Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 April 24
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