Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

April 9
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
“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
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