Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

January 25 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
“major escalations in cost and could mean financial disaster for a com-
mercial venture. . . . Economics thus require the designer to take an in-
creasingly conservative approach in applying new and advanced con-
cepts. . . .” This conservatism was causing an increasing gap between
“the advanced technology that research indicates is possible and the
technology actually being used in commerce. To assure pre-eminence
in aeronautics, advanced technology must continually be incorporated
intonewdesigns. . . .”
Webb said NASA was working closely with Dept. of Transportation
and FAA to identify and solve critical and specialized civil aviation tech-
nology requirements. He cited major efforts in supersonic transport
field, including work on second-generation propulsion, sonic boom
phenomena, and aircraft handling qualities; and study of jet engine
noise-suppression problems. (Testimony)
0 Orbiting satellites could survive Van Allen radiation belts 10 to 100 times
longer than originally estimated if their outer shells were shaped like
spheres, Dr. Charles Mack, MIT Lincoln Lab, suggested at AIAA’S Aero-
space Sciences Meeting in New York. Basing his prediction on res1113
from new MIT-developed technique to simulate Van Allen belts, Dr. Mack
said that radiation would always strike the surface of a sphere at wide
angles, improving the chances of scattering and thereby decreasing the
amount of absorption. Ideal spacecraft would be 10-ft-dia sphere with
instrumentation in the core, Dr. Mack said. Most current satellites were
smaller and carried instruments near surface. New York Times writer
John Wilford reported that GSFC planned to have MIT-type simulator in
operation by 1969. (Wilford, NYT, 1/26/67, 10)
* The Wahington Post commented on NASA’s FY 1968 budget: “Exploration
of the moon. Giant orbiting space stations, with as many as a dozen men
living and working in them for as long as a year. Unmanned landings
on Mars.
“These are the goals the United States has set for itself in outer
space in the 1970s. With a budget request for fiscal 1968 of $5.05 billion,
more than $500 million of it for dramatic new programs to carry us
beyond a manned landing on the moon, President Johnson has made it
clear that the United States is in space to stay, no matter what the Soviet
Union does or does not do. . . .” (W Post, 1/25/67, A18)
January 26: NASA successfully launched Essa IV, fourth meteorological
satellite in ESSA’S Tiros Operational Satellite (TOS) system, from WTR
using three-stage Thor-Delta booster. Satellite achieved nearly-polar,
sun-synchronous orbit with 888-mi (1,429-km) apogee; 822-mi
(1,323-km) perigee; 113-min period; and 102” inclination. Wheel
orientation maneuver was scheduled for completion during 18th orbit,
at which time first photos would be programed and two-week space-
craft checkout and evaluation program would begin.
An advanced version of the cartwheel configuration, 290-lb Essa IV
carried two Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) camera systems
which would photograph earth‘s cloudcover and immediately transmit
pictures to local APT ground stations. Essa IV was replacing Essa II in
the TOS system because orbital drift limited Essa IZ’s usefulness.
ESSA financed, managed, and operated TOS system; GSFC was respon-
sible for procurement, launch, and initial checkout of spacecraft in orbit.
Essa I was launched Feb. 3,1966; Essa II, Feb. 28, 1966; and Essa III,
Oct. 2, 1966. (NASA Proj Off; ESSA Release 67-17)
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