Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1965 19
tions of technology designed to increase our national security. These
include the first flights of the supersonic XB-70 aircraft, the YF-12A
long-range interceptor, the F-111 supersonic fighter, the Titan IIIA
space booster, and the Minuteman 11 missile. . . .
“Research not only supports today’s weapon systems but also pro-
vides the advanced technology from which new systems will
emerge. . . .
“TO name some specifics, a new high-strength, lightweight material
-formed from boron fibers and a plastic binder-would make possi-
ble great weight savings in aircraft and space vehicle structures with
no sacrifice of either strength or stiffness. We have already produced
laboratory samples of this boron composite. It is potentially as strong
as the high-strength steels, structurally rigid, and as light as
magnesium. It may have higher temperature capabilities than alumi-
num and magnesium, should be easy to fabricate, and should have a
high resistance to corrosion.
“Another advance in the materials area is the use of oxide-dispersed
metals in aircraft engines to provide strength at high temperatures.
This development will make possible a substantial increase in the np-
erating temperature of turbojet engines, which in turn will make for
greater operating efficiency and improved thrust-to-weight ratios.”
(Text, AFSC Release)
January 17: Robert L. Sohn, scientist at Space Technology Laboratories,
proposed to use the gravity field of Venus as a brake for manned
spacecraft returning from Mars.
“We don’t expect to have boosters powerful enough to launch space-
craft of the 1970s that can carry extra propulsion to brake reentry
speeds. . . . The landing corridor will be so narrow that a small frsc-
tionai error in navigation wouk! seiid the spaceciiift into an eternal
orbit around the sun.” He said traveling near Venus on the return
journey from Mars would slow a spacecraft as it passed through the
Venutian gravity field. Then, with some midcourse maneuvering and
navigation, the astronaut could return to earth and reenter earth‘s
atmosphere with greater margin of error. (Macomber, Sun Diego
Union, 1/17/65)
Dr. I. M. Levitt, Director of the Fels Planetarium, said in the Philudel-
phiu Inquirer: “AS of this moment, the Soviets have tentatively deter-
mined that the maximum ‘safe’ period of weightlessness is 24
hr. They hold that after this period, ‘irreversible physiological
changes begin to occur in the human system which, if not corrected,
will eventually lead to death‘. . . .
“The Soviets have also discovered a correlation between high accel-
erations and weightlessness. They believe that when an astronaut is
subjected to high accelerations on launch he tends to overestimate or
to overcompensate for his movements. Once the astronaut is weight-
less, then a radical reversal takes place in which the astronaut under-
compensates and may suffer disorientation. . . .
“The Soviets appear to have concluded that flight crews of the fu-
ture will be selected as medical teams, and they will further be selected
on the basis of biological and bacteriological compatibility. The crew
will be concerned with developing means for forecasting their own