Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

February 15 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
“that closer construction management controls had been estab-
lished. . . .’, Allegations, brought by Plum Brook employee and referred
to GAO by Rep. Charles A. Mosher (R-Ohio), had been denied by
LeRC Director Dr. Abe Silverstein Jan. 19. (Text; Cleveland Plain
Dealer, 2/15/67)
* Boeing Co. would spend $165 million and General Electric Co. $65 million
in Phase I11 (prototype construction) of SST program, M/G J. C. Max-
well ( USAF) , FAA Director of Supersonic Transport Development, told
American Marketing Assn., in Los Angeles. Total cost of Phase 111 work
was estimated at $1.1 billion; most of the difference would be supplied
by Government and the small remainder by several U.S. airlines. Boeing
and GE contracts would not be effective until President Johnson’s au-
thorization to begin Phase 111. (Reddig, Jr., W Star, 2/16/67, A17;
WSJ, 2/16/67,4)
February 16: Sen. Lee Metcalf (D-Mont.) urged on Senate floor ratification
of space law treaty submitted to Senate by President Johnson Feb. 7:
“So now, in the first flush of triumph over the obstacles of space, is the
time to leave behind our terrestrial ambitions, disputes, and claims of
sovereignty, and look to new ground rules for peace and cooperation
in space. . . . The rivalries, the contentions, and the conflicts that have
been our earthly heritage may be abandoned as we jointly and coopera-
tively launch ourselves into this great adventure in space. It may be
that as a result we will achieve a greater cooperative spirit on earth and
as a result international confidence and international understanding will
grow out of extraterrestrial achievements.” (CR, 2/16/67, 52072-3)
NASA Aerobee 150 sounding rocket launched from Ft. Churchill, Canada,
carried seven experiments to 100-mi (160-km) altitude measuring: spec-
tral emission line intensity during an aurora as function of altitude;
visible emission features of an aurora; and primary and secondary elec-
tron streams. Except for high voltage arcing, instrument performance
was satisfactory; rocket performance was good. (NASA Rpt SRL)
February 17: President Johnson, in letter transmitting Sixth Annual Report
of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency to Congress, said: “In
1966 a significant link was added to the still slender chain of arms con-
trol agreements-a treaty banning weapons of mass destruction in outer
space and on celestial bodies. Its significance will grow as our mastery
of space grows, and our children will remark the wisdom of this agree-
ment to a greater degree than the present state of our own knowledge
quite permits today. . . .’, (PD, 2/20/67,274)
February 18: Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb” and
recipient of AEC’S 1963 Enrico Fermi Award for his “outstanding con-
tributions to theoretical physics and his scientific and administrative
leadership,” died at age 62. (NYT, 2/20/67, 36M)
February 20: NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr.
George E. Mueller stressed importance of manned spaceflight program
in speech before IEEE meeting in Washington, D.C.: This is a partic-
ularly appropriate date for us to review our manned space flight pro-
grams. It was just five years ago today that John Glenn became the first
American to orbit the earth in his Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7.
Since that time, we have made noteworthy strides in the manned ex-
ploration of space. . . . In the Mercury and the Gemini Programs, we
learned much about man’s capabilities in space flight. . . .
“We will learn much more from the Apollo missions. By 1970, we
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