Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 September 12-15
to get the plane in the air before the celebration of the 50th anniversary
of the Bolshevik Revolution on Nov. 7. A visiting British aviation dele-
gation saw the incomplete Tu-144 prototype on Sept. 12 and was told by
its builders that it would fly in the first quarter of next year at the earli-
est. Soviet Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation, Leonid Zheludev, said “we
need to test it very well, and we cannot say when it will be put into opera.
tion on civilian passenger flights.” The British-French supersonic Con-
corde, similar in delta-wing shape and in projected performance to the
Tu-144, was scheduled to make its first flight by February 28,1968, and
go into passenger service in 1971. (AP, W Star, 9/13/67; AP, W Post,
9/16/67)
September 13: ComSatCorp announced the selection of B. F. Parrott & Com-
pany, Roanoke, Va., as contractor for general construction work ($1.1
million) on the new comsat earth station in Preston County, about 35
miles southeast of Morgantown, W. Va. The high-capacity earth station
would serve the Atlantic area and would be capable of sending and re-
ceiving all forms of international communications via commercial satel-
lites-television, telephone, telegraph, and data. The station would be in
operation by the fall of 1968. Earth stations also had been started near
Cayey, Puerto Rico, and near Jamesburg, Calif. Three existing stations
were located at Andover, Maine; Brewster Flat, Washington; and Pau-
malu, Oahu, Hawaii. (ComSatCorp Release 67-43)
Safety of combat air crews in Southeast Asia would be greatly improved
by application of a new material (polyurethane foam) first used on the
Indianapolis speedway. ASFC’S engineers had successfully adapted the
foam, which would be installed in the fuel tanks of combat aircraft in
Vietnam. Under an Air Force contract, the Monsanto Research Corp.,
Dayton, Ohio, confirmed compatibility of the foam with military air-
craft fuels. It would virtually prevent explosion in a direct hit on the fuel
tank by machine gun tracer bullets or other incendiaries and would sup-
press slosh in the fuel tanks during flight. (AFSC Release 158.67)
TV coverage of space launches and press coverage of rising costs of space
program had been almost the only source of public exposure of US.
space effort, said Aerospace Systems Group Vice President J. Lynn
Helms at Rotary International meeting during Michigan Univ.’s Ses-
quicentennial Celebration. Speaking on “A Citizen’s Return on Invest-
ment,” he outlined many accomplishments of US. space program that
affect daily life, stating that “money spent in the quest for new informa-
tion keeps coming back to us again and again . . a society that con-
tinually invests part of its annual profits into the future is a progressive
society. Progressive societies serve their people better, in living stand-
ards, medicine, and health, and consideration for and by other nations
of the world.” (Text)
Dept. of State announced appointment of Office of Outer Space AfEairs Di-
rector Robert F. Packard as director of new O5ce of Space and Environ-
mental Science Affairs. This office would be a part of the International
Scientific and Technological Affairs offices, whose responsibility is to
advise and assist the Secretary on scientific and technological factors af-
fecting foreign policy. Packard would be responsible for the interna-
tional aspects of U.S. programs in space, atmospheric science, marine
science, and earth sciences. Packard had served from 1961 to 1962 in the
Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary for Atomic Energy and
Outer Space. (State Dept. Release, 9/13/67)
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