Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967 February 6
ference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, scheduled for
Sept. 11-23 in Vienna. Soviet Academy of Sciences member V. A. Kotelnikov
told preparatory committee meeting in New York that U.S.S.R.
needed more time for preparation of scientific data and papers. Request
caused considerable surprise among U.N. delegates because U.S.S.R. had
been chief supporter of resolution, passed by General Assembly Dec. 16,
1966, to hold meeting in September. (NYT, 2/7/67, 30; Estabrook,
W Post, 2/8/67)
Japan launched three-stage Lambda 3H rocket from Uchinoura Space
Center, Kyushu Island, to 1,337-mi (2,142-km) altituderecord altitude
for Japanese rocket. The 9.5-ton vehicle carried instruments to obtain
nine types of scientific data on the Van Allen belts and the ionosphere;
all equipment functioned normally except electronic thermometer. The
29-min flight ended when rocket’s 3rd stage impacted 1,400 mi downrange
in the Pacific. (AP, NYT, 2/7/67,27)
0 President Johnson presented 1966 National Medal of Science to 11 scientists
and engineers at White House ceremony and praised their efforts
to make new discoveries: “Today, our enormous investment in science
and research is our evidence of our faith that science can not only make
man richer-but science can make man better.” Awards were an-
nounced Dec. 24, 1966. (PD, 2/13/67, 194-5)
* FAA met with 11 US. airlines and one leasing company to discuss financing
of SST. Following conference, FAA Administrator William F. McKee
announced that airline representatives had “indicated general agree-
ment with the concept of assisting with financing of the prototype de-
velopment phase.” (FAA Release 67-11 )
NASA appointed M/G John D. Stevenson (USAF, Ret.) Director of Mis-
sion Operations, OMSF, succeeding Everett E. Christensen who returned
to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. General Stevenson had been serv-
ing as special assistant to Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Ad-
ministrator for Manned Space Flight. (NASA Release 67-23)
* USAF would not use pure oxygen atmosphere on its manned space flights,
partly because of the fire hazard, announced L/Col. John W. Ord, Direc-
tor of Crew Test Evaluation at USM School of Aerospace Medicine. Ord
said Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program would use mixture
of oxygen and helium because it was lightweight and conducted heat
away from the spacecraft. (Lockett, W Post, 2/7/67)
February 6-9: “Lectures in Aerospace Medicine” conference was held at
USAF School of Aerospace Medicine (SAM) , Brooks AFB, Tex.
Dr. Hubertus Strughold, chief scientist at SAM, recommended that
astronauts preparing for long-duration interplanetary space flights un-
dergo “prophylactic surgery” to prevent appendicitis or gall bladder at-
tacks and prophylactic dental work to guard against abscessed teeth.
Dr. Alfred C. Koestler, head of Holloman AFB’S Altered Atmosphere
Pressure Laboratory, reported that 18 chimpanzees had survived rapid
decompression to the near vacuum of 150,000 ft for 31/2 min without
any noticeable residual effects following four-hour recovery period.
Tests offered hope that an astronaut outside his spacecraft could be
rescued if his spacesuit were to spring a leak.
Bends, the painful decompression sickness that cripples deepsea
divers, would imperil astronauts leaving a spacecraft with “mixed-gas”
atmosphere to work in space, L/Col. Robert C. McIver suggested. His
conclusion was based on series of experiments in which 74 healthy men
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