Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 September 19
* Three Lewis Research Center engineers received “I-R 100” awards at
National Industrial Research Week ceremonies in New York City. The
“I-R 100” awards were sponsored by Industrial Research Magazine
and presented in observance of National Industrial Research Week.
LeRc recipients William D. Klopp, Peter L. Raffo, and Walter R.
Witzke were cited for the development of tungsten RHC, the highest
strength metal known at temperatures above 3,500”F. The alloy would
have eight times the tensile strength of pure tungsten at the same tem-
perature with no sacrifice in ductility at low temperatures. At tempera-
tures below 250”F, pure tungsten would be very brittle and alloying
it to increase strength usually made it more brittle. (LeRC Release
67-60)
* Addressing the House on means for a terminal-phase missile interception
system, Rep. William R. Anderson (D-Tenn.) called for a sea-based
antiballistic missile intercept system ( SABMIS) . Pointing to the popular
estimate that Red China would have a ballistic missile delivery capability
in the early 197Os, the Congressman stated: “. . . deployment of a
SABMIS unit would place in the seas close to an adversary’s homeland
and across his ‘launch trajectory window,’ a mobile, partly submerged
screen of antimissile forces.” (CR, 9/19/67, H12137)
* Mayor Henry Maier of Milwaukee, addressing a conference of UPI editors
and publishers in San Francisco, said: “The central city cannot be
saved without a reallocation of our national resources to spend as
much to build decent cities for man on earth as we spend on sending
a man to the moon.” ( CTNS, C Trib, 9/19/67)
* U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CLXXVIII into orbit with 310-km (193-mi)
apogee, 137-km (85-mi) perigee, 88.6-min period, and 50” inclination.
Satellite, announced as part of a program of space research, reentered
on same day it was launched. (GSFC SSR, 9/30/67)
September 20: In informal remarks at Kennedy Space Center, NASA Admin-
istrator James E. Webb predicted that congressional cuts in the space
budget would slow up the launch rate and lead to the phasing out of
Apollo equipment after man landed on the moon. Webb said that only
nine of the 15 Saturn V launch vehicles could be launched before 1970,
instead of 13 planned launchings. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that
to absorb this cut for $500 million, after already having absorbed a $600
million cut back in 1964, means that we will have to slow up the launch
rate,” he stated. The cut had also knocked out any new planetary mis-
sions before 1975. Space budget cuts would likely mean the elimination
of the Saturn IB from the middle-term space program, Webb explained
in a brief press conference. NASA was committed to the purchase of 16
Saturn IB launch vehicles. Three had been flown; the next one would
propel the first manned Apollo into earth orbit in mid-1968. NASA
planned to switch manned flights to the three-stage Saturn V as soon a5
possible. The first Saturn V flight, an unmanned test, was scheduled fm
Oct. 19. The Saturn IB had been planned for continued use on flights
not requiring the huge power of the Saturn V, but Webb said that em-
phasis inatead would switch to the Air Force’s Titan IIIM launch vehicle,
beiig developed for the military Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Webb
listed several future checkpoints: (1) fewer orders for new Apollo space-
craft equipment after the moon landing, in such programs as Apollo
Applications; (2) definition of the next system after ApoUo, which
could be a 100,000-lb space station, or something bigger, launched
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