

Results of experiments included : solar plasma probe and magnetom- 

eter showed existence of solar wind/Venus interaction ; trapped radia- 

tion found no energetic particles or radiation belts, and found magnetic 

moment less than 1% of earth’s; S-band occultation estimated carbon 

3 10

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUT1 October 19 

dioxide and found ionospheric observations on daytime side indicated 

electron density; dual-frequency radio propagation provided data on 

Venus mass as 81.50% of earth’s mass, and astronomical unit deter- 

mination agreed with radar computations; and ultraviolet photometer 

found hydrogen corona comparable with that of earth, detected no 

oxygen, and found night airglow to be very faint ultraviole emission 

detected at dark limb of planet-probably result of chemic8 t reactions, 

particle bombardment of electrical discharge. Spacecraft’s mission also 

Was to accumulate data on interplanetary environment during period of 

increased solar activity. After return to cruise mode, Mariner V would 

resume report on interplanetary space weather. By end of November 

1967, when earth was no longer in direction of high-gain antenna pat- 

tern, communications would be terrninated ; however, three-month-dura- 

tion communications would be poss?ble during next five years. (NASA 

Proj Off; Wilford, NYT, 10/20/67, 1; Sullivan, NYT, 10/22/67, 12) 

* Cone-shaped RAM C-1 spacecraft was successfully launched from NASA 

Wallops Station by four-stage Scout booster at 1:33 pm, EDT. On ter- 

mination of eight-minute ballistic flight, impact occurred 725 mi down- 

range about 150 nm northeast of Bermuda. Spacecraft, 15 in long and 

26 in in dia with 12-in-dis hemisphere nose, plunged back into earth‘s 

atmosphere at 17,000 mph in flight test to study methods for preventing 

loss of radio signals from reentering spacecraft. No recovery was 

attempted. 

NASA’s Project RAM (Radio Attenuation Measurement) was to meas- 

ure effectiveness of water addition concept in maintaining communica- 

tions during reentry. Additional experiments were also included to 

evaluate X-band telemetry system as a means of overcoming blackout J 

study plasma and ablation effects on antenna performance; measure 

attenuation as a €unction of signal frequency; and obtain measurements 

of ion densities in the flow field of the spacecraft in the presence of abla- 

tion and water injection. 

Water was injected at three points on spacecraft-on nose cap and on 

each side-with nitrogen gas as pressurizing agent. Ion density changes, 

due to varying amounts of water injection, were measured. X-band fre- 

quency experiment showed blackout period of communications was 

reduced by 6 sec, using water-injection method. 

Series of Arcasonde meteorological rockets were launched from Ber- 

muda before and after RAM C-1 experiment to collect upper atmosphere 

density, temperature, and wind data. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67- 

261 ; WS Releases 67-33,67-34) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR reached 118-mi 

(182-km) altitude in flight to observe profile of solar hydrogen Lyman- 

alpha line and to measure radiation in relation to earth’s planetary hy- 

drogen. Experiments performed satisfactorily, but range schedule delay 

caused loss of coordination with Mariner V experiment. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

NASA Arcas sounding rocket was launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii, to 

36-mi (58-km) altitude, fifth in NOTS series of seven to measure incident 

solar uv irradiance in support of Ogo ZV’s mission. Excellent data were 

obtained. Rocket and payload performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 USAF F-111A aircraft crashed near Bowie, Texas; two crew members 

ejected safely in detachable cockpit. According to General Dynamics 

Corp. pilots David Thigpen and Max Gordon, aircraft had faulty hy- 

draulic system which made maneuvering impossible. Crash was second 

324-801 0-49-21 311


for USAF test model; first had crashed Jan. 19, killing one crew member. 

USN test model (F-111B) had crashed April 21, killing both pilots. (AP, 

W Stm, 10/20/67, A9; UPI, W Post, 10/20/67, A7) 

* Fast growth of air travel market could be adversely affected by travel costs, 

lack of hotel space, unreasonable airport charges, and unnecessary restric- 

tions on operating rights of US. carriers abroad, Air Transport Assn. 

of America’s President Stuart 6. Tipton told Dublin, Ireland, audience. 

Addressing Trans-Atlantic Travel Congress of European Travel Com- 

mission, he suggested that “serious consideration be given to the kffect 

upon airlines of high airport costs,” while he pointed out that, since 

1946, average fare per passenger mile had dropped 38 percent. Referring 

to “the [Boeing] 747 era [as being] a little over two years away,” he 

warned that “the lead time for bqilding a new hotel, however, runs from 

three to five years.” Air passengers from the US. alone had spent $773 

million in the Europe-Mediterranean area and had contributed to the 

economic well-being of the area; however, he said, “US. flag carriers 

are paying $500 . . . for every landing at some European airports 

[while] their foreign flag counterparts flying into the US. pay only $90 

per landing for the same aircraft.” (Text) 

Injectors for Apollo Lunar Module’s ascent engine had performed in over 

100 test firings at Rocketdyne Div.’s laboratory near Los Angeles, the 

company reported. Injectors had returned automatically to stable com- 

bustion after explosive charge was set off to deliberately create rough 

combustion in several tests. They were developed as backup to the 

original injectors after rough combustion was noted in test firings. 

Three designs would be continued through feasibility testing; then the 

best design would be chosen for development. (Rocketdyne Release) 

* Great Britain’s Ministry of Technology had released funds to build NO-ft, 

fully-steerable, dish radiotelescope, said Dr. H. C. Husband, British 

delegate to international conference on large antennas for radioas- 

tronomy held in Cambridge, Mass. New telescope would be world’s 

largest-almost twice as large as 210-ft Goldstone model. Dr. Husband’s 

announcement had come just one day after announcement by West 

German delegate, Prof. 0. Hachenberg of Univ. of Bonn, that West 

Germany planned to complete a 330-ft dish in 1969. ( W Post, 10/20/67, 

A71 

Czechoslovakian magazine Vencerni Praha reported that unidentified fly- 

ing objects (UFOS) had been sighted over Prague in the years 1130 and 

1142. Early sightings, described by Prague historians as “fiery flying 

dragons,” were later followed by frequent sightings in 18th and 19th 

centuries identified by one contemporary scientist as “a mass of damp 

particles, ignited by friction and static electricity.” (AP, NYT, 

10/19/67,83) 

October 20: NASA awarded contracts: (1) IT&T Federal Electric Corp. re- 

ceived a $4.6-millionY one-year, cost-plus-award-fee contract extension 

for logistical and technical information support services at MSC; (2) 

IBM Federal Systems Div. was selected for negotiations on a three- 

month, $998,000 contract extension for computer programming and 

engineering support services at GSFC’S Real Time Computer Complex 

(RTCC) ; and (3) Bendix Corp. was selected for negotiation of a $4,500,- 

OOO, l8-m0, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for “design, development, 

qualification, and delivery of long-duration cryogenic gas storage tanks’’ 

for first 56-day manned Apollo Applications (AA) flight. Bendix con- 

312

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, i%7 October 20 

tract award would not be made until NASA’s FY 1968 appropriation and 

expenditure levels were established. (NASA Releases 67-269, 67-270, 

67-271) 

October 22: Molniya Z-7 comsat was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 

39,740-km (24,693-mi) apogee; 456-km (283-mi) perigee; 11-hr 

54-min period; and 64.7” inclination. Tass said comsat would form part 

of new system to relay telephone, television, and telephone signals. 

(GSFC SSR, 10/30/67; AP, NYT, 10/%/67, 31; SBD, 10/%/67,287) 

NASA Arcas sounding rocket was launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii, 

to 36-mi (59-km) altitude, sixth in NOTS series of seven to measure in- 

cident solar uv irradiance in support of Ogo ZV’s mission. Excellent 

data were obtained. Rocket and payload performed satisfactorily. (NASA 

Rpt SRL) 

* Informed U.S. military sources said U.S.S.R. had now been convinced the 

aircraft carrier would be vital to international conflicts of today, and 

was even now building its first aircraft carrier, a “baby flattop,” re- 

ported UPI. Adm. Ephraim P. Holmes, Supreme Allied Commander, 

Atlantic, and his chief of staff, V/A William E. Ellis, said little was known 

of specifications but he believed it would have long-range capabilities. 

(Oestreicher, UPI, W Post, 10/23/67, A3) 

October 23: NASA announced that primary mission objectives of BiosateUite 

ZZ (launched Sept. 7) had been accomplished. Biological experiments 

had been conducted to investigate synergistic and antagonistic effects of 

weightlessness and controlled gamma radiation aboard attitude-con- 

trolled spacecraft. Spacecraft recovery-essential to success-had been 

completed as planned. Environmental control of capsule and experiment 

packages had kept organisms alive while radiation source was exposed 

for flight duration. Dr. Rudolph H. T. Mgttoni, principal investigator 

for bacteria experiment, said bacteria had increased 20 to 30% faster 

in weightless condition. He concluded “cellular turnover may be higher 

in man” during weightlessness and could be harmful to astronauts dur- 

ing long-duration space flights. He suggested that if further research 

proved growth of human cells to be faster in weightless state, future 

spacecraft might have to be equipped with some form of artificial 

gravity or astronauts might have to carry drugs to prevent too-rapid 

turnover of their body cells. Since the 45-hr experiment with bacteria 

equaled many years of human life, this would not be significant on flights 

of a few weeks or even a few months. The pepper plant experiment 

showed abnormal growth, indicating that plant leaves also depend on 

gravity. Other experiments did not show significant change and were still 

being analyzed. (NASA Proj Off; AP, NYT, 10/15/67,46) 

Rep. Emilio Q. Daddario (D-Conn.), chairman of House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics’ Science, Research and Development Sub- 

committee, spoke on “A Challenge to the Scientific Community,” at 

autumn meeting of NAS, at Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He urged 

scientists to become more actively involved in helping Government 

leaders find effective ways of dealing with national problems, and he 

believed that Congress should take an active interest in the “state of 

science” because scientific activity “is critical to the deliberations and 

the decisions of our political representatives.” In turn, he urged an 

understanding by scientists and engineers of “pressures and functioning 

of a government which must be responsive to every shade of thought 

which our nation harbors.” (Text) 

313


* Passage of P.L. 90-112, DOT’S M 1968 funding, provided general funds 

of $1.5819 billion, including $142 million for SST development and $70 

million for advanced-funding airport grants [see Sept. 28 and Oct. 51. 

(P.L. 90-112) 

House adopted conference report on amended NASA FY 1968 appropria- 

tions bill (H.R. 12474) and sent report to Senate, which adopted 

report, leaving two amendments in disagreement. Senate had added 

$96 million to original House bill for R&D on Voyager and Nema pro- 

grams. House approved only $10 million of Senate’s increase on R&D 

item; insisted on its original approval of $35.9 million for construction 

facilities for Voyager and Nerva programs, turning down Senate boost 

of $19.5 million; and approved Senate-voted $20 million cut for NASA’s 

operations. (CRY 10/23/67, H13785-93; S15142; NASA LAR VI/115) 

* Rep. James G. Fulton (R-Pa.), ranking minority member of House Com- 

mittee on Science and Astronautics, during debate on NASA appropria- 

tions bill on floor of House, said: “China is now proceeding with the 

development of a rocket with nuclear propulsion. The Chinese nuclear 

rocket program is based upon a nuclear reactor through which passes 

liquid hydrogen that is stored in the rocket. This same fuel . . . is also 

used as a coolant for the nozzle of the rocket.” He also said Communist 

Chinese “are proceeding with the development of a sounding rocket 

called Caditi . . . [and] telecommunications satellites.” 

He explained that Communist Chinese believe, “to operate success- 

fully in space, big booster power, high energy fuels, and nuclear 

propulsion are necessary. The University of Nanking . . . is conduct- 

ing training courses in various applications of rocket programs. The 

Chinese space research center of Sinkiang now has programs in the 

study of materials necessary for space experiments. In addition, it 

should be seriously considered that the Chinese rocket institute- 

Balon Roditi-is interested in the development of rockets ‘for all pur- 

poses.’ This, of course, includes military as well as peaceful uses. Peking 

is not-a signatory to the recent peace treaty for the peaceful uses of 

outerspace. . . . 

“The nations of the West, including Russia, should not underestimate 

Chinese competence in these matters and the pace of their research and 

development programs. The US. Government and the American people 

must be alerted to the swift progress of the Red Chinese nation in space 

research and development, high energy propulsion, and large boosters 

. . . [and they] must realize the tremendous advances being made in 

the Red Chinese nuclear research field. . . . It is my belief and predic- 

tion that the [Communist] Chinese will orbit . . . [their] first . . . 

satellite by January 1968. . . .” (CR, 10/23/67, H13785-93) 

* U.S.S.R.’s intensified study of near-earth environment indicated their scien- 

tists planned longduration manned orbital flights, reported Aviation 

Week. Two investigations were cited: Cosmos CLXVZ, launched June 

16, in near-earth radiation study for protection of future cosmonauts in 

orbit during high sunspot activity; and “vertical cosmic probe,” reach- 

ing altitude of 2,734 mi on study of upper atmospheric layers, ionosphere, 

and near-earth space. The “vertical cosmic probe,” launched Oct. 12, pro- 

vided Soviets with information on electron and positive ion concentra- 

tions, general intensity of cosmic rays, and radiation doses through 

various types of protection during flight within radiation belts. Cosmos 

CLXYZ satellite provided solar flare data for continuous three months. 

314


Similar to these Soviet studies were those conducted using NASA’s Os0 ZV 

(launched Oct. 18) , which would monitor sun so scientists could better 

determine how phenomena such as radio “blackout” and weather on 

earth were affacted by solar activity. (Av Wk, 10/23/67, 27-8; NASA 


* Engine noise survey designed to study noise prediction during ground 

runups was postponed by NASA, reported Aviation Week. Tests, which 

would have been combined wth USAF studies of propulsion system calibration 

for AMSA, were given lower priority because these experiments 

would have caused two-week stand-down between flights. (Av Wk, 

10/23/67, 23) 

Ocbober 23-27: AIAA’S Fourth Annual Meeting and Technical Display was 

held in Anaheim, Calif. 

Reviewing history of NACA and NASA, GISS Executive Officer Arthur 

L. Levine noted that forces which accounted for creation of NACA in 

1915 were both different from and far less intense that those behind 

creation of NASA in 1958. NASA played a much more significant role in 

the Nation and in Federal activity in science and technology than NACA, 

he said, and NASA’s leadership was subjected to a wider variety and greater 

intensity of pressures from within Government and from outside interests. 

NASA Historian Eugene M. Emme reviewed historical evolution of 

U.S. aeronautics and astronautics in context of major national poli- 

cies and decisions. Citing effects of World Wars I and 14, the “cold 

war” of the 1950’s, and launching of Sputnik, he described how they 

helped determine the pace and utilization of technological advances 

and reviewed major U.S. turning points and relevant factors contribut- 

ing to’ the Apollo decision. (Program) 

M/G J. D. Caldara (USAF, Ret.) , President of Flight Safety Foundation, 

Inc., suggested commonality between safety problems and solutions for 

underwater, aircraft, and space systems based on recognition, reason- 

ing, and responsibility: “This process [of problem solving] spells out 

the basic building blocks in the structure of the man/machine relation- 

ships . . . involving safety. . . . If every scientist-engineer accepts his 

rightful responsibility and applies his imagination and experience to 

his task, the end result will be . . . [operations that are] 100% 

efficient and . . . 100% safe.” (Text) 

GSFC engineers F. 0. Vonbun and J. T. Mengel proposed development 

of a worldwide tracking and communications system for manned plane- 

tary missions similar to that used for Apollo. Planetary Manned Space 

Flight Network (PMSFN) -consisting of three 30- to 504t-dia ground 

stations, three 210-ft-dia dish antennas, and three synchronous orbit- 

ing tracking stations ( SOTS) -would obviate need for other radar, ships, 

and aircraft. SOTS, they said, while providing continuous communica- 

tions, tracking, and telemetry functions, would be more cost-efficient 

by removing requirement for numerous new tracking stations. (Text; 

Program) 

Addressing Honors Banquet, usc President Dr. Norman Topping 

stressed need for expanded program to search and disseminate data 

produced in space research. Although such data did reach social prob- 

lems occasionally, “the arrival in the right place at the right time is 

largely a coincidence,” he noted. To realize the total potential of modern 

discovery, scientists had to communicate outside their separate, narrow 

fields, find a common language with the layman, and work together 

315

October 23-27 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS,\ 1967 

to “find places for their discoveries within the social, ethical, and moral 

framework of our civilization.” (Text) 

Princeton Univ. economics professor Oskar Morgenstern, participating 

in President’s Forum, “The Worth of the Space Program,” contended 

that the space effort, as a public investment of natural resources, had 

to be evaluated by comparing its benefits with other ways the resources 

could have been used. Although no basic discoveries as important as 

atomic fission, the transistor, or the laser could be attributed to space 

exploration, he said, US. could still afford a high degree of space 

exploration and could expect discoveries “of a magnitude that will 

astonish even this generation which has seen so much and is prepared 

to expect that our knowledge will increase without limit.” 

Dr. T. Keith Glennan, President of Associated Universities, Inc., and 

first NASA Administrator, submitted that the most important enduring 

contribution of the space endeavor to US. future was education. Progress 

in higher education, he said, had occurred as a result of the compelling 

challenge of space exploration along with NASA’s “clear and evident 

desire to assure an adequate flow of highly trained manpower. . . .,, 

Current statistics on NASA investments in higher education were very 

impressive, he noted, but if NASA’s budget were trimmed further its 

support to education would have to be diminished. 

Dr. Willard F. Libby of UCLA predicted that space program would 

LC 

come out to be the best bargain the American people have ever made-- 

both for its practical value in technological developments, and for its 

contributions to pure knowledge through science.” Space program had 

already contributed to and answered questions about geosciences, inter- 

planetary sciences, astronomy, and chemistry but most consuming ques- 

tion was that of extraterrestrial life in solar system. (Texts) 

Major AIAA awards presented at Honors Convocation included: Louis 

W. Hill Space Transportation Award to WRC Director Abe Silverstein 

for “imagination, technical excellence and leadership which have led to 

practical application of high energy liquid hydrogen fueled propulsion 

for space transportation, and for initiating and contributing to the free 

world’s first manned space transportation system” ; De Flora Training 

Award to Edwin A. Link, chairman of General Precision Equipment 

Corp.’s Link Aviation Div., for “conceiving and implementing the idea 

of ground-based flight training equipment”; G. Edward Pendray Award 

to Columbia Univ. professor Robert A. Gross for LLoriginal contributions 

to gas-dynamics and plasma physics especially in the field of shock wave 

ionization phenomena”; and Lawrence Sperry Award to MSC Flight 

Director Eugene F. Kranz for “outstanding contributions in directing 

spacecraft mission planning in developing flight control teams, and as 

Flight Director of manned Gemini spaceflight missions.” (Av Wk, 

10/30/67, 13; AIAA Facts) 

October 24: Cosmos CLXXXIV was launched by U.S.S.R. into circular orbit 

of 635-km (394-mi) altitude, 97.14-min period, and 81.2” inclination. 

Equipment and instruments functioned normally. ( GSFC SSR, 10/30/67 ; 

SBD, 10/30/67, 320) 

TWO Boosted Arcas I sounding rockets launched from Resolute Bay, 

Canada, without tracking facilities carried GSFC experiment to obtain D 

region ionospheric data in vicinity of magnetic north pole. First rocket 

lost telemetry at seven seconds; recovery search would be attempted if 

arctic conditions permitted. Second rocket had 255-sec burn (300+ 

316


sec planned) , so altitude was probably insdicient. Both experiments used 

ground-based transmission of RF energy to rocketborne receivers (Fara- 

day-rotation experiment). These were first US. rocket launching from 

this facility. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA’s Eighth Annual Honor Awards Ceremony was held in Washington, 

D.C. 

Dr. Roger W. Heyns, Chancellor of Univ. of California, discussed 

impact of space program on university curricula and research efforts 

in his keynote address. “Through the stimulation of NASA programs, 

new fields of study have been created . . . and NASA. . . [has become] one 

of the world’s most ambitious attempts to pool the talents and learning 

of thousands. . . . 

$6 . . . NASA has been doing pioneering work of immense significance 

to modern society that has nothing to do with the exploration of space 

per se. Objectives have been defined, scientific and technical knowl- 

edge and talent have been collected, trained and aimed at research 

objectives and results produced. That is a massive accomplishment of 

human engineering . . . [and] an inspiration to all of us. . . . Just how 

much . . . is transferable to other situations remains to be seen, but 

. . . it certainly is not inconceivable that what we have learned, and what 

we will learn, about public administration from NASA may, in the long 

pull, mean every bit as much a5 the scientific and technological develop- 

ments from the exploration of space itself.” 

Recipients of Distinguished Service Medal : NASA Associate Admini- 

strator Dr. Homer E. Newell; Deputy Associate Administrator for Man- 

ned Space Flight Edgar M. Cortright; LaRc Director Dr. Floyd L. 

Thompson ; and former Associate Administrator for Advanced Research 

and Technology Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff. NASA’s second Distin- 

guished Public Service Medal was presented to Dr. Charles S. Draper, di- 

rector of MIT’S Instrumentation Laboratory. Special Group Achievement 

Award was presented to Canadian government for outstanding success 

of Alouette I satellite (launched Sept. 28, 1962). Exceptional Service 

Medal: Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee (posthumously) ; Charles F. Hall, 

ARC; Donald R. Bellman and Robert D, Reed, FRC; William J. Boyer, 

Laurence K. Loftin, Jr., James S. Martin, Jr., and Clifford H. Nelson, 

LaRc; James S. Kramer and H. Warren Plohr, LeRC; Robert H. Gray, 

IGC; Howard H. Haglund and Robert J. Parks, JPL; Paul G. Marcotte, 

GSFC; William Cohen, George C. Deutsch, Arthur F. Hood, Joseph B. 

Mahon, Benjamin Milwitzky, Lee R. Scherer, and William M. Shea, 

NASA Hq. Recipients of Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award : 

Michel Bader, Donald E. Gault, and Maurice D. White, ARC; Walter B. 

Horne, William H. Phillips, and Israel Taback, LaRC; Samuel S. Manson, 

LeRc; and Eugene M. Shoemaker, USGS. Group Achievement Award: 

Apollo 204 Review Board; NASA SST Evaluation Team; Lunar Orbiter 

Spacecraft and Operations Team; and 260-in Solid Motor Project Team. 

Public Service Award: William Feldman, Eastman Kodak Co. ; Robert 

J. Helberg, Boeing Co.; Mark Sasso, RCA; Robert L. Roderick, Hughes 

Aircraft Co.; and Richard Chttrell and Paul B. Datner, Aerojet-General 

Corp. Exceptional Bravery Medal was presented for “courageous and 

heroic action” in attempting to rescue the Apollo 204 crew to Donald 

0. Babbitt, Stephen B. Clemmons, James D. Gleaves, Jerry W. Hawkins, 

and L. D. Reece, NAA; and Henry H. Rogers, KSC. (Text; NASA Release 

67-272 ; Program) 

317


0 Commercial service via Pacific I1 comsat, launched by NASA from ETR 

Sept. 30, would begin Nov. 4 ComSatCorp announced. (ComSatCorp 


0 Overall NASA aeronautics program was undergoing “expansion and change 

to meet the ever growing needs” of air transportation industry and 

general aviation, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., 

told the Aero Club in Washington, D.C.: “Less than 1400 direct man. 

years were applied to our aeronautical effort in 1962 and only $15 

million in R&D funding was applied to support their activities. The 

trend has now been clearly reversed and in [FY 19671 twice the man- 

power (27.2 directs) and three times the funding ($45.7 million) were 

applied to NASA’s aeronautical program.” Although FY 1968 program 

had not been clarified, NASA planned to increase aeronautical R&D fund- 

ing to $81.4 million, he said. 

Major aeronautical advances in the past had been exploited by DOD, 

he noted, which bore development costs and proved out designs before 

adoption by commercial aviation. Since solutions for many problems 

could no longer rely heavily on precursor military development, NASA 

would continue NASA-mtablished role to conduct broadly applicable 

basic aeronautical research and solve specific problems with reimburse- 

ment for special costs. In addition, Dr. Seamans said, NASA would 

attempt to reduce aircraft noise by modifying engines on existing air- 

craft, developing quieter engines, and revising operational procedures ; 

cooperate with FAA and industry to solve safety and utility problems of 

general aviation; and conduct extensive R&D programs for V/STOL, super- 

sonic, and hypersonic aircraft. (Text) 

0 Fred Friendly, Columbia University professor and consultant to Ford 

Foundation, delivering Granada Lecture in London, warned that communications 

satellites’ promise of international LLcommon market” of 

high-quality TV was threatened by commercial and government avarice. 

In US., he said, TV “can make so much’money doing its worst, it cannot 

afford to do its best.” Consequence had been that early promise of 

quality programs had been lost while educational TV, which could fill 

breach, had been “under-funded, undernourished and under-observed.” 

But even in nations where TV was nationalized, tendency would be for 

governments to seek profits from it to offset other communications defi- 

cits, he said. Thus, he argued, “a promising world village, linked by 

satellites,” could be turned into “an electronic slum,” because ambitious 

corporations and separate governments insisted on going their own 

ways, concerned more with earnings, national appetites, and images 

than with what their satellite systems carried. What was required, he 

suggested, was “an electronic Magna Charta” guaranteeing rights of 

public to quality TV. (Friendly, W Post, 10/25/67, D14) 

October 25: Last NASA Arcas sounding rocket in series of seven was launched 

from Barking Sands, Hawaii, to 36-mi (59-km) altitude, in NOTS experi- 

ment to measure incident solar uv irradiance in support of Ogo lV’s 

mission. All experimental objectives were obtained. Rocket and payload 


0 USAF launched unidentified satellite from WTR using Titan 111-B booster; 

satellite reentered Nov. 5. (Pres Rep 1967) 

0 A 2,000-mph USAF SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft on routine training flight 

from Beale AFB, Calif., crashed near Lovelock, Nev. Its two crew mem- 

bers ejected safely. Aircraft, built for USAF by Lockheed Aircraft Corp. 

318


October 25 

as successor to the U-2, was third SR-71 to crash on routine flight; 

others had crashed Jan. 25, 1966, and April 13, 1967. (AP, NYT, 

10/27/67, 41) 

October 25-27: Mariner IV, launched Nov. 28, 1964, responded to a series 

of commands 56 million mi out in space after three years in orbit. On 

Oct. 25, the spacecraft was commanded to switch data rate from 8?43 to 

33% bps (bits per six) ; receive via low-gain antenna; reorient space- 

craft so high-gain antenna pointed directly at earth; change to all- 

engineering data format; and burn midcourse guidance engine for 70 

sec. On Oct. 26, commands were sent to actuate planetary scan sub- 

system and tape recorder. Lines 139 through 199 of picture No. 16 and 

lines 1 through 59 of picture No. 17 were played back. Initial indications 

were that photographic data were the same as when first reported July 14, 

1965. On Oct. 27, spacecraft respond6d to commands to test certain 

redundant equipment-such as transmitter and attitude-control appa- 

ratus-and was placed in normal cruise condition by acquiring Canopus. 

Attitude-control gas in one section of system was thought to be depleted, 

leaving about 0.2 lb in other section. This would last until early Decem- 

ber; when gas was depleted, Mariner IV would no longer be able to 

retain its orientation with respect to the sun and Canopus. 

JPL scientists were “delighted” with the firing of midcourse guidance 

engine, and with transmission of pictures of Mars taken by Mariner ZV 

more than two years ago. Scientists reported “a flawless burn . . . 

[which] proved we can restart engines in space years after we’ve put 

them there.” Future spacecraft, exploiting this success, could be launched 

to distant planets where they could take close-up photographs, swing 

back toward earth, and, on command, transmit pictures. 

Mariner ZV had taken pictures of Mas from an altitude of 5,500 mi; 

21 frames had been exposed and recorded on magnetic tape to be tele- 

metered to earth over a 10-day period. As of 8:OO pm EDT Oct. 27, 

Mariner ZV was in its 1,062nd day of flight, 35,604,255 mi (57,299,604 

km) from earth, and traveling at 3.91 mps (6.29 kps) relative to earth. 

(NASA Proj off; O’Toole, ?7 Post, 10/27/67, A3) 

October 26: First flight test of Saturn V, designated Apollo 4, was scheduled 

no earlier than Nov. 7, announced M/G Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo 

Program Director. “This is a target date,” he said. “We are in a very 

complex learning process and we are going to take all the time we need 

on this first launch.” Launch vehicle and Apollo spacecraft combination 

was 363 ft tall and weighed 6 million lbs. Thrust of Saturn V’s first 

stage was 7.5 million lbs. Key objective of flight planned for Nov. 7 

would be evaluation of Apollo command module heat shield under con- 

ditions encountered on return from moon mission. Flight would also 

test thermal seals for use in new quick-release spacecraft hatch which 

would be installed on all manned Apollo missions. 

Apollo LE flight plan would call for Saturn V to place spacecraft and 

launch yehicle 3rd stage (S-IVB) into 117-mi circular orbit. After com- 

pleting two orbits, 3rd stage would be re-ignited to place spacecraft into 

orbit with apogee of 10,800 mi. After separation from 3rd stage, serv- 

ice module propulsion system would be fired to rake spacecraft apogee 

to 11,400 mi. During descent the service module motor would fire again, 

boosting velocity of spacecraft to about 25,000 mph, the reentry speed 

of a lunar return flight. (NASA Release 67-274; B Sun, 10/26/67, A6) 

a GSFC officials completed week of checkout of Os0 ZV and turned on last of 

319


nine experiments. All experiments were performing well and spacecraft 

was transmitting satisfactory data. The 59941 spacecraft, launched from 

ETR Oct. 18, had received 1,500 commands. It was 3,OOOth object in 

orbit since Sputnik I in 1957; 100th satellite orbited in 1967; and 50th 

satellite orbited by Delta launch vehicle in 53 attempts. (NASA Release 

67-273) 

* Senate and House adopted conference report on amended NASA FY 1968 

appropriations bill (H.R. 124;74) totaling $4.6 billion, and legislation 

was cleared for President’s signature. Report approved $3.925 billion for 

R&D, decrease of $152.1 million from authorization and decrease of 

$356.5 million from budget; report approved $35.9 million for Con- 

struction of Facilities, decrease of $14.6 million from authorization, and 

decrease of $21.3 million from budget; report approved $628.0 million 

for Administrative Operations, decrease of $20.2 million from authoriza- 

tion, and decrease of $43.3 million from budget. 

Rep. James G. Fulton (R-Pa.) , ranking minority member of House 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, on floor of House, said that 

“Voyager and NERVA 11 programs should be funded this fiscal year. 

Voyager is the only major planetary exploration program this Nation 

will have in the 1970’s. If this program is abandoned, we will be abdi- 

cating our responsibilities. . . . This is particularly significant follow- 

ing the recent Russian Venus IV soft landing on the planet Venus.” 

Sen. Gordon L. Allott (R-Col.) , ranking minority member of Senate 

Committee on Appropriations’ Space Appropriations Subcommittee, was 

forced to accept no specific funding for Voyager and Nerva programs 

(in final version) but said in statement read by Sen. Margaret C. Smith 

(R-Me.) on floor of Senate that “agreement was reached to add $15.5 

million to [R&D] over the House figure.” He added that the agreement 

would provide that NASA’s Administrator “may reprogram 

funds . . . with approval of the appropriate committees of the Con- 

gress.” He added: “. . . conferees share this belief, that this country 

must move ahead now in [RW] leading to interplanetary exploration.” 

(CR, 10/26/67, H14036-8, S1545-8) 

* Dr. Harvey H. Nininger, leading authority on meteorites and tektites, was 

honored at Meteoritical Society’s 30th annual meeting at ARC by publi- 

cation of special issue of the Journal of the.Geochemica1 Society and by 

presentation -of Society’s annual Leonard Medal. First to propose, in 

19@, that tektites came from moon, Dr. Nininger later proved that 

coesitea quartz-like material created by very high pressures-could 

be found in meteoroid craters. Presence of coesite was currently being 

used to determine whether a crater was formed by meteorite impact (ARC 


Qctober 27: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR reached 

99-mi (160-km) altitude in flight to measure, with moderate and high 

resolution, spectral irradiance of Venus (1,OOO to 3,000 A), and star B 

Oriones (Rigel). No data were acquired from Venus because tracker 

was ineffective; Rigel was acquired and five-second exposure sequence 

was completed. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* U.S.S.R. successfully launched two Cosmos satellites with two boosters: 

Cosmos CLXXXV entered orbit with 888-km (552-mi) apogee, 522-km 

(324-mi) perigee, 98.7-min period, and 64.1” inclination. Cosmos 

CLXXXVI, launched into orbit with 235-km (146-mi) apogee, 2Og-h 

(130-mi) perigee, 88.7-min period, and 51.7” inclination, later docked 

320


with Cosmos CLXXXVIII. Both spacecraft performed satisfactorily. ( W 

Post, 10/29/67, A16; SBD, 10/30/67,320; GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

e Atlas-F carrying unidentified payload exploded shortly after launch by 

USAF from Vandenberg AFB. (SBD, 10/30/67,316) 

October 28: Cosmos CLXXXVII was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with 

210-km (131-mi) apogee, 145-km (90-mi) perigee, 87.8 min period, and 

50” inclination. Satellite performed satisfactorily and reentered same 

day. (GSFC SSR, 10/31/67) 

October 29: U.S.S.R. would “shortly” launch a manned spacecraft which 

might land outside Soviet territory-possibly in India-Soviet Ambas- 

sador to India Nikolai M. Pagov told reporters in Madras, India, ac- 

cording to AP. Permission to recover spacecraft in India had been 

requested and granted in early September, he said. Official U.S. sources, 

noting that several other countries had been approached for such per- 

mission, speculated that an unmanned rehearsal for a manned circum- 

lunar flight had been scheduled for late September and postponed 

because of technical problems. Oct. 27 launches of Cosmos CLXXXVI 

and Cosmos CLXXXVII-which were apparently Soyuz-type space- 

craft-could be “practice shots” for the planned manned flight. (AP, 

W Post, 10/30/67, A3; Clark, NYT, 10/30/67,54) 

e JPL Director Dr. William H. Pickering announced appointment of Fred H. 

Felberg, Assistant Laboratory Director for Technical Divisions, to the 

new position of Assistant Laboratory Director for Plans and Programs. 

He would be succeeded by Jack N. James, Deputy Assistant Director for 

Flight Projects. In his new position Felberg would be responsible for 

(6 

planning JPL’s total program, including . . . effective distribution of 

manpower and resources.” ( JPL Release 460) 

October 30: U.S.S.R. launched two Cosmos satellites. 

Cosmos CLXXXVIII entered orbit with 276-km (171-mi) apogee, 

2W-km (124-mi) perigee, 89-min period, and 52” inclination. At 420 

am, EDT, spacecraft was automatically docked with Cosmos CLXXXVI 

(launched Oct. 27). Tass later announced: “. . . both satellites, equipped 

with special approach and docking units, carried out a number of complicated 

maneuvers in space, automatically finding each other, drawing 

closer, berthing and docking rigidly.” It was history’s first automatic 

docking in space and was filmed by TV cameras onboard both satellites. 

US. had successfully accomplished first manned docking March 16, 

1966, with Gemini VII and Gemini Agena Target Vehicle (GATV) ; in 

this docking experiment, astronauts controlled the maneuver. After automatic 

docking, the two satellites continued in orbit with altitude ranging 

from 126171 mi. At 7:50 am, EDT, after completing 2% orbits, spacecraft 

were undocked on command from the ground, and placed into 

different orbits by restarting rocket engines. Cosmos CLXXXVI, larger 

of the two spacecraft, softlanded Oct. 31 after 65 orbits. Cosmos 

CLXXXVIII reentered Nov. 2. 

Cosmos CLXXXIX was launched into orbit with 600-km (373-mi) 

apogee, 535-km (332-mi) perigee, 95.7-min period, and 74O inclination. 

(Shub, V Post, 10/31/67, 1; Kamm, NYT, 10/31/67, 1; AP, W 

Star, 10/31/67, A3; Winters, B Sun, 11/1/67; GSFC SSR, 11/15/67) 

0 U.S.S.R. announced successful completion of rocket tests in the Pacific 

northeast of Midway Island to test equipment for spacecraft landings at 

sea. Series, which began Sept. 2, was first to last as long as scheduled. 

(UPI, NYT, 10/31/67,44; M/S Daily, 10/31/67) 

321


* Scientific proof that instrumented capsule from U.S.S.R.’s Vem ZV had 

impacted on planet Venus Oct. 18 was presented at Moscow news con- 

ference by Mstislav Keldysh, President of Soviet Academy of Sciences. 

Instrumented-capsule-station’s transmitters, programmed to broadcast 

for 100 min, on basis of best previous estimates of pressure in atmos- 

phere of Venus, “stopped transmitting after 94 minutes [exact time for 

descent]. The station recorded both its own speed and the remaining dis- 

tance to the surface throughout the descent [and] also recorded the 

changing atmospheric pressure and recalculations on earth. . . .” Thus, 

based from this information and other known data, Keldysh confirmed 

that station stopped transmitting the instant it landed. The question of 

why radio transmission ended after 94 min-power for 100 min having 

been provided-was left unanswered. 

Press conference presented additional information. Magnetic field near 

Venus could not exceed 1/3,000 that of earth’s; low concentration of 

pfsitive ions along Venus ZY’s route (much less than that at earth at- 

mosphere’s top) ; absence of atomic oxygen in upper Venusian atmos- 

phere; probable dense molecular atmosphere of Venus; large per- 

centage of carbon dioxide (90-95% ) in Venusian atmosphere; neutral 

hydrogen density of 1% of that near earth; nitrogen content of Venu- 

sian atmosphere measuring about 7% ; and small amounts of argon and 

other inert gases. Water, at 1/10 to 7/10 of l%, was reported to exist 

largely in the planet’s cloud layer. Weather was cloudy on Venus, with- 

out precipitation. (Shub, W Post, 10/31/67,1; Rausch, Av Wk, 11/6/67, 

17) 

* Cornell Univ. professor Hans A. Bethe, director of Los Alamos Atomic 

Weapons Laboratory’s theoretical physics section during development 

of atomic bomb and recipient of AEC’S 1961 Enrico Fermi Award, was 

awarded the 1967 Nobel Prize in physics for proving that the sun and 

other stars produced energy through synthesis of helium from hydrogen. 

He was cited specifically for “his contributions to the theory of nuclear 

reaction, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production of 

stars.” 

Nobel Prize in chemistry was presented jointly to George Porter 

and Ronald G. W. Norrish of U.K. and Manfred Eigen of West Ger- 

many for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions occurring 

at speeds of one-one-thousandth of a millionth of a second. Nobel Peace 

Prize was withheld for second consecutive year. ( UPI, W Star, 10/30/67, 

1; Wiskari, NYT, 10/31/67,1) 

* AT&T’S letter respondipg to FCC inquiry on need for future communication 

facilities in Atlantic basin area nrged construction of $70.4million un- 

derwater communication cable to southern Europe by 1970’s end. It 

said completion of cable would accommodate rapid growth in transat- 

lantic calls and provide balance between satellite and cable links [see 

Oct. 41. ComSatCorp and international telegraph carriers also had re- 

ceived Oct. 4 FCC inquiry. ( UPI, NYT, 10/31/67,65) 

Soviet-French space treaty of June 30, 1966, had produced results during 

September when two Soviet MR-12 sounding rockets carrying French 

payloads were launched to altitudes of 75 mi and 112 mi over Franz 

Josef Land in Soviet arctic. Payloads released sodium clouds to measure 

upper-atmosphere temperatures. ( Av Wk, 10/30/67,13) 

October 31 : Sprint, launched from underground cell as the high-speed, short- 

range missile for ABM system, completed successful test flight a. + WSMR 

322


when it hit‘intercept point in sky after several planned sharp maneuvers. 

Interception simulated actual one for incoming enemy missile and was 

programmed into computer for 27-ft-long missile. Sprint tests had been 

conducted since March 29,1965. (DOD Release 1040-67) 

e Georgi Petrov, director of Soviet Academy of Sciences’ Space Exploration 

Institute, claimed that docking of Cosmos CLXXXVI and Cosmos 

CLXXXVIII, “for its technical perfection and the possibility it has 

opened for space exploration, is of greater importance than the Ameri- 

can experiment in manual docking . . . [of Gemini VI1 and GATV]. 

Since the completely automatic linkup, despite the difficulty of its reali- 

zation, will always be more economical as regards the payload which is 

so expensive on an orbit, this will make it possible to solve the tasks 

of helping the crews of space vehicles and open up new prospects for 

arranging experiments that demand a great weight on an orbit around 

the earth.” (SBD, 11/1/67,3) 

e Dr. Ludwig Roth, 58, McDonnell Douglas director of Saturn-Apollo ex- 

tension program, died in Redondo Beach, Calif. Born in Gross-Gerau, 

Germany, he had been an associate of Dr. Wernher von Braun in pio- 

neering rocket engineering and space sciences. He had served as Assist- 

ant Director of Army Ballistic Missile Agency. (AP, NYT, 11/3/67,43; 

World Space Directory, Fall 1967,155) 

During October: JPL Director Dr. William H. Pickering stressed importance 

of unmanned space exploration in Astronautics and Aeronautics: “Dur- 

ing the past decade of space exploration, unmanned spacecraft have 

demonstrated a remarkable versatility in performing a wide variety of 

scientific tasks. The success of these robots is due largely to the ingenu- 

ity of the designers in building complex but reliable automated devices, 

capable of withstanding the constraints imposed by the hostile space- 

flight environment. 

“It is clearly evident that many difficult engineering and scientific 

problems remain to be solved. The experience of the past decade demon- 

strates, however, that within the next decade unmanned spacecraft can 

initiate a detailed surface exploration of our neighboring planets. 

66 

The unmanned exploration of the solar system is technically and 

scientifically possible. It presents a unique opportunity to step boldly 

forward into new areas of both technology and science.” (Pickering, 

A&A, 10/67,804) 

0 Congressional role in space program and possibilities for improved international 

cooperation in space was discussed in General Electric Forum 

interview by Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.) , Chairman of House Committee 

on Science and Astronautics’ Manned Space Flight Subcommittee. 

Congress’ role, Rep. Teague said, was “to examine periodically how well 

the work is being done and what return we are gaining in new knowledge 

and practical utility from the space program. . . . Each decision . . . 

involves the setting of a relative order of priorities for the use of the 

Nation’s resources for science and technology.” Expressing conviction 

that international cooperation in space would increase, he noted that 

there was “great potential in the use of space for human betterment. . . . 

More than 60 per cent of the world’s people, for instance, are proteindeficient 

today. If, by earth orbital surveys, in cooperation with the lessdeveloped 

countries, we can improve that situation, our entire space program 

will have paid for itself many times over.” (GE Forum, Autumn 

1967, X/3, 11-12; CRY 10/19/67, H13719-20) 

323

During October ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

* Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , Chairman, House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Space Science and Applications Subcommittee, called 

for “developing a greater public awareness of the benefits of the total 

space program and . . . driving home the point of how close we are to 

realizing magnificent achievements in bettering our lives.” Writing in 

Astronautics and Aeronautics he said the space program “is no longer 

insulated from the tough competitive struggle for resources. . . . More 

bluntly, the NASA part of the national space program no longer has a very 

high priority.” He explained that “scientific and technological programs 

are the least understood of our national efforts. Tracing national growth 

and prosperity directly back to research and development is admittedly 

a tough job, but I am convinced that space technology stimulates social 

and economic progress.” On budget levels through early 1970s, he 

said, ‘‘Compared with earlier forecasts, it seems that a consider- 

ably stretched-out program will be characteristic. . . .” In spite 

of his pessimistic outlook for the present, Rep. Karth said: “This 

outlook should not cause despair because the long-range prospects 

for progress are enormous . . . [but] prospects must be sold to the pub- 

lic and top policymakers in terms of what makes sense for the overall 

benefit of society.’’ (Karth, A&A, 10/67,86-92) 

* AFOSR Diractor of Information Sciences Dr. Harold Wooster, writing 

on “Basic Research and the Department of Defense,” presented his 

appraisal of what basic research is and why it is a benefit when Govern- 

ment funds support basic research. He stated that the Government had 

spent $2.1 billion on basic research in FY 1967 while American indus- 

try was spending $607 million. Wooster believed that basic research and 

its results transcend state and national boundaries, and that there were 

“certain large research tools and facilities” which were too expensive 

for private industry, or any state or combination of states to build. As 

an example, he pointed to the National Magnet Laboratory at MIT: 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During October 

ets were designed to reach a peak altitude of 112 mi (180 km) . Measure- 

ments of temperature, energy distributih, and density of ions and elec- 

trons provided basis for calibration and interpretation of ionospheric 

data acquired by Arecibo radiotelescope. (OAR Research Review, 12/67, 

6-71 

During October-November: Lunar Orbiter IV, launched May 4, was pre- 

sumed to have crashed on lunar surface; contact with spacecraft had been 

lost July 17. (NASA Proj Off) 

325

November 1967 

November 1 : NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMR carried 

Princeton Univ. payload to 1094 (1’76-km) altitude on flight to deter- 

mine uv spectrum of extremely hot atmosphere and interstellar matter in 

direction of 05 star Tau Puppis-hottest of bright stars in sky. Excellent 

fiIm exposure was obtained from the spectrograph; attitude control sys- 

tem stabilized properly. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

* NASA announced results from experiment with four “Yolo Wonder” pepper 

plants subjected to 45 hr of weightless flight aboard Biosatellite ZZ (Sept. 

7-9) to determine effects of space environment (weightlessness and 

radiation). Photographs made every 10 min (268 times) in 30 orbits 

appeared to demonstrate plants depend on gravity for their orientation. 

Plant leaves had failed to grow in normal, horizontal position, and stems 

had not held to the vertical position, even with supporting brackets. 

Disoriented condition of plants was observed when they were delivered 

to Dr. Samuel Johnson, principal investigator, North American Rock- 

well Corp. Further evidence of plants’ gravity dependence came from 

wheat seedlings aboard Biosatellite ZZ; Dr. Charles Lyon of Dartmouth 

College experimented with 75 seedlings which, grown from seed in 

weightlessness, had roots curving upward toward seedling shoots and 

out to the side. (NASA Release 67-279) 

Continuing Brazil/U.S. space cooperation, experiment to measure airglow 

would be carried out by National Space Commission (CNAE) of Brazil 

and NASA, an Aerobee 150 to be launched from Brazil’s Barreiro do 

Inferno range this fall [see Oct. 14-15]. A monochromator would meas- 

ure day airglow in equatorial regions at altitude of about 130 mi in the 

range of 2,000.&, One of two kinds of upper atmosphere’s visible radia- 

tion (aurora being other), airglow existed when sunlight interacted with 

upper atmosphere to create visible radiation. 

CNAE would be responsible for preparation and operation of launching 

range and associated facilities, and for providing personnel for training. 

NASA would provide Aerobee rocket, payload, and mobile launch facility 

currently located in Brazil. (NASA Release 67-277) 

ComSatCorp expressed its opposition to AT&T plan to build $70.4-million 

underwater cable to southern Europe by 1970’s end in 92-page response 

to FCC inquiry on need for future communication facilities in the Atlan- 

tic basin area [see Oct. 4 & 301. James McCormack, Chairman and Chief 

Executive Officer of ComSatCorp, stated that proposed addition of 720 

international communication circuits via new transatlantic cable, desig- 

nated TAT-5. would be “unnecessary in the public interest and would 

act as a serious detriment to the development of a really capacious and 

economical global telecommunications system.” He said ComSatCorp 

planned to orbit,Intelsat IV by 1970 to provide at least 5,000 circuits 

326

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1961 November 1 

initially that would accommodate TV, broadband, and other transmissions 

in serving smaller, developing nations as well as major, technologically 

advanced countries. (Text; ComSatCorp Release 67-54) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb appointed L/G August Schomburg 

(USA, Ret.) as a consultant. Schomburg, whose last duty assignment 

was Commandant of Industrial College of the Armed Forces, would 

work in areas of national security, NASA’s interfaces with industry and 

defense, and education in industrial affairs for NASA’s field centers. 


November 2: XB-70 research aircraft, flown at FTC by USAF pilots Col. 

Joseph Cotton and L/C Emil Strumthal, reached mach 2.52 and 63,500-ft 

altitude in flight to test stability control and handling qualities. 

Other test objectives included: handling qualities at mach 1.2 and 

40,OOO-ft altitude; unstarts; radar air speed calibration at mach 1.9 

down to 1.2 and 45,W-ft altitude; nose ramp flutter function at mach 

1.2 $and 32,000-ft altitude, and at mach 2.55 and 64,000-ft altitude. 


USAF launched two unidentified satellites from WTR on single Thor-Agena D 

booster; one of two satellites reentered Dec. 2. (Pres Rep 1967) 

* World’s largest optical telescope-Soviet 236.2-in-dia mirror at Lenin- 

grad-might be unveiled on Nov. 7, 50th anniversary of Bolshevik 

Revolution, reported Space Business Daily. New telescope was reported 

to be 82 ft long and to weigh 275 tons; its guidance system would have 

a precise time-augmented design to guarantee accuracy. U.S. Mount 

Palomar telescope-world’s largest operating mirror-now 20 years 

old, had diameter of 200 in. (SBD, 11/2/67,11) 

0 British Univ. of Bristol Prof. H. E. Hinton, speaking to the Royal Society, 

described a capacity for revival after periods of suspended animation 

by insects and worm-like parasites with millions of cells. Hinton stated 

that these living organisms were dried out, kept in suspended animation 

for years, subjected to extremes of temperature, and then revived no 

worse for wear. According to Hinton, as long as spatial relations of the 

molecules were maintained, life activities could be restored to inert 

organisms whose cells had had no interactions for long periods of time. 

Injuries inflicted on fly larvae in their inert state, even cutting them 

into pieces, did not prevent restoration of life-although the larvae, 

once restored, promptly died of their wounds. Hinton suggested that if 

complex organisms could be reduced to an inert structure on which 

passage of time had no effect, infinitely prolonged “calendar” life-im- 

portant for a space voyage lasting centuries or millennia-was a theoret- 

ical, although very distant, possibility. ( W Post, 11/3/67, A25) 

November 3: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXC into orbit with 323-km (201- 

mi) apogee, 195-km (121-mi) perigee, 89.6-min period, and 65.6” in- 

clination. Spacecraft reentered Nov. 11. (CSFC SSR, 11/15/67) 

Agreement of Euratom countries with U.S. on a reasonable inspection 

system had removed “the biggest remaining obstacle” to eventual U.S. 

and U.S.S.R. agreement on a nuclear nonproliferation treaty [see Aug. 

241, according to New York Times editorial. A green light had been 

given US. to resume negotiations with U.S.S.R. because principles put 

forth by five non-nuclear countries “are considered reasonable by the 

American negotiators and flexible enough to permit common language 

to be found with the Russians, if Moscow remains interested in com- 

pleting the treaty.” Editorial said Soviet compromise proposal in Sep- 

324-801 049-22 327

November 3 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

tember had indicated willingness to let Euratom ‘inspection system 

continue, subjact only to verification by International Atomic Energy 

Agency in Vienna. Soviet proposal had also implied that controls could 

center on flow of fissionable materials, to prevent diversion from peace- 

ful to military uses. Soviets had aimed to check new plant designs to 

make sure the flow of fissionable material could not be concealed. 

Substantively, no big gap appeared between Soviet interpretation of its 

September proposal and Euratom countries’ desires, although “even 

after the inspection dispute is resolved, complex issues raised by India 

and other nuclear-capable countries, including guarantees against 

nuclear blackmail, will need to be resolved.” (NYT, 11/3/67, 42) 

NASA announced that research at Ames Research Center indicated a prob- 

ability of meteoroids’ puncturing spacecraft at about six times greater 

than previous calculations. Tests which simulated meteor entry into 

atmosphere were conducted in AEC’s Hypervelocity Planetary Gas Tunnel. 

ARC Director H. Julian Allen and assisting scientists Charles Shepard, 

Howard Stine, and Barrett Baldwin used melting or ablating tests on one 

stony meteorite and on samples of gabbro-common, meteor-like earth 

rock-at simulated speeds up to 35,000 mph. Tunnel tests showed that 

heat of entry into earth’s atmosphere melted rock surface, boiled off 

interior water, and expanded gases occurring in rock. Expansion of 

exterior rock layer by 10 to 1,000 times converted exterior to foam and 

acted as a heat shield. Foam was 2 to 20 times less dense than the un- 

heated rock; depending on entry conditions, foam would or would 

not break off. 

Past experience and theory had suggested that meteors were sand- 

like and would be remains of broken up comets; in addition, studies of 

meteor and comet trajectories had supported current theory that comets 

would be like “dirty snowballs” made mostly of ice, frozen ammonia, 

and methane with rock and sand additives. 

Opposed to these beliefs, ARC scientists speculated that many more 

meteors originated in the rocky asteroid belt and that much more solid 

rock would be contained in luminous clouds of comets. ARC could now 

prophesy the need for greater protection on long missions where the 

probability of meteoroid hit would be highest. (NASA Release 67-281) 

GSFC announced award of 9g3.4-million contract to American Science and 

Engineering, Inc., for development of x-ray experiment package for 

first spacecraft in Small Astronomy satellite ( SAS) , GsFc-managed pro- 

gram. Spacecraft SAS-A would map sources emitting x-rays outside solar 

system in collecting information on position, strength, and time varia- 

tion of emissions. SAS program would also have satellites search for 

sources radiating in the gamma ray, UV, visible, and IR regions; its data 

should enable selection of the most interesting stellar sources for detailed 

study by more sophisticated spacecraft. 

Contract provided for three 140-lb experiment structures : structural 

and thermal test unit, prototype unit to serve also as Aight backup, and 

flight unit. Johns Hopkins Univ.’s Applied Physics Laboratory would 

build spacecraft structure and systems, integrate and test total space- 

craft before fiight. Launch of 330-lb SAS-A was planned for 1970; four- 

stage Scou~ would place SAS-A in circular, equatorial orbit at 330-mi 

altitude. ( GSFC Release G-54+67) 

Early findings from Surveyor V, launched Sept. 8 and softlanded on moon 

Sept. 10, were summarized in Science by JPL scientists Leonard D. Jaffe 

328

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 November 3 

and Robert H. Steinbacher. The 18,006 TV pictures taken Sept. 11-24 

included views of interior of crater in which Surveyor Y landed, level 

surface surrounding crater, star and planet sightings for attitude reference, 

and solar-corona sequence after local sunset. Alpha-scattering 

instrument produced data on lunar surface chemical compositionoxygen, 

silicon, and aluminum identified in preliminary evaluationand 

showed general chemical composition to be “similar to that of a 

silicate of a basaltic type.” “Material of basaltic composition at the 

Surveyor V landing site implies that differentiation has occurred in the 

moon,” which summary attributed to “internal sources of heat.” Early 

findings were consistent with hypothesis that ‘‘extensive volcanic flows 

have been responsible for flooding and filling the mare [sea] basins.” 

Erosion experiment, spacecraft landing effects, and other observations 

indicated soil had significant amounts of fine-grained material and 

measurable cohesion. Surveyor V had provided first direct chemical 

analysis of lunar surface. Lunar magnet experiment produced results, 

that “are most similar to a terrestrial plateau basalt with no addition 

of free iron.” (Science, 11/3/67,631-52) 

* Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced U.S.S.R.’s possible 

development of a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System [see Oct. 161. 

While ICBM’s followed a ballistic trajectory from launch to impact and 

had an apogee of 800 mi, FOBS, he said, was fired into a very low orbit, 

and before first orbit was completed, rocket engine would slow down 

payload and cause it to drop out of orbit-payload then following a 

reentry path like reentry of ICBM. He said that “we suspect [they] are 

pursuing the R&D of a FOBS . . . [and] it is conceivable that they could 

achieve an initial operational capability during 1968. Because of the 

low altitude of their orbits, some trajectories of a FOBS would avoid detection 

by some early warning radars . . . [and] impact point cannot be 

determined until ignition of the rocket engine [ deboosting payload]roughly 

three minutes and SO0 miles from the target. And the flight time 

can be as much as 10 minutes shorter than an ICBM.” 

Accuracy of FOBS would be significantly less than that of ICBM and 

payload a fraction of that of ICBM, according to McNamara. FOBS’ disadvantages 

had compelled DOD to decide that FOBS “would not 

improve our strategic offensive posture. . . while development of [FOBS] 

could be initiated at any time for relatively rapid deployment. . . .’, 

Anticipating that early warning radars (including BMEWS) could not 

detect FOBS “because of the low altitude c-f [FOBS] orbits,” McNamara 

said: “. . . already we are beginning to use operationally over-the- 

horizon radars which possess a greater capability of detecting FOBS 

than does BMEWS. These will give us more warning time &against a fullscale 

attack using FOBS missiles than BMEWS gives against a heavy ICBM 

launch.” (Text; DOD Release 1060-67) 

Communist-Chinese-oriented ABM system-deployment approved by 

DOD Sept. 18-was named the Sentinel System, according to Secretary 

of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s announcement. L/G Alfred I). Starbird 

(USA) was named Army’s System Manager for new system; currently 

Director, DCA, Starbird would assume new position Nov. 15,1967, 

and would be responsible for development and timely deployment in a 

three-pronged organization: Sentinel System Office, Washington, D.C., 

to be an element of C/StafPs 05133, USA; Sentinel System Command, 

Huntsville, Ala., to develop, procure, and install new system; and Sen- 

329


tine1 System Evaluation Agency (SSEA) at WSMR to provide independent 

evaluation, review, and testing. Existing Nike-X organization, under 

command of L/G Austin W. Betts (USA), Chief of R&D, would continue 

(separately from Sentinel System) to perform: R&D, design of equip- 

ment to be used for tests of the penetration capabilities of US. offensive 

missiles, and mission of protecting US. against large-scale attacks. (DOD 

Release 105947) 

* CNO Adm. Thomas H. Moorer officially denied news reports on F-111B 

program cancellation or drastic change: ‘‘The reports may have origi- 

nated with a manufacturer’s brochure received by the Navy.” Brochure 

would have no “official standing,” he said. Earlier in the day ABC and 

Metromedia News reported USN and Congressional sources saying czn- 

cellation was official. In Fort Worth, General Dynamics COT. President 

Frank W. Davis insisted the F-111 was meeting its objectives and even 

exceeding them in some cases. 

Navy’s highest-ranking admirals had recommended cancellation of 

F-111B and recasting of major features in a more economic and agile 

swept-wing fighter, Richard Witkin reported in New Yorlc Times. 

Admirals’ arguments were listed. Overweight aircraft would perform 

only one of its two planned missions-defense of fleet against air attack. 

Air-to-air and air-to-ground missions would be beyond capability of 

F-lllB, and admirals had been convinced that an aircraft capable 

of all missions could be developed and delivered to the fleet by 1973. To 

arrive at aircraft they wanted, admirals would scrap wings and fuselage 

of F-111B; they would keep proven features, such as TF-30 engines, 

Phoenix air-to-air missiles, advanced radar and electronic gear-new air- 

craft weighing 52,000 Ibs compared with F-111B’s 75,000 lbs and 

costing $4-6 million compared with $8-10 million. Navy’s limited 

budget could not stand the soaring costs (in the light of technical trou- 

bles delaying F-111B’s delivery on schedule) , while potential enemy’s 

development of better aircraft calIed for dompetitive U.S. development. 

An aircraft that would keep weight down to 52,000 lbs and exploit 

the swept-wing and engine features of F-111B had been proposed by 

McDonnell Douglas Corp. and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. ; 

their promised delivery to the Navy would be less than two years behind 

that for F-111B, which was three years behind schedule, Witkin reported. 

(DOD Release 1062-67; Witkin, NYT, 11/4/67,1; AP, W Post, 11/4/67, 

A10) 

* At Huntsville, Ala., formal dedication of Toftoy Hall, named for the late 

M/G Holger N. Toftoy (USA, Ret.), US. missile pioneer who died 

Apr. 19, was made by Mrs. Hazel Toftoy, MSFC Director Wernher von 

Braun, and Army Missile Command Commander M/G Charles W. Eifler 

(USA). Toftoy Hall would house Missile Components Dept. of the Army 

Missile and Munitions Center and School. (Marshall Star, 11/1/67, 1) 

November 4: NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. 

George Mueller announced revised Apollo mission schedule of six 

flights in 1968 and five in 1969 using “200-series” (Uprated Saturn) 

and “500-series” (Saturn V) launch vehicles to test and qualify Com- 

mand, Service, and Lunar Modules (CSM and LM) . Schedule for 1968 

would include: Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204), first unmanned test of 

LM in earth orbit; AS-502, second unmanned flight test of Saturn V 

and Apollo C&SM; AS-503, third unmanned test of Saturn V and 

C&SM; AS-206, second unmanned flight test of LM in earth orbit; AS- 

330


205, first manned Apollo flight, a 10-day mission to qualify C&SM for 

further manned operations; AS-504, first manned Apollo flight on 

Saturn V, to provide experience with both C&SM and LM, including crew 

transfer from C&SM to LM and rendezvous and docking. Schedule for 

1969 would include five manned flights (AS-505 through AS-509) with 

the first four programmed as lunar mission development flights or lunar 

mission simulations-AS-509 being that on which lunar landing would 

be made. Possibly the lunar landing might be delayed until one of the 

remaining six Saturn V flights beyond 1969. 

All opportunities to accelerate progress in 1969 toward manned 

flights and a rapid accumulation of manned experience with Apollo/ 

Saturn system would be sought, Mueller said. (NASA Release 67-282) 

0 NASA appointed Edward M. Shafer, Assistant General Counsel, to become 

Associate General Counsel. Shafer's pri5cipal responsibilities had been 

in the areas of international programs and communications satellites. 

He had served as Chairman of NASA Board of Contract Appeals since 

Jan. 1, 1965. (NASA Ann, 11/8/67) 

November 5: Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash.), Chairman, Joint Com- 

mittee on Atomic Energy's Military Applications Subcommittee, in in- 

formal remarks, characterized U.S.S.R. development of FOBS as "a warn- 

ing to the world that they are hell-bent on obtaining a superiority over 

the U.S. in strategic weapons development," and stated: ". . . the sig- 

nificant point is that the Soviet Union has now led the way in the devel- 

opment of three nuclear weapon systems [ICBM, ABM, and FOBS].)' 

Starting Nov. 6, he would preside at Subcommittee hearings on ABM 

systems, and he said that FOBS would be an important topic for con- 

sideration. (UPI, W Post, 11/6/67, A9) 

0 Carl B. Squier, U.S.'s 13th Federally licensed pilot and one of its earliest 

air daredevils, died at Burbank, Calif. Born in Decatur, Mich., he had 

worked since 1929 for Lockheed Aircraft Corp., becoming president in 

charge of sales and working as consultant beyond his retirement. He 

was a friend of such notables in US. aviation as Wiley-Post, Charles A. 

Lindbergh, and Capt. Edward Rickenbacker. (NYT, 11/7/67, 41) 

0 Magnetometer intended as an accurate satellite-borne instrument for 

measurement of magnetic field in space would be calibrated successfully 

only through use of discarded 19th-century theodolite, ESSA announced. 

Discovery of theodolite in storage at ESSA'S Fredericksburg Geomagnetic 

Center would ensure better accuracy for future magnetometers ; theode- 

lite would precisely position three coils of wire to improve accuracy. 

( ESSA Release 67-78) 

November 5-6: NASA's 805-lb Ats ZZZ (ATS-C) (Applications Technology 

Satellite) was successfully launched from ETR by Atlas-Agena D booster. 

Primary purpose of launch was to place spin-stabilized spacecraft into 

geostationary orbit, operate it for at least the first 30 days, and obtain 

useful data from onboard experiments. Spacecraft entered elliptical 

transfer orbit with 22,148-mi (35,643-km) apogee, 111-mi (179-km) 

perigee, 10-hr 28-min period, and 28" inclination. At 16:Ol:OO GET 

(Nov. 6) apogee motor was fired to place satellite into near-synchronous 

orbit with 22,186-mi (35,704km) apogee, 111-mi (179-km) perigee, 

10-hr 28-min period, and 0.536" inclination, where it would be allowed 

to drift to stationary position over the Atlantic at 47" west longitude. 

Ats ZZZ was third in series of five satellites designed to improve spacecraft 

technology, develop long-life control systems, advance spacecraft 

33 1


communications, and improve long-range weather predictions. Five of 

spacecraft’s nine major experiments-Multicolor Spin-Scan Cloud Cam- 

era (SSCC) , Omega Position Location Experiment (OPLE) , Self Contained 

Navigation System (SCNS), Image Dissector Camera (IDC), and Me- 

chanically Despun Antenna-would be tested in space for first time. 

sscc would provide first full-disk photos of earth for continuous detailed 

viewing of short-lived weather phenomena. In addition, spacecraft car- 

ried VHF and SHF transponders, resistojet thruster, reflectometer experi- 

. ment, communications equipment, and engineering experiments to eval- 

uate spacecraft performance. Ats Z (launched Dec. 6,1966) had exceeded 

its test objectives and was still operating flawlessly. Ats ZZ (launched 

April 5,1967), though adjudged a failure, was transmitting some useful 

data. Ats ZZZ was last spacecraft to be launched from ETR’S Complex 12 

and last ATS to be launched with Atlas-Agena; two remaining space- 

craft in series would be launched with Atlas-Centaur. ATS pr9gram was 

managed by GSFC under OSSA direction. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 

67-276; W Post, 11/6/67, Al) 

November 6: In its resolution #2260, U.N. General Assembly urged its 

Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to elaborate on “agreement 

on liability for damage caused by the launching of objects into outer 

space and an agreement on assistance to and return of astronauts and 

space vehicles.” On July 17, Legal Subcommittee of Committee on Peace- 

ful Uses of Outer Space, meeting in Geneva, had reached such pro- 

visional agreement. On July 26, 1966, US. and U.S.S.R. had agreed 

is principle that countries were internationally liable for damage 

caused to other states by objects they launched into outer space. 

Other concerns of the resolution were education and training for space 

exploration, feasibility of communications for direct broadcast from 

satellites, and applied satellite technology of benefit to man. On Jan. 18, 

1966, Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space had proposed a world 

conference on outer space to be held in New York. This conference 

should examine the impact of space data on education and communi- 

cations-issues of major importance even to poor and economically 

retarded states [see NASA SP-4007, 201. (Text; NASA SP-4007, 20, 

250) 

* Joint Committee on Atomic Energy’s Military Applications Subcom- 

mittee held hearings on ABM systems and U.S. defense against ballistic 

missile attack; Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul H. Nitze and DOD’S 

Director of Research and Engineering Dr. John S. Foster, Jr., presented 

DOD position that no system capable of defending against a. heavy Soviet 

attack was now technologically and financially feasible. Foster said: “In 

1966, a new threat appeared-the probability that [Communist Chinese] 

were developing an ICBM. This is obviously vastly different from the 

Soviet threat . . . [not materializing until early 1970s, and relatively 

unsophisticated and] . . . against this [Communist Chinese] threat 

we have high assurance of providing damage denial for the whole 

country. Furthermore, we think we can maintain this capability against 

a growing [Communist] Chinese threat at least until the 1980s.” 

(Testimony) 

* Rep. Craig Hosmer (R-Calif.), member, Joint Committee on Atomic 

Energy’s Military Applications Subcommittee, during its House hearings 

on ABM systems, offered reply to Secretary of Defense Robert S. Mc- 

Namara’s announcement on Fractional Orbital Bombardment System 

332


(FOBS) : The weapon would “suppress our manned bombers by catching 

them on the ground with only a 3-minute attack warning . . . destroy 

the acquisition radar of any [ABM] system we might install . . . [and] 

destroy our retaliatory ICBM’s in their s~~os.” Hosmer noted that Soviets 

call FOBS by code name Scrag, and said the May 29, 1967, issue of the 

American Security Council’s Washington Report contained an article 

“written by the exceptionally well-informed Dr. Stefan T. Possony, of 

the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford Uni- 

versity.” Hosmer stated: “A most vital disclosure by Possony is that 

the Scrag. . . would have a 30-megaton warhead, presumably sufficient 

to penetrate our hardened ICBM silos, ruin our ICBM missiles and thus 

destroy our retaliatory capacity. Despite Soviet capabilities with this 

size warhead and larger. . . McNamara continues to insist that Scrag 

warhead yields are only in the 1- to 3-megaton range. I believe he does 

so less with assured knowledge of the yield than he does wishfully, to 

support his continued claims that we do not need an ICBM system for 

protection because our missile silos are so strong they cannot be 

penetrated.” (Testimony; CR, 11/6/67, H14638-9) 

NASA’s Apollo 4 (AS-501), which would be launched by Saturn V in 

three days, had the power to place astronauts on moon, or telescopes 

in orbit beyond earth’s atmosphere; American capability for major 

strides toward the unknown had arrived when interest in these en- 

deavors had reached a new and understandable low, Albert Sehlstedt, 

Jr., reported in Baltimore Sun. Along with the new era of less than 

major interest in space had come the high-priority problems of the 

Southeast Asia war and the urban riots. Aviation reek for Aug. 7 

had said “An era ended for the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- 

tration last week when Congress voted a $234,000,000 cut in the agency’s 

budget authorization for fiscal 1968.” 

Many people during recent months had looked toward the achieve. 

ment of social as well as scientific goals, reappraisement of both being 

called for by Congress. Because AS-501 would be one of the highest 

achievements in space, the question was no longer whether man could 

reach into space, but “. . . . with what urgency it should be done 

in the light of all the needs on earth.” (Sehlstedt, B Sun, 11/7/67, 6) 

Detailed information on French space budget for 1968, expected to be 

approved soon by National Assembly, was reported to total $141 

million, increased about $36 million over 1967 budget. It would in- 

clude $121.5 million for research and operations and $19.3 million for 

facilities and administration under spending plan being developed by 

Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales ( CNES) . Research and operations 

funds would be divided, $87.8 million for French programs and 

$33.7 million for ELDO and ESRO projects. About $1 million also had 

been allocated for bilateral space research projects outside ELDO and 

ESRO. Major items of budget included: development costs for ELDO 

Europa 1/PAS launch vehicle and Diamant B launch vehicle; R&D costs 

for two Roseau radio observatory satellites (scheduled for U.S.S.R. 

launch in 1971) ; planning costs for two Symphonie communications 

satellites (joint French-West German venture with one spacecraft 

structure group and two avionics groups to be chosen from competing 

groups in both countries) ; construction costs for Kourou launch com- 

plex in French Guiana; and partial costs of new Toulouse complex for 

satellite development and balloon sounding projects. Budget also con- 

333


tained funds for future studies for second phase of France’s space 

program, according to CNES officials. French fifth financial plan com- 

mitted about $408 million in 1965 for the first phase through 1969. 

(Fink, Av Wk, 11/6/67,24) 

Some US. experts believed Soviets planned further missions : rendezvous 

and docking of manned Soyuz-class spacecraft in near-earth orbit for 

long-duration flights; circumlunar flight, fully automated, with animal 

payload to test reaotion to reentering earth’s atmosphere at trans- 

lunar return speeds; manned circumlunar flight; and manned lunar 

landing. Aviation Week stated, “Although there is disagreement among 

US. government and industry on some details, many feel that the 

Soviets have successfully overcome serious gaps in technology which 

had slowed their progress. . . .” (Av Wk, 11/6/67,16) 

November 6-7: National Academy of Sciences steering committee for Long 

Duration Manned Mission Study held first meeting at NAS with UCLA 

Prof. Donald B. Lindsley as chairman. Committee would study 

psychological and physiological stresses on astronaut crews traveling 

in space for up to 700 days. Different parts of overall study would be 

investigated by small task groups. One would review what is known 

about the dynamics of small groups. Another would review all avail- 

able information on psychological, physiological, and performance 

effects of isolation, confinement, and other stresses. (NAS-NRC-NAE News 

Report, 12/67,1-2) 

November 7: NASA’s Surveyor VI ( Surveyor-F) was successfully launched 

from ETR by Atlas-Centaur ( AC-14) booster on 64-hr lunar intercept 

trajectory. Primary mission for the 2,223-12, (at launch) spacecraft was 

to perform a soft-landing on moon and obtain post-landing TV pictures of 

the lunar surface. As secondary mission spacecraft would determine 

relative abundance of chemical elements in lunar soil with alpha 

scattering instrument ; obtain touchdown-dynamics, thermal, and radarreflectivity 

data; and conduct vernier engine erosion experiment. NASA’s 

Explorer XXXIV, in orbit since May 24, would serve as a “solar watchdog,” 

furnishing information on solar radiation for correct interpretation 

of Surveyor Vl’s soil analyses. 

At 00:04:06 GET Surveyor VZ with two-burn Centaur separated from 

Atlas and ignited to reach 100-mi-altitude circular parking orbit where 

it coasted for 12 min; Centaur then reignited to escape earth orbit and 

boost spacecraft toward moon. Spacecraft separated from Centaur, deployed 

its solar panels, and locked on the sun and the star Canopus. 

Based on a 56-mi target miss estimate, a 1.2-m midcourse maneuver was 

conducted at 00:18:41 GET to assure precise landing on target in Sinus 

Medii in center of moon’s front face. 

Surveyor VI was sixth in series of seven spacecraft designed to prove 

out design, develop technology of lunar soft-landing, obtain post-landing 

TV pictures of lunar surface, and provide basic scientific and engineering 

data in support of Project Apollo. Surveyor program was directed 

by OSSA Lunar and Planetary Programs Div.; project management was 

assigned to JPL; Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle was managed to LeRC; 

and prime contractor for spacecraft development and design was Hughes 

Aircraft Co. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Releases 67-278, 67-287) 

USAF successfully launched an Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry System ( ABRES) 

module from Vandenberg AFB by Atlas-D booster. ( UPI, W Post, 11/8/67, 

A21) 

334


* Explorer XXVZZ and Vanguard II had been among the 3 0 artificial 

satellites to be photographed on a typical night by the three-ton light- 

gatherer camera at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s D&re Zeit 

tracking station in Ethiopia. Robert Citron, station manager, described 

the operation as an “extremely accurate way of measuring distances 

with the use of geodetic satellites,” in a planned program extending into 

1972. Debre Zeit, functioning as hub of 12 similar stations in India, 

Japan, Patagonia, Sgain, Brazil, and South Africa, measured earth’s 

size and shape, gravitational pull variations, and atmospheric density 

changes. Planned progress would include measuring shape of world 

“down to 33 feet,” according to Citron. He explained: “There is a widely 

accepted theory that the earth’s land masses are drifting. In particular, 

the African continent is said to be drifting away from the Asian land 

masses.” By using planned measuring methods with geodetic satellites, 

Citron hoped to explore the truth of the theory and measure the drift 

should the theory be true. (Reuters, NYT, 11/7/67, 36) 

President Johnson signed Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 (P.L. 90-129) 

which would provide new funds for broadcast facilities to give “a wider 

and . . . stronger voice to educational radio and TV; launch major 

study of TV’s use in Nation’s classrooms and potential use throughout 

the world; and create Corporation of Public Broadcasting to assist 

stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good 

music, . . . exciting plays, and . . . reports on the whole fascinating 

range of human activity.” He indicated that he had asked Dr. Milton 

Eisenhower, Johns Hopkins Univ., and Dr. James Killian, MIT, to serve 

as members of Corporation’s board of directors. He explained that the 

Corporation would get partial support from Government but “it will be 

carefully guarded from . . . control.” 

The President said: “I believe the time has come to stake another 

claim in the name of all the people, stake a claim based upon the com- 

bined resources of communications. I believe the time Bas come to 

enlist the computer and the satellite, as well as television and radio and to 

enlist them in the cause of education. So I think we must consider new 

ways to build a great network for knowledge-not just a broadcast sys- 

tem, but one that employs every means of sending and of storing informa- 

tion that the individual can use.” (PD, 11/13/67,1530-2) 

* Joint Committee on Atomic Energy’s Military Applications Subcommittee 

heard testimony on missile defense from Columibia Univ.’~ Professor 

Philip E. Mosely and RAND c01-p.’~ senior staff member Thomas W. Wolfe. 

Mosely stated, on subject of nuclear weapons, this philosophy: “In 

any future period [of U.S.S.R. nuclear equality or superiority over 

US.] . . . we would be prudent to assume that Soviet policy would 

be tempted to undertake a more extensive, more acute, and more dan- 

gerous range of risks [in pursuing] its declared long-range ambition 

to reshape the world according to its own dogma.” 

Wolfe discussed Soviet ABM program, Soviet attitude toward ABM 

limitation, Soviet ABM activities which relate to overall strategic posture, 

and political implications of a changing US.-Soviet military balance. 

He saw Soviet leadership seeking “wider options for global intervention,” 

and, for this goal, he looked for a buildup of defensive and offensive nu- 

clear power and extension of the reach of their conventional military 

power. (Testimony) 

At MSC the TRW Systems Group had received $10.7-million NASA contract 

335

November 7 


extension to perform spacecraft analysis for Apollo, including studies, 

technical fact-finding, and investigations for systems in Command, Service, 

and Lunar Modules. Contract extension would carry throu h June 

1968 and increased total cost of contract to $65.5 million. (MSC % elease 

67-66) 

9 The 50th anniversary celebrations of the Bolshevik Revolution had included 

Moscow display of five new missiles, Bruce Winters reported in Baltimore 

Sun. Two years ago, the Moscow display included three new missiles, 

one with warhead for “surprise blow on the first or any other orbit 

around the earth.” The 1967 display had included new three-stage ICBM, 

two-stage IRBM, submarine missile, tactical missile, and antiaircraft 

missile. (Winters, B Sun, 11/8/67,1) 

November 8: NASA’s Ats Ill, launched Nov. 5, now in 22,300-mi-altitude synchronous 

orbit, transmitted to NASA’s Rosman, N.C., ground station a 

color photograph of earth which officials described as excellent in quality. 

The photograph, processed at GSFC, showed entire earth‘s disk and 

details of features as small as two or three miles in size. Ats ZZZ, third of a 

series of five satellites managed by OSSA, carried communication, meteorology, 

navigation, ‘and spacecraft technology experiments. 

From its location over the equator at 47” west longitude, the spacecraft 

had a view of North and South America, part of Africa and Europe, 

and the southern part of Greenland icecap. Spacecraft’s multicolor spinscan 

cloud camera obtained color contrast as well as brightness contrast, 

according to chief experimenter Wisconsin Univ.’s Dr. Verner E. Suomi. 

He gave this analysis of Ats ZZZ’s meteorological operations: “From a 

time series of pictures such as these the United States has, in effect, given 

South America a means to track their weather far beyond what they are 

able to do by conventional means. In one single photograph, the equatorial 

cloud-free band which was seen from Ats Z [launched Dec. 6,19661 

pictures in the Pacific is also evident in the Atlantic. These pictures are 

ideal for continuing studies from the heat budget and convective systems. 

The additional meteorological information in a color photograph 

is more subtle, but it is there. Low clouds tend to be bluer than high 

clouds. This has been possible even though adjustments to color balance 

on the ground are still underway. There are suggestions that the muddy 

outflow from the Amazon River in Brazil can be seen. We have not yet 

been able to determine whether or not the Gulf Stream water will be 

visible. Also, we do not have an example of the colors in the Terminator 

Zone (sunrise and sunset) to determine if cloud heights can be accurately 

positioned.” (NASA Release 67-286) 

* A restructuring of the Nation’s space program was outlined by NASA Administrator 

James E. Webb in testimony on proposed NASA FY 1968 

operating plan, before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences. Decisions had reflected fiscal, resources, and time factors. The 

national fiscal situation required minimum expenditures on space for the 

next two years. Primary emphasis on completion of Apollo program and 

other financially important ongoing efforts would be carried out to avoid 

major losses. Decisions on NASA’s space posture for the 1970s would be 

postponed until “fiscal year 1969 budget or later.” According to Webb’s 

planning, “Our allocation of resources in fiscal year 1968 must hold 

open for later decision the most promising future aeronautical and space 

options which our past large investments will support.” 

FY 1968 operating plan figures, presented by Webb, showed NASA’s 

336


November 8: The earth from 22,300 miles in space-color photography transmitted by 

NASA’s Ats III satellite to Rosman, N.C., ground station beginning Nov. 8. This photo, 

transmitted Nov. 10, shows portions of North and South America, Africa, and Europe 

and the Greenland ice cap, The Antarctic continent is under cloud cover. A cold front 

is moving eastward over the central United States and a tropical storm can be seen at 

bottom center, with a cold front extending into Argentina. 

adjustments of funding under R&D operations for the remainder of FY 

1968. Fund reallocation (congressional appropriation figures in paren- 

theses) showed : Apollo Applications, $253.2 (315.5) million ; OSSA, 

$568.1 (528.0) million; OART, $318.7 (301.5) million; OTDA, $275.0 

(270.0) million. In more detail, on OSSA, physics and astronomy $141.5 

(130.0) million; lunar and planetary, $143.4 (125.0) million; launch 

vehicle procurement, $141.9 ( 145.0) million; bioscience, $41.8 (40.0) 

- million; space applications, $99.5 (88.0) million. On OART, electronics 

systems, $39.2 (35.0) million; space vehicle systems, $35.0 (no change) 

million; human factors systems, $21.0 (no change) million; basic re- 

search, $21.5 (20.0) million; space power and electric propulsion sys- 

tems, $44.0 (no change) million; nuclear rockets, $54.0 (46.5) million; 

chemical propulsion, $37.2 (35.0) million; and aeronautics, $66.8 (65.0) 

337


million. Sustaining university was $10.0 (no change) million, and tech- 

nology utilization, $4.0 (no change) million. 

Webb presented rather brief outline on present long-range planning 

for lunar and planetary mission hardware. Limited funds could continue 

development of flight-qualified engine for NERVA I and would support 

plans for first Apollo Applications flights in 1970. Two Mars-Mariner 

flights for 1969 would be the “last in present program.” Five Mariner 

flights in 1970s, two or more Titan I11 launches in Voyager series in 

1973, and Saturn V flight in 1975 could be considered in FY 1969 

budget. Webb reasoned that NASA could “use the Atlas-Centaur . . . and 

the Titan I11 with transtage, to move out into further planetary opera- 

tions but with very limited expenditures in 1968 and’1969.” 

Responding to questions by Senate Committee on Aeronautical and 

Space sciences, Webb referred to recent csc decision on NASA personnel 

contracts and said he would join with csc chairman and the Comptroller 

General in working out pattern for support contracts, the KSC contract 

providing his guidelines. (Testimony ; transcript) 

In a prelaunch press conference at Launch Complex #39, KSC, NASA Deputy 

Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr., referred to high points of Nov. 9 

scheduled launch of Apollo 4: “. . . Apollo 4 launch is . . . most diffi- 

cult and significant milestone to date [and] tomorrow we’ll be flight 

testing the Saturn V for the first time. We’ll be flight testing on Apollo 

spacecraft entering the atmosphere at lunar return speeds for the first 

time. We’ll be live-testing our launch and operational facilities for the 

first time, and we’ll be testing our development and operational team in 

its first major mission attempt for the first time. I am certain this 

team . . . will not be found wanting.” (Text) 

0 Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul H. Nitze, in response to statement made 

Nov. 6 by Rep. Craig Hosmer (R-Calif.) , member, Joint Committee on 

Atomic Energy’s Military Applications Subcommittee, during hearings 

on ABM systems, answered: “First we are taking steps to protect Minute- 

man against much better Soviet offenses than we actually expect. Sec- 

ondly, even if any two of the three elements of our second-strike forces- 

our land-based ICBMS, our submarine-based Polaris and Poseidon, and 

our strategic bombers-were rendered useless by some unforeseeable dis- 

aster, the remaining element could by itself inflict unacceptable dam- 

age on the U.S.S.R.” He compared effectiveness (number of targets 

destroyed) of 10 50-kt warheads in a Multiple Independent Re-entry 

Vehicle (MIRV) configuration to the same effectiveness of one large 

yield-10 mt-warhead, and stated that “the MIRVS provide much mort: 

effective payloads . . . by every relevant criterion of military effec- 

tiveness, even though they deliver much less total megatonnage.” Re- 

sponse to Hosmer’s statement by Nitze had been made at request of 

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. (Text) 

* FAA, despite qualified objections of air carriers, announced Dec. 15 effec- 

tive date for imposition of speed limit of 250 kph (288 mph) for all 

aircraft operating below 14000 ft mean sea level [see Sept. 11. FAA 

believed its action would give pilots more time to “see and avoid” other 

air traffic in the Nation’s most heavily traveled airspace. Larger airlines 

felt collision avoidance systems and automated terminal approach sys- 

tems would go further to reduce the growing number of midair colli- 

sions; they would have preferred a speed limit from 5,000 ft down to 

surface. Air Line Pilots Assn. endorsed rule, at the same time making 

338


it plain that they were quite skeptical of its value in collision avoidance. 

( W Post, 11/9/67, M4) 

* President Johnson signed H.R. 12474, FY 1968 NASA appropriations bill, 

designated P.L. 90-131 (NASA LAR VI/119) 

President Johnson signed Executive Order 11381 enlarging Federal Council 

for Science and Technology to include representatives from DOT, HUD, 

and Dept. of State for more effective operation. (PD, 11/13/67,1537-8) 

m ERC appointed 0. Hugo Schuck Director of Office of Control Theory and 

Application. Schuck had been Visiting Professor of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics at Stanford Univ. while on leave as Director of Research 

at Honeywell, Inc. In his new position Schuck would supervise research 

on application of control theory to complex aeronautics and space vehicle 

systems. He had been President of the American Automatic Control 

Council, heading US. representation in the International Federation of 

Automatic Control. (ERC Release 67-37) 

November 9: NASA's Apollo 4 (AS-501) was successfully launched from 

ETR at 7:OO am EST in first all-up test of three-stage Saturn V launch 

vehicle, first in-orbit restart of third (S-IVB) stage, and first use of 

Launch Complex 39 and ground support equipment. Launch vehicle 

stages performed nominally; orbital insertion, 3rd stage restart, and injection 

into earth-intersecting coast ellipse were accomplished satisfactorily; 

Command Module ( CM) encountered no functional problems; 

and splashdown occurred within 10 mi of planned landing point. 

Third stage ignited to insert Command Service Module (CSM) into 

orbit with nominal parking apogee, 119 mi ; perigee, 114 mi ; period, 88.2 

min; inclination, 32.6". After two revolutions in parking orbit, 3rd stage 

was reignited for simulated translunar injection burn, injected stage and 

spacecraft into earth intersecting orbit with 10,774-mi apogee. Following 

Stage/CSM separation, Service Propulsion System ( SPs) ignited for 

16-sec burn, raising apogee to 11,314 mi. Spacecraft was aligned to a 

specific attitude to achieve thermal gradient across CM heat shield. Attitude, 

with CM hatch window directly toward sun, was maintained for 

about hrs. [CM hatch window had been replaced with instrumented 

test panel containing simulations of flexible thermal seals and gaps between 

hatch and surrounding heat shield. Successful performance of thermal 

seals during reentry heating would qualify seals for use on manned 

CMS.] SPS was then reignited for 271-sec burn to accelerate spacecraft 

to the most severe entry conditions that could possibly occur in a lunarreturn 

trajectory. SPS cutoff was followed by CM/S?M separation and 

orientation of CM to entry attitude. Atmosphere reentry at 4C@,o(Eo ft 

occurred at flight path angle of - 7.077" with inertial velocity of 36,537 

fps (24,911 mph) . CM landed in mid-Pacific near Hawaii at 3:37 pm, 

EST, and was recovered by uss Bennington 2 hrs 14 min after touchdown. 

In significant step toward developing manned lunar landing capability, 

Apollo 4's flight was the first of two to three missions designed to qualify 

Saturn V for manned flight, and the first test of the structural integrity 

and compatibility of launch vehicle and spacecraft. By subjecting CM'S 

heat shield to high heat load and heat rate, NASA was evaluating CM'S 

design adequacy for reentry from lunar missions-primary objective to 

achieve successful manned lunar mission. Other primary mission objectives 

were to: confirm launch loads and dynamic characteristics; demonstrate 

stage separation ; verify operation of launch vehicle subsystems 

and spacecraft subsystems ; evaluate performance of space vehicle Emer- 

339


November 9: NASA launches Apollo 4 into orbit from Complex 39A of Kennedy Space 

Center in successful first flight test of Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle. 

gency Detection System (EDS) in an open-loop configuration; and 

demonstrate mission support facilities and operations required for 

launch, mission conduct, and CM recovery. 

Saturn V was the most powerful space vehicle developed in US. space 

program; in launch configuration with Apollo 4, height was 363 ft, and 

weight, fully fueled, was 6,220,025 lbs. Saturn V’s 1st stage engines 

produced 7,610,000 lbs of thrust at liftoff, and the launch vehicle placed 

278,699 lbs in earth orbit. This launch vehicle could place 96,000 lbs on 

the moon. Kerosene (RP-1) was the fuel used in the five 1st stage 

(S-1C) engines, while 2nd stage (S-11) engines used liquid hydrogen. 

The five S-I1 stage J-2 engines, developing total thrust of 1,000,000 lbs, 

were rated for operations to 117-mi altitude and to 935-mi distance down- 

range. Third stage (S-IVB) J-2 engine, using liquid hydrogen fuel, 

developed about 200,OOO lbs of thrust. 

High-quality pictures of the earth were obtained from about one hour 

before to one hour after apogee on Command Module apogee camera 

film processed at MSC. 

340


Success for Apollo 4 (AS-501) , according to NASA Associate Admin- 

istrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller, had been 

achieved in terms of “pre-set primary objectives.” Heat shield design, 

S-IVB restart, structural/themal integrity, compatibility of launch ve- 

hicle and spacecraft, and ground support had been proven. 

Direction of Apollo Program had been the responsibility of OMSF; 

development of Apollo spacecraft, flight crew training, and mission con- 

trol the responsibility of MSC; development of Saturn launch vehicles the 

responsibility of MSFC ; and Apollo/Saturn launch operations the respon- 

sibility of KSC. Under overall direction of OTDA, MSFN had been managed 

by GSFC. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-275; MSFC Release 67-226) 

* Apollo Program Manager M/G Samuel C. Phillips, commented on count- 

down operations for Saturn/Apollo (AS-501): “. . . I was tremen- 

dously impressed with the smooth teamwork that this combined govern- 

ment/multi-industry team put together [and] you could almost feel the 

will with which it was being carried out. I think that’s important to the 

progress of Apollo . . . perhaps even more so than some of the techni- 

cal returns we’ll get from this mission. . . . Apollo is on the way to the 

moon.” (Text) 

e U.S. officials praised successful flight of Apollo 4 (AS-SOl). President 

Johnson said that ‘Lthe whole world could see the awesome sight of the 

first launch of what is now the largest rocket ever flown. This launching 

symbolizes the power this Nation is harnessing for the peaceful explora- 

tion of space. The successful completion of today’s flight has shown that 

we can launch and bring back safely to earth the space ship that will take 

men to the moon.” NASC’S Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh said 

the Nation’s people “should be proud of this historic landmark in pro- 

pulsion and precision, and particularly in the boost given our national 

space program.” Looking toward the future, NASA Administrator James 

E. Webb praised this “successful demonstration of the devotion and high 

quality workmanship of over 300,000 men and women in thousands of 

industrial plants, laboratories, test facilities, universities and government 

installations [and this] success [which] will permit us to move more 

rapidly on to a second launch.” Dr. Wernher von Braun said, “NO single 

event since the formation of the Marshall Center in 1960 equals today’s 

launch in significance [and] I regard this happy day as one of the three 

or four highlights of my professional life-to be surpassed only by the 

manned lunar landing.” (PD, 11/13/67,1541; Text; UPI, NYT, ll/lO/ 

67,32C; Marshall Star, 11/15/67,1-10) 

6 Blastoff of Saturn V at ETR produced one of the loudest noises in history, 

natural or man-made, according to Columbia Univ.’s Lamont Geological 

Observatory at Palisades, N.Y. Observatory physicist Dr. William Donn 

labeled U.S. and U.S.S.R. nuclear explosions the only louder manmade 

sounds and 1883 fall of Great Siberian Meteorite as the only louder 

natural sounds on record. (AP, W Post, 11/10/67, A8) 

President Johnson announced intention to nominate M/G Richard P. Klocko 

( USAF) , Deputy Director, National Military Command System Technical 

Support, Defense Communications Agency, for promotion to lieutenant 

general and assignment as Director, Defense Communications 

Agency. He would replace L/G Alfred D. Starbird (USA) who had been 

assigned as System Manager, BMDS. (PD, 

11/13/67,1539) 

November 9-24: NASA% Surveyor VZ, launched Nov. 7, became fourth U.S. 

spacecraft to softland on the moon when it touched down at 08:01 EST 

3431

November 9-24 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

in Sinus Medii after 64-hr flight and began transmitting first of 30,065 

detailed television pictures to JPL Deep Space Facilities, Goldstone, 

Calif. 

Landing sequence began when Surveyor VZ shifted its normal cruising 

attitude to position main retrorocket. Triggered by radar, main retro- 

motor slowed spacecraft to 374 mph; retromotor then ejected. Vernier 

engines cut off at 13 ft above lunar surface and spacecraft landed. 

First photos transmitted showed one of spacecraft’s landing pads rest- 

ing on sand-like soil similar to that pictured in previous Surveyor photos. 

Later pictures confirmed that area was rough and pitted with craters; 

they revealed a region strewn with rocks up to two feet in diameter and 

a huge cliff described by USGS scientist Dr. Eugene Shoemaker as “the 

most rugged feature . . . yet seen on the moon.” Efforts to reestablish 

communications with Surveyor V, which had softlanded Sept. 10, for 

simultaneous communications with Surveyor VZ, proved futile. 

On Nov. 17 Surveyor VZ’s vernier engines were fired for 2.5 sec, lifting 

spacecraft to 10-ft altitude before it touched down 8.5 sec later, 8 ft west 

of original resting point. Purpose of translation-first planned change 

of location ever accomplished after conclusion of initial flight-was to 

test lunar surface bearing strength, determine depth of original foot- 

prints made by spacecraft, obtain stero-type effect by comparing photos 

taken of same area from different positions, and study engine erosion 

effects. Post-translation photos showed cratering and scouring effect 

on areas under engines and confirmed that alpha-scattering instrument- 

which had stopped functioning properly after operating successfully for 

43 hrs and providing excellent data on chemical composition of lunar 

soil-had come to rest upside down. Communications with spacecraft 

were halted Nov. 24 to preserve battery power during cold of lunar 

night. 

Performance of Surveyor VI was nearly flawless. Surveyor Z (launched 

May 30,1966) , Surveyor ZZI (launched April 17,1%7) , and Surveyor V 

(launched Sept. 8,1967) had all softlanded successfully and transmitted 

photos to earth. Surveyor ZZ (launched Sept. 20, 1966) failed to soft- 

land because of an ignition failure. Communications with Surveyor IV 

(launched July 14, 1967) were lost seconds before it was scheduled to 

softland and its condition could not be determined. (NASA Proi Off; 

NASA Release 67-278; JPL Release; AP, B Sun, 11/16/67, 1; Riuters; 

W Post, 11/10/67,1) 

November 10: NASA successfully launched Essa VI (TOS-D) . sixth meteor- 

ological satellite in ESSA’S Tiros Operational SateUite (TOS) system, from 

WTR using three-stage Thrust-Augmented Thor-Delta booster. Primary 

mission objective was to provide global cloud coverage on a regular, 

daily basis with six-month-nominal and three-month-minimum space- 

craft lifetime. Satellite achieved near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit with 

920-mi (1,482-km) apogee, 872-mi ( lY4U2-km) perigee, 114.8-min 

period, and 102.1” inclination. Wheel orientation maneuver was sched- 

uled for completion during 18th orbit at which time first photos would 

be programmed and NASA would check out spacecraft before turning 

its operation over to ESSA. 

An advanced version of the cartwheel configuration, 286-113 Essa VZ 

carried two Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) camera systems 

modified with improved magnetic shielding to prevent slight banding 

visible in previous ESSA APT photos. Cameras would photograph earth’s 

342


cloud cover and immediately transmit pictures to local APT stations. 

Essa VI would supplement Essa II and Essa IV, replacing them when 

they became inoperable. 

ESSA financed, managed, and operated TOS system; GSFC was responsi- 

ble for procurement, launch, and initial checkout of spacecraft in orbit. 

Essa I was launched Feb. 3, 1966; Essa II, Feb. 28, 1966; Essa III, Oct. 

2, 1966; Essa IVY Jan. 26, 1967; and Essa V, April 20, 1967. All five 

satellites were still operating. (NASA Proj Off; ESSA Release 67-82) 

* Letter to President Johnson from Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.), member 

of House Committee on Science and Astronautics, assessed US. space 

program after Apollo/Saturn flight of Nov. 9: US. had captured lead 

in space race with the U.S.S.R. Rep. Ryan urged the President to renounce 

the space race, and ‘It0 make a serious request for the beginning 

of far-ranging international cooperation to reduce the costs and increase 

the benefits of space exploration-to remove the wasteful duplication 

of two great nations.” (Text) 

November 12: In news release, Sen. Claiborne Pel1 (D-R.I.), member of 

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called for an international 

ocean-space treaty to regulate nations’ development of deep-ocean 

riches. In regulating man’s behavior in deep-ocean space beyond territorial 

and continental shelf limits, US. was already exploring possible 

diplomatic initiatives. In 1J.N. circles, Maltese resolution suggested 

“marine resources be turned over to an international organization which 

will supervise their exploitation and distribute the benefits to underdeveloped 

nations.” (Text) 

November 13: U.S.S.R. Mikoyan L266 twin-tailed fighter aircraft-NATO 

designation Foxbat-averaged 1,804 mph over closed 1,000-km (621-mi) 

course, carrying two-ton payload. Soviets claimed world speed record. 

(Av Wk, 11/13/67,35) 

* NASA announced establishment of an Astronomy Missions Board, to be 

chaired by Harvard College Observatory Director Dr. Leo Goldberg. 

Twelve astronomers and physicists would make up the Board, which 

would advise NASA through Associate Administrator for Space Science 

and Applications Dr. John E. Naugle. Executive Director for the Board 

would be OSSA~S Deputy Director of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Henry 

Smith. The Board would develop and review scientific objectives and 

general strategy for space astronomy missions of sounding rockets, 

balloons, and satellites and would recommend designs for missions, 

telescopes, and other equipment. Excluded from the Board’s responsibility 

would be studies of moon and planets from close range and earth 

orbital observations of the earth. (NASA Release 67-284) 

0 DOD would be forced to turn to space technology for early warning, using 

either manned or unmanned spacecraft to counteract Soviet decision 

to develop Fractional Orbital Bombardment Systems (FOBS) , Aviation 

Week contended. Because they believed that the U.S.S.R. could use 

FOBS “to foil existing [BMEWS] radars,” DOD planners would place 

initial reliance on HF, over-the-horizon radars. “The Soviet objective 

appears to be to slash the 15-30 min warning time now available from 

BMEWS to a mere 3-4 min for a FOBS attack. . . .” Over-the-horizon radars 

depended on ionospheric reflection which would make them subject 

to interruption during sunspot activity; further, these radars would be 

relatively vulnerable to jamming. MOL and, ultimately, continuously 

manned or unmanned space patrols could receive DOD support if it 

324-801 0-69-23 343


appeared that the Soviets were succeeding in their plans for pene- 

trating future U.S. missile defenses. (Av Wk, 11/13/67, 31) 

November 14: Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.), Chairman, House Com- 

mittee on Science and Astronautics, spoke to National Space Club in 

Washington : “Impressive as our launch vehicles, spacecraft, and scien- 

tific instrumentation may be, I have always viewed the space program 

principally as an investment in people, not hardware.” He said principal 

contribution of the national space effort had been “its stimulation of 

young people’s interest in education [and] much of the credit for 

the revitalization of American education in recent years must be given 

to the space program.” Scientists and engineers were challenged in 

keeping up with new knowledge. Universities were made active partners 

of industry and Government through sustaining university and training 

grants and laboratory construction, funded by NASA. 

Because of current fiscal situation the NASA educational support had 

been drastically reduced, Rep. Miller noted, and probably would remain 

at a lower level for some time. Universities had to look to private sources 

for support previously supplied by Federal Government. 

Rep. Millcr said he had agreed to serve as chairman of board of 

trustees for National Space Club’s Scientific and Educational Founda- 

tion, which would underwrite individual scholarships and fellowships. 

(Text) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket, launched from WSMR, reached 

107-mi (172-km) altitude in NRL experiment to obtain stellar spectra in 

1,230-1,800 A far uv wavelength range and photometric data on stellar 

fluxes in 1,050-1,180 and 1,230-1,350 A bands. Attitude-control sys- 

tem programming error-pointed instrument 60” from desired targets; 

only limited data were obtained. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

AFSC’S Aeronautical Systems Div., Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, had called 

for industry proposals for concept formulation studies on its first gen- 

eral-purpose, all-weather, air-ground standoff missile, designated X-3. 

USAF wanted missile with effective operation beyond range of enemy 

SAMS. Studies would determine specifically what radar or other guid- 

ance system would provide desired capability. (Znteravia, 11/14/67, 1) 

* Italy’s space effort for 1967-68 was detailed in Znteravia Air Letter. N-a- 

tional research program ($2.72 million) included studies of solar winds, 

ionosphere’s electronic composition, albedo neutrons, x-rays and 

cosmic rays, solar and galactic gamma radiation, and stellar uv radia- 

tion. Other research would cover celestial mechanics, propulsion sys- 

tems, and telemetry. For international programs, $3.52 million had been 

approved for Phase B of San Marco project and for launching San 

Marco C in joint effort with NASA. Supplementary funds ($1.3 million) 

probably would go for Bologna Univ. and NASA effort using os04 to 

measure x-rays and cosmic rays. Italy’s share in 1967 ELDO funding 

would be $10.2 million, and in ESRO $5.63 million. For ESRO programs, 

Italian industry would supply antennas and telemetry equipment for 

tracking network, PCM telemetry equipment, and radars for launching 

base at Kiruna, Sweden. (Znteravia, 11/14/67, 3) 

Gen. Curtis E. LeMay (USAF, Ret.) resigned after two years as President 

of Air Force Historical Foundation. In accordance with Gen. LeMay’s 

recommendation, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever ( USAF, Ret.) was unani- 

mously elected to replace him. B/G Monro MacCloskey (USAF, Ret.) 

was appointed Executive Director. (AFHF Newsletter, 12/67, 1) 

344


November 15: NASA X-15 (No. 3) crashed in Mojave Desert when the air- 

craft “exceeded its structural limitations during the final portions of the 

reentry maneuver,” X-15 Accident Investigating Board suspected. X- 

15’s pilot, Maj. Michael J. Adams, did not use ejection system and was 

killed, the first fatality in the 191 flights since the three X-15s started 

their flight operations, June 8, 1959. Usual flight plan called for air- 

craft to ascend at a sharp angle after being dropped by B-52 aircraft. 

After engine burnout, plan called for coasting up into high thin air, 

then dropping back in pancake style into thicker air for reentry. Accord- 

ing to a NASA spokesman, the aircraft had risen tQ about 260,000 ft and 

encountered trouble on the way down. “There apparently was some 

sort of control malfunction as the pilot attempted to pull out of his 

descent,” spokesman said. Radar and telemetry data received during 

flight were excellent, data being received down to an altitude of 60,000 

ft. 

Speed and altitude records for winged aircraft4,534 mph, by Maj. 

Joseph A. Walker 

William J. Knight (USAF) , and 354,200 ft, by NASA’s 

(who had since died in crash of XB-70 No. 2 and F-104 aircraft) - 

had been set by z-15~. Two crash landings of X-15 laircraft had oc- 

curred; pilots had survived and aircraft had been restored to flight 

status. X-15 No. 3 pilot, Maj. Adams, 37, had finished USAF training 

in 1952, flown in combat in Korea, and graduated with honors from 

Aerospace Research Pilots School. Although assigned to MOL program, 

he had requested transfer to X-12 operations. 

Board was continuing att6mpt to determine the probable cause. (FRC 

Release26-67; AP, NYT, 11/16/67,15) 

In message transmitting to Congress annual report on US. participa- 

tion in U.N. for 1966, President Johnson cited successful negotiation 

of space law treaty as an “outstanding accomplishment . . . which bans 

weapons of mass destruction from space and calls for peaceful coopera- 

tion in its exploration and use.” He also cited success of U.N. Devel- 

opment Program in providing economic assistance and approval of 

charter for U.N. Industrial Development Organization to help new na- 

tions create industries best suited to their needs. He commended U.N. 

representatives’ unnoted work to fight ignorance, hunger, and disease, 

and to promote economic and social development. (PD, 11/20/67, 

1568-9) 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, at Chicago meeting of American 

Petroleum Institute, spoke on space program’s technological and social 

benefits in assessing developing capabilities which would “serve our 

nation’s future needs.” He called attention to “special equipment that 

will automatically monitor ground, underseas cable, or satellite circuits 

carrying high-speed traffic [and] the entire international communica- 

tions network structure of the world . . . more valuable today than it 

was just a few years ago.” He also pointed out that “the rocket tech- 

nology that carried Surveyor to the moon provided astronomers with 

an improvement in resolution beyond that provided by Ranger by an- 

other factor of 1OOO. That is 1000 times more detail than the Ranger 

results which themselves were 1000 times better than anything before.” 

Webb said the U.S.S.R. was “building a rocket bigger than Saturn V, 

I feel sure.” He explained that the Saturn V-Apollo system “permits us 

to operate out as far as the moon with large payloads of about 100,000 

pounds.” He compared U.S.S.R. and U.S. exploration of the planet 

345

November 15 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

Venus: “The Russians sent a capsule weighing 845 pounds into the atmosphere 

of Venus and we made a close flyby. But in many ways the 

Mariner [U.S.] data are more complete. It reaches down to about 6 miles 

from the surface of Venus, while the Venus 4 [U.S.S.R.] data appear 

to have stopped at about 15 miles up.” 

Webb explained how NASA’s system for making the most of the Na- 

tion’s technological capabilities uses “a Government-industry-university 

research base and provides a direct channel for industry to apply new 

knowledge to industry problems.” He referred to work on campuses 

of 200 universities: “. . . the number of scientists, engineers, research- 

ers, technicians and graduate students participating in NASA activity 

has grown to about 10,OOO. Of these, about 1000 are involved as scien- 

tific or engineering investigators.” Webb concluded that “at any fore- 

seeable budget level NASA will maintain the base of knowledge that will 

determine the ability of this country to plan, undertake and accomplish 

successfully new and difficult aeronautical and space objectives.” (Text) 

In testimony before House Committee on Interstate Commerce’s Trans- 

portation and Aeronautics Subcommittee, Rep. John W. Wydler (R- 

N.Y.) , member of House Committee on Science and Astronautics, urged 

passage of H.R. 3400 to allow Secretary of Transportation to prescribe 

aircraft noise abatement regulations. Rep. Wydler cited complaints from 

churches whose religious services had been interrupted; doctors whose 

patients’ mental and physical health had been impaired; schools whose 

classes had been disrupted; and individuals whose lives had been in- 

humanly intruded upon by jet aircrah noise. Passage of the bill was 

imperative, he said, because aircraft noise had become “something that 

dominates the lives of those who have to live with it to the point where 

it actually destroys the way in which they are living.” 

Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd told Subcommittee that 

DOT was trying to find a solution to the problem, but he admitted his 

disbelief that “there will ever be such a thing as a quiet airplane. Despite 

our far longer experience with the problems of truck noise and railroad 

noise, we have not been able to produce quiet vehicles in those modes of 

transportation.” However, he believed that “we will be able, by techno- 

logical and regulatory means, to reduce the impact of aircraft noise ex- 

posure for the majority of Americans who are . . . subject to excessive 

noise exposure.” He said bill was “the mechanism by which we can assure 

future aircraft are substantially quieter than our present generation [of 

aircraft] .” (Transcript) 

* Sentinel System-Communist Chinese-oriented ABM system-would be lo- 

cated in accordance with DOD’S survey of areas with optimum advantages 

for the area-defense weapons and their radars; DOD identified the first 

10 areas chosen for survey: Albany, Ga.; Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Tex.; 

Grand Forks AFB, N. Dak.; New York City; Oahu, Hawaii; Salt Lake, 

Utah; Seattle, Wash.; Boston, Mass.; and Detroit, Mich. List was not 

complete, and areas were not final choices. 

Sentinel System would give protection to all U.S. cities and, because 

of long range of Spartan missile, relatively few batteries could protect 

entire country against the kind of light and relatively unsophisticated 

attack that the Communist Chinese might be capable of by the mid-?Os, 

DOD announcement said. ( DOD Release 1088-67) 

Fog-dispersal methods would be tested by World Weather, Inc., under Air 

Transport Assn. contract, with costs defrayed by 33 ATA member airlines. 

346


The $100,000 contract would explore seeding warm fog-above 32” F- 

with new materials to cause water droplets to combine into larger drops 

and become precipitation. Materials would be dispensed into fog from 

aircraft or from ground equipment. 

United Air Lines had started successful cold-fog seeding progp;am 

in 1963, using dry ice pellets, and program now involved several airlines 

and seeding operations at 17 airports. Warm-fog seeding at Sacramento, 

Calif., would be technically managed by UAL Meteorology Manager 

W. Boynton Beckwith; tests would run to Feb. 29, 1968. (ATA 

Release) 

November 16: NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket, .launched from NASA 

Wallops Station, reached 102-mi (167-km) altitude in Univ. of Maryland 

experiment to evaluate capabilities and accuracies of pulse and thermal 

equalization probes as research tools. Experiment also investigated electron 

energy distribution in normal daytime ionosphere and use of wingslope 

techniques with Langmuir probes. Experiment was successful. 


* NASA announced Boeing Co. had been awarded incentive fee of $1,811,611 

for two missions-Lunar Orbiter IVY $1,061,111; Lunar Orbiter V, 

$750,50O--completing performance fee portions of Boeing contract 

and totaling $6,809,053 in such awards for all five Lunar Orbiters. Previous 

incentive awards-Lunur Orbiter I, $1,995,312 ; Lunar Orbiter II, 

$1,948,725 ; Lunar Orbiter Ill, $1,053,405-had been earned by Boeing. 

After initial goal to photograph potential moon landing sites had been 

achieved by first three Lunar Orbiters, NASA’s contract modification set 

a new goal of more advanced scientific missions for Lunar Orbiter IV and 

V; Boeing could earn through outstanding performance remaining 

award fees not earned on previous flights. Modified contract provisions 

still recognized amounts of original Lunar Orbiter IV and V award fees. 

NASA’s Incentive Award Fee Board for Lunar Orbiter noted that Lunar 

Orbiter IV had photographed moon’s “entire front,” and Lunar Orbiter 

V had completed photography of “opposite side.” (NASA Release 67- 

285) 

First F-111A USA squadron probably would not be operational in Southeast 

Asia before November 1%8, despite Pentagon “leak” that squadron’s 

scheduled appearance was February 1968, predicted Norman 

Sklarewitz in Wall Street Journal. Of 75 aircraft required for readying 

of squadron and planning of tactical fighter wing, only two production 

and six test models had arrived for pilot training at Nellis AFB. At 

least nine months would be required for pilot training plus several more 

months for unit training after arrival of sufficient production models at 

Nellis AFB, he said. (Sklarewitz, WSJ, 11/16/67, 14) 

* Dr. Donald F. Hornig, Director of OST and science advisor to the President, 

addressing science writers’ seminar in St. Louis, doubted value of 

scientists’ becoming part-time politicians to promote greater public support 

of scientific activity. He said a scientist who used his skill in explaining 

complex subjects to laymen was “a much better politician than anyone 

trying to be an amateur on serious political matters.” 

Noting that rate of growth of Federal support. of science activities had 

slowed in recent years, Hornig said $17 billion was still being spent 

annually on science activities, including $1.8 billion on academic science 

in universities. (AP, NYT, 11/19/67, 2; Federal Support for Academic 

Sciences and Other Educational Activities in Univ. and Col., July 67) 

347


* Two scientists, speaking before American Physical Society meeting in New 

York City, discussed earth’s magnetosphere and plasma properties of 

solar wind. Iowa UNv.’s Director of Physics and Astronomy Depts. Dr. 

James A. Van Allen believed that particles-protons and electronspenetrated 

magnetosphere to populate the outer radiation belt, indicating 

existence of a peculiar dynamo effect. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory 

scientist Dr. A. J. Hundhausen reported Vela bomb-detection satellites 

observed peculiar solar wind properties-a motion reflecting fluid 

and electrical characteristics. (Sullivan, NYT, 11/17/67,21) 

* West Germany’s 1966 budget for space technology and research shown on 

Finance Minister’s summary report revealed that, while $57 million had 

been available, only $44.3 million had been spent, according to Znteravia 

Air Letter. Aerospace industry complained government was so slow to 

issue contracts that firms themselves had to provide about 50% advance 

financing. Contracts were not officially approved until the end of each 

year. (lnteravia, 11/16/67,3) 

* Yenus ZY’s launch site and launch vehicle had been prepared with assistance 

from military rocket experts, Deputy Commander Col. Gen. Vladimir 

Tolubko of Soviet strategic rocket forces reported in U.S.S.R.’s tradeunion 

newspaper Trud. Emphasizing role of military specialists in the 

June 12 launching, Tolubko said they provided guidance during “first 

10 minutes of the rocket’s flight,” and relinquished control to Lethe command 

measuring complex.” This complex, he wrote, had been controlling, 

for a decade, Lcvarious space apparatuses,” presumably both military and 

scientific vehicles, according to Baltimore Sun. “ [Complex] receives 

measuring information and telemetry data from stations in Moscow, 

Siberia, the Far East as well as from special ships in the Atlantic and 

Pacific oceans,” Tdubko stated. Baltimore Sun reported : “Some Western 

observers believe all of the country’s massive lifting rockets fall 

technically under military control because of their potential as intercontinental 

missiles. Further command reverts to civilian hands if the 

rocket is on a scientific mission.” (B Sun, 11/17/67, All) 

8 Soviet journalist Alexander Boiko, in the weekly Moscow News, accused 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara of ‘Lfabrications’y about the 

Soviet orbital bomb system, designated FOBS by DOD. Boiko wrote: ‘‘Why 

is it necessary for McNamara to make up fabrications about the Soviet 

Union? The U.S.S.R. has always scrupulously adhered to its international 

obligations [and] we want to feel that others do likewise.” Boiko continued: 

“The V.S.S.R. is most certainly carrying out large-scale space 

research, but by what right does McNamara connect this with intentions 

to use outer space for military purposes?” McNamara had referred to 

U.S.S.R. tests of a system that supposedly could release nuclear bombs 

from an orbiting vehicle, but had not said experimental vehicles carried 

even simulated weapons. (Winters, B Sun, 11/17/67,11) 

November 16-1 7: First US. high-altitude investigations of aircraft wake turbulence 

were made by FAA, with assistance from National Aeronautical 

Establishment ( NAE) of Ottawa, Canada, LPRC, and (for radar tracking) 

NASA wallops Station. FAA’S Convair 880 jet transport cruised at 30,000ft 

altitude in restricted airspace southwest of NASA Wallops Station, Va., 

and trailed colored smoke to outline wake vortices. Two instrumented 

T-33 jet aircraft, following in wake vortices at distances of l,OW12,000 

ft, recorded wake vortice core diameter, circular velocity, and downward 

settling during dissipation. Information would be used in evaluat- 

348

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 November 16-17 

ing air traffic control standards for separation of enroute aircraft. Al- 

though current tests were the first for US. in wake turbulence studies at 

high altitudes, joint LaRc-Fu airport wake turbulence tests had pro- 

gressed for several years. ( FAA Release T 67-%) 

November 17: Prototype of West Germany’s research satellite Azur had been 

tested in space simulator at Porz-Wahn, near Cologne. Satellite would 

explore nature of earth’s inner radiation belt, observe polar light zone, 

and measure spectrum change in solar particles during periods of in- 

tense sun-spot activity. Two-phase program would see scientific payloads 

proved on Nike-Apache and Javelin sounding rockets and satellite 

launched by Scout booster in NASA-west German cooperative satellite 

program. (Interaviu, 11/17/67,5) 

With 70th edition of Jane’s Fighting Ships, Sampson Low, Marston & Go., 

Ltd., had published 1st edition of a new Jane’s yearbook, Jane’s Surface 

Skimmer Systems, compiled and edited by Roy McLeavy. Aim of new 

publication was to cover entire field of craft or load carriers that skim 

across land or sea at interface level. Book was divided into air cushion, 

hydrofoil, and powerplant sections. (Znteravia, 11/17/67,4) 

November 18: Soviet references to low-altitude nuclear weapon that would 

drop on target before completing full orbit of earth appeared to confirm 

Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s analysis of DOD intelligence 

reports that U.S.S.R. had a nuclear-warhead missile capable of sudden 

attack from relatively low altitude. Commemorating U.S.S.R. Rocket 

and Artillery Forces Day, Strategic Rocket Forces Commander-In-Chief 

Marshal Nikolai I. Krylov and Col. Gen. Nikolai V. Yegorov described 

missiles that could deliver “nuclear warheads . . . along ballistic and 

orbital trajectories.” (Anderson, NYT, 11/19/67, 15) 

November 19: Development of ocean data environmental science services ac- 

quisition (ODESSA) system, consisting of unmanned, deep-sea, automated 

buoys, which would record simultaneously oceanographic and meteoro- 

logical data, was announced by ESSA. Each buoy would support a group 

of surface and subsurface electronic sensing packages which would 

gather and transmit data to central recording station console, either 

aboard ship or on land. Data could also be recorded at each buoy station 

on magnetic tape recoTd. 

A valuable research tool for oceanographers, the ODESSA system would 

also have potential use for study of pollution in harbors and estuarine 

waters and fish habitats. In major role, it would serve ESSA’S investiga- 

tions of the continuous exchange process at interface of air and sea. 

( ESSA Release 67-80) 

* Rear-engine aircraft, built by Sierradyne Corp. and leased by Northrup 

Corp., was being flight-tested at Dulles International Airport. The 

670-lb S-1 experimental aircraft had 87.5-hp engine, 200-mph maximum 

speed, 20-ft wing span, and 18-ft length. Power plant was placed in 

fuselage, near aircraft’s center of gravity, with nose space left free 

for equipment. Reduction of cockpit noise, elimination of “propwash,” 

and improved visibility were accomplished by design. (Northrop COT. ; 

Corrigan, W Post, 11/19/67, D8) 

* using $55,000 NASA grant, UCLA had purchased a 24-in telescope with 

photometer and scfrograph for observatory at Thacher School, Ojai, 

Calif., New York Times reported. Telescope was 15th largest in California 

and already had produced the most complete speotrographic coverage 

of stellar explosion of star Nova Delphini. (NYT, 11/19/67, 73) 

349


* Development of new 60-mph hydrofoil, designated Burevestnik, had used 

aircraft turbine engines and water-jet propulsion, Soviet trade-union 

newspaper Trud reported. The Soviet craft had completed its tests to 

prove that its hardware was much superior to diesel-engine and propeller 

models previously developed by Soviets. (NYT, 11/20/67, 85) 

November 20: First Indian-developed rocket, Rohini-75, designed to carry 

meteorological experiments, was successfully launched from Thumba 

Equatorial Launching Station ( TERLS) . (Reuters, NYT, 11/21/67, 5) 

NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket, launched from WSMR, reached 89-mi 

(144-km) altitude in American Science & Engineering, Inc., experiment 

to collect data on celestial x-ray sources for location of sources and 

flux levels in 1-20 kev range. One strong x-ray source did not appear 

in data, possibly because of door malfunction. All other data were satis- 

factory. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

Predicting future trends in aeronautics and space, NASA’s Assistant Associ- 

ate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology John L. Sloop 

told American Society for Metals in Rochester, Pa.: “Current events 

make it clear that many national needs are increasing the pressure on 

resources and this is being felt over a wide range of activities. . . . It is 

times like these, however, that give the opportunity for advanced research 

and technology to open up the range of possible new missions that can 

be considered in future national decisions [and] we must visualize fu- 

ture mission possibilities and develop the various technologies needed 

at an optimum pace. Essential to the soundness of this approach is 

emphasis on technology that has multiple applications.” 

Sloop praised “the potential of applications satellites,” and said it 

was “perhaps best gaged by the number of users, domestic and foreign, 

that are willing to invest their own money. In communications, there 

are over a dozen proposals for systems that involve an estimated invest- 

ment of over a billion dollars.” (Text) 

* NASA named crews for first two manned Apollo/Saturn V flights. Prime 

crew for AS-504 (first mission), scheduled for 1968: James A. McDivitt, 

commander; David R. Scott, CM pilot; and Russell L. Schweickart, LM 

pilot. Backup crew would be Charles Conrad, Jr., commander; Richard 

F. Gordon, CM pilot; and Alan L. Bean, LM pilot. Prime crew for 

AS-505 (second mission), scheduled for 1969: Frank Borman, com- 

mander; Michael Collins, CM pilot; and William A. Andms, LM pilot. 

Backup crew would be Neil A. Armstrong, commander; James A. Lovell, 

CM pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin, LM pilot. A three-astronaut support team 

was named for each flight crew: for AS-5OGEdgar D. Mitchell, Fred 

W. Haise, Jr., and Alfred M. Worden; and for AS-505-Thomas F. 

Mattingly 11, Gerald P. Carr, and John S. Bull. ( MSC Release; AP, W 

Star, 11/21/67, A2) 

* Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , Chairman of House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Manned Space Flight Subcommittee, on floor of 

House praised NASA’s Surveyor program: “It successfully demonstrated 

the technique of soft-landing [and] . . . with the successfully concluded 

Lunar Orbiter program, it found and certified manned landing sites. . . .” 

He said the program had supplied scientists with the first real 

information on the chemical composition of the lunar surface. In the 

eastern Sea of Tranquility, for example, Surveyor Y determined that 

the surface wa5 made up of the same elements common to the surface of 

the earth; namely, oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. He concluded: 

350


“Since both Surveyor and its Centaur booster encountered enormous 

problems in the early stages of development, the eventual success of the 

program demonstrated the skill, perseverance, and determination of the 

NASA-industry-university team.” (CR, 11/20/67, H15619) 

a Soviet jet transport, 11-62, carrying delegation of Soviet aviation experts 

who would negotiate final technical details of proposed Moscow-New 

Yorkair link with FAA, landed at Dulles International Airport after 11-hr 

flight from Moscow to Washington. 

As a result of increasing complaints about jet noise and FAA’s lack of 

authority to regulate it, Port Authority of New York had insisted that 

noise measurement tests be made on 11-62 at Dulles before initiation of 

direct Moscow-to-New York flights. New York Port Authority had done 

pioneering work on noise problem. 

Operational safety of 11-62 and alternate landing sites at Washington, 

D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston had already been approved by FAA for 

joint use by Pan American Airways and Aeroflot, official Soviet airline. 

(Hoffman, IT‘ Post, 11/21/67, A4; B Sun, 11/21/67, A8) 

NASA appointed Vincent L. Johnson Deputy Associate Administrator for 

Space Science and Applications (Engineering). Johnson’s former position 

of Director of Launch Vehicle and Propulsion Programs was filled 

by Joseph B. Mahon, former Agena Program Manager and Deputy 

Director of Launch Vehicle and Propulsion Programs. (NASA Release 

67-289) 

The US. should expect “an early Soviet attempt to send a large payload 

around the moon and recover it on earth,” Rep. George P. Miller (D- 

Calif.) , Chairman, House Committee on Science and Astronautics, said 

in releasing committee report: “Review of Soviet Space Program,” pre- 

pared by Dr. Charles S. Sheldon 11, Chief of Library of Congress’ Science 

Policy Research Div. This 1957-67 review drew comparisons with 

the corresponding program in US. Rep. Miller commented: “At the 

same time that space efforts in the United States appear to be slacken- 

ing, the pace of Soviet space flight has picked up by about 60 percent 

this year over the corresponding ten months total of last year. The strong 

technological base the Russians are building through a sustained, long- 

term commitment to space [assures them] sophisticated and intricate 

planetary probes . . . unmanned or manned space platforms . . . [ap- 

plication of] aerospace technology systems management to a great 

variety of industrial and social purposes here on earth.” 

Committee report gave “no simple, direct answer” on “whether there 

is a space race” but suggested “at the present time both the Soviet Union 

and the United States have put large resources of somewhat similar 

size into very broadly based programs of great strength.” 

Competition in overall space capability, especially on weight lifting 

and thrust of launch vehicles used by US. and U.S.S.R., was illustrated : 

“In connection with the NASA Administrator’s August 1967 pronounce- 

ment on the expected large Soviet rehicle [Saturn V class], he made 

a plea for support of an American nuclear stage to mount on Saturn V 

in order to leapfrog the Russians. A month later, Leonid Sedov in Mos- 

cow stated his belief in the importance of nuclear propulsion for the very 

large rockets which will soon be needed.” (Text; NASA SP4007, 212; 

Committee Release, 11/20/67) 

In the last decade, the Nation acquired vast new knowledge, wrote NASA 

Administrator James E. Webb in Aerospace Technology’s Seventh An- 

351


nual NASA issue, and it entered “a new era, a stirring period of explora- 

tion and adventure comparable to the Age of Discovery in the 14th and 

15th Centuries.” Benefits from our mastery of space, he said, “are open- 

ing to us and others new sources of national power and new arenas in 

which to seek international cooperation as important to our future and 

the future of the world as sea power and air power have been in the past.” 

He challenged: “Unless we are prepared to move ahead with new pro- 

grams of [planetary exploration, and work with useful machines and 

systems in earth orbit] . . . we will be backing out of the Space Age 

almost before we enter it.” (Webb, Aero Tech, 11/20/67, 244) 

* Karl Ham, president of Ae~ospace Industries Assn., spoke before Metro- 

politan Baltimore Chamber of Commerce on impact of US. space effort 

and risk that it would be weighed and evaluated in “oversimplified 

terms.” A huge and complex effort should not be judged by superficial 

aspects alone, forgetting that concentration of “our best industrial, eco- 

nomic, scientific and intellectual resources, organized to an unprece- 

dented degree . . ., has an impact on every aspect of our national life.” 

Harr noted the strangeness of the unknown medium of space, “for 

which our ultimate capabilities are yet to be determined.” “Today we 

find ourselves both in midstream in our national space effort and at a 

crossroads as to future efforts. . . . It is essential that we delay no 

longer in sorting out that which is valid and enduring, in terms of your 

total interest and mine, from that which is superficial or transitory.” 

(Text) 

November 20-21 : Since X-15 No. 3 crash Nov. 15, research missions in 

X-15 No. 1 and No. 2 had been suspended by FRC until review of flight 

operating procedures was completed. X-15 No. 1 was awaiting captive 

flight checkout under wing of B-52 carrier plane. X-15 No. 2 was under 

repair at North American Rockwell plant following damage to lower 

stub fin on its tail, but was expected to be flying by February 1968. 

Cause of X-15 No. 3 crash was unknown. The pilot, Maj. Michael J. 

Adams, had difficulty with control booster system; X-15 failed to recover 

from a dive from extremely high altitude, the pilot losing control above 

200,000 ft and regaining it briefly at about 80,000 ft. 

Setting unofficial world speed and altitude records, the three X-15s 

had flown 191 times; No. 3 having had 65 flights. The aircraft were built 

by North American Rockwell (formerly NAA) under a cooperative pro- 

gram by WAF, USN, and NASA. ( NASA Proj Off) 

November 21: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXCI into orbit with 518-km 

(322-mi) apogee, 281-km (174-mi) perigee, 92.2-min. period, and 71’ 

inclination. Equipment and instruments functioned satisfactorily. 

(Aero Tech, 12/4/67,17) 

NASA Fy’ 1!X8 operating plan was presented by Administrator James E. 

Webb to House Committee on Science and Astronautics, reflecting 

accommodation of fund reductions by Congress during recent months- 

20% for R&D programs other than Apollo, 50% €or construction of 

facilities, and 7 % for administrative operations. He reviewed decisions 

restructuring NASA effort at least through FY 1969. 

The first scheduled Apoll~ Applications flights of 1970-a “limited 

number with limited objectives”-would begin with a “precursor 

training mission for scientists-astronauts with certain orbital experi- 

ments, and then proceed with dual launch missions with the Orbital 

Workshop and the Apollo Telescope Mount.” Launch vehicle/spacecraft 

352


hardware for followron Apollo Applications flights would depend on 

funding “some time after FY 1969,” because of stringent FY 1%9 

budgetary guidelines. 

Future planning for Uprated Saturn-acknowledging necessity for 

production termination after vehicle No. 216-included FY 1968- 

funded lead time items “to hold open the option of continued produc- 

tion . . . at the rate of two per year.” Webb explained that he held 

open the option of definite termination of Uprated Saturn production, 

intending to “preserve competition among the companies involved and 

between solid, liquid, and, where applicable, nuclear propulsion systems.” 

To preserve competition would cost $3.5 million from FY 1968 funds. He 

announced NASA-DOD discussions “to consider carefully future national 

requirements for large launch vehicles, including a possible new 

booster of the 100,000-pound in earth orbit class.” 

Webb stressed the need for planetary exploration utilizing both 

orbiters and landers in a long-term program: “We do not believe that it is 

the policy of the Nation or the intent of Congress that the United 

States abandon the field of planetary exploration.” Present program 

still had two Mars-Mariner 1969 flights; continuity depended on NASA’s 

current $143.4-million allocation to lunar and planetary category which 

would serve as basis for reestablishing future programs in FY 1969 

budget. 

Development of NERVA I flight-qualified engine could proceed “with 

the amounts that we and the AEC have available in FY 1968,” longer- 

range planning again dependent on “an affirmative decision” in the 

Administration’s FY 1969 budget for NASA. (Text) 

9 Operation of Essa VI had been turned over to ESSA, NASA announced. (NASA 

Proj Off) 

* Committee on Science, Engineering, and Regional Development had been 

formed from persons working on problems of science and technology 

impact for NAS and NAE. Among other projects, Committee would 

examine “effects on given region of different kinds of institutions- 

university, not-for-profit laboratories, industrial and government labora- 

tories [and would assess] . . . role of R&D institutions [and] . . . other 

factors . . such as risk capital, entrepreneurial skills, and political 

leadership.” The 14-member committee would be chaired by Univ. of 

Illinois Graduate College Dean Daniel Alpert. (NAS-NRC-NAE News 

Report, 12/67,8-10) 

* DOD announced appointment of Dr. Eberhardt Rechtin, JPL Assistant Direc- 

tor for Tracking and Data Acquisition, to new position of Director, 

Advanced Research Projects Agency. Rechtin would be responsible for 

planning, initiating, and directing research and development programs 

assigned By Director of Defense Research and Engineering Dr. John S. 

Foster, Jr. ( DOD Release 1107-67) 

Compaiiia Telefbnica Nacionale de Ekpaiia ( CTNE) , Spanish national tele- 

phone company, had completed $6.7-million communications satellite 

ground station at Buitrago (45 mi from Madrid) and would increase its 

capacity from 36 to 156 channels by 1972. Station had remote-control 

82-ft parabolic antenna with klystron amplifier- and two 10-kw transmit- 

ters to operate in 6,000-megahertz (mhz) band. Station could handle TV 

relays and could track satellites. (Znteruvia, 11/21/67, 3) 

November 22: NASA reported its space engineers at JPL’S Space Flight Opera- 

tions Facility, using Goldstone DSN station, had sent commands to check 

353


Mariner IV’s camera and data storage system; spacecraft, launched 

Nov. 28, 1%4?, had now traveled about 1.5 billion miles and was 

circling sun between earth and Mars. Mariner ZV had been commanded 

to take TV pictures of black space and record on magnetic tape after 

long space environment exposure. The spacecraft had responded per- 

fectly. Commands also were sent to switch Mariner V’s transmitter from 

high gain directional to low gain omnidirectional antenna, mission of 

spacecraft being terminated; Mariner V, launched June 14, had com- 

pleted its Venus mission and was in solar orbit between orbits of Venus 

and Mercury, about 74 million miles from earth and about 60 million 

miles from sun. NASA reported that it might be possible to recontact 

Mariner V in Sept. 1968, when spacecraft’s antennas would be pointed 

once again toward earth. 

Both Mariners would remain in solar orbit indefinitely ; however, 

because Mariner ZV‘s stabilizing nitrogen gas supply was expected to 

run out in. the next few weeks, spacecraft would drift and solar panels 

would no longer face the sun. Data reception would end because stor- 

age batteries would no longer receive charge. (NASA Release 67-291) 

h’ouember 23: Cosmos CXCII was launched by U.S.S.R. into circular orbit 

of 760-km (472-mi) altitude, 99.9-min period, and 74’ inclination. 

Equipment and instruments functioned normally. (Au Wk, 12/4/67,33) 

Detector to measure cosmic dust influx into earth‘s atmosphere and mete- 

oroid registration would be tested in NAsA/German Ministry for Scien- 

tific Research ( BMWF) cooperative project, part of continuing program 

first started July 19, 1%7. Influx of cosmic dust would be measured by 

charge emission in detectors (developed by Max Planck Institute of 

Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany), which would be launched on 

NASA-supplied Nike-Apache sounding rockets from ESRO’S range in 

Kiruna, Sweden, May or June 1968. NASA would supply rocket launcher 

and train Germans in rocket preparatios and launching. BMWF would 

provide two payload packages and ground support equipment. (NASA 


Program aimed at increasing trained US. manpower in oceanography and 

improving oceanographic applied research and information exchange 

would be developed by NSF’S Mce of Sea Grant Programs, according 

to Director Robert Ambel. National Sea Grant College and Program Act, 

passed Oct. 15,19fj6, and funded by FY 1968 $4-rdion operating budg- 

et, would give financial assistance to university development of curricula 

leading to degrees in ocean engineering and to junior college training 

programs for technicians in ocean sciences. Program could lead to sci- 

entific progress in all fields related to the seas-defense, shipping, agri- 

culture, mining, and weather prediction-and ease “manpower and 

know-how shortage” slowing US. progress in oceanography. (AP, NYT, 

11/24/67, 30C) 

November 24: NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket was launched from 

Fort Churchill, Canada, in experiment from Univ. of California at Ber- 

keley to study charged particles in the auroral zone, 1-300 kev electrons, 

and 1-100 kev protons. Peak altitude was unknown because of loss of 

telemetry and radar signal. Payload malfunction accounted for failure 

to obtain complete data. (NASA Rpt 5RL) 

* Electronic machine was developed by ERC contractor Dr. Huseyin Yilmaz 

of Arthur D. Little, Inc. Machine visually displayed spoken word pro- 

files on small oscilloscope, with objective of eventually allowing voice 

354


commands to maneuver spacecraft. Used to teach deaf and retarded 

people, machine helped deaf person to correct his speech by “seeing” his 

voice, and NASA scientists would use this project and similar studies to 

categorize and encode speech patterns. ( ERC Release 67-39) 

November 25: Spectrometer aboard NASA’s Os0 IV, launched Oct. 18, had 

obtained spectral data providing complete picture of corona over whole 

face of solar disc, Harvard College Observatory Director Professor Leo 

Goldberg said. Primary purpose of satellite, to obtain high-resolution 

spectral data, had been achieved. Goldberg said that 4,000 uv photos of 

the sun, made above earth’s atmosphere, would provide three-dimen- 

sional information on sun’s structure, temperature, and density, and on 

how they vary with height. Previously, scientists could study solar flares 

only by observing them at the sun’s rim during eclipse. Goldberg said 

interpretation of uv photos, still being-transmited to earth, should also 

be related to unsolved problems about sun’s chemical composition and 

in turn to theories of sun’s origin and evolution. (Weily W Post, 

11/26/67, A6; AP, W Star, 11/26/67, A17) 

* U.S.S.R. successfully launched Cosmos CXCIII. Orbital parameters : 

apogee, 354 km (220 mi) ; perigee, 203 km (127 mi) ; period, 89.9 

min; inclination, 65.7’. Satellite reentered Dec. 3. (AP, NYT, 11/26/67, 

46; GSFC SSR, 12/15/67) 

* National Policy Panel of U.N. Assn. of the U.S.A. published report 

“Stopping the Spread of Atomic Weapons.” Report favored proposed 

treaty ending spread of nuclear weapons, urged US. to open its peaceful 

nuclear reactors to inspection by IAEA, recommended specific interna- 

tional facilities and arrangements for handling explosions for peaceful 

purposes, asked for a fairer balance between nuclear and nonnuclear 

nations, and called for inclusion of U.N. guarantee (based on US. and 

U.S.S.R. power) against “nuclear blackmail.” Panel report’s “underlying 

theme” was that some nations might refuse to sign if the two major 

powers avoided treaty terms designed to meet concern of nonnuclear 

states that “special units be created wit& International Atomic Energy 

Agency to assure that technical, industrial innovations in civilian nuclear 

energy be made available on a pooled, non-discriminatory basis.” (Fin- 

ney, NYT, 11/26/67,12; Marder, W Post, 11/26/67,1) 

* Dr. Jack E. Froehlich, 46-year-old scientist and rocket pioneer, was 

drowned with his nine-year-old son, Mark, in a boating accident. He 

had been president of National Engineering Science Co. and, during 

1959, had been at JPL as a project manager for Explorer I. (Pasadena 

Star-News, 13/27/67] 

November 26: U.S.S.R.’s long-held superiority in large boosters had given 

it an advantage over US. in nuclear warhead protection, according to 

Pentagon sources. The advantage would become significant both offen- 

sively and defensively because of present developments in ABM de- 

fenses-developments designed to destroy incoming warheads in outer 

space with intensive x-ray emissions. Soviet scientists could easily 

add more shielding to their warheads to halt x-ray bombardments from 

U.S. antimissile missiles, article noted, but US. was handicapped by 

weight limitations of its lower-thrust boosters. “Some officials,” article 

said, “are concerned that the hardness of Russian warheads will lessen 

seriously the protective capability of the Pentagon’s planned [ABM sys- 

tems] . . . [and] that US. offensive missiles now need more protection 

. . . to survive Russian anti-missile explosions and reach their targets.” 

355


US. answer might lie in new lightweight composite materials under 

development; made by winding and inorganically bonding filaments of 

such materials as carbon, silica, and graphite, they would strengthen 

heat shield at little penalty in weight. (B Sun, 11/27/67, Al) 

November 27: In apparent sharp increase in testing, U.S.S.R. would launch 

fourth 1967 test series of “carrier rockets” into the Pacific between NOV. 

28 and Dec. 30, according to Tass announcement. Aircraft and ships 

were warned not to enter either of two 129-km (80-mi) -wide target areas 

northwest and south of Midway Island, a US. possession, between noon 

and midnight local time each day, Tass said. UPI quoted observers on 

Soviet aims: to test new and bigger Soviet rockets needed to send a 

man to the moon and bring him back, and to expand recent Soviet experi- 

ments on the landing of space capsules at sea. UPI said series would in- 

clude launchings of 3,000-4,000 mi on down-range course from the Soviet 

Union, change from maximum of 6,000 mi for past launchings. Past 

announcements by U.S.S.R. on three 1967 “carrier-rockety’ series had 

termed all three “successful.” ( UPI, W Star, 11/27/67, AS) 

Former Vice President and current leader for Republican Presidential 

nomination, Richard M. Nixon, on TV said it was “very likely . . . some 

of those appropriations [for the space program] are excessive.” Re- 

ferring to the space program as “a sacred cow,” he called for the Presi- 

dent to be “a balance wheel” in evening off the pressure from “vested 

interests.” He defended a congressman’s right when representing an 

area with important space business to fight for more funds. (SBD, 

11/29/67,140) 

November 27-29: American Astronautical Society’s Astronautics Interna- 

tional Conference was held in New York City. 

Coupling a plea for constructive realism with a denunciation of 

U.S.S.R.’s mere lip service toward international space cooperation, NASA 

Assistant Administrator for International Affairs Arnold W. Frutkin dis- 

cussed ways for understitnding “international space cooperation.” No 

Russian attended the conference, two speakers and one cosmonaut 

declined invitations. Frutkin explained that cooperation meant “joint 

projects, jointly undertaken, jointly carried out, and jointly profitable.” 

Realist= projects practicing space cooperation on an international 

scale were cited by Frutkin to be: NASA’s program; ESRO/ELDO complex 

for combining “ten European nations in spacecraft development and 

seven nations in large vehicle development;” and INTELSAT satellite 

telecommunications consortium, including “some sixty nations in day- 

to-day operational space communications traffic.” 

He included in US. benefits from the NASA cooperative program 

“gold flow [for] foreign purchase of space hardware and services,” 

Canadian ionospheric investigations, West German barium cloud 

technique, Italian atmospheric density measurements, and French glo- 

bal wind circulation studies. 

Frutkin referred to ESRO’S program as “a true pooling of resources 

[which] goes well beyond the NASA cooperative program. In ESRO, “com- 

mon facilities have been planned, financed and operated on an inter- 

national basis by an international governmental agency.” 

MSC Director Dr. Robert R. Gilruth discussed manned space flight 

“from Mercury to Apollo.” He said Mercury defined man’s survivability 

in space, Gemini defined man’s operational capability, and Apollo would 

be first in utilizing space for manned exploration. “To progress in ten 

356

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 November 27-29 

short years from exploring survivability to utilization on the most 

difficult exploration mission ever undertaken implies a rate of change 

in technical capability which has no real parallel in history,” he said. 

Deep space and lunar operations would be faced as “two new major 

dimensions to our space capabilities.” Space explorers would be coping 

with the need for huge amounts of energy, extremely precise navigation 

to hit target and reentry corridor, and radiation protection that could 

include the intensities generated by solar flares. Lunar explorers would 

require a vehicle designed to operate entirely outside earth’s atmos- 

phere, descend to and ascend from lunar surface, and propel reliably 

while exhibiting “relative sophistication of a throttleable engine.” 

Man returning from first lunar exploration trip would have accom- 

plished “an age-old dream [of visiting] his nearest neighbor in space 

[and found] a key to the riddle of Earth‘s relation to its nearest neighbor 

[and] a chance of understanding the creative forces that formed his 

own home-Earth.” “For the first time he will have soared beyond the 

confines of Earth’s gravity and felt the pull of a foreign planet [and] 

personally viewed our whole planet as a small bluish ball only four times 

the span of the lunar disk. These experiences may well produce profound 

changes in man’s attitude towards himself and his world comparable 

to those wrought by Galileo’s dramatic demonstration of the Copernican 

theory, changes which should tend to inspire man to place the affairs 

of his very small house in order.” (Text) 

NASA’s Apollo Applications program (AAP) Director Charles w. 

Mathews listed basic objectives for AAP: long-duration space flights of 

men and systems based on unique capabilities of man, habitability, bio- 

medical and behavioral considerations, and systems development ; scien- 

tific investigations in earth orbit based on solar astronomy, earth obser- 

vations, and stellar astronomy; applications in earth orbit based on 

meteorology, earth resources, and communications; and extended lunar 

exploration. “The activities involved in [UP] represent major steps in 

the utilization of our space capability. The results . . . can serve to 

establish the direction of future space exploration and applications. In 

particular, increased knowledge on the effective integration of men into 

the total system should accomplish much in determining the character, 

systems configurations and operational approach in future programs. 

The ability to capitalize on the large investments already made in the 

Apollo Program affords the opportunity to carry on this work in [AAP] 

in an efficient and economical manner.” (Text) 

November 28: SST design refinements reflecting 1966 recommendations made 

by 24Bman Government and airline evaluation team were announced by 

Boeing Co. Vice President H. W. Withington. Prototype refinements 

were still to be reviewed by FAA and described in detail to the 26 airlines 

which had reserved SST deliveries. Changes included addition of canard 

surfaces, incorporation of direct-lift control, lengthening fuselage by 12 

ft, and provision of more convenience in passenger boarding and deplan- 

ing. Withington cited progress in component and subsystem testing and 

in wind-tunnel investigations. The first metal (titanium alloy billets) for 

airliner prototypes was under production. Major contractors were pre- 

paring for work on assemblies and Boeing was making ready facilities 

for construction of the two prototypes. A titanium fabrication facility 

would bS completed as part of the Boeing Development Center and would 

include a furnace large enough for heat-treating sheets of titanium 70 ft 

357


long and. 10 ft wide. The full-scale demonstration mockup, constructed 

in 1966, had recently been dismantled to make room for a dimensionally 

accurate engineering mackup to be constructed at Boeing Co. (Boeing 

Release) 

* Dr. Jerome B. WieSner-MIT Provost, longtime member of President’s 

Science Advisory Committee, and in 19614 Special Assistant to the 

President-expressed “The Case Against an Anti-Ballistic-Missile Sys- 

tem” in Look. He believed arguments were “overwhelmingly against 

building” an anti-Chinese ABM system. “I do not believe that a really 

effective antimissile system is remotely possible for either the US. or the 

Russians. And even if the Russians could develop one, and a truly effec- 

tive defense against our SAC bombers as well, our installing an ABM sys- 

tem would not restore our powers of deterrence. Only improvements in 

our own offensive-missile force . . . could achieve this.” Nor did he 

believe ABM system would give “either complete or lasting protection 

against Chinese missiles.” He was Lcconvinced . . . we must rely on our 

known ability to retaliate devastatingly in case of nuclear attack” and 

must “accept and live with a ‘deterrent balance.’ ” (Wiesner, Look, 

11/28/67, 25-7) 

* NASA announced closing of its Western Support office, Santa Monica, Calif., 

reduction in size of its Pasadena Office, and plans to determine man- 

power requirements for continuing functions in Los Angeles area. NASA 

centers or NASA Hq. would perform functions eliminated from the two 

west coast offices. Work at the offices had included contract administra- 

tion, financial management and disbursement, public affairs, personnel 

services, procurement, and administration of NASA contract with CIT for 

JPL’S operation. (NASA Release 67-292) 

JPL Director Dr. William H. Pickering appointed William H. Bayley, General 

Manager of Deep Space Network (DSN) , as Assistant Laboratory 

Director for Tracking and Data Acquisition. In new post, Bayley would 

direct worldwide DSN which JPL had operated for NASA. Bayley suc- 

ceeded Dr. Eberhardt Rechtin, who had taken leave of absence from JPL 

to accept post of Director of DOD’S Advanced Research Projects Agency. 

( JPL Release 461/11-67) 

* Gen. James Ferguson, AFSC Commander, presented Distinguished Service 

Medal for outstanding service to M/G John L. Zoeckler, his Deputy C/S 

Systems. Ferguson cited Zoeckler’s “strategic use of management tech- 

niques to eliminate serious scheduling problems inherent in the F-111 

program.” Zoeckler had managed System Program for F-111 aircraft 

system at ASD, Wright-Patterson AFB, from Oct. 14, 1963, until Sept. 1, 

1967. ( AFSC Release 209.67) 

November 29: Australia launched her first satellite, Wresat I (Weapons Re- 

search Establishment Satellite) , from Woomera Rocket Range, becoming 

seventh nation to place a satellite in space. Satellite-lO7-lb, 5-ft-long 

cone 2?4 ft in dia at its base-went into elliptical orbit with 1,249-km 


inclination. US. had provided three-stage Redstone launch vehicle. First 

attempt, on previous day, had aborted because failure of air conditioner 

to eject had prevented ignition. 

Wresnt I, joint project of Australia’s Adelaide Univ. Physics Dept. and 

the Dept. of Weapons Research at Salisbury, was sending back data on 

interaction of solar radiation, particularly x-rays and ultraviolet, with 

earth’s outer atmosphere. NASA provided satellite acquisition and data 

358


reception. (SBD, 11/30/67,149; GSFC SSR, 11/30/67; GSFC Historian; 

Aero Tech, 12/4/67,17; lnteravia, 12J67,1%2) 

* Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara would take new post as President 

of World Bank with approval of President Johnson, McNamara 

said. He explained that President George Woods of World Bank had 

offered him position Apr. 18 but, because of deep obligation to serve 

US. President, his decision had been deferred. President Johnson had 

informed him in October that nomination to succeed Woods would soon 

have to be made. Agreement that post would go to McNamara had been 

reached, but he would stay on job “at least long enough into next year to 

complete the work on the military program and financial budget for 

fiscal year 1969.” (DOD Release 1130-67; NYT, 11/30/67,16) 

Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul 

C. Warnke, in hearings before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 

presented DOD views on ocean space activities by nations. He considered 

S. Joint Res. 111, introduced by Sen. Norris Cotton (R-N.H.), ranking 

minority member of Senate Committee on Commerce, and S. Res. 172 

and 186, introduced by Sen. Claiborne Pel1 (D-R.I.) , member of Senate 

Committee on Foreign Relations. He cited primary concern and interest 

of DOD to be US. use of the “ocean environment for purposes of maintaining 

or enhancing our national security.” 

Pointing out deep ocean exploitation involved “unsettled areas” of 

international law-one area being ‘(the appropriate breadth of the continental 

shelf”-Warnke cited the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental 

Shelf and noted that congressional policy “in this field is manifested 

in the Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act of 

1966.” 

He stated that DOD supported the need for comprehensive studies on 

ocean exploration and exploitation reflected in Senate Joint Resolution 

111. On security grounds, he specifically objected to Section IV of S. 

Res. 186 on “use of seabed and subsoil of ocean space for peaceful purposes 

0nly” until thorough studies could be completed leading to “a 

sound judgment consistent with security” of US. Further objection was 

voiced by Warnke on a “sea guard” which S. Res. 186 called for; his 

argument cited “the difficult political and military problems inherent in 

the organizing of international peacekeeping or enforcement agencies 

or forces.” (Testimony) 

* NASA Nike-Apache sounding rocket, Lunched from Sonmiani, Pakistan, 

carried payload to peak altitude of 175 km (109 mi) to obtain atmospheric 

wind and temperature data up to 135 km (m mi). Grenade and 

chemical cloud techniques were used by experimenters, Dr. D. Rees, London, 

England, and Mr. M. Rahmatullah, Karachi, Pakistan. Rocket performed 

satisfactorily; grenade-explosion timing sequence was late. (NASA 

Rpt SRL) 

Reduction in total number of positions throughout NASA would approximate 

5%, because of budget cuts, NASA announced. NASA would eliminate 

1,700 jobs; it now employed about 32,000 persons. MSFC would lose 700 

employees and JPL 550. Other reductions included: MSC, 189; GSFC, 96; 

L~RC, 246; L~RC, 191; ERC, 225; ARC, 79; Wallops Station, 21; Space 

Nuclear Propulsion Office, 2; and NASA Hq, 142. KSC would be the only 

NASA field center to add personnel in 1968, a total of 211. (Aero Tech, 

11/20/67,3; von Braun, Marshall Sur, 11/29/67,1; W Post, 11/30/67, 

A9; mi, NYT, 12/1/67,5; Av Wk, 12/4/67,31) 

324-801 0-69-24 359


NASA awarded General Dynamics Corp. a oneyear, $&21.1-million, costplus-award-fee 

contract to provide management and engineering services 

for Centaur launch vehicle, ending Sept. 30,1968. This vehicle had been 

used successfully to launch six Surveyor spacecraft and would continue 

in use for lunar and planetary as well as earth orbital missions. LeRC 

was Centaur project manager. (LeRc Release 67-72) 

November 30: Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash.) , Chairman, Senate Committee 

on Armed Services’ Nuclear Safeguards Subcommittee, reported 

from Senate floor that “Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty safeguards [were] 

being supported and implemented in a satisfactory manner.” He said 

that recent Soviet; and Chinese missile and nuclear developments had 

formed “serious challenge to the strategic Superiority of US. power on 

which our defense planners have counted to maintain political stability 

and to keep the peace.” Sen. Jackson listed two prime requirements to 

maintain US. strategic superiority. First would be strategic offensive 

capability to penetrate Soviet ABM defenses using new generations of 

land-based ICBMS and nuclear submarines with better missiles and 

using MIRvs. Second requirement would be the best ABM defense to 

protect US. retaliatory second-strike force, to safeguard American 

people, and to account for allies’ needs. He cited seriousness of Soviet’s 

doubling ICBMS, developing orbital nuclear bombs, and deploying ABM 

system around MOSCOW, especially when combined with growing Com- 

munist Chinese nuclear threat. (Text) 

* DOD was studying contract performance under its letter contract with 

Pratt & Whitney for F-111 engines. Orr Kelly, reporting in Washington 

Star, stated, “The Defense Dept. has ordered a high-level investigation 

of [Pratt & Whitney operations] in an effort to cut [F-111 engine costs], 

Pentagon sources said today.” A firm price had not been set-final con- 

tract negotiations would begin in early 196Cbut negotiation and fact- 

finding teams, headed by Asst. Secretary of Navy for Installations and 

Logistics Graeme C. Bannerman, Chief of Naval Material Adm. I. J. 

Galantin, and Procurement Control and Clearance Div. Chief Gordon 

W. Rule would continue to work for final contract containing “target 

costs, profits and prices to the government.” Rising costs were reflected 

in history of F-111 engine procurement: 1961 cost estimate, $270,000; 

1965 Pratt & Whitney ceiling price for British government, $400,000; 

1966 Pratt & Whitney letter contract estimates to US. Government, 

$700,000 to $750,000. Article stated that negotiations on price of engine 

were “not related to the quality;” further, negotiations would not delay 

aircraft’s development, according to a Navy official. DOD sources em- 

phasized price differences could not be taken “as a full measure of the 

rise in price because there have been significant improvements in the 

engine, giving it greater thrust, since 1961.” After letter contract was 

signed, Naval Air Systems Command had asked the Performance Tech- 

nology Corp. to make an independent investigation of Pratt & Whitney 

operations. At issue were 2,053 TF-30 engines manufactured in four- 

year period 1967-1970. (Kelly, W Star, 11/30/67, 1) 

0 AFSC announced that inertial navigation systems of several contractors 

were receiving first-phase ground testing before second-phase flight test- 

ing in jet cargo test-bed aircraft, in AMSA program for advanced devel- 

opment of components for next generation of manned bombers. Central 

Inertial Guidance Test Facility ( CIGTF) of AFMDC was testing systems in 

specially built van that made daily trips on “uneven” public highways. 

360

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 November 30 

After ground and flight tests, hardware would be returned to AFMDC for 

evaluation of “new navigation techniques in an actual flight environ- 

ment.” (msc Release 188.67) 

New U.S.S.R. commission would scientifically study reported UFOS, re- 

ported Newport News Press. DOD’S contractor to investigate UFOS, Dr. 

Edward U. Condon of Univ. of Colorado, would invite head of new 

Soviet commission, retired Air Force Gen. Porfiri A. Stolyarov, to be 

his guest. Condon would offer Stolyarov access to all US. information, 

hoping for full exchange of data and close working relationship. U.S.S.R. 

had in past dismissed UFOS as “American hoax,” now did not reject pos- 

sibility that all UFOS could still be explained away, but warned against 

outright dismissal. (Newport News Press, 11/30/67,4) 

0 Dr. Alan T. Waterman, 75, physicist and for 12 years Director of National 

Science Foundation, died at the National Institutes of Health. During 

WW 11, he had served on the National Defense Research Committee 

and in the Office of Scientific Research and Development. More recently, 

he had been a member of NASA’s Historical Advisory Committee. Presi- 

dent Johnson said: “The American people mourn the passing of a fore- 

most man of science and of human purpose, Dr. Alan T. Waterman. Our 

Government has lost a trusted counselor. As Chief Scientist of the Office 

of Naval Research and as first Director of the National Science Founda- 

tion, he left an indelible stamp of achievement on one of the most vital 

areas in American life. He will be missed. But succeeding generations 

will be wiser for his skill and richer for the foresight that marked his 

long career.” (PD, 12/8/67,1648; W Post, 12/2/67, B6) 

* Two MSFC scientists had received awards from Alabama Section of Ameri- 

can Institute of Aeronautics and Astronaatics. Physicist William C. 

Snoddy was presented Hermann Oberth award for contributions to Ex- 

plorer, Pegasus, and Apollo/Saturn programs. Deputy Director, Techni- 

cal, Eberhard F. M. Rees was given General Holger N. Toftoy award 

for outstanding technical management during 1947-67. (Space Pro- 

pulsion, 11/30/67,147) ’ 

* HYCAT, an organo-iron compound synthesized by United Technology Cen- 

ter as a new solid propellant catalyst, was described as nonexplosive and 

completely safe compound having low volatility. Dr. David Altman, 

UTC President, stated that “HYCAT is actually safer than some of the 

less effective agents now used in operational missiles.” New catalyst test 

firings were reported and research indicated that its performance was 

completely predictable, storage being possible for years with no im- 

pairment. (Space Propulsion, 11/30/67,141) 

During November: While cost-cutting had taken place for NASA program 

for N 1968, financial pressures on Congress had not prevented $0.4- 

billion increase for DOD s ace program-total N 1968 DOD funding 

reaching record-breaking l2 billion, according to News Front. Giving 

support to “the new momentum in military space,” it said were “major 

gains in space technology [that] have put a score of defense prdjects 

on a much firmer footing.” These projects included reliable launch 

vehicles, communications satellites, refined reconnaissance and early 

warning sensors, and Secretary-of-Defense-endorsed MOL. “Space has 

become a demonstrably important place from which to perform dli- 

tarily useful functions,” News Front reported, and space law treaty had 

made no mention of “outlawing the so-called ‘spy-in-the-sky’ satellites.” 

(News Front, 11/67) 

361

During November ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

0 “The Impact of the Space Program,” in November Liturgical Arts, pre- 

sented views of Dr. T. W. Adams, Socio-political Specialist with NASA’s 

Office of Policy: “Possibly the most psychologically important fact that 

could come out of space exploration is the confirmation that there are 

other planets with intelligent life [and] . . . it is entirely conceivable 

that within perhaps a century, earth-men will have communicated with 

intelligent beings in other star systems. For this possibility . . . it is surely 

not overstating to say the Space Age is bound to have an increasing 

impact on all elements of today’s mobile society.” (CR, 12/15/67, 

H17285) 

Gen. James Ferguson, Commander, AFSC, writing in November Air Force 

and Space Digest, characterized AXSC responsibilities : “Our research 

and development charter and our assigned mission literally cast the 

Systems Command in the role of architect for the future Air Force [and] 

the operational commands in the Air Force share substantially in the 

Systems Command mission of responsiveness. . . . While the current focus 

of attention is on Southeast Asia we are being careful to assure the con- 

tinued viability of our strategic missile forces, which has served-and 

must continue to serve-as a restraint, an ever-present warning, and a 

prime deterrent.” Gen. Ferguson also noted establishment of new 

Director of Laboratories. (AF/SD, 11/67,90-3) 

Method for obtaining a three-dimensional view of clouds photographed 

two-dimensionally by weather satellites was reported by AFCRL’S John 

H. Conover and Itek Corp.’s Ronald J. Ondrejka. Photos used were 

from Nimbus II mission. 

The two photos used in this stereo-pair arrangement had to be taken 

from different points, in this method long used in photo reconnaissance 

studies. With three-dimensional satellite-photograph presentation, abso- 

lute cloud heights could be measured to within a theoretical accuracy 

of about one km. (OAR Res Rev, 11/67, 11-2) 

362

December 1967 

December 1 : General aviation (nonairline) pilots in 1966 flew 104,706 air- 

craft a record 3.3 billion mi in 21 million hrs, consuming 512 million gal 

of gasoline and jet fuel, FAA reported. The 10% increase in number of 

active general aviation aircraft over the 95,44+2 in 1965 was largest 

yearly increase since 1946. Miles flown increased by 30% and hours by 

26%. Most active segment of general aviation operations was business 

flying, which accounted for 33% of total hours and 46% of total miles. 


* At dedication of Georgia Institute of Technology’s Space Science and Tech- 

nology Center, NASA Administrator James E. Webb reviewed NASA- 

Georgia Tech relationships : “In the first year of the NASA Traineeship pro- 

gram, Georgia Tech was one of the ten original schools. It is one of 

five schools . . . that started NASA’s new program of Systems Design 

Traineeships in September. . . , Thirty-eight NASA regular trainees and 

five design trainees are enrolled at Georgia Tech this fall. 

“The . . . Center we are dedicating is one of 36 such facilities that 

NASA has helped to build and support on university campuses . . . in a 

very real sense a new and valuable kind of ‘capital asset’ that will pay 

dividends to our nation-and to the states in which they are located- 

for many years to come. Here . . . for example, in the past few years 

NASA has invested $6.5 million for research, training, and the facility 

dedicatedtoday. . . . 

“Even under our reduced budget NASA is sponsoring sustaining re- 

search here at a level of some $300,000 annually. . . . In project re- 

search, NASA has funded a cumulative total of some $2.1 million at this 

university. . . . The total picture of cooperation . . . would also in- 

clude a cooperative student program . . . started with . . . NACA, in 

1952. There are currently 31 Georgia Tech cooperative students at [ MSC] 

and six at [LaRc] . More than 125 Georgia Tech alumni are employees of 

[MSC], and 60 alumni are at [LaRC]. . . .” (Text) 

* Frank J. Magliato, Special Assistant to the NASA Administrator, was ap- 

pointed NASA Executive Secretary, replacing John R. Biggs, who became 

Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator for Advanced Research 

and Technology. (NASA Ann, 12/1/67) 

* ERC Director James C. Elms announced the appointment of Dr. Richard J. 

Hayes, Chief of ERC’S Space Guidance Laboratory, as ERC Assistant Di- 

rector. In his new position Dr. Hayes would become one of five Assistant 

Directors and would manage activities of two of the center’s nine labora- 

tories. He would be responsible for research in guidance and control 

of future aeronautical and space vehicles. (ERG Release 61-40) 

December 2: 25th anniversary of first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear re- 

action, achieved by the late Enrico Fermi at Univ. of Chicago in 1942. 

363

December 2 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

At two-day meeting at Univ. of Chicago sponsored by AEC and the Inter- 

national Atomic Energy Agency, AEC Chairman Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg 

said US. nuclear plants currently generated 2.8 million kw of electrical 

power. By 1980, he said, figure would reach 150 million kw and by 

2000,700 million kw. 

President Johnson, stressing significance of the anniversary, said: 

“Throughout history, man has struggled to find enough power-enough 

energy-to do his work in the world. He domesticated animals, he sold 

his brother into slavery, and enslaved himself to the machineall in the 

desperate search for energy. . . . By learning the secret of the atom, we 

have given mankind, for the first time in history, all the energy he can 

possibly use.” Urging acceptance of a nonproliferation treaty, he noted 

that countries with a single reactor, while generating electricity, could 

produce enough plutonium to make dozens of bombs every year. Even 

if their purpose were peaceful, he said, “the fact remains that the secret 

diversion of even a small part of the plutonium they create could soon 

give every nation power to destroy civilization. . . .” To prove US. de- 

sire to halt spread of nuclear weapons he announced that “when such 

safeguards are applied under the treaty, the [U.S.] will permit the In- 

ternational Atomic Energy Agency to apply its safeguards to all nuclear 

activities in the [US.]-excluding only those with direct national sig 

nificance.’’ (Sullivan, NYT, 12/3/67, 1; PD, 12/11/67, 1650-1) 

0 Trendex poll conducted for Thiokol Chemical Corp. in six American cities 

indicated that interest in the national space program had dropped to 

lowest in more than four years. Some 41% of persons questioned thought 

the Government was spending too much on the space program; 83% 

thought more attention should be given to water pollution, 82% to air 

pollution, 68% to training unskilled workers, 51% to beautification 

program, 45% to antipoverty drive, and 26% to space exploration. 

Competition to achieve first manned lunar landing was favored by 51%, 

dropping from 77% in September 1965, and opposed by 35%. Most 

significant change of attitude, Trendex said, was increase in number of 

respondents who did not know whether they fayored the competition- 

14%, compared to 1% in 1963. (NYT, 12/3/67,28; Thiokol PIO) 

FAA announced establishment of a one-year study (Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 1%8) 

of causes of near midair collisions. To encourage full reports vital to 

study’s success, FAA said that no action would be taken against any person 

involved in a reported near collision during the period of study. In 

addition, FAA would withhold the report and the identity of persons 

from public disclosure at the reportee’s request. (FAA Release 67-85) 

0 Moscow Aviation Institute professor Feliks Zigel had called for a “joint 

effort of all the scientists of the world,” to determine the nature of uniden- 

tified flying objects (UFOS), according to Soviet press agency Novosti. 

Group of which he was a member had had 200 reports of sightings, 

Zigel said. Typical of these was “a luminous orange-colored crescent 

flying with its outward bend forward. Its surface is only a little 

duller than that of the moon. The horns of the crescent throw out jets, 

sometimes with sparks. The outer contour of the crescent is sharp and 

the inner contour blurred and wavy.” The main task, Zigel asserted, 

was to organize a systematic study of the phenomena from astronomical 

and meteorological observatories to determine whether the objects were 

of protoplasmic or extraterrestrial origin. “Unfortunately, certain sci- 

entists both in . . [U.S.S.R. and US.] deny the very existence of the 

3a

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 December 2 

problem instead of helping to solve it. . . . The U.F.O. phenomenon is 

a challenge to mankind. It is the duty of scientists to take up this chal- 

lenge, to disclose the nature of the U.F.O. and to establish the scientific 

truth.” (Kamm, NYT, 12/10/67, 70) 

December 3: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXCIV into orbit with 333-km (207- 

mi) apogee, 205-km (127-mi) perigee, 89.7-min period, end 65.7” in- 

clination. Equipment and instruments functioned satisfactorily, and 

spacecraft was successfully recovered Dee. 11. ( W Post, 12/6/67, B2; 

Interavia Air Letter, 12/14/67,6; GSFC SSR, 12/15/67) 

“Evaluation of Apollo 4 mission data . . . continues to confirm initial 

reports that Spacecraft 017 met all flight objectives without problems,” 

NASA announced. Detailed systems analyses were still in process, but 

evidence to date indicated spacecraft systems operated properly during 

Nov. 9 mission and met all specifications. 

First Service Propulsion System (SPS) burn had occurred as sched- 

uled; second SPS burn, however, was 13 sec longer than planned, because 

of a switchover to ground control after burn was started by onboard 

guidance and navigation system. Although review of the burn was still 

being conducted, NASA had already determined that there had been no 

failure in onboard systems involved. Because of the longer-than-planned 

SPS burn, spacecraft’s reentry velocity was 0.0058% higher than ex- 

pected; actual velocity was 24,913 mph, compared with nominal 24,772 

mph. Increased velocity caused higher Command Module (CM) maxi- 

mum heat rate-620 BTUS per sq ft per sec instead of planned 586 BTUS. 

Maximum rate expected on lunar return was 480 BTUS. Maximum g on 

reentry was 7.3, compared with expected 8.33 g, because of a shallower 

reentry flight-path angle. 

Cabin pressure remained between 5.6 and 5.8 psi during entire mis- 

sion, indicating negligible leakage rate. Cabin air temperature remained 

stable at 60” F during orbit and increased to 70’ F during reentry. 

Structural performance of the spacecraft and Lunar Test Article 10-R 

(a simulated lunar module) during launch and boost phase was satis- 

factory. Earth landing system functioned as planned; all parachutes in- 

flated properly, and recovery aids deployed and operated normally. 

Heat shield performance was good; maximum char thickness was 3/a in, 

and charring of crew compartment heat shield was less than expected. 

Fuel cell and cryogenic subsystems functioned normally, with fuel cells 

producing potable sterile water and demonstrating excellent load-shar- 

ing and thermal-control capability. CM and SM reaction-control systems, 

electrical power subsystem, and spacecraft sequential devices operated 

normally, with all functions occurring at scheduled times. 

Guidance and control system and the mission control programmer 

performed properly. Range-to-go at drogue parachute deployment cal- 

culated was 2.2 nm. Comparisons with measured landing point indicated 

better than predicted performance. All communications objectives were 

accomplished. Each MSFN station, Apollo tracking ship Vanguard, and 

at least two of the Apollo/Range Instrumentation Aircraft established 

two-way communications with the spacecraft as planned. (NASA Release 

67-294; Hines, W Star, 12/3/67, A20; SBD, 12/5/67, 172-3) 

e As of Nov. 15, US. had dropped 1,630,500 bombs on North and South 

Vietnam since July 1965-twice the tonnage dropped during the 

Korean War, and three times that dropped in the Pacific Theater during 

World War 11. (Wilson, W Post, 1/5/68, 4) 

365


9 William Littlewood, a former vice president of American Airlines and 

developer of the DC-3 aircraft, died at age 69. Recipient of numerous 

awards-including Wright Brothers Medal, Flight Safety Foundation 

Medal, and Guggenheim Medal-Littlewood had been a member of 

NACA, Flight Safety Foundation, Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory board 

of directors, U.K. Royal Aeronautical Society, and Canadian Aeronautics 

and Space Institute. (NYT, 12/5/67, 45; W Star, 12/5/67, B4) 

December 4: NASA’s total procurement in N 1967 fell to $4.651 billion-8% 

below FY 1%6---and procurement actions dropped to 283,000-11% 

less than FX 1966-because of budget reductions, Aerospace Technology 

reported. NASA’s “Annual Procurement Report, Fiscal Year 1967” disclosed 

that 83% of net dollar value went directly to business firms; 

4% to education and other nonprofit institutions; 5% to Cal Tech for 

operating JPL; and 8% to other Government agencies. NASA continued 

its policy of making greater use of incentive contracts, awarding 81 

new incentive contracts and converting 11 cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts to 

incentive awards during FY 1967. North American Rockwell Corp. led in 

dollar amount of NASA awards, receiving 25.46% of total. (Aero Tech, 

12/4/67,46) 

0 Thomas O’Toole, writing in the Washington Post, reviewed NASA’s “growing 

role in the Vietnam war.” Both NASA and DOD were reluctant to disclose 

the size of NASA’s defense effort, he charged, “but it’s known that 

[OART] is spending between $4 million and $5 million a year directing 

the efforts of 100 scientists and engineers to tasks vital to the Vietnam 

war.” Results of NASA research, he said, included a new acoustic detector 

able to locate mortars by measuring ground vibrations, a more-steerable 

parachute, aircraft engines too quiet to be beard during approach, a 

scissors-like sling for helicopter rescues, and a helicopter which did not 

make a chopper noise. Although NASA willingly participated in defense 

research, its authorization to do so wai ‘‘f~~~y,” he said, ‘based onIy on 

a section of the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act which directed 

NASA to make available to defense organizations “discoveries that have 

military value or significance.” NASA was “nervous” about its military 

role, he asserted, because of its unclear authorization, fear of congres- 

sional inquiry, and fear of international reaction. 

Sen. Strom Thurmond (R3.C.) later attacked O’Toole’s article on 

the Senate floor: “One might expect that if . . . a story of this sort 

were to be dug up, the article would express gratification that the tax- 

payer’s money was being used on behalf of the American people . . . 

[and not purport to be] shocked that NASA projects help our national 

objective. . . . I am firmly of the conviction that anything that can be 

developed technically to save a single American life in Vietnam, espe- 

cially by any individual or organization that is being paid by American 

taxpayers, belongs freely to our soldiers. . . . 

“The article is obviously a patently calculated leak. The informed 

details it provides on NASA’s research and technical work proves 

this. . . . This is a shocking thing, that is not a matter of press freedom, 

or even of press license, but plain aid and comfort to the enemy. . . . 

Publishers and editors should accept their responsibility to prevent 

such . . . news coverage and to prevent, too, the violation of security 

classifications on subjects that involve adversely the preservation of the 

lives of American fighting men.” (O’Toole, V Post, 12/4/67, Al; NASA 

LAR VI/128) 

366


French experimental aerotrain Le Zinc reached 215 rnph in test on 4.2-mi 

track at Gometz-la-Vie, France, claiming new world record for track 

vehicles. Previous 195 mph record had been set by a French Aerotrai Co. 

locomotive. Le Zinc, a half-size experimental model of an aerotrain 

designed by Jean Berlain, rode on a l/lO-in:thick air cushion over a concrete 

track. Full-scale model, driven by turbo-propeller, would carry 80 

passengers up to 250 mph. (Hess, NYT, 12/5/67,1) 

* Zzvestia announced completion of one of the world’s largest atomic research 

reactors, designed to produce and test materials that could provide 

heat and power for long-duration space flights. Material Investigations 

Reactor (~m) , located in Melekess reactor development center in Volga 

River Valley, reportedly could generate 100,000 kw of heat at full power 

. from fuel elements containing 90% uranium 235. Designed to produce 

an intense flux of neutrons to irradiat; test materials rapidly, MIR could 

attain maximum neutron flow of 500,000 billion neutrons per sq cm per 

sec. Highest flux attained to date was 600,000 billion, achieved by AEC’S 

Savannah River reactor in 1965-1966 demonstration. (Shabad, NYT, 

12/10/67,72) 

* Michael Getler, in Aerospace Technology editorial, cited U.K.’s lack of 

“willingness to invest at home in the pursuit of new technology needed to 

compete and to grow,” as a major reason for devaluation of the British 

pound [see Nov. 181. Comparing French and U.K. economies Getler 

noted that France had invested heavily in her own industry to support 

a large-scale military buildup and an expensive national space 

program. “In contrast to French willingness to pay for the cost of 

[R&D], the British have tended to treat their big companies solely as 

manufacturers. . . . 

“While the British have purchased [US.] Polaris missiles . . . the 

French have built their own. The British . . . now are buying U.S.-built 

F+ and F-llls, while the French continue to design and build newer 

versions of their own Mirage family, and are now exporting them. . . . 

“The British national space program is virtually non-existent despite 

a growing realization. . . [by] Farliament that investment in a properly 

scaled effort can be of great importance in developing [British] technology. 

. . . There is no suggestion that the British take on a multibillion 

dollar effort, but there certainly are grounds to support investment 

in a $100 million program . . . that would be directed at developing 

satellites with some obvious commercial applications.” 

Although U.K.’s purchases of U.S. goods were “good business for 

American industry,” Getler noted, “the long range risk to this country 

is that an old and comparably faithful ally will be weakened in the 

process. Eventually, the British will tire of buying US. weapons . . . 

[but will have] no R&D base . . . to fall back. . . .” (Getler, Aero Tech, 

12/4/67,58) 

December 5: USAF launched OV Ill4 research satellite from Vandenberg AFB 

by Scout booster into orbit with 275-mi (439-km) apogee, 254-mi (408km) 

perigee, 93-min period, and 90.6” inclination. The 219-lb satellite, 

designed for 256-day lifetime, carried two main experiments: mass spectrometers 

and ion density gauges to measure density, temperature, and 

composition of the upper atmosphere and its variation .with latitude. 

(Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 12/15/67; SBD, 12/5/67,176) 

0 USAF launched an unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB toward polar 

orbit using Titan 111-Agena D booster. (UPI, W Post, 12/6/67, A24) 

367


0 NASA Aerobee 150A sounding rocket launched from NASA Wallops Station 

carried 300-lb payload containing two white rats to 85-mi (137-km) 

altitude in first of four experiments to study behavior in an artificial 

gravity field and determine minimum level of gravity needed by bio- 

logical organisms during space flight. Two arms of payload were ex- 

tended after rocket burnout, producing a centrifuge with artificial 

gravity levels between 0.35 and 1.65 g. During five minutes of free 

fall, rats selected their own gravity levels by walking dong tunnel run- 

way. Data on their movement and position were telemetered to gomd 

stations. Payload impacted 70 mi downrange in the Atlantic; no recovery 

was attempted. (WS Release 67-36; NASA Release 67-290; NASA Rpt 

SRL) 

0 Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched by NASA from WSMR carried 14-in 

telescope with new STRAP 111 stellar pointing control to 96.8-mi (155-km) 

altitude in Johns Hopkins Univ. experiment to measure vacuum spectral 

emission lines from atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter, and Regulus. STRAP 

UI (used for first time) rocket and other instruments performed satis- 

factorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

NASA Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket was launched from Churchill Re- 

search Range, Canada, in experiment on vertical and horizontal varia- 

tion of auroral light emissions. Peak altitude was not obtained because 

of heavy fog effect on radar tracking. Rocket and experiment perform- 

ance was satisfactory. ( NASA Rpt SRL) 

* ELDO’S Europa I rocket was launched from Woomera Rocket Range but 

was automatically destroyed in mid-air after French Coralie 2nd stage 

failed to ignite. U.K.’s Blue Streak 1st stage performed satisfactorily. 

Purpose of suborbital flight test was to evaluate performance of the 

Coralie and separation of the three stages. (AP, NYT, 12/6/67,16; SBD, 

12/7/67,189) 

0 MSFC awarded IBM Corp. a $1,292,218 supplemental contract for configura- 

tion management of 27 instrument units for Saturn V and Uprated 

Satu’rn I. Agreement, effective through June 1970, brought total value 

of contract to $20O7W,44J. (MSFC Release 67-236) 

0 Gerald J. Mossinghoff, Director of the Office of Legislative Planning at 

US. Patent Office, was named director of Congressional Liaison Div. 

in NASA’s Office of Legislative Affairs. (NASA, Release 67-297) 

December 5-6: New York Academy of Sciences held ceremonies marking 

its 150th anniversary. 

Dr. Hilliard V. Paige, General Electric Co. Vice President and general 

manager of Missile and Space Div., compared role of the space 

program in stimulating technological development to that of World 

Wars I and 11. World War I, he said, marked real beginning of American- 

aviation activities. World War I1 led to current U.S. leadership in 

production of jet aircraft. Space program was current counterpart of 

this stimulus, he noted, but program was declining because of crippling 

budget and program cuts. 

Former Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter (Cdr., USN) described his 

experiences living in Sealab I1 [see Aug. 28, 19651 and plans for a 

larger Sealab I11 in 1968. In addition to Sealab experiment, series of 

special vehicles would be tested, he said: Deep Submergence Rescue 

Vehicle (DSRV-1) to rescue men from disabled submarines resting 

on ocean floor; Deep Submergence Search Vehicles (DSSV) to conduct 

research on ocean floor, collecting and surfacing small objects; Nu- 

368

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 December 5-6 

clear Powered Deep Submergence Research and Ocean Engineering 

Vehicle (NR-1) which would run along ocean floor on wheels; and 

Large Object Salvage System (LOSS) to develop a variety of tools, from 

surface craft with strong lifting ability to equipment enabling swimmers 

to operate effectively in deep water. (Sullivan, NYT, 12/6/67, 35; 

12/24/67, E3 ; NY Academy of Sciences PIO) 

December 6: NASA Aerobe 150 sounding rocket launched by NASA from 

WSMR carried GSFC payload to 131-mi (210-km) altitude in experi- 

ment to measure spectral irradiance of Gamma Velora and Zeta Puppis 

with a uv stellar spectograph, star tracker, and modified attitude-control 

system (STRAP) . Rocket and instruments performed satisfactorily. 


0 News briefing on results of Lunar Module (LM) flammability tests, con- 

ducted as a result of Jan. 27 Apollo fire, was held at MSC. Using a 

full-scale boilerplate mockup of LM cabin interior fabricated specifically 

for the test program by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Gorp., fires 

were deliberately set in 41 tests to investigate the flammability and 

propagation properties of a4 interior LM materials, contractor fire- 

hazard fixes, crew equipment and stowage areas, and apparent propaga- 

tion paths. Although results indicated that most LM areas were 

adequately protected against propagation of an accidental fire, four ma- 

terials which under specific conditions might act as flame propagation 

media were ordered replaced. In addition, beta cloth containers for 

food and flight data would be modified to enclose the stored items com- 

pletely; flight data file and crew procedure notebooks would be re- 

designed to minimize their flammability; and procedures would be 

developed to control location and quantity of loose items and to combat 

onboard fire. Similar tests would be conducted in the Command Module 

( cM) . (Transcript ; AP, B Sun, 12/7/67, A3) 

* British Defence Ministry denied report by London Evening Standard that 

U.K. would cancel its agreement with US. to purchase 50 F-111 variable 

sweep-wing aircraft because devaluation of the pound would increase 

cost of the aircraft. Devaluation of the pound from $2.80 to $24 

Nov. 18 added one sixth of original cost to total, but arrangements were 

reportedly being made to adjust the contract, possibly by increasing 

US. purchases of U.K. military equipment to help offset aircraft 

cost. (Flowers, B Sun, 12/7/67, All) 

U.K. was considering halting its activities at Woomera Rocket Range 

because of large expense due to distance between England and the 

Australian range and because only a few of its missile projects required 

such an extensive facility, Space Business Daily reported. (SBD, 12/ 

6/67, 181) 

Dr. Herbert Friedman, Naval Research Laboratory Superintendent of 

Atmosphere and Astrophysics Div., received 1967 Rockefeller Public 

Service Award ($10,000) from Princeton Univ. President Robert F. 

Goheen. Award was given in the field of science, technology, and engi- 

neering. Scientist had specialized in astrophysics from first experi- 

ments in rocket astronomy (revealing strength and pattern of uv 

and x-rays 50 mi above atmosphere) down to present service, which 

also included post of Chief Scientist of Hulburt Center for Space 

Research. (Lobsenz Public Relations Co. Release, 11/13/67; Science, 

12/29/67, 1655) 

* Jerome F. Lederer, NASA Manned Space Night Safety Director, received 

369


Flight Safety Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award for distin- 

guished service in achieving aircraft uses under safer conditions. (NASA 

Hq WB, 50) 

December 7: Javelin sounding rocket launched by NASA from Churchill Re- 

search Range reached 500-mi (805-km) altitude in GSFC-Southwest 

Center for Advanced Studies experiment to study “ionosphere-protono- 

sphere transition region at L values beyond the plasma pause.” Rocket 

and instrumentation, including a magnetic mass spectrometer, two Lang- 

muir probes, a magnetometer, and a Lunar Aspect Sensor, performed 


* NASA reported that RAM C-1 spacecraft had met all mission objectives 

and officially classified the mission a success. Spacecraft was launched 

Oct. 19 to assess the effectiveness of water addition technique in alle- 

viating spacecraft reentry blackout. Effects of water injection in reduc- 

ing RF attenuation and blackout were observed during 50% of total VHF 

blackout period (approximately two thirds of total water-addition time). 

During last one-third of water injection period, no signal recovery was 

observed. NASA concluded that water addition was effective in reducing 

attenuation of the X-band signal down to 130,000-ft altitude and that 

reentry communications problem could be significantly reduced by utili- 

zation of higher transmission frequencies. ( NASA Proj Off) 

* NASA established Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel to review safety studies 

and operations plans, report on them to the NASA Administrator and 

advise him of any hazard in facilities and proposed operations, and 

perform other duties. Panel of chairman, vice chairman, and seven 

other members would review, evaluate, and advise on all elements of 

NASA’s safety program. ( NMI-1156.14) 

* GSFC scientist Dr. Norman F. Ness reported new findings on moon’s nature 

and environment. Data obtained from Explorer XXXV in lunar orbit 

indicated that: (1) no supersonic shock front preceded moon to impede 

flow of solar wind toward the lunar surface; (2) a sizable empty cavity 

or solar wind void existed behind the moon away from the sun; (3) 

moon had practically no magnetic field, and therefore no complex mag 

netosphere, surrounding radiation belts, or lunar ionosphere; and (4) 

moon’s average electrical conductivity was low (under 1,800” F) . Findings 

did not appear to create any additional hazards to Apollo manned 

lunar landing program. Explorer XXXV, launched into lunar orbit from 

ETR July 22, to study interaction of solar wind with the moon and investigate 

the lunar environment, was first satellite to orbit the moon without 

having a midcourse maneuver capability and the only operating satellite 

currently in lunar orbit. (NASA Release 67-295) 

* Four students from UCLA would spend 60 days in simulated space cabin at 

McDonnell Douglas Corp.’s Santa Monica, Calif., plant in early 1968 

under $200,o(bo NASA contract for research in biotechnology and human 

factors. Test, which would take place in a closed system using recirculated 

water and oxygen, would be longest ever attempted with crew subsisting 

in long-duration flight conditions. Crew members, currently undergoing 

training for test, would have only radio contact with outside 

but would be under close observation by medical personnel at all times. 


* NASA contract activity: 

Negotiations were initiated with McDonnell Douglas Corp. on a $21- 

million contract for Improved Delta launch support services. Contract 

370


would cover 20 launchings from WTR and ETR during 21-mo period be- 

ginning Jan. l, 1968, and would provide for inspection, checkout, and 

actual launch. 

Negotiations were concluded with North American Rockwell Corp. on 

a $812-million, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for continuation of Apollo 

Command and Service Module Program from Dec. 4, 1966, through 

program completion. Contract covered engineering, design, manufacture, 

analysis, and testing for Apollo spacecraft and related equipment, includ- 

ipg production of four additional spacecraft through S/C 115A; con- 

tained improved plans for quality, reliability, assurance, and safety; and 

provided for an award fee based on achievement of specified manage- 

ment objectives. ( NASA Releases 67-298,67-2!39) 

0 R/A Rawson Bennett I1 (USN, Ret.), former chief of naval research 

(1955-1961) and head of Project Vanguard, died at his home in Arling- 

ton, Va. (W Star, 12/9/67, A23) 

December 8: Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. (USAF), first Negro selected for 

a mission in the Nation’s space program, was killed during routine 

training flight when his F-104 aircraft crashed on landing at Edwards 

AFB. Copilot Maj. Harvey J. Royer (USAF) , chief of operations at USAF’S 

Aerospace Research Pilot School, was injured. USAF appointed a board 

of officers to investigate the crash. Selected June 30, to train for DOD’S 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, Major Lawrence was 

ninth astronaut-first in DOD astronaut program-to be killed in an 

accident and fifth to die in an air crash; three others had died in Jan. 27 

Apollo fire and one in an automobile accident. Memorial services were 

conducted at Edwards AFB and in Chicago. (W Post, 12/9/67, Al; AP, 

NYT, 12/10/67, 44; B Sun, 12/11/67, A15) 

0 Apollo Command Module (CM) No. (bo9, launched on a ballistic mis- 

sion Feb. 25, 1966, and successfully recovered, would be modified by 

North American Rockwell Corp. and reused in series of dry-land impact 

tests at MSC. It was first of four previously used CMS to undergo the 

tests. ( NAR Release NG15) 

* Robert F. Thompson, Assistant Manager of MSC’S Apollo Applications 

Program Office since its establishment in July 1966, was appointed Man- 

ager of that program. Post had been vacant since April 1967 when MSC 

Deputy Director George M. Low, who had been Acting Manager, became 

Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. ( MSC Release 67-73 ; 

MSC Roundup, 12/22/67,1) 

Kurt Jung, member of West Germany’s Bundestag Defense Commit- 

tee, said West Germany had allotted $25 million to purchase 220 F 4 

Phantom jet aircraft from McDonnell Douglas Co., to replace ill-fated 

Lockheed F-104G Starfighter aircraft that had been worn out in use or 

lost in air crashes. (AP, B Sun, 12/9/67, 1) 

December 9: USAF launched an unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB 

using a Thor-Agena D booster. (Aero Tech, 12/18/67,10) 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would conduct first world- 

wide computerized exchange of nuclear data under $100,000 pilot pro- 

gram, Kathleen Teltsch reported in the New York Times. US., U.S.S.R., 

and EURATOM would supply indexes of new atomic literature, patents, 

university theses, and conference papers which IAEA would program for 

a computer. System was expected to store more than 100,000 entries, each 

including title, author’s name, key words in English, and an-abstract. 

(Teltsch, NYT, 12/11/67,27) 

371


December 10: Aerobee 150 sounding rocket was launched by NASA from 

WSMR, carrying ARC payload to 99.2-mi (159.5-km) altitude to verify 

performance of SPAFXS (Solar Pointing Aerobee Rocket Control System) 

and map the flight path magnetic field. Rocket and instrumentation per- 

formed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL) 

0 AEC successfully detonated a nuclear explosion 4,240 ft underground in 

Farmington, N. Mex., creating a 160-ft-dia cavity. No radioactivity was 

released. The $4.7-million, 26-kiloton Project Gasbuggy explosion, first 

commercial nuclear explosion in Plowshare program for peaceful uses 

of atomic energy, was an attempt to unlock natural gas deposits trapped 

in rock formation too dense to be tapped by normal drilling methods. 

Analyses would be conducted for several months to analyze gas flow, 

determine reasons for any increases in potential production, and check 

for presence of radioactivity in gas. Test was sponsored jointly by AEC, 

El Paso Natural Gas Co., and Bureau of Mines. (AEC Release K-281; 

WS], 12/11/67; Al, A2; Smith, NYT, 12/11/67,1) 

* JPL scientists Dr. Dimiter I. Tchernev and Dr. George W. Lewicki had 

developed recording method which used pulsed laser beam to record 

magnetic spots (bits) on thin magnetic film, retaining several hundred 

times more data per square inch of film than was generally stored on 

present magnetic film or tape. Success of new process might permit 

storage of data for 500 photos on interplanetary spacecraft on a one- 

inch-square strip of film; retention of 10 million bits of scientific data 

per square inch of film by onboard computers; and substantial reduction 

in computer size. Project was being funded by NASA at rate of $175,000 

a year. ( JPL Release 463) 

Boeing Co. President William M. Allen received Los Angeles Chamber of 

Commerce’s 1967 Kitty Hawk Memorial Award for distinguished civilian 

achievement in aviation. Award for distinguished achievement in military 

aviation was presented to Air Force Academy Commandant Col. Robin 

Olds. (Av Wk, 12/25/67,68; Boeing PIO) 

December 11 : NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., testi- 

fying before the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries’ 

Subcommittee on Oceanography, summarized NASA’s activities in 

national marine science program. NASA’s activities, primarily exploratory, 

were aimed at ascertaining what potential benefits could be gained 

in oceanography through the application of space techniques and 

equipment, he said. Major areas included: (1) investigation of the 

applicability of existing space technology to problems of oceanography ; 

(2) studies of remote sensing of oceanographic phenomena, including 

analysis of data obtainable from space missions not originally conceived 

for oceanographic purposes such as Gemini, Tiros, and Nimbus photos; 

and (3) development and test of remote sensors for viewing and discrimination 

of oceanographic phenomena. 

Spacecraft, Dr. Seamans said, “will not supplant surface, subsurface, 

and airborne research and monitoring systems; rather they will supplement 

them. The absoIute accuracy, three-dimensional capability, and 

selective resolution of these conventional systems will continue to be 

necessary and must be utilized as a part of the overall system to their best 

advantage. However, Earth-orbiting spacecraft have unique advantages 

for obtaining certain types of marine data as follows: repetitive worldwide 

coverage, greater frequency of observation (once or twice daily 

for polar oribiting satellites and continuous for geostationae satellites) , 

372


December 11 

, and an ‘all-weather’ capability for 

D,12/20/67, 257) 

glo-French Concorde supersonic aircraft 

was publicly displayed in Toulouse, France. The 132-passenger, 1,450- 

mph, aluminum aircraft was scheduled to make its first flight Feb. 28 

and enter commercial service in 1971-three years earlier than 277-pas- 

senger, 1,800-mph US. SST. US. airlines accounted for more than half 

of the 74 orders already placed. (Garrison, NYT, 12/12/67, 1; B Sun, 

12/12/67,1; NYT, 12/24/67, D33) 

* Boeing Co. revealed details of design proposals for Airborne Warning and 

Control System (AWACS) being evaluated by USAF. Proposed designs, re- 

sult of a one-year study conducted by Boeing, used a Boeing 707 jet air- 

craft to house extensive radar and communications equipment for dual- 

purpose capability in air defense and as a tactical flying command post. 

Main radar antenna was housed in a 30-ft-dia rotodome on top of air- 

craft’s vertical stabilizer to assure excellent radar performance ad 

minimize reduction of aircraft performance. (Boeing Release S-9051) 

* “Our national security depends upon progress in science and technology 

as much as or more than any other aspect of our national strength,” Dr. 

Alexander H. Flax, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research 

and Development, said at Univ. of Tennessee Space Institute in Tulla- 

homa. “The Federal budget for research and development test and eval- 

uation [RT&DE] has experienced a steady and phenomenal growth over 

the past twentyXve years . . . from 7/10s percent in 1941 to almost 3% 

in 1965. Most recently, we have been through a period of highly ac- 

celerated growth in which the initiation of a massive space program 

added to a rising cullre of cost for development, and acquisition of bal- 

listic missiles resulted in RDT&E growth rates . . . of 20% per 

year. . . . This trend, if it were to continue from the level of ’66 for ten 

years, would result in a Federal RDT&E budget almost as large as the 

total budget of today by that time.” (NASA LAR VI/129) 

* Philadelphia Inquirer editorial on Dec. 8 death of Maj. Robert H: Law- 

rence, Jr., (USAF) : “[His death] deprives the Nation of another highly 

trained scientist who had been selected for future service in space. . . . 

“With $he toll of astronauts now at nine victims, it is significant that 

not one has been lost in space itself. . . . Our astronauts are not only 

men who have extensive educational qualifications but who have equally 

extensive experience as test pilots and similar extremely hazardous 

activities. . . ~ 

“They may put their lives on the lie willingly, but the Nation should 

strive to safeguard them as much in their non-space activities as . . . in 

space.” (PZR~, 12/11/67,10) 

December 11-14: Some 100 representatives of Government and industry at- 

tended Orbital Workshop design meeting at MSFC to discuss structures, 

mechanical systems, propulsion, instrumentation, communications, crew 

station, and electrical systems. A five-day Orbital Workship mockup re- 

view would be held in late January 1968 with a McDonnell Douglas Corp. 

mockup containing recent design concepts. (NASA Release 67-239) 

December 12: President Johnson, on tour of Michoud Assembly Facility, re- 

affirmed support for US. space leadership. “Ten years ago, we could put 

scarcely 100 pounds into orbit about the earth. Today we can orbit 285,- 

OOO pounds. That is progress. That is something we are proud of . . . 

something we are doing together. 

373


December 12: “We will never evacuate the frontiers of space to any other nation: Presi- 

dent Johnson pledges during tour of Michoud Assembly Facility. On the platform in front 

row from left are Astronaut Walter Cunningham, Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., the 

President, NASA Administrator James E. Webb, Mrs. Webb, Gov. John J. McKeithen, and 

NASA Associate Administrator for Administration Harold B. Finger. In the back row, 

behind and to the right of Webb, are Gen. Edmund F. O’Connor, Director of Industrial 

Operations, MSFC; Dr. George N. Constan, manager of Michoud; H. D. Lowrey, president 

of Chrysler Gorp. Space Division; and J. K. Swearingen, project manager for Ling-Temco- 

Vought Range Systems Division. 

“In the 9 years since I first introduced in the . . . Senate the Aeronau- 

tics and Space Act of 1958, we have seen the power of our rocket engines 

increase 50 times-from 150,000 to 7,500,000 pounds of thrust in the 

engines that you build here. 

“Not long ago,we had to stand by and watch other countries accom- 

plish what we could not accomplish. I will never forget the days of 

Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, and the real concern. . . . 

“We were the most scientifically advanced nation on the face of the 

earth but we did not launch man’s first earth satellite. 

“We were backward because we did not choose to adventure. We did 

not choose to have vision. We did not choose to look forward. Now 

let us remember that our future achievements-or our future failure- 

will depend on how far ahead we choose to look and how far ahead we 

choose to think. 

“If we think second, and if we look third, then we are going to wind 

up not being first. 

374


(6 . . . we will advance in space to the extent that our people and their 

representatives are prepared for us to advance and are prepared to pay 

the cost of that advance. We may not always proceed at the pace we 

desire. I regret . . . that there have been reductions and there will be 

more. There have been interruptions, and I hope that we have had all 

we can take. But I do have faith and confidence in the American people. 

“We will not surrender our station. We will not abandon our dream. 

We will never evacuate the frontiers of space to any other nation.” 

(SBD, 12/13/67,218; PD, 12/18/67,1696-7) 

* Two sounding rockets were launched from NASA Wallops Station. Nike- 

Apache carried Univ. of Colorado experiment to 60-mi (96.4-km) altitude 

to obtain a vertical profile of the density of nitric oxide in region 

at 47-75-mi (75-120-km) altitude with a scanning uv monochromator. 

Payload was first to utilize Tomahawk clamshell nose cone. Instruments 

performed satisfactorily, but late ignition of rocket’s 2nd stage caused 

12-mi (20-km) loss in apogee. Nike-Cajun carrying GSFc-instrumented 

payload used grenade-explosion technique to measure temperature, 

pressure, density, and wind in region 22-59-mi (35-95-km) altitude 

in coordination with nitric oxide experiment. Rocket performed satisfactorily, 

reaching 68-mi ( 109.6-km) altitude. The near-simultaneous 

launches were intended to permit analysis of theory relating nitric oxide 

concentration to temperature and absorption of radio energy. (NASA 

Rpt SRL) 

USAF awarded Martin Marietta Corp. a $4,392,994 increment to a previously 

awarded contract for design, development, fabrication, and delivery of 

Titan I11 boosters. (DOD Release 1169-67) 

December 13: NASA’s Pioneer VIII (Pioneer C) , third in series of five spacecraft 

designed to provide continuing measurements over the solar cycle 

at widely separated points in interplanetary space, was successfully 

launched from ETR by Thrust-Augmented Thor-Delta booster into orbit 

around the sun. Orbital parameters: aphelion, 1.0080 astronomical units 

(au) or 101.2 millior. mi (162.8 million km) ; perihelion, 0.9892 au 

or 91.5 million mi (147.2 million km) ; period, 386.6 days; and inclination, 

0.057”. Primary mission objective of the 145-lbY drum-shaped 

satellite was to collect scientific data on interplanetary phenomena, including 

magnetic field, plasma, and cosmic ray measurements for two or 

more passages of solar activity. As secondary mission Pioneer VIII 

would: (1) investigate continuously characteristics of the magnetosheath, 

investigate the geomagnetospheric tail, and acquire data when a highly 

significant solar event occurred; (2) refine primary determinations of 

earth and moon masses, the astronomical unit, and osculating elements 

of earth‘s orbit; (3) provide synoptic study of solar-interplanetary relations; 

and (4) provide target for checkout and training of MSFN equipment 

and operations personnel by launching a Test and Training Satellite 

(TTS) as secondary payload. The 40-lb Tts I, carried pickaback on 

2nd stage, was successfully ejected after 3rd-stage burnout, and entered 

orbit with 303-mi (488-km) apogee, 187-mi (301-km) perigee, 92-min 

period, and 3 3O inclination. Pioneer Vlll separation, boom deployment, 

and initial solar orientation occurred as planned; all seven experiments- 

including an interplanetary dust detector and a radio propagation 

experiment-functioned satisfactorily; and on Dec. 15 spacecraft suc- 

cessfully completed maneuver which orientated the spin axis perpendic- 

ular to ecliptic plane. 

324-801 0 - 69 - 25 

375

December 13 


Pioneer VI (launched Dec. 16,1965) and Pioneer VZZ (launched Aug. 

17,1966) were currently 144 million mi a d 68 million mi, respmively, 

from earth and were still returning excellent data. Pioneer program was 

managed by ARC under OSSA direction. (NASA Releases 67-293, 67-310; 

NASA Proj Off; W Post, 12/14/67, A17; AP, B Sun, 12/14/67,1) 


discussed importance of defense R&D and problem of choosing among 

new technological developments available. Speaking before the Dallas 

Chapter of the Assn. of the US. Army and the Dallas Council on World 

AfTairs, he noted that over 80% of all the scientists and engineers who 

had ever lived were alive today; scientific and technical manpower had 

increased m%, compared to 50% for labor force; and of all U.S. 

R&D supported national defense. Current defense R&D funding was 

$8 billion. 

Discussing selection of proposed projects, he described a new tool 

and procedure called the Development Concept Paper, “a short, single 

document . . . [which] requires that . . . parties agree to a common 

document that states the issues, the assumptions, the alternative courses 

of action available, the pros and cons for each.” With this type of 

presentation, he said, the Secretary of Defense could more easily and 

more objectively decide whether to approve or reject a project, and if 

approved, the paper could be transmitted to project’s implementers 

as a guide. This new tool, he indicated, would be used in future to avoid 

repetition of past inappropriate decisions in which precious resources 

were wasted, such as air-launched Skybolt missile and B-70 aircraft 

which proved too vulnerable after $2 billion had been spent on their 

development; and C5-A subsonic transport aircraft, currently being 

produced for operation in 1969, whose production had been delayed 

since late 1950’s pending development of a system to utilize it. From 

such cases, Dr. Foster noted, “we have repeatedly learned that money 

is not enough. That enthusiasm is not enough. That technical innova- 

tion is not enough. We need critical analysis of purposes, missions, 

threats, and requirements. We also need realistic tested advanced alter- 

natives produced by our investment in research. And to gain wise 

management decisions, we must join these together in constructive 

confrontation.” (Text) 

* U.S.S.R. and Communist-bloc countries-including Bulgaria, Hungary, 

East Germany, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia-had 

agreed to conduct “a program of joint launchings of sputniks and 

rockets,” Evert Clark reported in the New York Times. Yugoslavia had 

declined admission to the group, choosing instead to join INTELSAT. 

U.S.S.R. reportedly had constructed or would construct tracking sta- 

tions in Cuba, U.A.R., Mali, and “some other countries of Asia and 

Africa.” Since U.S.S.R.’s land mass stretched over 2/3 of earth’s cir- 

cumference, U.S.S.R. had less need for tracking stations in other 

countries than US., and assigned little or no responsibility to nation 

where station was located. NASA, however, had bilateral agreements with 

more than 70 nations covering joint activities from student exchanges 

to satellite launches. (Clark, NYT, 12/14/67,26C) 

December 14: NASA Surveyor V spacecraft on the moon responded to 

turn-on commands from Goldstone, Calif., station at beginning of its 

tourth lunar day. Spacecraft had operated during its second lunar 

day but had failed to respond during third. Battery was still function- 

376


ing, and camera and alpha-scattering instrument were responding to 

commands. (NASA Proj Off; WNews, 12/15/67,5) 

NASA’s Os0 IV, launched from ETR Oct. 18, had achieved its primary and 

secondary objectives and was continuing to operate satisfactorily. Although 

anomalies occurred in some of the nine experiments, and three 

were turned off, all of the pointed experiments had operated as planned 

for more than one solar rotation, and the wheel experiments had obtained 

useful data. (NASA Pro j off) 

Surveyor VZ briefing was held at NASA Hq. 

Dr. Leonard D. Jaffe, JPL Surveyor Project Scientist, said Surveyor VZ 

had discovered or confirmed that: (1) lunar maria were covered pri- 

marily with very fine, 0.001-in-dia particles but also with “some coarse 

particles and rocks up to a yard across”; (2) particles stuck together 

weakly and were not suspended above lunar surface; (3) radar return 

was from surface and not from subsurface layer; (4) strength of lunar 

maria was three to eight pounds psi at one- to two-inch depth; (5) com- 

position of rock was basic and basaltic with very little meteoritic iron on 

the surface; (6) surface was extremely uniform; and (7) particles were 

cohesive and adhesive, but there was %o need for concern” about 

manned spacecraft’s sinking or being covered by sticky soil in maria 

sites investigated. 

simultaneous operation of Surveyors V.and VI wpld permit measure- 

ment of moon’s “wobble” or physical libration by obtaining spacecraft’s 

range and range rate, Dr. John A. O’Keefe, Assistant Chief of GSFC’S 

Laboratory for Theoretical Studies, explained. “The moon has a sort of 

a nose [Sinus Medii, landing site of Sorzeyor VI] that sticks out in front. 

The earth’s gravity takes hold of that nose and wiggles it . . . back and 

forth as the earth slightly moves either way.” Although scientists had a 

fairly good idea of the size of the “nose” and how firmly earth could grab 

it, they did not know how the moon responded to the pull, he said. Re- 

sponse depended on whether lunar mass was concentrated toward the 

center, in which case it would yield easily, or toward the outside, in which 

case moon’s inertia would be much stronger. Dr. O’Keefe also showed 

Surveyor VI photos of lunar surface lit by sunshine. In one, corona was 

traceable out to a distance of 30 solar radii from the sun-furthest ever 

traced. Another revealed persistence of a line of light after the instant 

of true sunset. Line, which had appeared less clearly in previous Sur- 

veyor photos, he said, could be explained either as a layer of 0.001-in- 

thick particles or as lunar material floating a short distance frcm surface 

because of electrostatic charges. 

Surveyor VZ mission represented “the completion of two major mile- 

stones of lunar surface exploration-the investigation and certification 

of four prime candidates for future manned landings and the scientific 

evaluation of four . . . widely separated regions in the moon’s equatorial 

belts,” Surveyor Program Manager Benjamin Milwitzky asserted. To 

maximize the scientific value of the last Surveyor mission in the series, 

NASA had established a group of scientists to study and recommend pos- 

sible landing sites for Surveyor G. As a result of group’s recommenda- 

tions, NASA had selected Tycho crater, south of the equator, as primary 

target, and Fra Mauro, north of the equator, as an alternate. Highland 

Tycho area was “risky as a landing site,” he said, because it was covered 

by ridges, grooves, and rocks, but it would provide scientific data for 

comparison with data from previous lowland maria landing sites. Sur- 

377

December 14 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

veyor G, scheduled for launch Jan. 7, 1968, would be equipped with 

surface sampler, TV cameras, alpha-scattering instrument, and minor 

payload items such as magnets on footpads and surface sampler SCOOP 

and special mirrors. (Transcript; Reistrup, W Post, 12/15/67, MO; 

W Star, 12/15/67, A7) 

Stanford Univ. School of Medicine biochemists Drs. Arthur Kornberg and 

Merhven Goulian successfully synthesized a simple, biologically- active 

form of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from inert materials. The man- 

made DNA virus-a basic molecule of life--was capable of reproducing 

itself and generating new viruses. Discovery could eventually make it 

possible to create artificial viruses that could attack diseases such as 

cancer and leukemia; modify genes and produce specific biological 

change; and cure hereditary defects such as diabetes, hemophilia, and 

mental retardation. 

President Johnson, speaking at Smithsonian Institution ceremony 

marking 200th anniversary of Encyclop..E;a Britannica, cited creation 

of active DNA as “a spectacular breakthrough in human knowledge. . . 

These men have unlocked a fundamental secret of life. It opens a wide 

door to new discoveries in fighting disease and building much healthier 

human beings.” (W Post, 12/15/67, A10; Randal, W Star, 12/15/67,1; 

O’Toole, W Post, 12/15/67, Al; PO, 1.2/18/67,1712-5) 

Three Soviet scientists confined in a small chamber for 70 days suffered 

hallucinations and “psychological changes,” Tass announced. Scien- 

tists, who subsisted on “dehydrated meat, cottage cheese, various tinned 

food and concentrates,” lost weight, and their muscle tone deteriorated 

despite daily exercise on a bicycle stand. All three recovered. ( W Post, 

12/15/67, A20; SBD, 12/15/67,236) 

December 15: NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) re- 

actor (NRX-A6) was successfully ground-tested by NASA and AEC at 

Jackass Flats, Nev., achieving major goal of one-hour duration for nu- 

clear rocket technology program and demonstrating that rocket reactors 

could be operated for periods longer than those required for most space 

missions. Test, in which reactor operated for 60 min at 1,100-mw desigp 

power, was sixth in series to obtain additional data on reactor charac- 

teristics under extended operation duration in joint NASA-AEC Rover 

program. (AEC Release K-285; Aero Tech, 1/1/68, 13) 

0 U.S.S.R. announced successful completion of rocket tests in second Pacific 

area near Midway Island to test equipment for spacecraft landings at 

sea. Tests in other areas had been completed Dec. 13. Series, which began 

Nov. 28, had been scheduled to last until Dec. 30. ( UPI, NYT, 12/14/67, 

16; SBD, 12/18/67,246) 

* Univ. of Iowa professor Dr. James A. Van Allen, writing in Science, warned 

against “abandoning in situ study of the planets to the Soviet Union.” 

Citing important contributions made by unmanned planetary probes, he 

noted that intelligible telemetry signals had been received from Mariner 

ZV from ranges as great as 320 million km and that the spacecraft was 

still operating properly 36 mo after launch. Entire Mariner V mission, 

he said, “was conducted with such precision and competence as to draw 

cheers from even the most hardened professionals.” Although success- 

ful Mariner missions had been accomplished at a cost of less than 2% 

of NASA budget, Congress had failed to provide for preparatory work 

for any specific planetary mission beyond Mariner Mars ’69, he said. 

“Even more devastating is the reluctance of NASA to forcefully request 

378


December 15: The Nuclear Rocket Development Station at Jackass Flats, Nevada, as the 

NERVA nuclear rocket reactor, NRX-A6, is operated at or above desi& power of 1,100 mw 

energy (55,000-lb thrust) for 60 min. 

adequate funding for such work . . . despite the existence of well- 

conceived programs of great scientific potential. . . . The basic tech- 

nology is available, and a rich diversity of feasible experiments has been 

proposed. . . .” Despite evidence that U.S.S.R.’s planetary exploration 

plans were both ambitious and increasingly competent, he said, U.S. “is 

now allowing its own high competency in planetary exploration to 

decay. . . .” (Science, 12/15/67) 

The New York Times later commented: “Professor Van Allen is en. 

379


tirely right in his complaint . . . that [US.] is spending a ridiculously 

small sum . . . on planetary exploration by unmanned rockets. 

66 . . . the cost-effectiveness in scientific terms of the nation’s plane- 

tary program is far greater than that of the Apollo program for a 

manned flight to the moon, the nearly bottomless well into which the vast 

majority of NASA’s funds are now going. The existing allocation of funds 

is scientifically irrational, explicable principally in terms of the propaganda 

and public relations returns envisaged from ‘winning’ the moon 

race.” (NYT, 12/19/67,46) 

December 16: Cosmos CXCY was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. Orbital 

parameters: apogee, 375 km (233 mi); perigee, 211 km (131 mi); 

period, 90.1 min; and inclination, 65.7’. Spacecraft reentered Dec. 23. 

(GSFC SSR, 12/30/68; SBD, 12/19/67,251) 

U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space approved space res- 

cue treaty proposed by US. and U.S.S.R. Draft was submitted to Gen- 

eral Assembly for final approval. (NYT, 12/17/67,1) 

December 17: First flight of USAF RF-111A reconnaissance aircraft was suc- 

cessfully conducted at Fort Worth, Tex. Reconnaissance equipment and 

flight-test instruments were checked out during three-hour flight. RF- 

lllA was fourth F-111 model to be flight tested; other versions-F- 

111A tactical fighter, FB-111A strategic bomber, and USN’S ,F-lllB- 

had logged more than 5,500 flying hrs. Of 1,016 supersonic flights made 

by F-111 models, 213 had exceeded mach 2. (AFSC Release 210.67; 

DOD Release 1182-67) 

* The 64th anniversary of first powered flights by Orville and Wilbur Wright 

from Kitty Hawk, N.C. Proclamation issued by President Johnson to 

commemorate their achievements cited “their inventive genius [which] 

revolutionized transportation, and gave rise to great new industries that 

have strengthened America’s defense and economy.” 

Igor I. Sikorsky, consulting engineer at United Aircraft Corp.’s Si- 

korsky Aircraft Div., received the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy 

at Aero Club’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Dinner in Washing- 

ton, D.C. (NU Release) 

* Walter Sullivan, writing in the New York Times, listed proposed projects 

to use atomic explosions for commercial applications being considered 

by AEC. Project Sloop, a 20-kiloton, $13,175,000 explosion at 1,200-ft 

depth, would shatter a large body of copper ore in southeastern Arizona. 

Highly diluted acid would then be pumped into the broken rock to 

convert the copper into a soluble compound which could be pumped out. 

Project Bronco would shatter a northeastern Colorado shale oil deposit 

beyond reach of conventional extraction methods. Heat from the blast 

would liquefy the oil so that it would flow into the central cavity for 

extraction. Projects Dragon Trail and Ruleson would use nuclear ex- 

plosion to carve a huge gas storage area beneath a Renovo, Pa., site. 

Other proposals included use of explosions to breaa through impermeable 

rock formations in Arizona so that rain water could sink in and be 

stored underground and to dig canals, harbors, and mountain passes. 

According to AEC price list, charge for 10-kiloton explosion would be 

$350,000 and for a two-megaton explosion, $600,000, excluding charges 

for safety studies, site preparation, transportation and emplacement of 

the devices, and support services. (Sullivan, NYT, 12/12/67, E7; 

Plowshare) 

December 18: USNS Mercury, third Apollo insertion-injection tracking ship, 

380


left General Dynamics Corp.’s Quincy, Mass., shipyard after success- 

fully completing final contractor instrumentation systems tests. Ship 

docked in Hoboken, N.J., where it would undergo inspection and in- 

strumentation adjustments before range testing and final preparations 

in Florida for Apollo 503 mission. Mercury, her two sister ships Van- 

guard and Redstone, and reentry ships Huntsville and Watertmn were 

part of National Range Instrumentation Ship pool. They would be 

equipped with special antennas for communications between Apollo 

astronauts and mission control via Atlantic and Pacific satellites. For 

Apollo missions they would be operated as part of GsFc-operated MSFN, 

which supported Apollo with tracking, command, and voice and 

telemetry communications via land lines, microwave, submarine cables, 

and comsats. Operation of Apollo ships was assigned to WTR; crew was 

provided by Military Sea Transport Service, and technical instrumenta- 

tion crew by USAF. (NASA Release 67-305) 

Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) charged that the House Committee on 

Science and Astronautics and the Senate Committee on Aeronautical 

and Space Sciences had defaulted on their responsibility to report to 

the American public about the Congressional hearings which had been 

held on the Jan. 27 Apollo accident. In a statement inserted in the 

Congressional Record, Rep. Ryan said that since Congress seemed 

reluctant “to face some unpleasant truths and to ask some hard ques- 

tions that need to be asked,” he had prepared his own report based on 

the hearings and on the hundreds of letters, documents, and personal 

commentaries he had received. Much of this correspondence, he said, 

which cited deficiencies and negligence which were both intentionally 

ignored and unintentionally overlooked, was made in confidence for 

fear of reprisals by NASA or NASA-contractor employers. 

Rep. Ryan concluded that Congress overfunded and underexamined 

the validity of major technological programs and the success and 

integrity of their administration. Having an excellent space program, 

he said, “is essential both to our pride and to our progress . . . [but] 

it is essential as well that we throw off the shackles of the space race 

and declare our intention to make rational plans designed to meet the 

needs of America not distorted by the conceptions and value judgments 

of another nation. It is essential that we examine our national prior- 

ities with the utmost care and make certain that the space program 

is neither made a handy villain by its critics nor a handy saviour by 

its spokesmen. We must establish reliability and make a sober and 

objective appraisal of the space program’s role in our society.” Con- 

gress, he asserted, ought to :. (1) demand that NASA adopt new standards 

of candor, present regular status reports, and clarify its budget presen- 

tations, and that a panel of independent experts be created to provide 

objective technical evaluation of NASA management and planning proce- 

dures; (2) relinquish romanticism and evaluate each program in terms 

of specific objectives and social value; (3) revise its attitudes about 

hearings on the space program, being sure to call both friendly and 

hostile witnesses; and (4) establish a realistic view so that the space 

program could be assigned its proper place in national priorities and 

receive whatever funds necessary. (CR, 12/18/67, A6320-9; Ryan’s 

Off) 

a ELDO Technical Director Dr. W. H. Stephens announced that ELDO would 

develop Europa I11 following development of Europa 11. Europa I11 

381


booster would have Europa I 1st stage (Bhe Streak) and liquid hydro- 

gen-oxygen 2nd stage with two 14,000-lb-thrust rocket engines. Con- 

figuration would be able to boost 6,000-lb payload into low earth orbit. 

Using high-energy 3rd stage, new launch vehicle would be able to place 

1,200 lbs into synchronous orbit; adding two strapon solid rocket 

motors rated at 420,000 lbs thrust each, launch vehicle could place 4,000 

lbs into synchronous orbit. 

Low-thrust, very-high-specific-impulse systems were being considered, 

Stephens said, for use in transferring payloads from low to high orbits, 

and for accelerating to escape speeds. Using Dragon reactor technology, 

a small reactor could also be employed in such a system. (S/P, 12/18/67, 

150) 

0 Several Latin American nations, including Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, 

were interested in making extensive use of Kourou space research base, 

French Guiana, according to Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales 

(CNES) sources. New equatorial range would be fully operational in 

1969, with first segment handling sounding rocket firings early in 1968. 

Initial plans for Kourou facility had included three launch pads, but 

CNES was already making plans to expand the facility. One new pad 

would handle Scout and Thor-Able vehicles, subject to agreement with 

US. (Space Pro, 12/18/67,150) 

Paul E. Cotton, Director of Management Operations, in NASA’s 

OMSF, 

was appointed director of OART’S Programs and Resources Div. Cotton 

would replace William E. Hanna, Jr., who had been named Director of 

the Bureau of Data Processing and Accounts in the Social Security 

Administration. (NASA Release 67-304) 

0 New York Times editorial on space rescue treaty approved by U.N. 

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Dec. 16: “[Treaty] . . . 

is a substantial advance, but what must remain worrisome is the attitude 

toward such mishaps that will be shown [by] countries refusing 

to approve the pact. The largest of the abstainers, of course, is likely 

to be China. 

66 

Even without this gap, the treaty has limitations. The suspicious will 

note that . . . the launching nation has no right to join in the search 

until and unless requested to do so by the authorities governing the 

area where the ship has landed. Nor does the treaty define with precision 

how long the latter authorities may hold a space vehicle and its crew 

before returning them . . . [or spcify] payment for damages caused 

by errant spacecraft. 

“The important fact, however, is not that the rescue treaty has de- 

ficiencies. Most treaties do. Far more significant is the demonstration it 

has provided of intimate and fruitful Soviet-American cooperation for 

achievement of a common end. . . .” (NYT, 12/18/67) 

December 19: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXCVI into orbit with 887-km 

(551-mi) apogee, 225-km (140-mi) perigee, 95.5-min period, and 45” 

inclination. Equipment and instruments performed satisfactorily. ( AP, 

NYT, 12/20/67, 35; SBD, 12/20/67, 258; GSFC SSR, 12/30/67) 

Uprated Saturn I (SA-211) 1st stage was successfully static-fired for 35 sec 

at MSFC by Chrysler Gorp. personnel. Stage would be shipped to Michoud 

Assembly Facility for post-firing checkout after completion of a lG-sec, 

full-duration captive firing. ( MSFC Release 67-243) 

JPL scientists continued efforts to reestablish contact with Surveyors V and 

VI resting on the moon. Surveyor V (launched Sept. 8) had responded 

382


immediately to turn-on commands during its fourth lunar day Dec. 14 

and later transmitted 67 recognizable 200-line pictures. Following un- 

successful attempts to reposition the Antenna/Solar Panel Positioner 

on Dec. 16, transponder signals were lost, and complete loss of signal 

occurred. Surveyor VZ (launched Nov. 7) had also responded to turn- 

on commands Dec. 14, but telemetry lock-up was poor, and erratic signals 

were lost completely after 2% hrs. Attempts to reactivate both space- 

waft for simultaneous communications and additional data would con- 

tinue until end of lunar day Dec. 22. (NASA Proj Off; AP, NYT, 

12/20/67, 29) 

USA-USAF-USN X-22A V/STOL research aircraft designed and built by Bell 

Aerosystems Co. under USN contract completed its 100th successful test 

flight at Niagara Falls (N.Y.) International Airport. The four-engine, 

dual-tandem, ducted-propeller aircraft had made 239 vertical and 100 

short takeoffs and 245 vertical and 94 short landings. During 40.9 hrs of 

actual flying time 54 vertical/horizontal transitions had heen conducted. 

Present aircraft was second of two models in X-22A program; first 

model crashed Aug. 8, 1966, after completing 15 flights. Second model 

would be tested through 1968 and would then be delivered to a tri-service 

group at Patuxent (Md.) Naval Air Test Center for further evaluation. 

(Bell Release 92; NYT, 12/25/67,42) 

* In its final 1967 session U.N. General Assembly unanimously endorsed new 

space rescue treaty.and urged signature by all countries. Primary pro- 

visions: (1) immediate notification when astronauts landed in other 

countries; (2) assistance to these astronauts, including rescue efforts 

on the high seas; (3) safe and prompt return of the astronauts; and 

(4) notification and return of objects launched into outer space. Treaty 

would be open to all nations and would become effective when ratified 

by US., USSR., U.K., and two other countries. 

President Johnson, praising the agreement, said: “I hope that this 

agreement will help to ensure that nations will assist astronauts in the 

event of accidents or emergency. The agreement would carry forward the 

purpose of this administration to promote international cooperation in 

the peaceful uses of outer space.” (Teltsch, NYT, 12/17/67, 1; Esta- 

brook, W Post, 12/20J67, A20; UPI, NYT, 12/21/67, 29; SBD, 

12/21/67,263; PD, l/l/fj8,1763) 

* NASA announced establishment of Apollo Lunar Exploration Office within 

OMSF to increase effectiveness of directing Apollo lunar exploration and 

planning for post-Apollo lunar exploration. New office, headed by 

former Lunar Orbiter Manager Lee R. Scherer under general direction 

of Apollo Program Director M/G Samuel C. Phillips (USAF), would 

consist of Flight Systems Development and Lunar Science Divisions. It 

would be responsible to OSSA for scientific aspects of Apollo lunar ex- 

ploration; OSSA would review operating plans, science SR&T tasks, mis- 

sion objectives and plans, and scientific payloads and principal investi- 

gators for specific missions. (NASA Ann, 12/19/67) 

NASA was negotiating with McDonnell Douglas Corp. on a $lO-million, 

fixed-price-incentive contract for 10 improved 2nd stages for the Delta 

launch vehicle. Procurement for new stages would include modified ver- 

sions, larger in diameter than original Delta, to be mated to new elon- 

gated Thor 1st stages which would be incorporated in the Delta con- 

figuration beginning in 1968. (NASA Release 67-306) 

December 20: France’s first variable-sweepwing jet aircraft, the Mirage G, 

383

December 20 


flew 1,500 mph in public debut at Istres, France, military airport. 

Dassault-built aircraft was world’s fourth variable-sweep-wing model 

and first built in Western Europe; others were American F-111, and 

Soviet Sukhoi and Mikoyan. ( W Post, 12/21/67, A31) 

* United Aircraft Corp. turbotrain, powered by gas turbine engine similar 

to those used in jet aircraft, reached 170 mph during test run in New 

Jersey, setting new speed record for passenger train in US. Train, 

designed for future passenger service between Boston and New York 

City, would be operated by New Haven Railroad under DOT contract. 

(W Post, 12/21/67, A?) 

NASA and Italian Space Commission (ISC) agreed to launch jointly Italy’s 

third San Marco satellite (San Marco C) from mobile launcher in 

Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya, Africa. Spacecraft would measure 

air density by continuously monitoring spacecraft’s drag forces, inves- 

tigate ionospheric characteristics which interfered with long-range 

radio transmission, and conduct other upper-atmosphere experiments 

in 1969 and 1970. San Marco project, provided for under May 31,1962, 

cooperative agreement, was a mutual program of NASA and ISC with no 

exchange of funds. NASA supplied launch vehicle and provided person- 

nel training and tracking and data acquisition services. ISC was respon- 

sible for design, fabrication, and testing of payload and for launching 

of satellite built by Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali (CRA) of the Univ. 

of Rome. Sun Marco Z was launched December 14, 1%4, and Sun 

Murco ZZ, April 26,1967. (NASA Release 67-303; A&A, 67) 

* NASA Thesaurus (SP-7030) was published by NASA to provide a stand. 

ardized list of terms for indexing and retrieving documents in the NASA 

scientific and technical information system. The three-volume set, con- 

taining approximately 15,000 indexing terms and scope notes, subject 

categories, and a cross-reference for each term, would be available 

through Superintendent of Documents, GPO. (NASA Release 67-308) 

New reconnaissance camera system for use in Vietnam on RF4C aircraft 

was undergoing tests at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to determine 

camera’s operating capability and devise techniques to enhance low- 

altitude aerial photography capability. Developed by AFSC’S Aeronau- 

tical Div., fully automated camera could take six black and white or 

color pictures per second during daytime or nighttime reconnaissance 

and could provide stereo coverage at extremely low altitudes and 

supersonic speeds. ( AFSC Release 192.67) 

NASA announced appointment of Bob P. Helgeson, Deputy Manager of 

AEC’S Hanford Project in Richland, Wash., as NASA Director of Safety. 

He would report to Associate Administrator for Organization Harold 

B. Finger and would be responsible for “developing and implementing 

safety programs throughout NASA . . . [with] broad authority over all 

safety activities, including those invr- “ing manned and unmanned 

flights in aeronautics and space, and ground and test research opera- 

tions.” Helgeson would replace George D. McCauley, who retired. ( NASA 

Release 67-307; UPI, W Post, 12/21/67, A2) 

9 Ben W. Hersey, Chief of KSC’S Personnel Office, announced that more than 

200 additional permanent employees would be hired for KSC’S Civil 

Service staff by July 1968. First consideration would be given to person- 

nel at MSFC and other NASA centers where personnel reductions had oc- 

curred. ( KSC Release 44347) 

Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall had invited a number of distin- 

384


guished US. scientists to serve on an advisory committee to evaluate 

how widespread sonic booms expected from SST might destroy the na- 

tional resource of tranquility, David Hoffman reported in the Washing- 

ton Post. Discussions would include effect of sonic boom on wildlife, 

national parks, and Indian adobe structures in the Southwest. (Hoff- 

man, W Post, 12/20/67, Al) 

December 21: USAF launched an experimental reentry vehicle by Atlas-F 

booster from Vandenberg AFB as part of Advanced Ballistic Reentry 

Systems (ABRES) program. (Aero Tech, 1/1/68, 13) 

* Communications with NASA’s Mariner Zv Mars probe, launched Nov. 28, 

1964, were terminated because of greatly reduced telemetry availability. 

Spacecraft had responded to series of commands Oct. 25-27 and had 

continued operating satisfactorily until it exhausted its gas supply in 

the attitude control system Dec. 7 and began to pitch, roll, and yaw. On 

Dee. 10 and 11 Mariner ZV recorded 83 micrometeoroid hits which 

apparently induced severe perturbations in pitch and yaw causing de- 

graded signal strength. During its 3.06-yr lifetime, Mariner ZV had 

traveled more than 1.5 billion mi in heliocentric orbit, taken world’s 

first closeup photos of Mars from 5,500-mi altitude, and returned ex- 

cellent data. (NASA Proj Off; AI?, B Sun, 12/23/67; W Post, 12/23/67, 

A5) 

FAA proposed that all civil turbojet aircraft be required to carry altitude 

warning devices to signal pilots visually and aurally when they were 

approaching or deviating from a preselected altitude. Signals were preset 

when device was installed and activated at a point within a prescribed 

band as aircraft approached a preset altitude. Device was 

aimed primarily at alerting pilots’ sense of altitude awareness, particularly 

during high-speed climb and descent nianeuvers. (FAA Release 

67-87) 

* Hughes Aircraft Go. had completed negotiations with the government of 

Brazil on a $3.8-million contract for construction of a comsat earth 

station at Itaborai, near Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian Telecommunications 

Co. (EMBRATEL) would spend an additional $1 million or more for site 

preparation and buildings. Station, which would initially handle TV 

and 120 two-way telephone conversations via INTELSAT satellites over the 

Atlantic, would *be completed within one year. (Hughes Release; Montgomery, 

NYT, 12/22/67,63) 

* Aerospace industry sales in 1967 would total $27.3 billion-a 13% increase 

over 1966 sales-and in 1968 would reach $29.2 billion, Aerospace Industries 

Assn. (MA) predicted. Commercial transport aircraft production 

and DOD procurement had increased significantly in 1967, while 

NASA sales had declined from $4.9 billion to $4.1 billion. (AIA Release 

67-55) 

* Existence of a secret three-station system which would have enabled SAC 

to broadcast final messages to its surviving bomber and missile forces 

in event of a general nuclear attack on US. was revealed by Howard 

Silber in the Omaha World-Herald. System, operational since July 1963, 

had completed its mission and was being superseded by newer devices. 

Located near West Point, Wisner, and Tekamah, Neb., each constantly 

manned station had consisted of a guard house and three trailer-vehicles 

housing launch control e uipment, electronics equipment, and a Blue 

Scout Junior rocket. The %re-stage rockets were to have been launched 

in sequence so their messages could be sounded at specific prearranged 

385


intervals at altitudes of more than 100 mi. (Omaha W-H, 12/21/67,1; 

AP, NYT, 12/22/67,31) 

December 22: ERC awarded $99,151 to TRW Systems, Inc., and $99,370 to 

RCA for research on a satellite system to provide more efficient naviga- 

tion and air traffic control for aircraft and ships in North Atlantic area 

in 1975. Both companies would conduct eight-month studies to deter- 

mine best technical approach, identifying related problems and require- 

ments. ( FRC Release 6747) 

MSFC awarded Mason-Rust Co. a one-year, $8,990,826 contract extension 

for continued provision of services-including transportation, safety and 

security, supply, communications, and custodial services-at Michoud 

Assembly Facility. Extension brought total cost-plus-award-fee contract 

to $39,073,652. ( MSFC Release 67-246) 

US. R&D funding in 1968 would total about $26.5 billion, $700 million 

(3.5%) more than 1967 estimate, Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI) 

said in its annual forecast. BMI noted that “significantly, for the first time 

since reliable figures for total research and development expenditures 

became available, it is estimated that for [CY] 1%8 the increase in 

Federal spending on research in the social sciences will be greater than 

the increase in the physical sciences.” This trend, forecast said, was 

partly because of reductions in growth of military, space, and atomic 

energy programs and because of increasing national concern with edu- 

cation, health, urban, employment, and welfare problems. (AP, NYT, 

12/23/67,7; BMI PIO) 

* ERC Director James C. Elms announced appointment of Dr. D. M. Wars- 

chauer as Chief of ERC’S Component Technology Laboratory. Dr. 

Warschauer had been Manager of Itek Corp.’s Physics Laboratory since 

1965. ( ERC Release 6745) 

* J. V. Reistrup, in the Washington Post, reported that the Senate Committee 

on Aeronautical and Space Sciences had prepared a draft report on 

Apollo accident hearings which would be published .in early 1968. The 

report, revealed as a result of Rep. William Ryan’s (D-N.Y.) Dec. 18 

criticisms on Congress’ failure to produce such a report, was said to be 

critical of NASA but to have reafFmmed Apollo lunar-landing goal. (Reis- 

trup, W Post, 12/22/67, Al) 

* U.S.S.R. team to study UFO (unidentified flying object) sightings would 

consist of 18 scientists and Air Force officers supported by 1,000 field 

observers, Time reported [see Nov. 301. Flurry of UFO sightings had 

been reported in recent weeks by presumably reliable Aeroflot and 

military pilots, who usually described them as sickle-shaped. (Time, 

12/22/67,21) 

December 24: Communist China exploded her seventh nuclear device at Lop 

Nor test site in Sinkiang Province. Low yield of test marked reversal of 

trend since first test Oct. 16, 1964. Yield size had increased progres- 

sively, culminating with June 17, 1967, explosion of hydrogen bomb. 

Test was not announced by Communist Chinese officials, but was 

detected by AEC. (AEC Release K-289; Finney, NYT, 12/25/67, 1) 

* Robert Walker, writing in the New York Times, reviewed new applications 

for industrial use of gold. In telephone industry, gold was used for coat- 

ing electromechanical switchgear and for transmitter domes; in com- 

puters, for coating metal tapes and electroplating printed circuits; and in 

automotive industry, for connecting alternator-regulator systems. To 

aerospace industry, one of gold‘s most important characteristics was 

386


December 24 

that it reflected heat and light. Gold was used to coat the “umbilical cord” 

which connected Astronaut Edward H. White I1 to Gemini ZV spacecraft 

(June 3, 1965) ; to cover shrouds that contracted very hot jet aircraft 

engine parts; and to coat satellites so that they reflected more than 90% 

of sun’s heat. By adding oxides to gold coatings space scientists used 

the gold to absorb infrared energy which could be converted to electrical 

energy. (Walker, NYT, 12/%/67,1F) 

December 25: Washington Evening Star editorial on space rescue treaty 

approved by U.N. Dec. 19: “International cooperation in space has 

made another advance . . . ‘prompted by sentiments of humanity’ in 

an era when manned flights to the moon and beyond will require all 

countries to be on the alert for possible tragic misadventures. 

“There has been some grumbling in the U.N. over the fact that there 

is as yet no provision in international law for the payment of damages 

a country might suffer as a result of spatial mishaps-for example, 

the crashing of a spaceship on a populated area or on some vital 

economic or military installation. This matter, however, can and will 

be taken care of in a special treaty that almost certainly will be worked 

out in the coming year.” (W Star, 12/25/67) 

December 26: U.S.S.R. successfully launched Cosmos CXCVII. Orbital pa- 

rameters: apogee, 505 km (314 mi) ; perigee, 220 km (137 mi) ; period, 

91.5 min; and inclination, 48.5O. (GSFC SSR, 12/30/67) ; Aero Tech, 

1/1/68,13) 

* First flight test of Apollo Lunar Module ( LM) , designated Apollo 5, was 

scheduled no earlier than Jan. 17, 1968, NASA announced. The 31,700- 

lb LM, one of three modules comprising the Apollo spacecraft, was 

designed to carry two astronauts from lunar orbital flight to a landing 

on the moon, then back to the Apollo spacecraft in lunar orbit. It would 

be launched on the 6-hr 30-min test flight by 1.6-million-lb-thrust Up- 

rated Saturn I (AS-204) originally scheduled for first manned Apollo 

mission in February 1967, and would not be recovered. Primary objec- 

tive of the unmanned Apollo 5 flight would be verification of LM’S flight 

readiness for manned operations in space. Test would flight qualify LM 

descent stage propulsion engine, including restart; ascent stage propul- 

sion engine; systems; structures; and staging. (NASA Release 67-313 ; 

UPI, NYT, 12/27/67, 15; AP, W Post, 12/27/67, A4) 

* In response to FCC inquiry on future communications in Atlantic area- 

currently served by two comsats and four cables-ComSatCorp Presi- 

dent Joseph V. Charyk and AT&T Vice President Richard R. Hough 

presented their proposals in separate letters to FCC Chairman Rose1 H. 

Hyde. Hough, advocating a fifth underwater cable, said that although 

AT&T supported the idea of a global comsat system, all of the inter- 

national carriers believed the cable project was “the right way to add 

to our capabilities at this time.” The best service, he said, could be 

provided by “a balanced, integrated network of both cables and 

satellites.” 

Charyk charged that the cable would not be economically feasible: 

“. . . when a new cable is laid to carry traffic that could otherwise be 

carried at no extra cost by satellite facilities which must be established 

in any case, the ultimate customer must bear the cable cost as an 

addition to the already committed costs of service.” As traffic was 

diverted from comsats to a cable, a greater share of satellite revenue 

requirement would have to be carried by routes not served by the 

387


cable, primarily less developed countries with smaller traffic streams. 

US., he said, was committed to develop the INTELSAT system. To ensure 

that US. met this commitment, “the advanced [comsat] system must 

be in operation in the time frame we have proposed for INTELSAT IV. It 

is essential that a vigorous advanced satellite development progam be 

under way during 1968.” (Texts; Smith, NYT, 12/29/67, 43) 

December 27: U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CXCVIZI into orbit with 281-km 


inclination. Equipment and instruments performed satisfactorily. ( CSFC 

SSR, 12/30/67) 

* NASA’s Ats ZIZ, launched from ETR Nov. 5, had successfully met its mission 

objective of operating for 30 days and obtaining useful data from 

onboard experiments. Resistojet thruster had experienced valve malfunction, 

but thrust data were still being obtained. Multicolor Spin- 

Scan Cloud Camera successfully transmitted 123 photos before it was 

turned off because of an arcing problem. Omega Position Location 

Experiment was successfully operated in communications tests with 

aircraft in flight over the Atlantic Ocean, and all other experiments 

except Self-contained Navigation System, which was scheduled to be 

operated in spring 1968, had been successfully operated. (NASA Proj Off) 

* Apollo/Saturn V 3rd stage was flown from McDonnell Douglas’ Sacra- 

mento, Calif., plant to KSC via Super Guppy aircraft. Other stages for 

third Apollo/Saturn V mission had been transported to KSC by barge. 

Boeing-built 1st stage, aboard NASA barge Poseidon, and NAR-built 2nd 

stage, aboard Point Barrow, had reached KSC Dec. 26. IBM instrument 

unit would be flown to KSC from IBM’S Huntsville, Ala., plant via Super 

Guppy Dm. 29. Stages would be assernbled in KSC’S Vehicle Assembly 

Building (VAB). (KSC Release 44S-67; MSFC Release 67-245) 

* ComSatCorp awarded J. W. Bateson Co., Dallas, Tex., a $7.9-million con- 

tract for construction of a new research laboratory near route 70-S in 

Montgomery County, Md., 30 mi from ComSatCorp’s Washington, D.C., 

headquarters. Construction would begin immediately. (ComSatCorp 

Release 67-56; W Post, 12/28/67, F9) 

* President Johnson was expected to auk Congress %r the smallest civilian 

space budget in six years for FY 1969, Evert Clark reported in the 

New York Times. According to his sources, the FY 1969 request would 

probably be close to $4 bil€ion. DOD’S space budget request, however, was 

expected to be higher than record $2 billion requested for FY 1968, 

chiefly because USAF’S MOL would require more development funds. 

(Clark, NYT, 12/28/67,6) 

December 28: NASA Wallops Station awarded Doyle and Russell, Inc., a 

$1,233,644, fixcd-price contract for construction of a new launch complex. 

Work, to be conipleted within one year, would include constructi’on of 

an assembly shop, launch pad and mobile shelter, launch terminal build- 

ing, liquid fuel storage area, launch control building, and substation 

enclosure. (WS Release 67-38) 

Soviet scientists had compiled a structural and geological map of the 

lighted side of the moon to aid in selection of lunar landing sites, Tass 

announced. (Reuters, W Post, 12/29/67, D6) 

December 29: NASA announced personnel changes, effective Jan. 1, 1968. 

Adm. W. F.’ Boone (USN, Ret.), Assistant Administrator for Defense 

Affairs, would retire after five years of service with NASA. He would 

continue to serve as a part-time consultant. Functions of Admiral Boone’s 

388

ASTRONAUTlCS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 December 29 

oftice would be included in new O5ce of Department of Defense and 

Interagency Affairs, headed by Gen. Jacob E. Smart (USAF, Ret.). Gen. 

Smart, Assistant Administrator fur Policy, would be replaced by Dep- 

uty Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology 

Dr. Alfred J. Eggers, who would also continue as a Special Assistant 

to the NASA Administrator on aerospace safety. 

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, expressing his appreciation for 

Admiral Boone’s service, praised the “effective cooperation developed 

between [DOD] and NASA in the . . . buildup . . . of large launch vehicles 

and spacecraft required for a lunar landing and exploration . . . in large 

measure due to [hisj leaderghip. . . .” (NASA Release 67-314) 

ERG Director James C. Elms announced appointment of Dr. Richard M. 

Head, Manager of ERC’S Aeronautics Programs Office, as ERC Chief 

Scientist. In his new position Dr. Head’s responsibilities would include 

research in ERC aeronautics and space programs and on solar flares. 

( ERC Release 6 74) 

* Univ. of Brussels glaciologist Dr. Edgard E. Picciotto was shipping four 

tons of snow from Plateau Station in Antarctica to Brussels for analyses 

to determine chemistry and rate of fall of microscopic dust particles 

from space. Study, supported by NSF, would be conducted in cooperation 

with Ohio State Univ. and Belgian Atomic Center. Since the Antarctic 

snow was not contaminated by urban air pollution and never melted, 

extraterrestrial dust remained lodged as it fell in ’ layers of snow. 

Plateau Station area, Dr. Picciotto said, was “the only place on earth 

you can retrieve atmospheric precipitation from before the industrial 

revolution and the atomic bombs.” Ideally, the dust should have been 

collected in space, but space collection was too expensive and would be 

contaminated by spacecraft. Dr. Picciotto would extrapolate annual 

worldwide total from fallout rate at Plateau Station. Preliminary re- 

sults suggested a 100,000-ton annual worldwide rate. (Reinhold, NYT, 

1/9/68,4) 

December 30: Among 12 scientists named by President Johnson to receive 

the 1967 National Medal of Science were Edwin H. Land, President of 

the Polaroid Corp.; Igor I. Sikorsky, former engineering manager of 

United Aircraft Gorp's Sikorsky Aircraft Div.; and George B. Kistia- 

kowsky, Harvard Univ. chemistry professor. Presentations would be 

made in early 1968. (PD, 1/6/68,11) 

December 31: AEC Chairman Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg reviewed highlights of 

AEC’S 1967 activity. “Outstanding . . . was the trend by electric util- 

ities to go nuclear. During the year, utilities announced plans for at 

least 32 nuclear power plants and ordered 30 reactors . . . [repre- 

senting] a capacity of more than 24 million kilowatts. . . . The nation 

enters the New Year with 15 operable nuclear power plants and 21 

undm construction. The trend points to a generating capacity by nuclear 

plants of between 120,000 and 170,000 net electrical megawatts by the 

end of 1980, or 25 percent of the total national capacity.” Qther ac- 

tivities included: continued R&D with DOD for strong nuclear defense 

capability; testing of first model of a cardiac pacemaker; limited dis- 

tribution of a purified multiple vaccine which provided immunity to 

several different flu viruses with one inoculation; continued develop- 

ment of food irradiation program; sixth successful test of NERVA; and 

successful Project Gaslbuggv nuclear explosion. In addition, AEC con- 

ducted research which provided numerous spin-off benefits to industry 

389

December 31 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

and sponsored lectures, demonstrations, and exhibits. (AEC Release K- 

286; AP, W Post, 12/31/67, D14) 

During December: A preliminary report on Surveyor V, compiled by OSSA, 

recounted spacecraft’s performance. ‘cSumeyor Y will be remembered 

as having first performed one of man’s most extraordinary technical 

fettts, a remotely conducted analysis of the chemical constituents on 

an extraterrestrial body in our solar system.” The compilation included 

information on principal scientific results, TV observations, astronomy, 

lunar surface parameters, and lunar theory and processes. (Text, NASA 

SP-163) 

* JPL scientist Sidney J. Slomich, writing in Astronautics and Aeronautics, 

emphasized need for national purpose to apply the highly advanced tech- 

nology of space. “New impetus would be gained through the establish- 

ment of a coordinating national organization, governmental or private, 

to take advantage of the potential of advanced technology through mod- 

ern communication techniques. The situation calls for a comprehensive 

national effort, with leadership coming from the highest levels of gov- 

ernment to break down further interdisciplinary, interagency, organi- 

zational, and psychological and occupational barriers and to check out 

in detail a wide variety of potential applications like those cited above, 

relating them to the country’s and the world’s most pressing prob- 

lems. . . . Emphasis should be on the application of the vast array of 

existing techniques, not on the development of new ones, and on near- 

term objectives-no longer, say, than two or three years. Government 

agencies, the universities, publicly and privately supported research 

centers . . . must be banded together into a cooperative effort devoted to 

applying to the problems of our age the many solutions the new high 

technology makes possible. There is needed . . . a public or private na- 

tional organization, a research center, and, above all, a national pur- 

pose to bring this about.” (Slomich, A&A, 12/67, 54-8) 

* Claude Witze, in Air Force and Space Digest, claimed that USAF pilots 

testing F-lllA were enthusiastic about the aircraft’s potential. “These 

. . . pilots consider the F-111A weapon system the greatest single tach- 

nological jump designed for their mission since the,wedding of the jet 

engine and modern avionics. The F-111A, they predict, will let them 

hit tactical targets harder, with greater accuracy, and at longer ranges 

than any other airplane. . . .” Accelerated F-11lA testing and training 

program begun at Nellis AFB, Nev., in July had accumulated encouraging 

statistics, he said: “By September, the new wing had set an unprecedented 

record. During that month, the five planes flew a total of 304.1 hours, 

an average utilization rate of 60.8 hours per aircraft. In October, the 

month in which the first production model was delivered . . it was 

59.7 hours per aircraft. The stated requirement for the F-111A is thirty 

hours per aircraft. The best previous records set at Nellis on other air- 

craft have been in the area of thirtyeight hours a month per aircraft. . . 

with systems far less complex than those of the F-111A.” In addition, 

he noted, F-111A had set “an extraordinary record for safety. Far fewer 

aircraft have been lost than USAF experienced in previous similar pro- 

grams.” (AF/SD, 12/67,4!5-55 ; CR, 12/5/67, S1788-90) 

Writing in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Hudson Institute scientists Her- 

man Kahn and Anthony J. Wiener listed possible events and discoveries 

that could occur by the year 2000. List, according to the authors, showed 

“that as a result of the long-term trends toward accumulation of scientific 

390

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During December 

and technological knowledge and the institutionalization of change 

through research, development, innovatio d diffusion, many im- 

portant new things are likely to happen i xt few decades.” List 

included: extension of life expectancy to more than 150 yrs; antigravity, 

practical use of gravity waves; interstellar travel; substantial lunar 

or planetary bases or colonies; and discovery of extraterrestrial life and, 

possibly, communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. (Kahn, Wie- 

ner, A&A, 12/67,28-p-8) 

* Calculation of effective radiated power by measurement of signal strength 

from eleven orbiting military communications satellites was accom- 

plished by AFCRL; two satellites exhibited below standard response. 

Measurements, made at 401 megacycles, were carried out at the W-ft 

parabolic antenna facility, Sagamore Hill Radio Observatory, Mass. 

(OAR Res Rev, 12/67,4) 

Development of a laser system for detecting small variations in moon’s 

motion, and for measuring earth-moon distances to within two meters 

was reported by AFCRL. A laser beam would be directed at a reflector 

placed on lunar surface; reflected light would be detected. (OAR Res 

Rev, 12/67,5) 

During 1967: In 1967, US. orbited 87 spacecraft; U.S.S.R., 67; France, 2; 

Italy, 1; Australia, 1; and U.S.-U.K., 1. US. total included 30 launches 

with 61 payloads for DOD and 20 successful NASA missions in 22 at- 

tempts-highest percentage of successes in one year to date. NASA had 

one sate1,lite as a secondary payload. 

Highlighting NASA space achievements were closeup photographs of 

the moon provided by Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter spacecraft; soft- 

landing on the moon by Surveyor III, V, and VI; successful Venus 

flyby by Mariner V; and preparation of a uv chart of sun’s surface tem- 

perature from Os0 IV photos of the sun. Surveyor IIZ, V, and VI 

radioed more than 50,000 closeup photos of the moon and conducted 

on-site chemical analyses of the lunar soil, confirming its being similar 

to basaltic rock on earth. First launch from lunar surface was accom- 

plished when Surveyor VI’S retrorockets were fired, lifting spacecraft 

and translating it to another site eight feet away. NASA launched Lunar 

Orbiter III, IV, and V, successfully completing the five-mission pro- 

gram and obtaining detailed photos of entire lunar surface-with 100 

times the detail possible with earth-based telescopes-including eight 

prospective Apollo manned landing sites. Mariner V passed within 2,600 

mi of Venus and radioed data on Venusian atmosphere and effects of 

solar wind. 

Ground tests in Project Apollo were continued in preparation for 

three-man Apollo/Saturn space flight planned for 1969. Following flash 

fire in which three astronauts died Jan. 27 during ground test at KSC, 

intensive studies were conducted to devise new safety measures. Nearly 

all combustible materials were removed from the spacecraft, and the 

hatch was redesigned for fast escape. Apollo program climaxed Nov. 9 

with successful maiden flight of Saturn V which orbited unmanned 

ApoUo 4 spacecraft. 

Applications satellites launched included three INTELSAT comsats for 

ComSatCorp and three ESSA meteorological satellites for ESSA. Ats ZI 

provided first continuous high-quality photos of earth from geostationary 

orbit, and Biosatellite II provided new knowledge on effects of radiation 

and weightlessness on life forms. Scientific achievements included orbit- 

324-801 o - 69 - 26 

391

During 1%7 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

ing of Os0 111 and IV, Ogo ZV, Explorer XXXIV and XXXV satellites, 

and Pioneer VIII interplanetary spacecraft. 

Some 180 meteorological sounding rockets and 105 scientific sounding 

rockets were launched, and RAM C-1 spacecraft was launched on 

suborbital mission to measure effectiveness of water-injection concept 

in maintaining communications during reentry. 

Some 12 flights of X-15 rocket research aircraft were conducted, including 

record-setting 4,534 mph (mach 6.72) flight by Maj. William J. 

Knight (USAF). Following crash Nov. 15 in which first fatality in 191 

X-15 tests occurred, flights were suspended pending a review of the 

accident. NASA-USAF flight research continued with 14 flights of XB-70 

supersonic aircraft. President Johnson authorized FAA to proceed with 

sST prototype construction, contracts were signed with Boeing Co. and 

General Electric Co., and construction was begun. Research programs 

were initiated for wing-structure designs for hypersonic aircraft which 

could make sustained flights at 5,300 mph (mach 8), and studies were 

undertaken to reduce aircraft noise. M2-F2 lifting-body vehicle crashed 

May 10, during its second flight of the year. 

DOD program included orbiting of two Vela nuclear-detection satellites 

and 11 IDCSP comsats; static test-firing of Titan IIIM 1st stage; 

and beginning of construction of MOL launch complex at Vandenberg 

AFB. 

Among the highlights in propulsion technology was the third and 

final test firing of the 260-in-dia solid-propellant rocket motor, producing 

5.8 million lbs of thrust. One test of NERVA nuclear reactor was conducted 

in which NRX-A6 was operated at full design power for 60 min, 

achieving major goal of one-hour-duration operation. Phoebus 1B was 

operated at 1,500 mw for 30 min, and Phoebus 2C-F underwent series 

of systems tests with conventional fuel. 

Tracking, communications, and data acquisition reached greatest 

volume in 1967 with a large number of unmanned satellites and space 

probes. MSFN stations conduoted tracking operations with Lunar Orbiter 

spacecraft as targets after completion of missions’ photo-acquisition 

phases, and new Apollo Manned Space Flight Network was completely 

checked out using Tts I, launched as secondary payload with Pioneer 

VZII. At end of 1967, NASA’s Office of Tracking and Data Acquisition was 

simultaneously supporting 50 flight programs for NASA ; six in cooperative 

international programs; and 12 for DOD. 

U.S.S.R. launched 67 payloads, including 61 Cosmos satellites, one 

Venus probe, one Soyuz spacecraft, and three Molniya I comsats. 

Venus IV landed on the Venusian surface and transmitted atmospheric 

data; Soyuz Z, after 25-hr manned flight, crashed on landing, killing the 

pilot; and Cosmos CLXXXVI and Cosmos CLXXXVIII unmanned 

spacecraft achieved world’s first automatic docking in space. (NASA Re- 

lease 67-301; Space Flight Record 1958-1967; NASA Proj Off) 

9 International space events were highlighted by ratification on Oct. 10,1967, 

of space law treaty, approved by U.N. on Dec. 19,1966, and endorsement 

on Dec. 19, 1967, of a new treaty providing for rescue of astronauts. 

Draft of space rescue treaty, negotiated by the Legal Subcommittee of 

the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, would become 

effective following ratification by five nations, including US., U.S.S.R., 

and U.K. 

NASA’s international program included orbiting of U.K.’s Ariel ZII and 

392

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 During 1%7 

ESRO’S ESTO II and assistance with orbiting of Italy’s Sun Marc0 II-first 

satellite to be launched from a platform at sea. Some 124 scientists from 

26 countries participated in research at NASA centers; scientific sounding 

rockets were launched from six sites in cooperation with Argentina, 

Brazil, West Germany, India, Japan, and Norway; and by the end of 

1967,M countries had cooperated with U.S. in space research activities. 

Kenya, Korea, Peru, and Tanzania joined the International Telecommunications 

Satellite Consortium ( INTELSAT) , bringing total membership 

to 60. 

Australia successfully launched her first satellite, Wresat I. (NASA Re- 

. lease 67-301; EH; ComSatCorp PIO; NASA Interncational Programs) 

* Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D-Minn.) , Chairman, House Committee on Science 

and Astronautics’ Space Science and Applications Subcommittee, in 

interview with Aerospace Management, said: “The Space Program got 

off the ground ten years ago on a surge of apprehension and sensationalism. 

This year it became very clear that public acceptance or 

rejection will be a key factor in shaping the U.S. objectives in space for 

the years ahead. Having ushered in the second decade of space exploration, 

both NASA and the aerospace industry should now review their 

‘ledgers’ to make the best use of their achievements to date, as well as 

learn from the mistakes and false-starts of the past.’’ He predicted: “I 

have no doubts that before this century is over, man will set foot on the 

near planets [although] it seems more reasonable to me to first find out 

more about the other planets by means of automated robots [and] I will 

be disappointed if . . . we don’t couple the great capabilities of the 

Saturn V vehicle with those of a Voyager spacecraft.” He added: “HOWever, 

be they the merits of the Voyager concept or the potential benefits 

of Earth Resources Satellites, the public and Congress must be honestly 

convinced of their values if space efforts are to be supported.” (Karth, 

Aerospace Management, Fall/Winter 67,5-9) 

9 High probability of mission success for Saturn project was born of sound 

engineering judgment built on extensive experience, and supported by 

modern analytical techniques, Special Assistant in Manufacturing Problems 

to MSC Apollo Spacecraft Program Mgr., iformer MSFC Deputy 

Director) Dr. Eberhard F. M. Rees said in interview with Aerospace 

Management. He summarized the factors which had enhanced the probability: 

“Considering that one Saturn V, including the launching costs, 

amounts to over 150 million, it is not hard to see why the test launching 

preceding manned flights must be limited to only a few. What this 

limitation has done then is to stress more than ever before the critical 

need for intensive engineering, almost a compulsive meticulousness in 

manufacturing assembly, quality control, and most extensive testing on 

the ground, such as component qualification testing, and subsystem and 

system testing.” (Rees, Aerospace Management, Fallminter 67, 

23-27) ‘ 

0 Managerial and technical challenges of the Mariner project were highlighted 

by JPL scientist Dan Schneiderman in interview with Aerospace 

Management: “We have tried to recognize and correct our deficiencies, 

to retain the proven practices in the screening and use of reliable hardware, 

also to retain the integrity of our experienced manpower resources.” 

He added: “The basic challenge in planetary exploration is 

that of designing and building autonomous systems that can operate unattended 

for long periods. This is a quality and reliability challenge, 

393

During 1967 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 

augmented by cost and weight limitations, plus a launch-window con- 

straint. In the face of these constraints, we can't buy in large quantities, 

nor be extensively experimental. We have instead concentrated on im- 

plementing a tight quality assurance." (Schneiderman, Aerospace Man- 

agement, Fallminter 67'17-21) 

Highlights of AEC'S annual report to Congress for 1967: major systeh test- 

ing for NERVA I and its reactor was planned; post-operation examination 

revealed no life-limiting problems in ground test unit of SNAP-10A after 

operation in simulated space environment for 417 days; Project Gas- 

buggy, first joint industry-government Plowshare experiment, inves- 

tigated use of underground nuclear explosion to increase productivity 

in New Mexico natural gas field; two AEC-instrumented Vela satellites 

for nuclear test detection were launched, raising total now in orbit to 

eight; 25 underground nuclear tests were conducted. (Major Activities in 

the Atomic Energy Programs, January-December 1967) 

394

Appendix A 

SATELLITES, SPACE PROBES, AND MANNED 

§PACE FLIGHTS 

A CHRONICLE FOR 1967 

The following tabulation was compiled from open sources by Dr. Frank 

W. Anderson, Jr., Deputy NASA Historian. Sources included the United Na- 

tions Public Registry; the Satellite Situation Report issued by the Operations 

Control Center at Goddard Space Flight Center; public information releases 

of the Department of Defense, NASA, ESSA, and other agencies, as well as those 

of the Communications Satellite Corporation. Russian data are from the U.N. 

Public Registry, the Satellite Situation Report, translations from Tass News 

Agency, statements in the Soviet press, and international news services’ re- 

ports. Data on satellites of other foreign nations are from the U.N. Public 

Registry, the Satellite Situation Report, government announcements, and 

international news services’ reports. 

It might be well to call attention to the terms of reference stated or implied 

in the title of this tabulation. This is a listing of payloads that have (a) 

orbited; (b) as probes, ascended to at least the 4,000-mile altitude that 

traditionally has distinguished probes from sounding rockets, etc. ; or (c) 

conveyed one or more humans into space, whether orbit was attained or not. 

Furthermore, only flights that succeeded-or at least can be shown by tracking 

data to have fulfilled our definition of satellite or probe or manned flight- 

are listed. Date of launch is referenced to local time at the launch site. An 

asterisk by the date marks those dates that are one day earlier in this tabula- 

tion than in listings which reference to Greenwich Mean Time. A double 

asterisk by the date marks those dates of Soviet launches which are a day 

later in this compilation that in listings which reference to Greenwich time. 

World space activity in 1967 continued at about the same pace as 1966, 

confirming the leveling-off process which has now seen world space activity 

at roughly the same level for three years following several years in which 

activity approximately doubled each year. There was a slight rise in total 

successful launches-127 against 116 in l!X%-and a slight rise in total pay- 

loads orbited-159 against 143 in 1966, still under the record 160 of 1%5. 

The difference between launches and payloads is of course accounted for by 

the multiple-payload launches (DOD is the principal user of this system, with 

9 multiple launches orbiting a total of 31 payloads and with as many as 8 

payloads on one Titan IIIC vehicle; NASA had one multiple launch of two 

payloads against none in 1966; the U.S.S.R. again had none). 

Of the 1967 world total, the US. launched 55 boosters carrying 87 payloads 

(compared with 92/100 in 1966), the U.S.S.R. launched 67 (compared with 

43 in 1%6), followed by France with 2, and Australia, Italy, and US.-U.K. 

with 1 each. Of the US. total, DOD accounted for 30 launches and 61 payloads 

395


(compared with 42/70 in 1966) ; 4 of NASA’s total were non-NASA missions- 

Znlelsat ZZ-B, Zntekra ZZ-C, Zntekrat ZZ-D, and Ariel ZZZ. The US. and 

U.S.S.R. each had one orbital test fight in its manned spaceflight program 

(as opposed to the US. 5 Gemini flights in 1966), the Soviet flight-Soyuz 

Z-being manned and the pilot being killed in landing. Each of these nations 

had one planetary flight. The big difference was in lunar flights: &e U.S. 

unmanned lunar exploration program climaxed with 7 flights in 1967 while 

the U.S.S.R. had none (compared with the U.S.S.R.‘s 5/4 edge in 1966 and 

5J2 bulge in 1965). 

As we have cautioned in previous years, the “Remarks” column of these 

appendixes is never complete because of the inescapable lag behind each 

flight of the analysis and interpretation of results. 

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Appendix B 

CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR NASA LAUNCHINGS 

JANUARY 1, 1967, THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 1967 

This chronology of major NASA launchings in 1967 is intended to provide 

an accurate and ready historical reference, one compiling and verifying 

information previously scattered over several sources. It includes launchings 

of all rocket vehicles larger than sounding rockets launched either by NASA 

or under “NASA direction” (e.g., NASA provided vehicles, launch facilities, 

and performed the launches for ComSatCorp’s three INTELSAT II launches 

in 1967). NASA sounding rocket launches are published annually by the 

Goddard Space Flight Center Historian in Goddard Projects Summary: 

Satellites and Sounding Rockets. 

An attempt has been made to classify the performance of both the launch 

vehicle and the payload and to summarize total results in terms of primary 

mission. Three categories have been used for evaluating vehicle performance 

and mission results-successful (S) , partially successful (P) , and unsuccess- 

ful (V) . A fourth category, unknown (Unk) , has been provided for payloads 

where vehicle malfunctions did not give the payload a chance to exercise 

its main experiments. These divisions are necessarily arbitrary, since many 

of the results cannot be neatly categorized. Also they ignore the fact that a 

great deal is learned from missions that may have been classified as unsuc- 

cessful. 

Date of launch is referenced to local time at the launch site. Sources used 

were all open ones, verified where in doubt from the project offim in NASA 

Headquarters and from the NASA Centers. For further information on each 

item, see Appendix A of this volume and the entries in the main chronology 

as referenced in the index. Prepared January 1968 by Dr. Frank W. Ander- 

son, Jr., Deputy NASA Historian (EH) . 

431


m m m m m b m m m 

m m m m m P a m m 

432


m m P m P m m m m m 

m m m D m m m m m 

m m P to m m m m m m 

433

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 196'1 

434

Appendix C 

ABBREVIATIONS OF REFERENCES 

Listed here are abbreviations for sources cited in the text. This list dow not 

include all sources provided in the chronology, for some of the references 

cited are not abbreviated. Only those references which appear in abbreviated 

form are listed below. Abbreviations used in the chronology entries themselves 

are cross-referenced in the Index. 

A&A 

AIAA's magazine, Astronautics & Aeronautics 

A&A 67 NASA's Astronautics and Aeronu.utics 1967 [this 

publication1 

ABC American Broadcasting Company 

AEC Release. 

Atomic Energy Commission News Release 

Aero Tech Aerospace Technology magazine (formerly Tech- 

AFFTC Release 

AFHF Newsletter 

AFOSR Release 

AFRPL Release 

AFSC Newsreview 

AFSC Release 

AF/SD 

AFSSD Release 

AIA Release. 

AIAA Facts 

AIAA News 

AIAA Release 

AIP News 

AP 

ARC Astrogram 

ARC Release 

Atlanta J/C 

Av Daily 

Av Wk 

B News 

B Sun 

can Press 

CBS 

C Daily News 

C&E News 

ComSatCorp Release 

CR 

CSM 

CTNS 

C Trib 

DOD Release 

DOT Release 

EH 

ERC Release 

nology Week) 

Air Force Flight Test Center News Release 

Air Force Historical Foundation Newsletter 

Air Force Olfice of Scientific Research News Release 

Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory News Release 

Air Force Systems Command's Newsreview 

Air Force Systems Command News Release 

Air Force and Space Digest magazine 

Air Force Space Systems Division News Release 

Aerospace Industries Association News Release 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 

Facts 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 

News 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

News Release 

American Znstitute of Physics News 

Associated Press 

NASA Ames Research Center's Astrogram 

NASA Ames Research Center News Release 

Atlanta Jourd and Constitution newspaper 

Aviation Daily newsletter 

Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine 

Birmingham News newspaper 

Baltimore Sun newspaper 

Canadian Press 

Columbia Broadcasting System 

Chicago Daily News newspaper 

Chemical &Engineering News magazine 

Communications Satellite Corporation News Release 

Congressional Record 

ChrWun Science Monitor newspaper 

Chicago Tribune News Service 

Chicago Tribune newspaper 

Department of Defense News Release 

Department of Transportation News Release 

NASA Historical Staff (Code EH) 

NASA Electronics Research Center News Release 

435

ESSA Release 

FAA Release 

FonF 

FRC Release 

FRC X-Press 

GE Forum 

Goddard News 

GSFC Release 

GSFC SSR 

H Chron 

J/Anned Forces 

JPL Lab-Oratory 

JPL Release 

KC Star 

KC Times 

KSC Release 

Langley Researcher 

LaRC Release 

LA Times 

LeRC Release 

Lewis News 

Marshall Star 

M Her 

MJ 

M News 

MSC Release 

MSC Roundup 

M/S Daily 

MSFC Release 

M Trib 

NAA News 

NAC Release 

NANA 

NAR Release 

NAR Skywriter 

NAS Release 

NASAAnn 

NASA HqPB 

NASA Hq WB 

NASA Int Aff 

NASA LAR VIA? 

NASC Release 

NAS-NRC Release 

NAS-NRC-NAE News Report 

Natl Obs 

NBC 

NGS Release 

NMI- 

NN 

N News 

NSC Release 

NSF Release 

NYT 

NYTNS 

Omaha W-H 


Environmental Science Services Administration News 

Release 

Federal Aviation Administration News Release 

Facts on File 

NASA Flight Research Center News Release 

NASA Flight Research Center’s FRC x-Press 

General Electric Forum magazine 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Goddard News 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center News Release 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Satellite Situation 

Report 

Houston Chronicle newspaper 

Joud of the Armed Forces magazine 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory‘s Lab-Oratory 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory News Release 

Kansas City Star 

Kansas City Times newspaper 

John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA, News Release 

NASA Langley Research Center’s Langley Researcher 

NASA hgley Research Center News Release 

Los Angeks Times newspaper 

NASA Lewis Research Center News Release 

NASA Lewis Research Center’s Lewis News 

NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center’s 

Marshall Star 

Miami Herald newspaper 

Milwaukee Journal newspaper 

Miami News newspaper 

NASA Manned Spacecraft Center News Release 

NASA Manned Spacecraft Center’s Space News 

Roundup 

Missile Space Daily newsletter 

NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center News 

Release 

Minneapolis Tribune newspaper 

National Aeronautic Association News 

National Aviation Club News Release 

North American Newspaper Alliance 

North American Rockwell Corp. News Release 

North American Rockwell Gorp. Skywriter 

National Academy of Sciences News Release 

NASA Announcement 

NASA Headquarters Personnel Bulletin 

NASA Headquarters’ Weekly Bulletin 

NASA Office of International AEairs 

NASA Legislative Activities Report, Vol. VI, No. 8 

NASA Project Office 

NASA (Headquarters) News Release 

NASA Report of Sounding Rocket Launching 

NASASpecial Publication #4006 

National Aeronautics and Space Council News Release 

National Academy of Sciences-National Research 

Council News Release 

National Academy of Sciences-National Research 

Council-National Academy of Engineering 

National Observer magazine 

National Broadcasting Company 

National Geographic Society News Release 

NASA Management Instruetion- 

NASA Notice 

Newark News newspaper 

National Space Club News Release 

National Science Foundation News Release 

New York Times newspaper 

New York Times News Service 

Omahu World-Herald newspaper 

436


0 Sen 

PD 

P EB 

PMB Release 

Pres Rep 1967 

P SB 

SA 

% 

SCfiN 

SD Union 

SE Post 

S/F 

SF Chron 

S/P 

SR 

St. Louis P-D 

Testimony 

Text 

Transcript 

UP1 

US News 

USGS Release 

WH Release 

WJT 

W News 

w Post 

WSJ 

WS Release 

w Star 

Orlando Sentinel newspaper 

National Arcbives and Records Service’s Weekly 

Compilation of Presidentipl Documnts 

Philadelphia Evening BuUetm newspaper 

USN Pacific Missile Range News Relea.= 

Report to the Congress from the Predent of the 

United States, US. Aeronautics and Space Activities, 

1961 

Philadelphia Szuukzy BuUetin newspaper 

Scientific American magazine 

Space Aeronautics magazine 

Space Business Daily newsletter 

Science Service 

San Diego Union newspaper 

Saturday Evening Post magazine 

Space Flight ma azine 

sari ~rmcisco cfronide newspaper 

Space Propulsion newsletter 

Saturday Review magazine 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper 

Congressional testimony, prepared statement 

Prepared report or speech text 

Official transcript of news conference or congressional 

hearing 

United Press International 

U.S. News and World Report magazine 

US. Geological Survey News Release 

White House News Release 

World Journal Tribune newspaper 

Washington Doily News newspaper 

Was@ngton Post newspaper 

W d Street Journal newspaper 

NASA Wallops Station News Release 

Washington Evening Star/Sunday Star newspaper 

437

INDEX. AND LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND 

ACRONYMS 

A 

A-1 (French satellite), 41 

AA. See Apollo Applications. 

AAS. See American Astronautical Society. 

ABC. See American Broadcasting Com- 

pany. 

Abel, Robert, 354 

Abelson, Dr. Philip H., 80 

Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground, 113 

See Antiballistic missile system. 

%:;ham, Karl, 42 

Abrahamson, Maj. James A. (USAF), 196 

ABRES. See Advanced Ballistic Reentry 

System. 

Accelerator, 11, 49, 188 

Acelerometer, 183 

AC Electronics Div. (General Motors 

Corp.), 43 

Accident, 278 

aircraft, 177, 188, 207, 234, 286, 293, 

309. 371 

F-l04,180,371,373 

F-IllA, 122,149,311 

F-111B. 122.149.161.312 

~~-71,>:iii, 318 

X-15,345,352,392 

XB-70.180 

Apollo AS-204,152,167,171 

cause, 36, 40, 42, 51, 52, 71, 91, 101, 

103,107,110,244 

damaEe. 27 

fire, 21:23,26, 36 

investigation, 25, 33, 34, 36.41. 49. 53. 

86; 121,-122, 131-132; 158, 161: 

162. 171. 2M- 211 

--- 

-2 ---. 

report, 47, 51-52, 90, 101-102, 105- 

106, 110, 114, 118, 128, 139. 145. 

148, 381, 386 

schedule, 65,70,145 

standards, 139,187,391 

U.S.S.R. statement, 26,34 

astronaut, 177,293,371 

automobile, 177,293 

Brooks AFB, 29,49,83-84 

cosmonaut (see also Soyuz I), 41, 130 

M%F2 lifting-body vehicle, 147, 225- 

226, 392 

missile, 3 

safety practices, 82, 99, 112-113, 145, 

294 

Saturn V, 13 

324-801 0 - 69 - 29 

439 

Accident-Continued 

U.S.S.R. spacecraft, 82,293 

Soyuz I, 124, 130-131, 134, 139-140. 

Adamsr-Dr. Mac C., 69, 73, 137, 153 

Adams, Maj. Michael J. (USAF), 83, 129, 

188,254,345.352 

Adams, Dr. T. W., 362 

Adelaide Univ., 358 

ADSCP. See Advanced Defense Satellite 

Communications Project. 

Advanced Ballistic Reentry System 

(ABRES), 181, 202, 302, 334, 385 

Advanced Defense Satellite Communications 

Project (ADSCP), 32,71 

Advanced Research Projects Agency 

(ARPA), 2-3, 168, 353, 358 

Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) , 

120 

Advisory Committee on Supersonic Transport 

(President’s), 84 

Aebersold, Paul C., 168-169 

AEC. See Atomic Energy Commission. 

AEDC. See Arnold Engineering Development 

Center. 

Aero Club of Washington, 89, 318, 380 

Aerobee (sounding rocket) 

150 

failure, 268 

infrared astronomy, 60 

magnetic field studies, 372 

meteorite debris, 24Q 

micrometeoroid sampling, 177, 293 

solar astronomy, 125, 146, 285, 289, 

293, 311 

stellar data, 95-96,140,344 

ultraviolet astronomy, 60,78,173,326, 

369 

upper atmosphere data, 48, 14.6, 191, 

214-215,232,236-237,285,320,368 

x-ray astronomy, 201-202, 253, 289, 

.15n 

150 (Modf) 

x-ray astronomy, 98 

150-A 

biolodcal studies. 368 

ultraGolet astronomy, 72, 83 

upper atmosphere data, 72, 83 

Aeroflot, 170,185,351,386 

Aerojet-General Corp., 14, 61, 130, lm, 

189-190,201,281,317

Aeronautics, 16, 54, 56, 86, 126, 143, 164, 

183,209,237,298 

anniversary, 183, 290-291, 380 

award, 66, 96, 153, 154, 164, 172, 179, 

181, 212, 232, 285, 369-370, 372 

employment, 112 

funds for, 17, 54, 73, 318, 336-337 

general aviation, 16, 184, 255, 363 

laboratory, 183, 188,290 

noise abatement. See Noise, aircraft. 

research (see also X-15. X-22A. and 

XB-70); 12, lg14, -19, 54, 6f, 73, 

94, 137, 142-143, 184, 185, 188, 218, 

261, 291, 318. 348. 350, 364 

Aeronautics . and Space . Engineering 

Board, 195 

Aeronomy satellite, 11,75,92-93 

Aerospace Art, Hall of, 109 

AerosDace corn.. 18.142 

AemGace Indistries Assn. (AIA), 19, 30, 

109,112,184,352,385 

Aerospace industry, 1, 36, 109, 112, 215, 

225; 245, 385 

Aerospace Research Pilots School, 345, 

371 

Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (proposed), 

99,281 

Aerospace Security Analysts, 109 

Aerospike rocket engine, 246-247 

Aerotrain, 367 

AFA. See Air Force Assn. 

AFCRL. See Air Force Cambridge Research 

Laboratories. 

AFETR. See Air Force Eastern Test 

Range. 

AFOSR. See Air Force Office of Scientific 

Research. 

Africa, 41,335,376 

AFRPL. See Air Force Rocket Propulsion 

Laboratory. 

AFSC. See Air Force Systems Command. 

Agena (booster), 279 

Agency for International Development. 

(AID), 173 

Agnew, Dr. Harold, 77 

Agreement 

astronaut, 133 

France-Ouebec. 161 

internatibnal, b, 88-89, 101, 211, 216, 

218,270,327-328,376 

NASA-Dept of Commerce, 42 

-Deut. of Interior. 193‘ 

-ES~O, 160 

-Italy, 384 

Smithsonian Institution, 72 

-USAF, 74-75, 92, 112, 190 

U.K.-France, 16 

4J.S.S.R.. 286 

U.S-U.K., 9x369 

-U.S.S.R., 9, 41, 85, 299, 327 

-USSR.-Australia. 64 

-North Vietnam, 309-310 

Agriculture, Dept. of., 167 

AIA. See Aerospade Industries Assn. 

AIAA. See American Institute of Aeronautics 

and Astronautics. 


AIAA/AAS Space Forum, 4 

AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 19 

AID. See Agency for International Development. 

Aiken, Sen. George D., 32 

Aiken, William S., Jr., 242 

Air cushion vehicle, 152, 349 

Air Force Academy, 153,372 

Air Force Assn. (AFA), 77, 273 

Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories 

(AFCRL) , 6, 195, 225, 285, 289, 

324-325,362,391 

Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR), 

1% 

Air Force Historical Foundation, 344 

Air Force Logistics Command, 59 

Air Force Medical Corps, 164 

Air Force Office of Scientific Research 

(AFOSR), 149 

Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, 

(AFRPL) , 63-64 

Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), 15, 

163, 178, 362 

Aeronautical Systems Div., 344, 384 

aircraft, 268,269 

all-weather landing system, 300 

Avionics Lab., 18-19 

award, 136,213,358 

Ballistic Systems Div. (BSD), 199 

booster, 62 

camera, aircraft, 384 

contract, 8, 168 

experiment, 18-19, 182 

missile, 344 

National Range Div., 200 

organization, 35 

personnel, 87, 230 

Space and Missile Systems Organization 

(SAMSO), 199 

Space Physics Laboratory, 227 

Space Systems Div. (SSD), 199 

Air Line Pilots Assn., 338-339 

Air Line Traffic Assn. “Man of the Year” 

award, 181 

Air pollution, 52,182, 189 

Air traffic control, 154, 161, 260, 284, 300, 

338, 364, 385 

Air Transport Assn. of America (ATA), 

77,89,161,224,312,346-347 

Airborne Warning and Control System 

(AWACS), 373 

Airbus (European commercial aircraft), 

219-220,270 

Aircraft (see also individual aircraft, 

such as B-52, X-15, etc.), 1, 19, 70, 

93, 106, 143, 166, 260, 269, 347, 369, 

380 

accident, 5, 111, 122, 149, 161, 177, 180, 

188, 207-208, 234, 277, 286, 293, 309, 

311-312, 318-319, 345, 352, 371, 373, 

392 

air show, 116,156,162,166,203,211,218 

bomber, 61, 111, 149, 269, 365, 380 

cargo, 268,304 

camer, 111, 313 

collision study, 110,364


Aircraft-Continued 

communications tests, 177,250 

delta-wing. 60-61.373 

-1 - - 

fighter,-lz: 111, 149, 161, 164, 180, 237, 

239-24Q 269, 289, 295, 307, 330, 343, 

347. 371. 373. 380 

Algeria. 197 

AllheGher landing system (AWLS), 300 

Allen, H. Julian, 328 

Allen, Dr. Joseph P., 233 

Alliance for Progress, 111 

Alliluyeva, Mrs. Svetlana, 143 

Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., 49 

Allnutt, Robert F., 174,250 

Allott, Sen. Gordon L.. 320 

Alouette I (Canadian. satellite), 197, 317 

Alouette 11,191,197 

Alpert, Dean Daniel, 353 

ALSEP. See Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments 

Package. 

Althouse, Edwin, 191 

Ntman, Dr. David, 361 

Amazon River, 336 

AMC. See U.S. Army Missile Command. 

American Airlines, 366 

American Astronautical Society (AAS), 4, 

134,184,209,356 

American Automatic Control Council. 339 

American Broadcasting Company (ABc) , 

foreign, 156, 177, 184, 343, 351, 369, 

371, W 

general-aviation, 188, 304, 309, 349, 363 

helicopter, 16, 111, la, 174, 262, 268, 

285, 366 

hypersonic, 8,17,61,182,392 

interceptor, 307 

nangation, 271-272 

noise. See Noise, aircraft. 

personal, 13 

rear-engine, 349 

reconnaissance, 5, 111-112, 303, 380, 

384 

record, 267,295,304,343,345 

regulations, 260, 276-277, 307, 338, 385 

research (see also X-15, X-22A, and 

Xl3-70) ,. 109, 188, 349, 364, 383, 392 

safety, 276, 292, 338, 346-347, 348, 384 112-113,114,200,330 

tracking, 195,207-208,300 

American Chemical Society, 109 

training, 347, 390 

American Geophysical Union, 93, 115 

transport (see also Supersonic trans- American Helicopter Society, 172 

port), 11, 12, 17-18, 33-34, 60-61, American Institute of Aeronautics and 

130, 338, 366 

Astronautics (AIAA) ,79,227, 289 

air-bus, 219-220, 270 

Alabama Section. , 243.361 . 

jet, 1, 4, 12, 64, 156, 184, 237, 244, award. 316 

260, 261, 268, 271-272, 348, 351, meeting,, 19, 36, 55-56, 61, 139, 178, 

373 

215,315-316 

military, 268 

American Institute of Physics, 26 

STOL, 244 

American Marketing Assn;, 48 

variable-sweep-wing, 13, 16, 239-24.0, American Personnel and Guidance Assn., 

383384 

86 

V/STOL, 4, 146,244, 318,330, 383 American Petroleum Institute, 345-346 

VTOL, 203 

American Physical Society, 27, 35, 348 

Aircraft carrier, 111, 313 

American Rocket Society (ARS), 79 

Airlines, 170-171, 177, 185, 256, 285, 312, American Science and Engineering, Inc., 

366 

16-17,184,328,350 

aitiaffic control, 161,260,300,338-339 American Security Cauncil ( ASC) ,206,333 

fares, 224, 312 

American Society for Engineering Edujet 

aircraft, 100 

cation, 180 

safety, 154, 276-277, 284 

American Society for Metals, 350 

statistics, 3M 

American Society of Magazine Editors, 

supersonic aircraft, 33-34, 39, 176, 211, 97 

237, 261-262, 357-358 

American Society of Mechanical Engi- 

Airports, 137, 199,254, 256, 279, 314 neers (ASME), 251 

Beautification award, 179 

American Telephone and Telegraph Co. 

charges, 312 

(AT&T), 88, 97, 118, 293, 322, 326, 387 

noise, 34,250, 256 

Ames, Milton B., Jr., 76 

site selection, 24+7 

Ames Research Center (ARC), 143, 180, 

statistics, 84,230, 304 

240,359 

Alabama, Univ. of, 180 

award, 232, 317 

Albania, 23 

probe, 265,375 

Albany, Ga, 34.6 

research, 50, 109, 177, 183, 240, 328, 

Albert, Rep. Carl, 132 

372 

Albuquerque, N. Mex., 180 

Ammonia, 189 

Alcodk, G. E. D., 216 

AMR. See Atlantic Missile Range. 

Aldrin, L/C Edwin E.. Jr., (WAF), 12, 16, AMSE. See American Society of Mechani- 

175,267,300301,350 

cal Engineers. 

Alexander, Charles C., 10 

Amundsen, Roald, 112 

Alexander, George, 27,191 

Anaheim, Calif., 315 

Alexander, Holmes, 147 

Anders, William A., 85,350

Anderson, Sen. Clinton P., 13, 25, 33, 63, 

115,152,195,216-217,274 

Anderson, Rep. William R, 275 

Anderton, Capt. H. L. (USN, Ret), 204 

.Andoeya, Norway, 258, 260, 268 

Andover, Me., 89, 134, 232-233, 282 

Andrews AFB, Md., 126 

Andrews, Rep. George W., 174 

Ann Arbor, Mich., 874,313 

Anniversary, 378 

aeronautics, 380 

Government, 1, 80, 220-221, 284 

nuclear reaction, 363-364 

satellite, 27 

USAF. 220 

U.S.S.R., 9, 107, 269, 273, 291, 309, 327. 

336. 349 

Antarctic Treatv. 303 

Antarctica, 2,6,-26 

Antenna, 56, 70, 78, 89-90, 95, 121, 189, 

240-241, 248-249, 332, 333 

Antigua Island, 226 

Antiballistic missile (ABM) system, 9, 206, 

221, 267, 332, 338, 346, 355-356 

Nike X, 7, 201, 274, 292, 296, 297-298, 

322-323, 329-330 

research program (Project Sparta), 121 

US., 21, 41, 69, 85, 129, 206, 274, 275, 

284-285, 297, 322-323, 329-330, 332, 

333,346,355,358,360 

USSR., 21, 27, 41, 85, 104, 267-268, 

331,355-356,358,360 

Antimissile missile system. See Anti- 

ballistic missile (ABM) system. 

APL. See Applied Physics Laboratory. 

Apollo (program), U 9 , 114-115, 125, 

136, 143, 161-162, 229, 330-331, 333, 

356-357, 371, 380, 381, 383, 386, 391 

astronaut. See Astronaut. 

communications, 282, 365 

criticism, 57, 63, 72-73, 87,89, 94, 101- 

102, 102-103, 128, 132, 147-148, 171, 

l78. -, ~ 225 - _ 

facilities, 36, 70, 192-193, 244245, 339- 

340 

fire. See Accident, Apollo AS-204. 

funds for, 17, 54455, 59-60, 81-82, 87, 

144-145, 150, 216-217, 227, 246, 248, 

.181) 

la&& site, 8-9,99,305,334 

landing technique, 149, 179, 305 

launch (see also Apollo spacecraft), 

111,125,119,189,296-297,299,319 

AS-206, 36 

AS-501 (Apollo 4), 36,191, m, 298, 

333, 339, 340, 365, 391 

AS-502 (Apollo 5), 36,205 

AS-504, 350 

AS-505,350 

management, 36, 5354, 72-73, 87, 90, 

94, 101-102, 103, 105-106, 114, 116, 

128, 139, 144-145, 161-162, 167, 168, 

175, 211, 219, 248, 300, 341, 383 

plans for, 13,17,36,38,53-54,81-82,85, 

89, 144-145, 147-148, 149, 242, 298, 

300,319,330-331,383,386 


Apoh-Continued 

progress, 7, 4.0, 65,68, 70, 72-73, 97-98, 

114-115, 130, 139, 179, 221, 226-227, 

254.279-21M.339-340 

test, 21-23, 40,’ &,-53-54, 111, 112- 

113, 179,205,232,246,272,2743 279- 

280, 319, 330-331, 339-340, 371, 387, 

391 

tracking, 70, 79, 242, 278, 365, 381, 392 

training, 76-77, 122, 212, 330-331 

Apollo (spacecraft), 4, 48-49, 63, 72-73, 

105, 110, 114, 138, 148-149, 150, 221, 

275-276, 279, 302-303 

Command Module (cM), 23, 53-54, 57, 

105, 144-145, 175, 189, 216217,335- 

336,356,371 

control, 216, 365 

escape device, 52, 145, 179, 205 

fire prevention, 49,52,102-103,144,187, 

247, 302-303, 369 

heat shield, 205,272,341,365 

launch, 36 

Apollo 4 (AS-SOl), 191, 254, 298, 

333,339,340,365,391 

Apollo 5 (AS-502), 205,387 

launch vehicle. See Saturn. 

Lunar Module (LM) , 1.25, 187,189,200, 

231. 293. 298. 312. 335-336. 369. 387 

materials, ‘51, lOS-iO6, 111, ’112, ’ 145, 

148-149,187,246,369 

quality control, 138,294 

recoven= 111 

Service- Module (sM), 24-25, 90, 144- 

145, 175, 189, 246, 319, 335-336, 371 

test, 23, 57, 86, 106, 144, 179, 200, 205, 

232, 279-280, 312, 330-331, 365, 371, 

387. 391 

Apollo 4 (AS-501) (spacecraft), 36, 191, 

254, 298, 333, 339-340, 365, 391 

Apollo 5 (AS-502) (spacecraft), 36, 205, 

387 

Apojlo Applications (AA) program, 10, 

92,194,242,275-276 

criticism, 192 

funds for. 17. 49. 54-55. 129. 192-193. . 

199, 22b, 225, 235, 2&, 283, 338 

management, 126, 178, 283-284, 371 

plans for, 10, 21, 54-55, 71, 178, 199, 

260,338,357 

recovery system, 168 

Apollo AS-204 Review Board 

appointment, 25 

investigation of accident, 33, 34, 102- 

203 _._ 

criticism, 62 

report, 101-102, 105-106, 110, 114, 

139 

interim, 36,W7,51-52 

recommendations, 145, 187, 246 

Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Pack 

age (ALSEP), 16%170 

Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), 21, 30, 

55, 81, 220 

Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) , 

17, 30, 55, 189, 242, 331-332, 336 

442


Applied. Physics Laboratory (A=) (Johns 

Hopluns Univ.), 83, 219, 328 

APT. See Automatio Picture Transmis- 

sion. 

Aquanaut, 37,122,232 

ARA. See Associates for Radio Astronomy. 

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Airbus, 219-220 

ARC. See Ames Research Center. 

Arcas (sounding rocket), 93, 231, 237, 

248, 270, 272, 276, 301, 311, 313, 316, 

318 

Arcasonde (meteorological rooket) ,311 

Archangel, U.S.S.R., 259 

Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory, Puerto 

Rico, 249,263, 324-325 

Argo D-4 (sounding rocket). See 

Javelin. 

Argentina, 307,382,393 

Ariel III (UK-E) (scientific satellite), 

14Q,392-393 

Aristarchus (moon crater) , 1 

Arizona, 8, 380 

Arizona, Univ. of, 132, 166 

Arlington National Cemetery, 29, 176 

Arlington, Va., 371 

Armed Forces Communications and Electronics 

Assn., 178, 181 

Armed Forces Reserves Joint Assembly, 3 

Armed Forces Unification Act, 220 

Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 

48 

Armstrong, Neil A., 350 

Armstrong, Warren E., 217 

Army Air Corps, 126 

Army Corps of Engineers, 278 

Arnold Engineering Development Center 

(AEDC 1, 7, 79, 216, 246,292 

Amoldi, Dr. Louis B., 59 

ARPA. See Advanced Research Projects 

Agency. 

ARS. See American Rooket Society. 

AS-204 (booster), 81,387 

AS206 (booster), 81 

ASC. See American Security Council. 

Ascension Island, 89 

Asia, 41, 376 

Asimov, Dr, Isaac, 15 

ASME. See American Society for Mechanical 

Engineers. 

Associated Universities, Inc., 316 

Associates for Radio Astronomy (AM), 

188,249 

Assn. of the US. Army, 376 

Astor, Vincent, Foundation, 64 

Astro Space Labs, Inc., 218-219 

Astrobee 1500 (sounding rocket), 50 

“Astromouse:) 4 

Astronaut (&e also Cosmonaut; Extravehicular 

activity), 4, 26, 31, @, 79, 

141, 166. 205, 232. 284, 288, 368-369 

Apollo mission, 17,. 22-23, 36, 45-46, 

84-45, 97-98, 105, 111, 112, 115, 

148-149, 161-162, 1%, 230, 232, 

23&239,244-245,350 

443 

Astronaut-Continued 

contrab, life story, 133 

crew assignment, 84-85,97-98,14&145, 

148-149, 350 

death, 22-23, 25, 26-27, 29, 33, 36, 

42-43, 4647, 49, 51-52, 57, 58, 68, 

102-103, 122, 143, 161-162, 177, 293, 

371,373 

memorial services, 27, 29, 180 

hazards, 46, 5354, 102-103, 105-106, 

107-108, 143, 144, 145, 213, 373 

honors, 41, 45, 58,69, 85, 175, 178, 180, 

207, 267, 294, 300301, 317 

memorial, 27, 58, 60, 69, 85, 142,284 

performance, 17, 56-57, 213, 334 

physiology (see also Space biology), 

12, 36, 39, 47, 56, 64, 101-102, 113- 

114,213,284,288,334 

press conference, 148-149, 244-245 

rescue, 22-23, 111, 125-126, 205, 392 

scientist-astronaut, 1, 51-52, 94, 230, 

233, 234-235, 244 

selection, F, 52, 94, 230, 233, 234, 244 

speech, 16,49,97 

training, 1, 12, 46, 52, 94, 196, 288, 294 

TV appearance, 112,161 

Astronauts Memorial Commission, 58 

Astronomy (see also individual planets; 

Radioastronomy; Star), 16,17,21,31, 

45, 166, 181, 188, 236, 240, 250-251, 

253, 343, 344, 378-379 

optical, 5, 17, 21, 35, 46, 78, 82, 181, 

182-183, 216. 237. 250-251. 252 

solar, 66,83,112,115,154-155,191-192, 

206, 227, 236, 287, 288, 303304, 307, 

308,311,357 

stellar, 89, 192, 216, 344, 356-357 

ultraviolet, 60, 72, 200, 270, 272, 276, 

301, 311, 313, 318, 326, 358-359, 369 

x-ray, 17,66,142,201-202,288,289,328 

Astrophysics, 16, 17,27 

ATA. See Air Transport Assn. of 

America. 

ATB~T. See American Telephone and 

Telegraph Co. 

Athena (missile) , 80 

Atlanta, Ga., 139-140 

Atlantic II (communications satellite). 

See Intelsot Il-C. 

Atlantic Ocean, 7,28,37,78,174,250,293, 

336,368,385,387 

Atlas (booster), 62,163,221 

D, 202,334 

F, 302,321,385 

Atlas (missile), 3,M 

F, 235 

Atlas-Agena (booster), 17-18 

launch 

Agena-D 

Ats 11, III, 98, 331-332 

Lunar Orbiter 111, V, 38, 138, 229 

Mariner V, 186-187 

unidentified, 36, 161, 175

Atlas-Centaur (booster), 68,207,2W210, 

265,332 

AC-12, 113 

AC-14,334 

ATM. See Apolb Telescope Mount. 

Atmosphere (see also Ionosphere), 18-19 

artificial, 29, 38, 39, 51, 52, 53, 64, 105, 

107-108,118,149,259 

meteorological experiments grenade, 

359 

upper, study of, 17, 55-56, 74, 75, 91, 

109, 157, 212, 214-215, 272, 285, 311, 

314-315, 316-317, 324-325, 359, 367, 

375 

Atomic bomb, 48 

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) (see 

also NASA-AEC Space Nuclear Propulsion 

Office, NERVA, Rover, SNAP, and 

Vela programs), 15,168-169,170,228, 

263,285,384,386,394 

accelerator, 188 

aekomplishments, 363-364, 389-390 

anniversary, 1,363-364 

award, 48,332 

budget, 17,207 

contra&, 61,281 

cooperation, 267, 378 

Hypervelocity Planetary Gas Tunnel, 

328 

Los Alamos Laboratory, 77 

nuclear explosion, 372, 380 

nuclear reactor, 206-207, 367 

nuclear test, 24,372 

space nuclear power, 50-51, 378 

ATS. See Applications Technology Satellite. 

Ats I (Applications Technology Satellite), 

36-37, 89-90, 91, 177, 270, 332, 336 

Ats I1 (ATS-A), 98,173,332 

Ats 111 (AT=), 331332 

Atwood, Harry N., 209 

Atwood, J. Leland, 105,138-139 

Atwood, Lee, 23 

Auburn Univ., 180 

Aurora borealis, 38 

Australia, 7, 41, 47, 68, 102, 153, 157, 176, 

233,263 

Dept. of Weapons Research, 358 

international cooperation, 64, 79, 182, 

241 

laun;h,-3,368,369,391,393 

tracking station, 64,79,265 

Automatic Picture Transmission (APT), 

20,29,270,342443 

Avco Corp., 172 

AVCS. See Advanced Vidicon Camera 

System. 

Aviation Hall of Fame, 298 

Aviation-Space Writers’ Assn., 153 

Avions Marcel Dassault, 383-384 

AWACS. See Airborne Warning and Con- 

trol System. 

Awards, 23-24, 85, 149, 190, 217-218 

civic, 70, 72, 85, 105, 136, 154, 164, 237, 

267,275,372,380 


4d4 

Awarddontinued 

Government, 39,45,48,54,129,153,164, 

179, 195-196, 207, 213, 358, 369, 389 

institutions, 6,10, 72, 128-129, 133, 136, 

253-254,309,369 

society 

aeronautics, %, 172, 181, 232, 285 

astrotlautics, 41, 136, 215, 361 

engineering, 66,84,212 

labor, 175 

management, 86,361 

science, 19,174 

AWLS. See All-weather landing system. 

Azur (West German satellite), 349 

B 

Babbitt, Donald O., 317 

Bahck, Horace W., 181 

Bader, Michel, 317 

Bahamas, 209 

Baikonur, U.S.S.R., 124 

Baker, Erwin, 217 

Baker. Robert. 171 

Baldwin, Barrek, 328 

Baldwin, Hanson, 203,239-240 

Ball, Robert S., Memorial Award, 154 

Ballantine, Stuart, Medal, 309 

Balloon, 96,227 

Echo I, 241 

France, 8,177,333-334 

NASA, 18,238,241,281 

tracking of, 89 

Voyager parachute tests, 179, 222 

Baltimore, Md., 63,206 

“Bambi” (antimissile system), 169 

Bannerman, Graeme C., 360 

Barbados, West Indies, 247 

Barking Sands, Hawaii, 270, 272, 276, 

301,311,313,318 

Baron, Thomas R., 94,122 

Barreira .do Inferno Range, Brazil, 89, 326 

Barstow, Calif., 180 

Bartley, Airman 2/C William F., Jr., 29 

Bates, Dr. F. C., 245 

Bateson, J. W., Co., 388 

Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI), 386 

Baxter, L/C William D. (USAF), 25 

Bay of Lunar Landing (moon), 56 

Bay of Lunik (moon), 56 

Bayley, William H., 358 

Baylor College of Medicine, 233 

Bayne, James M., 54 

Beale AFB, Calif., 111-112,318-319 

Bean, Alan L., 350 

Bechtel Corp., 170-171 

Beckwith, W. Boynton, 347 

Beecher, William, 121-122,201,221,267 

Belew, Leland F., 92 

Belgian Atomic Center, 389 

Belgium, 251-252,389 

Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 253-254, 279 

Bell Aerospace Corp., 231 

Bell Aerosystems Co., 13, 76-77, 96, 146, 

383 

Bell Telephone Laboratories, 142


Bellman, Donald R., 317 

Belyayev, Col. Pave1 (U.S.S.R.), 166, 175 

Bendix Corp., 8142,169-170,193,226,312 

Bendix Field Engineering Co., 179 

Benedict, Howard, 154,2041205 

Bennett, Ralph K., 289 

Bennett, R/A Rawson, I1 (USN, Ret.), 371 

Benton, Ark., 262 

Bereen. William B. 136 

BerEeley, Calif., 21? 

Berkner, Dr. Lloyd V., 175-176 

Berlain, Jean. 367 

Berlin, .Germany, 29 

Berlin, Technical Univ. of, 280 

Bermuda, 311 

Berry, Dr. Charles A., 40, 108, 136 

Bethe, Prof. Hans A., 322 

Bethpage, N.Y., 187,279 

Betts, L/G Austin W. (USA), 329330 

Biggs, John R., 38,75,299,363 

Bigler, Stewart, 137 

Bingham, Charles F., 176 

Bioastronautics Conference, 243 

Biosatellite (program), 47 

Biosatellite I, 47,68,263 

Biosatellite II, 263-265, 313,. 326, 391-392 

Bioscience. See Space biology. 

Bishop, Jerry, 31 

Bisplinghoff, Dr. Raymond L., 129, 135, 

317 

Black Arrow (rocket), 3 

Blacksburg, Va., 243 

Blagonravov, Dr. Anatoly A., 101, 292, 

324 

Blair, G. Richard, 56 

Blamont, Prof. Jacques-Emile, 253-254 

Bleymaier, B/G Joseph S. (USAF), 87 

Blue Scout-Junior (rocket), 385-386 

Blue Streak (U.K. rocket), 233, 368 

BMWF. See Federal German Ministry for 

Scientific Research. 

RMI. See Battelle Memorial Institute. 

ROB. See Budget, Bureau of. 

Boeing Co., 158,372,373 

award, 294, 317 

booster, 61,144-145,220,232 

contract, 23-24, 36, 47, 88, 133, 137, . 

144-145, 192, 193, 201, 220, 347, 392 

Lunar Orbiter Ill, IV, 202,347,392 

supersonic transport, 5,3142, 130, 176, 

357-358 

Boeing 707 (jet aircraft), 2,143 

Boeing 2707 (supersonic aircraft), 237 

Boelsche medal, 70 

Boiko, Alexander, 348 

. Bollerud, B/G Jack (USAF), 173 

Bologna Univ., 344 

Bond, Dr. Richard, 117 

Bonestell, Chesley, 109 

Bonn, Univ. of, 312 

Boodley, Lewis E., 56 

Boone, Adm. William F. (USN, Ret.), 388- 

389 

Booth, Eugene T., 109 

Bordeaux, France, 47 

Borman, L/C Frank (USAF), 25, 85, 128, 

350 

congressional testimony, 115 

interview, 112,161 

Boston College, 86, 174,256, 351 

Boston, Mass., 209,346,384 

Boston Univ. School of Medicine, 15 

Boulder, Colo., 206 

Bow, Rep. Frank T., 8 

Bowdoin ~ _.__ Colleee. - , 224 

~~ 

Bowha S. A., 212 ' 

Boyer, William J., 317 

Boyd,. Secretary of Transportation Alan 

S., 8, 35, 90-91, 95, 97, 188, 200, 203, 

346 

Boynton, Melbourne, Award, 136 

Bracewell, R. N., 37 

Bradford, Dr. Smith A., 252 

Bradley, Gen. Mark (USAF, Ret.), 281 

Brauer, Dr. R. W., 122-123 

Brazil, 89, 248, 303, 307, 326, 335, 336, 

382,393-394 

Brazilian Space Commission (ComissZo 

Nacional de Atividades Espaciais 

(CNAE) ,189,326 

Brazilian Telecommunications Co. (EM- 

BRATEL), 385 

Brewer, Frank G., Trophy, 96 

Brewster Flat, Wash., 134 

Bridgeport, Conn., 262 

Rrinkley, Rep. Jack, 18 

Bristol, Univ. of, 327 

British Astronomical Society, 216 

British Interplanetary Society, 73, 259 

Bronco. Project. 380 

Bronstdin, $itaG, 308 

Brooke, Sen. Edward W., 32 

Brookings Institution, 69 

Brooks AFB, Tex., 36, 39, 49, 83, 233 

Brown and Root-Northrop Corp., 205 

Brown Engineering Go., 112 

Brown, Dr. Harold, 111, 223, 286, 294 

Brunenkant, Edward J., 170 

Brunswick, Me., 224 

Brussells, Univ. of, 389 

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, 8 

Bryson, Reid A., 143 

Bubble chamber, 216 

Buckley, Edmond C., 79 

Budget, Bureau of (BOB), 254, 263 

Buitrago, Spain, 353 

Bulgaria, 376 

Bull, Lt John S. (USN), 350 

Bullock, Robert O., 19 

Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 287 

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 

193 

Burevestnik (U.S.S.R. hydrofoil), 350 

Burger, Col. Robert J. (USAF), 195 

Burgess, E. H., 5 

Burroughs, Richard Hansford, Test Pilot 

Award, 6 

Byrd, Sen Harry F., Jr., 32

C 

M A Galaxy (cargo transport), 11, 268 

CAB. See Civil Aeronautics Board. 

Cable, underwater, 293, 322, 326, 387-88 

Cabot, Godfrey L., Aviation Award, 288 

Caditi (Communist Chinese sounding 

rocket). 314 

Caldara, G/G Joseph D. (USAF, Ret.), 309 

Calder, Nigel, 212,315 

California, 126, 202-203, 251, 269, 279, 

309 

California Institute of Technology (Cal 

Tech), 16, 35-36, 82, 87, 118, 162, 188, 

261,366 

Cal Tech. See California Institute of 

Technology. 


Central Intelligeuce Agency (CIA), 8, 41, 

204,228,293 

Centre National d'gtudes Spatiales 

(CNES), 221-222, 333-334, 382 

Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali ( CRA) , 

Rome, 228,384 

CERN. See European Center for Nuclear 

Research. 

Cernan, LCdr. Eugene M. (USN), 144 

CETS. See European Conference on Com- 

munications Satellites. 

China, Communist 

hydrogen bomb, 190 

missile, 8,301, 228, 296, 332, 346, 358, 

360 

nuclear test, 190,205,386 

satellite, 14,314 

California, Univ. of, 13-14, 72, 126, 217, sounding rocket, 314 

233,317,354 

space law treaty, 23,26 

Los Angeles (UCLA), 209, 316,334, 349, space program, 314 

17n 

Chaffee, LCdr. Roger B. (USN) 

CalvLrton, N.Y., 122 

Apollo (AS-204) accident, 22-23, 25, 

Calvo Rodes, Gen. Rafael (Spain), 1 26,27,36,46-47,101 

Cambridge, Mass., 29, 54; 190, 278, 312 burial, 29 

Camera, 260-261, 331-332, 384 

honors, 317 

Cameron, Air Commodore Neil (u.K.), memorial, 69,85 

267-268 

Chanute. Octave. Award. 184 

Canada (see also Churchill Research Chapman, Dr. Jdhn H.,85 

Range), 66, 78, 166, 170, 191, 245- Chapman, Dr. Philip K., 233,234 

246,247,317,348 

Charvk. Dr. Joseuh V.. 114, 146, 387388 

Defence Research Board, 197 

Cheyenne, Wyo., 30 ' 

Defence Research Telecommunications Chicago, Ill., 35, 98, 122-123, 345, 346, 

Establishment, 85,110 

371 

Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Chicago, Univ. of, 363-364 

366 

Chico, Calif., 238 

Canadian National Telecommunications, Childs, Marquis, 33 

170 

Chile, 307 

Canadian Pacific, 170 

Chlorophyll, 13-14 

Canary Islands, 89 

Christensen, Everett E., 39 

Canberra, Australia, 79,121,212,242 Christmas Islands, 270 

Candy, M. P., 216 

Chrysler Corp., 196, 239, 382 

Canham, Edwin D., 234 

Churchill Research Range, Canada (see 

Cannon, Sen. Howard W., 185 

also Ft. Churdhill, Canada), 25, 28, 67, 

Canopus (star), 38,113,138,295,334 80, 110, 142, 177, 368, 370 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, CIA. See Central Intelligence Agency. 

Ariz.. 8 

Citizens League Against the Sonic Boom, 

Cape-Kennedy, Fla., 26, 33, 49, 57, 64, 190 

226,279 

Citron, Robert, 335 

Carbon dioxide, 37-38,113-114 

City University, London, 109 

Carbon monoxide. 53-54 

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), 256, 286 

Carco Electronics'Co., 55 

Civil Service Commission (CSC), 338 

Carnegie Commission on Educational Clark, Evert, 31, 80, 215, 247, 304, 376 

Television, 107 

Clark, Dr. John F., 74 

Carpenter, Cdr. M. Scott (USN), 12, 113, Clark, Sen. Joseph S., 220,297 

232,368-369 

Clarke, Arthur C., 73 

Carr, Maj. Gerald P. (USMC), 350 

Clarksburg, Md., 255 

Carter, M/G Wendell E. (USAF), 230 Clear air turbulence (CAT), 90 

Case Institute of Technology, 150 

Clemmons, Stephen B., 317 

Casteau, Belguin, 204 

Cleveland Engineering Society, 97-98 

CAT. See Clear air turbulence. 

Cleveland, Ohio, 38 

Catalytic Construction Co., 170 

Cloud, 114,362 

Cayey, Puerto Rico, 232-233,269 

CM. See Command Module. 

Celebration of the Prelude to Independ- CNAE (Comiss5o Nacional de Atividades 

ence ( Williamsburg, Va.) , 166-167 Espaciais) . See Brazilian Space Com- 

Centaur (booster), 59, 68, 350351,360 mission.


CNES. See Centre National d'hdes 

Spatiales. 

Cockburn, Sir Robert, 291 

Cocoa Beach, Fla., 212 

Coesite, 320 

Cohen, William, 317 

Coleman, Herbert J., 236 

College Park, Md., 284 

College Station, Tex., 272 

Collier, Robert J., Trophy, 164,237 

Collins, Maj. Michael (USAF) ,85,350 

Collision, aircraft, 110, 271-271, 33-39, 

364 

Cologne, W. Germany, 349 

Colorado, 8,12,380 

Colorado, Univ. of, 282,361 

Columbia Univ., 233,335 

Columbus, Ohio, 45 

Comet, 251-252,328 

Command Module (CM) ,90,168,178,189, 

216-217, 335~336, 339, 340, 371 

Command Service Module (CSM) , 175,339 

Commerce, Dept. of, 34, 42, 73, 84, 132, 

143,162,263 

Comisihn Nacional de Investigacibn es del 

Espacio (CONIE), 1 

Committee on Institutional Cooperation, 

249 

Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) , 

87,93,212,236 

Communications, 63,96,100,101,107,117, 

170-171,236, 241,242,251, 262, 276, 

335 

deep space, 38, 80, 138, 229, 238, 266, 

267, 341-342, 353-354, 358 

global, 41, 80, 180-181, 193-194, 326- 

327.387388 

inte&tiona

Congress-Continued 

Conference Committee on NASA FY 1968 

Authorization, 204,213,225,226,227, 

230 

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 8, 

188, 228, 267 

Subcommittee on Military Applica- 

tions, 331,332,338 

NASA Semiannual Report, 150 

NASA budget, 13,17-18,18,46,211,215, 

226, 255-256, 257, 296, 297, 299, 333, 

356,388 

research and development, 310 

science, 313 

SST program, 31-32, 35, 171-172, 302 

Congress, House of Representatives, 69, 

128, 139, 183, 194, 208, 211, 213, 215, 

249, 275, 281, 283, 291, 292, 295, 313, 

314,323 

bills introduced, 33, 69, 85, 99, 181 

bills passed, 67, 194, 207, 212, 237, 250, 

320 

Committee on Appropriations, 207, 246, 

24a 

Subcommittee on Deut. of Amicul- - 

ture, 167 

Subcommittee on Dept. of Defense, 

169, 174 

Subcommittee on Dept. of Transportation, 

203 

Subcommittee on Independent Offices, 

243 

Committee on Armed Services, 49, 206 

Subcommittee on Appropriations, 140 

Committee on Government Operations, 

254, 261 

Subcommittee on Military Operations, 

88 

Subcommittee on Research and Tech- 

nicral Programs, 231 

Committee on Interstate Commerce, 

Subcommittee on Transportation and 

Aeronautics, 346 

Committee on Merchant Marine and 

Fisheries, Subcommittee on Oceanography, 

372 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, 

165,178,185,238,278, 310, 

313, 346, 351 

Apollo AS-204 accident, 33, 65, 103, 

381 

NASA budget, 54, 59, 68, 156, 177, 

192-193, 320 

Panel on Science and Technology, 19 

Subcommittee on Advanced Research 

and Technology, 76, 78, 84, 120 

Subdommittee on Manned Space 

Flight, 72,150, 323,350 

Subcommittee on NASA Oversight, 

51, 90, 95, 142, 105, 107, 112, 115, 

122, 147, 278 

Subcommittee on Space Science and 

Applications, 82, 84, 117-118, 158, 

255-256, 393 

ASTR(3NAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

4d8 

Congress, House of Representatives- 

Continued 

Committee on Science and Astronauticecbntinued 

Subcommittee on Science, Research, 

and Development, 181, 200-201, 

230, 277-278, 314 

Committee on Ways and Means, 297 

Seminar on Technology Assessment, 

277-278 

Congress, Senate, 40, 48, 60, 126, 128, 156, 

179, 185, 188, 194, 195, 221, 229, 289, 

314,323,366 

bills introduced, 75-76 

bills passed, 194195, 207,225,230, 284, 

293-294,295,297,320 

Committee on Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences, 25,32,64,274 

Apollo AS204 accident, 25, 33, 40, 

5152, 105, 110, 114115, 130, 138- 

139, 145, 147-148, 152, 216-217, 

381,386 

NASA budget, 13,20,121,192,336-337 

Subcommittee on Space Science and 

ADulications. 324 

Committee on Appropriations, 284, 291, 

293-294,295,324 

Subcommittee on Dept. of Defense, 21 

Subcommittee on Independent Offices, 

220. 235. 282-283 

Subcommitke on Space Apprapriations, 

320 

Subcommittee on Transportation, 284 

Committee on Armed Services, 21 

Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee, 

296295, 2% 

Subcommittee on Nuclear Safeguards, 

360 

Committee on Commerce, 8, 21, 33-34, 

73,107,359 

Subcommittee on Aviation, 256 

Committee on Foreign Relations, 65, 

71, 108, 297-298, 323, 343, 359 

Subcommittee on Disarmament, 41, 

146-14'7 

Committee on Labor and Public Wel- 

fare, Special Subcommittee on Sci- 

entific Manpower Utilization, 19, 72- 

73 

Committee on Public Works, Subcom- 

mittee on Air and Water Pollution, 

73 

resolutions introduced, 58 

Cowressional Record, 3334, 103, 185, 

290-291, 294-295, 314, 350-351, 381 

CONIE. See Comisibn Nacional de In- 

vestigacibn es del Espacio. 

Connes, Dr. Pierre, 251 

Connes, Mrs. Pierre, 251 

Connolly, V/A T. F. (USN) ,174 

Conover, John H., 362 

Conrad, LCdr. Charles E., Jr. (USN), 136, 

350 

Contract (see also under agencies, such 

as NASA, USAF, etc.)


Contract-Continued 

cost-plus-award-fee, 8142,170-171,194, 

205.312.360 

cost-plus-i&ed-fee, 47, 49, 82, 188, 220, 

292 

cost-plus-incentive-fee. 112, 168, 174- 

175,312 

fixed price, 129, 159-160, 195, 220, 221 

fixed-price-incentivefee, 126, 149, 161, 

383 

incentivefee, 23-24,347 

multiple-incentive-fee, 1% 

study, 13, 86, 88, 179-180, 201, 255, 

386 

Convair 880 (jet transport), 348-349 

Convair 990 (jet aircraft), 166 

Cooper, Maj. Gordon L. (USAF) ,128 

Cooper, John Cobb, 217 

Cooper, M/G Paul T. (USAF), 199 

Copeland, R., 251-252 

Coralie (rocket engine), 224,233,368 

Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, 366 

Cornell Univ., 25, 151, 188, 248-249, 322 

Coronagraph, 146, 293 

Corporation of Public Broadcasting (proposed), 

252,335 

Corporation for Public Television (proposed), 

107 

Corpus Christi, Tex., 70 

Cortright, Edgar M., 3, 30, 67-68, 74, 117, 

300,317 

Cosmic dust. 354 

Cosmonaut, '1-2, 14, 62, 82, 101, 194, 260, 

277,288,291 

accident, 41, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 

131, 134, 139-140, 143, 149, 158, 239, 

293 

anniversary, 80, 107 

memorial, 161,213 

Paris International Air and Space Show, 

166,175,181-182 

training, 253 

Cosmonautics Day, 107 

Cosmos ('U.S.S.R. satellite program), 218 

Cosmos CXXXVIII (U.S.S.R. satellite), 

12,392 

Cosmos CXXXIX, 19,304 

Cosmos CXL, 40 

Cosmos CXLI, 41 

cosmos CXLII, 46 

Cosmos CXLIII, 53 

Cosmos CXLIV, 54,60,77-78 

Cosmos CXLV, 61 

Cosmos CXLVI, 70,80 

Cosmos CXLVII, 70 

Cosmos CXLVIII, 77 

Cosmos CXLIX, 82 

Cosmos CL, 83 

cosmos CLI, 86 

Cosmos CLII, 87 

Cosmos CLIII, 97 

Cosmos CLIV, 101,129 

Cosmos CLV, 107 

Cosmos CLVI, 129 

Cosmos CLVII, 152 

Cosmos CLVIII, 154 

449 

Cosmos CLIX, 157-158 

Cosmos CLX, 157-158.304 

Cosmos CLXI, 161 

Cosmos CLXII, 173 

cosmos CLXIII, 176 

Cosmos CLXIV, 180 

Cosmos CLXV, 183 

Cosmos CLXVI, 188,288,314-315 

Cosmos CLXVII, 189 

Cosmos CLXVIII, 201 

Cosmos CLXIX, 210-211,304 

Cosmos CLXX, 225,239,304 

Cosmos CLXXI, 237,239,304 

Cosmos CLXXII, 238 

Cosmos CLXXIII, 252 

Cosmos CLXXIV, 258 

cosmos CLXXV, 268 

Cosmos CLXXVI, 268 

Cosmos CLXXVII, 272 

Cosmos CLXXVIII, 275 

Cosmos CLXXIX, 278 

Cosmos CLXXX, 281 

Cosmos CLXXXI, 299 

Cosmos CLXXXII, 304 

Cosmos CLXXXIII, 309 

Cosmos CLXXXIV, 316 

Cosmos CLXXXV, 320-321 

Cosmos CLXXXVI, 320-321,323 

Cosmos CLXXXVII, 321 

Cosmos CLXXXVIII, 320421,323 

Cosmos CLXXXIX, 321 

Cosmos CXC, 327 

Cosmos CXCI, 352 

cosmos CXCII, 354 

Cosmos CXCIII, 355 

Cosmos CXCIV, 365 

cosmos cxcv, 380 

Cosmos CXCVI, 382 

Cosmos CXCVII, 387 

Cosmos CXCVIII, 388 

Cosmos, Minn., 162 

COSPAR. See Committee on Space 

Research. 

Cotton, Col. Joseph (USAF), 9, 11, 26, 28, 

174,265,327 

Cotton, Sen. Noms, 359 

Cotton, Paul E., 382 

Cottrell, Richard, 317 

Coughlin, William, 161-162 

CRA. See Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali. 

Cray, Douglas W., 250 

Cmssfield. A. Scott. 237 

Cryogenic's, 136,142-143 

CSC. See Civil Service Commission. 

CSM. See Command Service Module. 

CTNE. See Compaiiia Telef6nica Nacio- 

nale de Espaiia. 

Cuba, 3,23,376 

Cummings, Robert L., 244 

Cunningham, R. Walter, 23, 84-85, 144, 

244-245 

Cutler-Hammer, Inc., 202-203, 244 

Cygnus (constellation), 16-17 

Czechoslovakia, 192, 376

D 

Daddario, Rep. Emilio Q., 200-201, 230, 

277-278,313 

Dallas, Tex., 80, 134, 284, 346, 388 

Dallas Council on World Affairs. 376 

Dana, William H., 128, 157, 193,214, 292 

Dartmouth College, 326 

Datner, Paul B., 317 

DATS. See Despun Antenna Test Satellite. 

Daunt, Dr. John G., 142-143 

David, Heather M., 1-2 

Davies, Merton E., 87 

Davis, Frank W., 330 

Davis, Dr. Jesse H., 142-143 

Davis, L/G Leighton I. (USAF), 195-196, 

200 

Dawson, James P., 37 

Dayton, Ohio, 269,298 

DC-3 (airliner), 366 

DC-8 Super 63 (jet airliner), 64, 166 

Dean, Ambassador Sir Patrick, 23, 298 

Deauville, France, 164-165 

Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, 335 

Debus, Dr. Kurt H., 4041, 135, 158-159 

Deep Space Network (DSN) (NASA), 38, 

229, 267, 341342, 353-354, 358 

Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle 

(DSRV-1) , 368-369 

Deep Submergen& Search Vehicle 

(DSSV) , 368-369 

Deep Submergence Systems Project 

(DSSP), 232 

Defense Communications Agency, 32 

Defense, Dept. of (DOD), 27, 58, 228, 348, 

359.366 

Advaiced Research Projects Agency 

( ARPA ) ,2-3,168,353,358 

aircraft, 111, 149, 318-319, 385 

budget, 17, 18, 140, 361, 388 

communications satellite svstem. 11-12. 

32, 71, 204, 213, 236, 261, 392 

cooperation, 111, 152,213,279, 293, 307, 

38%390 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory. See 

Manned Orbititm Laboratorv. 

ken, 123, '152,318, 376, 388-389 

space program, 140, 205, 286, 296, 

348444,391,392 

university program, 13 

Defense Documentation Center, 197-198 

De Florez Training Award, 316 

De France, Dr. Smith J., 232 

De Gaulle, President Charles (France), 

90,166,257-258 

Delphinius (constellation), 216 

Dembling, Paul G., 299 

Delta (booster) (see also Thor-Delta), 

66-67, 70, 319-320, 383 

Thrust-Augmented, 214, 282 

Thrust-Augmented Improved, 7, 42, 76- 

83,163,263 


450 

Dementyev, Peter V., 46 

Denisov, Dr. V., 29b-297 

Denver, Colo., 153,209 

Denver Research Institute (DRI) , 271 

Despun Antenna Test Satellite (DATS), 

199 

Detroit, Mich., 11, 81, 346 

Deutsch, George C., 317 1 

Development Concept Paper, 376 

Diudeme I (D-IC) (French geodetic 

satellite). I 41. 47 

D)iademe 11 (DZlGj, 47 

Diamant (French booster), 41, 47, 333 

Diamonds (meteoritic). 92 

Diapason I (D-1A) (French satellite), 41 

Dicke, L. M., 280 

Dicke, Dr. Robert H., 17, %9 

Direct Lift Control (DLC) ,143 

Dirksen, Sen. Everett M., 9-10 

Disarmament, 42, 48,86,252-253,303 

Distinguished Flying Cross, 207 

Distinguished Service Medal, 164, 195- 

196, 358 

Distinguished Service Medal (NASA), 63 

Djakarta, Indonesia, 184 

DLC. See Direct Lift Control. 

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), 378 

Dobrov, Dr. G. M., 153 

Dobrynin, Ambassador Anatoli F., 23, 

298 

Docking, 21, 60, 124, 321, 334, 392 

Documentation, Inc., 284 

DOD. See Defense, Dept. of. 

Dodge (DOD gravity experiment satellite), 

199, 219 

Dollfus, Dr. Audouin, 5 

Doolittle, Gen. James H. (USAF, Ret.), 153 

Doppler effect, 41,47 

Dorman, Dr. Berhardt L., 75 

Dorn, Rep. William Jennings Bryan, 69, 

292 

DOT. See Transportation, Dept. of. 

Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. See McDonne11 

Douglas Corp. 

Douglas, Col. William K. (WAF), 136 

Douglas DC-8 (jetliner), 2 

Dow Chemical GI., 170-171 

Downey, Calif., 36, 38, 63, 102, 108, 116, 

148-149 

Downing, Rep. Thomas N., 291 

Doyle and Russell, Inc., 388 

Dragon Tail, Project, 380 

Draper, Dr. Charles S., 15, 253-254, 317 

Drexel Institute of Technology, 190 

DRI. See Denver Research Institute. 

Dryden, Dr. Hugh L., 150,177 . 

Dryden, Hugh L., Memorial Fund, 94 

DSN. See Deep Space Network. 

DSRV. See Deep Submergence Rescue 

Vehicle. 

DSSP. See Deep Submergence Systems 

Project. 

DSSV. See Deep Submergence Search 

Vehicle. 

Dublin, Ireland, 312


DuBridge, Lee A., 240 

Dudley Observatory, 234 

Duke, Charles, 86 

Dulles International Airport, 262, 349 

Durban, South Africa, 46 

E 

E-266 (U.S.S.R. aircraft), 295, 343 

Eaker, L/G Ira C. (USAF, Ret.), 113, 262 

451 

Edwards AFB-COntinUed 

flight--continued 

SR-71. 5 

XL15,-b3, 128,143,157,193, 196,214, 

254,289-290,292 

XB-70,3,9,11,174,193,253 

sonic boom tests, 231 

Eggers, Dr. Alfred J., 281,389 

Eglin AFB, Fla., 3,10,111,240 

Ehrlich, Eugene, 134,207,271 

Eifler, M/G Charles W. (USA), 330 

Eigen, Manfred, 322 

Einstein, Dr. Albert, 17 

Einstein, Albert, Award, 72 

Early Bird I (communications satellite). 

See Intelsat I. 

Earth 

continental drift, 182 

gravity, 85-86,357 

Eisele, Maj. Donn F. (WAF), 23, 45, 85, 

pkotographs of, 190, 219, 245, 258-259, 144,244 

336,342,391 

Eisenhower, President Dwight D., 25 

shape, 245 

Eisenhower, Dr. Milton, 335 

temperature, 143, 182 

El Centro, Calif., 205 

Earth Landing System (ELS), 205 El Paso Natural Gas Co., 372 

Earth Photographs from Gemini Ill, IV, ELDO. See European Launcher Developand 

V (atlas), 190 

ment Organization. 

Earth Reentry Module (ERM), 125 Electric propulsion, 73,77 

Earth Resources Observation Satellite Electro Mechanical Research Corp., 218 

(EROS) , 15,30,393 

Electro-Optical Systems, Inc., 13, 27 

Earthquakes, 85-86 

Electron, 237,272,348 

East Coast Laboratory, Fla., 132 

Eastern Airlines, 237 

EZectron I1 (U.S.S.R. satellite), 288 

Eastern Test Range (ETR) (see also Cape 

Electronics, 10, 48, 55, 73, 137-138, 163, 

.Kennedy and Kennedy Space Center). 238, 271-272,278 

launch, 21, 47, 208, 214, 226, 370, 388 Electronics and Aerospace Systems Techcontract, 

126, 370-371 

nical Convention, 307 

vehicle 

Electronics Industries Assn., 137-138 

Delta, 370 

Electronics Research Center (ERC) 

Minuteman, 62 

(NASA), 69-70,191,359 

satellite 

contract, 184, 242, 278, 386 

Atlas-Agena D, 98, 331432 

facilities, 98,278 

Thor-Delta, 66, 307, 319-320 

navigation satellite system, 242, 386 

Thrust-Augmented Delta, 282 

personnel, 54, 86, 174, 201, 363 

Thrust-Augmented Improved, 7, Ellis V/A William E. (USN), 313 

83, 264 

Elms, James C., 99,201, 363,386, 389 

Titan 111-C, 11,129,199 

ELS. See Earth Landing System. 

space probe 

Ely, Nev., 195 

Atlas-Agena D, 38, 138, 185, 229 EMBRATEL. See Brazilian Telecommuni- 

Atlas-Centaur, 113, 209, 265 

cations Co. 

Saturn, 298,339-340 

Thrust-Augmented Delta, 214 

Emergency Detection System (EDS), 339- 

Thrust-Augented Thor-Delta, 375 

340 

Eastman Kodak Co., 317 

Emme, Dr. Eugene M., 315 

Echo I (communications satellite), 241 Employment, 68, 69, 259, 285 

Eckert, Dr. W. J., 63 

EMSC. See European Ministerial Space 

Eckhardt, Rep. Bob, 18 

Conference. 

Eckman, Dr. Philip K., 87 

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 378 

Eclipse, solar, 112,119 

Ends, Dr. Earl J., 110 

Economic Development Administration, Engine (see also individual engines, such 

250 

as F-1, M-1, etc.) , 315 

Edison Electric Institute, 117 

aircraft, 255, 286, 349, 360 

EDS. See Emergency Detection System. gas turbine, 66, 172, 384 

Education, 11, 16, 26, 51, 52, 80, 227, 285, jet, 296,261 

297,309,317,332,344 

supersonic transport, 130,261 

Edwards AFB, Calif., 197 ' turbofan, 207, 250 

flight 

chemical, 49, 102 

F-104, 371 

electric, 52, 73, 102 

F-111A, 239-241) 

solar-electric, 77, 102 

M2-F2 (lifting-body vehicle), 147, nuclear (see also NERVA), 11, 54, 64- 

225-226 

65, 102, 281, 351, 353

Engindontinued 

rocket, 32, 63-64, 73, 77, 189-190, 217- 

218,231.246 

vernier, 286-267, 342 

Engineers, 39, 231, 259, 278, 285, 313 

Engins Matra, 197 

England, Dr. Anthony W., 233 

Engle, Capt. Joseph H. (USAF), 212 

Environmental Science Services Administration 

(ESSA) 

budget, 17-18 


Geomagnetic Center, 331 

Institutes for Environmental Research, 

1s 

Satellite, 20, 42, 120, 125, 143, 189, 270, 

342, 353, 391-392 

Solar Disturbance Forecast Center, 206 

. Epstein, Julius, 293 

Erb, R. Bryan, 133 

ERC. See Electronics Research Center. 

Erikson, Leif, Day, 281 

ERM. See Earth Reentry Module. 

E.R.N.O., 197 

Ers-XVIII (research satellite), 129 

Ers-XX, 129 

Ers-XXVII. 129 

Esro I (ESRO satellite), 160 

Esro II, 112, 160, 168, 392393 

ESSA. See Environmental Science Services 

AdgGnistration. 

Essa I (meteorological satellite), 20, 120, 

343 

EsSa-Il, 20,120,343 

Essa Ill, 20,120,343 

Essa IV, 20,42,120,343 

Essa V (TOS-c), 120, 125, 143, 189, 270, 

34.3 

(TOS-D) ,342-343 

E~~,~-vI 

Esso Production Research, 2444 

ESTEC. See European Space Technology 

Center. 

Ethiopia, 335 

ETR. See Eastern Test Range. 

EURATOM. See European Atomic Energy 

Commission. 

Europa I (ELDO booster), 224,233,368 

Europa I/PAS, 333-334 

Euroua 11,255.381-382 

Europa III,381-382 

Europe, 41, 52, 59, 70, 73, 194 

European Atomic Energy Community 

(EURATOM), 327328, 371 

European Center for Nuclear Research 

(CERN), 216 

EshIeman, V. R., 208 

ESRANGE (ESRO rocket range), 94 

ESRO. See European Space Research Or- 

ganization. 

European Conference on Communications 

Satellites (CETS), 302 

European Institute of Science and Tech- 

nology ( proposed), 164-165 

European Launcher Development Organi- 

zation (ELDO), 224, 2-33, 255, 302, 333- 

334,344,368 


452 

European Ministerial Space Conference 

(EMSC), 218 

European Space Conference, 302 

Eurooean SDace Research Orzzankation 

'(EsRo),~~~, 66-67, !34, 112,-168, 276, 

302,333334,3444, 356,392-393 

TD-1. 197 

TD-2; 197 

European Space Technology Center 

(ESTEC) , 302 

European Travel Commission, 312 

Eurosat (communications satellite system), 

255 

Eurospace, 255 

Eutechnics, 15 

EUV. See Extreme ultraviolet radiation. 

Evans, A. J., 138 

Evans, M/G Haw L. (USAF), 87 

Ewing, Cortez A. M., Foundation, 141 

Ewing, Cortez A. M., Lecture, 140-141 

Exceptional Service Medal (NASA), 196 

Exhibit, 181-182,203,211,218 

Explorer (program), 361 

Explorer I (U.S. satellite), 28, 355 

Explorer XXVll, 335 

Exdorer XXvIII. 163-164 

Eiplorer XXIX ~GEOS-A) , 41-42 

Explorer XXXI, 191 

Explorer XXXU (AE-B) , 11, 92-93 

Explorer XXXlll (IMP-D), 10, 163-164, 

214 

Explorer XXXZV (IMP-F) , 163-164, 174, 

214,265,334,391-392 

Explorer XXXV ( IMP-E) , 214, 238, 370, 

391-392 

Explosion 

nuclear, 2-3, 137 

quasar, 16 

Expo '67,158,170 

Extraterrestrial life, 5, 6, 9, 13-14, 37, 38, 

53,61,109,166,271,362 

Extravehicular activity, 41, 142 

Extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) , 72 

Ezra, Dr. Arthur A., 197 

F 

F-1 (rocket engine), 61,194 

F4 (Phantom II) (fighter aircraft), 164, 

367, 371 

F-5 (supersonic fighter aircraft), 307 

F-100 (Super Sabre), 12 

F-104 (Starfighter) (aircraft), 112, 345, 

371 

F-lW, 371 

F-111 (supersonic fighter), 213, 292, 358 

contract, 149 

criticism, 289 

U.K, 93,367,369 

USAF, USN support, 111, 174, 294-295 

F-lllA, 162, 166, 239-240, 347, 380 

contract, 149 

crash, 122, 311-312 

NASA, 13 

USAF SUppOrt, 111,3w


F-111B, 330,380 

contract. 149 

crash, 122, 161, 174, 311-312 

USN Support, 111,174,307 

F-lllC, 149 

F-lllK, 14Q 

FAA. See Federal Aviation Administra- 

tion. 

Fagec-Maxime, 25,136 

Fairbanks, Alaska, 120,174-175 

Fairmont. Minn.. 279 

Fanfani. hintore. 59 -I -- > - 

Fargo, N.D., 153 

Farmington, N. Mex., 372 

Farnborough, U.K., 222,230 

Farnsworth, Clyde H, 2M 

Fascell, Rep. Dante B., 85 

FB-lllA (supersonic bomber), 380 

FCC. See Federal Communications Cornmission. 

Federal-Aid Airport Program, 279 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 

33-34,236,285486,351 

air traffic control, 84,260, 307,338, 348- 

349,364 

airports, 230, 256 

appropriations, 284 

award, 96,179,181 

contract, 133,392 

cooperation, 20, 34, 69, %3@ 

landing system, 300 

noise, aircraft, 8, 34, 84, 106-107 

regulations, 89, 260, 276-277, 307, 338- 

339 

“Report to Industry” meeting, 185 

statistics, 64,84,230,363 

transport, supersonic (see also Super- 

sonic transport), 2,39, 50,69, 104, 

157,245,357458 

design and development, 5, 48, 176, 

392 

Federal-- Communicatiuns Commission 

(FCC), 114, 293, 322, 387 

aDDrOVdS. 

bgefs fileh with, 96-97, 276, 326-327 

ComSat Corp., 13,86,8889,93,95,202- 

203, 222, 232-233, 276, 326-327, 388 

criticism of, 6 

ground stations, 130,146, 232-233 

requests to, 93,95,130 

Federal Council for Science and Technology, 

339 

Federal Electric Co., 170-171, 194 

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, 

299 

Federal Power Commission (FPC) , 52 

Fkdkration ABronautique Internationale, 

174.295 

Federation of American Societies for Experimental 

Biology, 122-123 

Fedorov, Dr. Yevgeny IC, 113-114 

Fedotov, Alexandr, 295 

Felberg, Fred H., 321 

Feldman, William, 317 

Fels Institute of Local and State Government, 

163 

453 

Feoktisov, Konstantin petrovkh, 175, 

291 

Ferguson, Gen. James (USAF) ,358,362 

Fermi, Enrico, Award, 48 

Ferri, Dr. Antonio, 61,64 

Field Enterprises Educational Corp., 133 

Finger, Harold B., 5, 75, 102, 384 

Fink, Donald E., 218, 255 

Finland, 78 

Fire 

Apollo AS-204. See Accident, Apollo 

AS-204. 

escape system, 41) 

Lunar Module, 187,200 

pressure chamber (Brooks AFB) ,29,49, 

83-84 

Fire, Project, 290-291 

Fjeldbo, G., 208-209 

Flammability test, 369 

Flax, Dr. Alexander H., 174,373 

Flight Research Center (FRC) (NASA), 13, 

74-75, 92, 99, 112, 195, 317, 352 

Flight Safety Foundation, Inc., 6,173,309, 

315,366,369-370 

Flight Test Center (FTC), Edwards AFB, 

Calif., 254 

Florida, 3,lO 

Florida State Univ., 233 

Flory, Donald A., 37 

FOBS. See Fractional orbital bombard- 

ment system. 

Fog dispersal, 346-347 

Ford Foundation, 96,107,276,318 

Ford, Rep. Gerald R., 132 

Ft. Belvoir, Va., 229 

Ft. Churchill, Canada (see also Churchill 

Research Range), 28,33, 42, 354 

Ft. Monmouth, N.J., 197-198 

Fort Worth, Tex., 330 

Foster, Dr. John S., Jr., 146-147, 154, 169, 

332,353,376 

Foulois, M/G Benjamin D. (USA, Ret.), 126 

Fowler, Dr. William A., 3S36 

Foxbat (U.S.S.R. fighter), 343 

FPC. See Federal Power Commission. 

Fractional Orbital Bombardment System 

(FOBS), 329, 331, 332333, 343, 348 

France, 166, 181-182, 204, 239, 251, 299, 

367 

aircraft, 12,16,219-220,270 

Concorde (France-U.K. supersonic 

transport), 2, 154, 215, 220, 230, 

269, 373 

balloon, 8, 177, 333 

cooperation, 16,23,161, 168,216,218, 

219-220, 257-258, 270, 333, 356 

U.S.S.R., 257-258, 261, 322, 333-334 

hydrogen bomb, 152, 177, 194 

launch 

satellite, 16,41,47 

sound rocket, 65 

missile program, 41,93,197 

satellite, 16, 41, 47, 50, 161, 218, 333- 

334

France-Continued 

space program, 5, 218, 257-258, 291, 

333-334, 391 

submarine, nuclear-powered, 90 

Franken, Dr. Peter, 168 

Frankfurt, Germany, 262 

Franklin Award, 10-11 

Franklin Institute, 210,309 

Fra Mauro (lunar landing site), 377 

FRC. See Flight Research Center. 

Frederick, Md., 279 

Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture Orville 

L., 81 

Freitag, Capt. Robert F. (USN, Ret.), 87 

French Guiana, 47, 334, 382 

Friedman, Dr. Herbert, 39,236,369 

Friedman, Capt. Robert (USN) , 102 

Friendly, Prof. Fred W., 107, 318 

Friendship 7, 49 

Fritz, John M., 180 

Froelich, Dr. Jack E., 355 

Frosch, Robert A., 307 

Frunze Military Academy, 50 

Frutkin, Arnold W., 135,160,356 

FTC. See Flight Test Center. 

Fubini, Dr. Eugene G., 84 

Fuel, 363 

ammonia, 189 

hydrogen, 60 

kerosene, 34Q 

liquid, 215,217 

liquid hydrogen, 316,340 

liuid hydrogen-oxygen, 382 

liquid oxygen-kerosene, 61 

slush hydrogen, 61 

did, 50,63,189-190,382 

Fnlton, Fitzhugh, 3, 11, 19, 28, 126, 193, 

253,298 

Fulton, Rep. James G., 55, 67, 195, 314, 

320 

FW4A (rocket engine), 76 

G 

Gabriel, David S., 155 

Gagarin, Col. Yuri A. (USSR.), 80, 101, 

107,128,158,166,182 

Galantin, Adm. I. J. (USN) ,360 

Gamma ray, 61,262,308,313 

Gamma Velora (star), 369 

GAO. See Government Accounting Office. 

Garbarini, Robert F., 158 

Garber, Ruvin, 88 

Garrett Corp., 281 

Gas turbine, 66,172,384 

Gasbuggy, Project, 394 

Gault, Donald E., 317 

GCA Corp. (Geophysics Corp. of America), 

28,91,216,237,238 

Geer, E. Barton. 25 

Gemini (program), 7,28,58,196,356 

Gemini (spacecraft), 164,166 

Gemini IV (flight), 387 

Gemini XI1 (flight), 16,175 

Gemini Summary Conference, 34 


454 

General aviation, 184,188,309,363 

General Dynamics Corp., 59,88, 105, 149, 

311,330,360,381 

General Electric Co. 

Apollo spacecraft report, 138 

contract, 99,129,133,168,188,192 

meteorites, 92 

Missile and Space Div., 60,368 

Re-Entrv Svsteme Div.. 264 

suuersa ,& -transport engine, 5, 32, 48, 

130, 133.392 ___, __ - 

XB-70 accident, 180 

General Electric Forum, 132,286,323 

General Motors Corp., AC Electronics 

Div.. 43 

General Precision Equipment Corp., 316 

General Services Administration (GSA) , 

235 

Geneva Convention on the Continental 

Shelf, 359 

Geneva, Switzerland, 92,114,216,252 

Geodetic satellite, 41,47,221,335 

Georgia Institute of Technology, 151,363 

Georgia, Univ. of, 309 

Geotechnology, 16 

Germantown, Md., 281 

Germany, East, 192 

Germany, West, 70,268 

aircraft, 270,371 

cooperation, 189, 216, 218, 219, 270, 

276, 302, 333, 349, 354, 356, 393 

Ministry of Scientific Research (BWWF) 

189,219,354 

radiotelescope, 312 

satellite, 218,276,333,349 

sounding rocket, 189,349,354, 356, 393 

space program, 219,348 

tracking station, 29 

Gemsback, Hugo, 247-248 

GET: ground elapsed time 

Getler, Michael, 211,242-243,367 

Giacconi. Dr. Riccardo. 16-17 

Gibson, Col. M. B. (USAF) ,178 

Gilruth, Dr. Robert R., 23, 27, 34, 136, 

150,356-357 

Givens, Maj. Edward G. (USAF) ,177,180 

Gleaves, James D., 317 

Glenn, Col. John H., Jr. (USMC, Ret.), 

27,49,112 

Glennan, Dr. T. Keith, 150,316 

Gluhareff, Michael E., 262 

Goddard Institute for Space Studies ,16 

Goddard Memorial Dinner, 76 

Goddard, Robert H., 177 

Goddard, Robert H., Award, 19 

Goddard, Robert H., Memorial Trophy, 72 

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), 180, 

197, 359 

aeronomy satellite, 142 

award, 218,317 

contract, 60,176,328 

facilities, 18, 179 

management, 278,281,332,341 

Memorial Symposium, 73-74 

personnel, 38, 218, 250, 254, 270 

Real Time Computer Complex, 312 

,


Goddard Space flight Centeran. 

satellite monitoring, 242, 274 

Ats Il. 331-332 

Ats III, 336 

Biosatellite ll, 265 

Echo I, 241 

Essa IV, 20,120,343 

Explorer XXXZlZ, 10 

Observatory class, 66, 307408, 319- 

320 

sounding rodket experiments, 142, 173 

astronomical, 125, 140, 303, 369, 389 

atmospheric data, 25, 28, 67, 91, 97, 

103, 106, 116, 117, 140, 151, 155, 

191, 237-238, 258, 268, 272, 289, 

316, 370,375 

magnetic field, 238 

Goheen, Robert F., 369 

Gold, 386-387 

Gold. T.. 238 

Goldberg, Ambassador Arthur J., 23, 65 

Goldberg, Dr. Leo, 343, 355 

. . . 

Goldstone Tracking Station, 118. 194.212, 

229,242,342,353,376 

Goldwater, Barry, 216 

Gometz-la-Ville, France, 367 

Goodell, Rep. Charles E., 69 

Goodrich, Joseph A., 217 

Goodyear Aerospace Corp., 189 

Gordon. Max. 311 

Gordon; Mitiheh, 2 

Gordon, LCdr. Ridhard F., Jr. (USN), 

136,350 

Gordon, T. J., 280 

Gore, Sen. Albert, 65,71 

Gould, Jack, 240 

Goulian, Dr. Merhven, 378 

Government Accounting Office (GAO), 13, 

47-48, 168, 175 

“Governor’s Award” (Ohio), 45 

Graduate Research Center of the South- 

west, 176 

Gr&am, Mayor Milton, 179 

Graham Engineering Corp., 205 

Granada Lecture, 318 

Grand Forks AFB, N. Dak., 346 

Grants, 51,64,132, 151,288,306-307,349 

Gray, Robert H., 317 

Green Bank, W. Va., 155,251 

Green, Leon, Jr., 189 

Green River, Utah, 80 

Green Valley, W. Va., 232 

Greenland, 336 

Grimwood, James M., 10 

Grissom, L/C Virgil I. (USAF) 

award, 207 

death, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29 

cause, 36,47,101,107 

memorial to, 58, 60, 69, 85, 181 

Grass, Prof. Robert A., 316 

Groton, Conn., 267 

Ground elapsed time: GET 

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., 

122, 168, 187, 279, 301, 330, 369 

GSA. See General Services Administration. 

324-801 0 - 69 - 30 

455 

GSFC. See Goddard Space Flight Center. 

Guerin, Pierre, 252 

Guggenheim Aerospace Laboratories, 61 

Guggedeim, Daniel and Florence, Avia- 

tion Safety Center (Cornell Univ.), 

173,188 

Guggenheim, Daniel and Florence, 

Award, 253-254 

Gulf of Mexico, 244 

Gurney, Rep. Edward J., 58 

Gus, Dr. Donald E., 38 

GPscope, 183 

H 

H-1 (rooket engine), 1% 

Hachenberg, Prof. O., 312 

Haddon, M. Carl, 36 

Hage, George H., 158, 201, 302 

Haglund, Howard, 317 

Haise, Fred W., Jr., 350 

Halaby, Najeeb E., 12,34 

Haley Astronautics Award, 41 

Hall, Charles F., 317 

Hall, Rep. Durward G., 49 

Hall of Fame for Great Americans (New 

York Univ.) ,142 

Hall of Science (proposed), 170 

Hamilton AFB, Calif., 280 

Hamilton Standard Div., United Aircraft 

Corp., 284 

Hammaguir Range, Algeria, 5, 16, 41, 47, 

* 65,93,197 

Hammarskjold, but, 6 

Hanford Project (AEC) ,284 

Hann, H. Frank, 203 

Hamna, William E., Jr., 382 

Harbour Island, 209 

Harford, James J., 289 

Harkins, R. Roger, 282 

Harmon, Clifford B., Trust, 267 

Harmon International Aviation Trophy, 

267, 300 

Harmon, Airman 3/C Richard G., 29 

HARP. See High Altitude Research 

Project. 

Harper, Charles, 11,138 

Harr, Dr. Karl G., Jr., 19, 30, 109, 352 

Harris poll, 225 

Hartke, Sen. Vance, 58 

Harton, Erskine E., Jr., 212 

Harvard College Observatory, 284, 355 

Harvard Univ., 389- 

Haute Provence Observatory, 251 

Hawaii, 7,203 

Hawaiian Telephone Co., 88, 101 

Hawker Siddeley Aviation Co., 220, 277 

Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, Ltd., 197 

Hawkins, Jerry W., 317 

Haworth, Leland J., 230,248 

Hayes International Corp., 112 

Hayes, Dr. Richard M., 363 

Hayward, Calif., 279 

Head, Dr. Riohard M., 155, 191-192, 389 

Hearth, Donald P., 55,300 

Hedrick, B/G Walter R., Jr., (USAF) ,87


Heeschen, Dr. David, 156 

Helberg, Robert J., 317 

Helgeson, Bob P., 384 

Helicopter, 262 

Atlantic flight, 166,174 

military, 16 

record, 174 

rescue use, 166 

spacecraft recovery use, 111 

Helium, 35-36,39,201,259 

Heller, Gerbard B., 309 

Hello, Bastian, 136 

Helms, J. Lynn, 269 

Helms, Richard, 8 

Henize, Dr. Karl G., 233 

Heos-A (interplanetary physics satellite), 

66-67 

Hereford, Tex., 279 

Herres, L/C Robert T. (USAF) , 196 

Hersey, Ben W., 384 

Herzfeld, Dr. Charles M., 168 

Hess, Dr. Wilmot N., 46 

Hewes, Donald, 288 

Heyus, Dr. Roger W., 217,317 

HH-3E (helicopter), 166, 174 

High Altitude Research Project (HARP), 

247 

Highwater, Quebeq 247 

Hill, Louis w., Space Transportation 

Award, 316 

Hines, William, 62, 64-65, 95, 121, 178, 

221,247 

Hinton, Prof. H. E., 327 I 

HLlO (lifting-body vehicle), 190 

Hoboken, N.J., 142-143,381 

Housing and Urban Development ( RUD) , 

Dept. of, 34, 84, 339 

Houston, Tex., 27, 175, 180, 221, 284 

Howard, Bailey K., 133 

Hsinhua (Chinese press agency), 190 

BUD. See Housing and Urban Development, 

Dept. of. 

Hudson Institute, 390-391 

Hughes Aircraft Co., 164 

award, 56,217,317 

contract, 8,13,86,201 

communications satellite, 249 

Surveyor spacecraft, 113,265-267,334 

Hughes, Gov. Richard J., 96 

Hubert Center for Space Research, 369 

Humphrey, Vice President Hubert H., 53, 

125,291 

astronaut deaths, 25,29 

MSFC visit, 79, 162 

space program, 76,79,153,224 

technology gap, 70 

Humpbreys, M/G James W. (USAF), 164, 

173 

Hundhausen, Dr. A. J., 348 

Hungary, 192,376 

Hungate, Rep. William L., 249 

Hunt, Dr. Graham R., 227 

Hunt, Rep. John E., 18 

Huntington Beach, Calif., 260 

Huntsville, Ala., 118, 184, 243, 273-274, 

330,388 

Husband, Dr. H. C., 312 

Huston, M/G Vincent G. (USAF), 87, 200 

HYCAT (synthetic compound), 361 

Hyde, Rose1 H., 96, 387 

Hoffman, David, 385 

Hoffman, S. K., 2% 

Holifield, Rep. Chet, 62,71 

blland, Sen. Spessard L., 58, 220 

Holloman AFB, N. Mex., 12, 39 

Hollomon, Dr. J. Herbert, 73, 162 

Holmberg, Mervin, 122 

Holmes, Adm. Ephraim P. (USN), 313 

Holmes & Narver, Inc., 126 

Holmquest, Dr. Donald L., 233 

Hydrofoil, 349,350 

Hydrogen, 61-62 

Hydrogen bomb, 190 

Hydroskimmer, 96 

Hygius Rille (moon), 42 

Hynek, Dr. J. Allen, 11,151-152,271 

Hypersonic aircraft, 8, 17-18, 58, 392 

I 

Hoh Prime Minister Henry E. (Australia) 

, 79 

Homestead, Fla., 189-190 

Honest John-Nike (rocket), 146, 191 

Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, 

Australia, 79 

Honeywell, Inc., 59 

Hood, Arthur F., 317 

Hootman, Dr. James A., 12 

Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, 

and Peace, 333 

Home, 

Hornig, 

Walter 

Dr. Donald 

B., 317 

F., 84, 165,215,347 

Horowitz, Dr. N. H., 117 

Hosenball, S. Neil, 299 

Hosmer, Rep. Craig, 332-333, 338 

Hotz, Robert, 211,225,235-236 

Hough, Richard R., 387 

House of Commons 

Committee of Public Accounts, 230 

Estimates Committee, 237 

IAA. See International Academy of Astronautics. 

IAEA. See International Atomic Energy 

Agency. 

IATA. See International Air Transport 

Assn. 

IAU. See International Astronomical 

Union. 

IBM. See International Business Machines 

carp. 

ICAO. See International Civil Aviation 

Organization. 

Iceland, 196, 2op, 22p-225 

IDA. See Institute for Defense Analyses. 

ID.C. See Image Dissector Camera. 

IDCSP. See Initial Defense Communications 

Satellite Program. 

IEEE. See Institute of Electrical and 

Electronics Engineers. 

Ignatius, Paul R., 234. 

456


ICY. See International 

IkeyaSeki (comet), 25 

11-62 

Illino f, 28,212,237,262,353 

Coordinated Science Laboratory, 306 

Image Dissector Camera (IDC) , 332 ’ 

India, 69,78,141,321,328,335,350,393 

Indian Ocean, 126127, 384 

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, 181 

Indonesia, 184 

Industrial College of the Armed Forces, 

196,200,327 

Industrial Research Magazine, 275 

Information retrieval, 170 

Infrared detector, 60 

Ingham, Kenneth T., 217 

Initial Defense Communications Satellite 

Program (IDCSP), 32, 178, 204, 236, 

255. ---- 261 --launch, 

11,234 

Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), la, 

157 

Institute of Electrical and Electronics 

Engineers (IEEE) ,48,84 

Institute for Strategic Studies, 104,270 

Integrated Medical and Behavioral 

Laboratory Measurement System, 129 

INTELSAT. See International Telecommunications 

Satellite Consortium. 

lntelsat I (Early Bird I) icommunications 

satellite), 7, 41, 83, 100, 134, 157, 

193,262,282 

Intelsat 11-A, 7,83 

InteCsat 11-B (Pacific I), 21, 41, 83, 133- 

134,157,194,282 

launch, 7 

Intelsat 114 (Atlantic II) , 42, 77, 82, 83, 

85,89,282 

Intelsat 11-D (Pacific II), 146, 214-215, 

281-282 

INTELSAT III series, 157 

INTELSAT IV, 249,293,326 

Inter-American Bank, 110-111 

Interior, Dept. of, 193, 242, 291-292 

International Academy of Astronautics 

(IAA) ,254 

International Aeronautical Federation, 

261 

International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) , 

6-7, 217-218 

International Assn. of Machinists and 

Aerospace Workers, 175 

International Astronautical Congress, 

254,279,281 

International Astronautidal Federation, 

279-280 

International Astronomical Union (IAU) , 

250,284 

International Atomic Energy Agency 

(IAEA) ,327-328, 354,364,371 

International Aviation Club, 12 

International Buoy Technology Symposium, 

274 

457 

International Business Machines Corp. 

(IBM), 84-85, 367, 388 

Federal Systems Div., 312 

International Civil Aviation Organization 

(ICAO) ,34 

International Commission on Lunar 

Nomenclature, 56 

International Conference on World Crisis 

in Education, 297 

International cooperation, 111 

aircraft, 15-16,219,270 

astronomy, 235-236,284 

communications, 20-21, 113, 121, 133, 

161,184, 192, 193, 203-204, 250 

meteorology, 60, 91, 93 

military, 86,103,121,152,204 

nuclear power, 216,299,364455,371 

oceanography, 182,343 

science and technology, 25-26, 60, 111, 

164--165,216217,243 

International cooperation, space (see also 

European Launcher Development 

Organization ; European Space Research 

organization; Space law 

treaty), 227,387 

conference, proposed, 38-39,46 

satellite, 98-99,204-205,241-242,393 

Europe, 113,197 

France-Canada, 161-162 

-Germany, West, 218,348-349 

NASA-ESRO, 160,167-168,356 

-Canada, 197 

-France, 221-222 

-Germany, West, 275 

-Italy, 127-128,356,384 

U.S.-U.K., 140,393 

-U.S.S.R., 60 

sounding rocket, 393 

NAS A-Argentina, 393 

-Brazil, 88,189,302-303,326,393 

-Canada, 25,27-28,66,316,356 

-Germany, West, 74-75, 189, 356, 

24% 

-India, 69,77-78,393 

-Japan, 93,393 

-Norway, 258,393 

-U.S.S.R.-France, 322 

space research, 269, 277, 280, 298, 323, 

356,382,393 

U.S.-U.S.S.R., 26, 74, 157, 227, 261, 

296,303,310 

U.S.S.R.-France, 48, 258,261 

tracking 

U.S.-Australia, 79-80 

U.S.S.R.-AUS~I&~, 65 

-North Vietnam, 309 

-U.K., 303304 

International Council of Scientific Unions, 

227 

International Federation of Automatic 

Control, 339 

International Flat Earth Research Society, 

24s 

International Geophysical Year (ICY), 

175-176

International Institute of Space Law, 216- 

217 

International Latex Cow., 246 

International Organization for Standardization, 

185 

International Telecommunications Satellite 

Consortium (INTELSAT), 205,241- 

242.376.385.393 

Interim C;tmmunications Satellite Com- 

mittee (ICSC), 157 


Jane’s Fighting Ships, 349 

Jane’s Surface Skimmer Systems, 349 

Japan, 78,335 

communication, 7, 21, 133-1s 

launch 

* satellite, 111 

sounding rocket, 93, 393 

Japan Air Lines, 177 

Jarvis Island. 168 

Javelin (sounding rocket), 42, 80, 110, 

189,191,349,370 

Jeffs, George, 25 

Jensen. Paul A.. 56 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (Cal 

International Satellites for Ionospheric 

Studies program, 197 

International Telephone and Telegraph 

Co. (XTT) ,114,168,184 

International Treaty on Peaceful Uses of Tech), 87, 279, 358, 366 

Outer Space, 64,70 

award, 217-218.309.317 . . 

International Year of the Quiet Sun contract, 8,24 

(IQSY), 212, 236 

Deep Space Network, 38, 138,229,341- 

Inter-Union Commission of Solar-Terres- 342,353 

trial Physics (IUCSTP), 227,236 

Goldstone Tracking Station, 118, 353 

Interrogation, Recording, and Loeation Lunar Orbiter, 38, 59, 63, 92, 229 

System (IRLS) ,274,281 

Manner project, 73-74,78-79, 187, 214, 

Invention, 85 

239, 253, 295, 311, 319 

Ionosphere, 25, 39, 85, 89, 91, 127, 191, personnel, 285, 321, 355, 358 

197,212,227,324 

macecraft research. 261. 303. 372 

Iowa, Univ. of, 348,378 

Sk-eyor project, 113,162,165,210,212, 

IQSY. See International Year of the 264-267, 334, 382, 391 

Quiet Sun. 

Voyager uroiect, 54, 56, 158, 160 

IRLS. See Interrogation, Recording, and Jodrell- B& Experimental Station 

Location System. 

(U.K.) ,30, 188, 234, 3M, 308 

“I-R 100” award, 275 

Johns Hopkins Univ., 83, 166, 219, 328, 

Irving, _. Dr. G. W.. Jr.. 167 

368 

ISC. See Italian %ace Commission. Johnsen, Irving A., 19 

ISIS-A (Canadian -ionosphere satellite), Johnson, Clarence L., 16 

85, 110,197 

ISIS-B, 197 

Johnson, Premier Daniel (Quebec), 161 

ISIS-C, 197 

Johnson, Dr. Fred M., 13 

“Issues and Answers” (TV program), 200 Johnson, President Lyndon B., 79, 182, 

Istres, France, 384 

281, 299 

Itaborai, Brazil, 385 


Italian Space Commission (ISC) , 128,384 appointment, 8, 178,234,341, 358 

Italy, 27, 59, 126, 291, 344, 356, 384, 391 astronaut, 25 

Itek Gorp., 362, 386 

awards by, 39, 164, 165, 300, 389 

ITT. See International Telephone and budget, 17,46,54,248,257,283,338 

Telegraph Corp. 

communications satellite system, 21, 

ITT Cifble and Radio, 1nc.-Puerto Rico, 88, 79-80, 236, 241, 276 

101 

cosmonaut, 125 

IT&T Federal Electric Corp., 312 

defense, 221 

ITT World Communications, Inc., 88, 101, disarmament, 9,48,60,253 

118,130 

education, 297 

IUCSTP. See Inter-Union Commission of international cooperation, 21, 80, 111 

Solar-Terrestrial Physics. 

Langley Research Center anniversary, 

209 

J 

meteorology, 213 

noise abatement, 34,35 

J-2 (rocket engine), 79, 217, 292 

nuclear power, 364 

Jackass Flats, Nev., 50-51,378 

sdience and technology, 39, 297, 338 

Jackson, Sen. Henry M., 299,331,360 space program, 17, 20, 28, 76, 80, 139, 

Jackson, Miss., 52 

149,294, 341, 343, 374-375 

Jacobs, Kenneth H., 32 

space treaty, 23, 40, 126, 134, 297, 346, 

Jaffe, Leonard, 67-68, 180-181, 202 

383 

Jaffe, Dr. Leonard D., 40, 328-329, 307 State of the Union Message, 7, 9 

Jakimiuk, W. J., 154 

supersonic transport, 32, 134, 157, 393 

James, Jack N., 309,321 

transportation, 90 

James, Lee B., 89 

Johnson, Mrs. Lyndon B., 29, 179 

Jamesburg, Calif., 130,232 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 326 

458


Johnson, Vincent L., 351 

Joint Engineers Council, 50 

Bay Area, 50 

Jones, Brendan, 194 

Jones, MfG David &f. (USAF), 87, 1% 

Jones, Stacy V., 5 

Jones, Dr. Walton L, 76 

Journal of the Geochemical Society, 320 

JPL. See Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Klass, Phillip J., 304 

Klein, Milton, 75 

Klemin, Dr. Alexander, Award, 172 

Klocko, M/G Richard P. (USAF), 341 

Klopp, William D., 275 

Kluttz, Jerry, 263 

Knight, Maj. William J. (USAF) ,143,196, 

248,289-290,304,345,392 

Kobin, William, 41 

belle, Dr. H. H., 280 

Koestler, Dr. Alfred C., 39 

Komarov, Col. Vladimir M. (U.S.S.R.) 

June Kurt. 37 

Juror collige, 181 

The Junior College and Education in the 

Sciences (report), 181 

death, 124-126,130,140 

Jupiter (planet), 4, 18, 27, 65, 109, 121, burial, 128 

200,368 

cause, 134,143,158,239 

Justice Dept., 114,129 

editorial comment, 130-131 

honors, 161,213 

K 

tribute to, 291 

Korea, 393 

Kahn, Herman, 390391 

Korean War, 365 

Kalb, Barry, 241 

Kornberg, Dr. Arthur, 378 

Kamanin, L/G Nilcolay (U.S.S.R.), 147 Korolev, Sergey, 9 

Kansas, Univ. of, 151 

Kosygin, Premier Aleksey (U.S.S.R.), 60, 

Karachi, Pakistan, 359 

126,128 

Kardashov, Dr. Nikolay, 240 

Kotelnikov, V. A., 39 

Karth, Rep. Joseph E., 82, 135, 158, 178, KO~QU, French Guiana, 333-334, 382 

255,324,350,393 

Kozyrev, Nikolay, 1 

Keck. Georee E.. 13 

Kraft, Christopher C., Jr., 193, 212, 224 

Keegan, Richard J., 269 

Kramer, James S., 317 

Kein, Dr. Klaus, 14 

Kranz, Eugene F., 316 

Keldysh, Prof. Mstislav V.. . 124, , 233. , 303, Krasnaya Pakhra, U.S.S.R., 16 

308.310.322 

Krasnuya Zvezda, 253,297 

Kelly,' Dr.'Albert J., 86, 174, 256 

Kremlin Wall, 124,128 

Kelly, Orr, 360 

Kronauer, B/G Clifford J. (USAF) ,87 

Kemmerer, Walter W., 37 

Krylov, Marshal Nikolai I. (U.S.S.R.), 

Kemett, Francis W., 12 

349 

Kema. Klaus, 279 

KeMidy Airport, 34 

Kennedy, President John F., 226, 255 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) (NASA), 53, 

135, 193, 275, 338, 360 

Apollo/Saturn 111, 144, 191, 235, 254, 

257 

award, 317 

contract, 170, 171, 188, 189, 220, 226, 

292 

fire, 149 

Apollo AS-204, 22,24, 25, 27,29, 33, 

34, 36, 58, 63, 94, 121, 123, 138 

launch, 18 

personnel, 158,168,212 

Kentuaky, Univ. of, 233 

Kenya., Africa., 126,384,393 

39 

Kepler (moon crater), 1-2 

Lambda 4S3 (Japanese booster), 111 

Kettering Grammar School, U.K., 259 Lamont Geological Observatory, 341 

Khokhlov, Dr. Rem, 80 

Land, Edwin H., 389 

Khrushchev, Premier Nikita (U.S.S.R. 1, Langley Research Center (Law) (NASA), 

139-140 

25, 180, 227, 281, 359, 363 

Kiev Academy of Science, 153 

aeronautics research, 13, 152, 218, 

Killian, Dr. James R., Jr., 107, 217, 335 348-349 

King, Elhert A., Jr., 37 

anniversary, 284,290 

Kirby, Robert H., Jr., 133 

award, 133,317 

Kiruna, Sweden, 74, 94, 344, 354 

contract, 160, 168, 182, 221 

Kistiakowsky, George B., 389 

facilities, 55,188 

Kitty Hawk Memorial Award, 372 

history, 132 

Kitty Hawk, N.C., 380 

lunar gravity research, 288 

KSC. See Kennedy Space Center. 

Kubat, Jerald, 210 

Kuiper, Dr. Gerald P., 166 

Kupferman, Rep. Theodore R., 281 

Kurmeg, Dr. Herman H., 78-79 

Kyushu Island, Japan, 39 

L 

La France, Donald S., 217 

Laboratory, 69, 122, 129, 132, 165, 188, 

227,255,309,353 

Lagoe, Ronnie J., 1@ 

LaHatte, William F., 89 

La Jolla, Calif., 37 

Lake St. Clair, Miuh., 11 

Lambda 3H (Japanese sounding rocket),

Langley Research Center-Continued 

Lunar Orbiter program, 37,59,111,139, 

1 80 

Pla&tary Reentry Parachute program, 

191,222 

supersonic transport, 69 

Voyager program, 158, 160 

Langley, Samuel Pierpont, 177 

Lapp, Ralph, 51 

LaRc. See Langley Research Center. 

Large Astronomical Satellite (LAS) ,302 

Large Object Salvage System (LOSS), 369 

Lark (missile), 79 

LAS. See Large Astronomical Satellite. 

Las Vegas, Nev., 111,153 

Laser, 10, 16, 18, 80,84,108,221,371,391 

LAW. See Low-altitude supersonic vehi- 

cle. 

Latin American summit conference, 84 

Latta, Rep. Delbert L., 192 

Latta, M/G William N. (USA), 197 

Launch Complex 34, KSC, 23, 26, 81 

Launch Complex, 29, 37, 81 

Launch Complex, 32, 39, 338, 339 

Launch vehicle (see also individual 

launch vehicles, su& as Atlas-Agena, 

Saturn, etc.), 42, 49, 54, 61, 62, 67, 

80,135,233,361 

cost, 135 

procurement, 225 

reusable, 187, 188 

U.S.S.R., 33, 109, 121, 351, 355 

Lawrence, J. H., Co., 176 

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (Univ. of 

Calif.), 15 

Lawrence, Maj. Robert H., Jr. (USAF), 

197,371,373 

Leavitt, William, 285 

Le Bourget Airfield, France, 162,174 

“Lectures in Aerospace Medicine” conference, 

39 

Lederberg, Dr. Joshua, 15 

Lederer, Jerome F., 173, 369 

Lee, Dr. William A., 219 

Leeds, Univ. of, 104 

Lehigh Univ., 109 

Leighton, Dr. Robert B., 250-251 

LEM. See Lunar Module. 

Le May, Gen. Curtis E. (USAF, Ret.), 344 

Lemert, James B., 62 

Lemnitzer, Gen. Lyman L. (USA), 204 

Leningrad, 327 

Lenoir, Dr. William B., 233 

Leonard Medal, 320 

Leoaov, L/C Aleksey (U.S.S.R.), 194, 291 

Le Page, Wynn L., 309 

LeRC. See Lewis Research Center. 

Les V. See Lincoln Experimental Satel- 

lite. 

Letov, Dr. Alex M., 243 

Levine, Arthur L., 315 

Lewicki, Dr. George W., 372 

Lewis, Anthony, 93 

Lewis, Dr. Henry, 10 

Lewis Research Center (LeRC) (NASA), 

180,359 


Lewis Research Center-Continued 

aircraft research, 11,261 

Quiet Engine program, 250 

award, 20, 275, 316-317 

booster, 113, 187, 334, 359 

contract, 37,59,213 

criticism, 47 

rocket engine, 190 

Lewis, Richard, 274 

Lewis, W. Deming, 109 

Libby, Dr. Willard F., 209,316 

Library of Congress, 74,139 

Legislative Reference Service, 24, 88, 

104 

Lick Observatory, 181,192 

Lieblein, Seymour, 19 

Lieberman, Henry R., 70 

Lifting-body vehicle, 14, 58, 62, 116, 163, 

166, 190, 199,206, 213,226,392 

Lilly, William E., 75 

Lincoln Experimental Satellite (Les V) , 

199,213 

Lincoln Laboratory, MIT, 20 

Lindbergh, Charles A., 166, 177, 331 

Lindsley, Prof. Donald B., 334 

Lindsay, Mayor Robert, 170 

Linear accelerator, 267 

Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. (LTV) ,221 

Range Systems Div., 205 

Link, Edwin A., 316 

Literaturnaya Gazeta, 123 

Little, Arthur D., Inc., 354 

Littleton, Colo., 12 

Littlewood, William, 366 

Llewellyn, Dr. John A., 233, 234 

LM. See Lunar Module. 

Local Scientific Survey Module (LSSM) , 

193 

Lockheed California Co., 182 

Lockheed-Georgia Co., 268,301 

Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 15, 36, 110, 130, 

189,331 

award, 6 

contract, 61 

SR-71 aircraft, 318 

supersonic transport, 7 

Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., 39, 226 

contract, 13, 86, 123, 179, 220, 255, 279 

sounding rocket experiment, 98,253 

Lockheed Propulsion Co., 32, 63 

Loftin, Laurence K., Jr., 317 

London, U.K., 23, 26, 70, 174, 269, 299, 

359 

meeting, 93,109,153,236,318 

press conference, 21!4-220,225 

Long, Dr. Frank A., 25 

Long Beach, Calif., 64 

Lop Nor, Communist China, 386 

Loring AFB, Me., 162 

Los Alamos Atomic Weapons Laboratory, 

322 

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, 77,262, 

348 

Los Angeles, Calif., 48,199,312 

Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, 372


LOSS. See hrge Object Salvage System. 

Lovelace, Dr. W. Randolph, 11, 173 

Lovelace, W. Randolph, 11, Award, 136 

Lovell, Sir Bernard, 233,273-274304,309 

Lovell, Capt. James A., Jr. (usN), 178, 

187-188, 267, 300, 350 

Lovelock, Nev., 318 

Low-altitude supersonic vehicle (LASV) , 

12 

Low, Dr. George M., 46,179,371 

Low-gravity engineering, 15 

LSSM. See Local Scientific Survey 

Module. 

LTV. See Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. 

LTV Aerosuace Corn.. 80.2M

Magnetometer, 56,331 

Magnetosphere, 115, 348 

Magnuson, Sen. Warren G., 21, 34, 53, 

283-284 

Magruder, William M., 6 

Mahon, Joseph B., 317,351 

Maier, Mayor Henry, 275 

Makarov, U.. 271 

Mali. 376 

Malinovsky, Defense Minister Rodion 

( U.S.S.R.) , 21-22, 93 

MalIay, George, 25 

Mallick, Donald L., 184, 193, 253, 298 

MAN Turbo. 270 

Man-in-the-Sea, program, 37 

Management, 1, 16, 163, 182, 258, 263, 

291,310, 358 

Management Services, Inc., 112 

Manchester Univ. (U.K.) ,30 

Manhattan Project, 168 

Mankota, Minn., 241 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), 71, 

205, 284, 343, 362 

appropriations, 18, 14,388 

booster, 275 

contract, 161, 168,284 

cost, 140 

launch plans, 130, 154, 392 

life support system, 39 

pilots, 197,344, 371 

Manned space flight (see also Apollo 

program; Astronaut; Cosmonaut; 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory ; and 

Space Biology), 29,59, 196,209, 224, 

228, 275, 285, 290, 291,292, 315, 316, 

330-331 

achievements, 48,235,293,316,337 

cooperation, 243,261,280,296,356 

criticism, 209,225,235,255-256,285 

EVA. See Extravehicular activity. 

hazards, 39,205,213 

longduration, 64,153,213, 256,315,357 

lunar landing, manned. See Moon, 

lauding, manned. 

policy and plans for 

US., 40, 48-49, 59-60, 64-65, 80, 132, 

178,225,235,243, 256, 257, 275- 

276, 285, 290-291, 299, 330-331, 

356-357 

sohedule, 65,152,179,212,224,275, 

330331 

U.S.S.R., 225. 243-244. 261. 314. 334 

Manned Spacecraft Center (Mscj (NASA), 

27, 32, 36, 40, 193, 216, 246, 341, 359, 

363,371 

Apollo Spacecraft Office, 179,189,219 

astronauts at, 25,187,233,238 

award, 317 

contract, 88, 142, 189, 191, 205, 220, 

231,284,335-336 

Lunar Sample Receiving Laboratory, 

37,78 

management, 179,341,371 

personnel, 54, 84-85, 108, 133, 136, 205 

spacecraft test. See Apollo (spadecraft). 


462 

Manson, Samuel S., 317 

Marcotte, Paul G., 317 

Mare Tranquillitatis (moon), 266 

Marietta, Ga., 268 

Marine Resources and Engineering Development 

Act of 1966,359 

Marine Technology Society, 274 

Mariner (program), 8, 17, 27, 30, 59, 

68,82,90,338,393-394 

Mariner I (Venus probe), 187 

Mariner 11 (Venus probe), 186-187,287 

Mariner 111 (Mars probe), 187 

Mariner IV (Mars probe), 186-187, 208, 

309 

control, 295,319,353-354,385 

micrometeoroid impact, 270-271, 385 

orbit, 239,265 

photographs, 187,208,319,385 

results, 208,295,353-354 

signal, 295,378 

Mariner V (Mariner E) (Venus probe), 

183,185-186,200,391 

control, 295,353-354 

distance traveled, 214,245,253,295 

launch, 185 

results, 229,239,287,310411,378-379 

Markowitz, William, 271,282 

Marquardt Corp., 12 

Marquette Univ., 271 

Mars (planet) (see also Mariner I11 and 

IV; Voyager program) 

atmosphere, 37-38 

communication with, 10 

contamination of, 233-234 

craters, 250-251 

exploration, 14,31,208,224,261,309 

funding, 246 

manned, 64-65,81,256 

nuclear propulsion, 64-65 

plans for, 4, 20, 46, 78-79, 179, 222, 

254 

spacecraft, 8, 17, 21,27, 73-74 

unmanned, 179,258,269,319,385 

life on, 37-38 

photographs, 319,385 

surface, 37-38,250-251,252 

symposium on, 37-38 

water on, 252 

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) 

(NASA), 239, 260, 280, 359 

Apollo Telescope Mount, 220 

award, 70, 109, 133, 177, 199, 361 

contract, 10, 13, 81-82, 112, 199, 218- 

219, 239, 274, 368, 386 

launch vehicle. See Saturn. 

management, 6,55,69,92,102,180, 187, 

194,239,273,274,294,341,373 

personnel, 2, 6, 15, 4.041, 70, 89, 109, 

133, 177, 180, 273, 294, 341, 383. ,384 

Saturn S-IVB orbital workshop, 199, 

220, 260, 292, 373 

Space Sciences Laboratory, 309 

test (see also Saturn), 18, 79, 187. 199. 

292, 309 

visitors, 3,79,194 

Martin Co., 12,130,145,156


Martin, James S., Jr., 317 

Martin Marietta Corp., 159-160, 197, 201, 

220,375 

Martine (monkey), 65 

Maryland, 279 

Maryland, Univ. of, 91,347 

Mason-Rust Co., 386 

Massachusetts, 251 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(MITT), 84, 126, 133, 183, 202, 217, 

335,358 

Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dept. of, 

15,135 

Instrumentation Laboratory, 317 

Lincoln Laboratory, 20 

Masursky, Harold, 235, 305 

Material Investigations Reactor (MIR) , 

367 

Materials technology, 52, 54, 88, 107-108, 

142, 148-149, 187, 188, 246, 269, 275, 

361,369 

Mates, Jack, 247 

Mathews. Charles W.. 10. 25. ,- 279-280. 357 

Mathews; Edward R.; 168 

Mathias, Rep. Charles McC., Jr., 208 

Matthias, Dr. Bernd T., 142 

Mattingly, Lt. Thomas K. (USN), 350 

Mattoni, Dr. Rudolph H. T., 313 

Mauron, France, 231 

Maurras, Maj. Donald B. (USAF), 174 

Max Planck Institute of Nuclear Physics, 

354 

Maxwell, MJG Jewel1 6. (USAF, Ret.), 48, 

133, 154, 203, 245 

May Day Parade (U.S.S.R.), 133-134 

MDA. See Multiple docking adapter. 

Medaris, M/G John B. (USA), 118, 184 

“Meet the Press” (TV program), 161 

Melbourne, Australia, 176 

Melbourne, Fla., 281 

Memorandum of Understanding, 66-67, 

74,152 

Menasco Manufacturing Co., 173-174 

Mengel, J. T., 315 

Menon, Dr. T. K., 251 

Menzel, Dr. Donald H., 284 

Merchant, Col. Robert A. (USMC, Ret.), 

201 

Miiinry (planet), 17, 64-65, 354 

Mercury (program), 10, 58, 62, 195-196, 

290-291, 356-357 

Mesa Verde National Park, Colo., 8 

Metcalf, Sen. Lee, 48 

Meteor, 309 

artificial, 46 

“Meteor” (U.S.S.R. meteorological satel- 

lite system) I 129 

Meteorite, 14-15,92,240,320,341 

Meteoritical Society, 320 

Meteoroid, 11,260-261,328 

Meteorological satellite, 75,324,391-392 

Ats I, 92,270 

Ats Ill, 331-332,336 

cooperation 

NASA-ESSA, 120,270,342,353,391492 

US.-U.S.S.R., 60 

463 

Meteorological satellite-continued 

Cosmos CXLIV, 54,60, 77-78 

Essa I, 11, 111, and IV, 20,42+ 120 

ESSU v, 120,i25,i43,i89,270 

Essa VI, 342,353 

Meteor (USSR.) program, 129 

Nimbus program, 281 

Nimbus 11.155.224-225.362 

Tiros prograk. 120.190- 342- 353 

Tima VI!. 

balloon use in, 8 

cooperation, 91,274 

NASA-ESSA, 120, 125, 143, 155, 206, 

262,270,342 

NASA-Japan, 93 

U.S.-U.S.S.R., 60 

forecasting, 137,206,270,324 

satellite. See Meteorological satellite 

and individual meteorological satellites. 

sounding rocket experiments (see also 

individual sounding rockets), 392 

grenade, 28,375 

vapor cloud, 28, 216, 237, 260, 268, 

289 

weather modification. See Weather 

modification. 

World Meteorological Organization, 92 

World Weather Watch, 18 

Mettler, Dr. Ruben F., 136 

Meudon Observatory, France, 5, 251 

Mexico, 268,382 

Mexico City, 101 

Meyer, Karl E., 152 

Miami, Fla., 230,270 

Michigan, 11,158 

Michigan, Univ. of, 18, 71, 188, 269, 272- 

273.313 

Michoud Assembly Facility (MSFC), 6, 

239,260,373,382,386 

Microelectronics, 70 

Micrometeoroid. 38.42.69.177.270.293 , , 

Microminiaturi&tion, 55,121 

Middleton, R/A Roderick 0. (USN) ,212 

Midway Island, 260,321,356,378 

Mikoyan (U.S.S.R variable-sweep-wing 

aircraft), 383-384 

Miles, Marvin, 71 

Military Sea Transport Service, 381 

Milky Way (constellation), 151, 251 

Miller, Rep. George P., 33, 72, 74, 178, 

238, 310, 334, 351, 378 

Mills, Rep. Wilbur D., 297 

Miilsaps College, 52 

Milwaukee, Wisc., 42,275 

Milwitsky, Benjamin, 210, 317, 377 

Minnesota, 278, 279 

Minnesota, Univ. of, 16, 191, 210, 214-215 

Minuteman (ICBM), 3, 62, 169, 294, 338 

Minuteman 11,221,223-224 

MIR. See Material Investigations Reactor. 

Mirage G (French variable-sweepwing 

aircraft), 3833W

Mirage V (French variablesweepwing 

aircraft), 307 

MIRV. See Multiple Independently Tar-, 

getable Reentry Vehicle. 

Missile, 3, 60, 248, 329, 385-386 

air-ground, 344 

air-to-surface, 169,210,376 

antiaircraft, 336 

antimissile, 7, 21,27, 129, 169, 204-205, 

206, 275, 297, 329430, 332, 333, 355, 

385 

ballistic, intercontinental (ICBM), 3, 9, 

63, 109, 204205, 221, 223-224, 336, 

373 

conversion, space-use, 62 

foreign 

Communist China, 8, 204205, 275, 

297. 329330. 332 

fractional orbital bombardment system 

(FOBS), 329, 331, 332-333, 348 

launch, 80, 110, 248, 295, 385-386 

medium-range, 8, 336 

nuclear, 60, 152, 185, 206, 267-268, 297, 

331 

sea-based antiballistic missile intercept 

system (SABMIS) , 275 

short range attack (SRAM), 63-64 

submarine, missile carrying, 204205, 

206,338,367 

Missile Sites Labor Commission, 299 

Mississippi Test Facility (MTF), 61, 194 

Missouri School of Mines, 150-151 

MIT. See Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology. 

MIT Club, 151-152 

Mitchell, L/Cdr. Edgar D. (USN) , 350 

Mitchell, Ind., 58 

Mitchell, Jesse L., 3-4 

Mohole Project, 101 

Mojave, Calif., 92,177,270,345 

MOL. See Manned Orbiting Laboratory. 

Molniya (U.S.S.R. communications satellite), 

143, 250 

Molniya I (U.S.S.R. communications 

satellite), 41, 193-194, 392 

Molniya I-2,80,165 

Molniya 1-5, 165 

Molniya 14,290 

Molniya I-7,313 

Molniya 11, 143 

Molsink (molecular sink of outer space) 

chamber, 303 

Mondale, Sen. Walter F., 121,145 

Mongolia, 8,376 

Monkey experiment, 262 

Monochromator, 285 

Monsanto Aviation Safety Award, 154 

Monsanto Research Corp., 269 

Montgomery County, Md., 388 

Montreal, 158, 170 


Moon, 238 

colony, 1-2,31 

crater, 1, 227, 260-261, 309, 328-329, 

377-378 

distance, 63 

exploration. of, 4, 7, 17, 20, 21, 25-26, 

37, 44, 45, 87-88, 172, 206, 214, 377- 

378.383 

gravitational field, 38 

landing, 91-92, 147, 212, 261, 278, 288, 

291, 299, 377-378 

manned 

US., 42, 132, 161, 179, 192-193, 

224,225,243,333, 364 

plans for, 38, 40, 59-60, 61-62, 

65, 68, 70, 87, 89, 99, 152, 184, 

192-193,209,339,341 

U.S.S.R., 87, 89, 147, 243-244, 299 

unmanned, soft 

equipment, 45 

US., 40,45, 113,118, 119-120,209, 

210, 212, 265, 291, 328-329, 334, 

341-342,350,391 

U.S.S.R., 291 

landing sites, 8-9, 38, 42, 59, 106 

lunar base, manned, 30-31 

map, 208,248,388 

military use, 69 

motion, 5,63,391 

nomenclature, 56, 284 

photographs, 4,141,258-259 

Luna XII, 14 

Lunar Orbiter I, 9,229,305,347 

Lunar Orbiter 11, 9, 137,229,305,347 

Lunar Orbiter 111, 38, 42, 72, 92, 106, 

202,229,305,347,391 

Lunar Orbiter IV, 143-144, 173, 229, 

305,347. 391 

Lunar t 

SuGeyor 1,.4d.), 305-306 

Surveyor Ill, 391 

Surveyor V, 265-266, 267, 328-329, 

391 

Surveyor VI, 334, 341-342, 391 

probe. See individual probes: Luna 

XU; Lunar Orbiter I, 11, Ill, IV, and 

V; Ranger VIII and IX; Surveyor I, 

Ill, V, and VI. 

surface, 1-2, 59, 134, 196,227,251, 390 

composition, 210, 266-267, 286, 287- 

288, 328-329, 334, 350-351, 377 

texture, 126, 210, 265-266, 267, 377- 

378 

topography, 8-9, 38, 99, 126, 210 

water on, 126, 305 

Moore, Dr. Henry J., 144 

Moorer, Adm. Thomas H. ( USN) ,330 

Morgan, Carroll Z, 217-218 

Morgantown, W. Va., 269 

Morgenstern, Prof. Oskar, 316 

Moritz, Bernard, 158-159 

Morozov, P. D., 277 

Morris, Thomas D., 234


Morton, Dr. Donald C., 200 

Moseow (U.S.S.R.), 9, 16, 26-27, 60, 70, 

121, 203, 259, 267-268, 286, 299, 336 

airline service, 170,185,351 

comwt transrm 'ssion to, 133-134, 290 

defense system, 7, SO, 360 

meeting in, 23,113 

press conference, E%, 240,309 

television, 133-134,290 

Momw Aviation Institute, 36-65 

Moscow, Univ. of, 80-81 

Mosely, Prof. Philip E., 335 

Mosher, Rep. Charles A., 12-13,47-48 

Mossinghoff, Gerald J., 368 

Motor, rocket (solid-propellant) , l89-190 

Mt Palomar Observatory, 16, 153, 181, 

327 

Mt. Wilson Observatory, 181 

MR-12 (U.S.S.R. sounding rocket), 322 

MSC. See Manned Spacecraft Center. 

MSFC. See Marshall Space Flight Center. 

MSFN. See Manned Space Flight Net- 

work. 

MT-135 (Japanese sounding rocket), 93 

MTF. See Mississippi Test Facility. 

Mueller, Dr. George E., 27, 39, 100 

Apollo, 36, 40, 53-54, 65, 72-73, 107- 

108, 110, 116, 144,145, 147-148,330- 

334 

Apollo Applications, 21, 178 

award by, 1% 

manned spaceflight, W 9 

Mars mission, 81 


Mulholland, Dr. J. Derral, 63 

Multiple docking adapter (MDA), 60 

Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry 

Vehicle (MIRV), 338, 360 

Murhp (probe), 18 

Murray, Dr. Bruce C., 87,233-234 

Mururoa Atoll, 152, 177, 194 

Musgrave, Dr. Franklin S., 233 

Musial, Stanley F., 178 

MX-774 (missile), 79 

N 

NAA. See National Aeronautics Assn. 

NAA. See North American Rockwell 

Corp. 

NAB. See National Am. of Broadcasters. 

NACA. See National Advisory Committee 

for Aeronautics. 

NAE. See National Academy of Engineer- 

ing. 

Naples, Italy, 204 

NAR. See North American Rookwell 

Corp. 

Narwhal (nuclear submarine), 267 

NAS. See National Academy of Sciences. 

NASA. See National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration. 

NASA-AEC Space Nuclear Propulsion Office 

(SNPO) ,50-51,61, 155,281,359 

NASA Communications Center, 179 

NASA Engineering Systems Design Summer 

Faculty Fellowship Program, 180 

NASA Lunar and Planetary Missions Advisory 

Board, 133 

NASA Manned Space Flight Network, 92 

NASA Network Test and Training Facility 

(GSFC), 179 

NASA Office of Advanced Research and 

Technology (OART) , 56,73,76, 78, 190, 

204, 215, 366 

NASA Office of Manned Space Flight 

(OMSF), 39, 71, 135, 145, 176, 198, 212, 

219,226 

NASA Office of Space Science and Applications 

(OSSA), 3, 28, 55, 67-68, 98, 113, 

134, 1&0-181, 210, 214, 222, 390 

NASC. See National Aeronautics and 

Space Council. 

Nashville, Tenn., 76 

Natal, Brazil, 89, 189, 193, 248, 303 

Nathan, Dr. Robert, 104 

National Academy of Engineering (NAE) , 

128-129, 200-201 

Aeronautics and Space Engineering - - 

Board, 195 

Committee on Science, Engineering, and 

Regional Development, 353 

National Academy of Sciences (NASI, 1, 

8,52,108-109,126,129,149,175,200- 

201, 254, 310, 313 

Committee for hngDuration Manned 

Mission Study, 334 

Committee on Science, Engineering, and 

Regional Development, 353 

Panel on Applied Science and Technology, 

165 

Panel on Astronomical Facilities, 181 

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 

(NACA) , 315, 366 

National Aeronautics Assn. (NAA) , la, 

285,2% 

Elder Statesman of Aviation Award, 232 

National Aeronautical Establishment 

(NAE), 348-349 

National Aeronautics and Space Act, 366, 

374 

_. . 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) (see also NASA centers, 

programs, satellites, and related 

headings, such as Ames Research 

Center, Apollo program, Lunar Orbiter 

I, etc.) 

accomplishments, 59,67,150,391 

Ad Hoc Science Advisory Committee, 

217 

agreement. See Agreement. 

anniversary, 28, 96, 208, 284, 287, 290 

Antarctic expedition, 2, 6 

Apollo 204 Review Board. See Apollo 

204 Review Board. 

astronaut. See Astronaut. 

Astronomy Mission Board, 343


National Aeronautics and Space Admin- NationaI Aeronautics and Space Administra 

tion-Continued istration-Continued 

awards and honors, 19, 41, 45, 54, 56, criticism, 167,208,249,294,381,386 

70, 85, 86, 109, 129, 133, 136, 137, Apollo AS 204 accident, 40, 42, 49, 

142, 175, 177, 181, lM, 190, 193, 1%, 53, 54, 71, 101, 102, 103, 106, 114, 

212, 215,217-218,232,267, 275, 300- 117, 118, 121, 122, 128, 130-131, 

301, 317, 361, 369 

132, 145, 171, 204, 381 

Board of Contract Appeals, 331 

Apollo spacecraft, 63,94,175 

budget, 17-18, 33, 215, 257, 275-276, military research, 366 

279, 293, 318, 332-333, 336-337, space program, 45, 82, 87, 139, 147- 

338,352-353,356,37%379,388 148,156,192-193,224,257,236,381 

editorial comment, 20, 87, 204, 211, facilities, 37,99,188,358 

224, 226, 227, 235-236, 299, 323, Historical Advisory Committee, 175- 

378-379 176,361 

House consideration, 54, 72-73, 120, history, 315 

150, 156, 177, 192, 213, 225, 230, Incentives Award Fee Board, 347 

237, 243, 246, 248, 249, 250, 296, information dissemination, 271 

314,320,352453 

launch 

Senate consideration, 46, 115-116, balloon, 238 

la, 179, 194-195, 220, 225, 230, failure, 173 

257, 282-283, 291, 295, 296, 297, postponed, 42,207,298 

314,320,336-337 

probe 

Vietnam War, effect of, 13, 255-256, 

Lunar Orbiter IIl, IV, and V, 38, 

333 

138,229 

conference, 239 

Mariner V, 185,186-187 


Pioneer VI& 375 

administration, 82 

Surveyor III, IV, V, and VI, 113, 

aircraft, 182 

209,210,265-266,334 

engine, 254-255 

reentry test, RAM C-1,311,392 

engine, 8, 37, 149, 189, 220, 221, 231, satellite, 279 

235, 239, 292, 360, 383 

Apollo 4 (AS501), 339, 340 

facilities, 55,82,176,278,312,388 

Ariel Ill, 140 

launch services, 66-67 

Ats I1 and Ill, 98,331-332 

noise abatement, 47,207,250 

Biosatellite 11,263 

nuclear propulsion, 61, 184 

Esro II, 168 

space equipment, 13, 27, 50, 76-77, 

Essa IV, V, and VI, 20, 120, 342- 

81-82, 159-160, 169-170, 189, 193, 

343 

212-213, 218-219, 238, 281, 328, 

Explorer XXXlV and XXXV, 163, 

368 

164,214 

space station activities, 71 

Intelsat II-B, II-C, and II-D, 7,8& 

spacecraft, 23-24, 60-61, 123, 192, 

282 ___ 

199, 212-213, 216-217, 237, 335- 

ogo IV, 222 

336,347,371 

Os0 III and IV, 66,307,308 

study, 88,179-180,255,386 

sounding rocket 

support services, 6, 10, 59, 70, 126, AeroLe 150,48,60, 78,95-%, 125, 

170-171, 188, 189, 196, 205, 226, 

140,142, l%, 173, 177, 191,201- 

284,312,370-371 

202, 214-215. 232. 236-238. 240. 

telemetry, 50 

253, 268, 28s; 289; 293, 311; 320; 

tracking, 174-175,179,195,211,242 

344,350, 368, 369,372 

cooperation 

Aerobee 150 (Mod I), 98 

AEC, 5051,206-207,281,378 

Aerobee 150A, 72, 83, 368 

ComSatCorp., 215, 391492 

Arcas, 93, 230-231, 248, 270, 272, 

DOD, 111, 153, 279, 353,388-389, 392 

276,301, 311, 313, 316-317, 318 

ESSA, 20, 143, 206, 262, 270, 287, 342, Arcasonde, 311 

343,353,391,392 

Argo M. See Javelin. 

FAA, 20,34,69 

Astrobee 1500, 50, 51 

Interior, Dept. of, 193 

Boosted Arcas, 316-317 

Smithsonian Institution, 72 

Javelin, 42, 80, 110, 157, 189, 191, 

USAF, 190,392 

370 

USE, 287 

Nike-Apache, 28, 33,69-70, 78, 91, 

Weather Bureau, 262,270 

142, 169, 184, 216, 234, 237, 238, 

cooperation, international. See Inter- 

262-263, 272-273, 347, 359, 375 

national cooperation, space and Nike-Cajun, 28,33,91,97, 103-104, 

Sounding rocket, international pro- 

106, 116, 117, 130, 140, 1%, 151, 

grams. 

155, 193, 303, 375


National Aeronautics and Space Administratio4ntinued 

launch-eontinued 

sounding rocket-continued 

Nike-Tomahawk, 18, 25, 67,89, 91, 

177, 258, 260, 268, 289, 354, 368 

Lunar and Planetary Missions Board, 

133,169 

Lunar Orbiter Incentive Evaluation 

Board, 202 

management, 55,115, 161-162,163,167, 

183, 211-212, 258, 281, 294 

manpower, 167, 257,272,279,359,360 

organization, 55,102,138,299,383,388- 

389 

Datents. 205 

personnel, 5, 38, 4546, 55-56, 75, 89, 

102,138,158-159,168,174,176,210, 

211-212. 219, 226, 242. 248. 250, 

253, 270, 287, 299, 300; 331; 339; 

351. -j 363. . .-, 371. _, 382. -_-I 339 __. 

appointment, 12, 14, 18, 39, 59, 100, 

155, 173, 174, 198, 201, 204, 211- 

212. 219, 327. 368..384..386 . 

resibation, 39,' 59, 86, 158-159, 168, 

174, 219, 254, 288, 382 

retirement, 388-389 

procurement, 366 

programs (see also specific programs, 

such as Apollo, etc., and Space pro- 361 

gram, national), 13, 28, 29, 54-55, National Educational Television (NET), 

59, 67-68, 211, 226, 235, 256, 278- 41 

279. 282-283. 336 

National Engineering Science co., 355 

aeronautics, 12, 14, 17-18, 19-20, 69, National Environmental Satellite Center, 

73, 84, 94, 153, 218, 315, 392 63, 92, 201 

astronomy, %I, 45. 61. 78. , 121. , 133, National Geographic Society, 174 

238, 3&, 352453, 391 

National Hurricane Center, 270 

electronics, 137-138, 242, 271 National Industrial Research Week, 275 

international, 79, 128, 135, 160, 168, National Medal of Science, 39, 389 

189, 221-222, 356, 392-393 

National Model Rocket Championship, 241 

manned space flight, 6, 10, 17,21,30- National Newspaper Association (NNA) , 

31, 45, 48, 72-73, 76, 81, 116, 133, 1 93 

178, 193, 221, 255-256, 273, 275- Nai&J Park Service, 8 

276, 279-280, 352-353, 356, 391 National Radio Astronomy Observatory 

meteorology, 93, 270, 274, 392 

( NRAO) ,37,248-249,251 

nuclear propulsion, 50-51, 64-65, 73, National Research Corp., 250 

120, 378, 392 

National Researdh Council (NRC), 108sounding 

rocket, 50, 55-56, 93, 392 109,213 

space medicine, 4, 117, 263, 378, 392 Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Retechnology 

utilization, 15, 45, 68, 70, search, 32 

108-109, 117, 140-141, 163, 242- Space Science Board, 56, 165, 175-176, 

243, 350, 392 

3.1.1 

tracking and data acquisition, 79,117, Nati&L Retail Hardware, 216 

207-208, 316, 392 

National Science Teaohers Association, 

Spacecraft Sterilization Board, 117 122 

supersonid transport, 1% 69, &&, 191-192. Kational Science Foundation (NSF) , 17, 

245,249 

26, 51, 214, 230, 248-249, 259, 263, 

test 

361,389 

booster, 13,61,79, 187,232, 246, 311, Office of Economic Manpower Studies, 

319,382 

285 

helicopter, 111 

Offi& of Sea Grant Programs, 354 

Manned Space Flight Network. 242 report on junior colleges, 181 

motor, solid propellant, 176 . 

universities and aolleges, Federal supnuclear, 

378 

port of science in, 227-228 

parachute, 146,191,205,222 

National Sea Grant College and Program 

spacecraft, 23,232,365,387,391 

Act, 354 

467 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration-continued 

universities, 38, 240, 306307, 343, 346, 

363 

grants, 51,132,151,288,306-307,349 

X-15. See X-15. 

National Aeronautics and Space Council 

(NASC), 29, 38, 104, 160, 215, 242, 293, 

341 

National Aerospace Education Coud, 96 

National Aerospace Services Association, 

136 

National Air and Space Museum, 72,79 

Hall of Aerospace Art, 109 

National Airspace System, 185 

National Association of Air Traffic Special- 

ists, 309 . 

National Association of Broadcasters 

(NAB), %, 98-99 

National Association of Science Teachers, 

81 -- 

National Broactcasting Company (NBC), 

161 

,."A 

National Center for Air Pollution, 182 

National Civil Service League, 85 

National Communications System (NCs), 7 

National Council on Marine Resources 

and Engineering Development, 224,287 

National Defense Research Committee,

National security, 53, 160, 221, 228, 286, 

359,367,373 

National Securitv Industrial Association 

Symposium, 310 

National Sonic Boom Program, 3, 9, 11 

National Space Club. 49, 72, 76, 158, 178, 

245,344 ~ 

National Space Science Data Center 

(NSSDC), 18 

National Storms Laboratory, 137 

National Student Conference, 87-88 

NATO. See North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

Nature, 5253 

Naugle, Dr. John E., 287, 343 

Naval Air Test Center. 1% 

Naval Oceanographic Office, 287 

Naval Ordnance Test Station, 230-231, 

248 

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), 78. 

146, 151, 169, 191, 201-202, 293, 344 

Atmosphere and Astrophysics Div., 32, 

369 

Navigation satellite, 30, 134, 169, 207-208, 

224,242,263,271-272 

NBC. See National Broadcasting Company. 

NC-4 (seaplane), 298 

NCS. See National Communications 

System. 

Negro astronaut, 371 

Neifakr, Alexander, 123 

Nelson, Bryce, 123 

Nellis AFB, Nev., 213, 239-240, 347, 390 

Nelson, Dr. Clifford H., 9, 305, 317 

Neon, 259 

NERVA. See Nuclear Engine for Rocket 

Vehicle Application. 

Ness, Dr. Norman F., 370 

NET. See National Educational Television. 

Netherlands, 168 

Neutrinos, 35-36 

Neutron, 89,177,184 

New England Assembly on Nuclear Proliferation, 

72 

New Hampshire, Univ. of, 89, 177 

New Jersey, 96 

New Mexiw State Univ., 252 

New Mexido State Univ. Observatory, 296 

New Orleans, La., 117 

New York Academy of Sciences, 368 

New York Airways, 244 

New York, N.Y.,-12, 16, 19, 27, 37, 38-39, 

80-81, 109, 170, 174, 209, 244, 247,275, 

~ 300,346351.356 

New York.Pok Authority, 351 

New York, State Univ. of, 235 

New York Univ., 37-38,61,142 

Newell, Dr. Homer E. 

appointed Associate Administrator, 

253, 287 

award to, 317 


space astronomy, 61 


Newell, Dr. Homer E.-Continued 

space programs, scientific, 61, 82, 121, 

254-255 

space research, 3,202 

space results, 9 

spacecraft, 75 

sterilization, 84 

News conference. See Press Conference. 

Niagara Falls International Airport, 146 

Nichols, Donald, 122 

Nicks, Oran W., 4,55 

Nieroski, J. S., 280 

Nike-Apache (sounding rocket), 74, 347, 

349, 354 

electron measurement, 28, 237 

ionospheric experiments, 78, 262-263 

micrometeoroid sampling, 169 

recovery system test, 234 

upper atmosphere data, 28, 33, 6%70, 

91, 184, 216,237,272-273, 359, 375 

Nike-Cajun (sounding rocket), 28, 33, 

91, 97, 103, 106, 117, 130, 14.43, 146, 151, 

155,193,303,375 

Nike-Iroquois (sounding rocket), 10,324- 

325 

Nike-Tomahawk (sounding rocket), 18, 

25, 67, 89, 91, 177, 258, 260, 268, 289, 

354,368 

Nike-X (antimissile missile system), 7, 

201, 263, 274, 284-285, 292, 296, 297- 

298 

Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, Valentina, 82 

Nimbus ZZ (meteorological satellite), 155, 

225, 362 

Nimbus-D, SO, 60,281 

Nininger, Dr. Harvey H., 14-15, 320 

Niningerite (extraterrestrial mineral), 

14-15 

Nitrogen, 259 

Nitze, Paul H., 111, 182, 234, 332, 338 

Nixon, Richard M., 356 

NNA. See National Newspaper Assn. 

Nobel Peace Prize, 322 

Nobel Prize, 322 

Noise, 281,341,3%, 351 

Noise, aircraft, 47, 84, 170, 384-385 


NASA program, 17-18,34, 153, 207, 315, 

392 

regulation, 34, 106-107 

report on, 34 

Nomex (nylon fabric), 247 

NORAD. See North American Air Defense 

Command. 

Norman, Okla., 137 

Norrish, Ronald G. W., 322 

North American Air Defense Command 

(NORAD), 245-246 

North American Aviation, Inc. See North 

American Rockwell Corp. 

North American Rockwell Corp. (NAR), 

38, 84, 171, 180, 326 

Apollo spacecraft, 23, 25, 36, 63, 72- 

73, 94, 105, 115-116, 121, 130, 156, 

175,216-217


North American Rockwell Corp.-Con. 

wntract 92, 144, 366,371 

management, 136,148 

merger, 84,278 

Phillips Report, 115-116, 117, 138-139, 

148,175,183 

Rocketdyne Div., 136,194,231,294-247, 

294, 312 

test pilot, 3,9,19,174,267 

North Atlantic Assembly, 164-165 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

(NATO), 59, 121-122, 204, 236, 257- 

258,300 

North Carolina, 8,lO 

North Dakota State University, 153 

Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation 

( NEROC) ,248-249 

Northrop Corp., 112, 205,307,349 

Northrop Systems Laboratories, 90 

Nortbrop Ventura Ga., 168 

Northwest Cape, Amtr-&a, 102 

Northwestern University, 151-152, 233 

Astronomy Department, 11 

Norton AFB, Calif., 25 

Norway, 258, 260, 3W93 

Nova Delphini (star), 349 

Nowitzky, Albin M., 5 

NRAO. See National Radio Astronomy 

observatory. 

NRC. See National Research Council. 

NRDS. See Nuclear Rocket Development 

Station. 

MIL. See Naval Research Laboratory. 

NSF. See National Science Foundation. 

NSSDC. See National Space Science Data 

center. 

Nuclear cooling, 191 

Nuclear detection, 2-3 

Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application 

(NERVA), 17-18,32,6465,281, 

378, 392 

NmVA I, 338,394 

NERVA If, 54-55, l20-121, 291 

Nuclear explosion, 23 

Nuclear power, 185, 363364,371 

Nuclear propulsion, 11, lS16, 17-18, 62, 

64-65,73,77,281 

Nuclear reactor, 206-207, 363-364, 367, 

392 

Nuclear Rocket Development Station 

(NRDS) ,206-207 

Nuclear submarine, 102, 267, 360 

Nuclear test, 177,194,372,386,394 

Nuclear test ban treaty, 60, 129, 134 

Nuclear weapons, 104, 146-147, 228, 327- 

328, 329, 331, 332-333, 343444, 348, 

355356,360 

Nuttall, Col. James B. (USAF), 29 

0 

Oahu, Hawaii, 346 

Oakland International Airport, 143 

OAO. See Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. 

OAR. See Wee of Aerospace Researcb. 

469 

OART. See NASA Office of Advanced Research 

and Technology. 

Oberth, Hermann, award, 361 

Observatory satellite. See Orbiting Astronomical 

Observatory; Orbiting Geophysical 

Observatory; Orbiting Solar 

Observatory. 

Ocean data environmental science services 

acquisition (ODESSA) system, 349 

Ocean of Storms (moon), 113, 118,210 

Ocean Svstems. Inc.. 

Oceano&apher' (oceanographic research 

ship), 182 

Oceanography, 53, 122-123, 3% 

international law and national security, 

359 

NASA, 274,287,372 

test, 244, 368369 

U.S.S.R., 163 

O'Connor, B/G Edmund F. (WAF), 273 

ODESSA. See Ocean data environmental 

science services acquisition system. 

OEce of Aerospace Research (OAR), 35, 

179 

Office of Naval Research (ONR) , 361 

Office of Science and Technology (President's) 

(om), 34, 84, 88, 227-228,231, 

347 

OGO. See Orbiting Geophysical Observatory. 

Ogo I (Orbiting Geophysid Observatory), 

222,274,279 

Ogo lr, 222,274,279 

Ogo 111,222,274,279 

080 Iv (OGO D) 

contract, 237 . 

launch, 222, 274, 391-392 

results, 237,279,295 

sounding rocket support of, 230-231, 

248, 270, 272, 276, 301, 311, 313, 318 

OGO-E, 184,237 

0r.0--F. 237 

O;On);ek, 101 

O'Hare International Airport, Ill., 230 

Ohio State Univ.. 389 

Ojai, Calif., 349 ' 

O'Keefe, Dr. John A., 377 

Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education, 

144L141 

Oklahoma, Univ. of, 162 

Olds, Col. Robert (USAF) , 372 

O'Leary, Dr. Brian T., 233, 294 

Oliver, Covey T., 307 

Omega Position Location Experiment 

(OPLE) , 331-332, 388 

Omegation Gauge System, 272-273 

OMSF. See NASA Office of Manned Space 

Flight. 

Ondrejka, Ronald J., 362 

O'Neill, M/G John W. (USAF), 199 

ONR. See Office of Naval Research. 

Opa Locka Airport, Miami, 230 

OPLE. See Omega Position Location Experiment. 

Oppenheimer, Dr. J. Robert, 48 

#

“Opportunities for Participation in Space 

Flight Investigation” (NASA handbook), 

196 

Optics, 80-81 

Orbital Workshop (spacecraft), 178, 199, 

220. 260. 291. 373 

Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) , 

61 

Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (060) 

(see also Ogo I, 11, Ill, and IV), 237, 

279 

Orbiting Solar Observatory (oso) (see 

also Os0 I, 11, Ill, and IV) , 308 

Ord, L/C John W. (USAF) ,39 

Order of Lenin, 46 

Orenburg Steppe, U.S.S.R., 213 

Orionids (meteor shower), 309 

Osborne, Stanley de Jongh, 212 

OSO. See Orbiting Solar Observatory. 

Os0 I (Orbiting Solar Observatory), 307- 

3011 

osOir, 308 

Os0 Ill (OSO-E) ,66,72,125, 154-155,285, 

308. 391-392 

oso iv (OSO-01, 307-308, 314-315, 31% 

320,355,377,391,392 

OSO-G, 344 

OSSA. 

See NASA Office of Space Science 

and Applications. 

Ostapenko, Peter, 295 

O’Toole, Thomas, 366 

Ottawa, Canada, 348-349 

“Our World” (TV momam). 193-194 

)V 111-6 (research satellite), 367 

Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 112 

Oxygen, 33, 39, 40, 41, 51-52, 105, 107, 

118, 122-123, 259 

Ozone, 151, 230331,248 

P 

P-1127 Kestrel (U.K. fighter aircraft), 277 

Pachette, Arthur, 244 

Pacific 11 (communications satellite), 318 

Pacific Ocean 

communications satellite, 7-8, 83 

French atomic test, 152, 177, 194 

Japanese rocket test, 39 

Sealab I11 experiment, 223 

U.S.S.R. rocket test, 168, 260, 321, 356, 

378 

U.S.S.R. seismic test, 253 

Packard, Robert F., 269 

Page, Dr. Robert M., 136 

Pagov, Nikolai M., 321 

Paige, Dr. Hilliard V., 368 

Pakistan, 359 

Palisades, N.Y., 341 

Pallman, Dr. Albert, 245 

Pan American World Airways, 12, 13, 34, 

89-90, 185,300,351 

Panama, 184 

Panofsky, Prof. Wolfgang K. H., 267 


Parachute, 63 

Apollo, 149, 205 

steerable, 76, 168 

test, 222 

U.S.S.R., 124, 239, 253 

Voyager, 146,179,191,222 

Parawing, 76, 168 

Pans, France, 174,290 

Paris International Air and Space Show 

accident, 177 

U.S. exhibit, 116, 162, 166, 174, 218 

U.S.S.R. exhibit, 156, 166, 181-182,211, 

718 

Pari;-ijniv. of, 2.54 

Parker, James, 94 

Parker, Dr. Ruhert A., 233 

Parks College of Aeronautical Technol- 

ogy, 224 

Parks, Robert J., 309,317 

Parrott, B. F. & Company, 269 

Particles, charged, 80, 212, 348, 354 

Pastore, Sen. John O., 207, 267 

Patagonia, 335 

Patuxent, Md., 146 

Paumalu, Hawaii, 233, 282 

Pay, Rex, 155 

Peek, Charles R., 56 

Pegasus (meteoroid detection satellite), 

274 

Peking Aeronautical Institute, 14 

Pell, Sen. Claihorne, 343 

Pendray, G. Edward, Award, 316 

Pennsylvania, Univ. of, 163 

Perceived noise in decibels: PNdh 

Percy, Sen. Charles H., 32, 194 

Performance Technology Corp., 360 

Perrine, Calvin H., Jr., 133 

Pershing (missile), 268 

Peru, 307,393 

Peterhorough, U.K., 216 

Peterson, A. M., 208 

Peterson, Bruce A., 147 

Peterson, Maj. Donald H. (USAF) , 196 

Petrov, Georgi, 323 

Pettengill, Dr. Gordon H., 252 

Pettis, Rep. Jerry L., 18 

Philadelphia, Pa., 190,210,351 

Philco-Ford Corp., 105, 1%, 203,236, 242 

Philippines, 7 

Phillips Report, 115-116, 117-118, 128, 

131, 139,145,148,175,183 

Phillips, M/G Samuel C. (USAF), 23, 115, 

117,254,294,319,341,383 

Phillips, William H., 317 

Phoebus (nuclear reactor), 206-207 

lB, 5051 

Phoenix, Ariz., 179 

Phoenix (missile), 111, 161, 307, 330 

Piccard, Don, % 

Picciotto, Dr. Edgar E., 389 

Pickering, Dr. William H., 74, 321, 358 

Pickersgill, John W., 170 

Pinson, M/G Ernest A. (USAF), 179, 180 

Pioneer VI (interplanetary prohe), 115, 

206, 376 

470


Pioneer VU, 376 

Pwneer Vlll (Pioneer C), 375, 392 

Pittsburgh, Univ. of, 151 

PKS 0237-23 (quasar), 16 

Planetary Entry Parachute Program, 191, 

222 

Planetary Manned Space Flight Network 

(PMSFN), 315 

Planets, life on. See Extraterrestrial 

life. 

Planning Research Corp., 71 

Plasma physics, 72 

Plateau Station, Antarctica, 389 

Plattsburgh, N.Y., 235 

Plohr, H. Warren, 317 

Plowshare, Project, 15,72 

Plum Brook Station (LeRG) , 12-13, 47-48 

Plummer, Dr. William, 166 

Plymouth, England, 298 

PNdb: perceived noise in decibels. 

Podgorny, President N i k o 1 a y V. 

(U.S.S.R.), 126,128 

POGO (satellite). See Polar Orbiting 

Geophysical Observatory. 

“Pogo stick” (one.man flying vehicle), 13 

Point Barrow, Alaska, 28, 33,97, 103, 116, 

130, 1%, 155 

Point Mum Calif., 230,248 

Poland, 160,192,376 

Polar Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 

(POGO), 236 

Polaris (missile), 3, 152, 169, 185, 205, 

206.338.367 

A-3, i26 

Polaroid Corp., 219,389 

Pollack, Herman, 216 

Ponce, Puerto Rim, 77 

Ponnamperuma, Dr. Cyril S., 109 

Pop010 TI, 27 

Popoviah, Pave1 R, 286 

Porter, George, 322 

Porter, Dr. Richard W., 233 

Porz-Wahn, W. Germany, 349 

Poseidon (missile), 152, 185, 206, 248, 

338 

Poseidon (NASA barge), 388 

Possony, Stefan T., 333 

Post, Wiley, 331 

Prague, Czechoslovakia, 298, 250, 312 

Pratt, Perry W., 66 

Pratt & Whitney Div., United Aircraft 

Corp., 5,207,360 

Pravda, 6,9,213,288 

Precision Recovery Including Maneuver- 

ing Entry (Prime), 14, 62, 116 

President’s Science Advisory Committee 

(PSAC) ,45,59,80,358 

Press comment 


antiballistic missile (ABM) system, 

343-344 

Apollo (program), 57, 87, 103, 390 

Apollo AS-204 accident, 26-27, 5157, 

64, 71-72, 131, 132, 171, 204 

Apollo 204 Review Board, 114 

Berkner, Dr. Lloyd V., 176 

324-801 0 - 69 - 31 

471 

Press comment-Continued 

communications satellite system, 6, 100, 

252 

Lawrence, Maj. Robert H., Jr. (USAF), 

373 

Luna XIII, 2 

Lunar Orbiter V, 258 

management, 1 

MOON, 2,-,89,137 

NASA, m, 132, 204, 2.24, 226-227, 2% 

NERVA (program), 66. 

nuclear nonproliferation treaty, 327428 

Paris International Air and Space 

Show, 181-182 

planetary exploration, 378-380 

proton accelerator (Weston, Ill.), 207 

Soyuz 2 accident, 130-131,134 

space law treaty, 2, 25-26, 42, 64, 107, 

128.160 

space- rescue treaty, 382, 387 

supersonic transport, 2, 5, 6-7, 31-32, 

171-177 .- -.-,--. m7 

Surveyor IlI, 123-124 

Surveyor V, 287-288 

technology, 69 

tracking station, 64 

Press conference, 187-188, 201-202, 275- 

276 

Apollo (AS-204), 84-85,161 

Lunar Module test, 369 

Lunar Orbiter program, 305-306 

Lunar Orbiter III, 99 

Lunar Orbiter V, 235 

space law treaty, 60,61 

Surveyor III. 162 

US. space program, 68, 149, 175, 212, 

294, 305-306, 338 

U.S.S.R. swce activities. 176, 240 

Venus IV,*322 

Prime. See Precision Recovery Including 

Manewering Entry. 

Princeton Univ., 17, 27, 49, 72, 200, 249, 

316, 326, 369 

Pritchard, Wilbur L., 142 

Printing Industries of Metropolitan New 

York, award, 10-11 

Probe (see also individual probes, such 

as Mariner I, Il, III, IV, and Y; 

Pioneer VI, VII, and Vlll; Venus 

Ill, IV), 14-15, 30, 212, 235, 255- 

256, 275-276, 347 

contamination by, 5, 74, 87, 117, 118, 

233-234 

interplanetary, 30, 6G7, 73-74, 115, 

169,206,375-376,378,392 

Jupiter, 4,17-18,30,31,74 

lunar. See Luna Il, III, IX, XU, and 

XIII; Lunar Orbiter I, Il, Ill, IV, and 

V; Surveyor I, 11, III, IV, V, VI. 

Mars, 4,14,17,30-31,78-79,81,87,233- 

234, 270-271 

Saturn, 31, 65 

Sunblazer, 34,17,68 

Venus, 4, 14, 87, 183,208,229,233-234, 

287,304,308

Propellant. See Fuel. 

Proprietary Association, 155 

Prophion (see also Engine), 86,261,392 

Protective coating, 56 

Proton, 42, 348 

Proton (U.S.S.R. booster), 120-121 

Proton (U.S.S.R. Spacecraft), 182, 203 

Proxmire, Sen. William F., 6, 179, 235, 

294 

PSAC. See President’s Science Advisory 

Committee. 

Puckett, Dr. Allen E., 164 

Puerto Rico, 77, 126, 202, 262 

Pulkovo Observatory (U.S.S.R.), 1 

Punta del Este, Uruguay, 85, 110,217 

Purdue Univ., 51,60,151 

Pushchino, U.S.S.R, 16 

Pushkov, N. V., 236 

0 

Quanah, Texas, 180 

Quantum electronics, 84 

Quasar (quasi-stellar object), 16, 52, 156, 

201 

Quebec, Canada, 161 

Quincy, Mass., 381 

R 

Radar, 153, 185, 195, 329, 343 

Radiation 

cosmib, 314 

effects, 47, 104, 213, 263, 326, 391 

gamma. 61. 262. 308. 313 

bar, &, 138,214 ’ 

measurement, 129, 285 

solar, 35,72,129,174,206,229,262,279, 

285, 287, 288, 308, 358 

space, 38,174,213 

Van Allen belt, 20, 39, 129, 314-315 

Radiation, Inc., SO, 281 

Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 10, 

56,217,317 

Aerospace Systems Div., 213 

comsat earth station, 101, 118, 130 

contract, 174, 211, 242, 263, 386 

Defense Electronics Products Div., 238 

Radioastronomy, 37, 153,248, 312 

Radio Moscow, 26 

Radio signal, 251 

Radiobiological Factors in Manned Space 

Flight (Report), 213 

Radiotelescope, 30, 53, 188, 263, 312 

Raffo, Peter L., 275 

Rahmatullah, M., 359 

RAM (Radio Attenuation Measurement) 

Project, 311 

RAM 6 1 (spacecraft), 311,370, 392 

Ramjet, 8,12,17 

Ramo, Sion, 16 

RAND COW., 69, 87, 125, 228, 335 

Randolph AFB, Tex., 3 

Ranger (program), 217 

Rathert, George A., Jr., 50 

Rauf, Mohammed, Jr., 207-208 


472 

Rawicz, Leonard, 250 

Raytheon Co., 201,202-203 

RB-207 (aircraft engine), 270 

RCA. See Radio Corporation of America. 

RCA Communications, Inc., 88-89 

RCA Service Co., 112,170 

Read, R/A Albert C. (USN, Ret.), 298 

Rechtin, Dr. Eberhardt, 353,358 

Reconn+ssance satellite, 64, 76, 205, 210, 

218, 303, 361 

Record, 3 

altitude, 295, 344, 345 

helicopter, 174 


speed, 267, 289-290, 295, 300301, 343, 

345. 392 

women’s, 267, 301 

Le Redoubtable (nuclear-powered submarine), 

90 

Redstone (booster), 358 

Redstone Arsenal, Ala., 79, 118, 162 

Reece, L. D., 317 

Reed, Col. Charles W. (USAF), 239-24Q 

Reed, Robert D., 317 

Reentry, 46, 6263, 80, 181, 202, 302, 334, 

370. 385 

ReGiDr:b., 359 

Rees. Eberhard F. M., 361, 393 

Redus (star), 368 

Reiffel, Dr. Leonard, 8-9,99 

Reistrup, J. V., 14, 278-279, 386 

Relativity, 16-17 

Rempel, Robert G., 56 

Rendezvous, 21,136,228,334 

Renovo, Pa., 380 

Report to the Congress on United States 

Aeronautics and Space Activities, 28-29 

Republic Aviation Cow., 253 

Research and development (R&D) 

benefits, 256 

expenditures, 151, 284-285, 386 

government role, 151, 254, 310, 386 

national defense, 123, 204-205, 373, 376 

universities and colleges, 227-228, 353 

U.K. and France, 367 

Research, military, 123, 204-205 

Resolute Bay, Canada, 316317 

Reuters, 50, 86 

Reynolds, Dr. Orr E., 4 

R F 4 (reconnaissance aircraft), 384 

RF-111A (supersonic reconnaissanck aircraft), 

380 

Rhodes, Rep. John J., 213 

Rice Univ., 42,80 

Richardson, Keith A,, 37 

Richland, Wash., 384 

Richmond, Va., 193 

Ricketts, Henry, 109 

Rickover, V/A Hyman G. (USN) ,1041 

Rickenbacker, Capt. Edward, 331 

Rig& Sqdn. Ldr. Hugh, 277 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 385 

Roanoke, Va., 269 

Rochester, Pa., 350 

Rockaway, N.Y., 298 

Rockefeller Public Service Award, 369


Rocket belt, % 

Rocket engine. See Engine, chemical, 

electric, nuclear, rocket, etc., and individual 

rocket engines such as F-1, 

J-2, etc. 

Rocket Research Corp., 142 

Rockwell, Norman, 109 

Rockwell-Standard Corp. See North 

American Rockwell Corp. 

Roderick, M/G Charles R. (USAF, Ret.), 

173 

Roderick, Robert L., 317 

Rogan, J. P., 4 

Rogers, Henry H., 317 

Rogers, John G., 167-168 

Rohini-75 (Indian rocket), 350 

Rollins College, 53 

Ro~~s-RoYc~ CO., 270 

Romania, 376 

Rome, Italy, 27,218 

Rome, Univ. of, 128,384 

Romney, Gov. George, 158 

Roseau (French satellite), 333 

Rosenbluth, Dr. Marshall L., 72 

Rosenfeld, Stephen S., 10 

Rosman, N.C., 10, 174-175, 336 

Rostow, Eugene V., 241 

Rostow, Walt W., 104 

Rotary International, 269 

Roudebush, Rep. Richard L., 195 

Roush, Rep. J. Edward, 181, 185 

Rover (program), 206-207, 378 

Rover (nuclear rocket engine), 54 

Rowan, Dr. Lawrence, 9 

Rowlesburg, W. Va., 118 

Royal Aeronautical Society, 86, 109,366 

Royal Aircraft Establishment, 222, 230, 

291 

Royal Radar Establishment, 52-53 

Royal Society of Great Britain, 327 

Royer, Maj. Harvey J. (USAF), 371 

Ruddock, Kenneth A., 56 

Rule, Gordon W., 360 

Ruleson, Project, 380 

Rumsfeld, Rep. Donald, 99-100, 195, 204, 

208 

Rusk, Secretary of State Dean, 19,65, 298 

Rust Engineering Co., 112 

Ruud. Raloh H.. 136 

Ryall; Dr. -Man,’85-86 

Ryan, Rep. William F. 

Apollo (AS-204) accident, 128,130,381, 

386 

NASA and Congress, 278-279 

NASA appropriations, 250 

NASA management, 105, 108, 139, 148, 

168,183,211,294 

SST program, 215 

Ryland, Lloyd B., 217 

SAAB aktiebolag, 197 

S 

SABMIS. See Seaborne Anti-Ballistic Mis- 

sile Intercept System. 

SAC. See strategic Air Command. 

473 

Sacramento, Calif., 13, 40-41, 262, 347, 

388 

Sacramento Peak Observatory, 35 

Safety, 40,51-52,68-69,101-102,139,154, 

315 

Sagamore Hill Radio Observatory, 391 

Sahara Missile Proving Grounds, 197 

Saigon, S. Vietnam, 111 

St. Louis, Mo., 150, 209, 347 

St. Louis Univ., 224,245 

St. Paul, Minn., 278 

Salem, Ore., 262 

Salisbury, Dr. John W., 227 

Salt Lake City, Utah, 346 

San Clemente, Calif., 248 

San Clemente Island, 37 

San Diego, Calif., 72 

San Francisco, Calif., 68, 177, 216, 273 

San Marco (Italian satellite project), M, 

384 

Sun Murco I (Italian satellite), 128, 384 

Sun MQTCO IZ (San Marco B), 126-128, 

384, 392-393 

San Marco C, 3@, 384 

Sandage, Dr. Allan R., 216-217 

Sanders Associates, Inc., 10 

Sanford, Neal, 293 

Santa Barbara, Calif., 280-281 

Santa Cruz, Calif., 192 

Santa Monica, Calif., 358, 370 

Sarnoff, David, Research Center, RCA, 10 

Saros (French satellite), 50 

SAS. See Small Astronomy Satellite. 

Saw, Mark, 317 

Satellite. See individual satellites, satellite 

programs, and type of satellite such 

as Aeronomy, Geodetic, Meteorological, 

Navigation, and Reconnaissance satellite. 

Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition 

Network (STADAN), 174-175, 179, 211 

Satellite, unidentified 

launch vehicle 

Atlas, 221 

Atlas-Agena D, 36,161,175 

A&s F, 321 

scout, 111,158,279 

Thor-Agena D, 9,50,91,146,169,188, 

219, 235, 271, 327, 371 

Thor-Burner II,42,252,299 

Titan 111-B, 50, 191, 244, 274, 318 

Sato, Prime Minister Eisaku, 21 

Saturn I (booster), 45,49,61,81,274 

Saturn I, Uprated (Saturn IB) (booster), 

22, 145 

contract, 112, 196, 239, 292, 368 

en* 

H-1. 1% 

J-g’79,217,292 

program, 125, 145, 275, 283, 330, 353, 

387 

SIB, test, 162, 199, 292, 382 

S-M, test, 21, 178

Saturn V (booster), 115, 125 

Apollo/Saturn, 191, 205, 232, 274, 294, 

298.302. 319. 339.341.393 

capability,‘294,’341), 393 ’ 

contract, 10, 36, 112, 180, 220, 235, 368 

cost, 393 

engine 

F-1-61. 194 

~-2,~79,’217, m, 

341) 

plans for, 4, 24, 49, 54, 55, 65, 138, 145, 

275, 283, 330-331 

stage 

1st (SIC), 36,61,187,205,232,274, 

341) 

2nd (SII), 164, 205, 232, 235, 274, 

340.388 

3rd (kIVB), 13,40,54,55,232,244, 

260,292,388 

Saturn (planet), 5,31,65 

Saudi Arabia, 141 

SCAT Solar Pointing System, 289 

Scheer, Julian, 280 

Schenectady, N.Y., 92,160 

Scherer, Capt. Lee R., 9, 317, 383 

Schirra, Capt. Walter M., Jr. (USN), 23, 

85,144,149,161, ?A4 

Schmidt, Dr. Maarten, 16 

Schneider, William, 226 

Schneidennan, Dan, 393 

Schomburg, L/C August (USA, Ret.), 327 

Schriever, Gen. Bernard A. (USAF, Ret.), 

15,153,206,310,344 

Schuck, 0. Hugo, 339 

Schutt, John B., 218 

Schwartz, Harry, 288 

Schwa, Dr. Francis C., 201 

Schweickart, Russell L., 85,350 

Schwinghamer, Robert J., 133 

Science, 16, 176, 180 

benefits, 39,230,257 

funding, 51, 241) 

international cooperation, 110 

national policy, 46, 51, 278, 310 

press coverage, 62 

U.S.S.R., 16, 123 

Science Council of Canada, 66 

Science Seminar, 180 

Scientific and Technical Information 

Facility (NASA), 284 

Scientist-astronaut. 1. 233. 294 

Scientists, 26. 39, 123, 153, 231, 259, 278, 

285, 313, 348 

SCNS. See Self-contained Navigation Sys- 

tem. 

Scott, L/C David R. (USAF) ,85,350 

Scott, Dr. Ronald F., 120,162 

Scott, Miss Sheila, 267, 301 

Scott, William E., 133 

Scout (booster), 42, 76, 142, 241, 349, 382 

contract, 221 

launch 

RAM C-1,311 

satellite 

Ariel Ill ( UK-E) ,1M 

Esro II, 168 


474 

Scout-Continued 

launch-continued 

satellite+continued 

Sun Marc0 11,126 

USAF, 111, 158, 279, 367 

Scramjet, 8 

ScovilIe, Col. Curtis L. (USAF) , 163 

Scramjet. See Supersonic combustion 

ramjet. 

Sea of Tranquility (moon), 42, 99, 350 

Seaborg, Dr. Glenn T., 15, 267, 364, 389 

Seaborne Anti-Ballistic Missile Intercept 

System (SABMIS), 201, 203, 275 

Seal Beach, Calif., 164 

Sealab I1 (underwater laboratory), 368 

Sealab III, 37,232,368 

Seamans, Ik: Robert C., Jr., 79, 253 

Apollo (AS-204) accident, 25, 33, 40, 

46,51,53,102,110 

appropriations, 59, 192, 257 


resignation, 288 

space program, 144, 147, 150, 194, 318, 

‘338 

SEAR, Project, 309 

Sears, G. A., 228 

Seattle, Wash., 346 

Sedov, Prof. Leonid I., 261, 280, 296, 299, 

351 

Sehlstedt, Albert, Jr., 13,333 

Seitz, Dr. Frederick, 165,310 

Self-contained Navigation S y s t e m 

(SCNS), 332 

Sentinel System (ABM system), 329 

Sentinel System Evaluation Agency 

(SSEA) , 329-330 

Serpentuator, 219 

SERT II (Space Electric Rocket Test) 


Service Module (sM), 90,175,189,24.6 

Service Propulsion System (SPS) ,339 

Sevareid, (Arnold) Eric, 29 

Shabad, Theodore, 16 

Shafer, Edward M., 331 

Shai, Charles M., 218 

Shea, Dr. Joseph F., 36,53,219 

Shea, William M., 317 

Sheldon, Dr. Charles S., 11, 74, 139, 351 

Shell DeveloDment Cora.. 217 

Shenton, Samuel, %5 * ’ 

Shepard, Capt. Alan B., Jr. (USN), 27, 

175, 177, 207 

Shepard, Charles. 328 

Shepard, Van, 3,9,19,174 

Shinkle, M/C John G. (USA, Ret.), 158- 

159,168,212 

Shklovsky, Iosif, 240 

Shoemaker, Dr. Eugene, 162, 317, 342 

Short-range attack missile (SCRAM), 64 

Short takeoff and landing aircraft. 

STOL aircraft. 

See 

Shurcliff, Dr. William A., 190 

Siberia, 250 

Sierradyne Corp., 349 

Sikorsky Aircraft (United Aircraft Corp.) , 

262


Sikorsky, Igor I., 262, 285, 380, 389 

Silber, Howard, 385 

Silva, R. W., 115 

Silverstein, Dr. Abe, 13,48,316 

Sims. Harold. 173 

Singer, S. Fr& BI 

Sinkiang Province, Communist China, 386 

Sinus Medii (moon). 210. 334. 342. 377 

, , , 

Sjogren, William L.; 63 

Sklarewitz, Norman, 347 

Skua (U.K. sounding rocket), 1 

Skybolt (missile), 376 

Skynet (satellite), 236 

SL-I (solid rocket motor), 190 

SL2, 190 

SL-3,189 

Slayton, Maj. Donald K. (WAF), 43, 46, 

84 

Sl&ich, Sidney J., 390 

Sloop, John L., 135,350 

Sloop, Project, 380 

Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS) (program), 

328 

Small Astronomy Satellite-A (SAS-A) , 

142 

Small Business Administration, 263 

Smart, Gen. Jacob E. (USAF, Ret.), 75, 

137, 281, 389 

Smith, Bradford A., 2% 

Smith, Francis-B., 75 

Smith, Dr. Henry, 343 

Smith, Sen. Margaret Chase, 75, 145, 175, 

257, 296 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 

(Cambridge, Mass.), 29,46, 177,335 

Smithsonian Institution, 72, 79, 109, 164, 

177, 378 

Rite of Spring celebration, % 

Smoluchowski, Dr. Roman, 27 

Smull, Dr. Thomas L. K., 75 

SNAP-8 (nuclear reactor), 184 

SNAP-IOA, 394 

Snelling, William, 136 

Snetsinger, Dr. Kenneth, 14 

Snoddy, William C., 361 

Snowden, G., 176 

SNPO. See NASA-AEC Space Nzudeat 

Propulsion Office. 

Social Security Administration, 382 

sOci6t6 Nationale d'8tude et de Construc- 

tion des Moteurs d'Aviation 

(SNECMA) ,290 

Sohier, Walter D., 54 

Solar cell, 56 

Solar corona, 17,355 

Solar Distrubance Forecast Center, 206 

Solar eclipse. 6ee Eclipse, solar. 

Solar flare, 16,155,229,314 

Solar Geomagnetic Monitoring Service, 

229 

Solar Pointing Aerobee Rocket Control 

system (SARCS), 372 

Solar wind, 115,236,348,370 

Solid propellant, 63,361 

Soluyanov, F., 298 

475 

200,203,3a5 

Sonmiani, Pakistan, 359 

Sounding rocket (see also individual 

sounding rockets: Aerobee 150, Aerobee 

150A, Arcas, Astrobee 1500, 

Boosted Arcas, Javelin, NikeApache, 

Nike-Cajun, Nike-Iroquois, Nike- 

Tomahawk), 55,212,392 

foreign 

China, Communist, 314 

France, $65 

Japan, 93 

U.S.S.R., 322 

international programs, 113, 227, 368, 

3112 

EL;: 368 

ESRO, 38, 94 

NASA-Argentina, 393 

-Brazil, 248, 303, 326, 393 

-Canada, 28, 33, 42, 48, 66, 67, 91, 

101 

-GeGany, West, 74,393 

-India, 78,393 

Japan, 93, 393 

-Norway, 260, 393 

-Pakistan, 359 

U.S.S.R.-France, 322 

South Africa, 335 

South Carolina, 279 

South Pole, 112 

Southeast Asia, 346 

Southern Illinois Univ., 62 

Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, 

16,110,142,191,370 

Southwest Research Institute, 303 

Soviet Academy of Sciences, 39, 56, 101, 

124, 308, 310, 322, 323 

Soviet Armed Forces Day, 50 

Soviet Commission for Exploration and 

Use of Outer Space, 292,324 

Soviet Institute of Oceanology, 163 

Soviet Spme Programs, 1962-65: Goals 

and Purposes, Achievements, Plans, and 

International Implications, 25 

Soviet Union. See U.S.S.R. 

Soyuz I (U.S.S.R. spacecraft), 124, 134, 

147, 158, 161, 175,213,291,334,392 

Space Applications Summer Study, 108 

Space biology, 74,87,327 

animal experiments, 263,313,334 

dog, 104 

mouse. 4.368 

- ----I 

primate,& 36,39,65,262 

atmosphere, artificial, 33,39,41,52, 101, 

105, 107, 118, 122, 259 

award. 136 

en&&nent, effects of, 2, 6, 36-37, 39, 

47, 76, 129, 136, 263, 326, 334, 368, 

378 

laboratory, 129 

life support system, 39, 50, 53, 101, 107, 

118,122,14&263,370

Space biology-Continued 

radiation, effects of, 104, 213, 265, 288, 

313,314,326,392 

technology utilization, 104 

weightlessness, effects of 

animals, 2,5,65,104 

humans, 10, 12, 31, 36-37, 56, 71, 76 

organisms, 47, 263-265, 313, 391-392 

plants, 326 

Space Biology and Medicine (U.S.S.R. 

magazine), 259 

Space environment, 136 

Space law (see also Space rescue treaty), 

217, 332 

Space law treaty, 2,%, 64,71,293,343,361 

editorial comment, 25-26, 42, 64, 107, 

128,134,160,299,322 

effective date, 298 

government comment, 71, 300, 345 

ratification, 23 

France, 239,392 

U.S., 40, 48, 58, 108, 126, 160 

U.S.S.R., 160 

Space, military use of (see also Manned 

Orbiting Laboratory), 2 

communications, 11-12, 71 

meteorology, 111 

reconnaissance, 64, 76, 160, 205, 210, 

296-297 

space station, 63,69 

US., 204-205, 211, 286, 296, 366 

U.S.S.R., 205,216,348 

Vietnam War, 111,366 

Space Nuclear Propulsion Office, Nevada 

(SNPO-N), 200 

Space program, national (see also individual 

programs, such as Apollo program, 

etc.), 5455,201 

accomplishments, 28-29, 59, 67-68, 80, 

87-88, 150, 158, 240, 261, 269, 324, 

339-341 

international, 80,135,150 

management, 3, 90,258,263, 285, 293 

manned space flight, 3,7, 10,4849 

budget, %lo, 17,17-18,54,87, 113, 116, 

179, 211, 215, 235, 235-236, 2%, 248, 

255-256,257,336-338,368 

cost, 73,140-141,288489 

criticism, 51, 80, %, 114, 114415, 115- 

116, 148, 153-154, 158, 178, 209, 364 

education, benefits to, 16, 80, 285, 316, 

317, 344 

employment, 138-139,167,257,272,279, 

359 

Humphrey, Vice President Hubert H., 

76 .- 

international cooperation. See Interna- 

tional cooperation. 

Johnson, President Lyndon B., 17,17-18, 

21, 28, 54, 76, 80, 139, 150, 296, 341, 

343,373-375 

lunar landing. See Moon, landing. 

manned space flight. See Manned 

space flight. 

military, 19-20, 153-154, 160, 273, 286, 

296-297, 361 


476 

Space program-continued 

objectives, 20,45,6445,76,88,143,235, 

235-236,255-256,392 

scientific and technological, 15-16, 

150,315-316, 3% 

DO~~CV. 

8.17.296.323- 381 

&st-ApOllo,’4,1~, 31,’80 ~ 

budget decision, 13,59-60,132, 192, 

192-193, 295-2%. 299 

suggested program< 4,7,45,54-55, 

108-109,184,381 

significance, 30-31, 134, 135-136, 155, 

209, 258, 293, 362, 368 

international, 135-136, 256, 288-289, 

356 

US. vs. U.S.S.R. See Space race. 

Vietnam War, effect of, 13, 113, 235- 

236.255-256.257.333 

Space race, 116,. 136131, 178, 256, 296, 

343,37%374 

booster, 28, 33, 38, 345, 351, 355 

communications, 70 

cost, 147,288-289,293 

criticism, 26-27,443,381 

manned space flight, 10,29 

microminiaturization, 55 

military aspects, 269, 289, 355 

moon, 2, 8, 2425, 33, 57, 59, 64-65, 89, 

130, 351,364 

planetary, 345, 378 

post-Apollo, 20, 296 

Space rescue, 125,277 

Space rescue treaty, 211, 332, 380, 382, 

383, 387, 392 

Space results (see also Earth; Moon; 

Mars; Venus; individual probes, satellites, 

and sounding rockets), 280 

sericulture. 167.286 

r ~ I--- 

astronomy, 1,9,31,37, %, 56,73-74,81, 

115, 201-202, 236, 238, 251, 260, 305, 

311.316.345.370.377 

communications, 21,32,80,98, 150, 209, 

224, 242, 251, 345, 356 

earth sciences, 16, 18, 30, 42, 134, 222, 

224, 245, 292, 305, 316-317 

engineering, 136 

medicine, 16, 39, 105, 167, 209, 263, 

270 

meteoroid detection, 274 

meteorology, 32, 60, 111, 125, 150, 190, 

224.270.336.356 

oceanogaihy, 232,287,368,372 

radiation, 136,279,287 

social science, 71.163.202.224.255-256, 

280, 285, 291-292, 312,316,‘317, 3%; 

34s 

technology, 30,46,69,70, 105, 140, 202, 

209, 224, 255, 263, 271, 272,280, 302, 

368. 390 

Space Science Board (NRC) ,76 

Space simulator, 12 

Space station (see also Manned Orbiting 

Laboratory), 10, 14,20, 21,3031,33, 

88,274,280 

cost, 228,280 

military use, 69,247,343


Space suit, 245,247 

Space transportation, 135 

Spacecraft (see also individual spacecraft, 

such as Apollo, Lunar Orbiter, Luna, 

Mariner, Surveyor, etc. 1, 391-392 

braking, 124 

design, 36, 51-52, 53-54, 58, 68, 75, 82, 

86, 105, 123, 145, 158, 179, 190, 260, 

3.01 

development testing, 68,339-340 

electrical systems, 40, 92, 101, 108, 149, 

269, 33p-340, 373 

emergency equipment, 23, 68, 144-145, 

339-340 

environment, simulated lunar vehicle, 

217,303 

environmental control system, 303, 319, 

339-340, 357, 365, 369, 370, 378 

equipment, M, 60, 68, 81-82, 98, 118, 

137, 143, 185, 220, 229, 265-266, 275, 

291, 296, 303, 328, 334, 33w40, 353, 

3%, 365,375 

escape hatch, 54, 68-69, 82, 102, 148 

extravehicular equipment, 142,205 

heating, 112 

instrumentation, 75, 129, 137, 274, 279, 

295, 303, 306, 307, 308, 310-311, 313, 

314, 319, 320, 322, 328-329, 331332, 

334, 336, 342, 345446, 353, 373, 375, 

382-383, 384, 385 

landing system, 124, 162, 178, 191, 205, 

245, 260, 321, 33P34Q0, 350, 356, 365, 

371 

life support system, 23, 38, 39, 4, 47, 

propulsion. See Engine; Motor, rocket: 

and individual launch vehicles, such 

as Saturn, etc. 

reentry control system (see also Reentry), 

124, 216 

reusable, 4, 10 

space tool, 219 

sterilization, 74, 84, 86, 117 

Spacesuit communications (SSC) systems, 

238 

51-52, 73, 118, 125, 148-149, 238, 246 

Spaco, Inc., 112 

Spady, Amos A., Jr., 288 

Spain, 1, 242, 293, 335, 353 

SPARCS. See Solar Pointing Aerobee 

Rocket Control System. 

Sparta, Project, 121 

Spartan (missile), 147, 346 

Special Libraries Assn., 170 

Spectra-Physics, Inc., 56 

Spectrometer, 60,66, 72,83, 151,215, 308, 

355,368 

Sperry, Lawrence, Award, 288, 316 

Sperry-Rand Gorp., 112 

Univac Defense Systems Div., 278 

Spica (star), 173 

Spilhaus, Dr. Athelstan F., 16, 210 

Spin-Scan Cloud Camera (sscc), 332,388 

Spirit of St. Louis, 166 

Spirit of St. Louis medal, 212 

Spivak, Jonathan, 31,299 

Spohr, Dr. Arthur, 191 

477 

Spradley, L. Harold, 305 

Sprint (antimissile missile), 322 

SPS. See Service Propulsion System. 

Sp~nik I (U.S.S.R. satellite), 87, 273, 

291, 320 

Squier, Carl B., 331 

SR-71 (strategic reconnaissance aircraft), 

5,111,303,318 

SUN. See Short-Range Attack Missile. 

SSCC. See Spin-Scan Cloud Camera. 

SST. See Supersonic transport. 

STADAN. See satellite Tracking and Data 

Acquisition Network. 

Stafford, Maj. Thomas P. (USAF), 144, 

149, 161 

Stalin, Joseph, 143 

Stalmach, Charles J., 80 

Standardization, 185 

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 267 

Stanford Univ., 37, 130, 151, 188, 267 

Center for Radar Astronomy, 208 

School of Medicine, 15 

Star, 35, 60, 89, 95, 151, 192, 216, 326 

Star Tracking Rocket Attitude Position- 

ing system. ,See STRAP rn. 

Starbird, L/G Alfred D. (USA), 32, 329, 

341 

State, Dept. of, 29, 185, 216, 228, 307, 339 

Office of Space and Environmental 

Science Affairs, 269 

"Status of the Federal Aircraft Noise 

Abatement Program" (report), 34-35 

Steinbacher, Robert H., 329 

Stennis, Sen. John C., 284,295 

Sterling, Project, 3 

Sterilization, spacecraft, 74, 84, 86, 117 

Sterling, Project, 3 

Stevens, Edmund, 1% 

Stevens Institute of Technology, 142 

Stevenson, M/G John D. (USAF, Ret.), 39 

Stever, Dr. H. Guyford, 195 

Stewart, M/G James T. (USAF) , 87 

Stine, Howard, 328 

Stoddard, Dr. David H., 59 

STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft, 

244 

Stolyarov, Gen. Pori% A. (U.S.S.R.), 361 

Stoltenberg, Dr. Gerhard, 219, 276 

Stonehouse, Minister of State, John 

(U.K.), 219,286 

Storms, Harrison A., Jr., 136 

Strang, CoL Charles F. (WAF), 25 

S ~ III P (Star Tracking Rocket Attitude 

Positioning system), 369 

Strategic Air Commaud (SAC), 358 

Stratton, Rep. Samuel S., 49 

Strawberry Hill Observatory, 227 

Strider, Dr. Mervin IC, Jr., 96 

Strong, Dr. John, 166 

Strughold, Dr. Hubertus, 39 

Sturmthal, L/C Emil (USAF), 184, 265, 

327 

Stuttgart, West Germany, 70 

Submarine, missile-carrying, 90, 201, 203, 

292

Subminiature Integrated Antenna (sra) , 

121 

Sud Aviation, 154,220 

Suitland, Md., 92 

Sukhoi (U.S.S.R. variable-sweepwing aircraft), 

384 

Sullivan, Francis J., 78 

Sullivan, Walter, 5, 37, 183, 380 

“Summarization of National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration Management 

Review of North American Aviation 

Inc., Activities” (report), 175 

Sumter, S.C., 279 

Sun (see also Eclipse, solar; Radiation, 

solar; Solar cell; Solar corona; 

SoIar wind) 

exploration of, 3,17,121 

IOSY. 236 

research, 16, 121 

satellite data, 206, 229, 349, 355. 391 

Sunblazer (probe), 3,17,68 

Sunnyvale, Calif., 279 

Sunspot, N. Ma., 35 

Suomi, Dr. Verner E., 336 

Super Guppy (cargo aircraft), 388 

Supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet), 

8 

Supersonic transport (SST) (see also Concorde 

CU.K.-France supersonic trausport1 

and Tu-lM) 

benefits, 200,245,261-262 

contract, 5, 48, 130, 133, 392 

dost, 2, 33, 48, 89, 176, 220, 224, 230 

criticism, 31-32, 157, 190, 215 

design and development, 5, 6, 357 

editorial comment, 1, 6, 31-32, 171-172 

fares, 224 

foreign, 13,33,185,268 

funds for, 8, 12, 13, 17, 31, 34, 39, 130, 

179, 185, 190, 212, 294, 297, 314, 324 

NASA participation in research, 20, 69, 

193, 245 

nilots. 2. 237 

resekations, 176 

sonic boom, 190, 200,203, 231. 280. 385 

Supersonic Transport Authority,‘ 8 

Surtsev volcano. 224 

Surveyor (program), 4,5,18,28,114,123, 

229, 334. 350 

Surveyor (spacecraft), 38, 360 

Surveyor I (lunar probe), 120, 210, 234, 

342 

communication with, 5, 165-166 

photographs, 29, 40, 72, 106, 119, 266, 

342 

Surveyor II,120,210,342 

Surveyor III (Surveyor C) , 210, 234, 342 

communication with, 134, 158, 165, 197 

launch, 113 

lunar landing, 118 

photographs, 118, 134, 162, 266, 391 

results, 123-124 

Surveyor IV (Surveyor D) , 209, 212,234, 

342 


Surveyor V (Surveyor E) 

communioation with, 303,376,382-283 

launch, 265-266 

lunar landing, 265-266 

photographs, 342,391 

results, 287,328,390 

Surveyor VI (Surveyor F), 334, 342, 383, 

391 

Surveyor-R (spacecraft model), 164 

Survival equipment, 125, 261 

SV-5 (lifting-body vehicle), 14 

SV-5D, 62, 116, 163 

SV-SJ (manned liftingbody vehicle), 166 

SV-5P (manned lifting-body vehicle), 

190 

Sweden, 38, 74 

Swenson, G. W., Jr., 37 

Swenson, Loyd S., Jr., 10 

Swings, Dr. Pol, 251 

Switzerland, 78 

Sword Knot (satellite-tracking ship), 46 

Sydney, Univ. of, Australia, 7 

Symington, Sen. Stuart, 294 

Symphonie (Franco-West German communications 

satellite program), 218, 

333 

Symposium on Modern Optics, 80 

Symposium on Results of the International 

Years of the Quiet Sun, 212 

SYNCOM (communications satellite), 32 

Svracuse Univ. Research Corm. 157 

s&tems engineering, 17, 25% 263, 281, 

285, 292, 309 

T 

T-33 (jet trainer), 348 

Taback, Israel, 317 

TACV. See Tracked air cushion vehicle. 

Taghiev, E. I., 101 

Tallahassee, Fla., 293 

Tallin Line (U.S.S.R. defense system), 

270 

Tanyug (Yugoslav press agency), 204 

Tanzania. 393 

Tarasova: U.S.S.R., 259 

Tass, 156,286 

launch, 124 

probe, 14,183,308 

satellite, 1@4, 290 

Pacific Ocean rocket test, 168, 260, 

356 

U.S.S.R. space program, 61, 250, 261, 

378, 388 

TAT v (underwater cable), 293, 326-327 

Tau Puppis (star), 326 

Taylor, Frederick, 3 

Taylor, Glen, M 

Taylor, Henry J., 257-258 

Taylor, Stan, 261 

Tchernev, Dr. Dimiter I., 372 

TD-1 (ESRO research satellite), 197 

TD-2. 197 

Teag& Rep. Olin E., 91-92, 95, 192-193, 

272. 323 

TeGe, Olin E., Research Center, 272


Teb. See Triethylborene. 

Technica MoZorZezhi, 271 

Technological forecasting, 19,310 

Technology, Economic Growth, and Pablic 

Policy, 69 

Technology, 230,242-243,257,271 

benefits, 30,45,241 

fundmg, 69, 153-154 

gap, 70,164-165,194,215 

military, 77, 153-154,299 

policy, 19, 69, 277-278, 390 

Technology utilization, space, 30-31, 45, 

67-68, 71,140-141,202,209,255-256, 

263-265, 271, 368-369, 390 

air transaortation. 262,271-272.300 

oceanography, 224, 2 

373 

science, 30-31, 45, 202, 280, 323 

social progress, 202,324 

systems engineering, 258, 26r265, 291- 

292,309 

Tekamah. Neb.. 385 

Tektite, 320 ’ 

Telemetry, 4, 50 

Telescope, 35, 60, 78, 81-82, 153, 155-156, 

181, 182-183, 327, 333, 349 

orbiting, 21,31 

Television (TV) , 240-241 

educational, 41, 100, 107, 112, 318 

noncommercial, 6, 96, 96-97,222-223 

rates, 93 

space probe, use of, 114, 11%120, 123, 

334 

via satellite, 21, 41, 83, 85, 98-99, 13% 

134, 170, 193-194, 236, 250, 262, 277, 

282,290,326-327,385 

Teller, Dr. Edward, 15, 129, 137 

Teltsch, Kathleen, 371 

Temperature measurement, 18, 28, 33, 91, 

93, 97, 103, 106, 116, 117, 130, 14Q, 146, 

155,191,193,367 

Tepper, Dr. Morris, 4 

TERLS. See Thumba Equatorial Launching 

Station. 

Terminator Zone, 336 

Test ban treaty. See Nuclear test ban 

treaty. 

Teuher, B/G Harold (USAF) ,230 

Texas. 279.288 

TexasA&M Univ., 272 

Texas State Society, 288 

Texas, Univ. of, 16 

Astronomy Dept., 294 

Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, 

16 

TFX. see F-111. 

Thacker School, 349 

Thailand, 7,111 

T U.N. Secretary General, 293 

T roject, 13 

Theodolite, 331 

Thigpen, David, 311 

Thiokol Chemical Corp., 79, 364 

479 

This New Ocean: A History of Project 

Mercury (NASA SP-4201), 10 

Thomas, B. K., Jr., 218 

Thomas, David D., 154 

Thompson, Dr. Floyd L., 25, 85, 102-103, 

281, 317 

Thompson, Ambassador Llewellyn E., 9,85 

Thompson, Milton O., 184 

Thompson, Robert F., 371 

Thor-Able (booster), 382 

Thor-Agena D (booster), 9, 50, 91, 146, 

169, 188, 219, 235, 271, 327, 371 

Thrust-Augmented Thor-Agena, 146,222 

Thor-Burner I1 (booster), 42, 196, 299 

Thor-Delta (booster), 20, 66, 307 

Thrust-Augmented, 120,342,375 

Thornton, Dr. William E., 233 

Thrust-Augmented Delta (booster), 214, 

282 

Thrust-Augmented Improved Delta, 7, 

42,76,83,163,263 

Thrust-Augmented Thor-Agena (booster), 

146, 222 

Thrnst-Augmented Thor-Delta (hooster) , 

120, 342, 375 

Thumba Equatorial Launching Station 

(TERLS) , India, 63-70, 78, 350 

Thunnond, Sen. Strom, 366 

Tier. William. 89 

Tim; zones, f80-181 

Tipton, Stuart G., 89, 224, 312 

Tiios (program), 217 

Tiros VI1 (meteorological satellite), 190 

Tiros Operational Satellite (TOS) , 20, 120, 

342-343 

Tischler, A. O., 215 

Titan I (missile), 3 

Titan I1 (missile), 110,205 

Titan III (booster), 268, 338 

Titan III-B (booster), 50, 191, 244, 274, 

9111 

Tgii III-C (booster), 11-12,18, 129, 133, 

199 

Titan II-M, 275,392 

Titan III-Agena D (booster), 367 

Titov, L/C Gherman S. (U.S.S.R.), 14 

Toftoy, Mrs. Hazel, 330 

Toftoy, M/G Holger Nelson (USA, Ret.), 

118, 330 

Toftoy, General Holger N., award, 361 

Tokaty, Prof. G. A., 109 

Tokyo, Japan, 21,133-134, 157, 177 

Toluhko, GI. Gen. Vladimir (U.S.S.R.), 

348 

Tomahawk (nose cone), 375 

Topping, Dr. Norman, 315-316 

TOS. See Tiros Operational Satellite. 

Toulouse, France, 333-334, 373 

Tomes, Dr. Charles H., 84 

TPM (radar system), 185 

Tracked air cushion vehicle (TACV), 152 

Tracking, 246,259,392 

cooperation, 304, 309-310 

deep space, 210, 242, 265,278 

ship, 242, 380381

Tracking-Continued 

stations, 207-208, 315 

Australia, 64, 79, 212, 242, 265 

Cuba, 376 

Germany, West, 29 

Mali. 376 

Vietnam; North, 309-310 

Trailblazer (booster) , 46 

Trailblazer 11, 1% 

Trans-Canada Telephone System, 170 

Transit (navigation satellite), 271-272 

Transonic compressor, 19 

Transponder, 207-208 

Transportation, 34, 35, 90-91, 95 

Transportation Assn. of America, 35 

Transportation, Dept. of (DOT), 34, 90-91, 

95, 188, 200, 203-2@4, 263, 277, 346 

appropriations, 207, 212, 284, 293-2%, 

314 


program, 95 

Secretary of, appointment, 8 

Treasury Dept., 107 

Trendex poll, 8,364 

Triethylborene (Teb), 91 

Trimble, George S., 135,300 

Troitski, Prof. Vsevolod, 286 

Tropical Survival School, 184 

Trud, 26-27,348,350 

TRW, InC., 192,265 

TRW Systems, Inc., 8, 16, 136, 237, 242, 

335-336, 386 

Trans World Airlines, 12, 13,100,170-171, 

267 

Tts I (Test and Training Satellite), 375, 

392 

Tu-144 (U.S.S.R. supersonic transport), 

33-34, 66, 116, 185, 268-269 

Tu-154 (U.S.S.R. airliner), 156 

Tucson, Ariz., % 

Tullahoma, Tenn., 216 

Tungsten, 88 

Tungsten RHC, 275 

Turbotrain, 384 

Turin, Italy, 27 

Turner, Edwin M., 241 

Turner, Richard G., 217 

Tycho (lunar crater), 227, 260-261, 309, 

377 

Tymczyszyn, Joseph J., 2 

Tyner, Ralph W., 254 

Tyuratam range, 247 

U 

u-2 (reconnaissance aircraft), 210, 318- 

319 

Uchinoura Range, Japan, 111 

Uchinoura Space Center, Japan, 39 

Udall, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L., 

8, 384-385 

AS TR LONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1%7 

UFO. See Unidentified Flying Objects. 

Ugolyek (dog), 104 

U.K. See United Kingdom. 

Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 89 

U.N. See United Nations. 

Underground nuclear test, 15 

Unidentified flying objects (UFO), 91, 

151-152, 271, 282 

Czechoslovakia, 312 

Michigan, 11 

USAF, 10, 11, 151-152,245-246, 271, 361 

U.S.S.R., 361, 386 

Union College, 160 

United Air Lines, 13,347 

United Aircraft Corp., 5, 66, 384 

Hamilton Standard Div., 284 

Pratt & Whitney Div., 207, 250 

Sikorsky Aircraft Div., 262, 389 

United Arab Republic (U.A.R.), 376 

United Kingdom (U.K.), 86,93, 222,267, 

273. 360 

aircraft-16, 154, 166, 181-182, 277 

airbus, 219-220,270 

Concorde, 2, 66. 215. 220. .~ 230. 269 

astronomy, 30,52-53,216 

cooperation, 

aircraft, 286 

defense, 16 

space, 168,304,308 

launch, 141) 

Ministry of Technology, 312 

missile program, 152, 185, 367 


space treaty, 70, 126, 160, 383, 392 

United Nations (U.N.), 23, 65, 77, 128, 

239,343,345 

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of 

Outer Space, 46,380,382 

Legal Subcommittee, 211, 332, 392 

Conference on Exploration and Peaceful 

Uses of Outer Space, 38-39, 46 

General Assembly, 70,247,293,332,380, 

383 

Industrial Development Organization, 

345 

United Nations Assn. of the United States 

of America (U.N. Assn. of the U.S.A.), 

355 

United Press International (UPI) , 275 

United States (US.) (see also appropriate 

agencies) 

Aeronautics and Space Activities, report 

to Congress on, 28-29 

budget, 17-18, 46, 51, 54,62, 179, 263 

communications, 6, 21, 63, 80, 100, 101, 

107.241.242.252.293 

critic&iO, 158,218,257 

defense, 7, 9, 104, 129, 169, 221, 231, 

273, 275. 324, 329, 34fj. 360 

disarmament, 41, 60,'85, 252, 327 

education, 10-11, 16, 26, 51, 285, 297, 

309, 344 

exhibit, 218 

health, 297,378


United States-Continued 

international cooperation, 70, 80, 110, 

121, 182, 185, 2% 217, 243, 269, 302, 

310,343,371 

militarv research. 123. 204 

nuclea; weapons; 21,'60, 63, 206, 252, 

%55. _--I 3m -__ 

research and development, 13, 227, 254, 

255, 285, 310, 350, 353, 373, 386, 

390-391 

science and technology, 39, 62, 70, 176, 

188, 201, 202 

Committee on Science, Engineering, 

and Reeional Develoument. 353 

funds for,-51, 62, 180, i81, 347 

impact of, 6, 9, 10, 15, 19, 53,77, 214, 

230, 242, 278, 323, 350, 353 

information retrieval, 170, 197 

manpower, 26, 153, 231, 234, 259 

planning, 88, 143, 353 

space law treaty. See Space law treaty. 

space program. See Space program, na- 

' tional. 

transportation (see also Supersonic 

transport), 8,3573 

Universities 

graduates, shortage of, 26 

grants, 30, 51, 227-228, 240, 306-307, 

347,354 

NASA program, 36307, 346, 363 

science in, 165, 227-228, 347, 354 

space exploration, impact of, 317 

Themis, Project (DOD), 13 

USAF School of Aerospace Medicine 

(SAM), 29, 39 

U.S. Air Force (USAF) (see also individual 

bases, centers, and commands, 

such as Air Force Systems Command, 

Arnold Engineering Development 

Center, Edwards AFB, etc.), 180, 185, 

207,213,223,246,279,300,373 

accident, 29,83, 177 

agreement, 74,90-91,112, 190 

aircraft (see also individual aircraft 

such as GSA, F-111A, X-15, 

XB-70, etc.), 17-18, 213, 347, 390, 

392 

accident, 5, 111, 122, 149. 180, 

302, 311, 316, 318, 345, 352, 371, 

373, 392 

record, 174,289 

anniversary, 220 

astronaut, 196, 207,371 

award, 136, 153, 174, 195-196, 200, 207, 

213, 300,372 

booster, 8, 36, 41, 62, 91, 116, 161, 169, 

175, 181, 188, 191, 196, 199, 202,220, 

271, 279,299, 320, 334, 367, 371, 375, 

385 

contract, 12, 160, 168, 206, 253, 255, 

268,269,279,288 

cooperation, 184, 190, 206, 213, 383 

US. Air Forcdntinued 

laimch ._ _. ._. 

Advanced Ballistic Reentry System, 

181,202,334,385 

booster. 11. 129. 195. 199. 279 I _ 

comsati, li,195 

lifting-body vehicle, 62,116,147 

low-altitude s u p e r s o n i c vehicle 

(LAW), 12 

missile, 3, 12, 46, 80,110 

postponed, 130 

reentry vehicle, 46, 181, 202, 302, 385 

satellite, 9, 12,36,42,50,91, 111, 129, 

146,158,161,169,175,188,191,199, 

219, 221, 235, 2&, 252, 271, 274, 

279, 299, 318, 320, 327, 367, 371 

Scramjet, 8 

lifting-body vehicle, 14, 62, 116, 163, 

190,206 

management, 70, 75,87, 92, 136, 199 

missile program, 64, 109, 195-196, 199, 

210, 221, 223, 344 

MOL. See Manned Orbiting Labora- 

tory. 

Office of Aerospace Research, 35,180 

personnel, 99, 126, 173, 177, la, 197, 

200,285,327,371 

research, 18, 74, 80, 84, 122, 182, 195, 

225, 231, 253, 269, 284, 289, 324, 362, 

?A& 

-- - 

satellite (see also Satellite, unidenti- 

fied), 9, 36, 41, 91, 161, 169, 175, 

188, 191, 199, 202, 255, 271, 299, 

320, 367, 371, 390-391 

communications, 11, 32, 178, 182, 204, 

213, 236, 250, 2.35, 261, 392 


space program, 62, 118, 161, 169, 177, 

196, 199,210,220,253,255 

spacecraft recovery, 179,216 

test, 210, 216, 231, 240, 250, 289, 292, 

384, 392 

training, 3, 184, 196-197, 233,241) 

UFO, 10,245-246 

Vietnam War, 111, 239, 269, 347 

Zero Defects Program, 213, 294 

US. Army (USA), 108, 118, 247, 330 

aircraft, 383 

antimissile system, 263, 268, 329 

cooperation, 213 

US. Army Missile Command (AMC), 79, 

162 

US. Bureau of Mines, 372 

US. Chamber of Commerce, 281 

US. Comptroller General, 338 

U.S. Geological survey (USGS), 9, 17, 99, 

144, 162, 2%, 235, 305, 317, %2 

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), 201 

US. Maritime Administration, 272 

USN. See U.S. Navy. 

U.S. Naval Observatory, 5 

US. Navy (USN) ,153,178 

aircraft, 111, 146, 289, 294, 352, 383 

F-111B, 111, 122, 149, 174, 307, 311, 

380

U.S. Navy-Continued 

award, 105,207 

communications satellite system, 102, 

224, 242, 263, 272 


cooperation, 213,289,352 

Man-in-the-Sea, program, 37, 53, 232 

missile, 201, 203, 248, 307, 330 

nuclear submarine, 267 

personnel, 182, 204, 234, 371 

U.S. Navy Air Systems Command, 83, 219 

USNS Huntsville, 380-381 

USNS Mercury, 380481 

USNS Point Barrow, 388 

USNS Redstone, 381 

USNS Vanguard, 365,381 

USNS Watertown, 381 

U.S. Patent O&e, 368 

U.S.S. Bennington, 339 

U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) 

(see also Soviet Academy 

of Sciences, etc.), 133, 139, 170, 192, 

193. 299 

agreement, 9, 41, 64, 85, 286, 299, 309 

aircraft, 33, 66, 77, 116 156, 185, 203, 

211.253. 268. 295. 315. 343.383 

anniversary, 9, 107,’269, 273,. 291, 308, 

327, 336, 349 

antiaircraft defense, 336 

antimissile missile system, 7, 9, 21, 27, 

50, 104, 360 

Armed Forces Day, 50 

astronomy, 89, 182-183, 240, 327 

award, 46 

booster, 33, 109,351,355 

communications satellite, 80, 104, 143, 

165, 192, 193, 205, 241, 250, 257, 290, 

31 3 

cooperation, 113,277, 296, 356, 371,376, 

383, 392 

Australia, 64 

Communist-bloc countries, 113, 309, 

376 

France, 257, 261,322 

U.K., 286,304,383,392 

US., 25, 60, 236, 241, 243, 261, 296- 

297, 299, 303, 310, 356, 371, 380, 

383, 392 

cosmonaut. See Cosmonaut. 

Cosmonautics Day, 107 

defense system, 270 

disarmament, 60, 210 

exhibit, 182,203,211,218 

hydrofoil, 350 

launch, 247,391,393 

probe, 183,300,393 

satellite. 304 

Cosm& 12,19,40,41,46,53,54,61, 

70,77,82,83, 86,87,97,101, 107, 

129, 152. 1%. 157-158. 161. 173. 

176, 180; 183; 188, 189: %i: 210: 

218, 225, 237, 238, 239, 252, 258, 

268, 272, 275, 278, 281, 299, 304, 

309, 316, 320, 321, 327, 352, 355, 

365, 380, 382, 387, 388, 392 


482 

U.S.S.R.-Continued 

launch-continued 

satellite-eontinued 

Molniya, 165,290,313, 392 

Soyuz, 124 


launch site, 259,348 

lunar exploration (see also Luna ZX, 

etc.) ,24,206,356,388 

manned, 101,112,124,293 

unmanned, 206 

meteorology, 60, 77, 113-114, 129, 277 

missile and rocket program, 9, 50, 60, 

86437, 104, 168, 206, 267, 270, 273, 

336, 358 

nuclear reactor, 367 

photography, 77, 139-140, 309410 

planetary exploration, 86-87, 183, 233, 

309, 345 

probe, 183,233, 300, 304, 308, 392 

rocket test, 168, 260, 321, 356, 378 

science, 77, 80, 88, 112, 113-114, 123, 

153, 163, 168, 233-234, 236, 240, 253, 

288, 300, 322, 378 

Soyuz Z accident, 124,130-131, 134,140, 

143, 149, 158, 239 

space biology, 104, 124,259,277 

space law treaty. See Space law treaty. 

space program (see also individual 

probe and satellite programs, such 

as Cosmos, Luna, Molniya, Venus, 

etc.) , 1-2, 10, 14, 24, 29, 33, 46, 77, 

86-87. 101. 112. 116. 121. 134. 143. 

147, 158, 168, 206, ‘247;’ 253: 259: 

260, 280, 288, 293, 304, 314, 316, 

321, 322, 324, 334, 345, 346, 348, 

351 

manned space flight, 24, 82, 101, 112, 

116, 134, 143, 158, 244, 260, 261, 

288, 293, 304. 314. 321. 323. 324 

space rescue treaty, 380; 383,‘392 ’ 

spacecraft, 82, 86, 101, 112, 203, 244, 

288, 291 

submarines, 163, 336 

supersonic transport, 3M4, 66, 77, 116, 

185, 268 

tracking station, 64,309,376 

UFOS, 271 361, 364-365, 386 

U.N. Conference on Exploration and 

Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 38-39, 

46 

weapons, 77, 104, 107, 203, 206, 211, 

247, 257, 304, 313,323,329, 331,332, 

333,336,343,348,355,358 

U.S.S. Will Rogers, 226 

U.S. Weather Bureau, 137, 262, 270 

Utah, 8,268 

UV. See Radiation, ultraviolet. 

United Technology Center, 361 

Universe, 35,240 

Universities’ Research Association, 217 

University Club (New York) , 277 

UPI. See United Press International. 

“Urban Government in the Decade Ahead” 

(colloquium), 163


Urey, Dr. Harold 6,126 

Uruguay, 85 

USA. see U.S. Army. 

USAF. See US. Air Force. 

USAF Aeronautical Chart and Information 

Center, 2418 

V 

Van Allen, Dr. James A., 348, 379 

Van Allen radiation belt, 20, 39, 129, 314 

simulator, 20 

Vance, Cyrus R, 41,108,182 

Van de Graaff, Dr. Robert J., 11 

Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (see also Western 

Test Range), 12,279 

facilities, 392 

launch 

missile, 46,110,202,334 

reentry vehicle, 302 

satellite launch vehicle 

Atlas-Agena, 175 

Atlas F, 321 

Scout, 367 

Thor-Agena D, 91, 169, 371 

Thor-Burner 11, 42,299 

Titan III-Agena D, 367 

Scramjet, 8 

Vander Jagt, Rep. Guy, 18 

Vanguard, Project, 371 

Vanguard II (satellite), 335 

Vanguard Construction Corp., 276 

Variable sweep wing, 13, 16,203,213,218, 

239440,384 

Vasilevskis, Dr. Stanislavs, 192 

Vega Baja Airport, Puerto Rico, 262-263, 

324325 

Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) (KSC) , 

388 

Vela (nuclear detection satellite), 129, 

133,153,348,392,394 

Velcro (fabric), 247 

Velcro Corp., 247 

Velcro adhesive pad, 51 

Venera IV. See Venus IV. 

Venezuela, 307 

Venus (planet) 

atmosphere, 166,200,252,308-309,310- 

311,322,368,392 

contamination of, 234 

exploration, 185-187, 208, 214, 235-234, 

253, 354, 391 

funding, 224 

manned, 64-65 

plans for, 4, 14, 45, 74, 90, 121 

unmanned, 308409, 310311, 322, 

345-346 

life on, 9,166 

photographs, 119, 200 

radiation, 142 

rotation, 296, 308-309, 310-311 

surface, 166 

temperature, 166, 308-309 

water on, 166,322 

Venus 111 (U.S.S.R. interplanetary 

probe), 233-234 

483 

Vermont, Univ. of, 247 

Versatile Information Processor (VIP), 

I;n 

Vezical and short takeoff and landing air. 

craft. See V/STOL aircraft. 

Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. 

See VTOL aircraft. 

Vesta (French sounding rocket), 5,65 

Veterok (dog), 104 

Vette, Dr. James I., 18 

Vienna, Austria, 46,328 

Vietnam, North, 111,309 

Vietnam war, 3, 26, 32, 63, 199, 225, 362, 

,366 

aircraft. 239-240.269.365 

effects on space budget, 13, 113, 249, 

255-256, 257 

troops, 12, 199 

Viking (rocket), 79 

VIP. See Versatile Information Processor. 

“Virginian of the Year” award, 193 

Virginia Key, Fla., 132 

Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) , 243 

Virginia Press Association (VPA), 193 

Virgo A (galaxy), 201-202 

Vitro Corp., 112 

Voge, Hervey &, 217 

Vogel, Col. Lawrence W. (USA), 75 

Vogt, Paul R., 136 

Voice Broadcast Satellite, 17,68 

Volcano, 224225 

Volga River Valley, 367 

Vonbun, Dr. Friedrich O., 242, 315 

Von Braun, Dr. Wernher, 2, 6, 15, 27, 31, 

70,109,134,177,294,330 

Von Diringshofen, Dr. Heinz, 142 

Vostok (U.S.S.R. spacecraft), 82, 203 

Voyager (program) 

contract, 24, 159-160 

funding, 17, 121, 192, 195,220,225,246, 

254,291,320 

Planstary Reentry Parachute Program, 

14,179,222 

plans for, 30, 55, 59, 68, 197, 254, 338 

spacecraft sterilization, 74, 117, 191 

Voyager (spacecraft), 82, 393 

WI. See Virginia Polytechnic Institute. 

V/STOL (vertical and short takeoff and 

landing) aircraft, 146, 285-286, 383 

VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft, 

172,203,277 

W 

Wake Island, 89-90 

Wake tmbulence, 348-349 

Waldron, Martin, 137 

Wales, 233 

Walker, Brian M., 160 

Walker, Joseph A, 180,345 

Walker, Mrs. Joseph A., 180 

Walker, Richard L., 5

Walker, Robert, 386-387 

Wallops Island, Va., 120 

Wallops Station (NASA), 128, 348 

award, 85 

contract, 388 

launch 

RAM C1,311 

sounding rocket 

Aerobee 150, 285 

Aerobee 150A, 72,368 

Arcas, 93,237-238 

Argo D-4 (Javelin), 157, 191 

MT-135, 93 

Nike-Apache, 28, 91, 184, 216, 

237-238, 272-273,347,375 

Nike-Cajun, 91, 106, 117, 130, 140, 

151, 375 

Trailblazer, 46 

Trailblazer 11, 195 

Walsh, John, 302 

Walz, Jay, 247 

Warnke, Paul C., 359 

Warsaw, Poland, 161 

Warschauer, Dr. D. M., 386 

Washington, D.C., 95, 209, 247, 329, 351 

awards presented at, 172, 177, 285, 317, 

380 

meetings, 13, 16, 33, 36, 48, 49, 93, 115, 

146, 151, 172, 175, 178, 180-181, 185, 

195, 215, 220, 274, 281, 310, 318, 344 

press conference, 60, 110, 129, 217 

satellite communications with, 12, 21, 

199 

space treaty signed at, 23,25-26,70,299 

Washington, D.C., Aero Club, 220 

Washington, D.C., National Airport, 137 

Water, 126 

Water injection, 370,392 

Water pollution, 189-190 

Waterman, Dr. Alan T., 361 

WEAFAX. See Weather facsimile experiment. 

Weapon systems, 205, 216, 247, 257-258, 

267-268, 329, 331, 343-M, 348 

Weather facsimile (WEAFAX) experiment, 

270 

Weather modification, 113-114, 214, 346- 

347 

Webb Associates, 36-37 

Webb, James E., 65 

Apollo (AS-204) accident, 25, 33, 46, 

49-50, 53, 103, 114, 130, 139, 171,279 

appointments by, 14, 173, 212, 253, 299, 

327 

astronaut. 232 

award by, 54 

award to, 190 

budget, 18, 20, 220, 221, 224, 243, 272, 

275, 283, 284. 338. 352. 353 

, , 

cosmonaut; 16 

criticism of, 148, 167, 294, 295 

Seamans, Dr. Robert C., Jr., resignation, 

288 

space cooperation, 125, 388 


Webb-Continued 

space program, 3, 116, 151, 155, 163, 

301, 336, 338, 341, 352, 353 

tribute to, 166,258 

universities, 150, 306, 307, 363 

Webb, Paul, 36 

Weightlessness, effects of 

animals, 2,6,65,104 

humans, 10, 12, 31, 36, 56, 71, 76 

organisms, 47,263,313,391 

plants, 326 

Weitzel, Frank H., 168 % 

Welles, Benjamin, 85 

Welsh, Dr. Edward C., 38, 63, 104, 160, 

162,215,256,293,342 

West Palm Beach, Fla., 53 

West Point, N.Y., 29 

West Point, Neb., 385 

West Virginia, 126, 202 

Western Electric Co., 70, 263, 284 

Western High School Alumni Assn., Washington, 

D.C., 142 

Western Test Range (WTR) (see also 

Vandenberg AFB, Calif.), 381 

launch 


lifting-body vehicle, 62 

postponed, 111 

satellite 

launch vehicle 

NASA 

Thor-Delta, 20 

Thrust-Augmented, 120, 143, 

34.2 

Thrust-Augmented Improved 

Delta, 163 

Thrust-A u g m en t e d Thor. 

Agena, 222 

U.K., Scout, 140 

USAF 

Atlas, 221 

Atlas-Agena D, 36, 161, 175 

Scout, 111,159,279 

Thor-Agena D, Thrust-Aug- 

mented Thor-Agena, 9, 50, 

146,188,219,235,271,327 

Thor-Burner 11, 196, 236 

Thrust-A u g m e n t e d Thor- 

Agena, 146 

Titan 111-B, 50, 191, 245, 274, 

318 

Western Union International, Inc. (WUI) , 

101. 118. 130 

Westinghouse Electric Corp., 213, 244 

Weston, Ill., 188, 207 

Wheeler, Gen. Earle G. (USA), 108 

Whelan, Joseph G., 104 

Whipple, Dr. Fred L., 177 

White, Alvin S., 12, 267, 300 

White, L/C Edward H., I1 (USAF) 

Apollo (AS-204) accident, 21-22, 

25,26,26-27,36,102 

eulogy, 29 

Gemini IV flight, 387 

honors. 41. 69. 85. 142. 207 

memorial Anice, 27 

24,

launch 

Aerobee, 126, 150 

atmospheric data, 60, 191, 214, 236, 

.m 

fa&e, 268 

micrometeoroid sampling, 177, 293 

solar astronomy, 125, 1%, 289, 293 

stellar data, 60, 140, 344 

ultraviolet astronomy, 6041, 78, 

326,369 

x-ray astronomy, 202,350 

Honest John-Nike, 146, 191 

Nike-Apache, 169, 234 

Sprint, 323 

Sentinel System Evaluation Agency, 329 

test 

Lunar Module, 201-202 

SCAT Solar Pointing System, 289 

SPARCS (Solar Pointing Aerobee 

Rocket Control System), 372 

STRAP m stellar pointing control, 368 

Voyager parachute, 146, 191, 222 

White, Gen. Thomas D., Space Trophy. 174 

Whitford, Albert E., 181 

Wiener. Anthonv T.. 390391 

, -,- 

Wiesnei, Dr. Jerome B., 358 

Wilford, John N., 14, 20, 36, 138 

Wilkinson, R. L., 79 

Williams, Maj. Clifton C., Jr. (USMC), 

293 

Wiliams, Sen. Harrison A., Jr., 58 

Williams, John, 25 

Williams. Walter C. 62 

Williamsburg, Va, 55, 166-167, 297 

Williamson, David, 75 

Wilson, George C., 130,210, 365 

Wilson, Prime Minister Harold (U.K. ) , 

152, 185 

Wilson, Richard, 156 

Windsor Locks, Conn., 284 

Wing, aircraft, 203, 218 

delta, 60-61, 373 

variable sweep, 13,16,203,213,218,239, 

383-384 

Wings Club, 12 

Winn, Rep. Larry, Jr., 18 

Winters, Bruce, 336 

Wisconsin, Univ. of, 143, 233, 336 

Wisner, Neb., 385 

rld Meteorological Orga- 

Wriight Brothers Memorial Trophy, 285 

Wright, Orville, 126, 142, 177, 380 

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 18-19, 96, 

241,253,358,384 

Wright, Wilbur, 142, 177, 380 

Wrightsville Marine Bio-Medical Labora- 

tory, 122 

WSMR. See White Sands Missile Range. 

a See Western Test Range. 

Wuenscher, Hans, 219 

m~. See Western Union International, 

Inc. 

Wyatt, DeMarquis D., 75,253 

Wydler, Rep. John W., 346 

Wyld Propulsion Award, 215 

X-3 (missile), 344 

X-15 (rocket research aircraft) 

flight, 392 

No. 1, 83, 129, 158, 188, 1% 

No. 2,143, W, 290 

No. 3, 193, 214, 254, 292, 305 

accident, 344, 352 

funding, 17 

pilots, 238, 305 

record, 289, 344, 352 

test, 58 

accelerometer, 157, 215, 249, 249. 254 

camera, camera. 24!2,292,305 

249.292.305 

I- I -2 -- 

electrical loads, 83,130 

guibe, 157,193,214,254,292,304 

heat. 157.193.214 

er, 129,188 

83,130 

m 

id, 292, 305 

pilot checkout, 83,130,188 

pressure attitude indicator, 84 

ramjet, 143,250,290 

X

accident, 180, 344 


fight, 3,9,11,19,28, 126, 252,253,265, 

298,327 

pilots, 267, 300 

research program, 12, 17, 75, 184, 392 

X-ray, 61, 104 

antimissile use, 28,147,358 

source, 17, 88, 98, 202, 253, 288, 308, 

329,350 

Y 

Yaffee, Michael L., 250 

Yak4 (U.S.S.R. airliner), 156 

Yakovlev, Alexander, 218 

Yardley, John, 25 

Yarnem, U.S.S.R., 259 

Yates, Harold W., 201 

RON D AER 

ikol 

ung, Cdr. John W. (USN). 1 4 

Young, Sen. Stephen M., 156 ‘ 

Youth Science Congress, 122 

“Youth Wants To Know” (TV program), 

46 

Yugoslavia, 204,376 

Z 

Zabelin, Igor M., 6 

Zemlya i Vselennaya, 147 

Zero Defects Achievement Award, 295 

Zeta Ophiuchi (star), 14.0, 173 

Zeta Perseid/Anetid (meteor showed), 169 

Zeta Puppis (star), 369 

Zhukov, Gennadi, 61 

Zigel, Prof. Feliks, 364 

Zimmer, Harro, 29 

Le Zinc (aerotrain) ,367 

Zisch, William E., 14 

Zheludev, Leonid, 269 

Zoeckler, M/G John L. (WAF), 358 

Zond II (U.S.S.R. space probe), 234 

Zond III, 56

Histories: 

NASA HIS CAL PUBLICATION 

History of NASA, 1958- 

Program History Series: 

Loyd S. Swenson, James M. Grimwood, and Charles C. Alexander, 

This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury, NASA SP-4201, 

1966, $5.50. 

Constance McL. Green and Milton Lomask, Vanguard: A History 

(1969) * 

Center History Series: 

Alfred Rosenthal, Venture Into Space: Early Years of Goddard 

Space Flight Center, NASA SP4301,1968, $2.50. 

Historical Studies: 

Eugene M. Emme (ea.), History of Rocket Technology, special issue of 

Technology and Culture (Fall 1963) ; augmented and published by 

Society for the History of Technology (Detroit: Wayne State University, 

1W). 

Mae Mills Link, Space Medicine in Project Mercury, NASA SP-4003, 

1%5, $1.00. 

Historical Sketch of NASA, NASA EP-29,1965 (Out of Print). 

Katherine M. Dickson, History of Aeronautics and Astronautics: A Bibliography, 

in conjunction with the Library of Congress, NASA SP- 

4010 (1969). 

Chronologies : 

Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American. Chronology of Science and 

Technology in the Exploration of Space, 1915-1960, compiled by Eu- 

gene M. Emme, Washington: NASA, 1961 (Out of Print). 

Aeronautical and Astronctutical Events of 1961, published by the House 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1962 (Out of Print). 

AstroluwLlkd and Aeronautical Events of 1962, published by the Hause 

Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1963, $1.00. 

Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1963, NASA SP404,19&, $1.75. 

Astrowtics and Aeronautics, 1964, NASA SP-4005, 1965, $1.75. 

Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965, NASA SP-4006,1966, $2.25. 

Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1966, NASA SP-4007, 1967, $1.50. 

: A Chrunobgy, by Jam- 

Peter J. Vorzimmer, NASA

NA-I’IONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISThATION 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20546 

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FIRST CLASS MAIL 

“The aeronautical am! space activities of the United Slates shall 

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Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

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