Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

February 1 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
would have stringently limited amount of helium formed. “Neutrino as-
tronomy is just getting started,” he said, “but it might ultimately verify
or deny presence of the hypothetical neutrino sea.” (Sullivan, NYT,
2/2/67,25)
February 2: USAF launched an unidentified satellite from WTR using an
Atlas-Agena D booster; satellite reentered Feb. 12. (Tech Vk, 2/13/67,
10; Pres Rep 1967; GSFC SSR, 2/15/67)
0 Aerospace industry had the knowledge to build quieter aircraft and “it
is time to apply it,” M. Carl Haddon, Lockheed Aircraft Corp. execu-
tive, said at AIAA meeting ifi Washington, D.C. “. . . we have reached
a turning point beyond which we as designers and managers must see to
it that no plane is designed and built that is not significantly quieter
than existing aircraft.” Haddon predicted that failure by aerospace
industry to produce quieter aircraft could result in legislation that would
curfew air traffic. (W Star, 2/3/67, C6)
February 3: Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White 11, and Roger B.
Chaffee had died of “asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation” but cause
of Jan. 27 flash fire was still unknown, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr.
Robert C. Seamans, Jr., reported in memorandum to NASA Administra-
tor James E. Webb. Dr. Seamans had met Feb. 2 with Apollo 2044 Review
Board at KSC. “. . . clear identihation of the source of ignition or of
its possible source will depend upon detailed step-by-step examination
of the entire spacecraft and its relative test support equipment.’’ Dr.
Seamans said duplicate Apollo spacecraft had been flown to KSC from
North American Aviation, Inc.’s Downey, Calif., plant to permit a
“parallel stepby-step disassembly process.’’ In addition, Board was
“defining a series of investigative tasks . . . and assigning these to
teams for execution. . . .” Report confirmed that spacecraft had been
operating on external power when fire occurred, but there was no
evidence “up to this time that the source of power whether simulated
internal or external was related to the accident.” Dr. Seamans em-
phasized that his statement was preliminary.
NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George
E. Mueller announced that NASA would proceed with launching of three
unmanned Apollo flights scheduled for 1967: AS-206, AS-501, and
AS-502. Manned Apollo missions were postponed indefinitely pend-
ing the outcome of Apollo 204 Review Board’s investigation. (NASA
Releases 67-21,67-22)
* MSFC awarded Boeing co. a $120-million contract modification for five
Saturn V 1st stages. Modification increased total contract value to $977
million for fabrication and assembly of 15 stages. (NASA Release 67-
20 1
MSC Apollo Program Manager Dr. Joseph F. Shea briefed major Apollo
contractors and subcontractors at MSC about Jan. 27 flash fire, John Wil-
ford reported in New York Times. MSC made no announcement of the
meeting. (Wilford, NYT, 2/4/67, 15)
* Two-to-six percent weight loss in astronauts returning from space flights
might reflect natural readjustment of body water content, not simple
dehydration, Paul Webb of Webb Associates reported in Science. He
based his theory on similar losses which had occurred during experi-
ments in simulated weightlessness; blood normally pooled in the ex-
tremities returned to circulation, increasing central blood volume and
causing excretion of water not replaced during space flights. Webb said
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