Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967 - NASA's History Office

March 7 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1967
U.S.S.R. would fly a prototype of her 1550-mph Tu-144, supersonic transport
to the Paris International Air Show May 26, according to U.S.
intelligence sources, UPI reported. If reports proved accurate, U.S.S.R.
would become first country to fly a supersonic transport-about one
year before scheduled flight of Anglo-French Concorde and several years
before U.S. SST. (UPI, NYT, 3/7/67,69)
0 Canadian government should establish a national space agency and develop
an extensive space program to avoid losing its control over domestic
communications to U.S., report to new Science Council of Canada by a
four-man panel of scientists and engineers concluded. Report asserted
satellite communications were best means of binding Canada’s five time
zones and bringing advances to isolated northern communities. It advocated
that Canada “make or buy” her own satellite launching facilities;
centralize her fragmented space program for coordinated planning ;
renegotiate cooperative agreement for sounding rocket launches with
U.S. so that Canada could gradually assume complete control of project;
and set up a nationwide comsat system within five years. (Walz, NYT,
3/8/67,21)
* United Aircraft Corp. vice president and chief scientist Perry W. Pratt
received the American Society of Mechanica1.Engineers’ Gas Turbine
Award for “his distinguished leadership and technical contributions in
the development of aircraft turbojet and turbofan engines used widely
throughout the world.” (United Release)
March 8: NASA’s Os0 ZZZ (OSO E) Orbiting Solar Observatory was successfully
launched from ETR with three-stage Thor-Delta booster to study
the sun and its influence on earth‘s atmosphere. Orbital parameters:
apogee, 354 mi (570 km) ; perigee, 336 mi (540 km) ; period, 96 min;
and inclination, 33”. Third of eight spacecraft in NASA% oso program
to provide direct observation of the sun, Os0 ZZZ weighed 627 lbs, carried
nine experiments, and had two main sections: the wheel (lower) section
provided stability by gyroscopic spinning and housed the telemetrycommand
equipment, batteries, electronic controls, gas spin-control
arms, and seven experiment packages; the sail (upper) section was
oriented toward the sun and contained solar cells and two solar pointing
experiments.
Primary purpose of Os0 ZZZ was to obtain high-resolution spectral
data in the range SA-1300A from pointed solar experiments during
major portion of one solar rotation and adequate operational support
of spacecraft subsystems to carry out acquisition of these scientific data.
Spacecrafi’s experiments were designed to continue and extend work of
Os0 Z (launched March 7, 1963) and Os0 IZ (launched Feb. 3, 1965)
spacecraft by collecting data on solar x-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet
radiation, and other solar activity. Project management officials at CSFC
tested or turned on all nine experiments and reported that satellite spin
rate, power level, charge rate, and temperatures were normal. Both
tape recorders were operating. Last experiment, the high-voltage portion
of GSFC’S x-ray spectrometer, was successfully turned on March 14.
(NASA Proj Off; NASA Releases 67-32,67-52)
* First contract for purchase from NASA of launch services for a foreign
satellite was signed by NASA and ESRO in accordance with Dec. 30, 1966,
Memorandum of Understanding on reimbursable launchings. Under contract,
ESRO would purchase a Delta launch vehicle from NASA to launch
its Heos-A interplanetary physics satellite from ETR in late 1968. The
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