Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 August 2231
three times as many craters on Mars as preliminary photos transmitted
in 1965 by Mariner IV spacecraft indicated. Citing data from two-year
study of photos using new computer-enhancement technique, Dr. Leigh-
ton said pictures showed 300 clearly defined craters and more than 300
additional possible craters. Original estimate from unprocessed pictures
was less than 100. Mars appeared to be about as densely pitted as the
moon but its craters were smoother because of more effective erosion
processes. Several photos showed a number of linear features similar
to lines formed by rifts and faults on the moon. These features were not
the ‘cmuch-discussed” canals of Mars because they were too narrow to
be visible from earth, Dr. Leighton said, but they might be related to
some of the markings identified earlier as canals. (NASA Release 67-225)
Dr. and Mrs. Pierre Connes of Haute Provence Observatory and
Meudon Observatory, France, respectively, reported evidence that might
indicate Venusian clouds are not formed by water. Observation tech-
nique which greatly increased precision with which planets’ spectra
could be analyzed showed spectral lines of hydrogen chloride and hydro-
gen fluoride in the light reflected from Venus. When hydrogen fluoride
combines with water it creates hydrochloric acid which absorbs radar
waves; yet radar waves are known to penetrate Venutian clouds, re-
turning echoes to the surface of the earth. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/24/67)
The “mysterium phenomenon”-peculiar radio emissions from the
Milky Way which display almost all the characteristics of artificial
interstellar communication-was the subject of a report by Dr. T. K.
Menon, National Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, W. Va., and a
later panel discussion. Dr. Menon said most recent observations of
the emissions in the nearby part of the galaxy had been made simulta-
neously from California, Massachusetts, and U.K., using almost the
entire width of earth as a baseline for measurement. They had identi-
fied sources of emissions which were smaller than the smallest star
as seen by the human eye and discovered some of these emissions were
fluctuating on time scales measured in hours or even less. Panel raised
the possibility that emissions might be from stars in the process of
formation. They were being transmitted at four closely spaced wave-
lengths associated with hydroxyl, a molecule formed of a single oxygen
and hydrogen atom, and were being given off when such molecules shed
energy. Emissions also appeared to have various properties associated
with a maser-man-made device in which a radio or light wave is beamed
through certain atoms whose energy has been raised, enormously ampli-
fying original wave and, if wave is confined to a single axis, producing
a beam of extreme intensity. (Sullivan, NYT, 8/26/67,1,10; 8/28/67,
22)
Lunar Committee postponed naming of surface features on moon’s
far side pending the results of Lunar Orbiter V mission. A list of 228
names for approximately 500 major features had been submitted by
Soviet scientists, but US. delegates cited errors in their designations
and asked that features be assigned numbers until a more definitive map
could be prepared using Lunar Orbiter V photos. Commission agreed to
interim number designations and accepted US. map temporarily, assign-
ing study group to report on specific names at next assembly. (Sullivan,
NYT, 8/25/67, 13; NASNRC-NAE News Report, 10/67, 6-7)
IAU president Dr. Pol Swings of Belgium confirmed an observation
made by two obscure Irish astronomers in 1882. Astronomers Lohse and
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