Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 April 11
created a higher noise level than piston-type aircraft of compataiSle size.
(FAA Release 67-36)
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
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