Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

July 6 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
Dr. Herbert Friedman, Superintendent of Naval Research Laboratory’s
Atmospheric and Astrophysics Div., announced at news conference in
Washington, D.C. Rocket experiment, he said: (1) provided first evidence
that x rays were produced as far away as the “rim” of the
universe; (2) detected quasars, previously detectable only by their
radio waves or by visible light seen through high-power telescopes; (3)
lent support to theory that universe is saturated with background radiation
from explosion of universe 10 billion yrs ago; and (4) detected
three new x-ray sources, apparently outside our galaxy and not traceable
to any known object. These findings, Dr. Friedman said, indicated that
x-ray astronomy had “come of age” as a tool to explore the universe.
TO explore x-ray sources further, he suggested installing x-ray detection
equipment on proposed satellites such as NASA’s orbital workshop and
launching larger equipment for longer periods of time to map the whole
sky for x-ray sources. (Text; Reistrup, W Post, 7/7/67)
USAF successfully launched an Advanced Ballistic Re-Entry System ( ABRES)
vehicle from Vandenberg AFB with Atlas-D booster. (Aero Tech,
7/17/67,13)
NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Incentive Evaluation Board awarded Boeing Co. a
$1,053,405 bonus for the Lunar Orbiter III mission. Board said pic-
tures prod4uced were “of high quality, properly exposed and with good
positioning,” although of unsatisfactory quantity, and noted that secon-
dary site photography “had considerable value scientifically.” Space-
craft, launched from ETR Feb. 4, had transmitted 154 of 211 photos
taken and was gathering data on meteoroids, radiation, and lunar
gravitational field. (NASA Release 67-177)
July 7: NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from WSMK carried
MIT x-ray experiment to %-mi (142-km) altitude to search for undis-
covered x-ray sources and to obtain data on celestial locations and
energy spectra of “discrete celestial X-ray sources” in three regions.
Rocket and instruments performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL)
* NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Dr.
Homer E. Newell and OSSA Director of Space Applications Programs
Leonard Jaffe discussed impact of space research on science and tech-
nology in Science. As a result of space research, they said, science and
technology could contribute to the arts by furnishing new media for
human expression; enrich the humanities by furnishing new media for
broader basis for understanding himself and his place in nature; pro-
vide the historian with a better approach to history because of scientific
methodology; and enable archeologists more accurately to date mate-
rials and identify their sources.
As the entire world “absorbs the increased understanding of man
and nature that science generates, and reflects that understanding in
its literature, its social, political, and economic institutions, and its
application to human daily living . . . it may be hoped that this com-
mon bond will . . . give increased motivation to solve peaceably the
problems that beset the world . . . rand] provide increased means for
doing so. . . . To use properly and effectively these powerful tools
of our times is an inescapable challenge to men and governments the
world over.” (Newell, Jaffe, Science, 7/7/67,29-39)
ComSatCorp filed notice with FCC of three proposed contract awards
totaling more than $13 million for antenna subsystems and related equip-
ment to be installed at West Virginia, California, Puerto Rico, and
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