Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

December 15 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
tirely right in his complaint . . . that [US.] is spending a ridiculously
small sum . . . on planetary exploration by unmanned rockets.
66 . . . the cost-effectiveness in scientific terms of the nation’s plane-
tary program is far greater than that of the Apollo program for a
manned flight to the moon, the nearly bottomless well into which the vast
majority of NASA’s funds are now going. The existing allocation of funds
is scientifically irrational, explicable principally in terms of the propaganda
and public relations returns envisaged from ‘winning’ the moon
race.” (NYT, 12/19/67,46)
December 16: Cosmos CXCY was successfully launched by U.S.S.R. Orbital
parameters: apogee, 375 km (233 mi); perigee, 211 km (131 mi);
period, 90.1 min; and inclination, 65.7’. Spacecraft reentered Dec. 23.
(GSFC SSR, 12/30/68; SBD, 12/19/67,251)
U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space approved space res-
cue treaty proposed by US. and U.S.S.R. Draft was submitted to Gen-
eral Assembly for final approval. (NYT, 12/17/67,1)
December 17: First flight of USAF RF-111A reconnaissance aircraft was suc-
cessfully conducted at Fort Worth, Tex. Reconnaissance equipment and
flight-test instruments were checked out during three-hour flight. RF-
lllA was fourth F-111 model to be flight tested; other versions-F-
111A tactical fighter, FB-111A strategic bomber, and USN’S ,F-lllB-
had logged more than 5,500 flying hrs. Of 1,016 supersonic flights made
by F-111 models, 213 had exceeded mach 2. (AFSC Release 210.67;
DOD Release 1182-67)
* The 64th anniversary of first powered flights by Orville and Wilbur Wright
from Kitty Hawk, N.C. Proclamation issued by President Johnson to
commemorate their achievements cited “their inventive genius [which]
revolutionized transportation, and gave rise to great new industries that
have strengthened America’s defense and economy.”
Igor I. Sikorsky, consulting engineer at United Aircraft Corp.’s Si-
korsky Aircraft Div., received the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy
at Aero Club’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Dinner in Washing-
ton, D.C. (NU Release)
* Walter Sullivan, writing in the New York Times, listed proposed projects
to use atomic explosions for commercial applications being considered
by AEC. Project Sloop, a 20-kiloton, $13,175,000 explosion at 1,200-ft
depth, would shatter a large body of copper ore in southeastern Arizona.
Highly diluted acid would then be pumped into the broken rock to
convert the copper into a soluble compound which could be pumped out.
Project Bronco would shatter a northeastern Colorado shale oil deposit
beyond reach of conventional extraction methods. Heat from the blast
would liquefy the oil so that it would flow into the central cavity for
extraction. Projects Dragon Trail and Ruleson would use nuclear ex-
plosion to carve a huge gas storage area beneath a Renovo, Pa., site.
Other proposals included use of explosions to breaa through impermeable
rock formations in Arizona so that rain water could sink in and be
stored underground and to dig canals, harbors, and mountain passes.
According to AEC price list, charge for 10-kiloton explosion would be
$350,000 and for a two-megaton explosion, $600,000, excluding charges
for safety studies, site preparation, transportation and emplacement of
the devices, and support services. (Sullivan, NYT, 12/12/67, E7;
Plowshare)
December 18: USNS Mercury, third Apollo insertion-injection tracking ship,
380