Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 August 18
ventional bell nozzle engines. A new “aerodynamically compensating
nozzle” would permit use of the engine at sea level or high altitude,
making it potentially suitable for both lower and upper stages of launch
vehicles. Contract completion date was May 31, 1968. (NASA Release
67-221)
A completely fireproof version of the spacecraft fabric Velcro had been
perfected and would be used on NASA’s first manned Apollo mission in
1968, William Hines reported in the Washington Evening Star. In tests
conducted at MSC early in August, the all-metallic fabric did not ignite,
even in pure oxygen atmosphere at 16.5 psia. Velcro Corp. vice presi-
dent Jack Mates told Hines in an interview that NASA had not yet placed
an order for the improved Velcro, but that his company was beginning
production of a substantial quantity. In the Jan. 27 Apollo fire, flames
in the spacecraft had quickly spread along the surface of ordinary nylon
Velcro adhesive pads which were used to hold frequently used equipment.
(Hines, W Star, 8/18/67)
0 Inexpensive and easily acquired property was not necessarily the best site
for a new airport, according to airport site selection guide published
by FAA. Other factors such as accessibility to users, construction costs,
future expansion possibilities, obstructions, anticipated community re-
sponse to aircraft noise, and proximity to other airports could be even
more important factors. Airport site selection was a local responsibility,
guide noted, but all sponsors of civil airport projects were required to
notify FAA of proposed construction so agency could review project’s
effect on surrounding airspace. (FAA Release 67-62)
August 19: Negotiations were being conducted in Washington, D.C., to move
Canada’s High Altitude Research Project (HARP) from McGill Univ.
to Univ. of Vermont, Jay Walz reported in the New Yo& Times. Move
was a result of Canada’s decision to cut off funding because it believed
program should be self-supporting. HARP, which maintained a launch
site in Highwater, Quebec, near the Vermont border, used 16-in naval
guns to launch payloads inexpensively into the ionosphere for scientific
and meteorological experiments. Project, which received about $1.2
million annually from US. Army, employed 50 persons at McGill Univ.,
70 at Highwater, and 60 at a launch site in Barbados, West Indies. (Walz,
NYT, 8/20/67,20)
0 An unusual sequence of Soviet launches had led some US. officials to
conclude that U.S.S.R. was testing techniques for reentering warheads
from space, Evert Clark reported in the New York Times. “This could
mean that the Russians are developing weapons to be stationed in orbit.
Weapon re-entry techniques can be tested with or without the use of
weapons, and the same re-entry techniques can be used for either nuclear
or conventional weapons.” Clark said all of the flights (1) were very
short, (2) had been launched from Tyuratam range, (3) had entered
orbits with 49” inclination, and (4) had been given a Cosmos number. A
resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1%3 asked all
nations to refrain from orbiting weapons of mass destruction. The ques-
tion of whether resolution prohzbited the development of such weapons
had never been clarified, Clark said. (Clark, NYT, 8/2QJ67, 17)
Hugo Gernsback, an inventor, author, editor, and publisher who was often
called the father of modern science fiction, died in New York at age 83.
Gernsback described radar in 1911-35 yrs before communications
experts bounced a radar signal off the moon. In 1927 he began pub-
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