Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

May 28 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
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
Release 493-67)
* Paul C. Aebersold, a pioneer nuclear physicist who worked on the Man-
168