Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

May 24 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
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.”
(NASA Release 67-132)
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
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