NASA SP-4023 

ASTRONAUTICS AND 

AERONAUTICS, 1 

A Chronology 

The NASA History Office 

The NASA History Series 

Scientific and Technical Information Branch 1986 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Washington, DC 
NASA maintains an internal history program for two principal reasons: (1) Sponsorship of research in NASA-related history is one way in which NASA responds 

to the provision of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that requires 

NASA to “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.” (2) Thoughtful study 

of NASA history can help agency managers accomplish the missions assigned to 

the agency. Understanding NASA’s past aids in understanding its present situation and illuminates possible future directions. The opinions and conclusions set 

forth in this book are those of the author; no official of the agency necessarily endorses those opinions or conclusions. 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 

20402 (paper cover) Library of Congress Catalog number 65-60308 
Preface 

Astronautics and Aeronautics for 1978 is the 18th volume in a series of 

annual chronological digests of principal events in the fields of 

astronautics and aeronautics. Initiated in 1961 with a compendium of 

events from 1915-1960, this series is designed to serve as a reference for 

policymakers, reference librarians, and researchers. Each entry is followed by one or more citations of sources to which users may turn for 

further information on the particular event or development being chronicled. 

The Astronautics and Aeronautics series is one way in which the 

NASA History Office has attempted to implement its charter to 

disseminate information about the activities of the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, and to provide support for historians and 

other researchers in the area of United States aeronautical and space programs. As a result of staff and budgetary limitations, the NASA History 

Office has been unable to maintain the annual currency of this series. We 

expect, however, to bring the series up to date with a forthcoming compendium volume covering principal events over a six-year period. This 

volume was written by Ms. Bette R. Janson. 

Reliability is essential to the usefulness of any reference work of this 

scope. As with previous volumes, readers can contribute by notifying our 

office of any errors so that we can publish them in subsequent volumes. 

Sylvia D. Fries 

Director, NASA History Office 

July 1986 

iii' 
Four varieties of spacecraft launched by NASA in 1978: top left, scientific international ultraviolet explorer IUE I, launched Jan. 26; top right, eartl-resources 

satellite Landsat 3, launched March 5; bottom left, environmental meteosat Tiros 

N, launched Oct. 13; bottom right, comsat NATO 3C, launched Nov. 18. 
Contents 

... Preface .................................................. IU 

January .................................................. 1 

February ................................................. 25 

April .................................................... 77 

July ..................................................... 155 

August .................................................. 181 

September ................................................ 209 

October .................................................. 235 

November ................................................ 259 

December ................................................ 289 

March ................................................... 49 

May ..................................................... 103 ’ 

June ..................................................... 129 

Appendixes 

A . Satellites. Space Probes. and Manned Spaceflights. 1978 ...... 317 

B . Major NASA Launches. 1978 ............................. 347 

C . Manned Spaceflights. 1978 ............................... 351 

D . NASA Sounding Rocket Launches. 1978 ................... 353 

E . Abbreviations of References .............................. 361 

Index .................................................... 367 

Illustrations 

First women named by NASA as astronaut candidates ........... 9 

72 

Six astronauts awarded Congressional Medal of Honor .......... 237 

Photo mosaic from the Viking orbiter ........................ 267 

NASA’s second high-energy astronomy observatory ............ 269 

Artist’s concept. Pioneer Venus orbiter and multiprobe .......... 281 

Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise ............................. 

V 
January 

January 2: Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine reported that 

President Carter would soon receive from Secretary of Defense Harold 

Brown a plan for a unified U.S. space policy covering all government 

and private-sector programs. The plan was the product of a policyreview committee headed by Brown and consisting of representatives 

from NASA, the Dept. of Agriculture, Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA, DOD, 

the office of the President’s national security adviser, and the Office of 

Science and Technology Policy; the Interior Dept. and NOAA had participated in a steering committee under the main group. After evaluating 

the effect of the U.S. space program on foreign policy, national security, 

and overall economic benefit, the group had agreed that national security 

considerations were the main hindrances to formulating a national space 

policy. The group had considered space-arms control (maximum 

pacification of space, with limitatidns on killer satellites); availability of 

reconnaissance-satellite data (greater federal agency access); regulation 

of private-sector remote sensing (resolution limits); interagency management (a coordinating committee, to be chaired either by DOD and 

NASA, or by the President’s science adviser); broadcast satellite policy 

(no restrictions on signals crossing national borders); and certain intelligence, DOD, NASA, NOAA, and civilian programs. (Av Wk, Jan 

2/78, 14) 

Av Wk reported NASA’s announcement that it would send Pioneer IZ 

to fly just outside the rings of Saturn as a pathfinder for two Voyager 

spacecraft scheduled to reach Saturn in 1980 and 1981. Passing 15 OOOmi 

rather than 3700mi from Saturn’s surface, the new course would place 

Pioneer ZZ at about the same distance from Saturn as the trajectory of 

Voyager 2, if NASA should decide to use Saturn’s gravity to hurl 

Voyager 2 toward Uranus. The outside trajectory would permit NASA to 

achieve the maximum science return for all three spacecraft. Pioneer I1 

should reach Saturn in Sept. 1978. (AvWk, Jan 2/78, 15; Lewis News, 

Jan 6/78, 2) 

* President Carter’s $100 million reduction in MX-missile FY 1979 funding would not prevent DOD’s continuing advance MX development for 

another yr, Av Wk reported. The remaining $160 million would cover 

costs of assessing basing modes and alternatives for the missile. The 

President’s decision to continue MX without starting engineering 

1 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

deveiopment would delay initial operational capability until 1987. Key 

administration officials doubted that MX would ever be deployed, said 

AvWk, because of its links to future SALT agreements preventing 

deployment of mobile-based systems. (Av Wk, Jan 2/78, 13) 

January 5: NASA reported a board of inquiry’s findings on the Sept. 9, 

1977, failure of an Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle destroyed 55sec into the 

flight. Launched from Kennedy Space Center, the vehicle had carried an 

Intelsat IV-A. The board attributed failure to a rupture in the highpressure “omega joint” in the Atlas-stage gas-generator discharge line, 

caused by contamination during production. Technicians had tested 

joints on all completed vehicles, and all those at KSC had passed; a few 

in the factory that were corroded or questionable had been replaced. 

Changing the fabrication process should prevent further contamination, 

the report stated. (NASA Release 78-3) 

January 6: Lewis Research Center reported it had signed a $24 million 

1 yr contract with Honeywell, Inc., Avionics Division, St. Petersburg, 

Fla., for management and engineering support of Centaur inertial 

guidance. This automatic self-contained navigation and guidance system 

with a digital computer unit would permit Centaur to compute and adjust its flight for delivery of a spacecraft to a preselected orbit without 

ground command. The nation’s first high-energy liquid-hydrogen liquidoxygen rocket, the Centaur, as an upper stage on both Atlas and Titan 

I11 boosters, had helped launch Voyager I and 2, scheduled to fly by 

Jupiter and Saturn in 1979 and 1980. (Lewis News, Jan 6/78, 2) 

0 Preliminary analyses of Viking Orbiter I (VO-1) data on the Mars 

satellite Phobos revealed low density and a spectral reflectance and low 

albedo that suggested a composition similar to type I carbonaceous chondrites, reported Science magazine. VO-1 had obtained a spectacular picture sequence at 100km, an encounter by far the most demanding navigation performance of any interplanetary-spacecraft exploration to date. 

Since Phobos had a mean radius of only 11 km and was only partially illuminated when viewed during the flyby, the VO-1 position relative to 

Phobos had required accuracy of within a few kilometers. Imaging data 

had revealed small positive features (hummocks), small craters with 

bright ejecta blankets, dark material on the floors of some craters, large 

variations in topography, and an abundance of linear features resembling crater chains. Further analysis would refine density estimates to 

determine Phobos’s origin. (Sci, Jan 6/78, 61) 

January 6-7: NASA launched Intelsat IVA F-3, fifth of a series of improved commercial communications satellites, at 7:15pm EST Jan. 6 

from Cape Kennedy on an Atlas-Centaur into a transfer orbit. ComSat2 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

Corp had fired the apogee kick motor Jan. 7, putting the satellite into 

near-geosynchronous orbit. After initial positioning at 74"E the satellite 

would be moved to 60"E as backup to Intelsat IVA F-6, and was scheduled to be on station at 63"E by mid-June. 

Intelsat IVA F-3 had an overall height of 6.99m and a diameter of 

2.38m. Height of the solar panel was 2.82m. Liftoff weight was approximately 15 15kg (33401b); in-orbit weight after apogee motor firing, 

825.5kg (18201b). Design life was 7yr. 

Ten Intelsat IV and IVA satellites were currently in synchronous 

equatorial orbit over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, providing 

full-time telephone, teletypewriter, data, and television services to 107 

countries, territories, and possessions. The Intelsat IVA had almost twothirds greater communications capability than the Intelsat IV series, with 

about 6250 two-way voice circuits and 2 television channels in its system 

configuration. The number of operating transponders had increased 

from 12 to 20. Improvement of the antenna system had produced greater 

effective bandwidth through frequency reuse by beam separation: for Indian Ocean service, the east-pointed beam *of Intelsat IVA F-3 would 

illuminate Japan and Southeast Asia using a 320MHz bandwidth, and 

would reuse the same 320MHz bandwidth in the west beam illuminating 

Europe and Africa. In addition to eight east-beam transponders and 

eight west-beam transponders, four transponders connected to an earthcoverage antenna would illuminate all stations in the Indian Ocean 

region. 

The Communications Satellite Corp. (ComSatCorp), US. member of 

INTELSAT, would be management services contractor for the satellite 

system; ComSatCorp on behalf of INTELSAT would reimburse NASA 

under a launch-services agreement for costs of the Atlas-Centaur and the 

launch. The Intelsat IVA program represented an investment by 101 nations of approximately $295 million (US); this launch had cost approximately $47 million ($18 million for the satellite and $29 million for the 

launch vehicle and related services). (NASA Release 77-250; MOR 

E-491-633-78-5 [prelaunch] Jan 5/78, [postlaunch] June 23/78; W Star, 

Jan 7/78, A-5) 

January 9: NASA announced selection of 16 experiments in space 

technology for the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) mission, 

scheduled as payload for the first Space Shuttle operational flight in 

1980. LDEF, managed by Langley Research Center, was a reusable unmanned free-flying structure carrying various technical and scientific experiments in special trays, providing an easy and economical means to 

conduct primarily passive experiments in earth orbit. 

NASA had selected the 16 experiments from 190 candidates that 

responded to an opportunity notice distributed in June 1976. In3 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

vestigators selected to date represented 6 universities, 6 private organizations or research institutes, and 5 NASA centers. Seven experiments were 

from France, 2 from England, and 1 from Canada. R&D value, compatibility with LDEF and other experiments, and effort cost had been 

selection criteria. Technical areas included materials, thermal-control 

coatings, detectors, power, micrometeoroids, electronics, lubrication, 

optics, and space-debris detection. Eighty percent of LDEF’s experiment 

trays had been filled; the remaining space would contain micrometeoroid-detection panels. LDEF would remain in orbit 6 to 12mo for experiment exposure to space environment. The Space Shuttle orbiter 

would retrieve and return it to earth; experiments would go to their investigators for data analysis. (NASA Release 78-1) 

NASA announced appointment of Kenneth Chapman as associate administrator for external relations, effective Jan. 8. Chapman had been 

acting in the position since its creation Nov. 8, 1977, and had been assistant administrator for DOD and interagency affairs since joining NASA 

April 1, 1977. Chapman would be senior policy official responsible for 

integrating NASA activities in public, Iegislative, university, community, 

interagency, and international affairs. Chapman had come to NASA 

from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He retired from the Air Force 

in 1975 after a 29-yr career. (NASA Release 78-4) 

0 KSC had begun preparation for launching Shuttle Orbiter 102 in Oct., 

Spaceport News reported. Construction of new facilities and modifications to existing ones were proceeding on schedule. The orbiter-landing 

facility and orbiter-processing facility had been the only new facilities 

built at KSC to support Shuttle operations. Other preparations included 

modifications of existing facilities originally designed and built to support Apollo/Saturn operations. KSC would transform hanger AF at 

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into a solid-fuel rocket-booster 

recovery and disassembly facility. (Spaceport News, Jan 9/78, 1) 

0 The Commerce Department had predicted the total value of U.S. 

aerospace-industry shipments of complete aircraft, engines, and space 

vehicles at $22.2 billion this year, reported Aviation Week. This was a 

21 Yo increase over the estimated value of $18.3 billion for 1977, resulting 

from a surge of orders for large commercial transports in the first half of 

1977 for 1978 delivery. A hundred data collectors working for DOC concluded that the U.S. would maintain worldwide preeminence in aerospace; that aerospace exports would continue to provide the largest U.S. 

manufacturing trade surplus; that sales, shipments, and profits would 

move up with the demand for large transports causing the greatest optimism; that general aviation would continue to grow in 1978; and that 

4 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

economic growth in 1978 would increase passenger traffic about 6% over 

1977, to 200 billion passenger miles. Aerospace imports, the magazine 

said, would probably remain low-about 2.2% of U.S. consumption in 

1977-and would probably cost the U.S. about $648 million in 1978. 

(AvWk, Jan 9/78, 15) 

0 NASA announced plans for 25 launches in 1978 and support of 3 

Atlas-F space launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The 1978 missions would be almost equally divided between those directly benefiting 

people (for communications and geodetic, environmental, navigation, 

meteorological, and earth-resources studies) and those primarily for 

scientific and exploratory research. Fifteen launches would be for paying 

customers, including the European Space Agency (ESA), ComSatCorp, 

the U.S. Navy, Japan, NOM, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Cape 

Canaveral had been scheduled for 10 Delta launches and all the AtlasCentaur launches; one Delta would be launched from the Western Test 

Range at Vandenberg AFB. (Spaceport News, Jan 9/78, 1; Goddard 

News, Jan/Feb 78, 1; AvWk, Jan 9/78, 48) 

Lockheed-Georgia Co. announced it would test its USAF C-5A 

transport as a cruise missile launch platform, Aviation Week reported. 

Lockheed noted that the platform could accommodate the USAF/Boeing air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), the Navy/General Dynamics 

Tomahawk (TALCM), and air-to-air self-defense missiles with equal 

facility. Key features would include no need for structural modifications 

to the aircraft or its systems or subsystems; operation essentially by 

gravity; and flexibility that would allow installation on any C-5, 

Lockheed C-141, or (2-130 aircraft. The launch system would maximize 

flight safety, as missiles would be loaded in launch position, secured, and 

released and moved only on a launch command, Lockheed officials emphasized. (Av Wk, Jan 9/78, 40) 

January 10: The Federal Aviation Administration would demonstrate in 

Europe and Africa in early 1978 a family of advanced all-weather landing systems, Administrator Langhorne Bond announced. The FAA 

would airlift three versions of the time-reference scanning-beam 

microwave landing system (TRSB/MLS) developed by the U.S. and 

Australia to four overseas sites in Jan. and Feb. to demonstrate the new 

approach-and-landing aid at various airport environments. TRSB/MLS 

versions designed for small community airports would be demonstrated 

Jan. 23 and 24 at Kristiansand’s Kjevik Airport in Norway, and in Feb. 

at Dakar’s Yoff Airport in Senegal; at the Nairobi, Kenya, airport; and 

at Gosselies Airport outside Brussels, Belgium. FAA would demonstrate 

an expanded TRSB/MLS system Feb. 1-3 at the Brussels airport. The 

5 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

U.S. and Australia had proposed TRSB/MLS to the International Civil 

Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the new worldwide standard allweather approach-and-landing guidance system. (FAA Release 3-78) 

January 11: KSC announced award of a $3.5 million contract to Federal 

Systems Division, Honeywell Information Systems, for delivery of a central data subsystem for Shuttle launch processing, consisting of two large 

scale computers sharing a common memory that would store test procedures, a master-program library, pre- and post-test data analyses, and 

other types of data to support Shuttle checkout, countdown, and launch. 

KSC had procured the subsystem for Vandenberg AFB for a second 

Shuttle launch and processing facility. (KSC Release 3-78) 

0 Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) announced that Corning Glass 

Works, Canton, N.Y., had begun work on a foot-thick primary-mirror 

blank for the Space Telescope, for which the center would have overall 

management responsibility. The telescope had been scheduled for launch 

in 1983. Corning would deliver two 8ft.discs to Perkin-Elmer Corp. for 

grinding and polishing and telescope assembly; Lockheed Missiles and 

Space Co. would build the primary spacecraft and support system, and 

integrate the complete telescope. Glass had been used for the mirror 

blank as it would change shape only slightly with temperature changes 

during viewing; the titanium-silicate mirror blank would have zero expansion on a scale used by physicists. Aperture of the mirror blank was 

about 94in; diameter of the center hole was about 2ft. (Marshall Star, 

Jan 11/78, 4) 

MSFC announced successful completion of the first test of the Space 

Shuttle external tank, a major milestone leading to firing tests of the 

Shuttle’s main propulsion system. The Dec. 21 test assured that the main 

propulsion test article (the test facility and associated hardware) could 

handle super-cold propellants, liquid hydrogen, and liquid oxygen used 

by the Shuttle main engine. Propellants used to fill the external tank had 

flowed through connecting piping to the 3 engines until stopped by the 

main-engine valve; test engineers then made sure the engines had cooled 

down to operating temperature, several hundred degrees below zero. A 

series of static firings of the external tank, a simulated orbiter with a 

flight aft fuselage, three main engines, and associated piping would 

validate system operation. (Marshall Star, Jan 11/78, 4) 

* A simulated Space Shuttle orbiter had represented the Enterprise during practice hoists into the tall tower where the latter would soon be 

tested, the Marshall Star reported. The real orbiter had recently completed a series of landing tests in Calif. and would next undergo a series 

6 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

of tests at MSFC to see how the orbiter and other Shuttle components 

would maintain guidance and control under vibration during launch and 

powered flight. MSFC engineers would use the simulated orbiter to 

rehearse tests; for example, they had towed the simulator along center 

roadways to check clearances. The team had then practiced hoisting the 

simulator into the 131m (430ft) test stand. After completing tests at 

MSFC, the simulator would go by barge to KSC to check out procedures 

for launch. Vandenberg AFB had asked to borrow the simulator for its 

Shuttle launch facilities. (Marshall Star, Jan 11/78, 1) 

* Tass reported that the USSR launched Soyuz 27 from Tyuratam on 

Jan. 10, 1978, at 7:26pm Moscow time to dock with the already occupied 

orbital station Salyut 6. Crewmen were Lt. Col. Vladimir Dzhanibekov, 

commander, and Oleg Makarov, civilian flight engineer. Soyuz 26 had 

been docked with Salyut 6 since Dec. 11, 1977; the 2 crews would carry 

out research and experiments on board. (FBIS, Tass in English, Jan 

1 1 /78) 

January Z2: ESA announced that the third (upper) stage of the heavy 

launcher Ariane, designed to use highly advanced liquid-hydrogen and 

liquid-oxygen propulsion techniques, had been successfully tested Jan. 

10 at the SociCtC EuropCenne de Propulsion’s Vernon test center. The firing had lasted 250sec, as scheduled. With previous successful tests, this 

test had demonstrated European mastery of the technology, ESA said. 

ESA had developed Ariane to launch communications and other applications satellites weighing up to lOOOkg into geostationary orbit 36 OOOkm 

above the equator; ESA had plans to launch about 200 geostationary 

satellites between 1980 and 1990. (ESA Release Jan 12/78) 

January 13: NASA announced that the National Remote Sensing Agency 

of India (NRSA) had agreed to build a ground station at Hyderabad in 

south central India to receive data directly from NASA earth resources 

satellites-Landsat 2, as well as Landsat C (scheduled for launch in 

March 1978) and Landsat D (scheduled for launch in 1981)-and to offer 

India and neighboring countries the practical benefits of remote-sensing 

technology. (NASA Release 78-6) 

January Id: NASA announced it had selected 15 Space Shuttle pilotastronaut candidates and 20 mission-specialist candidates as its eighth 

group of astronauts, including 6 women, 3 blacks, and an American of 

Japanese descent. The first women and minority astronauts could be in 

orbit within 3yrs. Selection criteria for the more than 8000 applicants had 

been motivation, educational background, and work experience. All but 

one of the 15 pilot candidates and 7 of the 20 mission-specialist can- 
Y ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

didates had come from the U.S. military services. Of the 35 selectees, 10 

were from the Air Force, 9 from the Navy, and 1 each from the Marine 

Corps and the Army. The mission specialists selected had come from 

medical, biological, earth sciences, physical and chemical sciences, and 

engineering disciplines. The number of selections had been keyed to the 

expected need for Shuttle crews to supplement the 17 pilot and 10 scientist astronauts now on flight status in Houston. The new astronauts 

would begin 2 years of training July 1 at Johnson Space Center in 

Houston. 

* Selected to train as mission specialists were Anna Fisher, Shannon 

Lucid, Judith Resnick, Sally Ride, Margaret Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, 

USAF Maj. Guion Bluford, USMC Capt. James Buchli, USAF Maj. 

John Fabian, Navy Lt. Dale Gardner, Terry Hart, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman, Ronald McNair, USAF Capt. Richard Mullane, George 

Nelson, USAF Capt. Ellison Onizuka, Army Maj. Robert Stewart, Norman Thagard, James Van Hoften; as pilot astronauts, Navy Lt. Cdr. 

Daniel Brandenstein, Navy Lt. Cdr. Michael Coats, USAF Maj. Richard 

Covey, Navy It. Cdr. John Creighton, Navy Lt. Robert Gibson, USAF 

Maj. Frederick Gregory, Stanley Griggs, Navy Cdr. Frederick Hauck, 

Navy Lt. Cdr. Jon McBride, USAF Capt. Steven Nagel, USAF Maj. 

Francis Scobee, USAF Capt. Brewster Shaw, Jr., USAF Capt. Loren 

Shriver, Navy Lt. Cdr. David Walker, and Navy Lt. Cdr. Donald 

Williams. (NASA press conference Jan 16/78; Marshall Star, Jan 17/78, 

1; W Star, Jan 17/78, A-5; AvWk, Jan 23/78, 19) 

A NASA internal assessment chartered by the Carter Administration 

had found areas “where clearly there are too few people to do the job 

that needs to be done,” reported Av Wk. The study would aid in defining 

the proper size and structure of NASA through the early to mid-l980s, 

based on tasks assigned. NASA would continue to analyze its alternatives, including agency employment levels and the outlook on agency 

responsibilities. The resulting recommendations would be designed to accommodate a variety of funding levels. (AvWk, Jan 16/78, 21) 

FAA questions about isolation of hydraulic systems in the AngloFrench Concorde had delayed the plane’s certification, Aviation Week 

reported. The British Aerospace Corp. had expressed confidence that the 

FAA would approve certification; an FAA team concluded earlier that 

129 out of 149 certification items had complied with U.S. standards. 

Later, the engine had been certified, and cabin and crew compartments 

inspected. An FAA memorandum to the British noted questions on “the 

possibility of single-hydraulic system failure causing loss of all hydraulic 

systems, including flight control.” The British and French would have to 

show that their fail-safe type of system provided a degree of safety 

8 
PAGE IS 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 .oE: POOR QUALITy JANUARY 

First women to be named by NASA as astronaut candidates (left to right): 

Margaret R. (Rhea) Seddon, Anna L. Fisher, Judith A. Resnik, Shannon W. 

Lucid, Sally K. Ride, and Kathryn D. Sullivan. (NASA photo 78-H-81) 

equivalent to that of the usual dual system, which observers expected 

them to do. (AvWk, Jan 16/78, 31) 

0 The Congressional battle over President Carter’s efforts to delete 

funds for B-1 bomber aircraft 5 and 6 would resume after Congress 

reconvened in Jan., said Aviation Week. The outcome would depend on 

a Senate rescission move led by Sen. John Stennis (D-Miss.), chairman of 

the Senate Armed Services Committee, to uphold the administration’s 

stand against B-1 funding. Last year the House had voted to oppose the 

Senate rescission stand after Senate-House conferees failed to resolve the 

issue. Senate B-1 proponents led by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), 

Senate majority whip, had joined forces to sustain the House action and 

return the question to the conference. The administration might move 

quickly to win endorsement of the Stennis move to rescind while many 

senators were still away from Washington. (AvWk, Jan 16/78, 15) 

January 17: The Washington Post reported that the U.S. and USSR had 

opened a more reliable “hotline” using satellites, instead of telephone 

wires and undersea cables, to link the White House and the Kremlin. The 

direct line had been available since 1963 for use in an international 

emergency. The direct link would use the synchronous-communications 

9 
JANUARY *.* ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

satellite Intelsat and the Soviet Molniya system of satellites. The previous 

hotline had been subject to unexpected interruptions, a potentially grave 

problem in event of tension between the two governments; it had been 

cut at least three times, once when a Finnish farmer cut a buried cable 

while cultivating land. (W Post, Jan 17/78, A-10) 

January 18: The 16th Aerospace Sciences Meeting at MSFC of the 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics with nearly 700 

registrants concluded with posthumous presentation of the space systems 

award to Dr. Werner von Braun, first MSFC director. Former astronaut 

Maj. Gen. Thomas Stafford had accepted the Haley spaceflight award 

on behalf of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crew. (Marshall Star, Jan 

18/78, 1) 

0 MSFC announced that NASA had instituted a NASA End-to-End 

Data Systems (NEEDS) project to ease the enormous burden of storing 

data collected by its satellites and aircraft. NASA’s public archives had 

been growing by 100 000 000 OOO bits of data per day; during the 1980s 

and beyond, spacecraft like Spacelab, earth-orbiting satellites, and 

planetary probes would produce a staggering quantity of data, creating a 

major problem of storage and availability to users. NEEDS would 

decrease processing time and storage space, reduce maintenance costs, 

and provide better user access. Four field centers would participate in the 

project, MSFC being responsible for developing a medium to replace 

magnetic tape and microfilm. Working with Harris Corp. of Melbourne, 

Fla., MSFC had developed the optical mass memory system, using a dryprocess film that could store as much data as on magnetic tapes or 

microfilm in 100 times less space, and could make access 100 times 

faster. The goal of NEEDS would be a tenfold reduction in the present 

$300-million-per-year storage/maintenance cost, and a thousandfold increase in information return to users. (Marshall Star, Jan 18/78, 4) 

January 19: INTELSAT announced it had awarded Nippon Electric Co., 

Tokyo, Japan, a $175 000 contract for development of a multimode 

phase-shift-keying (PSK) modem for a nonlinear satellite channel. INTELSAT had established full-time global communications using 197 

antennas at 161 earth stations in 87 countries. (INTELSAT Release 

78-3-M) 

January 20: NASA announced successful completion of the second fullduration ground-static firing of a huge solid-fuel rocket motor to be used 

in Space Shuttle flights beginning in 1979. Thiokol Corporation’s 

Wasatch Division, prime contractor for MSFC development of the 

motor, had conducted the firing at Brigham City, Ut. The 125ft-long 

(38. lm) motor on the test fixture had fired for more than 2min, reaching 

10 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

a thrust level of 28321b (12 596 736 newtons). The test firing had used 

1 102 4001b (500 048kg) of propellants. -The contractor had gimballed 

the motor nozzle early in the test and again later in the firing for about 

half the total burn time; the solid-fuel rocket booster’s motor nozzles 

during Shuttle launches would provide directional control for the entire 

Shuttle assembly. MSFC had scheduled the next test for early summer. 

(MSFC Release 78-6; Marshall Star, Jan 25/78, 1) 

Spaceport News reported a spacecraft problem had delayed launch of 

FltSatCom-A, first of a new highly versatile 3-satellite military communications system in which each satellite in geosynchronous orbit 

would provide 23 operating channels. A FltSatCom (fleet sateIlite communications) system would provide reliable secure communications between naval units anywhere except in extreme polar regions, and would 

become part of the Air Force Satellite Communications System (AFSatCom) linking the national command authority with Strategic Air Command (SAC) and other USAF units. DOD had reserved one wideband 

5OOKHz channel on FltSatCom-A. (Spaceport News, Jan 20/78,1) 

January 21: NASA Administrator Robert Frosch in a briefing announced that NASA’s FY79 budget would propose an 8% increase, providing “buying power” at about the 1978 level. The space science request 

had gone up about 27’70, largely because of the Space Telescope and the 

Galileo (Jupiter-orbiter) project. Applications and aeronautics were each 

up about 16%. The proposed FY79 budget was $4.371 billion; the FY78 

budget was $4.064 billion. The FY79 budget requested money for only 

four Space Shuttle orbiters; Frosch explained that the four orbiters 

would use two launch sites (KSC and Vandenberg AFB) and that NASA 

and the Air Force would phase out the existing stable of expendable 

boosters. Omitted was OV-101, the Enterprise, which would be used for 

approach and landing tests or for spare parts, or could be reconfigured in 

an emergency to spaceflight status. 

The major new start NASA had included in the budget was the “Out of 

Ecliptic” (OOE) or Solar-Polar, a cooperative venture with ESA to fly 

two satellites to look at the structure of the sun’s surface and at sunspots 

and poles. Other new starts NASA had requested were the HALO 

(halogen-occultation) experiments to study upper-atmosphere pollution, 

and the earth radiation-budget satellite system to study incoming and 

outgoing radiation. Key application continuations would be Landsat C 

and D, the Nimbus-G environmental satellite, Tiros-N next-generation 

weather satellite, and Seasat-A. Space Transportation Systems would 

receive $1 827 700 000; Space Science $513 200 000; Space and Terrestrial Applications $283 400 000; Aeronautics and Space Technology 

$375 400 000; Tracking and Data Acquisition $305 400 000. Manpower 

would remain at the FY78 1eveI;with 45 positions shifted from MSFC to 

11 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

JSC, KSC, and the Natl. Space Technology Laboratories. (NASA 

budget briefing, Jan 21/78; Marshall Star, Jan 25/78, 1; W Star, Jan 

23/78, A-8; AvWk, Jan 23/78, 13; Jan 30/78, 28) 

January 22: FB1S;eported that, according to Tass, the automatic cargotransport ship Progress I launched Jan. 20 had docked with the manned 

scientific complex Salyut 6/Soyuz 27 at 1:12pm Moscow time, first use 

of an automatic spaceship to supply fuel, equipment, and materials to a 

manned orbital station. The shipment would prolong considerably the 

functioning and effectiveness of manned orbital complexes. Linkup was 

to the docking gear in the instrumented compartment of the Salyut 6 station. The mutual search, rendezvous, tethering, and linkup was automatic, using onboard radio-technical and computing devices. To increase 

cargo capacity and cut transportation costs, the USSR had designed Progress I not to return to earth but to burn up on reentry. (FBIS, Tass in 

English, Jan 22/78) 

January 23: NASA had formally designated as Project Galileo a 1982 

mission to orbit a spacecraft around Jupiter for at least 2Omo and send a 

probe into its atmosphere, NASA Administrator Robert Frosch announced. The designation had honored the 16th century Italian 

astronomer, first to observe Jupiter by telescope and discover its moons. 

Galileo would be the first planetary spacecraft carried by the Space Shuttle and the first planetary spacecraft named for a person, although 

NASA had christened the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3 (OAO 3) 

“Copernicus” after it was launched. (NASA Release 78-1 1) 

NASA announced it had retired Landsat I, first spacecraft designed to 

discover and monitor earth’s natural resources, on Jan. 16 after 5.5yr of 

operation in outer space. The multispectral scanner carried on Landsat I 

had revolutionized earth observation from space. Launched in 1972 with 

a life expectancy of lyr, Landsat I had taken more than 300 000 pictures 

and had demonstrated remote-sensing applications in geology, 

oceanography, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, urban planning, crop 

prediction, and other disciplines. Landsat 2, launched in 1975, was still 

in orbit; a third Landsat would be launched in March. Three U.S. 

ground stations had received Landsat data, as had stations in Canada, 

Brazil, and Italy. Iran and Japan were building stations; Argentina 

planned one. (NASA Release 78-9; Goddard News, Jan-Feb 78, 5) 

AvWk reported that the third instead of the fifth Space Shuttle mission would attempt to raise the orbit of the abandoned Skylab space station, bettering chances of Skylab’s remaining in orbit until the Shuttle 

could come to the rescue. NASA had scheduled the third Shuttle flight 

12 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

for Oct. 1979; the fifth, for Feb. 1980. A Martin Marietta teleoperator 

propulsion unit carried on the Shuttle to boost Skylab to a higher orbit 

would be left in space for retrieval by the fifth Shuttle flight. MSFC 

would build a solar panel for the teleoperator to keep it in orbit for as 

long as necessary. (AvWk, Jan 23/78, 22) 

The USSR had decided to keep a permanent manned space station in 

earth orbit as a result of the current Salyut 6 space station mission, 

Av Wk reported. Staffing this and follow-on Salyuts without major intervals between missions would be a milestone in manned spaceflight, and 

would demonstrate the USSR’s decision to invest major resources in 

space. 

The USSR had claimed the Sulyut 6/Soyuz 27 mission was more scientific than military; its activities had included photographing the Soviet 

Union to explore for natural resources, detailed medical studies of 

cosmonaut blood circulation, and upper-atmosphere and micrometeorite 

monitoring. The crew had also devoted more time to system checkout 

and monitoring, because the design of Salyut 6 was a significant change 

from that of previous Salyut space stations: 

The USSR had not previously flown a spacecraft configuration like 

Salyut 6/Soyuz 26/Soyuz 27 to test the interaction of three large vehicles. 

It had tried various spacecraft attitudes to evaluate stresses during 

maneuvers on the docked system, and had transferred food and equipment from the Soyuz 27 resupply vehicle and film, biological samples, 

and records to the Soyuz 27. 

The Soyuz/Salyut mission had achieved three manned-spaceflight 

firsts: four-man space station, simultaneous docking of two transport 

spacecraft with an orbiting space station, and manned resupply of an occupied station. (AvWk, Jan 2/78, 20; Jan 9/78, 25; Jan 16/78, 20; Jan 

23/78, 19) 

0 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it had awarded Eppley Laboratory, Inc., Newport, R.I., a 

$79 OOO contract for specialized solar-tracking devices to measure solar 

radiation reaching earth, to extend its solar-radiation network. The 

Department of Energy had provided NOAA with funds for 50 

pyrheliometers, one for each of NOAA’s solar-radiation collecting 

facilities, to measure increased temperatures proportional to the intensity 

of incoming radiation. Architects, engineers, and others interested in 

solar-energy applications would use this information with other 

temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover data. (NOAA Release 78-8) 

January 24: Tass announced that the USSR had launched a Molniya 3 

comsat carrying relay apparatus to operate in the centimeter waveband, 

13 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

into an orbit with 40 631km apogee in the northern hemisphere and 

661km perigee in the southern hemisphere, period of 12hr 16min, and 

62.8" inclination. The satellite would ensure operation of a long-distance 

telephone, telegraph, and radio-communications system, and program 

relay from USSR central television to points in the Orbita network. 

(FBIS, Tass in English, Jan 24/78) 

January 25: NASA announced results of two November 1977 meetings 

with the USSR Academy of Sciences on further cooperation in space. An 

agreement reached in May 1977 focused on ways to benefit from the different attributes of Salyut and a reusable-Shuttle type of spacecraft. Dr. 

Noel Hinners, associate administrator for space science at NASA, had 

headed the U.S. delegation; Dr. Boris Petrov, chairman of the Intercosmos Council of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, had led the Soviet 

delegation. The groups had agreed to meet in the U.S. in late March or 

early April, in Moscow in July, and again in the U.S. in October. 

The eighth annual meeting at Wallops Flight Center Nov. 19-25 of the 

NASA-Soviet Space Biology and Medicine Working Group had discussed biomedical findings: preliminaiy results of the Soviet Cosmos 936 

unmanned flight carrying U.S. experiments, and of the Salyut S/Soyuz 

21 and 24 missions. The USSR had invited the U.S. to participate in 

Soviet biosatellite flights in 1980 and 1981. A workshop on simulated 

weightlessness held in Bethesda, Md., had preceded the meeting. Dr. 

David Winter, NASA director for life sciences, had headed the U.S. life 

sciences delegation and Dr. Rufus Hessberg, NASA director of space 

medicine, the workshop delegation. Soviet leader at both meetings was 

Dr. Nikolai Gurovsky of the USSR Ministry of Health. The ninth 

meeting would take place in the USSR in the second half of 1978. The 

workshop and meeting had been part of a program set up under a 1971 

Science and Applications Agreement between NASA and the Soviet 

Academy of Sciences. (NASA Release 78-10) 

* LeRC announced it had worked with Kresge Eye Institute in Detroit to 

reduce and regulate pressure inside the eye during glaucoma surgery using a device based on fluid-systems and components technology 

developed by NASA. The pressure-reduction system could mechanically 

lower intraocular pressure (inside the eye) to any level desired by the 

physician over a set time and in a controlled manner. A fluid supply with 

pressure matched to existing intraocular pressure would enter the 

anterior (front) chamber of the eye through a tiny tube inserted near the 

edge of the cornea; controlled reduction of fluid-supply pressure would 

reduce intraocular pressure by the same amount and at the same rate. 

The system would permit investigation and assistance in reduction of 

some post-eye surgery complications such as cataract formation, 

14 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

vascular-membrane detachment, flat anterior chamber, and malignant 

glaucoma. NASA planned to continue development of the device under 

controlled clinical conditions. (NASA Release 78-12) 

MSFC announced plans for two runs by a high-speed sled in Feb. at 

the Sandia sled track, Albuquerque, N.M., to test the “broadside deployment phase” of the Space Shuttle’s solid-fuel rocket booster parachuterecovery system. The sled tests would deploy only the pilot chute to 

determine if the nosecap when ejected would clear the vehicle without 

becoming entangled, as boosters would come in flat, not sideways like an 

arrow, and air would flow across the nose cone at right angles. MSFC 

had developed the SRB and its recovery system. (Marshall Star, Jan 

25/78, 4) 

0 INTELSAT announced appointment of 3 deputy directors and 4 division directors. New deputy director generals were Andrea Caruso, administration; Reginald Westlake, finance; and H. William Wood 

(former NASA deputy associate administrator for networks, OSTDS), 

operations and development. New division directors were Francis 

Latapie, procurement; Emeric Podraczky, engineering; William Geddes, 

operations; and NandKishore Chitre, systems planning. After INTELSAT’s contract with ComSatCorp for management services expired 

in Feb., INTELSAT would assume responsibility for all technical, operational, and procurement functions previously performed by ComSatCorp, which would continue to provide certain technical tasks under two 

service contracts. (INTELSAT Release 78-4-1) 

January 26: NASA announced it had launched the International 

Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) from KSC at 12:36pm EST on Jan. 26, 1978, 

aboard a Delta rocket. KSC had delayed the launch for 4hr to secure an 

access door on the Delta heatshield. The Delta had injected IUE into a 

transfer orbit with 46 342km (28 784mi) apogee, 167km (104mi) perigee, 

and 28.7” inclination. IUE was part of a joint program by NASA, ESA, 

and the United Kingdom’s Science Research Council (SRC); more 

astronomers (200 from 17 countries) would use IUE than had used any 

previous satellite. The satellite’s telescope, aimed by ground controllers, 

would examine the ultraviolet spectrum between 1 150 and 3 200A, a 

region inaccessible to study from the ground. 

Studies would range from planets in earth’s solar system to some of the 

most distant objects in the universe, including quasars, pulsars, and 

black holes in space. Astronomers would study a wide range of stars to 

learn how they were born, live, and die; the material between these stars 

from which they are formed and are still forming; strange objects emitting radio waves or x-rays, or both; the sedate nearby galaxies and the 

15 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

violent distant quasars; and earth’s planetary neighbors and their 

satellites. IUE would complement and extend current NASA observations from the two orbiting astronomical observatories, OAO 2 and 

Copernicus, and ESA’s TD Z satellite. IUE’s follow-on would be the 

10-ton Space Telescope (ST) to be launched by the Shuttle in 1983. 

The IUE spacecraft was an octagonal cylinder approximately 1.5m tall 

and 1.3m between opposing faces. Overall length of 4.2m included a 

telescope tube at the forward end and an apogee motor extending from 

the rear. Solar arrays on opposite sides of the spacecraft when unfolded 

in space would measure 4.3m (14ft) wide. Spacecraft weight was 14791b, 

of which 2721b was scientific instrumentation. After stabilization, the 

spacecraft would continuously point one of its two solar arrays at the 

sun. 

Goddard Space Flight Center would have a constant view of IUE; 

ESA’s Villafranca station near Madrid, Spain, a view at least lQhr per 

day. GSFC had designed, integrated, and tested IUE and provided U.S. 

ground-support facilities; ESA had built the solar array and the Madrid 

ground facilities. SRC, in collaboration with Univ. College, London, 

had provided four television camera detectors to transform spectral 

displays into video signals for transmission to the ground. The joint 

agreement had allocated 16hr of viewing time a day to NASA, 8hr to be 

shared jointly by ESA and the United Kingdom. The U.S. had spent $57 

million on the spacecraft, Delta rocket, and other items; ESA had spent 

$21 million; SRC and Univ. College had spent $9 million. (NASA 

Release 78-8; MOR S-868-78-01 [prelaunch] Jan 19/78, [postlaunch] Feb 

2/78; NYT, Jan 27/78, A-8; ESA Release Jan 20/78; Goddard News, 

Jan-Feb 78, 1) 

0 NASA announced it would celebrate Jan. 31 the 20th anniversary of 

the first U.S. artificial earth satellite, Explorer I, which had ushered the 

western world into the space age. Principal scientific achievement had 

been discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding the earth, 

Weighing 13.9kg (30.81b), measuring 15.2cm (6in) in diameter and 

203.2cm (80in) long, and shaped like a stovepipe, Explorer Z had been 

the product of two other organizations now elements of NASA: the 

development group of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at 

Huntsville, Ala., and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of CalTech at 

Pasadena, Calif. In 1960 ABMA had become the nucleus of MSFC; JPL 

had gone under contract to NASA in Dec. 1958. ABMA had provided 

the modified Redstone booster and the basic satellite design, and JPL 

had furnished the solid-propellant upper stages of the carrier vehicle and 

had packaged and tested the payload. 

Explorer Z’s launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a Jupiter C vehicle 

at 10:48pm EST, Jan. 31, 1958, had come 45 days after DOD had given 

16 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

the Army the go-ahead to prepare a backup to the existing U.S. Navy 

Vanguard project. Explorer I had continued to transmit information on 

the space environment until May 23, 1958, when its batteries were exhausted; it had reentered March 31, 1970. Dr. James Van Allen had 

designed the scientific package that discovered the radiation belts named 

for him. The Explorer I launch had been part of U.S. participation in the 

International Geophysical Year. (NASA Release 78-1 3; MSFC Release 

78-9; JPL Release Jan 27/78; NRC News Report, Feb. 78, 1; Spaceport 

News, Jan 9/78,2; Jan 20178, 3; JPL Universe, Jan 20/78, 1; Marshall 

Star, Jan 25/78, 2) 

Although the U.S. and USSR had signed separate treaties in 1963 and 

1967 prohibiting test and deployment of nuclear weapons in space, 

western observers had interpreted the USSR‘s Cosmos series as an antisatellite development program, Farooq Hussain reported in a Nature 

article. Killer satellites had exploited the poor resistance of satellite components (particularly solar cells) to intense heating and radiation 

damage; they could aim at satellites’ high energy-lasers or ion beams to 

cause arcing and discharge through instrumentation. Precision-guided 

missiles could destroy satellites either by colliding with them or by 

detonating conventional explosives close to a target. One explanation of 

recent Soviet tests had been China’s development of reconnaissance 

satellites. The only U.S. test of an antisatellite had occurred in 1963 when 

a modified McDonnell Douglas Thor missile had been fired against a 

missile booster in low earth orbit. 

Recent advances had indicated that killer satellites might carry highenergy continuous-wave or pulsed lasers to destroy target satellites; both 

sides had used ground-based lasers for several years to interrogate reconnaissance satellites. In Sept. 1977 the Air Force had awarded to Vought 

Corp., Dallas, Tex., a $58.7 million contract for development of a killer 

satellite. To avoid the cost of this arms race, the article said, both the 

U.S. and USSR had been willing to agree on limiting development of 

killer satellites. (Nature, Jan 26/78, 293) 

January 27: NASA announced that scientists from NASA’s Ames 

Research Center and NOMS Environmental Research Laboratory in 

Boulder, Colo., had begun flight tests of an instrument designed by 

NOAA scientist Dr. Peter Kuhn to warn pilots of impending turbulence 

(see A&A 1976, Nov. 11, 277). Dr. Kuhn, an experimenter on NASA’s 

Gerard P. Kuiper Observatory (a C-141 aircraft equipped with a large 

telescope for astronomy research), had noticed that variations in atmospheric water vapor as measured by an infrared (IR) water-vapor 

radiometer had often accompanied extreme turbulence encountered by 

the aircraft; he had succeeded in using IR radiometer to define at17 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

mospheric conditions in the telescope’s field of vision. Dr. Kuhn then 

suggested mounting an IR radiometer aimed forward in an aircraft; this 

system had successfully predicted occurrences of turbulence in clear air 

from 2.5 to 5.5min before encounter. However, researchers needed more 

encounters from various directions and altitudes to test the instrument, 

and wanted to experiment with filters and to fine-tune the instrument for 

optimum results. 

The joint NASA-NOAA program would consist of exhaustive tests using a NASA Learjet research aircraft to develop a low-cost system that 

would enhance flight safety and comfort, be suitable for any aircraft, be 

able to operate unattended and require minimum maintenance, and produce a cockpit visual alert 4 to 5min before a turbulence encounter. 

(NASA Release 78- 15) 

0 LaRC reported on its Jan. 17-19 seminar on Large Space Systems 

Technology (LSST) attended by more than 200 persons who had exchanged ideas on the technology needed to build large space systems in 

the future. The group had tried to guess what research and technology 

the multimission needs of the Space Shuttle would be in 1985 to 2000; 

NASA had scheduled no definite programs for 1985 to 2000, but wanted 

to ensure performance of economical and well-organized future missions. 

Seminar subjects included predictions of structural behavior in space, 

particularly under loads and stresses; advanced materials and techniques 

for joining various kinds of structures; distribution of controls for large 

structures; and electronics equipment needed for operation and control 

of structures. Those attending had represented six NASA centers, 24 

aerospace firms, 8 universities, and 4 DOD centers. To continue 

cooperation between government agencies and industry, LaRC planned 

to hold a similar seminar yearly. (LaRC Release 78-3; Langley News, 

Jan. 27/78, 1) 

January 28: A Canadian Air Force transport searching for radioactive 

contamination from a Soviet satellite that disintegrated over northwest 

Canada had reported a “highly probable” radiation contact, the W. Star 

reported, first to be discovered since Jan. 24 when the crippled Cosmos 

954 satellite powered by a nuclear reactor containing lOOlb of highly 

radioactive uranium 235 had reentered earth’s atmosphere. The occurrence had sparked controversy over hazards of radioactive space debris; 

the U.S. space program had used radioisotope power systems, but had 

launched only one fission reactor, that on the Snap ZOA test vehicle. Fission reactors such as that on Cosmos 954 would create strontium, 

cesium, and cerium byproducts potentially lethal if radiation dosages 

were high or prolonged. 

18 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

The USSR had launched at least 10 reactors on spacecraft like Cosmos 

954, 16 with the same operating parameters having flown since Dec. 27, 

1967; it had put all the reactor craft except Cosmos 954 in safe high orbit. 

The Soviet and U.S. governments had kept close contact during the incident. National Security Affairs Assistant Zbigniew Brzezinski, quoted by 

TASS, said, “I would like to point out two things: first that this incident 

which, to my mind, is nothing out of the ordinary in the space age, is 

fully controlled so we believe there is no danger. . . . Second, that the 

governments of the US., the Soviet Union, and other governments concerned cooperated intensively concerning this matter.” (FBIS, Tass in 

English, Jan 25/78, Jan 28/78; W Star, Jan 26/78, A-1; AvWk, Jan 

30/78, 33; Economist, Jan 28/78, 75) 

NASA announced that it had appointed Dr. John McCarthy director 

of LeRC, effective Oct. 1, 1978. Currently director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Space Research and a professor of 

aeronautics and astronautics, Dr . McCarthy had been widely recognized 

as an expert in systems engineering and vehicle design. He had served as a 

member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and chairman of the 

Aeronautical Systems Division Advisory Group, Air Force Systems 

Command, and had been a member of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff Scientific Advisory Group for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

(NASA Release 78-16) 

January 30: FBIS reported that the People’s Republic of China had 

launched on Jan. 26 an earth satellite that had functioned normally in orbit and returned to earth “after fulfilling tasks of scientific experimentation.” The report added that the achievement had resulted from the 

guidance of the wise leader Chairman Hua Kuo-feng. (FBIS, Tass in 

English, Jan 30/78) 

Thiokol Corp.’s Wasatch Div. had used an airfilm material-handling 

system at its Brigham City, Utah, plant to move and position Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket-motor ‘components weighing up to 300 000lb, Av Wk 

reported. The size of components for the Shuttle’s solid-fuel rocket 

motors and the large number of Shuttle missions expected had led 

Thiokol to try new types of material-handling systems. 

Heaviest load moved had been a solid-fuel rocket-motor casting segment loaded with propellant weighing about 300 OOOlb on a transporter 

dolly weighing an additional 50 0001b, for a combined total of about 175 

tons moved. (The motor would consist of four segments individually cast 

with solid rocket motor fuel in one of several pits at the Thiokol facility.) 

The airfilm system used compressed air to inflate urethane pads (bearings) attached to the bottom of specially-designed dollies; air forced into 

19 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

the bearings and seeping between them and the floor had created a space 

of two or three hundredths of an inch-enough to “float” the transporter 

and its load on a film of air. (AvWk, Jan 30/78, 56) 

January 31: ESA announced that it had successfully tested the second 

stage of its Ariane launcher in flight configuration, at the Deutsche 

Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. test 

center in Hardthausen, Germany. The 138sec test had checked compatibility between the structure (fuel tanks) and propulsion system 

(engines) and that of the pressurization system, propulsion-system performance, and structure resistance. ESA had scheduled two further tests 

in the next few weeks; all three stages of the launcher had reached 

complete-stage testing. The Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France, 

had developed Ariane for ESA; more than 50 firms in 10 ESA-member 

countries had participated in the program. (ESA Release Jan 31/78) 

0 Federal Aviation Administrator Langhorne Bond said the British Civil 

Aviation Authority and the British Plessey Corporation had been “using 

the press and other news media to deliberately mislead and confuse the 

world aviation community” about a US.-backed all-weather approach 

and landing system. The FAA administrator said the time reference 

scanning-beam/microwave landing system (TRSB/MLS) had been 

developed in a “goldfish bowl” from the outset with wide public participation; he labelled as “simply not true” British allegations that the 

U.S. had conducted a misleading test program or issued false data, and 

that the TRSB system was unsafe. Bond said the International Civil 

Aviation Organization (ICAO), at its worldwide meeting in April, would 

probably select TRSB as the international system and that the campaign 

to discredit TRSB had been a last-minute effort by the British and 

Plessey to influence ICAO’s decision. (FAA Release 9-78; W Star, Jan 

7/78, A-1) 

During January: NASA announced it had tentatively selected 18 scientists to participate in the design and early operational phases of the Space 

Telescope project. The 10-ton observatory to be launched by the Spacei 

Shuttle in 1983 would make astronomical observations deeper into space 

and in more detail than ever before. The scientists would head teams 

representing investigations definition (design and develop the focal plane 

instruments and carry out major scientific investigations); astrometry 

science (ensure that a fine guidance system could perform the required 

astrometric functions); faint-object camera science (US. members to 

assist ESA’s team); telescope science (interpret performance requirements in terms of telescope design specifications); data and operations (establish instrument specifications for control system, flight 

20 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

operation, and ground data handling); and interdisciplinary science (provide a broad scientific overview of ST development). A Space Telescope 

science working group to give scientific guidance to the project would 

consist of team leaders, 2 telescope scientists, interdisciplinary scientists, 

and appropriate project personnel. MSFC had management responsibility for the telescope; GSFC would manage operations and the development of scientific instruments. (NASA Activities, Jan 78, 9) 

0 NASA announced it would hold a symposium Jan. 16 and 17 in 

Washington, D.C., on the proper role NASA should be prepared to 

fulfill during the early to mid-1980s. The symposium would host 20 

nationally-known authorities in fields including federal research policy, 

economics, education, science, aircraft development, and space applications. The symposium was a part of its current assessment of its institutional base. (NASA Release 78-5) 

* NASA reported that DOD had lent it 5 Navy divers to support 

simulated weightlessness tests in the Space Shuttle program. The divers, 

all fleet-salvage men selected for their expertise in erecting or dismantling 

underwater structures or equipment, had been assigned to the neutral 

buoyancy simulator at MSFC. Working underwater in full-scale 

segments of the Space Shuttle, they would assist test engineers with contingency procedures, equipment operation, evaluation of spaceconstruction techniques, and other activities scheduled for Shuttle and 

Spacelab missions. (NASA Activities, Jan 78, 5) 

GSFC reported that, as a result of its concern about possible volcano 

damage to a Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) station, 

Mt. Cotopaxi in Ecuador, tallest volcano in the world, almost 6km 

(3.75mi) high, had been transmitting continuous information on its 

seismic activity. Dr. Richard Allenby of the Geophysics Branch at GSFC 

had installed a geophysical monitoring system consisting of a single-axis 

vertical seismometer and two tiltmeters. The system had transmitted data 

to the STDN station for quick review and relay for analysis to Dr. 

Minard Hall, geology professor at Ecuador’s Escuela Politecnia National. Any unusual volcanic activity identified by Hall would be immediately relayed back to the station and to the Ecuadorian authorities. 

The seismometer and its preamplifier, the only permanent volcanomonitoring system in South America, had been encased in a sealed 

plastic tube and buried about a meter (3ft) underground for fear of an 

eruption within the next few years. Other remaining field instruments 

and batteries had been buried in 50-gal oil drums. Although the equipment had not detected major volcanic activity, it had detected ground 

motions along a nearby active fault line. (Goddard News, JadFeb 78,4) 

21 
JANUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTLCS, 1978 

0 MSFC had issued to industry a request for proposals to study an 

automated longwall guidance and control system for coal mining and to 

build a prototype, NASA Activities reported. Studies by MSFC 

engineers over the past 2 yrs had indicated the potential practicality of a 

system using gamma rays, radar beams, impact devices, or reflected light 

to guide a longwall shear’s cutting edge. The engineers had applied 

automated guidance and control-system technology developed for the 

lunar roving vehicle to a “longwall machine” that would grind coal from 

a wall or face of a coal seam in a more or less straight line, send it out on 

a conveyor, and advance with mechanized roof supports. Automating 

such a machine could eliminate the need for humans to work next to the 

cutting operation. Automated guidance and control would permit much 

faster removal of virtually all the coal present, increasing annual production by millions of tons of purer coal. The automated system should 

reduce wear on cutters and minimize machine downtime. (NASA Activities, Jan 78, 9) 

The Air Force Systems Command reported it had successfully concluded a 2-yr space-communications test program 4mo ahead of 

schedule, saving the Air Force more than $500 000. Directed by the 

Satellite Communications Terminal Program Office, SAMTEC’s 6555th 

Aerospace Test Group had launched the Lincoln experimental satellites 

LES 8 and 9 from Cape Canaveral 22 OOOmi into space to demonstrate 

advanced technology that would provide dependable jam-proof communications between satellites spaced thousands of miles apart and terminals scattered over more than 75% of the earth’s surface. The satellites 

and terminals had worked essentially flawlessly. 

In the test, a receiver and transmitter on each satellite had relayed 

messages for the first time directly between two spacecraft without 

ground or airborne relay. Acting as earth-orbiting relay stations during 

the test program, the satellites exchanged voice and data information 

between airborne, ground, and shipboard terminals. Instead of batteries 

charged by solar panels (susceptible to radiation damage), each satellite 

had used two nuclear-powered thermal generators for long-term dependable power services. Some tests had run continuously for 2 or 3 days, requiring 24-hr manning. Nerve center for the program had been the testmanagement facility at the Mitre Corp., Bedford, Mass. (ASFC 

Newsreview, Jan 78, 6) 

0 NASA announced personnel changes at Hq. 

-Herbert Rowe, acting deputy associate administrator for external relations, would leave to become vice president of the Electronic Industries 

Association. Rowe had joined NASA in 1975. 

-NASA had appointed Frank Penaranda director of the institutional 

Operations Division, Office of Management Operations, effective im22 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JANUARY 

mediately. He would be responsible for managing the agency’s R&PM 

budget and institutional management system, including program support 

negotiations between centers and program offices, coordinating agencywide civil service and contractor manpower planning, and overseeing the 

center’s aircraft operations. 

-NASA had appointed C. Ronald Hovel1 director of the Resource 

Management/Administration Office, Office of Space Transportation 

Systems. He would be responsible for budget and control support of 

each STS program directorate having responsibility for STS funds. 

-Effective Jan. 1, Dr. S. Ichtiaque Rasool had become chief scientist in 

the Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications. Rasool had maintained 

an active relationship with academic, industrial, and government 

organizations working on development and use of scientific and 

technological instrumentation, theory, and techniques for study earth 

and its nearby space environment. (NASA anno Jan 11 , 16, 20, 30/78) 

23 

February 

February 1: Fifteen scientists who would manage earth-orbital investigations for the third Spacelab in mid-1981 had met at Marshall Space Flight 

Center to discuss preparations for the mission, the Marshall Star 

reported. Known as the investigators’ working group for Spacelab mission 3 (IWG-3), the group would work with NASA mission management 

to develop a payload offering the greatest possible scientific return and 

to select payload specialists who would perform experiments aboard 

Spacelab 3. Those at the meeting agreed on professional qualifications 

for payload specialists and on criteria for their selection, beginning in the 

second half of 1978. 

Sponsored by the NASA Hq Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications, Spacelab mission 3 would include materials processing in space, 

the atmospheric cloud-physics laboratory, .the drop-dynamics module, 

and vestibular-function research. Experiments would obtain basic 

knowledge about crystal-growing processes in earth orbit, mechanisms 

for generating small latex spheres, dynamic behavior of free-floating 

drops of liquid, cloud formation in the atmosphere, red blood cell aggregation, and adaptation of life forms to space. MSFC would manage 

integration and operation bf the scientific payloads flown on the first 3 

Spacelab missions. (Marshall Star, Feb 1/78, 1) 

0 MSFC reported that the USAF had redesignated an interim upper 

stage (IUS) for Space Shuttle as the “inertial upper stage,” to reflect its 

inertial-guidance capabilities as compared to the NASA-sponsored spinning solid upper stage. The new name would also indicate that DOD 

payloads would use the stage well into the 1980s. (Marshall Star, Feb 

1/78, 1; Spaceport News, Feb 17/78, 3) 

February 2: NASA announced plans to launch on Feb. 9, 1978, the first 

spacecraft in a new worldwide military communications system. DOD’s 

Fleet Satellite Communications (FltSatCom) satellites would provide 

vital communications for the Navy, Air Force, DOD, andthe Presidential Command Network [see Jan. 201. The spacecraft would go into 

synchronous-transfer orbit on an Atlas Centaur from ETR’s launch complex 36. 

FltSatCom, a highly versatile military-communications system built by 

TRW Defense and Space Systems, would offer 23 operating channels: 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

the Navy would use 1 fleet-broadcast and 9 fleet-relay channels for communications between naval aircraft, ships, submarines, and ground stations, ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore. The system could offer reliable 

secure communications between naval units, even relatively small vessels 

equipped with inexpensive antennas and simple equipment, anywhere in 

the world except in extreme polar regions. The Air Force would use 12 

narrowband channels as a part of the Air Force Satellite Communications System (AfSatCom) linking the national command authority with 

Strategic Air Command (SAC) units and other arms of the Air Force; 

DOD had reserved 1 channel. The Naval Electronic Systems Command 

would manage the FltSatCom program. 

The spacecraft would consist of two major hexagonal elements (a 

payload module and a spacecraft module), with the majority of electronic equipment mounted on 12 panels enclosing the payload and 

spacecraft modules. The payload module would contain UHF and 

X-band communications equipment, and antennas -the UHF-transmit 

antenna, built of ribs and mesh to open like an umbrella; and the receive 

antenna, a separate deployable helix. The spacecraft module would contain earth sensors, an apogee kick motor, attitude and velocity control, 

telemetry tracking and command, electrical-power distribution, and a 

solar array folded around the spacecraft module until reaching final 

position in orbit, to be deployed by spring-loaded hinges. The 1875kg 

(41321b) spacecraft weighed about 390kg (8601b), more than any satellite 

previously Iaunched into synchronous orbit on an Atlas Centaur, 

NASA’s standard launch vehicle for intermediate-weight payloads. 

(NASA Release 78-17; MOR M-4911-202-78-01 [prelaunch], Feb 3/78) 

0 Former NASA Administrator Dr. James C. Fletcher received NASA’s 

Distinguished Service Medal at a ceremony at NASA Hq on Jan. 30, 

1978. Dr. Frank Press, President Carter’s science adviser, made the 

presentation in recognition of Dr. Fletcher’s “distinguished 

leadership . . . outstanding scientific and administrative 

abilities . . . and contribution to the nation’s significant achievements in 

the exploration of space and utilization of space to manage the earth’s 

resources.” Dr. Press noted, “His decision to proceed with the development of the Shuttle orbiter exemplified the perceptive leadership which 

foresaw space as a giant laboratory where men will work to improve the 

future of all mankind.” Dr. Fletcher, who was NASA administrator 

from April 27, 1971 until May 1, 1977, was a consulting engineer and 

vice president of the National Space Institute in Washington, D.C. 

(NASA Release 78-18, Langley Researcher, Feb 24/78, 1) 

A detailed article on manned spaceflight in a recent Chinese technical 

journal had raised speculation that the People’s Republic of China might 

26 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

attempt to put a man in orbit, reported FBIS. Navigation Knowledge, 

published by the China Navigation Society, had printed a description of 

manned-flight problems such as weightlessness and satellite design, the 

effects of weightlessness on the body, and the growing of food in outer 

space. The article suggested that the PRC, having retrieved three unmanned satellites from orbit, was now ready to experiment with living in 

space. 

Much of the article concerned physical changes resulting from a spacecapsule environment, and the food, clothes, and waste facilities appropriate for an astronaut, information apparently based on completed 

experiments. By using the direct rays of the sun, the article claimed, a 

space voyager could grow rice and wheat the size of a Chinese date tree 

and eggplant and peppers the size of watermelon. Observers believed 

Chinese space technology had developed considerably since the initial 

space launches and that the next (No. 8) launch might have an animal 

aboard. (FBIS, Kyodo in English, Feb. 2/78) 

February 3: Kennedy Space Center reported it had begun a 3-mo exercise 

called Spacelab Critical Design Review, whose results would go to a final 

board meeting on design changes needed for Spacelab to fly. ESA’s 

prime contractor, ERNO, had assembled Spacelab data consisting of 34 

volumes and approximately 3000 drawings and had packaged 5 sets, 

weighing a total of 5001b, for shipment to the U.S. KSC review groups 

would look for discrepancies to ensure that the data reflected the hardware design and that the design was compatible with KSC operations. 

The reviewers would submit any discrepancies to a screening group, 

which would select those to be forwarded (along with those identified by 

other NASA centers) to MSFC for consolidation and decision on which 

would be sent to Europe. Those finally selected would be consolidated 

with ESA-identified discrepancies and forwarded to ERNO. (Spaceport 

News, Feb 3/78, 1) 

0 John Pierce of the CalTech department of electrical engineering wrote 

in a Science magazine editorial that space exploration and technology 

had been remarkably rewarding by any standards, because the American 

public and government had been willing to try new and promising things 

without any guarantee of success. “Some areas of space,” he said, “appear to be reserved perpetually for our government or competing governments. We must continually spend government money to ensure that our 

launch capabilities keep ahead of those of the rest of the world. Without 

this, even the most lucrative uses of space will pass into other hands.” He 

advocated continued funding for planetary exploration and other 

radically new space science, even ‘without immediate financial return: “If 

space science, including planetary exploration, is not adequately funded, 

21 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

we will lose an art which, having led us to glory, may lead us much farther. A future without adequate support in this area of great national 

success would be dismal indeed.” (Sci, Feb 3/78, 4328) 

February 4: FBIS reported that the Japanese Defense Agency had 

deciphered the “identification, friend or foe” (IFF) code of the Soviet 

MiG-25 flown by a defecting pilot to Japan’s Hakodate airport in Sept. 

1976. IFF, a top-secret device, would enable a pilot flying at Mach 2 to 

identify a plane appearing on a radar screen. At that speed, since identification could not be made by sight, the pilot would send an electric 

wave in cipher; a plane that failed to return a prearranged signal would 

be attacked. The decoding was the result of intensive study of data 

observed from the MiG-25. Western military experts had discovered the 

Soviet approach to constructing secret codes, the basic units of pulse 

signals emitted by the IFF, and the sequence of Soviet codes. The USSR 

would now have to revise all IFF codes for the MiG series, including 301) 

MiG-25s and 115 MiG-25Bs. One aviation expert noted that the IFF had 

provided vital information; “. . . it is not an overstatement to say that 

the IFF was the only secret about the ,MiG-25 that landed at Hakodate.” 

Japanese and U.S. authorities had returned the MiG to the USSR after 

study. (FBIS, Kyodo in English, Feb 4/78) 

February 6: NASA announced it had appointed Dr. John Klineberg 

deputy associate administrator in the Office of Aeronautics and Space 

Technology (OAST), where he would be responsible under the OAST 

associate administrator for general management and direction of OAST 

programs. Klineberg had come to Ames Research Center in 1970 from 

CalTech; while at ARC, he had done fundamental research on transonic 

flow, particularly on viscous effects and boundary-layer separation. 

After joining the OAST Aerodynamics and Vehicle Systems Division at 

Hq in 1974, Klineberg had managed aeronautics research on short- and 

reduced-takeoff-and-landing (STOL), vertical-takeoff-and-landing 

(VTOL), and rotorcraft vehicles. Appointed in 1976 to the OAST Aircraft Energy Efficiency Office, he had been responsible for aerodynamics and active-controls elements of that program. (NASA anno 

Feb 6/78) 

0 Av Wk reported that the Carter administration had planned an intensive $400- to $500-million program of killer satellite technology to overcome the USSR’s 10-yr lead. The USAF Flight Test Center at Edwards 

AFB, Calif., announced it had sought proposals for an air-launched space 

booster usable in an antisatellite program. Vought Corp. had undertaken 

work on killer-satellite technology under a $58.7-million contract. Such a 

non-nuclear warhead system could consist of small rocket tubes clustered 

around an optical-sensor package containing a small digital computer; 

28 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1918 FEBRUARY 

this device would use the rocket-propulsion tubes as the kill mechanism. 

In the antiballistic-missile mode, a warhead’s terminal homing device 

would detect the target, and the computer would govern maneuvers by 

firing the tube-mounted rockets. Once the device approached within 

range of the target, the rocket tubes would separate and fire into the path 

of the object, destroying it. 

President Carter revealed that the U.S., in addition to the “hot-metal” 

kill mechanism, had been working on lasers as possible spaceborne 

defense against Soviet killer-satellite attacks. At the same time the USSR 

had pushed forward with laser-equipped killer-satellite systems, the U.S. 

had jeopardized its negotiating position in upcoming killer-satellite 

limitation talks by failing to convene a cabinet-level interagency group to 

decide between State Dept. and DOD negotiating strategies, marked by 

differences in opinion on verification and on impact on U.S. systems 

proposals. (AvWk, Feb 6/78, 18) 

Av Wk reported that the Research Ministry of the Federal Republic of 

Germany had sent NASA a financial deposit to reserve space on 

Spacelab flights in 1981 and 1982. ESA, also interested in space on two 

near-term flights, had not yet made the smail deposit required for inclusion in mission planning. FRG also had placed an order with NASA for 

space on the Shuttle for 25 “getaway special” small payloads, most of 

them space-processing experiments that would lead to larger processing 

activities on later Shuttle/Spacelab missions. (Av Wk, Feb 6/78, 15; Feb 

27/78, 13) 

February 8: MSFC announced that its Boeing 747 modified for Shuttleorbiter transport had arrived at Redstone Army Airfield in Fla. for a dry 

run in preparation for its March landing with an orbiter atop. Crews 

from MSFC, KSC, and Dryden Flight Research Center had checked out 

handling gear and procedures to be used at MSFC for receiving the orbiter and offloading it from its carrier. MSFC had installed a large lifting 

derrick at the airfield with lateral-restraint and other devices needed to 

lift the Enterprise clear of the 747 and position it on a trailer-like 

transporter. When the 747 had departed, handling crews at the airfield 

would continue verification of the mate-demate device, using the orbiter 

ground transporter and a full-size orbiter simulator. (Marshall Star, Feb 

8/78, 1) 

0 Tass announced that the automatic supply-transport ship Progress I 

had reentered and burned in the atmosphere Feb. 8. The vehicle had a 

mass of 7020kg and could carry into orbit 2300kg of equipment, 

materials, fuel, and gas. Principal new features of Progress I had been 

the refueling system and a means of carrying an increased air supply. Its 

automatic operation on command from either the ground or from the or29 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

biting Salyut had been without precedent in spaceflight. Progress I had 

also recorded dynamic characteristics of the Salyut 6/Soyuz 27/Progress 

I complex and had corrected the station’s orbit. (FBIS, Tass in English, 

Feb 8/78; Feb 6/78) 

February 9: Dr. Frank Press, director of the White House Office of 

Science and Technology Policy, had launched a campaign to reduce 

paperwork required by the government from university scientists receiving federal support, Nature reported. Press said money saved in this way 

might mean millions of dollars for every university, and wrote to NASA 

and NSF asking what steps they could take to reduce paperwork and to 

streamline grants regulations. Press added that, although there was little 

support in the administration for a Dept. of Science, interest was growing in establishing a Dept. of Technology and Industrial Development. 

(Nature, Feb 9/78, 497) 

February IO: NASA announced it had selected Fairchild Space and Electronics Co., Germantown, Md. , to negotiate a fixed-price incentive contract for integrating, testing, and delivering 2 multimission modular 

spacecraft (MMS) for Landsat-D at a target cost of about $10.3 million. 

The MMSs would serve as basic spacecraft buses for the Landsat-D mission and a backup. 

Under the contract managed by GSFC, Fairchild would integrate and 

test the spacecraft buses; design and test the propulsion module; 

fabricate and test a signal-conditioning and control unit; fabricate a 

spacecraft structure; design and fabricate a spacecraft harness for the 

thermal and electrical systems; acquire ground-support systems and a 

simulator for spacecraft integration and testing, and for delivery to 

spacecraft users; integrate these elements with 3 government-furnished 

subsystem modules (power, communications and data-handling , and 

attitude-control subsystems); test the integrated systems; and provide 24 

man-months of instrument support. The contract would include options 

for integrating and testing up to 4 additional MSSs for future programs 

through approximately 1982. (NASA Release 78-2 1) 

NASA announced plans to develop hardware systems to support 

materials-processing experiments aboard the Space Shuttle in mid-1 98 1. 

The materials-processing in space (MPS) program would take advantage 

of near-weightlessness in earth orbit to eliminate sedimentation in liquid 

materials and to reduce movement of liquid caused by heat, allowing 

precise control of processes such as casting and crystal growth. 

MSFC had asked industry to submit proposals by Feb. 23 for support 

of 8 materials-processing experiments . on 198 1 Shuttle/Spacelab missions, specifically a fluids-experiments system and a solidificationexperiments system using a high-temperature furnace; other hardware 

30 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

systems to be developed would support individual experiments and 

related earth-based systems. The fluid-experiments system would use an 

area in the Spacelab for optical observation of fluid phenomena; it 

would accommodate a variety of cells for use in a broad range of experiments. The solidification experiments system would require a 

multiuse system for processing metals, alloys, eutectics, semiconductors, 

crystals, ceramics, glasses, etc., in orbit by melting, refining, and 

resolidification in near weightlessness. Scientists at MSFC’s ground control laboratory would process “control samples” under conditions identical (except for gravity) to those on the spacecraft. (MSFC Release 

78-20; Marshall Star, Feb 22/78, 2) 

To alleviate natural gas shortages and other disruptions caused by 

unusually harsh weather, the U.S. government would increase efforts to 

understand and predict seasonal variations in climate by starting a na-’ 

tional program on climate research described in President Carter’s 

budget proposals for 1979, Science magazine reported. Climate research 

was not new: the Depts. of Defense, Commerce, Agriculture, Energy, 

and Interior, as well as NASA, EPA, and NSF, would spend $76 million 

on it in 1978. Next year, however, would be the first time a single agency- NOAA- would coordinate all research under a national plan. Cost 

of climate research would rise 37%, to $104 million in FY79. 

NOAA’s Climate Program Plan would use a fourfold approach: 

assessment of the relationship between climate variations and national 

activities through studies of carbon dioxide, crop yields, land and water 

resources, and coal use; early warnings of short-term climate fluctuations through a variety of observation systems; better understanding of 

climate processes through research carried out on the oceans and in the 

atmosphere; and study from space of long-term climate variations by 

monitoring subsurface ocean temperatures and snow levels. NOAA 

would not have authority to approve or reject any agency’s climateprogram proposals, but could consolidate them into a single budget proposal for review by the White House each yr. (Sci, Feb 10/78, 671) 

February Z2: Space station Salyut 6 would complete a thousand orbits on 

this date, Tass announced. During the day, cosmonauts Yuri 

Romanenko and Georgy Grechko had installed and switched into operation a new life-support-system air filter delivered by Progress I. Of great 

interest to Soviet scientists were the crew’s regular reports on natural 

calamities: dust storms, forest fires, and volcanic activity. Orbital complex Salyut 6/Soyuz 27 would continue its flight. (FBIS, Tass in English, 

Feb 12/78) 

February 13: NASA announced it had tentatively selected 4 more experiments for its Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) scheduled as 

31 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

a major Space Shuttle payload in 1980. The four scientific experiments-to study hazards to man of ion particles in space, the 

chemistry of micrometeoroids, the interstellar wind, and cosmic-ray 

nuclei - would join 23 technology experiments selected for LDEF earlier 

in 1978 [see Jan. 91. LDEF, an unmanned reusable free-flying facility 

carrying technical and scientific experiments mounted in special trays, 

would offer an easy and economical way to expose primarily passive experiments to the space environment during 6 to 9 mo of LDEP orbit. 

Selected experiments and principal investigators were: free-flyer 

biostack experiment, Dr. Horst Bucker, Universitat Frankfurt-am-Main, 

W. Germany; interstellar gas experiment, Dr. Don Lind, Johnson Space 

Center; high-resolution study of ultra-heavy cosmic ray nuclei, D. V. 

Domingo and Dr. K. P. Wenzel of ESA (the Netherlands), and Prof. C. 

0. Ceallaigh, Dr. D. O’Sullivan, Dr. A. Thompson of the Dublin Inst. 

for Advanced Studies, Ireland; and chemistry of micrometeoroids, Dr . Fred Horz, JSC. (NASA Release 78-20; LaRC Release 78-5; JPL 

Universe, Feb 3/78, 1; ESA newsletter, Feb 78, 3) 

0 Airport and aircraft noise-reduction legislation faced a rocky future, 

said Av Wk, because of congressional concern that safety needs were 

taking a back seat to retrofit and replacement for aircraft compliance 

with federal noise standards, and that the proposed scheme to fund safety measures was unacceptable. One bill under consideration would set up 

a voluntary program to assist airports and surrounding communities to 

reduce noncompatible land uses near airports. Main target of congressional concern was Title 3 of the bill, lowering by 2 percentage points the 

current domestic passenger-ticket and waybill taxes and replacing them 

with (among other charges) a 2% surcharge on tickets and waybills. Each 

airline would use surcharge funds for retrofitting, reengineering, or 

replacing aircraft to comply with recent federal noise standards. 

Witnesses testified, according to Av Wk, that about 75% of the 2100 jet 

engine aircraft in the U.S. airline fleet today had not met those standards. 

“We believe,” testified Transportation Secretary Brock Adams, “there 

are significant benefits to the public at large to be achieved by providing 

incentives for replacement of noisy aircraft with new technology aircraft, 

rather than merely retrofitting or reengineering.” Among those with 

substantial concern over the surcharge was Rep. Al Ullman (D-Ore.), who 

said: “Everyone is trying to impose taxes that are really outside the tax 

system. How do you keep it in the tax system?” Representatives of the 

Aerospace Industries Association had testified in favor of the bill. (AvWk, Feb 13/78, 32) 

0 Robert Kirk, president and chief executive officer of Vought Corp., in 

a speech to the AviatiodSpace Writers Association, had called for a 

32 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

comprehensive multinational treaty on international operations in space, 

reported Av Wk. “Why not a United Nations conference to work out international protection - not unlike the ‘freedom of the seas’ philosophy 

which has worked so well throughout the world for centuries?” Kirk 

asked. He said a treaty had to be approached as a totality, because space 

defense was only one element of a freedom-of-space policy. And he 

noted that treaty negotiators should consider all space systems on a 

broad international basis. “AS you know,” he pointed out, “Communist 

China and European Space Agency countries are already entering the 

picture, so issues are no longer confined to U.S. and Soviet interests. 

Therefore, in seeking an enduring treaty, a broad international forum is 

required. Most important,” Kirk concluded, “any agreement must 

guarantee that we are free to operate-that any nation is free to 

operate-in space and to share its benefits. . . . A good treaty is an important step in this direction.” (AvWk, Feb 13/78, 7) 

0 Aeritalia and the Italian ministry of research and technology had 

discussed a new Italian telecommunications-satellite program, A v Wk 

reported. Most of Italy’s annual space budget had been devoted to ESA 

programs, but Italian government and industry had continued a limited 

number of strictly domestic projects, including the Sirio experimental 

comsat launched from KSC and the Alfa 2-stage booster that had 

qualified in three successful test firings from Italy’s Saito di Quirra experimental test range. Current discussions of future satellite programs 

could lead to detailed telecommunications project studies this year, and 

development work beginning in 1979. A major space undertaking for 

Aeritalia was the ESA Spacelab; Aeritalia had been responsible for the 

structure of the pressurized Spacelab module. (AvWk, Feb 13/78, 41) 

0 INTELSAT announced it had signed agreements with Saudi Arabia 

and Zaire to lease capacity on global-coverage Intelsats for domestic 

telecommunications in those countries. Saudi Arabia had leased a total 

of 2.25 global-beam transponders, extending domestic service to 8 cities 

in addition to Jeddah, Riyadh, and 2 mobile antennas served since 1977. 

The 5-yr agreement with Zaire had earmarked a full global-beam 

transponder in a spare-capacity satellite to serve 13 locations in that nation. Fifteen countries had begun (or would soon begin) to use the Intelsat system for domestic telecommunications. (INTELSAT Release 

78-51) 

February 14: NASA announced two promotions: James Morrison to the 

position of European representative, and Louis Lushina to director of 

the information systems division, Office of Management Operations. 

For the past 3.5yr Morrison had managed the earth resources survey program in NASA’s Office of Applications; before that, he had served for 

33 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

12yr in NASA’s Office of International Affairs. He had been an F-86 and 

F-100 pilot and served as a flight commander, operations officer, and 

squadron commander. As European representative, Morrison would be 

liaison between NASA and European space agencies. 

In his new position, Lushina would be responsible for managing agencywide information-systems efforts and ADP resources. He had come to 

NASA in 1968 from the Army Materiel Command and had served since 

then as deputy of financial management in the Office of the Comptroller. Previously he was deputy comptroller of the U.S. Army Communications Zone in Europe and of the U.S. Army Supply and 

Maintenance Command, and assistant comptroller of the U.S. Army 

Ordnance Corps. He held the NASA exceptional service medal and the 

Army’s meritorious civilian service medal. (NASA Release 78-23; NASA 

anno Feb 14/78, Feb 15/78) 

0 ESA reported first results from the international ultraviolet explorer 

launched Jan. 26. A European team working Feb. 9 at ESA’s Villafranca 

station had located and observed Capella (a star in the Milky Way 

galaxy) for the first time in the complete ultraviolet spectrum. Like the 

sun, the strong-magnitude (bright) star appeared to be surrounded by an 

area called the chromosphere, in which chemico-gaseous exchanges occurred. IUE’s program of scientific and technological observation would 

continue until the end of March. @SA Release Feb 14/78) 

February 15: MSFC announced NASA had extended the mission lifetime 

of the first earth-orbiting high-energy astronomy observatory Heao I, 

originally scheduled to end Feb. 12, to at least mid-November when the 

second of the series was due for launch. The high quality of scientific 

data received from Heao I had prompted the decision to extend the mission. Launched Aug. 12, 1977, Heao I had been the first of three 

planned large unmanned orbital observatories managed by MSFC; the 

third would be launched in 1979. Heao I had been a scanning mission for 

fully mapping the celestial sphere; the second Heao mission would point 

very precisely at x-ray sources identified by Heao I, which had already 

significantly advanced knowledge of celestial x-ray and gamma-ray 

sources. By extrapolating these results, the scientists expected to increase 

the number of x-ray objects identified by the first 6 mo of data from 200 

to lo00 or more, with further increases during the extended operation. 

Heao I, although basically a scanning instrument, had been versatile 

enough to stop its rotation and point briefly at items of particular interest; resolution and sensitivity would increase tremendously in the 

pointing mode. Heao I was performing about 5 daytime pointings lasting 

about 3hr during a week; extended mission lifetime would enable the 

mission-control crew to add night pointings. Dr. Fred Speer, mission 

34 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

director, explained: “Astronomers would like to have their optical viewings and optical photography of stellar objects-which of course can 

only be done at night with optical telescopes - coincide with our pointings with the X-ray sensors aboard Heao I, so that data can be correlated.” (Marshall Star, Feb 15/78, 1) 

* MSFC announced that the American Inst. of Astronautics and 

Aeronautics (AIAA) had installed Dr. William Lucas, MSFC director, as 

a fellow at the 14th AIAA annual meeting Feb. 8. AIAA had selected Dr. 

Lucas “in recognition of your many outstanding contributions and 

acknowledged leadership in the professional aerospace community,” according to a letter from AIM president R. H. Miller. Others named 

AIAA fellows were former astronauts Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R-N.M.) 

and David Scott, Dr. Donald Hearth of Langley Research Center, and 

Harvard Lomax of ARC. Elected an honorary fellow was former NASA 

Administrator Dr. James C. Fletcher. (Marshall Star, Feb 15/78, 1) 

February Id: Scientists in NASA’s Viking project this spring would 

award grants totaling $5000 to support undergraduate research projects 

in planetology or astronomy, NASA announced. The money had been 

part of the annual Newcomb Cleveland Award presented Feb. 15 by the 

American Assn. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to 150 Viking 

scientists, authors of scientific papers that had appeared in 3 special Viking issues of Science magazine. This had been the first Cleveland Award 

to a group. The grants, ranging from $500 to $2000, would fund a student’s (or group of students’) ideas or would supplement student work in 

progress, selected on the basis of originality and feasibility. (LaRC 

Release 78-7; Langley Researcher, Feb 24/78, 3) 

0 Modification and flight of U.S. Air Force jet cargokanker aircraft 

delivered to DFRC would allow NASA to research the possibility of 

significant fuel savings, NASA announced. Winglets (2.7m [9ft]-long 

airfoil sections attached to the wingtips of a KC-135 aircraft) could improve performance in cruise flight by approximately 8%, for an annual 

fuel saving of 11.9 million liters (45 million gal) based on 1975 use rates 

for KC-135 aircraft. Other NASA studies had indicated that use of the 

winglet could benefit existing medium-weight civil-transport aircraft. 

LaRC had developed the winglet concept in its wind tunnels. Winglets, 

made of aluminum 0.6m (2ft) wide at the tip and 1.8m (6ft) wide at the 

base, could weigh almost 68kg (1501b). The Boeing Co. would install 

them on outer wing panels under an Air Force contract estimated at $3 

million. Varying the incidence and cant angle of the winglets between 

flights would demonstrate their effectiveness at various positions. After 

installation of recorders, the KC-135 would make the first flights in a 

joint NASA-USAF program scheduled after winglet installation in early 

35 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

1979. Comparison of data would demonstrate winglet effectiveness. 

(NASA Release 78-25) 

0 Using a multichamber furnace delivered to Salyut 6 by the Progress I 

unmanned tankedfreighter, Soviet cosmonauts had begun major spaceprocessing experiments, Tass reported. Operated in a Salyut airlock to 

vent into the vacuum of space, the furnace had three areas: one maintaining heat up to llOOC, a “cold” area maintaining 600 to 7OOC, and a 

“gradient” area allowing linear temperature change between maximum 

and minimum furnace-heating capabilities. The Salyut space-processing 

system, designated “Splav” (alloy), would use material samples in capsules, each containing 3 crystal ampules to fuse when heated in the furnace and form monocrystals in the “gradient” area, with 3-dimensional 

crystallization in the hot and cold sections of the furnace. Combinations 

of materials heated to form new substances not possible in earth gravity 

would be aluminum/antimony, aluminum/tungsten, molybdenum/gallium, copper/indium, and indium/antimony. Some of the alloys might 

have semiconductor properties, suggesting that Soviet interest would be 

in specific applications in earth orbit rather than in theory. 

The cosmonauts had also reported a major technology experiment using a closed-cycle cryogenic system designed to provide temperatures 

comparable to liquid helium (- 269C) but did not say whether or not the 

test actually used liquid helium. Cosmonauts had also used cryogenics to 

cool the receivers of a “submillimeter telescope,” Tass reported. (FBIS , Tass in English, Feb 15/78, Feb 16/78; Moscow Dom Svc in Russian, 

Feb 21/78; AvWk, Feb 27/78, 21) 

February 17: NASA’s Skylab workshop launched in May 1973 might descend to 150 nautical miles (173 statute miles, 278km) altitude and begin 

reentry into earth’s atmosphere as early as late summer of 1979, JSC 

Roundup reported, citing orbit data from the North American Air 

Defense Command’s satellite trackers, the Smithsonian Astrophysical 

Observatory, and the Swiss federal observatory. NASA would try two 

ways of postponing Skylab reentry: first, to reactivate the workshop’s 

thruster attitude-control system in the spring of 1978 and put it into a 

very slow tumble, decreasing atmospheric drag and perhaps adding 

several months to its orbital lifetime; second, to use a teleoperatorretrieval system (TRS) launched on an early Space Shuttle mission (about 

Oct. 1979) and flown by remote control to dock with Skylab. Once 

docked, the TRS propulsion system could either raise Skylab’s orbit or 

control its reentry. 

Although Skylab would break up and burn during descent, some 

debris would probably survive reentry, and probably would land in an 

ocean, because 80% of the Skylab orbit had been over water (between 

50”N and 50”s). Skylab, largest payload in earth orbit at 85 tons, and 

36 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 PEBWARY 

about 96ft in length, had been manned during 3 missions by 3 different 

astronaut crews. When the last crew had left Skylab, NASA estimated 

the workshop would remain in orbit until 1983; however, its altitude had 

dropped more rapidly than expected because of increased atmospheric 

drag caused by sunspot activity. (JSC Roundup, Feb 17/78, 1; DFRC 

X-Press, Feb 10/78, 2; Marshall Star, Feb 8/78, 4; W Post, Feb 2/78, 

A-2; C Trib, Feb 6/78, Sec. 1; Nature, Feb 9/78, 499) 

* A laser-heterodyne radiometer (LHR) developed by Dr. Robert Menzies of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had obtained evidence of ozone 

destruction in the upper atmosphere, JPL reported. The unique instrument, carried on a gondola suspended from a helium-filled polyethylene 

balloon, had gathered extremely accurate data by “looking” at the sun 

through the stratosphere during sunset at an altitude of 25km (120 O0Oft) 

where ultraviolet light breaks apart carbon molecules, releasing chlorine. 

Atoms of chlorine normally existed in quantities so small that their 

presence was difficult to detect; however, scientists had determined the 

effect of chlorine in destroying ozone, through a chain reaction that 

would form chlorine monoxide molecules. Later flights would measure 

the effect of seasonal variations and would look for other molecules 

responsible for ozone destruction. The research would assist federal 

regulators investigating danger from fluorocarbons used in refrigeration 

and air-conditioning; regulators might decide to ban aerosol propellants 

by June of this yr. (JPL Universe, Feb 17/78, 1) 

* JSC reported it had begun a new procedure for receiving and processing rare and pristine meteorite samples. Such a program had not been 

necessary previously because available meteorite fragments had been 

contaminated by reaction with the soil where they fell, by weather, and 

by often unsterile handling conditions. The new meteorite facility would 

contain a near-pristine meteorite collection found in the winter of 1977 

near McMurdo Station in Antarctica; the first two meteorite samples 

were 200- to 300-gram (baseball-size) fragments believed by NSF to be 

rare carbonaceous chondrites that might include primordial matter from 

the solar system. 

Dr. William Cassidy, Univ. of Pittsburgh geologist working under an 

NSF grant, who had found the samples on an Antarctic ice shelf, had 

hypothesized that large accumulations of meteorites might exist in areas 

of the Antarctic, where ancient “blue ice” rose to the surface. Meteorites 

that fell on Antarctica centuries ago might appear on the surface along 

with the ice. Although the movement of the ice to the surface was not well 

understood, within 2 mo (last Dec. and Jan.) Cassidy had found 310 

fragments believed to represent between 20 and 50 different meteorites, 

the most concentrated find known so far. Because of the exceptional 

preservation possible in the extreme cold and dry environment, Cassidy’s 

37 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND ffiRONALJTICS, 1978 

find of 310 samples was probably the least contaminated near-pristine 

meteorite group ever collected. To ensure proper handling, the NSF and 

NASA’s Lunar Curatorial Facility in Houston had equipped Cassidy 

with special sterile equipment to safeguard his collection. 

Researchers at the meteorite-processing facility, using glove boxes first 

used to handle material from the moon, would document the samples 

and make initial characterizations before freeze-drying them to remove 

any trapped water-ice and making a mold, finally storing the samples in 

dry nitrogen gas. A special committee representing the NSF, the 

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, NASA, and Dr. Cassidy’s 

team would plan systematic examination of the samples. (JSC Roundup, 

Feb 17/78, 1) 

February 20: AvWk reported that NASA had been struggling with institutional and funding arrangements for launching a Hughes-built comsat, Syncom-4, without giving Hughes the unfair advantage of a free 

Space Shuttle launch. The problem required prompt attention, because 

NASA had to make decisions within a few weeks if Syncom-4 was to fly 

on an early Shuttle mission. 

Hughes had designed and offered Syncom-4 specifically to fit the 

Space Shuttle payload-bay design, since NASA had wanted to deploy a 

test spacecraft on a Shuttle orbital mission. Under the Hughes proposal, 

the spacecraft would have no significant communications capability, and 

NASA would launch the unit free of charge; however, the satellite-user 

community (the state of California, Agency for International Development, and the Interior Dept.) had asked that the spacecraft include some 

communications capability instead of merely verifying a design. NASA 

had to decide who would pay for the added capability and whether 

Hughes would have an unfair advantage. 

Without a decision, NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch said the 

whole exercise could revert to the original concept, with no significant 

communications channeled through the satellite. NASA might decide to 

run an open competition for systems to demonstrate Shuttle-launched 

communications spacecraft in the same manner as Syncom-4. However, 

Frosch was concerned that in an open competition Hughes could be 

“competed out of it in a way that is not quite proper,” since the 

Syncom-4 concept had been a Hughes innovation. “As it has developed,’’ 

Frosch explained to a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, “it is 

not completely clear that there is a proper solution to this dilemma.” (AvWk, Feb 20/78, 60) 

0 The Canadian government had asked the USSR to pay possibly more 

than $2 million as the cost of an extensive search to recover debris from 

Cosmos 954, AvWk reported. Canada’s request was in accord with a 

38 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

1968 United Nations agreement that “expenses incurred in fulfilling 

obligations to recover and return a space object or its component 

parts . . . shall be borne by the launching authority.” The Canadians 

had delivered an official statement to the Soviet embassy in Ottawa that 

pieces of Cosmos 954 had landed on Canadian soil Jan. 24, and that 

Canada would return the debris to the USSR on receipt of the desired 

payment. The Canadians had also sent the UN a note reserving the right 

to claim compensation under the 1968 UN agreement, and announcing 

their intent to request compensation from the USSR. The report did not 

specify the amount of compensation requested. (AvWk, Feb 20/78, 24) 

0 A Soviet-French complex of thermostatic equipment on Soyuz 27 had 

passed the test of terrestrial and space conditions, Tass reported. Soviet 

and French biologists had prepared biological cultures and chilled them 

in an ordinary refrigerator before putting them into the semiconductor instrument “Termokont-2.” On the night before the Soyuz 27 launch, 

Termokont-2 had handed over its biological “loadyy to another Soviet instrument, the thermostat “Bioterm-8,” to maintain a temperature of 8°C 

during the launch and orbit of Soyuz 27 until it docked with SaZyut 6. 

After docking, the biological insert had gone into the French semiconductor thermostat “Cyto~,~~ which thawed the cultures and began to 

study spaceflight influence on cellular division of microorganisms under 

the strictly controlled temperature of 25°C. (FBIS, Tass in English, Feb 

20/78) 

February 2Z: NASA announced results of a demonstration of 

curriculum-sharing planned by LaRC using television through the communications technology satellite Cts at North Carolina A&T State 

Univ., Greensboro, N.C. This was the first time a predominantly black 

college had participated in such an experiment. NASA’s portable earth 

terminal (PET), a ground-based communications system contained in a 

trailer, had transmitted 2 days of telecasts originating at North Carolina 

A&T to Cts 22 500 mi up, which relayed the programs to Jackson State 

Univ. in Miss.; Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ontario, Canada; and 

Stanford Univ. and Rockwell Intl. in Calif. Participants in each location 

could see and communicate with each other. The program, funded under 

NASA contract to demonstrate the use of satellites in sharing curriculum 

information, research techniques, and results, included a question-andanswer session with Frederick Gregory, black Shuttle astronaut recently 

selected by NASA. ARC had made available almost 7 hr of satellite time 

for the project. (LaRC Release 78-9; NASA photo L-78-1209; LangZey 

Researcher, Feb 24/78, 1) 

The number of airports, heliports, and other landing facilities 

available to civil aircraft in the U.S. and its possessions had increased in 

39 
PEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

1977 to 14 117, a net gain of 347 from the previous year, the Department 

of Transportation reported. Figures included civilian landing facilities 

and military facilities that permitted civil-aircraft operations. Privatelyowned landing facilities accounted for more than 300 of the increased 

number, from 9103 in 1976 to 9409 in 1977. The 1977 year-end total included 11 713 airports, 1850 heliports, 513 seaplane bases, and 41 shorttakeoff-and-landing (STOL) airports or runways, as well as 48 facilities 

in U.S. possessions. Landing facilities abandoned in 1977 numbered 294. 

Of the total, 747 were served by air carriers holding certificates of public 

convenience and necessity issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board. (FAA 

Release 12-78) 

February 22: NASA announced plans to launch Landsat-C, an improved 

satellite to monitor earth resources, from WTR March 5 aboard a 2-stage 

Delta vehicle. Third of a series designed to orbit earth at 917km (570mi) 

altitude and scan earth’s surface in a systematic resources and environment study, Landsat-C would be placed in a near-polar orbit circling 

earth every 103 min. Its remote sensors would view a 185km 

(1 15mi)-wide strip of earth running nearly north-to-south at a 99’ angle 

to the equator. Earth-surface coverage would proceed west, with a slight 

overlap, covering the globe every 18 days. Synoptic repetitive coverage 

under consistent observation conditions was required for maximum use 

of the multispectral imagery. 

Most important uses of Landsat data would correspond to three of the 

world’s major problems: energy supplies, food production, and global 

large-scale environment monitoring. Innovations in the multispectral 

scanner system (MSS) would permit detection of day and night 

temperature differences in vegetation, bodies of water, and urban areas. 

The return beam vidicon (RBV) sensor improvements would increase 

recorded image resolution by 50%. Areas as small as half an acre would 

be identified and studied. Landsat-C also carried a data-collection 

system (DCS) that would collect data radioed directly from as many as 

1000 remote ground platforms and relay them to a Landsat dataacquisition station. The DCS would collect data on volcano activity, 

stream flow, water and snow depth, water temperature, and sediment 

density. 

Goddard Space Flight Center was responsible for project management 

of the Landsat spacecraft, Delta launch vehicle, NASA image-processing 

facility, and worldwide tracking network. KSC would supervise launch. 

General Electric Co.’s Space Division was Landsat spacecraft prime contractor. (NASA Release 78-22) 

* NASA announced it had selected Teledyne Brown Engineering, 

Huntsville, Ala., for negotiations leading to award of a contract for 

payload/missions integration for the sixth Space Shuttle orbital flight test 

40 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FeBRUARY 

and for the first 3 Spacelab missions to be managed by MSFC. An 

experiment-integration contractor, Teledyne Brown would ensure that 

the group of experiments for each mission was compatible with the Space 

Transportation System scheduled to carry it into orbit. The contract 

would provide for manpower, materials, and associated services required 

for integration and operation of Spacelab payloads. Flights scheduled 

during 1980 to 1981 would offer opportunities for scientific investigations on Spacelab missions in the planning stage with scientists from 

throughout the wodd participating. These missions would give scientists 

the first chance to go into space as payload specialists and conduct their 

investigations in earth orbit. (Marshall Star, Feb 22/78, 1) 

MSFC reported a two-wk visit by 13 Japanese scientists doing initial 

design review of the SEPAC (space experiments with particle accelerators) package to be flown on Spacelab 1. Heaviest and most complex of the experiments scheduled for that mission, the SEPAC had 16 

scientific objectives in addition to proving its performance and compatibility with the Spacelab. It had been designed for multiple reuse, and 

would accommodate a number ofsciedfic disciplines. The particle ac-- 

celerator, for example, would shoot an electron beam to create a smallscale artificial aurora in the upper atmosphere, timed to occur at a 

specific location for simultaneous observations from space and from 

earth for later comparison. 

Professor Tatsugo Obayashi of the Institute of Space and 

Aeronautical Science at the Univ. of Tokyo said that nature had provided ideal laboratory conditions in space for many experiments. “There we 

can actively interact with nature and, by artificially exciting the electrons 

and ions of plasma and studying the results, we can eventually define the 

dynamics of space.” The Japanese scientists had been working on the 

SEPAC experiment since early 1976. (Marshall Star, Feb 22/78, 4) 

0 NASA announced that LaRC would sponsor a government-industry 

conference Feb. 28-March 3 on technology advances in design and operation of conventional takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) transport aircraft. 

Technical sessions would present new technology generated by NASA inhouse and contract efforts, including the ongoing Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program (ACEE). Speakers would represent organizations in the 

airframe and engine industry, universities, and 4 NASA centers. The 45 

presentations would be organized into 6 disciplinary sessions: propulsion, structures and materials, laminar-flow control, advanced 

aerodynamics and active controls, operation and safety, and advanced 

systems. (LaRC Release 78-10) 

0 FBIS, in an unattributed commentary in English, reported that the 

USSR had been testing a laser system called “Glissada” that might permit 

41 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

safe airline takeoffs and landings in any weather. Questioning Professor 

Igor Berezhnoy, the commentator said: “The new system enables the 

pilot, in any weather without any additional aids, to find his airfield and 

the landing strip.” Berezhnoy explained: A few dozen km from the airfield the pilot would see 3 red laser beams motiodess, like pillars, over 

the airfield and would discern other beams, 2 red beams clearly indicating runway boundaries and a third directly down its middle; it is this 

axial beam that the plane would follow to land. The system would enable 

the pilot to detect even a half-meter deviation from course. The laser 

system would require little additional training of pilots and no additional 

equipment on the planes. The Soviets claimed the cost of the system and 

its installation and maintenance would be a fraction of the cost of present radio systems and airport-lighting equipment. (FBIS, unattributed 

commentary in English, Feb 23/78) 

February 23: LaRC reported NASA had appointed astronaut Donald 

Slayton to manage the orbital-flight test (OFT) program for Space Shuttle at JSC. One of the original 7 Mercury astronauts and a member of the 

U.S. crew of the Apollo-Soyuz test project, Slayton would be responsible 

in his new position for all mission-unique activities associated with the 6 

Shuttle orbital-flight tests scheduled to begin in the spring of 1979. He 

would represent program manager Robert Thompson across the total 

program to ensure timely and appropriate resolution of all OFT missionunique issues. (LaRC Release 78-12) 

February 24: NASA announced that Nimbus 6, a meteorological 

research satellite, would track the 6000km (3728mi) journey by dogsled 

of a lone Japanese explorer from northerri Canada to the North Pole and 

back. The Smithsonian Institution, which had a scientific stake in the 

venture, had asked GSFC to manage the tracking. The 6-mo journey 

would begin March 4, 1978. The explorer, 37-yr-old Naomi Uemura of 

Tokyo, had driven a dogsled solo some 12OOOkm (7457mi) from 

Greenland to Alaska over an 18mo period in 1975 and 1976. During his 

upcoming Arctic journey, Uemura would carry a 4.5kg (101b) batterypowered satellite beacon on his dogsled to transmit once per min an 

automatic radio signal, including local temperature and atmospheric 

pressure. Nimbus 6 overflying the pole every 108min would monitor the 

signals and collect the data for relay to GSFC by a NASA tracking station in Fairbanks, Alaska, Uemura would systematically collect snow, 

ice, and air samples for Japan’s Natl. Inst. of Polar Research and the 

Water Research Inst. of Nagoya Univ. Researchers needed as accurate a 

record as possible of Uemura’s daily positions to correlate with the collected data. Satellite-tracking data would also verify Uemura’s deadreckoning and celestial-navigation readings, particularly difficult in 

42 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

polar regions. NASA’s expenditures on the venture would be minimal 

because both the Nimbus 6 and its ground-control computer would be 

routinely operating on a 24hr basis. (NASA Release 78-29) 

* DFRC reported that it had awarded the Ames Industrial Corp., 

Bohemia, N.Y., a $218 OOO fixed-price contract to develop and fabricate 

a small lightweight manned oblique-wing aircraft. NASA had begun a 

low-cost study of piloting an oblique-wing aircraft. At lower flight 

speeds, the wing would orient itself perpendicular to the fuselage, producing efficient quiet operation for takeoff and landing and for lowspeed cruise flight. This would substantially reduce engine thrust required for takeoff, resulting in quieter operations during takeoff and 

landing. In high-speed flight, the wing would pivot fore and aft, forming 

oblique (up to 60”) angles with the aircraft fuselage. 

Studies had suggested the “scissor-wing” concept would offer better 

flight performance at high speeds; as an aircraft went faster, pivoting the 

wing to an oblique angle would decrease air drag, giving increased speed 

and longer range for the same fuel expenditure. Computer and windtunnel studies at ARC had shown that an oblique-wing transport aircraft 

flying at lOOOmph might realize twice the fuel economy of either the current British-French Concorde or the Soviet SST, and also might alleviate 

the sonic-boom problem. DFRC expected delivery of the aircraft in late 

1978 and planned its first flights early in 1979. (DFRC X-Press, Feb 

24/78) 

February 26: NASA announced that scientists working for NASA and 

NSF had discovered living organisms inside rocks on the frozen deserts 

of the Antarctic. The discovery, made in a region called the Dry Valleys 

whose harsh climate resembled conditions on Mars, would significantly 

extend the known limits of life on earth, and would have important implications in a search for extraterrestrial life. 

Dr. E. Imre Friedmann and Dr. Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann, a 

husband-wife team who had searched for more than 15yr for microbial 

life in rocks, had made the discovery. They had isolated the newly 

discovered microorganisms (bacteria, algae, and fungi) and were growing them in laboratory cultures for clues to their endurance. Although 

the Dry Valleys of Antarctica had appeared lifeless, and the region’s 

freedom from snow and ice, combined with constantly blowing winds, 

had produced an environment among the world’s harshest, the Friedmanns had found in the Dry Valleys a widespread rich microbial vegetation under the surface of rocks, in the airspaces of porous rocks, or in 

fissures. Rocks broken open had revealed the presence of organisms as a 

dark-green layer a few millimeters deep. 

Dr. Richard Young, NASA’s‘chief of planetary biology, said the Dry 

43 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Valleys in many ways resembled the environmental extremes found on 

Mars by the 1976 Viking landers, which searched the Martian soil unsuccessfully for signs of microbial life or organic molecules. “If Martian life 

forms exist only in the interior of Martian rocks, as is principally the case 

in the Antarctic, that could easily serve as an explanation for the lack of 

evidence on Mars,” Young said. “This interesting (if speculative) analogy 

is of considerable interest to NASA in designing future attempts to study 

planetary surfaces for evidence of life.” NASA and NSF research grants 

had supported the Friedmanns’ work. (NASA Release 78-14) 

February 27: Dr. Robert Frosch, NASA administrator, announced a 

reorganization at NASA Hq to significantly restructure organization 

elements such as Aeronautics and Space Technology, Space and Terrestrial Applications, External Relations, and Management Operations, 

with lesser changes in the Equal Opportunity, Procurement, and Audit 

organizations. Frosch’s Feb. 22 approval of the new organization structures had authorized office heads to proceed with final placement of people. 

In explaining the reorganization, Alan Lovelace, deputy administrator, said: “In keeping with the announced policy of President 

Carter, each Headquarters employee affected by the reorganization will 

be made a good-faith offer of a position and to the extent possible the offer will be made at the employee’s current grade level. As I announced 

previously, there will be no involuntary reduction in force at NASA 

Headquarters. . . . The classification survey of Headquarters positions 

has been completed. Based on tentative aggregate findings in the survey 

thus far, plus the potential impact of the reorganization, Dr. Frosch has 

asked the Civil Service Commission for authority to delay any demotions 

for people in the General Schedule resulting from survey results and the 

impact of the reorganization. NASA was granted such authority on Feb. 

22. . . . As to future classification activity, it is important that we maintain a rigorous system for the accurate classification and grading of all 

Headquarters positions. . . . I would like to assure you that we are taking all of the steps possible to provide appropriate job opportunities for 

all Headquarters employees and, to the extent we can, we shall do our 

best to avoid adverse impacts.” (NASA special anno Feb 27/78) 

0 Av Wk reported that Congress might override President Carter’s decision not to fund a fifth Space Shuttle orbiter in NASA’s FY79 budget. 

Congressmen of both parties had said that a 4-orbiter fleet would limit 

the development of a civilian space program, making the U.S. extremely 

vulnerable in strategic use of space. Officials who considered addition of 

a fifth orbiter inevitable had pointed out that Carter’s decision to defer 

acquisition would increase Shuttle program cost by $235 to $250 million 

44 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

if the administration should later change its mind. Some congressmen 

had also expressed displeasure with the administration’s apparent inability to provide stated goals and directions for NASA’s space capabilities 

and with the attempt to cut NASA advance-planning funds. (Av Wk, Feb 

27/78, 20) 

* Av Wk reported award to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. of a $34.5 

million USAF contract to design and build a space platform using long 

wavelength infrared radiation for space surveillance of relatively cool objects. Designated space test program mission P80-2, to be managed by 

USAF’s Space and Missile Systems Organizations (SAMSO), the platform would go into orbit from WTR in Jan. 1981. Principal payload for 

the P80-2 mission would be a satellite infrared experiment (SIRE) 

developed for USAF by Hughes Aircraft Co., to operate in the 8- to 

12-micrometer region of the spectrum, detecting and tracking objects 

such as a spacecraft or booster after burnout. The platform would also 

carry an autonomous navigation system built for USAF by Martin 

Marietta and a solar-flare isotopic-composition experiment designed by 

the Univ. of Chicago. The contract provided that Lockheed would integrate the payload (for which it had no responsibility) with the space 

platform. (AvWk, Feb 27/78, 39) 

Congress had strongly supported legislation establishing a power 

satellite research and development and demonstration program scheduled to become a major issue among changes to President Carter’s FY79 

solar energy proposals, Av Wk reported. Rep. Ronnie Flippo (D-Ala.) 

had introduced a bill directing the Dept. of Energy and NASA to begin 

research and development on technical problems in implementing a solar 

power satellite. However, Dale Myers, undersecretary at DOE, who had 

described the joint solar energy projects contemplated by NASA and 

DOE at a House Science and Technology space science and application 

subcommittee hearing, said he questioned the need for such a bill. (Av 

Wk, Feb 27/78, 47) 

February 28: The Congressional Record reported that President Carter 

had nominated former astronaut Maj. Gen. Thomas Stafford to be Air 

Force deputy chief of staff for research and development. Stafford, who 

had spent more than 500hr in space, was serving as commander of 

Edwards AFB Flight Test Center. The nomination, which carried a promotion to the rank of Lt. Gen., was subject to Senate confirmation. 

(CR, Feb 28/78, S 2580; NYT, Feb 26/78, (27), 14) 

During February: Gossamer Condor, the manpowered aircraft that 

won the $85 OOO Kramer prize in 1977, was on display at the National Air 

45 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the National Aeronautic 

Association reported. The 96-ft wingspan had been cut into 4 pieces for 

shipping across country with the fuselage and stabilizer. Gossamer 

Condor had the largest wingspan and was the lightest of any plane in the 

museum, the wing-covering accounting for only 4.51b of the craft’s total 

701b. An intricate web of piano wire held the structure together. Flight 

speed, reaching IOmph, had required the manpower equivalent of one- 

’third of a horsepower. Designer Paul MacCready had substantiated his 

belief in the potential of ultralight craft. (NAA newsletter, Feb 78, 4) 

0 The Carter administration, calling for national commemoration of the 

75th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, had 

designated DOT lead agency to coordinate programs and materials, the 

National Aeronautic Association reported. The task force for the 75th 

anniversary, which had held its first meeting at DOT in Jan., would be a 

clearinghouse to avoid duplication, facilitate innovation, and develop 

ideas suitable for agencies a7d private organizations. Peter Clapper, 

FAA assistant administrator for public affairs, noted that the American 

people had taken for granted the tremendous advances in aviation over 

the last 75yr and that the anniversary offered an opportunity to bring 

these advances to public attention. (NAA newsletter, Feb 78, 1) 

0 Rep. Melvin Price (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Armed Services 

Committee, had written President Carter expressing concern that recent 

administration decisions could seriously impair the strategic defense 

posture of the U.S., the National Aeronautic Association reported. Price 

wrote: “I have attempted to comprehend the rationale behind the combination of decisions leading to cancellation of the B-I, cancellation of 

production of the Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM), terminating production of the Minuteman I11 Missile, and the reduction in funds for the 

development of the advanced MX missile system.” He emphasized that, 

despite the consensus of defense experts that U.S. silos would be 

vulnerable within 3 to 5yr, the President had reduced MX funds and 

stretched out its schedule. 

Price also voiced concern over the apparent lack of correlation or adequate interchange between the military departments principally responsible for strategic capability and others in the administration principally 

responsible for preparing proposals for and participating in SALT 

negotiations. Price concluded: “It is my hope that working with the administration we can be prepared (at the time the fiscal 1979 defense program is considered)‘to begin to provide those systems necessary to ensure 

a halt to the trend that sees the United States falling behind the strategic 

might of the Soviets.” (NAA newsletter, Feb 78, 1) 

0 The USAF announced it had selected McDonnell Douglas Corp., 

46 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 FEBRUARY 

Long Beach, Calif., as primary contractor for the advanced tanker cargo 

aircraft (ATCA). Award of the $28 million contract would initiate 

production-engineering tooling and other nonrecurring activities. The 

aircraft would be funded over the next 5yr, with the intent of eventually 

ordering 20 of them. Primary objective of ATCA would be to increase 

mobility of U.S. forces in contingency operations by refueling fighters and 

simultaneously carrying fighter-support equipment and personnel on 

overseas deployments; refueling strategic airlifters (such as C-5 and 

C-141) during overseas deployments and resupply missions; refueling 

strategic offensive and reconnaissance aircraft during long-range conventional operations; and selectively augmenting cargo-carrying 

capability. (AFSC Newsreview, Feb 78, 1) 

* The USAF announced it had tested at Ramstein, W. Germany, a new 

“brain” for the imaging infrared (IIR) Maverick missile, a digital centroid tracker developed for a joint Air Force-Navy IIR program by 

Hughes Aircraft Co., to prevent loss of target lock-on, a problem inherent in the older analog system. The centroid tracker would locate a 

target such as an industrial complex or tank using a sensor that picked up 

infrared or heat images, calculated boundaries of the target, and guided 

the missile to the approximate center. The IIR Maverick (designated 

AG65D), most advanced version of this new missile, had demonstrated 

in tests earlier this year improved performance in daytime or nighttime 

and adverse weather conditions over earlier TV-guided Mavericks. 

(AFSC Newsreview, Feb 78, 4) 

* The Jan/Feb issue of Satellite Pathways reviewed COMSAT accomplishments, noting that satellite communications technology had advanced through research and development programs at COMSAT 

Laboratories, engineering support it had provided to current satellite 

systems, and its work on satellite systems of the future. COMSAT’s 

research and engineering programs had aimed primarily at more powerful and long-lived multiple-beam satellites operating with smaller earth 

stations in higher communications frequencies; these programs would 

lead to more efficient use of the frequency spectrum allocated to satellite 

communications by simultaneous multiple use of the same frequency 

bands and transmitting communications in high-speed digital rather than 

conventional analog modes. 

Among achievements in 1977, the article mentioned new nickelhydrogen batteries developed by COMSAT under INTELSAT sponsorship; data collected from COMSAT-built 13- and 18-gigahertz 

transponders aboard the Ats 6 satellite and the 19- and 28-gigahertz 

beacons aboard the COMSTAR satellites; a simulator that could handle 

communications for the Intelsat V satellites that would form a global 

system in the 1980s; and new communications processing equipment to 
FEBRUARY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, iwa 

convert conventional analog signals into digital signals, and vice versa. 

(Satellite Pathways, Jan/Feb 78, 12) 

Science Indicators 1976, ninth annual report of the National Science 

Board recently transmitted to Congress by the President, noted an increase in U.S. research and development expenditures during 1976 to an 

estimated $38.1 billion in current dollars; however, constant-dollar 

spending of $28.5 was only 2.5% above the 1974 level. Measured in current dollars, federally supported R&D expenditures in 1976 had climbed 

to an estimated new high of $20.1 billion; however, constant-dollar levels 

stood at $15 billion, 18% below the peak reached in 1967. National 

spending for basic research in current dollars had climbed substantially 

since 1960, to a new high in 1976. However, estimated constant-dollar 

expenditures in 1976 had advanced only about 2% above the 1975 level, 

remaining nearly 11 070 below the peak year of 1968. The federal government was the source of most support for basic research in 1976, as it had 

been in past years. The federal share amounted to 68% of the total since 

1971, compared with approximately 60% in 1960, whereas industry's share 

had remained stable at approximately 15% throughout the 1970s, in sharp 

contrast to its 28% share in 1960. (NSF report, Feb 78) 

48 
March 

March I: Marshall Space Flight Center engineers reported completion of 

tests simulating checkout of a solid-fuel rocket booster (SRB) using 

flight-type hardware interfaced with the launch-processing system (LPS) 

and tests run by computer. The tests would verify compatibility of SRB 

hardware and demonstrate use of the LPS to checkout the SRB system. 

Flight equipment removed from simulated SRB hardware had been 

relocated in equipment racks to simulate a left-hand SRB configuration; 

next use of the LPS would be to checkout the left-hand SRB. United 

Space Boosters, Inc., would perform the checkouts, then move the 

equipment to Kennedy Space Center for use in future SRB checkouts. 

(Marshall Star, Mar 1/78, 2) 

0 NASA announced appointment of Norman Terrell as director of international affairs and Arnold Frutkin as deputy associate administrator 

for external relations. Terrell, who joined NASA in 1977 as chief of the 

International Program Policy Office where his responsibilities included 

US-Soviet space relations and United Nations space affairs, had worked 

fox- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and as foreign service officer in 

the State Department, where he received an award in 1975 for his work 

on the threshold test ban treaty. Frutkin, who had headed NASA’s Office of International Affairs for the past 18yr, had served as deputy 

director of the U.S. National Committee for the International 

Geophysical Year. (NASA anno Mar 1/78) 

March 2: The USSR had launched Soyuz 28 at 4:28pm Moscow time, 

Tass announced, with cosmonaut Vladimir Remek of Czechoslovakia accompanying Soviet cosmonaut Aleksey Gubarev on the first of a series of 

international cooperative flights that would include representatives from 

Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, and Romania. 

Soyuz launches later in 1978 would carry Polish and GDR cosmonauts. 

Since 1967 when the Intercosmos program began, scientists and 

specialists of participating countries had been using Soviet satellites and 

research rockets to study the physical properties of outer space, space 

meteorology, communications, biology, medicine, and natural resources. (FBIS, Tass in English, Mar 3/78) 

March 3: NASA announced award of a contract worth approximately 

$10.5 million to RCA for -a high-quality television camera system to 

49 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

transmit live color and black and white TV during manned orbital Space 

Shuttle flights. The closed-circuit TV camera system installed on the 

Space Shuttle would photograph earth-orbital missions starting in 1979 

through the 1980s. Under contract to Johnson Space Flight Center, RCA 

would provide up to 50 cameras for approximately 500 Shuttle flights 

over the next decade. Each Shuttle orbiter might carry up to 6 cameras; 

the system would consist of several TV cameras, a video control unit, 

pan and tilt mechanisms, and various monitors. Cameras installed in the 

crew compartment, cargo bay, and on a remote manipulator arm would 

use a 525-line standard compatible with broadcast television. A portable 

TV camera used during astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA), for example, could look at areas of the orbiter not visible to the permanently 

mounted cameras. The portable camera equipped with its own 

viewfinder would allow astronauts to focus accurately on an object such 

as the moon or a free-flying satellite in space. The TV system should help 

the crew in retrieving satellites from space, removing spacecraft from the 

cargo bay of the Shuttle, and repairing or replacing parts of a satellite on 

the servicing platform mounted in the orbiter’s payload bay. (JSC 

Roundup, Mar 3/78, 1) 

0 Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced it had fabricated and displayed 

a prototype roving ball planetary explorer, an instrument-laden 

reinforced-fabric ball capable of inflating and deflating automatically or 

on remote command from earth during possible Mars exploration. 

Driven by high winds known to prevail on the planet’s surface, or 

powered and steered by an inner drive system much like that of a:bicycle, 

such balls or balloons could roam freely and conduct scientific experiments 

and measurements over a vast area. A ball could partially deflate if 

necessary for additional study of a particular area. This “bouncing ball” 

would offer the advantages of low cost, long life, and extended traverse 

of the planet’s landscape. As a Mars explorer, a ball would constitute a 

payload of 20 to 30kg (about 44 to 661b) capable of a traverse of 100 to 

200km (60 to 12Omi). The “skin” of the ball, “sandwiched” or laminated 

Mylar and Kevlar (both registered DuPont products), would be strong 

enough to cover some of Mars’s most difficult terrain. Schjeldahl Corp. 

designed and built the ball for the Aerospace Corp. for the ATMOSAT 

project. Jacques Blamont of France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales 

(CNES) had proposed the concept. (JPL Universe, Mar 3/78, 1) 

0 Remote control might soon operate the two drawbridges linking KSC 

with the Florida mainland over the main channel of the Intracoastal 

Waterway, NASA announced. An experimental remote-control system 

tested on the 170-ft-long twin-leaf bridge spanning Haulover Canal 

would be a prototype for a permanent system both at the canal and at the 

50 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. 1978 MARCH 

dual-bridge span of the NASA causeway across the Indian River. The experimental system should demonstrate the feasibility and costeffectiveness of remote bridge operation; in actual use, a duty officer in 

the launch-control center would use TV cameras, loudspeakers, and 

microphones mounted on the bridge to monitor and talk with canal and 

road traffic. A small microwave dish atop the bridge-control tower 

would transmit TV signals to a receiver on top of the 525ft-tall vehicle 

assembly building at KSC, and audio signals would travel by telephone 

wire. An operational system could save approximately $200 OOO per yr 

and pay for itself over 4yr. (KSC Release 22-78; Spaceport News, Mar 

3/18, 1) 

0 Langley Research Center announced it would host Mar. 7-9 an advanced 

technology airfoil research conference offering the aviation community a 

comprehensive review of the latest technical developments in airfoil computational analysis and design methods, airfoil test facilities and techniques, and various applications of new airfoil technology. Presented by 

NASA, supporting contractors, and university grantees, the technical 

sessions would cover progress in mathematical codes for use in electronic 

digital computers for airfoil analysis and design, coupled with progress 

in analog computers through wind-tunnel test facilities and special techniques of investigation; general aviation aircraft; transports; rotorcraft; 

propellers; windmills; and agricultural aircraft. (LaRC Release 78- 12) 

March 6: NASA announced plans to launch from Cape Canaveral no 

earlier than Mar. 23 an experimental Japanese direct-broadcast communications satellite capable of sending television programs directly into 

an individual‘s home. The satellite, technically named Medium-Scale 

Broadcasting Satellite for Experiment Purposes (BSE), had been a project of Japan’s National Space Development Agency (NASDA). As 

agreed by the U.S. and Japan, NASA would launch BSE on a Delta 

rocket; NASDA would reimburse NASA for the cost of the launch vehicle, launch services, and other administrative costs. NASA’s worldwide 

Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) would track BSE until 

it achieved final orbit, when NASDA would take over tracking. Present 

Japanese TV, though covering 97% of the main islands, had not been 

economical for remote islands and mountain regions; also, tall buildings 

had degraded TV reception in large cities. NASDA had designed BSE to 

transmit high-quality color television to the Japanese islands and 

Okinawa at lower cost; user antennas could be as small as 1 to 1.6 meters 

(3.3 to 5.2ft), with production costs estimated at $200 per unit. The high 

power of BSE could transmit directly to individual TV sets even in bad 

weather, making TV avdable to Japanese living on the offshore islands 

and in inaccessible mountain afeas. 

51 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. 1978 

Goddard Space Flight Center would manage the Delta vehicle for 

NASA’s Office of Space Transportation Systems, and KSC would 

manage launch operations. General Electric Co., Valley Forge, Pa., had 

built the BSE under contract to Tokyo Szlibaura Electric Co. The 

Japanese Broadcasting Corp., the Japanese Ministry of Post and 

Telecommunications, and the Radio Research Laboratories of Japan 

would sponsor or participate in the program. (NASA Release 78-33; 

MOR M-492-212-78-01 [prelaunch], Feb. 28/78; Spaceport News, Mar 

17/78, 1) 

The House subcommittee on space science and applications had added 

funding of $4 million to the NASA FY79 budget for a fifth Space Shuttle 

orbiter and a new stereosat earth resources spacecraft, Av Wk reported. 

The subcommittee had also added $7 million to NASA’s Office of Space 

Transportation funds for advanced planning, plus $3 million each for 

large space-structures work and solar power satellite studies. (NASA’s 

initial budget request had not included solar power satellite funding, 

because of Dept. of Energy priority in this area.) The subcommittee had 

added $40.5 million to the NASA request and cut $25 million, resulting 

in a net $15.5 million increase. 

Funds for a stereosat came with a subcommittee call for development 

of the $40- to $45-million spacecraft based on significant funding from 

the user community; primary users would be geologists exploring for 

petroleum and minerals. Other subcommittee additions were $10 million. 

for distribution of Landsat data and training programs to states for cropprediction research, encouragement of microwave development, and 

work on an operational Landsat system; $4 million to stimulate, 

bioengineering work; $1.5 million to support industrial application of 

NASA technology; and $4 million for modifying NASA’s tracking 

system to facilitate full and timely handling of Spacelab data early in 

Spacelab’s flight program. (AvWk, Mar 6/78, 13) 

Av Wk reported that the Navy’s Electronic Systems Command planned 

to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to establish and operate a followon system to the Navy/TRW fleet satellite communications (FltSatCom) 

system. The Navy would lease from the contractor capacity on the new 

system, designated Leasat, which could be either a hybrid (providing 

service to merchant shipping as well as to the Navy) or dedicated (serving 

only the Navy). The RFP would require 3 satellites positioned over the 

Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The first satellite should be 

available Oct. 1, 1981; the second, Apr. 1, 1982; the third, Oct. 1, 1987. 

A satellite that failed would have to be replaced within 30 days. The contractor would also build and operate a telemetry, tracking, and control 

52 
ASTRONAUTICS AM) AERONAUTICS. 1978 MALLCH 

system with central headquarters for coordination at 4 Navy communications stations in Va., Hawaii, Calif., and Guam. (Av Wk, Mar 6/78, 14) 

Upon successful completion of the Spacelab Critical Design Review 

[see Feb. 31, ESA announced it would authorize manufacture of the 

Spacelab flight unit and confirm technical orientation already given in 

certain critical areas. Plans called for delivery of the engineering model 

to NASA in mid-1979; ESA would deliver the flight unit to NASA in two 

shipments (in autumn 1979 and early 1980) to satisfy requirements of the 

first 2 Spacelab missions, scheduled for Dec. 1980 and Apr. 1981. (ESA 

Release Mar 6/78) 

March 8: NASA announced the successful launch of Landsat 3 (formerly 

Landsat-C), third of a series, from WTR at 12:54pm EST on March 5. 

Orbital parameters were: apogee, 913.96km; perigee, 897.3km; period, 

103.108min; and inclination, 99.134". Landsat was part of a U.S. program to develop remote sensing for improved earth resources management. The total program included development of remote-sensing instruments; data-analysis research using data from spacecraft, aircraft, 

and ground-truth sites; and a spaceflight program. Landsat 3 carried two 

piggyback payloads, the larger (approximately 34kg) being a plasmainteraction experiment (PIX) by Lewis Research Center to measure 

plasma-coupling current and negative-voltage breakdown of a Solararray segment and a gold-plated steel disk. Objective of PIX was to. 

establish design guidelines, materials, devices, and test methods for controlling detrimental interactions between high-voltage systems and the 

space-plasma environment. The PIX would remain attached to the second stage of the Delta vehicle. The second piggyback payload, the 27.3kg 

Amat Oscar communications-relay satellite built by radio amateurs, 

ejected from the second stage approximately 12.3min after Delta separation from Landsat 3, would be available to amateur operators for science 

education, communications experiments, and search-and-rescue systems 

tests. The Oscar D carried two communications transponders having 1 to 

2 watts of power output, and was magnetically stabilized. 

Changes in the Landsat 3 payload included alteration of the returnbeam vidicon system to produce higher resolution panchromatic images 

for detailed ground mapping, and inclusion in the multispectral scanner 

(MSS) of a fifth band in the emitted terrestrial infrared radiation region. 

Objective of the MSS was to acquire multispectral high-spatialresolution (80m) images of solar radiation reflected from earth's surface, 

emitted infrared-radiation images of 240m resolution, and 

panachromatic RBV images of 40m resolution. The MSS would obtain 

contiguous images about once every 18 days, weather permitting. The 

multispectral images would aid research and operations demonstrations 

53 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

in agriculture and forestry resources, mineral and land resources, land 

use, water resources, marine resources, cartography, and the environment. Applications would include surveying land use; measuring factors 

causing stress on crops and forest; inventorying crops and forests; assessing crop vigor and health; classifying areas by geological or geomorphic 

characteristics; delineating promising areas for mineral exploration; 

determining water-runoff patterns and extent of snowcover; monitoring 

population movements and environmental hazards to man; mapping sea 

ice; and analyzing shorelines. Demonstration projects called Applications Systems Verification and Transfer (ASVT), focusing on landcover 

inventory for federal, regional, state, and private users, would also use 

Landsat 3 data. 

The Landsat-C spacecraft (basically a Nimbus design modified to accommodate Landsat instruments and mission requirements) had the 

following parameters: weight, 9Okg; mission margin, 5 1.4kg; stabilization type, 3-axis earth-oriented; stabilization accuracy, 0.7” pointing error, 0.04” per sec rate; average power available for experiments, 375 

watts; thermal range, 10 to 3OC; data storage capacity, 60min of video 

data (25.2 million bits). Launch vehicle was a 2-stage Thor Delta approximately 116ft long and 8ft in maximum body diameter. The first stage 

was a McDonnell Douglas extended long-tank Thor booster incorporating 9 strap-on Thiokol Castor I1 solid-fuel rocket motors; second 

stage was powered by the TRW TR-201 liquid-fuel pressure-fed engine 

gimbal-mounted to control pitch and yaw through second-stage burn. A 

nitrogen gas-system using 8 fixed nozzles provided roll control during 

powered and coast flight, as well as pitch and yaw control after secondstage cutoff. Two fixed nozzles fed from the propellant-tank heliumpressurization system provided retrothrust after spacecraft separation. 

Total cost of the Landsat program (excluding costs of the launch 

vehicles, and including tracking and data network-systems support) 

would be $43.9 million through 1979. (MOR E-641-78-03 [postlaunch] 

Mar 8/78, [prelaunch] Feb 22/78) 

MSFC had been responsible for a variety of ground tests around the 

U.S. to prove flightworthiness of the Space Shuttle’s solid-fuel rocket 

booster, the center newsletter reported. Each Shuttle mission would use 2 

of the 578 097kg (6oOton) SRBs, 45.46 meters (149ft) long and 3.7 meters 

(12ft) in diameter, each providing 12 232 550 newtons (2.75 million Ib) 

of thrust for about 2min from the launch pad to burnout and separation 

at an altitude of 45.3km (27mi). Tests at MSFC had put loads on a 

“short” version of the booster to duplicate load conditions encountered 

on the launch pad, in flight, during parachute deployment, and in water 

impact and recovery. Other MSFC engineers had tested the flight system 

designed to gimbal (or swivel) the motor nozzles at the lower end of each 

booster to guide the Shuttle 6n a proper course. 

54 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

Engineers at United Technologies Corp.’s Chemical System Div. near 

San Jose, Calif., had tested 8 small solid-fuel booster-separation motors, 

fired simultaneously to separate each SRB and move it away from the 

Shuttle during flight. Each end of the two boosters would carry 4 

motors, a total of 16 on each flight. These would have about 88 960 

newtons (20 0001b) of thrust and would fire only about 1 sec each to accomplish separation. The separation motor had completed development 

testing; the Calif. test series would qualify it for flight. 

Thiokol Corp.’s Wasatch Div. near Brigham City, Utah, had run fullduration full-thrust static firings on the SRB; high-speed sled runs in 

New Mexico had tested one phase of the SRB’s parachute-recovery 

system (deployment of the pilot chute only) to see whether the nosecap of 

the system, when ejected, would clear the vehicle without becoming entangled; and the National Parachute Test Range at El Centro, Calif., had 

conducted airdrops of the entire parachute system. Other tests of SRB’s 

electrical system and prelaunch checkout system were in progress. (Marshall Star, Mar 8/78, 4) 

0 NASA officials had unveiled the prototype of a parachute-cleaning 

machine strongly resembling a carwash operation, Today reported. If 

approved, the facility would become part of KSC’s system to refurbish 

Space Shuttle parachutes. Each of the Shuttle’s two solid-fuel rocket 

boosters jettisoned into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch would 

carry 4 nylon parachutes; both the boosters and the parachutes were 

designed for recovery and return to KSC for another launch. The 

carwash-type facility would rid the parachutes of salt water before 

washing and drying them in large machines. The current system had 

rinsed parachutes in the same water they were washed in; the new system 

would save some of the 20 OOOgal of water now used by the washing 

machine. In the carwash-type system, parachutes would move along an 

overhead rail, rinsed 3 times by water sent through high-pressure nozzles. 

The 3 main parachutes were 230ft long and 115ft in diameter, weighing 

16001b dry and 20001b wet; the fourth parachute measured 145ft in 

length and 54ft in diameter, and would weigh 12001b dry and 14001b wet. 

On completion, the new system should require 2hr to wash and 2hr to dry 

each parachute. (Today, Mar 8/78, 8A) 

* JSC announced plans for the week-long ninth annual lunar and 

planetary science conference focusing on the moon and other worlds, 

with the Lunar and Planetary Institute of Houston as co-host. Topics of 

presentations would include the formation of the solar system; new 

discoveries in moon rocks; the histories of planets; meteorites containing 

material from ancient stars; and comparative studies of Mars, Venus, 

.and the earth. For the third consecutive year, the USSR would send a 

delegation. A number of topics would be emphasized: constraints on 

55 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

structures; composition and history of planetary interiors; characteristics 

and movement of material on lunar, planetary, and asteroid surfaces; 

characteristics and evolution of volcanic landforms; characterization and 

evolution of planetary crusts; nature and effect of impact processes; extraterrestrial materials; solar, interplanetary, and interstellar probes; and 

earliest history of the solar system. JSC had scheduled special sessions on 

industrial development of near-earth space, on origin of the solar system, 

on the future of planetary exploration, and on Mars and Mercury. (JSC 

Release 78-40) 

0 INTELSAT announced it had awarded the Yardney Electric Corp. of 

Pawcatuck, Conn., a $149 365 contract to develop an advanced nickelhydrogen battery to demonstrate flight acceptance for use in future 

INTELSAT communications-satellite programs. The contract terms 

called for design, fabrication, testing, and delivery of two batteries by 

March 1979. INTELSAT had pioneered development of this technology, 

expected to improve energy density, increase cyclic capability, and prolong battery lifetime and reliability. (INTELSAT Release 78-6-1) 

March IO: NASA announced receipt of the first 2 HiMAT (highly 

maneuverable aircraft technology) prototypes from the builder, 

Rockwell Intl., which developed the 0.44-scale version during a joint 

NASA-USAF multiphase competitive program. Flights of the subscale 

models at Dryden Flight Research Center would use the remotely piloted 

research vehicle (RPRV) technique developed there to test advanced 

aerodynamic technology for enhanced aircraft maneuverability. The 

RPRV offered a highly cost-effective means of flight testing advanced, 

high-risk technology without associated risks to test pilots. A pilot in a 

ground cockpit using telemetry, television, and radar air-launched unmanned craft from a carrier aircraft to fly them through maneuvers. 

(DFRC X-Press, Mar 10/78, 2; AvWk, Mar 20/78, 17) 

0 If the flight of Soyuz 26 cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Georgy 

Grechko aboard Salyut 6 space station continued to go well, they would 

establish a new space-duration record in the early morning of March 13, 

announced the Natl. Aeronautic Association, the organization maintaining official aviation and space records. The cosmonauts would surpass 

the previous record of 84 days set by U.S. astronauts Carr, Gibson, and 

Pogue aboard Skylab 4 in 1973. The Soviets had not indicated when the 

mission would end. On Feb. 10 the Soyuz 26 team equalled the previous 

USSR manned-spacecraft record of 63 days set by Soyuz 18. (NAA 

Release Mar 10/78) 

March 13: NASA and ESA announced selection of experiments for the 

proposed 2-spacecraft solar-polar mission planned for launch in 1983 

56 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

and designed for first-time observation of the sun from the unique 

perspective of its polar regions. The solar-polar mission would explore 

one of the remaining frontiers of the solar system: the third dimension of 

space, out of the plane of the orbits of the planets. All previous interplanetary space probes had flown in the orbits of the planets, essentially intersecting the sun’s equatorial regions. Congress had not yet approved the project, but early selection of scientific participants and investigations would allow a prompt start on approval. NASA and ESA 

would each provide one spacecraft, and the combined scientific payload 

would be divided between U.S. and European investigators. 

The Space Shuttle would launch both spacecraft simultaneously using 

an inertial upper-stage booster, directing them on a trajectory in the 

ecliptic plane (the plane containing all the planets) toward Jupiter. 

Swinging around Jupiter, the craft would use the gravity of that planet to 

move out of the ecliptic plane and back toward the sun in trajectories, 

one northbound and one southbound, essentially mirror images of each 

other. After passing over the north and south solar poles, the spacecrafts 

would swing through perihelion (the distance closest to the sun) in the 

ecliptic plane, pass respectively over the other solar poles, then fly back 

to the vicinity of Jupiter’s orbit. The period from launch until shortly 

after the second pair of polar passages would be approximately 5yr. 

The mission should provide impokant new knowledge about the solar 

wind, cosmic rays, and the 3-dimensional structure and evolution of the 

sun’s corona (the outermost solar atmosphere), and increase understanding of solar phenomena that shape and control earth’s space environment. In anticipation of a FY79 Congressional authorization of the mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, manager of the mission for 

NASA, had undertaken studies of the U.S. spacecraft, payload, and mission design concepts. More than 150 American and European scientists 

would participate in solar-polar investigations. (NASA Release 78-39; 

ESA Release Mar 13/78; JPL Universe, Mar 17/78, 1) 

0 NASA had mounted a “new effort” to make space applications the 

“administration’s centerpiece,” starting with a reorganization of applications management that could double that office’s $283 million budget, 

AvWk reported. The new effort would include a major push for a 

“global information system” supported by all civilian earth-sensing 

spacecraft, to encompass all Landsat, Seasat, and environmental and 

meteorological satellite data, coordinated so that for any need an individual user could access all pertinent information available from space 

platforms. Theoretically, all space-derived information could some day 

come from a single distribution point. 

NASA’s effort would emphasize agency cooperation (NASA officials 

had met with representatives of the Depts. of Agriculture and Interior, 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

EPA, and AID); management changes (a plan awaiting approvaI wouId 

remove flight projects from the traditional applications branches; the 

project offices would instead develop user-oriented sensor systems to be 

passed along to an applications-systems division, which would then 

reconfigure the sensors into the proper spacecraft format); center 

changes (instead of the previous lead-center approach to managing flight 

projects, NASA Hq would formulate programs as the main user liaison); 

applied sciences (greater emphasis by space applications on the 

phenomena its spacecraft would measure); ground systems (speedup of 

work on the end-to-end data system); an operational comsat system 

(solution of years-old Landsat operating problems); and communications research (industry would foster the research, while government 

agencies would concentrate on creating and sustaining a real market for 

public service communications). (Av Wk, Mar 13/78, 67) 

For the year ending Dec. 3 1,1977, ComSatCorp reported consolidated 

net income of $32 499 OOO ($3.27 per share) compared with $38 271 0oO 

($3.83 per share) for the preceding year. ComSatCorp said the volume of 

its services through the INTELSAT system and the contribution to net 

income by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Comsat General Corp., had increased substantially in 1977. ComSatCorp’s leases of INTELSAT fulltime half-circuits to its common-carrier customers had increased 19% 

between the end of 1976 and the end of 1977, and Comsat General’s contribution to net income had increased from 16 cents per share in 1967 to 

65 cents per share in 1977. These increases would have put 1977 net income ahead of 1976, except for the FCC proceeding challenging CornSatCorp rates for INTELSAT services. 

The FCC’s order to deduct from INTELSAT service revenue the 

amounts placed in escrow pending the outcome of the rate proceeding 

had adversely affected both 1977 and 1976 net income. The requirement 

had applied throughout 1977, but for only 6.5mo of 1976; the 1977 

amount deducted from INTELSAT service revenue was therefore 

$37 779 0o0 more than that for 1976. ComSatCorp said its 1977 financial 

statements would reflect terms of a proposed settlement of the longstanding FCC rate proceeding. ComSatCorp management had agreed 

with representatives of the FCC general counsel and Common Carrier 

Bureau on the proposal, subject to approval by the FCC after an opportunity for public comment ending Mar. 30, 1978. Most of the settlement 

provisions related to current and future rates, and would affect operations results in 1978 and subsequent years. (COMSAT Release 78-3) 

A fundamental reappraisal by Western European governments of the 

overall European space effort had resulted in a demand by the West German government for more efficiency and better return on its investments 

58 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

in space, Av Wk reported. On hold during the debate were production of 

an initial batch of Arianes (European heavy launchers) and development 

of a new heavy telecommunications bus, as well as adoption of a broad 

new telecommunications package that would include the heavy bus. 

Meanwhile, determined to get more for its money, West Germany had 

begun exploring possible national or limited international programs outside the framework of ESA. 

Industry sources said that West Germany, traditionally one of ESA’s 

biggest contributors, was unhappy mainly because of repeated new 

beginnings of experimental communications-satellite programs as 

technological objectives changed. The Germans had wanted Europe to 

move directly into an operational comsat project after the successful 

launch and initial operations of the Franco-German Symphonie 

satellites. However, instead of building on this initiative, Western 

Europe (primarily through ESA) had taken up other experimental 

satellites like OTS (orbital test satellite), Marots (maritime OTS), and the 

H-Sat (experimental heavy telecommunications/multipurpose bus). 

West Germany, therefore, had begun thinking of developing independently (or more probably bilaterally), a direct-broadcast satellite 

that would be operationally feasible at home and commercially attractive 

abroad. (AvWk, Mar 13/78, 71) 

March 14: Noise levels of Concorde departures at New York’s John F. 

Kennedy Intl. Airport continued to be lower than those measured at 

Dulles Intl. Airport near Washington, D.C., according to the FAA’s 

February monitoring report. On approach, average Feb. measurement 

was 98.7db at Cedarhurst on Long Island, compared with a cumulative 

average through Jan. of 100.4db. Vibration tests conducted by NASA 

during Feb. had shown the relationship between structural vibration and 

aircraft noise to be the same for Concorde as for other jet aircraft; the 

relatively higher levels of structural vibration measured during Concorde 

operations resulted from overall higher sound levels rather than from 

any unique characteristics of the Concorde. The FAA’s monitoring 

equipment had recorded no sonic booms for the 103 Concorde operations during Feb. (FAA Release 23-78) 

* JSC officials were puzzled after a weekend surprise, the Houston Post 

reported: 240 OOO or so peopIe came out to see the Shuttle orbiter Enterprise. With interest in the space program supposedly flagging, the question was why so many-some of whom walked for miles to get to the 

Space Shuttle orbiter - showed up to see an airplane-like craft just sitting 

atop a large airplane. The newspaper quoted a highway patrol trooper 

with 9yr of traffic-patrol duty: “Never in my life have I seen people come 

like that.” Largest previous crowd had been the 135 000 who turned up at 

59 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Ellington Air Force Base for a Zday Blue Angels show. Charles Biggs, 

JSC exhibits manager, said JSC had made no effort other than the usual 

press releases to attract a crowd, “no bands, no celebrities, no giveaways, 

just the orbiter sitting there.” A tour guide commented: “What I thirk is 

that this is different than Apollo and going to the moon. I think the Shuttle is coming closer to the people. It is something they can relate to. They 

wanted to know when they can go on it.” (Houston Post, Mar 14/78,3A) 

March 15: The Marshall Star reported that an MSFC researcher had been 

working to complete a weather experiment for the second Shuttle orbital 

flight test (OFT-2) scheduled for July 1979. His instrument, known as 

NOSL (nighttime-daylight optical survey of lightning), would obtain 

data on the many thunderstorms viewed by the Shuttle during a mission. 

The equipment consisted of a 16mm data-acquisition camera synchronized with a 2-channel cassette recorder, receiving the output of a 

photocell optical system serving as a sensor to pick up both visible and 

invisible lightning flashes and to record them as clicks on the tape. 

Otha Vaughan, Jr., system developer, said he hoped to analyze the 

magnetic tapes containing cine photos and associated photo-optical data 

to get new insights into convective structure of cloud systems and lightning, the horizontal dimensions of lightning discharges, and possible 

electrical discharges that extend into the stratosphere. A successful experiment would permit adaptation of the data-acquisition and analysis 

technique to future meteorological satellites for identifying severe 

weather situations. (Marshall Star, Mar 15/78, 4) 

0 NASA announced it had judged the UK 5 (Ariel 5) mission successful 

in prelaunch objectives. This Explorer-class x-ray mission launched in 

1974 had contributed significantly to x-ray astronomy and astrophysics. 

Ariel 5, a cooperative program between the U.S. and the U.K. Science 

Research Council, had discovered many new transient x-ray sources, 

although most of its studies were of steady x-ray sources. The second 

Ariel 5 catalog had listed locations of 107 high-latitude x-ray sources, 

many of them extragalactic. The satellite had performed well, far beyond 

its 6mo design life, although gas for the attitude-control system had run 

out 2.5 yr after launch (18mo beyond prelaunch estimates). An onboard 

magnetic fine-torquing system had maintained attitude stability and 

allowed some spin-axis maneuvers. All 6 onboard instruments had performed as they did the first yr after launch and should continue to produce exceptional results. (MOR S-870-74-05 [postlaunch], Mar 15/78) 

0 NASA announced LeRC had awarded a $43 million contract to 

Detroit Diesel Allison Division of General Motors Corp. for support of 

the Dept. of Energy in development of ceramic materials, fabrication 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

techniques, and components for new energy-efficient gas-turbine 

automobile engines. This extension through 1983 of an earlier contract 

would require use of special materials composed of elements available in 

abundance (such as silicon, nitrogen, and carbon) to be designed into 

components for gas-turbine engines; techniques to fabricate the components; and integration of the new components into advanced turbineengine hardware. Allison Div. would test the components individually 

and in turbine engines, to verify the materials and the improvements 

needed to realize significant savings in fueling gas-turbine engines as well 

as to reduce costs of engine production. (NASA Release 78-43) 

March 17: NASA announced it had selected four 2-man crews to begin 

training for Space Shuttle orbital flights. Those chosen were John 

Young, commander, with Robert Crippen, pilot; Joe Engle, commander, with Richard Truly, pilot; Fred Hake, commander, with Jack 

Lousma, pilot; and Vance Brand, commander, with Charles Fullerton, 

pilot. Young and Crippen would crew the first orbital flight test (OFT-I) 

scheduled for launch in spring 1979 from KSC, with Engle and Truly as 

backup. 

NASA had planned 6 orbital flight tests increasing in complexity to 

check out the first U.S. reusable spacecraft. On the first 4 flights, the 

75-ton orbiter would make an unpowered landing on a dry lakebed at 

DFRC; thereafter, it would return to a specially constructed runway at 

the KSC launch site. NASA had also considered an OFT mission to boost 

Skylab into a higher orbit; prime and backup crews to implement such a 

plan would be selected from those already named. (NASA Release 78-44; 

JSC Release 78-15; DFRC X-Press, Mar 24/78, 4; JSC Roundup, Mar 

31/78, 1) 

0 Pioneer Venus, scheduled for launch May 20, would carry a recently 

completed JPL instrument to obtain new weather information on Venus, 

JPL Universe reported. VORTEX (Venus orbiter radiometric 

temperature experiment), a $4.5 million co-effort of JPL and Oxford 

Univ., England, would collect close-up data on winds, cloud structures, 

water vapor, and temperatures of Venus. Using technologies developed 

for satellite monitoring of earth weather, VORTEX would report 

3-dimensional measurements of the Venus atmosphere. The complex instrument, an 8-channel radiometer combining 4 different subexperiments (three separate radiometers and a spectrometer) would 

weigh only 12 lb, partly because of the special hybrid microelectronics 

used. Orbiting as close as lOOkm above the cloudtops, it could “see” 

weather conditions at 7 different levels or layers. For a full Venus year of 

243 days, scientists would process VORTEX data into weather maps and 

infrared images and compare meteorological conditions on Venus with 

those on earth. (JPL Universe, Mar 17/78, 2) 

61 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, l9lS 

* NASA announced appointment of Neil Hutchinson, Charles Lewis, 

and Donald Puddy, all of JSC’s Flight Operations Directorate, as flight 

directors at JSC for the first manned Shuttle-orbital flight, to plan and 

direct activities of the Mission Control Center during real-time Shuttle 

operations. They also would be responsible for integrating inputs from 

all elements of NASA, contractors, and the scientific communities. Hutchinson would manage all activities associated with the Shuttle-ascent 

phase; Lewis, the on-orbit phase; and Puddy, the orbiter reentry phase. 

All had served as flight directors during Apollo and Skylab missions. 

(JSC Release 78-16; JSC Roundup, Mar 31/78, 1) 

@ KSC’s Spaceport News noted the 20th anniversary of the launch of 

Vanguard I, a satellite which, together with Explorer I, launched 6wk 

earlier, “invoked a national sigh of relief.” Project Vanguard had begun 

in July 1955 with a White House announcement that the U.S. would 

launch a satellite as the U.S. contribution to the International 

Geophysical Year. The first attempt to launch a Vanguard, TV-3, ended 

when the spacecraft was destroyed Dec. 6, 1957, in an explosion on the 

pad. As one observer stated, “Following the explosion of TV-3, the 

Vanguard became a whipping boy for the hurt pride of the American 

people.” Then came the success of Explorer I. But the failures of the next 

Vanguard and next Explorer meant tremendous pressures on the 

Vanguard launch team. Vanguard I had been launched from Cape 

Canaveral at 7:15am, March 17, 1958. The Vanguard team had in record 

time (2yr, 6m0, and 8da) developed from scratch a complete highperformance 3-stage launch vehicle, a highly accurate worldwide 

satellite-tracking system, and an adequate launch facility and range instrumentation. And, they had suceeded in getting the Vanguard into orbit during the International Geophysical Year. (Spaceport News, Mar 

17/78, 4) 

0 Many significant technological advances of the past decade should be 

credited to NASA, said the Lewis News, quoting an article by Dr. Wojciech Rostafinski, an engineer in LeRC’s Fluid System Components 

Division and frequent NASA spokesperson on Voice of America broadcasts, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The article continued: “The 

magnitude and importance of NASA-derived technology benefits have 

already been reported. Broadly, payoffs from technology transfer are 

direct and indirect. One direct benefit is satellites that report on weather, 

pollution, and crops. . . . An example of indirect benefits - the so-called 

spinoffs - is the electronic circuit miniaturization, so widely adopted today by terrestrial computer and calculator designers. Countless other innovations could be given for both categories. 

“Now a question arises concerning the monetary return on the investment. In other words, why should we continue to spend large sums of 

62 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

money on ‘obviously’ abstract endeavors in space? . . . Let us check the 

figures. Since 1958, when NASA was created, in the span of a short (or 

long, depending on the ’yardstick‘ by which the time is measured) 20 

years, NASA spent a total budget of $67.8 billion. This relatively lofty 

figure does not appear high at all when compared to other expenditures 

of the federal government. NASA appropriations have represented, on 

the average over the years, only 1.8% of the federal budget; in the last 

five years this has been down to 1%. Currently, NASA accounts for only 

0.85% of the budget. Making a parallel with the budget of a family 

whose income is $20000 a year, last year’s NASA appropriation 

represents $170 per year set aside as investment. Not a large figure; a 

small one, actually, when compared to today’s car prices, utility bills, or 

to the cost of eduction. . . , 

“In 1971, Midwest Research Institute, studying the impact of 

technological activity, concluded that the $25 billion NASA spent in its 

first ten years had returned $52 billion through 1970 and by 1987 will 

have returned $181 billion. Five years later, Chase Econometrics also 

studied the economic impact of NASA R&D and concluded that an annual increase in NASA spending of $1 billion for the 1975-1984 decade 

would increase the GNP $23 billion by 1984; $23 billion for $10 billion 

during ten years . . . . “Summing up, it becomes obvious and clear that it is much cheaper 

and wiser to seek technological progress through rational research, 

federally organized and performed by government and industry. The 

return on such investment is sound. The relatively modest sums invested 

in the national aerospace programs entrusted to NASA are well spent .” 

(LewisNews, Mar 17/78, 1) 

a Rockwell Intl. Corp. announced that the Air Force Flight Dynamics 

Laboratory had awarded its Los Angeles Division a $6.04 million contract to build test-aircraft structures using a revolutionary manufacturing 

process developed by the company and used on the Rockwell-built Space 

Shuttle. The AF Built-up Low-cost Advanced Titanium Structure 

(BLATS) program would use 2 Rockwell-developed processes (diffusion 

bonding and superplastic forming) in designing, fabricating, and testing 

a lOOOlb section of fuselage for use on a future advanced fighter. The 

46mo contract called for construction of a complex about 8ft x loft x 

3ft, representing the center fuselage section where the wings attach, and a 

portion of the aft fuselage where the engines would be mounted, and including the necessary fuel tanks. 

Rockwell engineers believed superplastic forming with concurrent diffusion bonding of titanium aircraft structure was the biggest 

breakthrough of the decade in advanced metals fabrication, because it 

might result (depending on the type of structure) in cost savings of from 

63 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1918 

50 to 70% and weight savings of from 30 to 50070, compared to conventional methods of building titanium parts. Besides the next generation of 

fighter aircraft, other applications of the process could be jet engines, 

spacecraft, and supersonic transports. (Rockwell Release LAD-8) 

March 20: Ames Research Center announced the scheduled arrival this 

month of the XV-15, a tilt-rotor research aircraft, which would have 

wingtip-mounted turbine engines that turned 7.6m (25ft) prop rotors. 

The engine-prop rotor assembly could be tilted up for helicopter-type 

vertical takeoff and landing, or oriented forward in the normal position 

for conventional flight as an airplane. Bell Helicopter Textron, Fort 

Worth, Tex., had built the aircraft under a joint program of ARC and 

the U.S. Army’s Research and Technology Laboratories at Moffett 

Field, Calif. The first XV-15 to arrive at ARC, modifed for remote control, would undergo 6wk of testing in ARC’S 12.2 x 24.4m (40 x 8Oft) 

wind tunnel. Flight test of the second aircraft would begin at the Bell 

facilities in Fort Worth after wind-tunnel tests. ARC would eventually 

house both aircraft for Army/NASA evaluation of the tilt-rotor concept, 

and for ARC research on terminal-area (airport) navigation and on 

vertical- and short-takeoff-and-landing. (NASA Release 78-45) 

The U.S. Army had devised a charged-particle beam weapon using 

negative hydrogen neutralized through an exchange cell as an 

antisatellite-kill mechanism, Av Wk reported. The program had been 

code-named Sipapu, an American Indian word meaning sacred fire. Its 

application to ballistic-missile defense would be as an accelerator with 

small angular divergence; an antisatellite version with a range of several 

thousand km could destroy enemy vehicles without maneuvering to intercept. AvWk said that a smaller adaptation of the device, requiring 

lower power levels, could be orbited in 2 or 3yr, probably by NASA’s 

Space Shuttle. 

The Accelerator Div. at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory had worked 

on Sipapu for the Army, with USAF participation; the Army’s Ballistic 

Missile Defense Command would spend $4.3 million this year and $5 

million in FY79 for charged-particle beam weapons, and $3 million in the 

coming yr for high-energy laser weapons. (AvWk, Mar 20/78, 13) 

* The USAF had sent a destruct signal Mar. 19 to a Titan rocket carrying a pair of military comsats, the W Post reported, aborting an 

$IO-million mission 8min after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Air Force 

officials said a range-safety officer had sent the destruct signal when the 

rocket suddenly began slowing down and falling back to earth. Debris 

from the 3 1 OOOlb space missio.n, rocket, and satellites had fallen into the 

ocean, although the exact location was unknown. ( W Post, Mar 20/78, 

B-9) 

64 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

March 21: The NYT reported that the Soviet Union had built and 

bombers drop-tested a new manned space vehicle similar to the U.S. 

Space Shuttle. The delta-winged reusable vehicle had been dropped from 

a Soviet Tupolev TU-95 Bear bomber in atmospheric tests of the 

spacecraft’s aerodynamic and handling qualities, like recent tests of the 

Space Shuttle. No known space testing of the delta-winged vehicle had 

occurred, although the Soviets might have begun orbital tests with a second new manned-flight craft with space-tug capabilities. Design 

characteristics of the test vehicle were apparently similar to those of both 

the U.S. Shuttle orbiter and the lifting-body research vehicles flighttested earlier by the U.S. Air Force and NASA. The vehicle strongly 

resembled the USAF/Boeing X-20 DynaSoar concept, which had been 

viewed as a space station resupply vehicle before the program was canceled. The Soviet spacecraft was described as smaller than the 150 OOOlb 

NASA Shuttle orbiter, but larger than the Soyuz expendable manned 

transport. The NYT said the new vehicle indicated the USSR believed it 

had the technology to proceed with building reusable manned spacecraft. 

(NYT, Mar 21/78, 12) 

March 22: LaRC announced it had begun a research program on problems of agricultural aircraft. Beginning in 1921 , airplanes for agricultural 

use had required conversion from some other purpose; in 1950, the first 

aircraft was designed specifically for agricultural use. Agricultural aircraft had improved since then, but still relied on 1940s technology. The 

aerial-applications industry had recognized this, and asked NASA to 

study drift, swath guidance, liquid and dry material-distribution systems, 

and aircraft-handling characteristics causing pilot fatigue. The NASA 

study would also attempt to make the wake vortex of an airplane work 

for, rather than against, aerial applications. Aerodynamic concerns involved reducing drag for better fuel efficiency and developing appropriate high-lift concepts to improve takeoff, landing, and turning 

performance. 

LaRC would conduct the study at its vortex-research facility, its fullscale wind tunnel, and in actual flight tests. The vortex-research facility 

would test small-scale models of the agricultural aircraft for. hteractions 

of the aircraft wake with dispersed spray and granular materials. The 

full-scale tunnel and flight tests would use an Ayres Thrush S2R-800, one 

of the largest agricultural aircraft. (LaRC Release 78-130) 

* The Marshall Star reported that a NASA decision to boost the Skylab 

space station to a higher orbit could lead to reactivation and use of 

Skylab’s onboard systems and instruments in a number of useful projects. MSFC had awarded parallel study contracts, each in the amount of 

$125 OOO, to Martin Marietta Gorp. and McDonnell Douglas 

Astronautics Co. for independent reports on the possibilities and 

65 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

benefits of Skylab reuse. The 9-mo studies of the most effective ways to 

use Skylab in further missions, experiments, and demonstrations would 

concentrate on the experiments or equipment already aboard Skylab, for 

firsthand evaluation of how materials and equipment were affected by 

10 or more yr in space; on crew quarters and other support, for Spacelab 

missions and experiments that could benefit from long duration and an 

additional energy supply; and on opportunities offered by the Skylab in 

itself, or in conjunction with other hardware elements, for new missions 

or experiments. For example, the relatively large facility (comparable to 

a 3-bedroom home) might provide a convenient platform for fabricating 

and constructing large space structures, or could aid in converting such 

structures into useful demonstrations or operational systems. 

The ground station in Bermuda had begun operations Mar. 6 to 13 to 

reactivate Skylab, turning on command and telemetry systems and 

receiving data. Transfer of power from the airlock module to the Apollo 

telescope mount permitted reception of telemetry; the ATM solar arrays 

also provided power when turned toward the sun. Data received from the 

ATM computer indicated it was in good working order and had enough 

power. On Skylab’s last working pass, controllers had used about 1 lmin 

to check the status of the trickle charge to batteries 2,4, and 5; the charge 

had been turned off on battery 7, which had remained fully charged and 

ready for the next mission. Controllers also had performed some systems 

checkoffs, Bermuda reporting the command receiver as strong 

throughout the pass. Plans were to reactivate Skylab in mid-April, using 

the TAC system to reduce atmospheric drag and prolong Skylab’s orbital 

lifetime for several months. (Marshall Star, Mar 22/78, 1) 

, 

March 23: LaRC announced award to Micro Craft, Inc., Tullahoma, 

Tenn., of a contract to design and build precision models for windtunnel tests at the center. The small-scale models of controlled shape and 

finish, designed specifically for research and development projects, 

would consist of metals, moldable or formable materials, fiberglassreinforced resins, woods, or combinations. The contract might also require specialized model-support equipment and other unique items needed for model tests. Micro Craft estimated the value of the 3-yr, cost-plusfixed-fee contract at $2.8 million. (LaRC Release 78-14) 

* NASA’s Scientific and Technical Information Office announced 

publication of a 276-page summary, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, of the findings of a blue-ribbon group of 16 U.S. scientists on 

detecting possible radio signals from intelligent life in the universe. Based 

on the results of a series of SET1 (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) 

workshops held during 1975 and 1976, the summary had 3 sections: Consensus, Colloquies, and Complementary Documents, covering subjects 

like preferred frequency bands, search strategies, and scanning devices 

66 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

used on radio telescopes. “Consensus” at the beginning of the book 

reviewed the conclusions reached by the SETI group: a serious search for 

extraterrestrial intelligence was both timely and feasible; a significant 

SETI program with potential for secondary benefits could be undertaken 

with only modest resources; large systems of great capability could be 

built; and SETI was intrinsically an international endeavor in which the 

U.S. could take a lead. NASA’s proposed FY79 budget contained a request for $2 million for JPL to start the SETI program in Oct. 1978 and 

run it for 5yr. The funds, if approved, would be for an all-sky all-frequency search for radio signals from intelligent extraterrestrial life, using 

existing antennas of the Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., and 

state-of-the-art hardware including a new very-wide-bandwidth supercooled preamplifier to be developed specifically for the effort. (ARC 

Astrogram, Mar 23/78, 1) 

NASA announced that the governors of Washington, Idaho, and 

Oregon had unanimously agreed to participate in a 3yr program 

demonstrating the use of NASA-supplied satellite data for naturalresources management in their states. Govlrnors Dixy Lee Ray, John 

Evans, and Robert Straub, together with federal representative Pat 

Vaughan, constituted the Pacific Northwest Regional Commission. They 

voted $480 000 from commission funds to support first-yr activities 

beginning in Apr. 1979. The 3-yr plan would be a follow-up of the Land 

Resource Inventory Demonstration Project launched by the commission 

in 1975 during which more than 45 state and local agencies in the 3 states 

had used satellite data for surveys and inventories of various landcover 

types. Continuing the program would provide the state agencies doing 

planning and natural-resource management with an operational capability of extracting and using information from NASA’s Landsat satellite 

system, and would aid them in using the more sophisticated data from 

Landsat-C after its launch. The Pacific Northwest program would join 

others across the U.S. sponsored by NASA’s Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications demonstrating the use of space technology by state 

and local governments, businesses, and universities. (ARC Astrogram, 

Mar 23/78, 2) 

March 24: DRFC reported that 5 of its employees had received NASA’s 

Exceptional Service Medal for outstanding work on the Shuttle approach 

and landing test (ALT) program. The employees received the awards at 

JSC, where the Boeing 747 carrying the Shuttle orbiter had stopped on its 

way to MSFC. 

Receiving medals were Fitzhugh Fulton, for “outstanding piloting skill 

and technical expertise as aircraft commander of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) during the Approach and Landing Test Program”; Tom 

67 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

McMurtry, for achievements as first officer of the SCA “which contributed significantly to the accomplishment of all major flight objectives 

during the ALT program”; Vic Horton, for “personal dedication and 

technical expertise” including “design, development, testing, and installa- 

’tion of a unique crew egress system for the SCA”; Bill Andrews, for “an 

efficient and successful test team that was fully prepared to support the 

ALT flights”; and John McTigue, for effectiveness “in managing the 

overall support plan and in resolving technical, organizational, and 

resource problems as they developed.” (DFRC X-Press, Mar 24/78, 2) 

March 27: NASA and the Dept. of Energy announced they had signed a 

joint contract with Mechanical Technology, Inc., Latham, N.Y., to 

develop and test 3 generations of the Stirling engine for passenger cars. 

Produced earlier by United Stirling of Sweden, the baseline engine would 

be the hardware starting point for improving automotive fuel economy, 

performance, reliability, weight, and cost. The Stirling engine offered 

potential high fuel efficiency, flexibility in choice of fuels, inherently low 

noise and low pollution, and good driving characteristics. (NASA 

Release 78-48; DOE Release R-78-104) 

0 George Mueller, NASA’s associate administrator for manned 

spaceflight 1963-1969, now chairman and president of Systems Development Corp., was named president-elect of the American Inst. of 

Aeronautics and Astronautics, AvWk reported. He would serve on the 

AIAA board of directors during 1978 and be inaugurated as president in 

1979. (AvWk, Mar 27/78, 11) 

INTELSAT announced award of an international research contract 

valued at $75 380 to Cable & Wireless, Ltd., London, to determine the 

effects of rain on comsat radio signals. C&W would obtain annual 

statistics for rain-caused depolarization at 4GHz frequencies by measuring the relative amplitude of the 2 orthogonal circular-polarized components of a satellite signal. INTELSAT would use results to develop 

transmission and reception techniques that could double the capacity of 

its international telecommunications satellites. (INTELSAT Release 

77-8-M) 

March 28: KSC announced it had awarded the Univ. of Florida a $99 013 

contract for development of a water-management system using satellite 

data and other NASA-developed technology. A Florida water-resources 

management information system could provide managers with a computerized bank of information to help meet increased demand for water; 

data from earth-resources satellites like NASA’s Landsats and NOAA’s 

Goes should reduce guesswork in water management. 

Studies by the Univ. of Florida and the South Florida Water Manage68 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 r4AlwH 

ment District had substantiated Florida’s need for a comprehensive 

water-management system. The university study showed lack of water as 

the main problem facing Florida agriculture, and reported that water demand would equal the existing supply by about 1980. These studies, 

coupled with a 1972 mandate by the Florida legislature for a water-use 

and supply development plan, prompted state water-management 

districts to seek help from the university and KSC in solving their problems. (KSC Release 32-78) 

March 29: The Marshall Star reported on a unique suspension system 

that would use air bags and cables to hang the Space Shuttle’s orbiter 

Enterprise and its external tank in the test tower, for the first phase of 

1978 ground tests scheduled to begin in Apr. The system would consist of 

a large overhead truss fitted with air bags and cables, installed like a 

crossbeam at the 65.8m (216ft) level between two walls of the tall test 

stand. Although the orbiter and external tank would weigh about 

544 320kg (1.2 million lb), the suspension system would allow the 

freedom of movement needed to obtain test data. Suspension of the orbiter and tank in this first phase of testing *would duplicate as nearly as 

possible the flight conditions of the Shuttle at high altitudg, after the 

solid rocket boosters drop off at 43.5km (27mi) 2min into the mission. 

Later tests of the entire Shuttle assembly would use a different suspension system. 

The first Shuttle test phase would begin with the external tank temporarily fastened by knee braces to the stand, the orbiter lowered into 

place and mated as it would be for an actual flight. With the orbiter in 

place, engineers would install the suspension system overhead, attach 

cables from the air bags to the external tank, and remove the knee braces 

so that the cables would take the weight of the orbiter and external tank; 

lateral restraints would prevent sideways movement. The design of the 

truss, 25.3m (83ft) long and weighing 63 504kg (70 tons), would permit 

less than 2.5~ (lin) deflection when fully loaded. Supporting members 

were of high-strength steel. (Marshall Star, Mar 29/78, 4) 

March 30: Nature magazine quoted Aleksey Leonov, deputy head of the 

Soviet Space Training Centre, as saying that plans were final for the next 

2 Eastern Europe cosmonauts - a Pole and an East German, each with a 

Soviet companion-to go into orbit “before the end of the year.” 

Representatives of other socialist bloc countries (including Cuba and 

Mongolia) had arrived at the Gagarin Space Centre to train for flights 

“before 1983” furthering socialist cooperation in space. The scientific (as 

opposed to the symbolic) value of such participation would clearly vary 

from country to country, the article said: Cuba and Mongolia, for example, would contribute mainly by providing tracking facilities rather than 

new science. Czechoslovakia, however, had made scientific contribu69 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

tions; Czech microbiologists had provided special Chlorella strains, including mutations derived from chlorophyll, that for the first time 

demonstrated active growth, previously retarded by space conditions. 

Although Chlorella experiments had been performed on SaZyut 4 and at 

an earlier stage of the Salyut 6 mission, the unique collection of strains 

produced in Czechoslovakia had exhibited considerable difference. 

(Nature, Mar 30/78, 394) 

March 31: GSFC announced it would welcome a first group of guest 

astronomers Apr. 3 to its international ultraviolet explorer (IUE) satellite 

observatory, the first designed so that astronomers with little knowledge 

of spacecraft design and orbital operations could walk in, conduct observations, and receive data within 24hr. Astronomers would use NASA’s 

IUE, placed in a modified synchronous earth orbit Jan. 26, to examine a 

wide range of celestial objects in the spectral ultraviolet region between 

1150 and 3200A that included emissions of many common elements such 

as hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Studies would range 

from the solar system to distant quasars, pulsars, and black holes. 

NASA had selected nearly 200 astronomers from 17 nations (including 

the USSR) to conduct observations from GSFC’s IUE installation and 

ESA’s facility near Madrid, Spain. First guest astronomers would be Dr. 

Jeffrey Linsky, Univ. of Colo. specialist in cool stars, and Dr. Sara Head 

of GSFC, a specialist in hot stars. They would be succeeded by groups of 

3 or 4 on a 7-day-a-wk basis throughout the yr. After 45 scientists had 

completed data reduction, the information gathered would indicate 

which aspects of astronomy should be emphasized during the 

spacecraft’s remaining lifetime. (NASA Release 78-50) 

0 JPL announced that aerospace and aircraft design engineers from the 

U.S. and Europe would meet for the 12th Aerospace Mechanism Symposium (AMs) at ARC late in Apr. The symposium would be devoted to 

discussion of problems of design, development, and use of aerospace and 

aircraft mechanisms. Featured banquet speaker would be Dr. P.B.S. 

Lissaman, one of the designers of the Gossamer Condor, the ultralightweight and most successful manpowered aircraft built to date (JPL 

Universe, Mar 31/78, 1) 

0 The JSC Roundup reported on a 2-day conference, “Meeting Our 

Energy Needs Today and Tomorrow,’’ with Dr. Peter Glaser, commonly 

thought of as the initiator of the solar-power satellite concept, as 

featured speaker. Glaser, designer of three instruments deployed on the 

lunar surface by the Apollo astronauts, had proposed a solar-powersatellite concept in 1968 before the days of concern with an energy shortage. He said the scientific community had slowly become aware that 

solar energy “shines brighter than ever as the major energy source.” 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

Glaser summarized the advantages of collecting the solar energy constantly available in space, as opposed to disadvantages of any terrestrial 

energy source: absence of gravity and weather; avoidance of thermal 

pollution and waste; and the ability to direct a beam of collected energy 

to any location on earth, sunny or not, having usable land or not, close 

to the user or not. Solar-energy development would depend on development of the Space Shuttle, he noted, and was an idea becoming 

economically attractive and socially acceptable. Microwave and laser 

beams could transmit this energy to earth; directing a microwave beam 

accurately had been demonstrated. As for safety, Glaser pointed out that 

one cannot concentrate microwaves into a weapon system, whereas lasers 

could be lethal, so that all nations would have to agree that the laser 

method would never be used as a weapon. Glaser described the phasedarray transmitting antenna already constructed on a 5-story-high project 

in the Aleutian Islands. He estimated 84% solar-power satellite efficiency in producing 30kw of power, as compared to current power plants 

with an efficiency range of about 40%. (JSC Roundup, Mar 31/78, 4) 

’ 

0 NASA announced that MSFC had developed a teleoperator-retrieval 

system (TRS) vehicle for first use in late 1979, either to boost the Skylab 

orbiting space laboratory to a higher orbit or to deorbit it in a remote 

ocean area. The decision to reboost or deorbit was expected early in 

1979. Concept of the system evolved from teleoperator supporting 

research and development under way since the mid-1 960s. Anticipated 

long-range usefulness of the TRS for payload survey, stabilization, 

retrieval, and delivery missions; its recovery and reuse capability; and its 

adaptability for the Skylab reboost/deorbit mission had led to its further 

development. 

The TRS had a central-core propulsion system accommodating strapon kits for additional propulsion. A %-nozzle attitude-control system on 

the core provided 6 deg of freedom for control of the vehicle during 

rendezvous, docking, and initial orientation. Although thrusters 

originally used cold-gas propulsion, designers were studying use of lowcost hydrazine (hot gas). Preprogrammed instructions in the vehicle’s 

core and computer, or a Shuttle crew member, would control guidance 

and attitude maneuvers. The TRS and orbiter structure were new 

designs; other systems would be fabricated almost completely from 

either off-the-shelf components or those being developed under NASA 

contracts. (NASA Release 78-49) 

Although to most people “aviation” would mean airliners and military 

aircraft, with a sprinkling of light planes, most of the aircraft in service 

and about two-thirds of the miles flown were in branches of flying 

known collectively as “general aviation,” Lewis News reported, including 

private ownership for travel or sport; air taxi and commuter operations; 

71 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

agricultural flying; prospecting and exploration; law enforcement; 

firefighting; air ambulance; and pilot training. About 230 000 aircraft of 

varied types did jobs in the Free World, more than 90% of them in the 

U.S. General aviation had served all 13 200 U.S. airports, compared to 

the airlines’ 42%. 

In 1977 general aviation had provided transportation for 100 million 

Americans, using less than 0.7 of 1% of all fuel used for transportation 

in the U.S. and less than 6% of fuel used by all aviation, while carrying a 

third of all intercity air passengers. The general aviation industry had 

provided jobs for more than a quarter of a million Americans in the 

manufacture, sales, and service of its products; grossed about $1.5 

billion in new aircraft sales; and exported about 30% of its total production, contributing more than $500 million to the U.S. balance of trade. 

(Lewis News, Mar 31/78, 3) 

During March: NASA announced arrival of the Space Shuttle orbiter, 

external tank, and solid-fuel rocket booster at MSFC for first assembly 

as a complete vehicle for ground-vibration tests. Using a facility originally designed for Saturn V moon-rocket ,testing, engineers would begin in 

early spring to evaluate the structural dynamics of the assembly and their 

effect on the Shuttle’s system. The mated vertical ground-vibration tests 

would consist of “floating” the Shuttle in the tall test tower and applying 

vibrations with exciters powered by amplifiers similar to those found on 

home stereo sets; sensors on the skin would record characteristics of the 

vibrations passing from one area to another. The resulting data would 

verify system-design and mathematical models of the control-system’s 

reaction to severe vibrations expected during launch and flight into orbit. 

The first test-article configuration would include an orbiter and external tank to simulate the high-altitude portion of a mission after separation of the boosters. The second test configuration would consist of 

solid-fuel rocket boosters filled with inert propellants, stacked in the 

stand along with the orbiter and tank to simulate liftoff conditions. The 

third test conTiguration would be the same as the second, except that 

boosters would be empty, simulating a mission just before booster 

separation. Tests would continue through most of the year stopping only 

to change test configurations. (NASA Release 78-47) 

0 GSFC reported it had asked industry to build a computer that could 

process satellite images 10 to 100 times faster than present machines. The 

new computer would be based on 6yr of research in “massive 

parallelism,” consisting of 16 384 processors working together, each 

processor a simple computer, with a single chip of silicon probably carrying 2 processors. Previous machines had not gone beyond a web of 64 

simple computers. The new system would cross-correlate landmark images from earth-watching satellites 100 times faster than present 

12 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

Space Shuttle orbiter Enteprke, assuming position in the dynamic test stand at 

MSFC where it would undergo vibration testing from May to November 1978. 

(NASA photo 78-H-222) 

73 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

machines, making multispectral classifications (such as distinguishing 

wheatland from cornfields) and geometric corrections for comparison of 

pictures taken from different vantage points in one-tenth of the time 

previously necessary. (Goddard News, Mar 78, 3) I 

0 Administrator Robert Frosch said NASA would analyze any chemical 

samples of UFOs received from credible sources but would not initiate 

any research programs, Goddard News reported. Frosch outlined 

NASA’s position in a letter to the White House, in response to an inquiry 

from the director of science and technology policy. NASA was most 

often asked about the purported UFO sightings by astronauts and President Carter; NASA had satisfied itself that the astronauts had seen 

nothing abnormal in the space environment, and the bright object President Carter reported seeing in the sky when he was governor of Ga. had 

been classified as “unidentifiable” by the Natl. Investigations Committee 

on Aerial Phenomena. Some students of astronomy had suggested that 

what Carter saw was the planet Venus, at times much brighter than a 

first-magnitude star. 

Although the USAF had routinely investigated reports of all UFO 

sightings until 1969, when it terminated its “Project Blue Book,” it no% 

limited its interest to sightings important to defense surveillance. The Air 

Force had concluded that never in almost 2 decades of investigating 

UFOs had it found “evidence of technological developments . . . beyond 

the range of present-day scientific knowledge.” (Goddard News, Mar 78, 

3) 

0 The Natl. Research Council reported that, at the request of NASA, a 

committee had reviewed potential uses of microwave sensors to supplement or replace visible-light and infrared detectors for earth-resource 

surveys from space. The committee had evaluated the potential of 

microwave sensors to penetrate cloudcover and possibly vegetation 

cover, to operate day and night, to detect soil moisture, to measure distance, and to aid in geological mapping; sensors specifically studied were 

synthetic-aperture radar and passive radiometers. 

In a letter accompanying the report to NASA, committee chairman 

Arthur Anderson of IBM wrote: “The Committee concluded that an adequate experimental data base was available to support the initial development of an experimental radiometer sensor system (passive microwave 

sensor) for soil moisture, subsurface phenomena, and salinity 

measurements and a single-frequency single-polarization radar for 

geological explorations as shuttle experiments. The Committee did not 

feel that an adequate experimental data base was available to support the 

initial development of a multifrequency multipolarization radar for soil 

moisture measurements and vegetation or crop classification purposes.” 

(NRC newsletter, Mar 78, 8) 

74 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MARCH 

0 The Carter administration had submitted to Congress a $126 billion 

budget request for the Dept. of Defense, a 22% increase over last year, 

the Natl. Aeronautic Association newsletter reported. The $12 billion requested for procurement of 733 aircraft and helicopters was higher than 

last year, but the bill had asked for 34 fewer fixed-wing aircraft. Missile 

procurement dropped to $4 billion for 18 860 missiles, compared to 

41 674 in FY78; military R&D was up to $12.7 billion. Higher personnel 

costs would consume more than half the budget. Civil defense at $100 

million was the same as last year. The budget had forecast a 6.1070 inflation factor, allowing for 2% growth over FY78. Except for the previously announced B-1 decision, the budget did not kill any major ongoing 

weapons-development programs. (NAA newsletter, Mar 78, 1; AFSC 

Newsreview, Mar 78, 2) 

The Natl. Academy of Sciences released a report of the ad hoc committee for review of the Space Shuttle main-engine development program. This review was requested by Senators Adlai E. Stevenson (D-Ill) 

and Harrison L. Schmitt (R-NM) in Dec. 1977 as an independent assessment by Natl. Research Council of the safety of the main engine during 

both orbital-flight and operational phases of the Shuttle program. The 

review was to be completed by the end of Feb. 1978 for consideration 

during FY 1979 NASA authorization hearings. 

The committee reported that it saw “no reason to suggest that a safe 

and reliable main engine cannot be developed ultimately for the manned 

orbital flight tests and the later operational flights,” but submitted a 

number of recommendations: first, since the flight schedule was not 

ready yet, the critical milestones should be reviewed later in 1978. Other 

recommendations included allowance of “adequate time to analyze root 

problems . . . rather than selecting technical ‘fixes’ to sure symptoms,” as 

well as a complete tear-down inspection of the main engine after the first 

and sixth flights (which had not been envisioned in the schedule). 

At a March 31 hearing before the Senate subcommittee on science, 

technology, and space, with Sen. Stevenson as chairman, Dr. Eugene E. 

Covert of the NRC described the ad hoc committee’s activities and the 

reasons for its recommendations, expressing appreciation for the 

cooperation of NASA and its contractors during the review. Dr. Robert 

A. Frosch, NASA administrator, then summarized “the NASA reaction” 

to the report and its recommendations; Sen. Stevenson commended 

NASA’s prompt and positive response, but proceeded with further questions on schedule and funding. In addition to NASA staff (including 

associate administrator John Yardley, MSFC engine project manager 

J.R. Thompson, Shuttle program director Dr. Mike Malkin, and deputy 

director Roy Day, and comptroller William Lilly), the Rocketdyne 

engine project manager Dominic Sanchini was on hand to explain administrative and technical problems encountered with the main engine. 
MARCH ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

The Senate committee report would contain all the testimony, the text of 

the ad hoc committee report, and further information on specific questions asked by Sen. Stevenson. (Text, hearing report 95-87, Sen Comm 

Cmte Mar 31/78; “Technical Status of the Space Shuttle Main Engine,” 

Natl Res Cncl, March 78) 

76 
April 

April I: The NYT reported that the Soviet Union had apparently agreed 

to a U.S. proposal to begin talks on banning hunter-killer satellites, 

which the USSR had been developing for about a decade. A senior 

Western diplomat said the Kremlin had formally conveyed its willingness 

to negotiate but had not said when. Marshal Nikolai V. Ogarkov, chief 

of staff of USSR armed forces, had outlined the Soviet position when he 

met with 21 visiting U.S. congressmen in Moscow. The Carter Administration had revealed earlier that it had suggested a treaty after 3 successful USSR tests of a new satellite (known in military jargon as Asat) 

able to maneuver close to another satellite in orbit and explode. If 

perfected, such a weapon (which the U.S. did not have) could threaten 

satellites used to verify compliance with strategic arms agreements, to 

give early warning of missile attack, or for civilian and military communications links. 

The Pentagon was unhappy about the administration’s decision to 

negotiate because it had 2 U.S. hunter-killer satellites under development: one could be launched into an orbit similar to that of the satellite 

to be destroyed, and another more maneuverable model using infrared 

sensors could seek out targets over great distances. The administration 

apparently hoped Pentagon plans would induce the Soviets to begin 

negotiations in Apr. It was not clear whether a treaty would cover only 

hunter-killer satellites or would include ground-based antisatellite 

weapons such as powerful laser beams, which the Pentagon opposed 

banning. (NYT, April 1/78, 5) 

April 2: The National Academy of Engineering elected 100 engineers to 

membership in the academy, including astronaut Neil Armstrong, the 

NYT reported. Election honored persons contributing to engineering 

theory and practice or pioneering in new or developing fields of 

technology. (NYT, April 2/78, 35; Bridge, Spring 78, 2) 

April 3: NASA announced it had adjudged performance of the Heao I 

satellite successful, as it had accomplished its primary and secondary objectives. Heao I had demonstrated that, in addition to its operating 

mode, normal scanning, it could point at specific celestial objects for 

detailed investigations; it had performed more than 50 pointings. NASA 

had solved some minor problems with the stored-command programmer 

early in the mission. The experiment complement had continued to 

receive high-resolution data over an energy range of 150to 10 million- 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

electron volts. Although the sensitivity of the large-area counter array instruments had degraded, several of the counters remained unimpaired 

because of their modular construction and were able to achieve overall 

objectives. 

Heao I data clarified x-ray sources barely visible in older studies; the 

faintest sources seen were 10 to the 5th times weaker than the first x-ray 

star (ScoX-1) discovered 15yr ago. Heao I had identified many distant 

active sources, such as quasars, Seyfert galaxies, and BL Lacerta objects. 

For example, Heao I observed the BL Lacerta object Markarian-5011 spectra, which were extremely hard, establishing the lack of surrounding gas. 

Heao I had discovered that the strongest active sources in the galaxy were 

emitting radiation into the MeV range as a result of stimulation by strong 

nonthermal emission mechanisms. A map of diffuse x-rays in the range 

0.15 to 60KeV indicated a hot thermal plasma extending beyond earth’s 

galaxy, and possibly early evolution of the universe. (NASA MOR 

S-832-77-01 [postlaunch] April 3/78) 

The Mar. 25 launch failure of a Martin Marietta Titan 3C carrying 2 

DOD/TRW defense satellite-communications system (Dscs 2) spacecraft 

had left the U.S. with degraded defense communications, Av Wk reported. The situation could worsen if one of the aging spacecraft in 

synchronous orbit should fail before another Dscs 2 launch scheduled in 

about 6mo. One Dscs 2 spacecraft serving Atlantic Ocean traffic, 

another serving Western Pacific communications, and a third serving Indian Ocean traffic had normally handled worldwide superhigh-frequency 

defense-communications requirements for the U.S. A NATO 3B 

spacecraft had been on loan to provide communications in the Eastern 

Pacific. One of the lost spacecraft would have orbited over the Western 

Pacific, and the spacecraft already there would have replaced the Dscs 2 

nearing the end of its usefulness above the Indian Ocean. The other 

spacecraft located over the Eastern Pacific would have freed the NATO 

3B spacecraft for return to its primary command. Loss of the 2 

spacecraft meant that the oldest Dscs 2 might fail before being replaced, 

leaving the Indian Ocean areas with less coverage and placing an increased burden on the Atlantic spacecraft. 

Two Dscs 2 spacecraft had been intended for launch in 6mo as in-orbit 

spares; now they would become primary replacements for the pair lost 

Mar. 25. A normal Dscs 2 system would require 4 operational spacecraft 

and 2 in-orbit spares. In view of the recent failures and 2 previous ones, 

future Dscs launches and orbital operations would have to be 100% 

successful to maintain the system using all 16 spacecraft that NASA had 

procured. (Av Wk, April 3/78, 19) 

0 A Saturn IB rocket, twin of the one that launched Skylab and 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 19-18 APRIL 

Apollo/Soyuz test project (ASTP) astronauts into space, would begin a 

barge journey from KSC to Tokyo Apr. 5, KSC announced. The Saturn 

IB, part of the largest group of U.S. space hardware ever displayed 

overseas, would be only one of hundreds of artifacts borrowed from 

NASA centers across the U.S. for a Japanese space science exposition 

scheduled to begin July 16, ninth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. 

The U .S. display would include full-scale Mercury-Redstone, MercuryAtlas, and Gemini-Titan rockets; a lunar rover; Mercury, Gemini, and 

Apollo spacecraft that had actually flown in space; a detailed mockup of 

the Viking lander; and an ATS-6 (applications technology satellite) communications satellite. 

The Association for the Space Science Exposition, an umbrella 

organization for the Japan Science Society and the Japanese Maritime 

Science Promotion Foundation, had organized the exposition at an 

estimated cost of $21 million and would defray all costs of dismantling, 

loading, round-trip shipping, reloading, and reinstalling artifacts. The 

National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution had 

coordinated the loan of the space artifacts. (KSC Release 38-78; Marshall 

Star, April 19/78, 2) 

April 4: The W. Star “In FOCUS’’ column reported that NASA had awarded a grant to Dr. T. Stephen Cheston, associate dean of Georgetown 

University’s graduate school, to inventory the literature produced by the 

social sciences on space activities and to plan for a scholarly journal, an 

academic forum for lawyers, economists, historians, and other 

specialists on ways to handle the new technology. The column quoted 

Cheston as saying they would have a lot to think about: “What we need is 

wisdom and a hell of a lot of it,” he said. He commented on the many 

social scientists working on problems related to what is called “the industrialization of space.” By establishing a scholarly journal, he had 

hoped to raise the “general quality of discussions of these issues because 

so many people are working in isoIation now.” 

The column noted that the Space Shuttle had made possible the 

launching of satellites that could intrude into many aspects of human 

endeavor; Capt. Robert F. Freitag, NASA’s deputy director of advanced 

programs in space transportation, said that by 1984 the Shuttle should be 

ready to begin construction of the first large satellites, those with a 

diameter of at least 1OOft. Although NASA was weighing a number of 

options, according to Freitag, the technology “is for all intents and purposes here today. It’s just a matter of nations, large corporations, and institutions deciding to go ahead and do it.” 

Although some disciplines had generated little space-related literature, 

lawyers had been at work for a dozen yr producing 4 treaties governing 

outer space, vSith severai more in the works. J. Henry Glazer, legal 

79 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

counsel at Ames Research Center, had said that some of the proposed 

treaties were “needed yesterday,” because “technology has rapidly overtaken the legal questions involved.” Glazer had predicted that large comsats of the late 1980s would be the forerunners of much larger economic 

enterprises in space, such as an orbiting power-generating station about 

the size of an ocean liner that could convert solar energy into electricity 

and beam it to earth in the form of microwaves; or the idea in a book 

written by Dr. Brian O’Leary, Princeton astronomer and physicist who 

had helped develop the solar-power satellite, on pushing a small asteroid 

into high orbit around the earth and mining it for space-station 

materials. When asked about the legal and social ramifications of such a 

concept, O’Leary admitted there were quite a few “gaps: The social scientists are hopefully going to play catch-up ball here.” ( WStar, April 4/78, 

All 

* Launch of Cosmos 2000, reported FBIS, had led Soviet scientists to 

review highlights of the series. The research program using Cosmos 

satellites had used several types of unified apparatus, and the USSR had 

always referred to them as a “series” irrespective of their scientific missions. The virtually mass-produced output of satellites had greatly 

assisted the high turnover speed of the series, which had reached the 

1000 mark within 16yr and 2wk, more than 500 launches having come in 

the past 6yr. 

The Cosmos series had begun Mar. 16, 1962, with the launch of an unnamed satellite (named Cosmos I only 3wk later, when Tass reported 

launch of Cosmos 2). The USSR had seldom announced the purpose of 

Cosmos launches, a ploy that permitted concealment of their purposes as 

well as of their failures. Observers had classified Cosmos 96, for instance, as a Venus probe left or stranded in orbit; Cosmos 146, which 

had arrived in orbit measuring about 14m long and by next day was only 

9m long, after emitting 2 capsules, was probably a Soyuz precursor. 

Georgy Narimanov of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Institute of Space 

Research said the USSR had used Cosmos satellites to test long-range 

communications systems, reentry installations, life-support systems, and 

assemblies for the Lunokhod moon-rover, as well as automatic-docking 

procedures. Lack of information had encouraged speculation about 

military applications, including hunter-killer tests. 

USSR comments had stressed the practical aspects of the Cosmos program, such as experience accumulated during geophysical experiments 

for use on the “Meteor” spacecraft; basic research by Cosmos 322 that 

had defined distribution of the magnetic field over 94% of the earth’s 

surface; and Cosmos investigations of the upper atmosphere, the aurora, 

and the magnetosphere. (FBIS, Tass in English, April 4/78; Tass Intl Svc 

in Russian, April 1/78 [2 items]) 

ApriI 6: Mechanical failures during tests of the Space Shuttle main 

80 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

engines had threatened to delay the whole program, although the first orbital launch had been scheduled for next year, AvWk and Nature 

reported. Turbine blades in the engine’s high-pressure fuel pump had 

failed in 3 separate tests: twice the blades fractured or cracked, the third 

time a fire that followed the malfunction destroyed the evidence. Dr. 

Robert Frosch, NASA administrator, said that the setbacks had not 

lessened agency confidence in the basic engine design and that the Space 

Shuttle program should proceed on schedule; however, he admitted that 

chances of launching the first manned orbital flight in Mar. 1979 were 

“considerably less than 50-50.” 

A committee from the Natl. Research Council had begun in Jan. to 

assess the nature of engine failures and related problems, and to advise 

NASA and the U.S. Senate subcommittee on science, technology, and 

space on the engine-development program, according to the NRC News 

Report. The study centered on the safety and reliability of the engines 

and had included evaluation of engine design, materials, fabrication, and 

testing. The Senate subcommittee had requested a report of the study in 

time to use it in considering NASA’s authorization request for FY79. 

(Nature, Apr 6/78,482; AvWk, Apr 3/78, 18; NRC News Report, Apr 

78, 1) 

0 The People’s Republic of China had announced an 8yr crash plan to 

catch up with the rest of the world in scientific research, Nature reported. 

Vice-premier Fang Yi told 6000 delegates to the All-Nations Science 

Conference in Peking that China had lagged 15 to 20yr behind the West 

in many branches of science and still more in others; the program would 

narrow the gap in some areas to lOyr by 1985, and would help in overtaking the rest of the world in all branches of science by the end of the century. The article said that China had planned to begin production of 

fast-mainframe computers and to establish a strong computer network 

and data base by 1985, with extra attention to peripherals, software, and 

associated areas of applied mathematics. PRC would devote its efforts to 

basic space physics, cosmic rays, and technical problems of remote sensing, and planned to launch a series of Skylabs and deep-space and communications satellites within 8yr. (Nature, April 6/78, 482) 

April 7: American Indians of the Far West had used the Communications 

Technology Satellite, world’s most powerful, in an unusual undertaking: 

tribes in Mont. and N.M. had linked up via the satellite with each other 

and federal officials in Washington, D.C., to exchange information and 

views on health, agriculture, education, and other tribal concerns. ARC 

said the Cts experimental satellite, operating on a new frequency and at 

power levels 10 to 20 times higher than current commercial comsats, had 

provided 2-way interactive video and audio communications between 

ground sites, allowing paitkipants to view and confer with each other as 

81 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

though in the same room. Lewis Research Center had developed the 

transmitter (its key component) and would manage U.S. portions of the 

joint US.-Canadian satellite program, the Lewis News reported. Indian 

nations taking part in the broadcasts over 3days were the Crows and 

other tribes from the northwestern U.S., and the All-Indian Pueblo 

Council, Inc., and nearby tribes from the southwest. Government 

representatives included the assistant secretary of the U.S. Dept. of 

Agriculture, senators, and representatives, the governor of Montana, 

and the assistant secretary for Indian affairs in the U.S. Dept. of 

Interior. (ARC Astrogram, Apr 7/78, 2; Lewis News, Apr 14/78, 1) 

The Air Force had launched at 7:45pm the previous Thursday a secret 

payload aboard an Atlas-Agena rocket from Cape Canaveral, Today 

reported. The launch, not previously announced, resembled previous 

unannounced launches that had carried various spy satellites. The launch 

followed 3 consecutive unsuccessful military missions. In Feb., an experimental Trident fleet ballistic missile had failed after launch from a 

land pad at the Air Force station; in Mar., DOD officials had destroyed 

both a Titan 111-C rocket carrying 2 Triple 7 defense communications 

satellites and a Poseidon fleet ballistic missile. (Today, April 7/78, 1A) 

0 NASA had not yet decided when to command the Skylab space station 

into a cartwheel maneuver that could extend its orbital life by 9 to 14m0, 

Science magazine reported. The maneuver could increase chances of a 

Space Shuttle mission either boosting Skylab or propelling it into controlled reentry. Major factor in the decision would be assessment of how 

long the station’s control-moment gyros could sustain the maneuver 

before failing; without the cartwheel, NASA believed reentry would occur between May 1979 and July 1980. According to Science, however, 

Skylab’s chances of remaining in the sky until NASA could get to it with 

a Space Shuttle were no better than 1 in 2. (Science, Apr 7/78, 28; 

AvWk, Apr 24/78, 15) 

0 The National Aeronautic Association announced the 1977 Collier 

trophy winners: U.S. Air Force Gen. Robert J. Dixon, and the Tactical 

Air Command headed by him since 1973. The NAA had awarded the 

Collier trophy annually for U.S. achievement in aeronautics and 

astronautics during the preceding yr; the selection committee had made 

the award for development and implementation in 1977 of the Red Flag 

combat-simulation flight-training program. 

Red Flag, designed to enhance combat readiness of U.S. air crews, had 

been regarded as a significant contribution to national defense. Encounters in Red Flag, consisting of missions against simulated surfaceto-air missiles, had been the most realistic undertaken in peacetime 

aerial-combat training. Gen. Dixon had established the program in 1977, 

82 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

conducting ten 4-wk exercises at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; more than 

8200 air crews had trained during 1977, with 10 000 ground troops participating. (NAA newsletter Apr 7/78) 

0 The plane flown by Amelia Earhart when she disappeared would be 

the target of a search party headed by Vincent Loomis departing soon for 

the Marshall Islands, the WStar reported. Loomis, a USAF officer who 

had conducted aerial surveys to set air-navigation markers in advance of the 

H-bomb tests at Bikini atoll, said he had spotted plane wreckage but was 

in a hurry to finish his job. Some yrs later he had read a magazine article 

on the search for Earhart, and remembered the wreckage. Loomis said a 

simple navigational error could have put the Earhart plane over the Marshalls, north of her destination at Howland Island. Fred Goerner, who 

had combed the Pacific for clues to Earhart’s fate, called the venture “a 

very, very, very long shot,” especially since the area “has been surveyed 

and surveyed and every one of the islands has been visited and visited in 

recent years”; he said it was unlikely that evidence would have remained 

undiscovered. ( W Star, April 7/78, C6) 

* Flight testing of the Space Shuttle’s microwave scanning-beam landing 

system (MSBLS) had begun at KSC, Today reported, with pilots and 

technicians using a specially equipped Jetstar aircraft operated by 

Dryden Flight Research Center to conduct the tests. The systemverification tests would be the initial checkout of the airborne MSBLS/ 

Jetstar system and the ground stations with their laser systems to verify 

compatibility, and to check out the system processing test data. KSC had 

scheduled 5 test flights lasting a total of about 12hr. (Today, Apr 7/78, 

12A; DFRC X-Press, Apr 7/78, 2) 

April IO: NASA announced plans to launch orbital test satellite OTS-B, 

forerunner of an operational system, for ESA from Cape Canaveral no 

earlier than Apr. 27. This new comsat was 1 of 2 experimental models 

built by ESA to test satellite performance in orbit, with its operational 

descendants expected to provide satellite links in the 1980s for routing 

portions of intra-European telephone, telegraph, and telex traffic and 

providing TV relay services for Western Europe. Under an agreement 

between the U.S. and ESA, ESA would reimburse NASA for Delta 

launch vehicle, launch services, and other administrative costs totaling 

$17 million. NASA had launched Ots I Sept. 13, 1977, on a Delta rocket 

from Cape Canaveral; the Delta first stage exploded 55sec. after liftoff. 

A burn-through of one of the solid-propellant strap-on Castor IV 

motors, subsequently modified, had caused the explosion. (NASA 

Release 78-53) 

* KSC announced award to the International Hydrodynamics Co., Van83 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

couver, British Columbia, of a contract for systems to recover expended 

Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket-booster (SRB) casings. The $1 million 

contract would cover fabrication, testing, and delivery of the recovery 

systems with associated equipment and hardware. Recovery of SRB casings would mean sizeable savings to the Shuttle program; estimating 19 

reuses of a casing, the savings realized by reuse (including cost of 

retrieval and refurbishment) would be $47 million. (KSC Release 37-78) 

April 11: NASA announced that the solar-wind detector aboard Saturnbound Pioneer I1 had begun operating again, after lying dormant for 3yr 

despite scientists’ repeated efforts to revive it. The solar-wind detector 

would apparently be ready for the 1979 encounter with Saturn for 

closeup pictures and other first-time measurements. Experimenters who 

completed an exhaustive checkout of the instrument were confident it 

was working properly. The solar-plasma analyzer, designed to map the 

flow of the million-mph wind continuously flowing out of the sun across 

the solar system, should provide important information about the interaction of solar-wind particles with Saturn and its rings. Investigators 

would compare these data with data gathered by the instrument 3yr ago 

when Pioneer I1 swung around Jupiter. 

The instrument had ceased operation shortly after the Jupiter encounter; in October 1977, after exhaustive analyses and a number of 

commands to the instrument (none of which worked), investigators 

decided to turn on the instrument’s high-voltage power source to “thermally shock” the output circuits into operation. This had apparently 

worked, as 36days later NASA tracking stations reported the first 

transmission of data in nearly 3yr. Since then the instrument had 

responded to all radio commands, and appeared to be in condition for 

the Saturn encounter. (NASA Release 78-58) 

April 12: Marshall Space Flight Center announced that the Bethpage, 

N.Y., plant of Grumman Aerospace Corp. had almost completed 

fabrication of an automatic device for forming continuous structural 

beams in space. MSFC had developed the “beam builder” to demonstrate 

techniques for fabricating large structures in space; the device would 

form triangular beams from flat rolls of very light materials, a complete 

section of the beam being easily supported with one hand. Housed in the 

cargo bay of the Space Shuttle in earth orbit, the machine would form 

continuous miles-long beams for building large structures such as 

satellite power systems and service platforms. (Marshall Star, Apr 12/78, 

1) 

9 ESA announced that since the end of March its Neteosat 1 had been 

transmitting daily meteorological data collected by special equipment 

84 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, wa APRIL 

aboard a French naval vessel in the North Atlantic. ESA had relayed the 

data to the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in -West Germany. The satellite had transmitted messages every 3hr that included the 

ship’s position, and parameters such as wind characteristics, sea states, 

and air and sea temperatures. The experiment, carried out jointly by the 

French meteorological service and ESA, had been planned to 

demonstrate the reliability of automatic communications between ships 

and the Mefeosat 1 satellite for regular production of meteorological 

reports. The experiment would last until July and would resume later 

with other European meteorological services. When operational, the 

system should include several hundred ships all over the world fitted with 

Meteosat equipment. (ESA Release, Apr 12/78) 

0 FBIS reported the answer of Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov, USSR 

pilot-cosmonaut, when queried on the future of orbital stations. 

Feoktistov said they would develop as multipurpose scientific 

laboratories for extra-atmospheric astronomical observations, and for 

technological experiments to produce materials unobtainable under earth 

conditions. Orbital stations could seek out the most effective systems to 

develop methods for research and development and the design of scientific instruments and equipment. He went on to say: “Very broad prospects are opened up for manned stations if they are examined above all as 

the basis for industrial construction in space. Not everyone shares this 

view, but I personally believe that within the next few decades the 

development of technology will make it possible to actually set the task 

of creating power plants in space.” 

Feoktistov noted that such technology would mean putting millions of 

tons of diverse equipment into space to assemble enormous and complex 

structures. Such work could never be fully automated, he pointed out, 

and would require many people to control the equipment and carry out 

installation work. This would not happen quickly, he concluded, but it 

should not be relegated to the realm of fantasy. “After all, 17yr ago Yuri 

Gagarin’s flight also seemed a fantastic achievement.” (FBIS, Moscow 

Sotsialisticheskaya Industriya in Russian, Apr 12/78) 

April 13: Langley Research Center announced it had awarded SDC Integrated Services, Inc., McLean, Va., a contract for support services to 

operate the digital-computer complex at the center. All segments of the 

center would use the computer complex in analytical studies, real-time 

simulations, and experimental data reductions. Services under the contract would include operation of the computing and data-handling equipment, operational and performance analysis, and keypunch and auxiliary equipment operation, in addition to research-data reduction such 

as programming, nrocessing preparation, and data management. SDC 

85 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

had estimated the cost of the 2-yr base period of the contract at $5.7 

million and a 1-yr option at $3 million; the cost-plus-award-fee contract 

also had two 1-yr unpriced options. (LaRC Release 78-17) 

0 Wallops Flight Center announced the first flight Apr. 10 in 

compound-helicopter configuration of its rotor-systems research aircraft 

(RSRA), a new research helicopter equipped with rotors, wings, and 2 jet 

engines. The compound configuration included the addition of 2 

auxiliary-thrust engines and a 13.7m (45ft) wing. Powered by its 2 TF34 

turbofan engines, the RSRA had used the combined lift of its wing and 

5-blade S-61 rotor system to achieve an altitude of 610m (2000ft). By 

testing rotor systems to maneuver the craft at a wide range of altitudes 

and air speeds not possible in wind tunnels, RSRA would improve assessment of rotor performance by distinguishing inflight rotor characteristics 

from aircraft-system characteristics, which could not be done on the 

ground or in other aircraft. When fitted with fixed wings, the RSRA 

could test unproven rotor systems too small to lift it in normal flights. 

Sikorsky Aircraft had built 2 RSRA vehicles under a program, jointly 

funded and managed by NASA ‘and the U.S. Army, to develop 

technology to increase rotor-aircraft speed, performance, reliability, and 

safety, and to reduce helicopter noise, vibration, and maintenance. 

Sikorsky, under contract to LaRC, would test both RSRA vehicles for 

approximately 80hr flight time before delivering them to NASA and the 

Army for flight research at NASA’s ARC. Sam White, NASA RSRA 

project manager, said, “The RSRA will help eliminate the costly practice 

of having to develop or extensively modify helicopter aircraft in order to 

conduct flight investigations for each promising new rotor concept. The 

RSRA is readily adaptable to accommodate new rotors and provide 

precise measurements of a variety of rotors under repeatable test conditions.” (NASA Release 78-59; LaRC Release 78-16) 

ApriZ 14: NASA announced successful launch of a FltSatCom-A Feb. 

9 on an Atlas-Centaur from ETR’s launch complex 36 at 1617:Olhr EDT. 

Transfer-orbit parameters were 35 968.5km apogee, 167.20km perigee, 

and 26.4” inclination. NASA had fired the apogee-kick motor on Feb. 11 

to inject the spacecraft into the desired synchronous orbit. All spacecraft 

systems were operating normally. (MOR M-491-202-78-01 [postlaunch] 

Apr 14/78) 

NASA announced that the Jupiter-bound Voyager 2 was having problems with both its radio receivers that prevented Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory engineers from sending commands to the spacecraft. Early 

spacecraft data had indicated failure of one receiver, and the backup 

receiver might have had trouble receiving commands from earth; the 

spacecraft had continued sending information to earth. The Voyager had 

86 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

been designed to switch radio receivers if it had not received earth command for 7 days; the receiver that appeared to have failed had been the 

one on-line, and in 7 days the spacecraft computer should automatically 

switch to the backup receiver. Engineers would then attempt to 

reestablish communications by sending commands to the spacecraft. 

(NASA Release 78-56) 

The Voyager 2 spacecraft had accepted a command, the W Star 

reported, ending a week-long radio failure that had threatened its mission to Jupiter and Saturn. To protect the mission, engineers at JPL had 

begun reprogramming the spacecraft’s onboard computer “so it will still 

do its science when it passes Jupiter and send back the results whether we 

can talk to it or not,” said JPL spokesman Frank Bristow. Earlier in Apr., 

the spacecraft had automatically switched from the primary to secondary 

receiver because Voyager had not received an uplink from tracking stations for 7 days; the commands had not been sent because controllers 

had been preoccupied with scan-platform problems on Voyager 1. Controllers were reviewing their activities to pinpoint why they had overlooked an uplink, to ensure the lapse would not recur during the mission. 

(WStar, Apr 14/78, A-7; AvWk, Apr 17/78, 20) 

Scientists at JPL had assisted UCLA doctors in treating tumors with 

heat therapy, or hyperthermia, JPL Universe reported. While other 

researchers were exploring various ways of treating cancer with heat, 

UCLA neurosurgeon Robert Rand and veterinary radiologist Harold 

Snow had developed the concept of using a magnetic field to focus intense heat on specific diseased organs without damaging surrounding 

tissue or other parts of the body; To get the complex equipment required 

to test the theory, the doctors had enlisted the help of JPL scientists Dr. 

David Elliott and Glenn Haskins. 

Dr. Rand had reasoned that, if heat would aid destruction of cancer 

cells, applying heat to an organ injected with magnetic material might 

more effectively deaden the tumor and any peripheral cancer cells. He 

asked Elliott and Haskins to design a magnetic heating system and build 

the equipment to see whether isolated organs could be heated. The JPL 

scientists had created a field coil to surround a patient’s body, generating 

a 0. ltesla (1,OOOgauss) magnetic field at a frequency of 5000Hz to heat a 

magnetized organ to temperatures up to 55C for approximately 5min. 

Initial tests on rabbits had elevated the temperature of an isolated organ 

as anticipated; further testing on dogs would determine if the method 

worked on larger subjects. (JPL Universe, Apr 14/78, 2) 

0 The NASA 928 aircraft, Johnson Space Center’s high-altitude WB-57F 

operated by its Aircraft Operations Division for DOE, had made 2 

flights for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), JSC 

87 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Roundup reported, to support research on the transfer of pollutants 

from the troposphere to the stratosphere in the vicinity of jet streams. 

The plane had taken air samples at altitudes between 35 OOO and 60 OOOft 

and measured the samples with onboard sensors: the stratospheric 

Aitken-nuclei detector, and the ozone monitor. The former would determine concentration and size of Aitken nuclei, considered tracers for 

tropospheric air, and the ozone monitor would determine the concentration of ozone, a tracer of stratospheric air; Nuclei-detector data superimposed on ozone-monitor data would defiqe pollutant transfer. NCAR 

would analyze the data and reimburse JSC for the cost of the flights. 

NASA-928 aircraft, equipped with various sensors, were used primarily to determine concentrations of radioactive particulates and gases and 

other trace constituents at several altitudes in the upper atmosphere 

(40 OOO to 65 OOOft). (JSC Roundup, Apr 14/78, 1) 

0 JPL’s Edward Divita would be featured speaker at a meeting on 

nuclear waste disposal in Los Angeles Apr. 18, sponsored by the Institute 

of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Nuclear and Plasma Sciences 

Society. Divita, a professional nuclear engineer who had performed 

several radiation studies of nuclear and space systems, analyzing and 

assessing the various disposal options, would speak on “Technical Status 

of Salt Bed, Sea Bed, and Space Waste Disposal.” (JPL Universe, Apr 

14/78, 1) 

ApriI 17: NASA announced it had accepted the review board‘s final 

report on failure of the Delta launch vehicle carrying ESA’s orbital test 

satellite OTS-A that exploded after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Sept. 

13, 1977. The review board had concluded that the failure resulted from 

a defect in the propellant of the solid-fuel strap-on Castor IV motor No. 

1: either incomplete mixing and curing of propellant ingredients, or introduction of a contaminant, most likely water. 

The board’s findings had led to changing the design of the Castor IV 

solid-fuel rocket motor by putting additional insulation between the propellant and motor case to protect against such defects. NASA had also 

revised procedures for mixing and curing the propellant, and had improved the contractor and government test, inspection, and manufacturing surveillance procedures. New Castor IV motors incorporating the 

corrective actions had been manufactured and requalified. A second orbital test satellite, OTS-B, to replace OTS-A had been scheduled for 

launch May 4 from Cape Canaveral. (NASA Release 78-61) 

NASA had been considering FY8l and 82 missions to send a probe 

toward Halley’s comet and land it on Tempe1 2 comet, and one that 

would return a sample of Martian soil to earth, Av Wk reported. Return 

88 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

of a Mars sample-to be studied first aboard the Space Shuttle in earth 

orbit- had become the key mission sought by scientists planning Mars 

strategy for NASA, who viewed a sample mission as a direct follow-on to 

the Viking mission in progress. NASA would have to make its decisions 

this summer on specific missions for FY82. 

NASA might request the comet mission for FY81, in view of the determination by NASA planners and scientists to send a spacecraft near 

Halley’s comet, even though a plan to rendezvous with the comet had 

disappeared when NASA was unable to obtain a Halley mission in FY79. 

The Halley/Tempel2 comet mission would consist of a 1985 Space Shuttle launch of a vehicle using solar-electric propulsion to encounter Halley’s 

comet in Nov. 1985 about 93 million mi from earth, eject a probe that 

would dive into the head or nucleus area of the comet, and return atmospheric data. The mother spacecraft would continue a high-speed 

flyby of the comet, either passing through the comet’s tail or flying a 

safer trajectory in front of it. (AvWk, Apr 17/78, 14) 

NASA had under consideration for FY83 a supersonic-technology 

demonstrator, AvWk reported: an arrow-wing design in the 75 000-lb 

class suggested by a Boeing concept, although the company was not pursuing development of the vehicle. Boeing had proposed building such an 

aircraft to obtain cost information and to validate aerodynamics and 

manufacturing concepts for other U.S. aircraft manufacturers thinking 

of building operational supersonic transports. If NASA decided to pursue the project with DOD, agencies would probably seek participation by 

Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing. (A v Wk, Apr 17/78, 3 1) 

NASA had cancelled the Lockheed/JPL SeaSat ocean-research 

spacecraft launch planned for May 17, AvWk reported, because of a 

failure in its synthetic-aperture radar downlink transmitter. Lockheed 

had detected the failure during thermal-vacuum testing of the spacecraft. 

Launch would be postponed until early June; the postponement would 

delay launch of the RCA/Goddard Tiros-N weather satellite to early 

Aug., because both missions would go on General Dynamics’s Altas 

boosters that must use the same pad at Vandenberg AFB. Analysis of the 

SeaSat failure had revealed damage to a ceramic circuit board during 

manufacture; all other SeaSat systems functioned normally in the test. 

(AvWk, Apr 17/78, 27) 

0 AvWk reported that the Soviet Union had labeled the U.S. Space 

Shuttle a killer-satellite development, and U.S. officials planning talks 

with the USSR had been debating how to refer to the Space Shuttle in 

these discussions. NASA had been concerned about the effect on the 

Space Shuttle program of antisatellite negotiations, although U.S. 

negotiators had stated they had no intention of trading away Space Shut89 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

tle capability for USSR concessions. Informal negotiations on limitation 

of antisatellite-weapons tests had been set for May; U.S. officials said 

that NASA must have expected the Space Shuttle to be part of antisatellite discussions. As the Soviets had not cited the Space Shuttle by 

name, but rather as a “manned system of dual use,” U.S. officials had 

not decided whether the concessions sought by the USSR would be on 

overall Shuttle capability, on individual Shuttle capabilities, or on individual potentially antisatellite Shuttle missions. (Av Wk, Apr 17/78, 

17) 

April Z8: NASA announced award of a $5 million contract to Vought 

Corporation, Dallas, Tex., for 5 Scout launch vehicles and associated 

hardware, such as separation systems and heat shields. Vought had been 

the Scout project’s prime contractor since 1959. The first Scout, designed 

to place a 130-lb payload into a 300-nautical-mi circular earth orbit, had 

been launched in 1960. The new Scout could launch a 4041b payload 

from Wallops Island, Va.; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; or San 

Marc0 offshore at Kenya, Africa, into that orbit. The latest configuration of Scout vehicles was known as Phase 8; phases 1 through 7 had produced 107 vehicles, 96 of which had been launched. (NASA Release 

78-20) 

April 19: NASA announced plans to conduct the first full design-limit 

test of the parachute-recovery system for Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket 

boosters. A B-52 aircraft flying at an altitude of 21 00Oft would drop a 

48 O00lb dummy booster over the National Parachute Test Range at El 

Centro, Calif. Three main parachutes plus the pilot and drogue 

parachutes would deploy to slow the rate of descent. Primary objective 

of the test would be to simulate at a high dynamic pressure the loads that 

the main cluster of parachutes would encounter in actual use. MSFC 

would be responsible for the solid-fuel rocket boosters; Martin Marietta 

Corp. had been under contract to develop the recovery system; and 

DFRC would be responsible for B-52 operations. (Marshall Star, Apr 

19/78, 3; DFRC Release 10-78) 

0 The USAF’s Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) announced award of a contract to Boeing Aerospace Company, Seattle, 

Wash., for full-scale development and initial production of an inertial 

upper-stage (IUS) vehicle system, consisting of a 3-axis-stabilized vehicle 

of multiple solid-propellant stages with an avionics section including a 

reaction-control system. Although the USAF had primary responsibility 

for development of the IUS, NASA would participate in development 

because it also would use the IUS. The basic concept, a 2-stage vehicle 

for use with the Space Shuttle and on the Titan for some USAF missions, 

90 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, ifla APRIL 

had one 20 Ooolb solid-propellant motor and one 60001b solid-propellant 

motor that would deliver a 5Odolb spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit. 

NASA also planned two other vehicle configurations; one to carry 

large spacecraft on planetary missions and another for deep-space missions such as Galileo, a probe of the planet Jupiter. The Space Shuttle 

would deliver all NASA IUS vehicles to low earth orbit for use in pushing 

spacecraft to higher orbits or to earth-escape trajectories. The first 

NASA IUS flight would be a mission planned for summer 1980 to launch 

a tracking and data-relay satellite (TDRS); first use of a 3-stage IUS 

would be the Galileo mission planned for launch Jan. 1982. (Marshall 

Star, Apr 19/78, 1) 

April 20: NASA announced that Dr. Eugene Emme, NASA historian 

since 1959 and developer of the NASA history program of professional 

and general publications recording the agency’s development, would 

retire May 1 to devote full time to lectures and writing on aerospace 

science and technology history. Prof. Thomas Hughes, chairman of the 

NASA History Advisory Committee, said that Emme was “not only present at the creation of what is virtually ~ a new discipline-space 

history-but he also played a central role in establishing sound institutional support for that discipline.” 

Emme had been founding chairman of the history committee of the 

Natl. Rocket Club (later the Natl. Space Club) and had served on the 

history committees of the American Inst. of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society. He had been a 

corresponding member of the Intl. Academy of Astronautics, a fellow of 

the American Association for Advancement of Science, the British Interplanetary Society, and the AAS; and he was an associate fellow of 

AIAA. (NASA Release 78-63) 

April 21: NASA announced it had invited scientists to submit proposals 

for life sciences experiments to be carried aboard the Space Shuttle and 

Spacelab in the early 1980s. The experiments would study physical effects of spaceflight on humans and other living systems, and would test 

equipment and procedures. These experiments would be performed in 

the pressurized cabin of the Space Shuttle orbiter, in a pressurized 

Spacelab module, or (if requiring continuous exposure to the space environment) attached to an unpressurized Spacelab pallet. Proposed investigations would have to meet one or more of the following life 

sciences objectives: investigate and understand physiological, performance, and biochemical changes observed in humans who had flown in 

space; identify and investigate significant biological phenomena that 

might occur during or after exposure to the space environment; and/or 

test and demonstrate under operational conditions the equipment and 

91 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

procedures that would be needed by the NASA life sciences program. 

(NASA Release 78-64) 

* DFRC announced it had tested on one of the center’s YF-12 aircraft a 

dual-mode landing-gear system that used variable stiffness landing gear 

to reduce structural fatigue and dampen vibrations for future large aircraft ground operations. Three different landing-gear configurations 

tested at various speeds and weights over rough portions of the runways 

and taxiways resulted from changing loads on both the main and nose 

landing gear. (DFRC X-Press, Apr 21/78, 2) 

April 24: Av Wk reported that the Senate Commerce subcommittee on 

science and space had become the second congressional group to add 

another $4 million for a fifth Space Shuttle orbiter to NASA’s FY79 

budget, challenging President Carter’s decision to defer purchase. This 

equalled the amount provided earlier by the House Science and 

Technology Committee. Overall, the Senate subcommittee had increased 

NASA’s $4.371-billion budget request by $13 million, but failed to agree 

with some earlier House changes that had given NASA a $15.5-million 

increase. Among Senate subcommittee changes were $3 million for advanced manned-space flight programs, $4 million less than the House; 

language added to stress the importance of continuing lunar exploration; 

$2 million of $4 million deleted by OMB, restored for Spacelab experiments; and $3 million added for large space-structures work, making 

a total of $111.3 million for this item. (AvWk Apr 24/78, 27) 

The International Civil Aviation Organization’s All Weather Operations Div. announced it had selected the U.S./Australian scanning-beam 

microwave-landing system at its meeting in Montreal, following West 

Germany’s withdrawal of its MLS system from the competition. The 

final 39 to 24 vote (with 8 abstentions) had been secret to ensure that 

delegates could freely express their preferences. 

France had proposed the secret ballot, strongly supported by the 

United Kingdom, Ireland, and Sweden, all of whom favored the Doppler 

MLS, as well as others. Asked whether the U.K. planned to continue the 

battle in ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission, which must act on the 

decision rendered in Montreal, a representative said the U.K. had accepted the decision of delegates from 71 countries. 

The meeting had been remarkably free of charges of improper efforts 

to win delegate votes. Asked if they had been subjected to any political 

arm-twisting or offers of political plums, delegates from Third World 

countries acknowledged that they had “intensive technical briefings” but 

nothing more. In view of the secret ballot, an observer commented that 

“if any quid pro quos were offered during this bitter battle, the offerer 

92 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

has no way of knowing now whether he got full value in return.” (Av Wk 

Apr 24/78, 23) 

The ESA Council had given the go-ahead to produce an initial batch of 

5 operational Ariane launch vehicles, and had approved interim funding 

of approximately $23.8 million for preliminary production-related expenses, A v Wk reported. Although individual participating countries 

must approve the expenditures, Council approval had been sufficient to 

begin production. The first operational launcher should be available by 

the end of 1980 to launch ESA’s Exosat scientific satellite in early 1981. 

Cost of the 5-launcher package had been estimated at approximately 

$182.6 million, with an additional 10% proposed as a contingency 

reserve. Total budget would amount to about $200 million. At West Germany’s insistence, the individual satellite programs that would use the 

Arianes would fund the launcher costs. 

Program managers at ESA had sought approval to produce a first 

batch of 6 Arianes; however, policy of governments involved was to fund 

production of launchers only for identified markets. Once production 

buildup was completed, production rate of the Ariane was expected to 

reach 2 vehicles per year; program officials predicted this could increase 

rather quickly to 4, or possibly 5, a year to meet market demand. (Av Wk 

Apr 24/78, 96) 

April 25: NASA announced plans to launch an orbital test satellite (OTS) 

May 4 on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral; KSC would Iaunch the 

experimental comsat for ESA. (KSC Release 45-78) 

0 The House of Representatives, in a Committee of the Whole House, 

by a vote of 345 to 54 passed H.R. 11404, authorizing appropriations to 

NASA for research and development, construction of facilities, research 

and program management, and other purposes. Alterations in the bill 

resulted in a net increase of $43.7 million to the budget NASA had submitted. Included were a $Crnillion increase to maintain the option for a 

fifth Space Shuttle orbiter; a $5-million decrease for expendable launch 

vehicles, slated to be phased out; a $3-million increase for space structures, power conversion, and microwave technology; a $3-million increase in energy-technology applications for solar-satellite power; a 

$ 10-million increase for applications research and technology development; a $1.5-million increase for industrial applications; a $Cmillion increase for technology applications (bioengineering); a $4-mi%On increase 

for Spacelab systems implementation; and a $4-million increase for a 

Stereosat development program. 

In debate recorded in the Congressional Record, Rep. Olin Teague 

(D-Tex.) of the House Committee on Science and Technology noted that 

=-2 93 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

NASA had scheduled 25 launches in 1978, 11 on Delta (launch vehicles) 

and 8 on Atlas Centaurs, with NASA personnel supporting 3 Atlas-F 

launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base: “Most of the launches in 

1977 emphasized the use of space for the direct benefit of people on 

earth - such as communications, geodetic, environmental, navigation, 

meteorological, and earth resources. In 1978 plans call for missions virtually equally divided between emphasis on these applications and 

launches of spacecraft for primarily scientific and exploratory research. 

“Fifteen launches will be for paying customers other than NASA. They 

include the European Space Agency, ComSatCorp., the U.S. Navy, 

Japan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

United Kingdom, and Canada. 

“The launch schedule for 1978 could not have been conceived of in 

1958 when our space program began. In 1998 people will look back to 

1938 and likely say the same thing. That will only occur if we support a 

strong continuing space program.” (CR, Apr 25/78, 3164-3166) 

April 26: The Marshall Star reported that 6 American and 2 British scientists would compete for the 2 experimenter seats on the second flight of 

the Shuttle-borne Spacelab experiments in 1981. The experimenters, 

called payload specialists, would be employed by the payload sponsor 

and would differ from NASA’s pilots and mission specialists in being 

selected and trained for a specific mission. Four selected from the group 

of 8 would train to operate the mission’s 13 scientific investigations; 

NASA would choose 2 of the 4 to fly on the 7- to 12-day mission. 

The investigators working group (IWG), scientists representing 13 experiment teams for the U.S. and the United Kingdom charged by NASA 

with directing Spacelab scientific investigations, had selected the candidates for payload specialist. MSFC would manage the training programs for all 4 payload specialists. The Spacelab 2 finalists would be the 

second group of candidates for flight assignments; 10 Spacelab 1 

payload-specialist finalists had been selected in Dec. 1977 to compete for 

2 flight positions. . 

Finalists forthe Spacelab 2 payload-specialist positions were Loren 

Acton, Lockheed’s Palo Alto research laboratory; John-David Bartoe, 

Naval Research Laboratory; John Harvey, KittPeak-NaGond Obiervatory; Bruce Patchett , Astrophysics Research Division of Appleton 

Laboratory; N. Paul Patterson, Ball Brothers Research Corporation; 

Dianne Prim, NRL; George Simon, Sacramento Peak Observatory; and 

Keith Strong, Mullard Space Science Laboratory. (Marshall Star, Apr 

26/78, 4) 

MSFC announced it had completed acoustic testing of NASA’s second 

high-energy astronomy observatory HEAO-By first in a series of en94 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

vironmental tests on the satellite before its launch scheduled for Nov. 

HEAO’s prime contractor, TRW Systems, Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., 

performed the test that simulated sound pressure generated during 

launch. HEAO-B, second of 3 large unmanned orbital observatories 

designed to study x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays emitted by stars 

and star-like objects throughout the universe, had been moved into 

TRW’s thermal-vacuum chamber for further testing in June. (Marshall 

Star, Apr 26/78, 2) 

* MSFC announced it had established a project office to develop an atmospheric cloud physics laboratory (ACPL) as a cargo for Spacelab in 

the early 1980s, so that scientists could for the first time study cloud 

physics without gravitational disturbances. Comparisons between earthbased observations had frequently not correlated with occurrences in actual clouds. The ACPL facility would permit observation of the processes of freezing, thawing, collision, electric charging, and temperature 

changes, photographing them as frequently and for as long as necessary. 

NASA had planned to send up the first ACPL mission on Spacelab 3, 

tentatively scheduled for June 1981. (Marshall Star, Apr 26/78, 3) 

April 27: NASA announced successful launch Apr. 26 from Vandenberg 

AFB on a Scout of the first spacecraft built to measure variations in the 

earth’s temperature, the heat-capacity mapping mission (HCMM). The 

experimental satellite had assumed a circular sun-synchronous 620km 

(385mi) orbit to measure areas of the earth’s surface for maximum 

temperatures, then to measure minimum temperatures of those same 

areas about 11 hr later. A 2-channel scanning radiometer would acquire 

images in the visible and near-infrared spectrum during the day, and in 

the thermal-infrared spectrum both day and night. Data resolution of 

the 2 channels would be about 0.5 x 0.5km (1800ft) as the spacecraft 

covered a 700km (435mi)-wide swath. Project officials said the position 

of the 3001b satellite in orbit was “almost perfect. If all goes well, we 

could take a picture of the earth in the visible spectrum as early as tomorrow.” 

HCMM was first in a series of low-cost modular spacecraft built for 

the Applications Explorer Missions (AEM) - small, experimental 

spacecraft in special orbits to satisfy mission-unique experimental dataacquisition requirements. Scientists designed the mission to determine 

the feasibility of using day-night thermal-infrared remote sensor-derived 

data to detect various rock types and mineral resources; monitor surface 

soil-moisture changes; measure plant-canopy temperatures at frequent 

intervals to detect transpiration of water and plant stress; measure urban 

heat islands; map surface-temperature changes on land and water bodies; 

and analyze snow fields to predict water runoff. HCMM data, correlated 

with data from other satellites (especially Landsat) and from ground 

95 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

observations, could aid in detecting time variations of temperatures on 

the earth’s surface. Goddard Space Flight Center had been responsible 

for design, integration, and testing of the satellite and for data processing. Boeing Aerospace Co. had built the base module, International 

Telephone and Telegraph the instrument. (NASA Release 78-60; MOR 

E-651-78-01 [prelaunch] Apr 19/78; NYT, Apr 27/78) 

April 28: JPL reported it would participate in tracking and data acquisition as well as in navigation during the upcoming Pioneer Venus mission. 

Hughes Aircraft Co.% Space and Communications Group had designed 2 

spacecraft and 4 probe vessels for the mission, and General Electric Co.3 

Systems Division would provide a probe-entry system. R. B. Miller 

would be tracking and data systems manager at JPL, with William 

Kirhofer responsible for the navigation phase. 

First would be an orbiter carried in the nose cone of an Atlas-Centaur 

scheduled to go aloft from KSC May 20; the multiprobe vessel would be 

launched Aug. 7, also on an Atlas-Centaur. The flight to Venus would be 

relatively short, about 6mo for the orbiter and about 5mo for the 

multiprobe. The orbiter would study the atmosphere and other 

characteristics of Venus for 243 days. 

In the multiprobe phase a large entry probe would make a detailed 

sounding of the lower atmosphere and clouds of Venus, and 3 smaller 

probes would measure widely separated areas of the planet’s atmosphere. 

To conserve energy, JPL trackers and navigators would turn on the 

battery-powered radio transmitters of the probes only about 20min 

before entry into the atmosphere; ground controllers would not be able 

to check frequencies between launch in Aug. and shortly before entry in 

Dec. The orbiter-and-multiprobe mission would carry about 30 instruments for gathering scientific data on Venus. (JPL Universe, Apr 

28/78, 1) 

0 NASA had completed an ignition test Apr. 21 on 3 Space Shuttle main 

engines at the National Space and Technology Laboratory at Bay St. 

Louis, Miss., the JPL and KSC newsletters reported. The firing planned 

for 2.5sec had actually lasted only lsec, but NASA officials said the test 

had met most of the objectives. A low-temperature reading in the fuelpressure pumps caused premature cutoff. NASA and Rockwell Intl. 

engineers would decide whether to repeat the test before moving to the 

next phase of the program. (JSC Roundup, Apr 28/78,1; Marshall Star, 

Apr 26/78, 2) 

During April: NASA reported it had increased emphasis on generalaviation research, addressing problems and concerns of the industry, 

which had used results from recent programs in designing new aircraft. 

Objectives of NASA’s general-aviation research had been to improve 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

safety and efficiency, reduce environmental impact of general-aviation 

aircraft, and ensure a base of new technology adequate to support continued growth in the light-airplane utility. Aerodynamic research had 

emphasized airfoil development, resulting in significant improvements in 

performance in all speed ranges. Avionics research had aimed at reducing the complexity and cost of aircraft interaction with traffic-control 

systems improving navigation, guidance, stabilization, and systems 

management. 

In generating information needed to design low-cost advanced 

avionics systems applicable to general aviation in the 1980s and beyond, 

NASA had integrated results of its studies into specifications for final 

systems design, fabrication, and installation on a twin-engine generalaviation aircraft for flight evaluation in 1979 and 1980. NASA had also 

defined technical problems that had limited accuracy and efficiency in 

aerial application of agricultural materials. The NASA program also had 

emphasized safety measures, including an automatic pilot-advisory 

system (APSA), structural crashworthiness, stall/spin research, and investigation of alternative fuels such as automotive gasoline for aircraft. 

Reducing the environmental impact of noise and exhaust emissions 

generated by light aircraft had also been an objective of NASA’s 

aeronautical program, which would eventually assist industry and 

regulatory agencies in meeting future noise and pollution-reduction 

goals. (NASA Release 78-41) 

* NASA announced that the Delta vehicle scheduled to launch the 

Japanese broadcasting satellite for experimental purposes (BSE) from 

KSC Apr. 7 had been qualified for flight, following an investigation and 

tests resulting from detection of a leak in the first stage of the Delta used 

in the successful launch of NASA’s Landsat 3 from Vandenberg AFB 

Mar. 5. The pogo accumulator that suppressed pogo-stick-like vibration 

in the fuel system during flight had been the most probable cause of the 

leak. NASA had installed a new pogo accumulator, previously subjected 

to screening and test, in the Delta for BSE launch. (NASA Release 78-55) 

* NASA’s role in basic and applied research under its charter - the Space 

Act of 1958 -had created a paradox, NASA Administrator Dr. Robert 

Frosch said in a speech to GSFC employees, the GoddardNews reported. 

NASA had been in the business of producing change, but the really interesting changes had not been predictable from past experience. “The 

interesting things happen because somebody not only changes the idea of 

how to solve the problem but questions the basic problem,” Frosch said. 

“Thus the R&D problem faced by the applications part of our agency is 

that of trying to do work that not only satisfies the perceived mission 

questions, but will change the nature of the mission, or change the nature 

of the problem.” Current NASA assignments included defining its R&D 

97 
APRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

posture, deciding the proper balance of basic and applied research, 

selecting what problems to solve, and attaining the proper balance between in-house and contractor effort. 

Frosch discussed the proper role of NASA in future operational 

systems. He saw no great difficulty in NASA’s taking on certain operational jobs with judicious interpretation of the Spact Act. The question 

remained of NASA’s operating national systems in a given part of the 

U.S. government. NASA’s R&D effort in applications satellites was 

leading, Frosch said, “into an evolving global information system. But 

if . . . it is to become useful, then it will have to be an operating system. 

I think we are going to play two roles in such a situation: one of these is 

to do the R&D to improve such a system, and the other is to take the 

leadership role of making sure that the valuable research gets turned into 

an operational system which delivers data in a reasonable way.” 

Frosch concluded that, although NASA does not want to be the 

ultimate operator of such a system, it might have to do so in the early 

stages: that is, NASA would be an initial operator with the intent of 

transferring the system to another operator, either another government 

agency or a contractor. “Temptations posed by continuing large and 

everyday operations might lead us into difficulty in remaining a lively 

R&D organization.” (Goddard News, Apr 78, 1) 

0 NASA’s struggle to save 3 astronauts trapped in a foundering 

spaceship during the flight of Apollo 13 had begun the most harrowing 6 

days in NASA’s history, NASA Activities reported in observing the 8th 

anniversary of the flight. The astronauts had heard a loud bang; when 

Fred Haise, Jr., scanned the instrument panel, he saw that one of the 

main electrical systems was deteriorating. The words Jack Swigert spoke 

to mission control long haunted NASA: “Houston, we’ve got a 

problem.” 

At the time of the explosion, Apollo 13 traveling at 2100mph was 

205 Ooomi from earth and more than 50 OOOmi from the moon, with a 

dead mothership (Odyssey) that included the main propulsion engine. 

After moving the astronauts into the lunar module, NASA focused on 

getting the Apollo on course for home while conserving limited supplies 

of power, oxygen, and water. Not only had NASA employees worked 

round the clock, but also specialists and computers from North 

American Rockwell, the contractor; Grumman Aerospace Corp. , manufacturer of the LM; TRW Systems, builder of the descent propulsion engine; and many others. NASA had decided to drop the service 

module and put the command module Aquarius into the correct attitude 

for earth-atmosphere reentry; when the latter entered earth’s gravity 

216 277mi from home, it needed another course correction. The third 

descent-engine burn was successful, putting Aquarius into the proper 

reentry corridor. 

98 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

As the spacecraft drew closer to splashdown, one of the astronauts 

described to ground control what he was seeing: “There’s one whole side 

of that spacecraft missing . . . right by the high-gain antenna, the whole 

panel is blown out, almost from the base to the engine . . . it’s really a 

mess . . . man, that’s just unbelievable-looks like a lot of debris is just 

hanging out of the side near the S-band antenna.” The astronauts had 

returned safely to earth 142hr, 54min, 4lsec after launch. As Jim Love11 

said, “We do not realize what we have on earth until we leave it.” (NASA 

Actv, Apr 78, 14) 

0 NASA announced 3 key personnel changes during April: Dr. William 

Schneider would become associate administrator for space tracking and 

data systems, responsible for planning, development, and operation of 

global tracking networks, facilities, and systems for communications and 

data acquisition and processing for all NASA spaceflight programs. Dr. 

Schneider had joined NASA and the Gemini program in June 1963, after 

2yr as director of space systems at ITT’s Federal Laboratories. He had 

been mission director for 7 of the 10 manned Gemini missions, and had 

received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal for his service as deputy 

director of the Gemini program. He had also been mission director and 

program deputy director for the Apollo mission, and had received 

NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal for his contribution to the success 

of the Apollo 8 mission. 

At the end of Apr., Clarence Syvertson had become director of ARC, 

where he had served as acting director and deputy director. Syvertson 

had begun with the NACA at ARC in 1948 as a research scientist and 

assistant branch chief, then chief of the Hypersonic Wind Tunnel 

Branch, and later was director of the Mission Analysis Division. In 1966 

he had become ARC’S director of astronautics, a position he held until 

appointed deputy director. Syvertson had received NASA’s Exceptional 

Service Medal for leadership of the joint DOT-NASA Civil Aviation R & 

D Policy Study, and in 1976 had been named a fellow of the American 

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 

R. D. ”Duff” Ginter, assistant associate administrator for energy programs in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, had announced he would retire in June after 28 years of government service 

with NASA and the U.S. Navy. Ginter’s contributions to space solar 

power, photovoltaic developments, wind energy systems, and 

automotive propulsion had placed him in the forefront of advanced 

technology applications. Ginter had begun his career with NASA in 1960 

as chief of the Scout vehicle program. He later held several positions including director of the Centaur program, for which he received NASA’s 

Exceptional Service Medal; director of the Technology Applications 

Division; director of the Energy Systems Division; and assistant ad99 
AeRIL ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

ministrator for energy programs. (NASA anno April 3, 10, 26/78; 

NASA Release 78-57, 78-65, 78-52; ARC Release 78-16) 

0 The Air Force Systems Command noted that Atlas launches planned 

at Vandenberg AFB as well as at Cape Canaveral in 1978 would use one 

of the oldest booster systems still working: first use of Atlas as a launch 

vehicle was in 1958. Atlas launches planned from Space Launch Complex 3 would support the USAF NavStar global-positioning system and 

space-test program; 2 NASA-sponsored satellites, Sea Satellite-A (SeaSat) 

and Tiros-N, would also use Atlas vehicles. (AFSC Newsreview, Apr 78,3) 

The Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., was target 

site for a Navy Tomahawk cruise missile successfully launched from a 

submarine, the USS Barb, a major milestone in the cruise-missile 

development program, AFSC Newreview reported. The test off the coast 

of southern Calif. was the Tomahawk’s 24th, and its first launch from a 

submarine. The missile flew a fully guided land-attack test flight terminating at AFFTC. Objectives accomplished in the test included underwater ignition of Tomahawk’s solid-propellant boost motor, and a 

midair engine start of the missile’s turbofan engine for cruise flight. An 

onboard inertial-navigation set guided the missile to the Pacific 

coastline; once over land, the missile’s terrain-contour matching system 

guided it to a recovery area. The flight ended with deployment of the test 

missile’s parachute over a remote section of the test center; the missile, 

recovered by Navy personnel with AFFTC assistance, would be reused in 

future tests. (AFSC Newsreview, April 78, 11) 

0 Decisions not yet made by the U.S. government would determine the 

U.S. aerospace industry’s fate for years to come, said Aerospace Industries Association president, Karl Harr, Jr., in the AIA’s Aerospace 

Review and Forecast, 1977. Aerospace-industry sales in 1977 had increased appreciably, if not dramatically, in comparison with the previous 

year. Profit as a percentage of sales had climbed half a percentage point 

but remained below the average for all U.S. manufacturing. The industry 

had anticipated similar sales gains in 1978 and expected space activity to 

continue at approximately the same rate. Military sales should top those 

of 1977. 

The aerospace industry had pressed for elimination of barriers to “free 

and fair trade” in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) 

negotiations; foreign-government subsidy of their manufacturers had 

made them highly competitive. The U.S. government’s attempts to control export of “strategically critical” technology could severely impact 

sales abroad. Other issues of concern to the aerospace industry were 

capital formation and dealings with the government such as renegotia100 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APRIL 

tion, overregulation, expanding paperwork, and government competition with industry. Harr said that negative decisions could lead to 

“forfeiture of the pre-eminent position the U.S. has long held in high 

technology.” (Aerospace, Spring 78, 3) 

* In 1909 the Aero Club of Great Britain had established prizes of $125 

each for the first four 250-yd flights of a heavier-than-air craft and three 

prizes of $250 for a one-mile flight in a closed circle, the NAA newsletter 

observed, in noting the progress of aviation. The Royal Aeronautical 

Society had just announced the $200 OOO Kremer prize for the first crossing of the English Channel west to east by a manpowered aircraft. The 

society also had offered a $20 OOO prize to the first Britisher who could 

duplicate in a manpowered aircraft the course flown by the U.S. 

Gossamer Condor, a one-mile figure 8. (NAA newsletter, Apr 78, 1) 

101 

May I: Langley Research Center announced it had presented to Thomas 

Blackstock its first major award for an energy-saving proposal. LaRC 

Director Donald Hearth had presented Blackstock with a check for 

$1245, largest monetary award ever given at the center for a suggestion. 

Blackstock’s idea was to upgrade the high-pressure air-supply system in 

the continuous-flow hypersonic tunnel so that it would run in an intermittent short-duration-flow blowdown test rather than in the longer 

duration continuous-flow mode. The tunnel, which represented LaRC’s 

only large-scale Mach 10 aerothermodynamie-test capability, had been 

important to the Space Shuttle testing and would aid in developing lowcost advanced space-transportation vehicles. Blackstock’s suggestion 

could save $30 000 the first yr without compromising the tunnel’s 

research capability; LaRC’s wind tunnels had consumed one-third of the 

electrical energy purchased by the center. (LaRC Release 78-24; LaRC 

Researcher, May 5/78, 1) 

0 In its report on U.S. R&D spending for 1979, the National Science 

Foundation pointed out that doubling of the nation’s R&D expenditures 

since 1969 had been almost entirely attributable to inflation. However, 

the overall U.S. R&D effort had experienced real growth every year since 

1975, mainly from increased emphasis on finding alternative energy 

sources; it had not provided major stimulus to economic growth or productivity in the short term. The federal government, currently supporting 

more than half the nation’s R&D effort, had over the last decade emphasized civilian programs rather than defense and space. Largest 

federal R&D spending increases for 1978 and 1979 were expected in the 

energy and health areas. 

During the 1970s, the U.S. had allocated proportionately less of the 

national R&D effort to basic research. Factors influencing this trend included the federal government’s deemphasizing basic research in defense 

and space programs during the early to mid-1970s; the industrial sector’s 

seeking quicker payoffs from R&D efforts aimed at a specific product or 

process, as opposed to projects with no specific commercial application; 

and universities’ increased emphasis on applied research over basic research since 1970. (NSFHighlights, May 1/78, 1) 

0 Av Wk reported that the House of Representatives had authorized a 

$4.415 billion NASA budget that included $4 million for an option to 

103 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

purchase a fifth Space Shuttle orbiter, which President Carter had tried 

to defer. The House had not changed the authorization bill submitted by 

its comq$$@e Qn science and technology. House members had defeated 

an amendment by Rep. Ted Weiss (D-N.Y.) to delete funds for advanced 

supersonic-transport research, but had passed an amendment requiring 

the NASA administrator to report to Congress by Dec. 31, 1979, regarding NASA policy on conflicts of interest, standards of conduct, and 

financial disclosure. The House version of the NASA budget had 

represented a $43.7 million increase over the Carter budget. 

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

had approved a $4.388 billion NASA FY79 authorization that included 

$4 million for the fifth orbiter and an additional $7 million for mannedflight advance planning. Former Apollo astronaut Sen. Harrison Schmitt 

(R-N.M.) had helped convince the committee that NASA needed the $7 

million increase to maintain a viable advance-planning program for 

manned spaceflight. Total Senate Commerce Committee authorization 

was $17 million higher than NASA’s original $4.371 billion request to 

Congress. (AvWk, May 1/78, 22) 

0 Latest word on Progress I refueling of the Salyut 6 propulsion system 

in orbit indicated that redesign of the space station had been more extensive than the USSR had previously revealed, Av Wk reported. The 

Soviets had made a fundamental change in the station’s rocket engine 

and fuel system by switching to pressure-fed from turbine-driven main 

engines, and adopting a common hypergolic propellant for both the 

main propulsion and reaction-control system engines. 

Before Saljut 6, the Soyuz and Salyut propulsion systems had been the 

same: in the reaction-control system, hydrogen peroxide thrusters had 

provided attitude adjustments and hydrogen peroxide had also driven 

turbines pumping hypergolic oxidizer and fuel to the main propulsion 

system. Fuels in the main propulsion system were a form of nitric acid 

and of hydrazine. This arrangement had required 3 sets of propulsion 

lines and tanks: 1 for the hydrogen peroxide, 1 for the main-engine oxidizer, and 1 for the main-engine fuel. 

Changing the Salyut 6 had allowed both the main engines and the 

reaction-control thrusters to use propellants from the same tanks, permitting much simpler and more effective orbital refueling than if it had 

to include hydrogen peroxide. The change had required design of an entirely new internal-tanking and propellant-line fuel system, and development of the pressure-fed engines and the hypergolic-thruster system. The 

aft section of the station containing the main engines and a concentration 

of reaction-control-system engines could now accommodate docking at 

that end by a second Soyuz transport vehicle. The Salyut’s standard forward port was able to accept both Soyuz and Progress-tanker spacecraft. 

(AvWk, May 1/78, 1) 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

May 2: NASA announced signing of an agreement with the National Eye 

Institute (N’EI), Bethesda, Md., for laboratory and clinical tests of a new 

surgical instrument to remove hard cataracts. Lewis Research Center had 

developed the instrument jointly with Cleveland ophthalmologist Dr. 

William McGannon. The NASA-NE1 program would include refinement 

of surgical techniques using the cataract instrument, and design and implementation of clinical trials. 

The new instrument consisted of a surgical handpiece, a regulated flow 

system for infusing fluid, and a peristaltic outflow pump with necessary 

controls. The handpiece would use a high-speed air-turbine drive to 

power an auger-type cutter capable of both end and side cutting, rotating 

at speeds between 300 000 and 270 000rpm. The control system had a 

flow-sensing pressure regulator to maintain intraocular pressure under 

widely varying flow conditions. Use of the rotary cutting instrument 

would require only a small opening in the cornea, and should apply to 

the full range of cataract hardness. As part of the joint agreement, 

NASA and NE1 announced that interested companies might apply for a 

nonexclusive patent license to manufacture and market the flow-sensing 

pressure regulator, which might be applicable to other types of eye 

surgery. (NASA Release 78-66; Lewis News, May 12/78, 1) 

0 NASA announced that Frank Nola, engineer at Marshall Space Flight 

Center, while working on a NASA solar heating and cooling project, had 

invented an inexpensive yet revolutionary device called a power-factor 

controller that could save energy used by billions of electric motors 

throughout the U.S. The small device would continuously determine the 

load on the motor to which it was attached by sensing shifts between 

voltage and current flowing to the motor. When it sensed a light load, it 

would reduce the voltage to the motor to the minimum required, with accompanying drop in current flow, minimizing power going to heat loss. 

A typical washing machine using a power-factor controller would drop 

its power usage from 16Owatts to about 55watts on an idling motor. Savings would be less on a loaded motor but, as most domestic motors never 

needed the full 125volts available, the power-factor controller could save 

up to 8% of the power used by a motor under heavy load. Energy savings 

for larger motors would be even more dramatic. NASA said patent 

licensing and technical information for Nola’s invention would be 

available from the MSFC chief counsel. (NASA Release 78-67) 

May 4: NASA reported that 8mo after launch and 8mo before beginning 

close Jupiter observations, Voyager I had traveled nearly 555 million km 

(348 million miles) from earth and was then at a distance from the sun of 

about 3.1AU. Its velocity relative to the sun was about 19.9km (12.4mi) 

per sec.; time needed for one-way communications was 30min 45sec. On 

May 3, the Voyager had performed a midcourse correction of its Jupiter105 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

bound trajectory, as part of a set of commands relayed to the craft Apr. 

26. 

NASA had constructed a model to investigate the sticking of Voyager 

Z’s scan platform. One possible explanation for the sticking was that a 

small piece of plastic from the scan-actuator locking mechanism might 

have lodged in the actuator’s gear. Before moving the scan-platform on 

the Voyager into the position where it had previously stuck, NASA 

would try to reproduce the failure in laboratory tests and determine its 

effects. (NASA Mission Status Bulletin, May 4/78) 

May 5: NASA announced appointment of Samuel Keller as deputy 

associate administrator for space and terrestrial applications (OSTA), 

succeeding Leonard Jaffe, who had been appointed special assistant to 

NASA’s chief engineer. In his new position, Keller would be responsible 

for general management and direction of OSTA programs. He had held 

numerous management positions at Goddard Space Flight Center before 

coming to NASA Hq as assistant administrator for personnel programs; 

had worked in industry and government; and had been a pilot in the U.S. 

Air Force from 1956 to 1959. (NASA’ anno May 5/78) 

0 Dryden Flight Research Center reported it had aborted the first designlimit test of the parachute recovery system for the Space Shuttle’s solidfuel rocket boosters (SRB), when the 48 OOOlb dummy booster scheduled 

for airdrop from a B-52 flying over the National Parachute Test Range 

would not separate from its aircraft. After several unsuccessful attempts, 

pilots returned the B-52 to DFRC without incident and rescheduled the 

flight for the week of May 5. (DFRC X-Press, May 5/78, 2) 

0 The W. Post reported that a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee had cut NASA’s budget, endangering 3 of the agency’s 

most ambitious plans for the next 5yr: to search for life beyond earth, to 

keep the Skylab space station from falling back to earth, and to fly a rare 

joint mission with West Germany around the north and south poles of 

the sun. 

The subcommittee had cut $1.4 million from NASA’s request for $2 

million to begin a program called SET1 (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), in effect killing the program. A NASA official said the funds 

would not be enough “to start design work on the antennas we were going to use to listen for extraterrestrial signals.” The subcommittee also 

denied NASA $20.5 million to use for Space Shuttle astronauts to fire the 

abandoned Skylab space station into a higher and safer orbit. NASA 

considered the most critical cut to be $5 million from the $13 million 

sought to start in 1983 the solar-polar orbiter mission that would have 

used two spacecraft, one built by the U.S. and the other by West Ger106 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

many. The West Germans had warned that any U.S. delay meant that 

Germany would drop out of the mission. (W Post, May 5/78, A13) 

LaRC announced it would sponsor during May a program on “Women 

in Aviation,” with slides and tapes highlighting women’s contributions to 

aviation. An international organization of women interested in aviation, 

The 99s, which was founded in the 1930s and whose original members included Amelia Earhart and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, provided the program to LaRC. (LaRC Release 78-27) 

May 8: LaRC announced that Donald Hearth, center director, had received an honorary Doctor of Science degree during commencement exercises May 7 at George Washington Univ. in Washington, D.C. As 

guest speaker, Hearth discussed Technology and the Future, noting, 

“There will continue to be a strong tendency to characterize technology 

as either the savior of society’s problems or the villain in the drama of 

life. Technology is not magic,” he continued, “but it can help solve some 

of society’s problems. We want machines, but not the kind that run us. 

We want technology, but we want to be in charge of it.” The address included a short history of technology, and projections of possible uses of 

technology in the near future. (LaRC Release 78-29) 

0 LaRC announced it would hold a conference on safety, occupational 

medicine, and environmental health May 15-18, with about 60 representatives from all NASA centers attending. Welcoming remarks by Fred 

Bowen, LaRC technical manager for management operations, would 

cover audiometric testing, types of hearing loss, rehabilitative techniques, noise protection equipment , and computerized treadmill data. 

LaRC Director Donald Hearth’s remarks on the second day would include discussion of workmen’s compensation, disability, continuation of 

pay status, and LaRC’s occupational medicine and environmental health 

and safety programs. The May 17 agenda would cover space suit testing, 

new approaches in workplace health standards, fire protection, Space 

Shuttle safety challenges, the kinetic method of lifting, and system safety 

in wind-turbine generators. On May 18 participants would discuss 

nuclear safety in space systems, Space Shuttle occupant safety, and new 

firefighting equipment. (LaRC Release 78-28) 

0 The long controversy in the International Civil Aviation Organization 

over choice of a microwave landing system - which had ended in a 39-24 

victory for the U.S.-backed time-reference scanning-beam (TRSB) system-had taught the group important lessons, Av Wk reported. First: 

the large turnout of Third World countries indicated that future proposers of new systems must focus their appeals to such countries. Roy 

107 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Cox, director of telecommunications for the British Civil Aviation 

Authority, described the problem: “Those . . . in the meeting faced the 

impossible task of studying and acting upon some 2,000 pages . . . on 

complex operational and technical issues and the time allotted did not 

permit adequate study by those states which had not previously participated in the many years of preparation.” Second: although the ICAO 

had recognized the complexity of evaluating competing systems on the 

basis of extensive avionics expertise and background, 5 of the 10 

specialists appointed to the All Weather Operations Panel had represented countries favoring particular microwave landing systems. 

Although selected as individuals, not as official representatives of their 

governments, the 5 had consistently favored the entry sponsored by their 

government. Hindsight would recommend including specialists from 

many countries on such an evaluation panel, to ensure that members predisposed to one of the choices would represent a minority, rather than a 

majority, of the panel. (AvWk, May 8/78, 44) 

0 Walter Morgan, ComSatCorp seniqr staff scientist, said at a conference sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics that a network of high-capacity comsats could be in orbit by the 

early 199Os, increasing transmission capacity and reducing the need for 

large ground antennas, Av Wk reported. Called orbital antenna “farms,” 

the 14 OOOlb clusters of communications satellite antennas and sensors 

could replace many smaller individual satellites in geostationary orbit. 

Five antenna farms linked together in circular fashion would form a major cluster, which in turn could make up l part of a network of 5 separate 

clusters serving the Americas, Europe, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle 

East, and Asia. Such antenna farms would reduce the number of individual satellites and emit higher powered radio frequencies, permitting 

numerous earth stations to have smaller antennas with attendant lower 

costs and greater mobility. 

Basis of an antenna farm cluster would be a structure about 40ft long 

and 14ft in diameter, housing electronic modules to control missionpayload equipment. Although current technology was capable of handling orbital antenna farms, two possible technological problems would 

be in-orbit construction of the platforms and in-orbit servicing of the 

equipment. Disadvantages would include compromises on optimum orbital locations for various missions, radio-frequency interference between payloads grouped on a common platform, and the effect of a single 

system’s failure on other antenna farm systems. Although ComSatCorp 

had not taken an official position on the concept, Morgan predicted that 

an antenna farm could be operational in the early 199Os, and that a 

smaller experimental farm might be operating earlier. (AvWk, May 

8/78, 56) 

108 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

May 9: ESA announced that on May 12 the Villafranca del Castillo 

ground station near Madrid would be inaugurated by H.M. Juan Carlos, 

king of Spain. ESA had designed the station, built under an Aug. 2, 

1974, agreement between ESA and Spain, to monitor and control the 

IUE satellite launched in Jan. 1978, OTS-2 to be launched the first half 

of May, and Marots to be launched in 1980. The station had antennas 

measuring 15m for WE, 12m for Marots, and 3m for OTS-2. ESA also 

would use the station beginning the end of 1978 to control the U.S. 

meteorological satellite Goes. Like other ESA ground stations, Villafranca would be linked with the European Space Operations Centre 

(ESOC) at Darmstadt in West Germany, which housed control and computer facilities for all European satellites. (ESA Release May 9/78) 

May IO: MSFC announced that its weather scientists working with colleagues from Texas A&M had encountered practically every kind of 

severe weather - thunderstorms, tornadoes, torrential rains, hail, and 

snow-within the study of the zone, roughly the south central states, 

during the 7th atmospheric variability experiment (AVE-7). As a 3-day 

weather pattern had moved across the test area, 24 rawinsonde stations 

operated by NOAA and one each by MSFC and Texas A&M had acquired data. The experimenters had also received for comparison a 

weather picture from a Goes satellite every 15min and reports from 

weather radars throughout the area every hour. 

In the AVE-7 experiment, rawinsonde stations every 3hr released 

balloons carrying instruments to record temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind velocity and direction from ground level to 

an altitude of about 25km (15.5mi). The balloons, normally released 

about every 12hr, on a 3-hr schedule had allowed researchers to spot 

small-scale events that could dissipate quickly. The balloon data, combined with satellite pictures at 15-min intervals, had permitted computerized weather forecasts by showing scientists how to spot approaching bad weather much earlier; comparison of ground-based with 

satellite data would help identify the causes of severe weather. With more 

such experiments using space technology, scientists could eventually accumulate enough information to more accurately predict severe weather. 

(Marshall Star, May 10/78, 1) 

* MSFC announced it had awarded contracts totaling $42 751 900 for 

scientific investigations in support of the Space Telescope project to five 

educational institutions: Research Foundation of the State Univ. of New 

York, Albany, Dr . J. J. Caldwell, Space Telescope interdisciplinary 

scientist, $126 000; Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., Dr. D. J. Schroeder, 

telescope scientist, $69 000; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 

N.J., Dr. J. N. Bahcall, interdisciplinary scientist, $257 700; Johns 

109 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md., Prof. W. G. Fastie, telescope scientist, 

$151 300; Univ. of Texas, Austin, Dr. WilIiam Jefferys, astrometry 

science team leader, $1 862 500; and Dr. K. L. Lambert, interdisciplinary scientist, $285 400. 

The Space Telescope, planned for launch into earth orbit in the early 

1980s, would permit scientists to see 7 times farther into deep space than 

before. MSFC had been lead center for the Space Telescope; GSFC had 

been responsible for scientific instruments and for planning telescope 

operations. (Marshall Star, May 10178, 2) 

To put space processes and space products within public reach as early 

as possible, NASA had sought private firms to do materials processing in 

space, MSFC reported. The center had named a special task team to 

work exclusively with firms interested in pursuing space-made or spacederived processes and products; the team, headed by Richard Brown, 

would be the point of contact for information and assistance to firms 

with ideas for new or improved products that might be processed in 

space. “We intend to develop simplified working arrangements,” Brown 

said, “and make it as easy as possible for commercial firms to try out new 

ideas for materials processing in the space environment.” 

Promising results from earlier space experiments, coupled with the opportunity offered by the Space Shuttle to work routinely in space, could 

make material processing commercially attractive. According to Brown, 

gravity reduced to a millionth of that on earth could make “interesting 

things” happen: elimination of the forces of buoyancy, sedimentation, 

and movement in fluids caused by heat could permit uniform mixing or 

separation of materials that would be impossible on earth. Families of 

new materials might be derived from materials processed in space. 

To reduce industry’s initial capital outlays usually needed for joint 

ventures, NASA had planned to build an inventory of general purpose 

processing hardware for lease to any U.S. firm, institution, or individual 

that would conduct materials experiments or demonstrations consistent 

with NASA’s objective of public benefit. Brown had invited anyone interested in the program to ask MSFC’s task team for more information. 

(Marshall Star, May 10/78, 4) 

May 12: NASA announced launch of ESA’s orbital test satellite 2 Ots 2 

at 659pm EDT, May 11, from Cape Canaveral toward a stationary orbit 

22 3OOmi over Gabon in West Africa. A Delta vehicle had put the 

satellite into synchronous-transfer orbit with apogee of 36 042km, 

perigee of 185km, &d inclination of 27.4’. An apogee boost motor fired 

37hr after launch at fifth apogee had circularized the orbit so that Ots 2 

could drift to its final location above the equator at 10’E. Ots 2 would 

remain for 6 or 7yr relaying telecasts among nations of the European 

Broadcast Union and carrying as many as 7000 telephone calls at a time. 

110 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

This new comsat was one of two experimental models built by ESA to 

test performance in orbit; their descendants, European operational comsats, would serve in the 1980s as satellite links for intra-European 

telephone, telegraph, and telex traffic and would provide western Europe 

with television relay. 

The first launch of an Ots from Cape Canaveral Sept. 13, 1977, had 

failed when the Delta first stage exploded 55sec after liftoff. The probable cause (burn-through of a solid-propellant strap-on Castor IV motor 

at the bottom of the first-stage Thor booster) had been avoided for further flights by increasing the thickness of insulation between the solid 

propellant and the exterior motor case. 

Industries in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Spain had built 

the spacecraft under ESA supervision; prime contractor was British 

Aerospace Dynamics Corp. Under an agreement with the US., ESA 

would reimburse NASA for the cost of the Delta launch vehicle, launch 

services, and other administrative costs totaling $417 million. GSFC had 

provided technical direction of the Delta project; Kennedy Space 

Center’s expendable vehicles directorate was responsible to GSFC for 

launch operations. (MOR M-492-210-78-02 [prelaunch] Apr 27/78; 

NASA Release 78-53; W Post, May 12/78, B-6; ESA Release Apr 7, 

12/78; May 8, 17/78) 

0 Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced it had agreed to participate during May in an experiment called Avefria (Spanish for lapwing) to perturb 

the atmosphere so that scientists could study ionospheric irregularities 

and their effects on radio communications. The experiment would create 

a high-altitude barium-ion cloud in the ionosphere (an atmospheric layer 

25 to 250mi above earth in which radio signals typically travel for long 

distances) by rocket-borne release of barium-metal vapor. Opticalobservation and radio-communications stations in Nev. would make 

scientific measurements of the cloud and its interaction with the ionosphere. Major observation point would be the Tonopah (Nev.) Test 

Range; JPL would operate a second observation station at its Table 

Mountain astronomy site near Wrightwood, Calif. (JPL Universe, May 

12/78, 1) 

0 NASA announced Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. biotechnologists 

and engineers would use frogs on the Space Shuttle as research subjects 

to study inner-ear balance as the cause of space sickness that had afflicted some astronauts. Under a 6mo contract with Ames Research 

Center, Lockheed researchers would first study the behavior in space of 

the frog’s otolith nerve bundle, which closely resembled man’s. Microelectronic sensors inserted in the frogs would periodically feed data into 

recorders on the ground and in space. Preflight ground-based tests using 

111 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

a centrifuge would furnish baseline data to compare with information 

obtained in weightlessness. (JSC Roundup, May 12/78, 4; NASA Act, 

May 78, 10) 

May IS: NASA announced it would participate in a joint AmericanSoviet particle-intercalibration (JASPIC) project to compare techniques 

used by both countries to measure intensity of energetic electrons and 

protons entering the lower ionosphere. At a 1975 meeting of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics in Grenoble, France, U.S. and 

Soviet scientists had agreed that the first question to be resolved was instrument credibility. Joint measurement of energetic electron and proton 

intensity at the same time and same place would be a first step in reconciling the conflicting results reported in the scientific literature. A Soviet 

research ship, the Professor Vize, off the Va. coast near Wallops Flight 

Center would serve as the Soviet launch platform. 

The researchers would study the role of the particles in creating ionization in the lower ionosphere at night at mid-altitudes. They would compare data from 4 sounding-rocket launches from Wallops Island and 5 

Soviet MR-12 rocket launches from the ship. One of the Wallopslaunched rockets would release a chemical cloud possibly visible to east 

coast residents. Each organization would be responsible for its own 

countdown and launch operations. (NASA Release 78-7 1) 

LeRC announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with 

the Papago tribe of Ariz. and the U.S. Public Health Service to provide 

the Papago Indian village of Schuchuli, Ariz., with electric power from 

the sun by Sept. 1978. This would be funded by DOE as a first step 

toward construction of a 3kw totally solar electric village power system, 

part of DOE’S Natl. Photovoltaic Conversion Program. The new system 

would provide Schuchuli’s 96 residents with sufficient electricity to 

power a community refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, sewing 

machine, water pump, and lights for the village’s 16 homes, church, and 

feast house. Under the cooperative agreement, NASA would furnish all 

materials and technical assistance necessary to install the equipment and 

supporting facilities. The Papago Construction Co., an arm of the 

Papago tribal council, would erect the solar arrays and install all powersystem equipment. (NASA Release 78-70; Lewis News, May 26/78, 1; 

DOE Release ET-0044/2) 

0 Av Wk reported that a long deadlock on airline regulatory reform had 

been broken when the House Transportation and Public Works aviation 

subcommittee approved a bill consigning automatic route entry to further study before planning a permanent program. The White House had 

wanted a strengthened bill from a joint House-Senate committee. The 

Senate-passed bill had allowed an airline one new route in the first 2yr 

112 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

after the bill became law in 1979, and two new routes in each of the 

following 3yr. The House bill approved by voice vote had allowed a carrier one new route in the first calendar yr after enactment, as well as 

designation of one market, disallowing automatic entry to a competitor. 

The bill would have required the CAB to complete a study on success 

of automatic-entry provisions by June 30, 1980; if that study should find 

the experiment successful, Congress would pass additional legislation for 

airline deregulation on a more permanent basis. A compromise bill 

pushed by the Carter Administration would terminate the CAB, continue 

the small-communities subsidies, and give U.S. international carriers fillup rights to carry domestic traffic on all international routes, among 

other provisions. (AvWk, May 15/78, 26) 

Congress had remained divided over continuing the separate development by the Army and the USAF of two battlefield nuclear weapons for 

a similar purpose: delivery of quick-reaction nuclear strikes to free for 

other missions the dual-capability NATO aircraft now committed to 

nuclear alert, Av Wk reported. The Army had been working with Martin 

Marietta on the Pershing 2 mobile tactical nuclear ballistic missile; the 

USAF had been working with General bynamics on the Tomahawk 

ground-launched cruise missile. 

The House Armed Services Committee had asked the Pentagon to 

make an early decision on one of the two weapons for the European 

theater. The committee would have to take into consideration transferring the Pershing 2 program to the USAF and halting the groundlaunched cruise-missile production program; adding $10 million to the 

$10.1 million requested for the Pershing 2 in recommending program 

transfer to the USAF; the questionable survivability of the groundlaunched cruise missile, and the capability of Pershing 2 to penetrate 

1980’s Soviet air defenses; and development studies by the USAF of at 

least two ballistic missiles, at the time it was requesting ground-launched 

cruise-missile production funds. The Senate Armed Services Committee 

had recommended continuing the Pershing 2 under the Army program 

office, and providing full funding for the USAF ground-launched cruise 

missile. The House and Senate now had to seek a compromise on the two 

systems during a conference scheduled for late May or early June. (AvWk, May 15/78, 18) 

* ComSatCorp had agreed to a 48% reduction in its rates for international satellite communications, following FAA approval of a proposed 

settlement of its 13-yr-old rate case, Av Wk reported. ComSatCorp 

management and FCC staff had agreed on settlement last Feb. As U.S. 

representative to the 102-nation International Telecommunications 

Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), ComSatCorp had leased capacity 

on INTELSAT circuits to other U.S. carriers such as American 

113 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Telephone & Telegraph, IT” World Communications, RCA Global 

Communications, and Western Union International. The FCC now had 

to decide how these carriers would pass rate reductions along to their 

customers. 

As part of the settlement, ComSatCorp would relinquish all claim to 

an escrow account totaling more than $100 million that it had set up in 

mid-1976 pending judicial review of an FCC Dec. 1975 decision in the: 

rate case. The amount in escrow had been set aside for possible refund of 

overcharges since mid-1976, and the FCC also had to decide how refunds 

would be made. Under the settlement, ComSatCorp’s overall allowed 

rate of return would be 11.48%, compared to 10.8% under the FCC’s 

1975 decision. (AvWk, May 15/78, 22) 

May 16: NASA announced it had awarded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft 

Group of United Technologies Corp. an $80.4 million contract for advanced technology to improve fuel efficiency in future turbofan engines. 

Options in the contract could raise its total value to $94.4 million. This 

effort, a cooperative government-industry technology program to reduce 

fuel consumption in future turbofan engines by 10 to 15%, while also 

reducing direct operating costs, emissions, and noise levels, would constitute the major part of the energy efficient engine project, an element 

of NASA’s aircraft energy efficiency (ACEE) program. At the end of the 

5-yr technology contract, Pratt & Whitney should be able to begin 

development of advanced commercial turbofan engines for airplanes flying in the late 1980s and early 1990s. NASA had signed a similar 

technology-development contract with General Electric. (NASA Release 

78-74) 

May 17: MSFC announced it had begun preparations for stress tests of 

the Space Shuttle orbiter at Lockheed-Calif .’s 430ton (390 metric tons) 

steel test rig at Palmdale, Calif. The 6-story “reaction frame’’ rig had 

more than 350 hydraulic jacks exerting loads on the orbiter to simulate 

those to be encountered at launch, during spaceflight, and on reentry into earth atmosphere. Lockheed would perform the tests under contract 

to Rockwell Intl., builder of the orbiter. (Marshall Star, May 17/78, 2) 

0 Johnson Space Center announced it would sponsor a 2-day conference 

with the Univ. of Texas health science center on ways to use spaceflight’ 

in biomedical research. The first session, entitled Space: A Challenge for 

the Life Sciences, would have as speakers the JSC director, Christopher 

Kraft, Jr.; NASA’s director for life sciences, David Winter, M.D.; JSC 

director of space and life sciences Richard Johnston; and Univ. of Tex. 

health science center resident Truman Blocker. The conference would 

conclude with a panel discussion on spaceflight applications. (JSC 

Release 78-19) 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

The WStar reported that spokesmen for four government agencies using portable nuclear-power generators could not respond immediately to 

charges that the federal government lacked adequate control over the use 

or whereabouts of such devices. Charges came from members of the 

House Commerce Committee who said the public had not been informed 

of potential hazards to health, safety, and the environment posed by the 

devices or how they were used. 

Committee members had sent President Carter a letter asking for a 

public accounting of portable nuclear devices used by the U.S. around 

the world. Of major concern was a device called SNAP (system for 

nuclear auxiliary power) generating from any of three radioactive and 

highly toxic fuels-cesium, strontium, or plutonium-heat that the device 

could transform into electricity for satellites or other remote power 

needs. Designed in the early 1960s primarily as a power source for space 

satellites, SNAPs had later been applied to terrestrial uses including a 

CIA project in which a SNAP, left on a Himalayan mountain to monitor 

China’s missile testing, was apparently buried by an avalanche. 

After a 1964 mishap when an Air Force spy satellite powered by a 

SNAP reentered and burned over the Indian Ocean, spreading radioactive fallout over a wide area, DOD had ordered manufacture of 

SNAPs in case-hardened containers that would remain intact if a satellite 

carrying one should fall from orbit. In 1968, a rocket launching another 

spy satellite from Vandenberg AFB had misfired and dropped two SNAP 

generators into the Pacific just off the southern Calif. coast; a 6mo 

search had recovered the SNAPs. (W Star, May 17/78, A-18) 

May Z8: NASA had officially changed the date of the first Space Shuttle 

orbital flight from Mar. to June of 1979 because of engine problems, the 

NY Times reported. NASA said the June date would be tentative until 

additional tests confirmed that the Shuttle’s three main engines were free 

of problems. There had been signs the engine situation was improving. 

Launch date had been important because of NASA’s plan to use the 

Shuttle to rescue Skylab from an uncontrolled fall to earth next year, 

possibly by early summer. (NYT’ May 18/78, B-IO) 

The NYT reported a leading Soviet astrophysicist’s forecast that the 

next 250yr would see construction of a vast “artificial biosphere” in outer 

space capable of supporting 10 billion people, more than twice the 

world‘s present population. Iosif Shklovsky had visualized a system of 

space colonies with total surface area hundreds of thousands of times 

greater than earth’s, that could capture and use huge amounts of solar 

energy. Looking further into the future, Shklovsky had also predicted 

that 2540yr from now mankind would have fully colonized the solar 

system. 

His article in the journal Social Sciences emphasized U.S. plans to use 

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MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

large satellites to beam solar energy to earth as microwaves. Prof. Gerald 

O'Neill of Princeton Univ., head of a group of physicists and engineers 

designing solar satellites, had estimated that a space colony accommodating 100 OOO or more people could be built by the year 2025. Skhlovsky 

had agreed that expansion into space would be inevitable because of 

mounting pressures of population and environment on earth's resources. 

Only the colonizing of space could offer a long-term solution, Shklovsky 

contended, claiming mathematical proof that adopting a global-balance 

strategy of limited growth could delay, but not avert, a world crisis. 

Shklovsky added that construction of large-scale colonies would require 

raw materials from the moon, asteroids, and other planets. 

Although other Soviet scientists had stressed the importance of the 

search for extraterrestrial life, Shklovsky said that chances of finding 

other intelligent life were extremely remote. The distance to the nearest 

extraterrestrial civilization (one whose signals could be reaching the earth 

now) had been calculated at 3300 to 9800 light yr, or 19 800 trillion to 

58 800 trillion mi; however, the absence of life, at least intelligent life, in 

earth's region of the universe should I not discourage, but rather encourage, the conquest of space, he said. (NYT, May 18/78, B-10) 

May 19: NASA announced plans to launch the geostationary operational 

environmental satellite GOES-C, third in a series of operational spacecraft funded by NOAA to meet DOC requirements, no earlier than May 

25, 1978, from the ETR on a 3-stage Delta. In May 1974 and Feb. 1975, 

NASA had launched two operational prototype meteorological spacecraft, Sms 1 and Sms 2, developed with NASA funding and still in orbit; 

it had launched the first two operational spacecraft funded by NOAA, 

Goes 1 and Goes 2, in Oct. and June 1977, respectively. 

NASA had planned to use a 3-stage inertially-guided Delta launch 

vehicle to inject GOES-C into a transfer orbit where its apogee boost 

motor would put it in a synchronous orbit. A GOES-C on station at 

135"W would augment existing satellite coverage of earth weather and 

become a part of the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP). 

(MOR E-612-78-01 [prelaunch] May 19/78) 

NASA announced that Kenneth Chapman, associate administrator for 

external relations since Jan. 1978, had resigned from NASA to join 

Vought Aircraft Co., Dallas, Tex., as vice president for market research 

and analysis. Chapman had assumed his NASA position in Jan. 1978. 

Before joining NASA, Chapman had been director of nuclear material 

safety and safeguards at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was a 

retired Air Force major general. (NASA Release 78-78; NASA anno May 

18/78) 

May 21: FBIS said Tass had commented on the upcoming U.S. launch of 

116 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

Pioneer Venus-A, noting that the orbiter’s radar resolution would permit 

it to transmit only an approximate map of Venus that would show only 

very big objects. Tass had pointed out that the mission would not include 

soft landing or transmission of photographs from the surface of Venus 

as the Soviet Venera 9 and Venera 10 had, because Pioneer Venus-B (the 

lander) would not survive landing and all transmission of information 

would stop. (FBIS, Tass in English, May 21/78) 

May 22: NASA reported it had successfully conducted the second of two 

chemical-cloud experiments from WFC at dawn on May 22; it had 

launched the first at 5:29am EDT May 20. The launches had been designed to measure turbulence transport in the stratosphere by observing 

chemical vapor trails at an altitude of between 15 to 50km (9 to 31mi). 

Two-stage Nike sounding rockets had released vapors of titanium dioxide particles in spurts at 10-sec intervals, forming a series of dashes 

similar to an aircraft contrail; ground cameras had recorded the dispersion of the vapor trails. (WFC Release 78-4, 78-6; NASA Release 78-73) 

* French and West German space officials had told a House committee 

that increasing costs would limit use of the U.S. Space Shuttle and the 

European Spacelab, Av Wk reported. A NASA official had admitted 

that Spacelab could have been built less expensively under a single nation’s management, but denied that Space Shuttle operational costs had 

increased prohibitively. 

Wolfgang Finke, director of West Germany’s Dept. of Space and 

Transportation, told the House Committee on Science and Technology 

that not only had the price of conventional launches increased steadily, 

but also “the new space transportation system will not revolutionize the 

cost of space transportation. On the contrary, the estimates for the fare 

of a Shuttle roundtrip and the fringe costs going with it went up considerably, putting a real brake on our more ambitious plans to utilize the 

new system.” As for Spacelab, Finke said the results of a West German 

materials-processing experiment would need a series of experiments for 

confirmation, with a cost level “well above the range of traditional 

materials research costs.” 

Hubert Curien, president of the French space agency, said that “anticipated cost of Spacelab experiments now reaches such heights that 

their funding raises very serious problems for national budgets and constitutes a very severe limitation.” Finke noted in conclusion that administrative costs of international cooperation had increased costs of the 

overall project. A NASA official agreed that if Spacelab had been built 

in the U.S. under one management, total cost would have been less. (AvWk, May 22/78, 28) 

* Av Wk reported that U.S. Air Force ground controllers had begun to 

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MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

bring the second NavStar global-positioning system satellite up to full 

operational status, after its successful launch on an Atlas F May 13 from 

Vandenberg AFB. The 9551b spacecraft had gone into an 85 x 10 9OOnm 

elliptical orbit, and its solid-fuel rocket motor had fired 2days later, putting it in a circular orbit; thrusters would shift it to its final station. 

Modifications of the rubidium-vapor atomic clocks had delayed launch 

of NavStar 2 for a day; when ground tests indicated a malfunction of the 

NavStar frequency-divider circuit, the USAF had ordered modifications 

of all three clocks on NavStar 2 to prevent a similar occurrence in orbit. 

The USAF planned to launch a third NavStar from Vandenberg in Aug. 

(Av Wk, May 22/78, 24) 

0 Av Wk reported that the House of Representatives had committed the 

U.S. to membership in Inmarsat, the $200 million 40-nation international maritime-satellite organization, and had designated ComSatCorp 

as the U.S. representative. The Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee had completed hearings and was expected to approve similar 

legislation shortly. A protracted controversy had gone on within the 

government and among international telecommunications carriers over 

the entity or combination of entities that should represent the U.S. in an 

organization to own and operate a global satellite-communications 

system for ships. Other nations had not encountered this problem, 

because their communications entities were all government agencies 

anyway. 

Two documents establishing Inmarsat had opened for signature Sept. 

3, 1976: a statement of organization policies and structure, and an 

operating agreement calling for initial $200 million capitalization. The 

U.S. and other participating governments would sign the former; ComSatCorp, under the House-passed legislation, would sign the latter. The 

40 nations planning to join would divide investment initially according to 

anticipated usage, later according to actual usage. ComSatCorp would 

finance $34 million, the US’S initial 17% of the capitalization. Nations 

that would account for 95% of the initial investment had to sign by a 

July 3, 1979, deadline, or the Inmarsat documents would be void. As the 

documents would take effect 60days after, by Sept. 3, 1979, Inmarsat 

would be either operative or dead. (AvWk, May 22/78, 21) 

0 U.S. share of the 102-nation INTELSAT organization had dropped 

from its 61% starting point in 1964 (when 19 nations had joined to 

establish a global communications consortium) to 25.1%, Av Wk 

reported. Charges that the U.S. had dominated INTELSAT had caused 

friction in the organization since its inception. The 1964 interim agreements had ensured U.S. majority ownership of not less than 50.6%; expanded membership and traffic patterns had decreased U.S. control as 

well as the friction. Other ownership shares under the new allocation 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

were those of the United Kingdom, 10.8%; France, 5.98%; Brazil, 

4.23%; and Japan, 3.68%. The 1964 interim consortium had been 

capitalized at $200 million; the 1971 agreements had boosted the figure 

to $500 million, including members’ net capital contributions and the 

outstanding contractual capital commitments. The amount had reached 

$900 million in 1976 to finance Intelsat V satellites. (Av Wk, May 22/78, 

56) 

May 24: MSFC reported it had successfully conducted a first major test 

firing of the three Space Shuttle main engines during a 15sec run at the 

Natl. Space Technology Laboratories in Bay St. Louis. MSFC had 

already successfully fired one of the modified engines for 520sec at 100% 

thrust, more power than needed for the first Shuttle mission. Test results 

would aid in establishing countdown procedures. More than 300 contractor and NASA employees had worked on the test series, described by 

program officials as the most complex large propulsion-system evaluation undertaken in the US. space program. Test budget for firings and 

facilities was $52 million. 

Main propulsion-test articles were the Martin Marietta external tank 

containing propellant for firing tests, just as it would during Shuttle missions; the Rockwell Intl. orbiter simulator; three Rocketdyne main 

engines; and the Rockwell Intl. shuttle avionics test set, replacing the 

Shuttle-orbiter computers during tests. Key Shuttle launch and flight 

parameters to be verified by propulsion-test data were the cryogenic boiloff rate of external-tank propellants on the launch pad; rate of externaltank self-pressurization; engine-prestart requirements, such as pressure 

and temperature milestones; starting, throttling, and cutting off the 

engine, using external-tank propellants with the engines operating in 

close proximity; engine gimbaling; control-system response; loads placed 

by the engines on the orbiter; and launch acoustic data. Flight-dynamics 

engineers had been especially interested in verifying control-system 

models with the main propulsion-test data. 

Test 1, scheduled for 2.35sec, had been terminated at lsec because of 

an instrument problem. Test 2, scheduled for 15sec with the engines at 

70% thrust, would assess propellant-flow paths from the tank through 

the orbiter and into the engines under thrust conditions. Test 3, planned 

for 15sec at 90% thrust level, would reverify overall propellant-system 

operation, and effect of the engine plumes on the test stand’s flame 

deflector. Test 4, planned for 40sec at 90% thrust, would define propellant flow and flame-deflector hot spots. Firings 5 through 7, lasting 

500 to 6OOsec, would duplicate Shuttle flight profiles; firings 8 through 

10 would run for long durations with flight-rated 77:l nozzles; and firings 9 through 13 would have the 351 nozzles reaffixed for engine throttling, to demonstrate the effect on’ flight profiles. 

Although the main engine had taken the blame for Shuttle launch-date 

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MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

slip, the external tank and solid-fuel rocket booster tests also had failed 

to support a March launch. (Marshall Star, May 24/78,1 , May 17/78,1; 

JSC Roundup, May 12/78, 1; AvWk, May 22/78, 55; May 29/78, 49) 

NASA announced that, as interrogations from tracking stations in 

Mar. and Apr. had successfully made contact with Skylab, the agency 

would begin in early June to uplink from JSC mission control a series of 

Skylab attitude-change procedures to put a new program into Skylab’s 

onboard computer. The attitude-control system would be used to 

maneuver the spacecraft into the desired position and operate the 

control-moment gyros to keep it there. The procedures establishing control of Skylab, to be completed by mid-June, might extend its orbital lifetime by 6 to 12mo. The attitude change, if successful (and if the gyros 

continued to operate), could delay Skylab’s reentry into the atmosphere 

until late 1979 or mid-1980. The maneuvers would decrease atmospheric 

drag on the spacecraft by aligning it with the flight path; once in the 

desired attitude, Skylab could survive from day to day without further 

maneuvers or adjustments. (JSC Release 78-20; JSC Roundup, May 

26/78, 1; Marshall Star, May 24/78, 1) 

MSFC reported that a patent had been issued for a reel mechanism and 

associated control system invented by MSFC employees Ralph Kissel and 

Charles Rupp for the Shuttle tethered satellite system (TSS). NASA had 

considered the TSS as a means of enhancing Space Shuttle performance 

of scientific investigations and operational activities in space. The system 

would use a flexible tether line to deploy and retrieve subsatellites at 

distances as great as lOOkm from the orbiter. NASA had judged the 

mechanism and control-system invention would contribute significantly 

to overall feasibility of the TSS concept. (Marshall Star, May 24/78, 4) 

May 25: NASA announced that Heao I, first of a series of observatories 

designed to study celestial x-rays and gamma rays, was officially a success. Primary objective of Heao I was to obtain highly detailed experimental data on astrophysical phenomena by measuring sizes and locations of x-ray sources and determining their intensity and time variation; 

according to Dr. Noel Hinners, NASA associate administrator for space 

science, the objective had been accomplished. NASA had authorized an 

extension of Heao I’s mission to a second scan of the celestial sphere, 

and would broaden scientific participation through a guest-investigator 

program. NASA planned to launch in Nov. 1978 a second high-energy 

astronomy observatory designed for detailed study of interesting sources 

pinpointed by Heao I; a third would be launched in 1979. (NASA 

Release 78-80) 

May 26: NASA reported it had halted MSFC preparations for vibration 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

tests of the Shuttle orbiter Enterprise May 12, when the upper dome of 

the prototype liquid oxygen tank buckled inward while being filled with 

water. Pressurizing the tank to llb later removed the wrinkles. The tank 

implosion would delay Enterprise vibration testing, but the program office would have to review delay of the overall Space Shuttle program. 

(JSC Roundup, May 26/78, 1; Marshall Star, May 10/78, 1) 

NASA announced it had postponed to at least June 24 the scheduled 

June 10 launch of SeaSat-A because of precautionary changes and tests 

on the Atlas F launch vehicle. Temperature increases in the aft sections 

of recently launched Atlas vehicles had necessitated the changes and 

resulting tests. 

NASA would use SeaSat-A, first satellite designed to study the world’s 

oceans, to see if microwave instruments scanning from space could provide scientific data useful to oceanographers, meteorologists, and commercial users of the seas. The spacecraft would send information on seasurface winds and temperatures, currents, wave heights, ice conditions, 

ocean topography, and coastal storm activity. 

NASA would attempt to demonstrate the feasibility of an operational 

multiple-satellite network to monitor oceans on a continuous near-realtime basis; twice daily, the system could provide ships at sea with detailed 

charts updated to show latest weather conditions, sea states, and 

hazards. Long-range use of the system could influence ship design, port 

development, and selection of sites for offshore facilities such as power 

plants. Other potential users of SeaSat data would include commercial 

fishermen, oil exploration firms, the Weather Service, pollution-control 

agencies, and the Coast Guard and Navy. (NASA Release 78-77; JPL 

Universe, May 26/78, 1) 

0 LeRC reported that the communications technology satellite Cts, 

world‘s most powerful comsat, had made possible quick diagnosis of 

burn and multiple-injury victims of a simulated catastrophe at the 

Baltimore/Washington International Airport. The Maryland Institute 

for Emergency Medical Services had conducted a disaster exercise called 

Emergency Management of an Airport Catastrophe as part of a 2-day 

seminar for physicians, interns, residents, nurses, and other health care 

professionals. The “disaster” (a simulated collision between a commercial airliner and a ground aviation fuel tanker) had tested airport and 

statewide emergency medical plans to aid the “injured,” including about 

180 crash victims. The scenario at the site included a breakdown in local 

communications, and an overload of local emergency medical facilities. 

A joint program between the U.S. and Canada, Cts operated on a new 

frequency at power levels. 10 to 20 times higher than those of other 

satellites; the higher broadcast power had allowed use of much smaller 

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MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

and far less expensive ground-receiving equipment. (Lewis News, May 

26/78, 2) 

JPL announced that more than 100 scientists from universities and 

corporations in the U.S. and Europe had attended its solar-probe science 

workshop at CalTech May 22-23 to discuss the proposed closest encounter with the sun. The proposed mission, being studied at JPL under 

NASA’s Office of Space Sciences, would launch a uniquely designed 

spacecraft in 1985 into an orbit 2 100 OOOkm (1.3 million mi) above the 

sun’s surface, arriving in 1989. Scientists had theorized that the sun 

probe would yield valuable new insights into solar physics, providing 

data on solar wind, solar particles, the solar magnetic field, and interplanetary dust. The workshop had reviewed new technologies needed for 

a spacecraft orbiting so close to the sun. JPL had begun studies of a new 

heat shield design, a high-powered telecommunications system with dual 

X- and X-band frequencies, new selenide-isotope power generators, and 

a drag-free spacecraft whose small rocket motors could counteract opposing external forces to keep the craft in correct solar orbit. (JPL 

Universe, May 26/78, 1) 

May 29: Av Wk reported that President Carter had signed a policy directive establishing a unified policy for all U.S. military and civilian space 

programs that would broaden the civilian role in both military and 

civilian areas. Civilian space programs had not previously benefited from 

military R&D because of security restrictions; the new policy would 

reduce restrictions on technology transfer from the military to the 

civilian sector. Civilian space projects and users of civilian space 

technology (such as the Dept. of Agriculture) that had not had access to 

data from military programs (such as imagery from U.S. photoreconnaissance spacecraft) would be able to use in the civilian sector data 

gathered by military spacecraft. Space programs on weather and climate, 

land use, and earth resources could now use military data where applicable. 

The directive had named presidential science adviser Frank Press to 

head a U.S. space program coordinating committee of users and suppliers of space data. The committee would oversee development and 

coordination of both military and civilian programs. The policy also attempted to identify and reduce stresses among the four major U.S. space 

programs: intelligence-community programs using spacecraft such as 

Lockheed’s “Big Bird” high-resolution reconnaissance satellite; DOD 

space programs using spacecraft such as the defense satellite communications system (Dscs) vehicles; civilian/government space programs using 

vehicles such as those flown by NASA and NOM; and civilian/privateprogram spacecraft users such as commercial communications-satellite 

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operators, and possibly future commercial remote-sensing companies. 

(Av Wk, May 29/78, 23) 

0 Av Wk reported that the Soviet Union had launched its 15th killersatellite test since 1968, less than a mo before the scheduled start of antisatellite-limitation talks with the U.S. The USSR had launched on May 

19 an interceptor, Cosmos 1009, toward a target, Cosmos 967, launched 

Dec. 13, 1977, which had also been target for the USSR’s 14th unsuccessful killer-satellite test Dec. 21, 1977. (AvWk, May 29/78, 23) 

May 30-June I: NASA launched Pioneer Venus I from Cape Canaveral 

at 9:13am EDT May 20 atop an Atlas Centaur rocket. It would launch a 

Venus lander toward the planet 3mO later, about Aug. 7. Pioneer Venus 

I, an orbiter, should reach its destination by Dec. 7, 1978; Pioneer Venus 

2, a multiprobe spacecraft, would arrive Sdays later after splitting into a 

bus and 4 atmospheric-entry probes 13 million km (8 million miles) and 

20days out from the planet. Most engineering systems and the interplanetary experiments had signaled normal operation. “Performance so 

far has been extremely good,” said Marshall Johnson, Venus-orbiter 

flight director at ARC. “Of course, we have 300 million miles and 6mo to 

go,” he added. At 9am PDT June 1 the spacecraft was 4 800 OOOkm 

(2 890 OOOmi) from earth and had traveled toward Venus at 16 580kph 

(10 296mph). Controllers would make the first midcourse correction 

June 8, changing velocity to 12.6kph (7.8mph) to aim the Pioneer at the 

exact point for Venus orbit insertion. 

Pioneer Venus I, a spin-stabilized spacecraft with its spin axis perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, consisted of a cylindrical thrust tube serving 

to transmit acceleration loads into the spacecraft; a 97.5in-diameter circular equipment shelf for mounting electronic units and scientific instruments; a 100in-diameter cylindrical substrate 48in long for mounting 

the solar-cell array; and a despun mast assembly supporting three antennas, including a high-gain antenna, A single-piece fitting that would remain on the Centaur at spacecraft separation would be the mechanical/ 

structural interface with the launch vehicle. Payload was 12 scientific instruments with a total weight of 1001b, using average power of 58watts 

and peak power of 85watts. The instruments could handle 75 redundant 

discrete commands and 6 redundant quantitative commands, as well as 

17 serial-digital, 24 bilevel, and 31 analog telemetry channels. Three of 

the instruments would use pyrotechnic firing pulses for various functions. The magnetometer had been put at the tip of a 15.7ft beam to 

isolate it from spacecraft magnetic fields. The Pioneer Venus I launch 

vehicle was an Atlas SLV3D Centaur D-14 131ft tall, weighing about 

328 6401b at liftoff. The nosecover protecting the spacecraft, a conical/ 

cylindrical fiberglass fairing about 29ft high attached to a 56in-high 

123 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

aluminum split barrel, had been designed for jettison early in the Centaur burn. 

NASA had launched Pioneer Venus I into an ascent trajectory varying 

from 3” to 18” south of due east during the first 15days; the 7mo flight to 

Venus would take the spacecraft more than halfway around the sun 

(through about ZOO’), covering about 480 million km (300 million mi). 

The orbiter would take 3mo longer for the trip than the multiprobe, and 

would have a slower speed upon arrival at Venus, requiring less power 

from the orbit-insertion motor. For the first 82 days after launch, 

Pioneer Venus I would fly outside the earth’s orbit. In Aug. it would 

return inside earth’s orbit and, during the last 4mo of the journey, would 

cross 42 million km (26 million mi) on a long curving trajectory between 

the orbits of the earth and Venus. The orbiter’s flight path would resemble that of the Venus multiprobe, to be launched a few days after the orbiter crossed back inside earth’s orbit. 

NASA had designed the flights to answer questions such as: Why had 

two planets with about the same mass, formed of similar materials and 

situated at comparable distances from the sun, evolved different atmospheres? Why had the surface of Venus baked in searing heat, while 

earth had climate friendly to life? Answers would aid in understanding 

the evolution of Venus and earth atmospheres and the forces affecting 

earth’s weather. The Pioneer Venus flights, first devoted to studying 

another planet’s atmosphere and weather on a global scale, would use the 

largest number of vehicles devoted to such studies and would make 

measurements at the greatest number of locations. The flights would 

record characteristics of Venus’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere, as 

well as of the lower atmosphere, and interactions of these regions with 

the solar wind (the continuous stream of ions and electrons flowing outward from the sun) and with the solar magnetic and electric fields. Circling the planet for at least 8Om0, the Pioneer Venus orbiter would make 

the longest observations of Venus to date and would be the first US. 

spacecraft to orbit the planet. 

A NASA-contractor team under KSC’s expendable vehicles directorate 

had been responsible for preparing and launching Pioneer Venus I. 

Hughes Aircraft Co. had built the spacecraft and radar mapper. (Ames 

Release 78-21; MOR 5-825-78-01 [prelaunch] May 15/78; [prelaunch 

summary] May 11/78; NASA Release 78-68; NASA press brief May 9/78; 

Marshall Star, May 17/78, 1; May 24/78, 1; Lewis News, May 26/78, 1; 

JSC Roundup. May 26/78, 1; DFRC X-Press, May 19/78, 2; C Trib, 

May 21/78, 1-3; W Post, May 21/78, A6; NYT, May 22/78, A10; W 

Star, May 21/78, A-2) 

May 31: MSFC reported that 17 scientists had signed contracts to develop materials-processing experiments, first to be conducted in the 

weightless environment of the Space Shuttle and Spacelab and partially 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

based on results of investigations during the Apollo, Skylab, ApolloSoyuz, and SPAR (space processing applications rocket) programs. 

Among the products of interest to the scientists were improved 

medicines; electrolyte materials for smaller, higher capacity batteries; 

and larger, more perfect crystals for electronic applications. The $12 

million program, covering a 5yr initial period, should produce significant 

scientific results for developing specific useful materials and products in 

space. NASA had aimed the programs at science and technology in both 

research and manufacturing activities leading to privately funded 

materials-processing in space, 

Five of the 17 scientists would have a chance to fly their experiments 

on an early orbital test of the Shuttle in a materials-experiments assembly 

(MEA) package that would not only produce valuable scientific data but 

would also define further experiments and hardware needed before the 

first extended flight on Spacelab or Space Shuttle. A Shuttle satellitedeployment mission would fly four of the MEA experiments again, along 

with five others; the fifth would fly again on the third Spacelab mission 

devoted almost exclusively to materials processing. Four more of the 

scientists would have experiments on this mission. (Marshall Star, May 

31/78, 1) 

NASA reported it had amended a contract with Rocketdyne Division 

of Rockwell Intl. Corp. to procure 9 Space Shuttle main engines, in addition to the 7 already on order. The amendment had authorized Rocketdyne to manufacture and test the 9 engines during a 180-day period in 

which prices would be negotiated. Estimated cost of the amendment had 

been $250 million. The 9 engines would support the Space Shuttle program through the first 4 orbiters approved for production; the present 

contract had covered engines for the first Space Shuttle flight scheduled 

for 1979 and had included 3 ground-test engines and 1 spare. (Marshall 

Star, May 31/78, 3) 

MSFC announced it had successfully completed at the National 

Parachute Range May 23 an airdrop test of the parachute system designed to recover Space Shuttle’s reusable solid-fuel rocket boosters 

after launch. This was the fourth drop test in which a dummy booster 

had been carried aloft beneath the right wing of a B-52 aircraft; the 

recovery system’s three main parachutes had all deployed, and all had 

functioned as expected. The dummy booster had landed virtually undamaged. NASA engineers planned two more airdrops before certifying 

the system for flight. (Marshall Star, May 31/78, 2) 

During May: The Natl. Aeronautic Assn. announced that a 15-member 

U.S. aerobatic team would travel in Aug. to Ceske Budejovice, 

Czechoslovakia, to compete in the ninth World Aerobatic Champion125 
MAY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

ships sanctioned by the Intl. Aeronautic Federation (FAI). The 1978 

U.S. team would be all male, as no woman had qualified in competitions 

to determine team members. Three-time U.S. national champion Leo 

Loudenslager, an American Airlines pilot, said, “We have high expectations. We have even better trained pilots and more sophisticated aircraft 

than we did in 1976, and we are more knowledgeable about what to expect.” The 1976 U.S. team had lost to the USSR the titles it had captured 

in France in 1972: top team, best male, and best female. Loudenslager 

would fly his experimental modified version of the 200hp Stephens Akro, 

the Laser 200. Henry Haigh might fly the modified Pitts Special biplane 

in which he had competed in 1976, basically the same design flown by the 

remainder of the team. The five aircraft for the competition, disassembled Aug. 8 at Kennedy Intl. Airport for transport to Frankfort, would 

be reassembled and flown to Peine near Braunschweig in West Germany 

for 2wk of intensive practice, then to Budejovice for the competition. 

The championship event would mark nearly two decades of U.S. 

participation in FAI-sanctioned precision aerobatic competitions, first 

held in 1960 in Czechoslovakia. The event also would commemorate 

two-thirds of a century since the first rkcorded aerobatic flight: Lt. Peter 

Nesterov of the Imperial Russian Air Service was credited with performing in 1913 the first inside loop in a Nieuport monoplane. NAA, the aero 

club representing the U.S., had sanctioned as the official team representing the U.S. at the world championships the group selected by the 

Aerobatic Club of America, which would also be the only team competing in Czechoslovakia without government financing. (NAA newsletter, May 78, 1) 

The USAF reported it had begun initial screening of sites in 10 states 

for the MX intercontinental ballistic-missile system. DOD officials said 

screening would identify and evaluate potential MX deployment sites in 

the continental U.S; the USAF would not make a selection, but rather 

evaluate candidate sites that could serve MX needs. Initial screening 

earlier in 1978 had identified 12 geologically suitable sites in 15 states; 

current studies would focus on Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, 

Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Final 

decision would require many additional studies, including environmental 

impact analyses. Deployment of an MX system could begin several yr 

after completion of its design and evaluation of environmental impacts. 

DOD officials had not decided whether to recommend ultimate deployment of the MX, which would depend on the outcome of development 

and analyses now under way and on approval by Congress. (AFSC 

Newsreview, May 78, 4) 

Aerospace engineers at AEDC reported they had precisely measured 

damage from a single particle of rain, snow, or dust-or one from a 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 MAY 

meteorite-striking the surface of a missile or spacecraft at speeds up to 

7000mph. Materials better able to protect missiles or spacecraft would 

result from this research and testing. The precision measurement used a 

2-stage launch “gun” to propel small projectiles (3.2in long, 1.625in 

diameter) through a track formed by four guide rails inside the range’s 

sealed tank, to simulate altitudes up to 46 OOOft. The projectile, tipped 

with a sample of nosecone material, passed through the track and was 

photographed as it collided with single particles of water, glass, or nylon. 

Previous tests had sent projectiles into clouds of small particles; 

however, engineers had arranged the single-particle impacts to get a more 

precise understanding of nosecone erosion and its effect on the accuracy 

of missile and spacecraft trajectories. Uneven or excessive erosion could 

cause a missile or spacecraft to miss an intended impact point or landing 

site. SAMSO had conducted the tests on a track 62ft long and 1.62511 in 

diameter, with a llOft recovery tube. (AFSC Newsreview, May 78, 5) 

The Dayton Air Fair had accelerated efforts to complete construction 

of a Wright B Flyer replica by the Apr. 30 fair date. Operation Tailwing, 

organized to ensure completion of the project, had had more than 400 

participants in the project during the past 2yr. As plans for the original 

plane no longer existed, the builders had used measurements of one of 

the two original remaining Wright B craft, replacing wood with 

aluminum tubing and steel. Computer studies had verified that propellers turning at lOOOrpm with a 210hp motor could maintain the 

original 17-to-I powedweight ratio. Modern safety standards had required modification of the airfoil design and gas tank. (NAA newsletter, 

May 78, 6) 

127 

June 

June 1: NASA announced it had appointed two U.S. scientists to an international group of five seeking to become payload specialists on the 

first Spacelab mission scheduled for late 1980. One American and one 

European would be selected to fly on the laboratory to operate the 

science instruments. The investigators, working group (IWG), composed 

of scientists representing all investigators, had selected Dr. Michael 

Lampton of Berkeley, Calif., space physicist at the Univ. of Calif., and 

Byron Lichtenberg of Natrick, Mass., vestibular researcher at the Mass. 

Inst. of Technology. The three payload specialists not chosen to fly 

would be backup specialists and would particpate in ground-based mission activities at Johnson Space Center. 

In a similar screening program, ESA, had selected its payload 

specialists from among thousands of applicants from its member states. 

The Spacelab 1 mission would investigate stratosphere and upper atmosphere physics, materials processing, space plasma physics, life 

sciences, astronomy, solar physics, earth observations, and space 

technology. Marshall Space Flight Center had been responsible for 

payload-specialists training as part of its overall management responsibility for the Spacelab mission; ESA’s Spacelab Payload Integration 

and Coordination in Europe (SPICE) had managed training in Europe. 

(NASA Release 78-76; JSC Roundup, June 1/78, 4; DRFC X-Press, 

June 1/78, 3) 

0 ESA announced it had organized a tour of several Mediterranean 

countries to demonstrate use of data from the Meteosat weather satellite. 

Tour objectives were to display Meteosat-system capabilities exhibited in 

the documents or images produced by the spacecraft; and to show potential users (meteorologists and others working on the study and management of earth’s natural resources) how to use the system. The system included a secondary data-user’s station (SDUS) mounted on a trailer 

towed by a vehicle containing a 2.5m-diameter receiving antenna and all 

equipment needed to receive analog signals in the WeFax (weatherfacsimile) format. Demonstrations had begun in Cairo and would continue in Athens, Tunis, and Algiers. ESA had planned similar 

demonstrations in other countries covered by Meteosat. (ESA Release 

June 1/78) 

June 2: Kennedy Space Center announced it had awarded Planning 

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JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Research Corporation (PRC), McLean, Va., a $23 626 661 contract extension for engineering support services. Under the 12-mo cost-plusfixed-fee extension, PRC would continue through May 19, 1979, its 

design engineering of Space Shuttle equipment and other tasks for KSC’s 

design-engineering directorate, including design of new and modified 

ground-support equipment and minor facilities-design support for all 

KSC programs. The Spaceport and Cape Canaveral in Fla., Vandenberg 

AFB, and Dryden Flight Research Center had received support under the 

contract. The extension brought the total contract amount since the 

original award in May 1974 to $97 306 220. (KSC Release 53-78) 

June 5: AvWk reported U.S. avionics manufacturers were sure that a 

NavStar receiver suitable for general aviation use, with features comparable to those of a VOR omnirange distance-measuring equipment and 

area-navigation computer, would be available for under $5000 by the late, 

1980s. AEL, Inc., which had designed a microwave landing receiver that 

could sell for less than $1500 through normal distribution channels, said 

the price of a NavStar receiver in 1978 dollars could eventually be as low 

as $2000. The role of NavStar (DOD’s satellite-based navigation system) 

in civilian aviation would depend on availability of inexpensive receivers 

at least as accurate as the present VOR/DME navaids. The potential 

market for civilian NavStar receivers had aroused considerable interest 

among civil-avionics manufacturers, resulting in Langley Research 

Center’s receiving a number of bids in a recent competition for a 

technology/design study of a low-cost NavStar receiver. Magnavox 

Government and Industrial Electronics Co. had won the contract. (AvWk, June 5/78, 91) 

June 6: Although the U.S. had planned to begin talks with the USSR 

June 7 on killer-satellite control, the Carter Administration had not 

clarified its own stance toward antisatellite systems, The Washington 

Star reported. The administration had asked the Soviets what they 

wanted to consider in the 10 days of Helsinki talks described as exploratory, partly as a guide to its own approach. The Kremlin had 

greeted coolly an earlier Carter proposal to ban antisatellite weapons, 

which it had been testing since 1967. As Defense Secretary Harold Brown 

said in Oct. 1977, the USSR already had missiles that could knock down 

U.S. reconnaissance satellites. The U.S. had studied killer-satellite 

- possibilities for yr without moving to develop them; when the USSR intensified its testing 2yr ago, U.S. interest increased, and officials opposed entering into an agreement that might hinder U.S. efforts to catch 

up with the Soviets. 

On March 30, 1977, Carter announced that the U.S. and the USSR 

would establish a study group to “develop an agreement whereby we 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

might forgo the development of a capability of destroying satellite 

observations vehicles, so that we can have an assured way to watch the 

Soviets [and] they can have an assured way of watching us from 

satellites” (the principal means of detecting noncompliance with strategic 

arms-control limitations). Yet, according to Brown’s statement, Oct. 

1977 was already too late for both sides to give up killer-satellite development. The Navy had been interested in killer-satellite capability because 

the USSR had begun to use ocean-surveillance satellites to locate 

American ships. The USSR had also tried to use satellites to detect 

submerged submarines, making missile-carrying submarines vulnerable 

and offering a threat to the undersea leg of the U.S. triad of nuclear 

deterrence. ( W Star, June 6/78, A-4) 

0 The British Interplanetary Society’s journal Spaceflight reported that 

NASA had developed a lunar- and planetary-sciences teaching aid, using 

actual samples of lunar material encased in a clear plastic disk, to 

educate both the earth-science student through the Aerospace Education 

Program and the museum visitor through the NASA exhibits program. 

The hand-held aid would permit looking‘at, or viewing through a 

microscope, both sides of a sample. Under an 8yr program for lunar- and 

planetary-science education, colleges had been able to borrow thinsection microscope slides of lunar material along with a teaching manual, 

and museums and fairs could display several dozen prepared lunar 

samples in cases. But until now, NASA had directed no program toward 

the secondary school earth-science student. 

The new school-use program which included a film on lunar science, 

the sample disk, workbook material, slides, and an audio cassette) would 

require considerable interaction between teacher and class. Student reaction to the museum program, which included a shorter sound-slide 

presentation and the disk, had been highly favorable. NASA expected to 

test museum-visitor reaction later in 1978 and to use about 2/31b of lunar 

materials to make 100 lunar-sample disks available for use in both programs. Apollo astronauts had brought back 843.5113 of lunar material 

during lunar explorations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (Sf, June 

6/78, 218) 

0 In recognition of the energy shortage and the need to conserve fuel, the 

Natl. Aeronautic Association announced it had established a new national aviation-record category for competition among U.S. airlines, Efficiency on a Commercial Air Route. NAA had administered for a 

number of yr the cwgory Speed on a Commercial Air Route, which had 

proved popular wid airlines and airline pilots. This category would continue, in conjunctidn with the new category, to measure efficiency over a 

route by the amount of fuel used according to the mileage and number of 

131 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

passengers carried. The measurement would result in an efficiency-index 

number, and the highest number over a given route would hold that particular record. To maintain equity, five categories had been based on 

maximum gross aircraft weight, and one open category would include all 

aircraft. (NAA newsletter, June 6/78) 

Spaceflight reported that British aerospace engineers had completed a 

study that might lead to construction in space of a huge power station 

capable of generating an electrical output equal to 5 to 10 power stations 

on earth. Britain’s BAe Dynamics Group, the European company most 

experienced in assembling space-solar arrays, had done a 6mo study 

under ESA contract of solar arrays to provide extra power for the European Spacelab and space platforms, as well as for a space power station. 

A pilot-unit space platform designed to operate in a low-earth or geostationary orbit would supply 1 to 2megawatts, as precursor of a power 

station in geostationary orbit with a power output of 5 to 10 gigawatts 

(5000 to 10 000megawatts). Europe had already demonstrated it was 

capable of significant contributions to large space power-plant technological development. (Sf, June 6/78, 219) 

June 7: The Marshall Star announced it had begun ground-vibration 

tests of the Space Shuttle, using a computerized shaker system turned on 

by engineers in instrumentation trailers located near the test stand. The 

shaker system, the Shuttle modal test and analysis system (SMTAAS), 

had applied vibration cycles and force inputs and had acquired response 

information from the vehicle suspended inside a tall stand and canted 9” 

from vertical. In upcoming months engineers would use SMTAAS to 

“tune in” to the vehicle’s various vibration modes, comparing responses 

to mathematical predictions. Results of the tests would allow engineers 

to verify predictions of Shuttle reaction to the much more severe vibrations expected during launch. (Marshall Star, June 7/78, 1; JSC Roundup, June9/78,1; DFRCX-Press, June 16/78,2; AvWk, June 19/78,75) 

* MSFC announced plans to begin thermal-vacuum testing of NASA’s 

second high-energy astronomy observatory, HEAO-By as part of a series 

of environmental tests on the satellite before scheduled launch in Nov. 

TRW Systems, Inc., HEAO prime contractor, would conduct the 2wklong test to simulate thermal-vacuum conditions in space. HEAO-B had 

already undergone a number of environmental tests, including acoustic 

and mechanical vibration tests. (Marshall Star, June 7/78, 1) 

0 A House subcommittee on space science and applications would hold 

panel discussions later in June on opportunities for international 

cooperation in space, the U.S. House Committee on Science and 

Technology announced. Moderated by Dr. Jerry Grey of the American 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the discussions would follow subcommittee hearings scheduled May 16, 17, and 18 on international space 

programs. Panelists reviewing the hearings would make recommendations on international cooperation for publication with the hearings. 

Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla), subcommittee chairman, said he favored use 

of the space environment “not only for our own nation but for the 

benefit of all mankind. All reasonable efforts should be made in the international community to assure that worldwide understanding and 

mutual commitments are developed to provide sound basis for these 

future efforts.” (U.S. House Committee on Sei and Tech Release, June 

7/78) 

June 9: NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Alan Lovelace, addressing 

members of LeRC’s launch directorate, had termed the launch-vehicle 

team “probably the best in the world. The record speaks for itself,” the 

Lewis News reported. Lovelace had visited LeRC to discuss the role of 

launch vehicles in NASA’s overall plans and to be briefed on other Lewis 

work.The expendable vehicles would make 13 launches through 1980, 

when the Space Transportation System (STS) would begin carrying 

payloads into space. Members of the STS team responsible for launching 

the Space Shuttle who would work with the LeRC launch-vehicle group 

“can learn team development, discipline, and mental rigor from the exemplary record of the Lewis team,” Lovelace said. (Lewis News, June 

9/78, 1) 

@ In its “Profile of a Mission,” Lewis News reported that a new era of 

opportunity in space had become available. The Space Transportation 

System (the Space Shuttle) would open the door to activities ranging 

from experiments in basic research on physical and chemical process, to 

using the weightlessness and vacuum of space as an environment for 

manufacturing products. LeRC’s Space Experiments Integration Office 

(SEIO) would help principal investigators proposing experiments that 

needed a space environment, by preventing duplication of effort and 

standardizing paperwork required for project approval. 

SEIO had management responsibility for one facility and four experiments, three of which were to fly on the long-duration exposure 

facility (LDEF) managed at LaRC: 

-The advanced photovoltaic experiment (APEX) on the LDEF consisted of three related approaches to investigating the solar spectrum and 

the effect of exposure to space on advanced photovoltaics and materials. 

For the first time, space-calibrated solar cells would be available as 

laboratory standards for assessing performance of new solar cells. 

-The space power experiment (SPEX) on the LDEF would evaluate the 

use of commercially available coplponents for a space-power system. 

With three LDEF trays carrying commercially available terrestrial solar 

133 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

cells and a fourth carrying commercial power electronics and batteries, 

successful operation of these components in space could significantly 

reduce costs of future space-power systems. 

-In the ion-beam texturing and surface-coating experiment on the 

LDEF, which would expose such surface samples to launch stress and 

near-earth space, ground tests before and after exposure would record 

the optical properties of the surface of each sample and compare 

durability of ion-beam-textured surfaces with that of state-of-the-art surfaces. If the ion-beam-textured surfaces exhibited higher durability, use 

of thermal-control coatings for spacecraft would increase. 

-The cryogenic fluid-management experiment (CFME), a payload attached to a Spacelab pallet, would obtain long-duration low-gravity 

engineering data on systems for storage/acquisition/supply of liquified 

gas (subcritical) to verify the possibility of successfully operating such a 

system in space. 

. The zero-gravity combustion facility (OGCF), a versatile reusable 

assembly that would permit a Spacelab experimenter to study combustion free of earth’s buoyancy forces, would carry out tests ranging from 

rapid burning to long-term smoldering of a variety of liquid, solid, and 

gaseous fuels. (Lewis News, June 9/78, 3) 

June 11: The Washington Post reported that the USAF had launched on 

June 10 from Cape Canaveral a Titan 3G rocket carrying a classified 

satellite cargo under unusually tight security; the rocket had operated in 

a normal Titan flight pattern. A USAF statement said only that a USAF 

industry team had participated, but not whether or not the launch had 

been successful. The Post said the security measures - with guard dogs 

and USAF combat personnel supplementing the usual guard force- had 

been heavier than for any previous launch at the Cape. Workers at the 

launch pad did not know what the payload was, and received passes only 

to the specific areas of their assigned duties. A Titan 3C, which could lift 

up to lotons into space, had been used several times to launch militaryintelligence satellites; it could also lift a series of satellites and drop each 

in various orbits. The most recent classified launch from the Cape had 

been on April 6, making this the shortest interval between classified missions in more than llyr. (W Post, June 11/78, A9) 

June 12: Av Wk reported that engineers suspected a hot-gas system leak 

in the sustainer engine of the USAF/General Dynamics Atlas F launch‘ 

vehicle as the cause of overtemperatures registered during recent DOD 

MavStar launches from Vandenberg AFB. Overtemperatures in the boattail area of the Atlas F (recorded in telemetry from the launches of 

NavStar I in Feb. and NavStar 2 in May) had forced postponement for at 

least lays of Seasat-A’s launch from Vandenberg. Rockwell Intl.’s 

Rocketdyne Div, had test-fired the engine to determine whether a leak in 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

the sustainer engine’s hot gas system was responsible, and to pinpoint the 

location of the leak. They also had hot-fired sustainer-engine gas 

generators as part of the investigation. General Dynamics had monitored 

aerodynamic flow around the Atlas F during flight for hot gas from the 

exhaust plume impinging on the boattail. 

Temperatures in the boattail had climbed earlier than expected during 

the NavStar launches; in one launch, that area had become hot enough to 

melt insulation on copper wires, causing failure of some onboard instruments and intermittent operation of others. NASA had increased insulation on some wire bundles in SeaSat-A’s Atlas F; more insulation 

around other rocket’s components might also be added. Additional instruments installed in the launch vehicle should obtain more details on 

temperature and pressure conditions in the boattail area during launch, 

program officials noted. They had not decided whether to postpone 

launch of the third NavStar satellite, planned for Aug. (AvWk, June 

12/78, 18) 

Av Wk reported MSFC’s intent to demonstrate within 5yr the 

assembly of a large space structure in low-earth orbit, to exploit Space 

Shuttle capability. MSFC had proposed assembling a 10 x 30m (33 x 

98ft) structure in space to demonstrate fabrication and assembly techniques, followed closely by a Space Shuttle mission to demonstrate 

deployment of a large antenna 50 to 200m (164 to 656ft) in diameter. The 

USAF Space and Missile System Organization (SAMSO) had also expressed interest in flying a Shuttle-based antenna-deployment test before 

1985. 

Although most U.S. aerospace companies had been working on structures in space, Grumman Aerospace Corp. had been in the forefront in 

large space-structures work; MSFC had awarded Grumman four of six 

contracts for large space structures development, and JSC had awarded 

it at least one significant contract. MSFC’s approach had been to define 

tools and procedures needed, and to evaluate whether such operations 

would be possible and to what degree. Most building-block study for 

large space structures had assumed the use of open-truss aluminum 

beams joined by diagonal and cross braces, with beam sections lm (3.2ft) 

wide and length varying according to mission. Grumman had just begun 

to demonstrate a beam-building machine [see Apr. 121. Both NASA and 

Grumman had been scheduled to evaluate the beams for deviations from 

specifications such as straightness or basic strength, and for individual 

subsystems such as the automatic welders used to affix the cross sections. 

In Sept. Grumman would transfer the beam-builder to MSFC for tests of 

beam manufacturing in a vacuum, to simulate space conditions. (Av Wk, 

June 12/78, 49) 

June 13: NASA announced it had appointed Robert AIlnutt associate 

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JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

deputy administrator. Allnutt, currently acting assistant general counsel 

for legislation at DOE, had been deputy assistant administrator for the 

Energy Research and Development Administration, responsible for program areas including procurement, personnel, labor relations, and construction. Following a career both inside and outside the executive 

branch, Allnutt in 1970 had been appointed associate general counsel to 

the congressionally-established Commission on Government Procurement to improve governmentwide policies, procedures, and legislation. 

In 1973 Allnutt had been appointed staff director and counsel of the 

Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, with jurisdiction 

over federal aerospace research and development activities including all 

NASA programs. 

NASA had named Isaac Gillam, IV, director of DFRC, where he had 

been acting director since the departure of David Scott in Nov. 1977; he 

had been deputy director there since Aug. 1977. Gillam, an associate 

fellow of the American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a 

senior member of the American Astronautical Society, had joined NASA 

Hq in 1963 as a resource-management specialist and had gone to DFRC 

in 1976 as director of Space Shuttle operations. Before joining NASA, 

Gillam had served in the USAF. 

Lt. Gen. Duward Crow (USAF-ret.), assistant to the deputy administrator of NASA, had announced plans to leave NASA Sept. 1, 

1978. Gen. Crow had begun NASA service in 1974 as assistant administrator for DOD and interagency affairs. In Oct. 1975 he had 

become associate deputy administrator of NASA, assuming his present 

duties following a reorganization in Nov. 1977. Crow had graduated in 

1941 from the U.S. Military Academy and had served in the ChinaBurma-India theatre of operations. He had become comptroller of the 

USAF in 1969 and was assistant vice chief of staff from Oct. 1973 to July 

1974 when he retired. He had received NASA’s Distinguished Service 

Medal for his work on the NASA launch vehicles program. (NASA anno 

June 13/78) 

0 KSC announced it had awarded Management Services, Inc., Huntsville, Ala. a $1 774 404 contract extension to operate the Spaceport’s 

component-refurbishment and chemical-analysis laboratories. The 1-yr 

extension, a cost-plus-award-fee contract set-aside for small business, 

had brought the total value of the original contract to $4 536 339. The 

basic contract, awarded in 1976 for 3yr with annual renewals, had been 

negotiated competitively. (KSC Release 58-78) 

June 14: NASA announced plans to launch Comstar-C on an Atlas Centaur launch vehicle for Comsat Qeneral, a subsidiary of ComSatCorp, 

on a fully reimbursable basis. NASAshad successfully launched Cornstar 

1A and Comstar B on May 13 and July 22, 1976, respectively; a fourth 

136 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

satellite being built would serve as a spare. KSC and its Expendable 

Vehicles Directorate would be responsible for preparing and launching 

the Atlas Centaur vehicles; a joint government-industry team would 

supervise all launch-vehicle and pad operations during countdown. The 

ETR, launch-vehicle contractor General Dynamics , and NASA would 

supply all personnel and equipment required to handle assembly, 

prelaunch checkout, and launch. 

The Comstar spacecrafts used by American Telephone and Telegraph 

Co. as part of its nationwide communications network had a capacity of 

more than 14 000 high-quality 2-way voice circuits. In geostationary orbit at 22 3OOmi altitude, they could provide reliable communications to 

the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Each Comstar carried centimeter-wave beacons to test higher frequency propagation at 19 and 28GHz, measuring the adverse effects of rainfall on signals 

at these frequencies, and leading to possible use of higher frequencies to 

future commercial comsat systems. Under an agreement with Comsat 

General, AT&T would lease the entire capacity of the three in-orbit 

Comstars; AT&T, which was building its own earth-station network, 

would integrate satellite communications with its terrestrial facilities to 

enhance its domestic U.S. services. (MOR M-491-201-78-01 [prelaunch 

summary] June 14/78; Spaceport News, June 23/78, 1) 

* MSFC reported that an invention by MSFC engineer Frank Nola to 

decrease energy consumed by electric motors [see May 21 had aroused the 

most public interest of any invention by the center. Accounts of the invention in Chemical and Engineering News and Industry Week drew 

more than 600 inquiries from readers. An item in Kiplinger Letter had 

produced about 1430 reader responses. George Porter, patent counsel in 

MSFC’s Office of Chief Counsel, said his office had received three applications for licenses to manufacture the power-factor controller. 

MSFC’s Technology Utilization Office also had received almost 300 letters and telephone calls. The invention had been tested in a textile mill in 

Alexander City, Ala. , using 3700 industrial sewing machines operated by 

half-horsepower 3-phase motors. One of the motors equipped with the 

power-factor controller had recorded a power saving of 33% over an 

identical motor without it. (Marshall Star, June 14/78, 2) 

June 15: NASA announced that its scientists had apparently discovered a 

way to account for the formation on earth 4 billion yr ago of nucleic 

acids, one of two essential “building blocks of life.” The discovery had 

followed earlier work by the same investigators (Dr. James Lawless, 

team leader at Ames Research Center; Dr. Edward Edelson, National 

Research Council fellow; and Lewis Manring, student at the Univ. of 

Santa Clara) that revealed a mechanism to explain the formation of the 

other critical building block, protein. Taken together, the findings 

131 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

answered a years-old question about the chemical evolution of life on 

earth. 

Theorists had wondered how the building blocks of life, randomly 

scattered on the shores of primitive oceans, could continuously congregate and organize over millions of yr in concentrations high enough to 

produce living organisms. The explanation was found in substances common on the shores of primitive oceans: metal clays. Dr. Lawless had 

mixed low-concentration solutions of DNA-forming nucleotides with 

commonplace metal clays, and found that most clays attracted them. 

One type of metal clay containing zinc had preferentially attracted all six 

of the building blocks of DNA and RNA nucleotides. Especially significant was that zinc clay had attracted 97% of the nucleotide 5-prime 

adenosine monophosphate (AMP), most common DNA building block 

in living systems and essential precursor to ATP, the basic energy 

molecule present in every life form. Zinc also had been a constituent of 

the enzyme DNA polymerase, which linked DNA building blocks 

(nucleotides) in living cells; enzymes had acted as super catalysts, 

drastically speeding many life processes. 

Dr. Lawless had done another experiment in which zinc clay had 

preferentially attracted the “5-prime” life-form over the “2-prime” and 

“3-prime” forms, the 5-prime form being the only one found in living 

organisms. The result had suggested a mechanism for incorporating this 

life-specific building block into the first DNA-like material. 

Scientists had previously applied electric discharges or other energy 

release to ammonia, methane, and water vapor to produce small quantities of basic life molecules; however, until Lawless’s discovery, they 

could not explain the behavior of life-building blocks in primordial 

water. Lawless’s group would also try to show metal clays linking 

nucleotides into polynucleotides, the next step toward forming a DNAlike molecule. (NASA Release 78-85) 

June Z6: Spacecraft controllers had completed a maneuver to move the 

planet-arrival point of Pioneer Venus Z from the southern hemisphere to 

an orbital-injection point 216mi above the northern hemisphere, DFRC 

X-Press reported. The course change also had slowed the spacecraft so 

that it could use the sun’s gravity to increase its speed. NASA expected 

that the flight-path change would allow Pioneer Venus Z to enter its 

planned long-oval orbit tilted 75” to the planet’s equator, with the closest 

approach 180mi from Venus, greatest distance 41 OOOmi. Pioneer Venus 

I had been scheduled to reach Venus in Dec. (DFRC X-Press, June 

16/78, 4; ARC Astrogram, June 1/78, 1) 

0 For 4yr, the LaRC Space Systems Div. and Flight Dynamics and Control Div. had analyzed the Space Shuttle orbiter’s entry guidance and 

control system at the request of JSC, the Langley Researcher reported. 

138 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

The system had been designed to control the orbiter from deorbit until 

landing, regulating both the aerodynamic surfaces and a reaction control 

system (RCS) composed of small rocket thrusters such as those on 

Apollo spacecraft, so that orbiter control had turned out to be a hybrid 

between aircraft and spacecraft control. Onboard computers could direct 

the entire orbiter entry without pilot input, or a pilot could take over 

control if necessary. 

A primary tool in the LaRC analysis had been a reentry flight 

dynamics simulator (RFDS) that permitted evaluation of the onboardcontrol system in both the automatic and the manual modes. It had also 

aided in developing alternate control systems to be used by the pilot if the 

main control system could not handle a situation. The simulator cockpit, 

though not an exact representation of the orbiter cockpit, did contain all 

the instruments and controls necessary to simulate flight: cathode-ray 

tubes (CRTs) showed displays identical to those on board, changing 

guidance information automatically as the orbiter entered various flight 

regimes. Push buttons and toggle switches would permit the pilot to take 

over any of the control functions. 

LaRC investigators had found that the s,ystem was dangerously sensitive to possible sensed angle-of-attack errors in the automatic mode at 

hypersonic speed. Shuttle astronaut Col. Henry Hartsfield had been 

unable to maintain vehicle control in the manual mode. This and other 

problems had led to major system redesign that had been tested at LaRC 

and found to solve the sensed angle-of-attack problem. Investigators had 

then begun work on other system problems. (Langley Researcher, June 

16/78, 1) 

0 Under a cooperative agreement between NASA and the U.S. Navy, a 

Navy experimental plane would undergo in-place tethered-flight testing 

at LaRC’s Impact Dynamics Research Facility, the Langley Researcher 

reported. The Navy’s XFV-12A plane built by Rockwell Intl.’s Columbus Aircraft Div. was the only one of its kind, a prototype V/STOL aircraft designed to demonstrate the thrust-augmented wing concept in 

supersonic flight. The tests at LaRC had tethered the XFV-12A to the 

gantry by a single cable from a powerful winch mounted 210ft above 

ground. Static restraint tests kept the aircraft in place at various heights 

by ground cables attached to the nose and main landing gear, as its 

engines operated at full power. Using results of the static tests, LaRC 

had put the XFV-12A through dynamic tests, permitting greater freedom 

of motion, as the aircraft was not restrained by ground cables. The upper 

tether cable automatically reeled in as the aircraft maneuvered within the 

gantry, and a shock absorber on the winch cable guarded the airplane 

against loads greater than 2g. (Langley Researcher, June 16/78, 6) 

* ESA announced that the full-scale propellant mockup of the European 

139 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

launcher Ariane (47m high, maximum diameter 3.8m) had left the integration site near Paris for its launch base at Kourou in French Guiana 

on the South American coast. Two Seine barges had transported three 

pressurized containers (one for each stage) to Le Havre, where they were 

loaded on a freighter bound for Cayenne. Tests of the mockup would 

begin in Aug. when the launcher would be erected on the pad for the first 

time. 

ESA had planned 3mo of tests to check general conditions for 

launcher assembly and vehicle compatibility with ground facilities, as 

well as fueling and draining facilities and systems both on the ground and 

on the vehicle. Centre National d‘gtudes Spatiales (CNES) would handle 

transport, assembly, and test operations. Aerospatiale , the system integrator, would evaluate dynamic and thermal behavior of the launcher 

under ambient climatic conditions in tests simulating vibrations like 

those at liftoff. ESA had planned four qualification launches between 

June 1979 and Oct. 1980 (ESA Release June 16/78) 

June 19: As the climax of a 4-mo attempt to stabilize and trim the orbital 

position of Skylab, a NASA team of engineers and controllers from JSC, 

MSFC, IBM, and three tracking stations (Bermuda; Madrid; and 

Goldstone, Calif.) had successfully put the space station in an orbital 

position they hoped would prolong its lifetime in space, JSC announced. 

Maneuvers in June had put the space station in an attitude intended to 

reduce atmospheric drag at its orbital height of 389km (242 statute mi). 

Assuming that the gyros continued to function, NASA hoped the new attitude would extend the orbital lifetime of Skylab by 6 to 12mo to late 

1979 or early 1980, giving NASA time to arrange an early Space Shuttle 

test flight to reboost Skylab into higher orbit, or deorbit it into a remote 

ocean area. 

Maneuvers had begun in Mar. when engineers and flight controllers at 

the Bermuda tracking station checked out Skylab systems and brought its 

batteries to a fully charged state. On June 8, flight controllers had turned 

on the dormant control-moment gyros in the Skylab attitude-control 

system. (The other part of the system, the thruster attitude-control 

system, would expel nitrogen gas through nozzles to move Skylab into 

various attitudes in its orbit.) A computer with various sensors to indicate position had controlled both systems. Although one gyro that 

failed during the last Skylab mission in 1974 could not be used, the other 

two gyros were activated and worked as expected. 

On June 9, controllers had commanded Skylab into a solar inertial attitude in which the spacecraft’s solar cells always faced the sun. On June 

1 1, they had maneuvered it into the desired “end-on velocity-vector” attitude, docking port forward and long axis parallel to the ground along 

the flight path. Skylab had remained in that position while engineers coni 40 
ASTRONAUTIC3 AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

tinued to monitor it, periodically transmitting minor corrections to the 

onboard computer controlling Skylab’s position. (JSC Release 78-25; 

Marshall Star, June 7/78,1; June 14/78,1; JSC Roundup, June 9/78,1; 

June 23/78, 1; DFRC X-Press, June 2/78, 2; June 30/78, 2; W Post, 

June 12/78, A-19)) 

* MSFC had designed a geostationary-orbit platform that could perform the functions of more than a dozen domestic communications and 

weather sqtellites serving North America, AvWk reported. As early as 

1986, NASA could use the Space Shuttle to assemble the platform, first 

U.S. large space structure in synchronous orbit. NASA would assemble 

the platform over the course of three Space Shuttle missions, using 

technology under design at MSFC and JSC. Analysis had predicted that 

over a platform’s IS-yr lifetime it could save 50% of the cost of operating 

communications and weather systems now scheduled to be placed in synchronous orbit during that period. . 

Institutional rather than technicd barriers had delayed completion of 

the platform project, but MSFC had reached agreement among common 

carriers and hardware manufacturers on the savings possible by using the 

platform. One concern of NASA planners was that grouping communications systems on a single platform would make them more 

vulnerable to Soviet attack; however, MSFC planned to issue an RFP of 

about $500 000 for major systems studies in FY79 and FY80 that would 

constitute Phase A evaluation of typical platform requirements; phase B 

would require about $1 million for FY80 and FY81 for system’design 

concepts. (Av Wk, June 19/78, 67) 

June 21: Preliminary results from a 6-yr experiment at the San Andreas 

fault in Calif. indicated that earth motion along the fault had accumulated at a rate much faster than expected, equivalent to 6 to 7m over 

the past 70yr, Goddard News reported. Measurements from tracking 

sites on both sides of the fault in the San Andreas Fault Experiment 

(SAFE) to determine gross p1e.e motion across the fault, and to 

demonstrate practical application of satellites and ground-based lasers in 

tracking relative motion of the earth’s upper plates, had produced 

satellite tracking data accurate within a few centimeters. Gross motion 

across the fault had provided a measure of strain energy as it accumulated, eventually to be released as an earthquake. Goddard 

Spaceflight Center’s pulsed laser ranging systems had measured earth 

motion by determining the range to a satellite, measuring the time required for a short pulse of intense light to travel from the laser to the 

satellite and back, and repeating the measurements once per second 

throughout each satellite pass. GSFC had performed the SAFE experiment in cooperation with a broad cross section of the scientific community. (Goddard News, June 21/78, 1) 

141 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

GSFC announced that, in a cooperative program with NOAA, its 

scientists had demonstrated the benefits of using short-interval fullresolution satellite images to monitor tropical cyclones. The agencies had 

undertaken the program to determine optimum resolution and image frequency for selecting winds to study, in forecasting tropical-cyclone intensity. Experiments using the Sms 2 to study hurricane Eloise and cyclone 

Caroline, and Goes I for tropical storms Belle and Holly, had taken scan 

images of the storms at varying resolutions and at a variety of time intervals. GSFC using its atmospheric and oceanographic information processing system (AOIPS) to examine the experimental data, had found that 

rapid-scan full-resolution visible images could best disclose the wind vectors. Scans taken every half or quarter hr had been inadequate, because 

many clouds of the type and size best suited for tracking did not persist 

or maintain their shape for as long as 30min. GSFC scientists also had 

found that the full-resolution visible images could improve cirrus tracking and could increase the number of trackable elements available from 

coarser-resolution infrared images. (Goddard News, June 21 /78, 4) 

0 MSFC reported that the American Inst. of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics had selected William Rice, deputy manager of Space Shuttle solid-fuel rockets at MSFC, to receive the Wyld propulsion award for 

“outstanding contributions to development of solid propellant rocket 

motors and superior leadership of aerospace technology programs.” 

AIAA had presented the award each year to reward work in development 

or application of rocket-propulsion systems. Rice would receive a medal 

and certificate at an awards luncheon during the AIAA/SAE Joint Propulsion Conference. (Marshall Star, June 21/78, 1) 

June 22: Nature magazine reported that NASA planned to draw more 

academic scientists into its R&D activities. NASA Administrator Robert 

Frosch had issued a policy statement that, in the future, academic scientists would conduct “a substantial proportion” of basic research in all 

agency disciplines. Non-NASA scientists would take a greater part in all 

NASA basic research, from conception and planning through programming and execution to interpretation of data and publication of research 

results. The statement said NASA would increase peer evaluation of 

research projects in order to guarantee high quality. NASA critics had 

charged that agency research, particularly in areas such as space applications, traditionally proceeded in-house with little outside evaluation. 

The new policy, partly in response to President Carter’s directive on increased government support of basic science, had aimed at counteracting 

the criticisms. After NASA’s divisions had prepared a list of proposed 

activities, NASA would publish a 5-yr plan based on these proposals and 

conforming to the new policy. The Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications, for instance, whose programs at the outset had been essential142 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 nrNE 

ly technical exercises to test and develop means of data acquisition, had 

realized its concern with science relatively late, so that scientists had had 

to do the best they could with the data available. Under the new system, 

NASA would ensure better working arrangements between scientists and 

instrument designers in deciding on the most useful data a satellite could 

collect, from both a scientific and a technical point of view. NASA 

stressed that greater use of academic scientists would improve quality 

control at the same time it would help to develop specific fields of scientific knowledge. (Nature, June 22/78, 586) 

* ESA announced plans to launch its scientific satellite Geos-2 in midJuly from ETRKape Canaveral on a Delta. This satellite would carry 

out the mission originally planned for Geos I, which a malfunctioning 

Delta injected into a transfer orbit too low to permit attaining its 

scheduled geostationary orbit. The European Space Operations Centre 

(ESOC) at Darmstadt, W. Germany, had fired Geos I’s apogee boost 

motor to inject it into a 12-hr elliptic orbit; after a yr in this orbit, results 

showed Geos I had made a significant contribution to the International 

Magnetospheric Study (IMS). 

Main mission objective of Geos-2 would be to learn more about 

responses of the near-earth environment to processes occurring in outer 

space. The satellite’s geostationary orbit would be in a region of earth’s 

magnetosphere where many dynamic processes causing magnetic and 

ionospheric disturbances were believed to develop. Geos-2’s exceptionally high real-time transmission rate (over lookilobits per sec), combined 

with a continuous link with ESA’s Odenwald ground station in Germany, 

would allow it to transmit about 100 times as much data as any previous 

European scientific satellite. Built as a qualification model at the same 

time as Geos I, the spacecraft had been converted into a high-quality 

flight model. Based on Geos I experience, only minor modifications were 

made in some Geos-2 subsystems. Geos-2’s very sensitive experiment 

payload had put severe constraints on spacecraft design in the areas of 

electromagnetic and chemical cleanliness: for example, a complex system 

of 8 booms deploying in orbit had to be designed to put the sensitive experiment detectors measuring minute variations in the magnetosphere as 

far as possible from any electrical interference generated by the satellite. 

Prime contractor for Geos-2 was British Aerospace Dynamics Group, 

under the direction of industries in 10 European countries. (ESA 

Release, June 22/78; ESA Newsletter, June 78, 4) 

June 23: NASA declared the launch from Cape Kennedy at 6:36pm Mar. 

31 of Intelsat IVA F-6, last of the Intelsat IVA series, to be successful. 

NASA had launched the satellite on an Atlas Centaur into the desired 

transfer orbit, thus meeting all objectives. Orbital parameters had been 

35 912km apogee, 548.8km perigee, 21 34” inclination. ComSatCorp 

143 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

had fired the apogee kick motor Apr. 1 to place the satellite in a neargeosynchronous orbit that would take it at mid-June to its final location 

at 63"E over the Indian Ocean. (MOR E-491-633-78-06 [postlaunch], 

June 23/78) 

0 NASA announced that the USAF Space and Missile Test Command at 

Vandenberg AFB would launch SeaSat-A on a modified Atlas-F booster 

no earlier than June 26. Anthony Calio, associate administrator for 

space and terrestrial applications, noted that NASA had established a 

launch date of May 17, 1978, early in the program, and had maintained it 

even when a resolicitation of bids became necessary because of adding a 

sensor to the original complement. The launch date had slipped from 

May 17 to June 10 because of a late start of thermal-vacuum testing, and 

subsequent replacement of a cracked alumina substrate in the power 

amplifier of the data link. The launch date had then slipped to June 24, 

then to June 26, because of Atlas-F booster problems [see June 121. The 

USAF had grounded the entire Atlas-F fleet for analysis and testing, but 

this had not delayed NASA's schedule, as rework had continued while 

the vehicle remained on the stand. (MOR E-655-78-01 [prelauch] June 

23/78; Spaceport News, June 23/78,1; Lewis News, June 23/78,1; Marshall Star, June 21/78, l; Langley Researcher, June 30/78, l; DFRC 

X-Press, June 16/78, 3; JPL Universe, June 23/78, 1; Nature, June 

22/78, 586) 

0 JSC researchers confirmed that a meteorite found by Dr. William 

Cassidy last winter on an expedition sponsored by NSF to the Antarctic 

[see Feb. 171 had proved to be one of the rarest types ever seen. A team 

of JSC meteorite experts using a binocular microscope had examined the 

fragment inside a lunar-type glove box flushed with dry nitrogen gas, and 

had sent an 0.4-gram sample to Dr. Brian Mason at the Smithsonian Institution for petrographic analysis of thin sections. 

The fragment, 4.5 to 4.6 billion yr old, had been a Type I1 carbonaceous chondrite (so called because of its high carbon content) of 

which only 15 other samples had been found, though not in so clean a 

condition or so well-preserved. These chondrites had been shown to contain amino acids of nonterrestrial origin, suggesting chemical formation 

of complex organic molecules in other regions of the solar system. The 

fragment would next be characterized, sectioned, and fully documented; 

subsequent analysis would then continue. (JSC Release 78-26; JSC 

Roundup, June 9/78, 1; June 23/78,1) 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced its engineers had delivered the 

first hardware- a thermal-model tape recorder - for the earth-orbiting 

infrared astronomical satellite IRAS to their counterparts in the 

Netherlands for testing, before delivering the actual flight recorder in 

144 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

1979 for installation in the IRAS satellite. A joint program by the U.S., 

the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, IRAS had been scheduled for 

launch from Vandenberg AFB in Feb. 1981, carrying a single experiment: a liquid-helium-cooled telescope to map the sky in infrared frequencies from 1 to 100microns. Infrared astronomers would use the data 

to construct an infrared sky map and a source catalog with roughly 1 

million sources. IRAS would make about 14 orbits of earth daily, but 

only two daily data-transmitting passes over the U.K. ground station. 

The tape recorder would therefore store all data for transmission every 

12hr. Odetics Corp. of Anaheim, Calif., had built the flight version of 

the tape recorder for shipment to the Netherlands, where the spacecraft 

was being built. After completing construction and installation of the 

telescope, IUS would return to the U.S. for tests at JPL. (JPL 

Universe, June 23/78, 1) 

LeRC reported that the center’s flight operations group had modified a 

C-131 aircraft for data collection in monitoring earth resources (such as 

ice thickness on the Great Lakes and heat losses from residential and 

commercial buildings) by adding an auxiliary power unit, an electrical 

power-distribution system, special equipment racks, radar antennas, and 

an inertial-navigation system. Lockheed had constructed special windows and other modifications in the belly of the aircraft to accommodate 

aerial cameras and an 1 1-channel multispectral scanner system. 

One of the C-131’s remote ‘sensing missions had condu&ed experiments over the Arctic ice ridge in the Beaufort and Bering Seas to see 

if airborne microwave instruments could obtain ice pressure information. LeRC had also used the aircraft to develop techniques and systems 

for reporting ice conditions in both fresh- and sea-ice areas for scientific 

and commercial applications and, cooperatively with EPA, to determine 

the effects of agricultural practices, strip mining, and land drainage. 

(LeRC News, June 23/78, 3) 

0 INTELSAT announced it had elected Canadian Marcel Perras chairman of its board of governors and Randolph Payne of Australia vice 

chairman. Perras, vice president of Teleglobe Canada, had been a 

member of the INTELSAT board since 1975. Payne, director of 

marketing for the Overseas Telecommunications Commission of 

Australia, had represented Australia on the INTELSAT board at various 

times since its formation in 1973. The board had also reappointed C. J. 

Steffen of Switzerland and N. Tuckwell of Australia as chairman and 

vice chairman, respectively, of the advisory committee on planning; and 

0. Schmeller of the FRG and K. Nosaka of Japan as chairman and vice 

chairman, respectively, of the advisory committee on technical matters. 

(INTELSAT Release 78-17-1) 

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JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

June 26: NASA announced that following the June 16 launch of Goes 3 

on a Delta and successful placement in transfer orbit, it had fired the 

apogee boost motor at 11:22pm EDT on the same date to produce an orbit with 35 469.1km perigee, 36 679.2km apogee, and 1.7" inclination. 

The drift had been too rapid, and an orbit-adjust maneuver June 20 had 

reduced it to 2 deg/day West. Goes 3 had been scheduled to arrive on station at 135"W July 16, 1978. All subsystems were on, except the visibleinfrared spin-scan radiometer (VISSR); the main power bus was normal. 

The S-band and UHF equipment had functioned properly, but NASA 

was checking specifics of gain, margin, and sensitivity. Although the 

space-environment monitor (SEM) subsystem had appeared satisfactory, 

it needed further testing for possible interference from other subsystems. 

NASA expected to check out Goes 3 and turn it over to NOAA for 

operation when it arrived at 135"W. 

Goes 3 would be a key element of the Global Weather Experiment, a 

worldwide yearlong accumulation of meteorological and oceanographic 

data that had begun in Dec. 1977. Largest international scientific experiment in history, with 140 nations participating, GWE was collecting information from sources that included nine satellites and scores of ships 

and aircraft, plus thousands of daily surface and upper-air observations 

by several hundred buoys distributed in the southern hemisphere and by 

conventional observation methods elsewhere. The experiment, part of 

the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) sponsored by the 

UN's World Meteorological Organization and the Intl. Council of Scientific Unions, would last through 1979 and provide scientists with millions 

of pieces of information from all over the world. Goes 3 would not only 

provide the major western-hemisphere coverage in the experiment, but 

would also determine how much important meteorological information 

could be gathered from a data-sparse area of the world centering on the 

Indian Ocean. 

Goes 3 was the last NOAA geostationary satellite NASA would launch 

on an expendable vehicle; three additional geostationary spacecraft 

planned for the next 8yr, beginning with GOES-D, would be launched on 

the Space Shuttle. (NASA Release 78-72; MOR E-612-78-01 [prelaunch 

summary] Apr 26/78, [postlaunch] June 26/78; NOAA Release 78-66) 

* INTELSAT reported that telecasts of the 1978 World Cup soccer 

championship won by Argentina had been the world's biggest satellite 

television event. Although final figures had not been tallied, officials 

estimated the World Cup had surpassed the popularity of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, measured by numbers and hours of international satellite 

telecasts. INTELSAT said the number of transmissions and receptions of 

the games had totaled 1364; with an average 2-hr transmission, total time 

given to transmissions and receptions worldwide was 2728hr. 

INTELSAT's operations center in Washington, D.C. had estimated an 

146 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

additional 400 transmissions of World Cup material, other than the actual games, accounting for another 700hr. The World Cup thus ran to 

more than 3400hr compared to the 1976 Olympics, which had held the 

previous record for satellite television time, more than 2600 transmissionheception hr. (INTELSAT Release 78-1 8-1) 

* General Electric Co. and Comsat General had presented to the convention of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association 

divergent views on whether DOD should have its own satellite communications systems or should lease service from other organizations, 

AvWk reported. Lee Farnham, vice president of General Electric, said 

his company, as a hardware manufacturer, would evaluate a number of 

considerations before entering into any lease arrangement. Joseph 

O’Conner, vice president for finance and administration of Comsat 

General, said his firm, as a telecommunications common carrier, had 

been structured to establish system and lease communications services. 

At the insistence of Congress, the Navy had issued an RFP for a 

Leasat system based on a leasing arrangement. Comsat General might 

submit two bids, one for a dedicated Navy*system and one for a system 

to serve merchant shipping as well as the Navy. GE’s Farnham said a 

manufacturer would have to consider (in addition to matters such as user 

requirements and hardware complexity) three factors in making a bid 

decision: financing, corporate impingement (corporate credit rating), 

and length of the lease. (AvWk, June 26/78, 23) 

June 27: NASA declared the Explorer 52 (Hawkeye) successful over its 

4-yr lifetime of investigating particles and fields in the earth’s polar 

magnetosphere out to large radial distances, measuring magnetic-field 

and plasma distributions in the solar winds, and detecting and measuring 

with direction-finders the Type I11 radio emissions from the outer solar 

corona. Performance of the spacecraft and instruments during the mission had been excellent; the only anomaly (in the optical-aspect system) 

had been compensated for with the data from the magnetometer system. 

The spacecraft had reentered the atmosphere Apr. 28, 1978. 

Results of Explorer 52 investigations had included direction-finding 

measurements showing intense kilometric radio emissions from the 

earth’s magnetosphere, generated at about 1 to 3 earth-radii altitude over 

the evening auroral zones, with detailed angular distributions of the 

radiation. Its observations over the South Pole had provided the first information on polarization of these kilometer wave emissions. These 

data, of special interest to the theoretical space-plasma physics community, had not been explained satisfactorily. Other high-latitude observations had shown an unusual concentration of both electrostatic and 

electromagnetic plasma-wave turbulence in the 1 to 3 earth-radii altitude 

range along auroral geomagnetic-field lines, which might be related to 

147 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

generation of terrestrial kilometric radiation. (MOR 5-863-74-04 

[postlaunch] June 27/78) 

NASA announced it had named Dr. Adrienne Timothy assistant 

associate administrator for space science, effective June 18. Dr. Timothy 

would be chief scientist in the Office of Space Science, representing that 

office to the scientific community as the focal point for obtaining, 

evaluating, and using its expertise in planning NASA space science programs. She would succeed Dr. S. Ichtiaque Rasool, who had been named 

chief scientist for NASA’s Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications. 

Timothy had begun her NASA career in 1974 as staff scientist for solar 

physics, Physics and Astronomy Programs, in the Office of Space 

Science. In 1975 she had become chief of the Solar Physics Branch, 

where she planned and directed U.S. space science research in the solar 

physics discipline; in 1977 she had become program manager for advanced programs and technology in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Division o€ 

the Office of Space Science. Before joining NASA, Timothy had been 

leader for the Apollo telescope-mount reduction and analysis system at 

the American Science and Engineering Corp. (NASA Release 78-91) 

0 NASA announced it had selected Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Space and 

Communications Group for negotiations leading to a contract for 

development of a Jupiter atmospheric-entry probe, part of the Galileo 

mission scheduled for launch in Jan. 1982. The mission would consist of 

an orbiter to circle the planet for 20mo as well as a probe to plunge into 

Jupiter’s atmosphere, surviving high-speed entry of 48km/sec 

(20 OOOmph) and a pressure of more than 10 earth atmospheres, to 

transmit information on Jupiter’s composition, structure, and cloud 

physics. Estimated cost of the contract would be about $35 million, most 

of the work to be performed under subcontract by the General Electric 

Co. Hughes would design, develop, and fabricate the protoflight probe, 

integrate the science instruments, and test and provide systems integration and launch support. Project Galileo had been named in honor of the 

16th-century Italian astronomer; it was a cooperative project of NASA’s 

JPL and ARC, with the Federal Republic of Germany providing the orbiter’s retropropulsion motor and some of the science instruments. 

(NASA Release 78-92) 

* Mstislav Keldysh, Soviet scientist and mathematician who had been 

spokesman for the USSR’s space program as head of the Soviet Academy 

of Sciences, died June 24 at the age of 67, the Washington Post reported. 

Soviet news agency Tass described the death as sudden. Dr. Michael 

DeBakey had traveled to the Soviet Union 5yr ago to operate on 

Keldysh’s circulatory system. 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

Recognized in a wide range of scientific and mathematical disciplines 

bearing on aviation and rocketry, Keldysh had proved his administrative 

ability by rising to the top of his country’s scientific establishment. President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences from 1961 to 1975, Keldysh had 

been not only USSR science spokesman but also a key figure in organizing and developing scientific research throughout the Soviet Union. He 

had won the Stalin Prize in 1942 for “The Theory of Calculating and 

Developing Methods of Reducing Various Types of Vibrations in Aircraft,” and in 1946 for “The Front-Wheel Shimmy of the Tricycle (Aircraft) Landing Gear.” In 1943, Keldysh had become head of a top secret 

aircraft-development institute with increasing administrative responsibilities. As head of the Academy of Sciences, he announced in Oct. 

1969, shortly after the U.S. had put men on the moon, that the USSR 

had abandoned plans to do likewise and would concentrate on putting 

manned space stations into orbit around the earth. He acknowledged 

that the Soviet Union had been debating space expenditures, and said, 

“My personal view is that, when a man has taken his first step into space, 

you cannot stop further development.” (WPost, June 27/78, B6; FBIS, 

Tass Intl Serv in Russian, June 26/78) a 

June 28: NASA declared the launch of two satellites had been successful, 

Japan’s direct broadcast satellite BSE and ESA’s orbital test satellite Ots 

2. A Delta had launched BSE into a synchronous transfer orbit from 

ETR at 5:Olpm EST Apr. 7, 1978, with 35 923km apogee, 166.lkm 

perigee, 27.2” inclination. Satellite performance was satisfactory during 

the transfer orbit. The boost motor had fired at 7:34pm EST Apr. 8 to 

move the satellite over the South Pacific to a position at approximately 

110”E above the equator south of Japan. All subsystem functional checks 

had indicated satisfactory satellite Gatus. 

NASA had launched Ots B (Ots 2 in orbit) at 6:59pm EDT May 11 

from ETR on a Delta into a synchronous transfer orbit with 35 946km 

apogee, 183.6km perigee, and 27.4” inclination. Satellite performance 

was satisfactory during the transfer orbit. The boost motor had fired at 

8am EDT May 13, to move the satellite over the South Atlantic to a position 10”E above the equator. All subsystem functional checks had indicated satisfactory satellite status. This was the first flight of the Delta 

3914 (Castor IV) configuration since failure of the OTS-A mission in 

Sept. 1977. (MOR M-492-212-78-01 [postlaunch] and M-492-210-78-02 

[postlaunch], both June 28/78) 

0 MSFC reported that a new 0.8km (0.5mi) antenna range had operated 

satisfactorily in testing Space Shuttle antennas for range safety. The new 

range had a 27.4m (9Oft) transmit tower and a 22.8m (70ft) model test 

tower. Antenna tests had begun in May on a 1/15-scale model of the 

149 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Space Shuttle orbiter, external tank, and two solid-fuel rocket boosters 

installed in the tower. 

Engineers had measured radiation patterns of the six range-safety 

antennas (two on the ET and two on each of the 2 SRBs) to ensure that a 

signal from the range-safety officer would reach the vehicle at any 

altitude. The range-safety antenna system was interconnected to immediately relay to the ET and both SRBs a destruct signal received on 

any one of the six antennas. Future Shuttle tests possibly requiring 

antenna-pattern measurements included the teleoperator retrieval 

system, 25kw power module, large space structures, and satellite power 

systems. (Marshall Star, June 28/78, 1) 

0 ESA reported it had agreed to sign June 30 the first license it had 

granted for use of one of its patents: the Italian electronics company 

SELI would get industrial-production rights to an ESA-patented computer terminal that could display two texts written in different alphabets 

side by side on the same screen. Under the agreement, SELI would have 

exclusive production rights to the terminal for 2yr. 

This invention was an example of iechnological spinoff from space activities put to practical use. One version of the system, the “Eurab terminal,” could display on the same screen one text in Arabic and another 

in Latin characters; although originally developed for Arabic, the system 

could display any alphabet. The Eurab terminal could show the Arabic 

alphabet with vowels included, making reading easier and unambiguous, 

and leading to wider use of Arabic in airports, banks, schools, television 

programs, or wherever display screens might be used. (ESA Release June 

28/78) 

0 The Chicago Tribune reported that the USSR had launched Soyuz 30 

June 27 carrying a Soviet commander, Pyotr Klimuk, and the world’s 

first Polish cosmonaut, Miroslaw Hermaszewski. Soyuz 30 would dock 

with the Salyut d/Soyuz 29 complex occupied since June 15 by Soviet 

cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenkov. Hermaszewski had been trained under the Soviet Union’s ongoing Intercosmos program to include eastern European countries in the Soviet 

space effort. 

The international crew would study the manufacture of semiconductor 

materials under conditions of weightlessness, assess the effect of 

spaceflight on humans, observe and photograph land and oceans, and 

carry out technical experiments with individual onboard systems and the 

orbital complex as a whole. (C Trib, June 28/78, 1-3; FBIS, Tass in 

English, June 28/78) 

The Washington Star reported that, despite Soviet efforts to suppress 

news of the incident, western sources said that in Feb. a Soviet 

150 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JUNE 

cosmonaut had narrowly avoided hurtling off to his death in space. The 

near-mishap had occurred during an unauthorized spacewalk by 

cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko on the record-breaking 96-day orbital flight 

aboard the Salyut 6 space station. Only cosmonaut Georgy Grechko had 

been slated to make a spacewalk; however, both cosmonauts had been 

wearing a new type of spacesuit that included a radio and an hr’s supply 

of oxygen, with only a simple tether to the spacecraft to keep the 

cosmonaut from drifting away. During the Grechko spacewalk, after the 

Salyut had passed over the western Pacific and was out of range of Soviet 

ground stations, Romanenko (who was untethered) had jumped out of 

the open hatch. Why he did this remained unknown, although a U.S. 

space official speculated he might have gotten “space rapture.” Grechko 

had been able to grab the end of Romanenko’s safety line just before it 

passed out of his reach. (W Star, June 28/78, A4) 

June 30: NASA announced it had selected Pan American World Airways, Inc., Aerospace Services Division, for negotiations leading to 

award of a contract for support services to facility operations at the National Space Technology Laboratories in Miss. Estimated cost over the 

first 3yr of the cost-plus-award-fee contract would be $32 million, with 

two 1-yr unpriced options. The contractor would operate and maintain 

NSTL real and installed property; manage supplies and equipment; and 

provide institutional, construction, and installation services. (NASA 

Release 78-94) 

DFRC announced it had begun a 2 wk flight program with Calspan 

Corp., using the total inflight simulator (TIFTS) to investigate advanced 

flight-control systems like those used in the Space Shuttle. TIFTS, a 

small twin-engine commercial passenger aircraft with the nose modified 

to include an additional pilot’s cockpit, was one of the largest airborne 

simulators equipped with variable stability and 6 deg of freedom. Test 

pilots had flown the simulated mission from the nose cockpit (with safety 

pilots in the normal cockpit) to improve understanding of the flying 

qualities of advanced craft when landing, especially in actual touchdown 

under differing pilot-task conditions. (DFRC X-Press, June 30/78, 2) 

0 On the day Soyuz 30 cosmonauts had docked with Salyut 6, the USSR 

had launched from Plesetsk another satellite in what was believed to be 

its early warning satellite system, followed by launch of a new spacemission series, Defense/Space Business Daily reported. On June 8 Tass 

had announced launch of eight Cosmos satellites (Cosmos 1013-1020) on 

one booster rocket. The early-warning spacecraft, Cosmos 1024, had 

gone into a Molniya (communications satellite) type of orbit with 

parameters of 630/40 Oookm, 62.8” inclination, and 12hr 6min period. It 

151 
JUNE ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

was the first of this type of mission launched in 1978; three had been 

launched in 1977. 

The USSR had initiated a new spacecraft-mission series with the 

launch of Cosmos 1025, put by observers in the general category of 

military monitors but following a regime used by special-research missions. This was the 45th Soviet space mission in 1978, three more than at 

this point in 1977. The 1978 missions had been 77% military (not including the four Soyuz missions that had direct military application in 

manned reconnaissance/surveillance). (D/SBD, June 30/78, 307; FBIS, 

Tass in English, June 8/78) 

During June: NASA reported that the Society of Automotive Engineers 

(SAE) had awarded Dr. Jose Chirivella and Wesley Menard of JPL the 

1977 Manly Memorial Award for the best annual paper dealing with 

engines. Dr. Chirivella, principal investigator of hydrogen enrichment in 

the aircraft piston-engine program, and Menard, supervisor of JPL’s 

combustion research group, had achieved fuel savings of 10 to 20% in 

aircraft piston engines. The aeronautical-propulsion division of NASA’s 

Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology had supported the 

research. (NASA Activities, June 78, 11) 

NASA’s annual procurement report for FY77 said that agency procurements had totaled $3532 million, a 10.2% increase over FY76. Approximately 80% of the net dollar value had been placed directly with 

business firms, 5% with educational and other nonprofit institutions or 

organizations, 8% with the Calif. Inst. of Technology (for operations 

conducted by or through JPL), and 6% with or through other government agencies. Of procurements placed by NASA with other government 

agencies, 90% had resulted in contracts with industry; about 48% of 

funds under JPL contracts had been for subcontracts with or purchases 

from business firms. Thus, about 90% of NASA’s procurement dollars 

had gone directly or indirectly to private industry. 

Of total direct awards to business firms, 73% were competitive procurements. Small business firms had received $255 million (only 9%) of 

these direct awards, since most of them were for large continuing R&D 

contracts for major systems and items of hardware, generally beyond the 

prime contractor capability of a small business. However, small business 

had received $119 million (22%) of the $522 million in new contracts 

worth $10 000 and more with business firms. Small business had also 

received $496 million (18%) of subcontract awards from 87 of NASA’s 

prime contractors, including $59.382 million awarded to minority small 

business enterprises. 

During 1977, 48 states and- Washington, D.C., had participated in 

NASA prime-contract awards of $10 000 and over, 83% of which were 

152 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. I978 JUNE 

placed in labor-surplus areas located in 41 states. Of NASA’s prime contractors, 86% reported their larger subcontract awards had gone to 1684 

different subcontractors in 45 states and Washington, D.C. (NASA procur rpt FY77) 

The USAF announced that SAMSO had awarded three cost-plusincentive contracts for the first three stages of the MX missile system. 

Systems-definition contracts had gone to Thiokol Corp.’s Wasatch Division, $4 635 775; Aerojet Solid Propulsion Co., $3 445 066 (stage two); 

and Hercules, Inc., $3 493 191 (stage three). A requirement to design explosive ordnance-initiation devices for stage separation and thrust termination accompanied the stage-one contract with Thiokol Corp. 

The 3-stage system-definition contracts called for studies, analyses, 

systems engineering, and missile/stage-interface definition to be completed by the end of 1978. Options for full-scale engineering development 

would include design, development, fabrication, and testing of hardware 

for the three stages. The MX program, a follow-on to the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile, was aimed at ensuring the survivability 

and effectiveness of U.S. ICBMs. (AFSC Newsreview, June 78, 3) 

0 The USAF announced it had issued to industry an RFP to investigate 

the feasibility of using widebody aircraft to supplement the B-52 as 

cruise-missile carriers. RFPs to aid in selecting one or more contractors 

had gone to Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas, all producers 

of domestic widebody transport aircraft. Proposals called for concepttradeoff and design studies to verify aircraft suitability for the carrier 

mission. The studies would include the prototype widebody aircraft built 

by Boeing and McDonnell Douglas for the advanced medium shorttakeoff-and-landing (STOL) transport program. Subsequent 

developmental efforts were in the planning stage. (AFSC Newsreview, 

June78, 16) 

* ESA reported that its council and communications satellites program 

board had unanimously approved at March and April meetings a first 

series of five operational Ariane launchers [see Apr. 241; two operational 

satellites for intra-European telephone, telegraph, and telex communications and television relay (ECS-1 and -2); and a second maritimecommunications satellite (Marots-B). Three of the five Ariane launchers 

would be financed from ESA programs for the scientific satellite Exosat 

(to be launched in early 198l), Marots-B (mid-1981), and ESC-1 (end of 

1981). One launcher had been earmarked for the French earth- 

. observation satellite SPOT; the fifth launcher was a reserve. 

The council also had agreed that a preliminary phase of the H-sat program should revise the proposed satellite design to require only minor 

153 
JUNE ASTRONAWICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

modifications (reducing the time scale) to go from an experimental 

“heavy” platform and payload to an operating direct-broadcast satellite. 

Other design modifications required to move from. a qualification to an 

operational Ariane had delayed the scheduled H-sat launch. @SA 

newsletter, June 78, 2) 

* The NAA newsletter reported that competition had become more intense for world-record flights in general aviation. Robert Mucklestone 

was attempting to regain his around the world title in Class C-1 .c Group 

1 (2204 to 38581b) that he had fist captured in 1975 from Dr. Alvin 

Marks, who in 1969 had beaten the record of British aviatrix Sheila 

Scott, who had traveled a 33 OOOmi route in 33 days with a total average 

speed of 36.15mph, including ground time. In 1977 Harold Benham and 

Jack Rood in a Beechcraft Bonanza Model 35 had bested Mucklestone’s 

record. Whatever the outcome of Mucklestone’s current flight, two Texans (William Wisner and Frank Haile) had planned a flight in July 1978 

to break the record in that class. (NAA newsletter, June 78, 7) 

Researcher William Bainbridge, who had polled registered voters in 

the Seattle area about attitudes on the space program, reported 

widespread enthusiasm for the knowledge and practical benefits derived 

from the space program, Astronautics and Aeronautics magazine said. 

Bainbridge had offered his poll sample a set of 49 statements as “not 

good,” “moderately good,” or “extremely good” reasons for continuing 

the space program: communications satellite benefits had received most 

positive responses; scientific knowledge attained through space exploration ranked second. The unconventional idea that ranked highest -communication with extraterrestrial intelligence - was approved by 53% of 

those polled. Bainbridge felt his results showed public appreciation of 

the practical and scientific results of the space program, and an anticipation of more benefits from new projects. (A&A, June 78, 60) 

154 
July 

July 2: The Washington Post reported that, as a result of belated 

discovery that Soviet radar in Europe would interfere with two NASA 

satellites scheduled for launch in 1980 to communicate with orbiting 

spacecraft, NASA would have to spend $100 million to redesign the 

satellites’ electronic systems. NASA had awarded Western Union a $786 

million contract to build six 50001b tracking and data-relay satellites 

(giant orbiting transmitters and receivers, each carrying two umbrellalike antennas weighing 501b apiece and unfurling in orbit to a diameter 

of 16.5ft) that would have replaced 60% of NASA ground-station antennas at an estimated saving of more than $100 million a yr. The 3-mo 

delay necessary for redesign was important because it would affect communications with the Space Shuttle; failure by the Pentagon and the CIA 

to warn NASA of the size and scope of Soviet communications interference in high-orbit regions had delayed ‘discovery of the problem. 

NASA testimony before two Senate committees revealed that Soviet 

radars from the Baltic Lo the Black Sea were emitting beams that converged high over the Atlantic and Pacific in the exact places NASA 

wanted to put the TDRS. Built to replace obsolete and expensive ground 

antennas at Ascension Island; Quito, Ecuador; Santiago, Chile; Guam; 

and Hawaii, the TDRS would improve communications by allowing 

ground controllers to talk to other satellites and Space Shuttle astronauts 

during more than 90% of each earth orbit. The electronic interference 

was said to have been unintentional. NASA “did not fully understand the 

environment and the effects it would have on the system,” said C. Curtis 

Johnson, satellite project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center. 

“Otherwise, we would have been more careful in the specifications of the 

system.” NASA had considered reducing the number of satellites on 

order from six to four to save $100 million, estimated cost of the 

redesign. (W Post, July 2/78, Al) 

July 5: NASA announced it had awarded Computer Sciences Corp., 

Falls Church, Va., a $40 million contract for 3yr of institutional computer systems engineering, development, and production operations 

work at Johnson Space Center. Under JSC management, the corporation would perform systems engineering and definition, applied software 

development, and computer systems and related facility planning and 

development for the central computing facility, as well as computer 

operations, equipment operations, job scheduling and processing, 

155 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

dispatch services, job quality control, maintenance of tape libraries, production coordination, and other related tasks for the facility and mission 

control center. (NASA Release 78-95; JSC Release 78-29) 

0 NASA announced it had awarded Martin Marietta Corp. a $32 million 

contract to develop a teleoperator retrieval system (TRS), a reusable TVequipped propulsive device for use by Space Shuttle crews to deliver, 

stabilize, and recover satellites in orbit. Managed by Marshall Space 

Flight Center, the contract called for delivery of flight hardware by 

September 1979. 

The TRS, a low-thrust box-like spacecraft operated from the Space 

Shuttle by remote control, could be carried in the orbiter cargo bay or 

left in space after completion of a mission for retrieval by the next Space 

Shuttle. First mission for the TRS would be a docking with Skylab to 

boost it into higher orbit or to aid a controlled reentry; a camera on the 

forward end of the TRS would permit an astronaut to maneuver it for 

rendezvous and docking, or for other purposes. The TRS would return 

to the Space Shuttle using its own guidance and control system. (NASA 

Release 78-96; Marshall Star, July 5/78, 1; DFRC X-Press, July 14/78, 

2; JSC Roundup, July 7/78, 1) 

Kennedy Space Center announced it had awarded Boeing Services International, Inc., a 1-yr $24 071 643 extension of a ground-systems operational contract, which brought the contract total to $67 143 012. Services 

by Boeing would include facility and utility operations and maintenance 

for propellants; cranes, doors, and platforms; elevators; services and 

shops; nondestructive evaluation; and life support and industrial operations. (KSC Release 63-78) 

MSFC reported that electronic simulators for Space Shuttle main 

engines, solid-fuel rocket boosters, and external tanks had passed tests 

designed to check the Shuttle’s avionics during simulated missions. JSC 

would conduct Shuttle-flight simulations in a Shuttle avionics integration 

laboratory (SAIL) for which MSFC engineers had provided a mated 

elements system. All Shuttle avionics would work together in the SAIL 

for the first time in Shuttle-flight simulation that would include part of 

the countdown under normal, abnormal, and certain failure conditions. 

(Marshall Star, July 5/78, 2) 

July 6: NASA reported that the 200kw experimental wind turbine 

generator managed by Lewis Research Center had completed more than 

lOOOhr of operation for DOE in Clayton, N.M., and was ready for 

checks to verify design-life estimates. Twin rotor blades and other 

dynamic components that had rotated at 40rpm or more (making more 

156 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

than a million cycles) since the machine began operating in January had 

developed loose or missing rivets and three small 3-in cracks, and would 

undergo more detailed inspection. Although DOE had shipped the 

blades to LeRC for detailed inspection and analysis of their wear and life 

potential, the turbine had continued operation using rotor blades from 

the prototype wind turbine operated on an experimental basis near Sandusky, Ohio, since October 1975. The first U.S. federally sponsored 

wind system to produce electricity directly for a community power 

system, the turbine had supplied more than 100 000kw-hr of electrical 

power to the Clayton-owned utility system. (NASA Release 78-97) 

0 NASA announced that 35 new astronaut candidates would report to 

JSC July 10 to begin 2yr of training and evaluation, including lifesupport and ejection-seat training for the T-38 aircraft, aircraft 

physiological training, and T-38 aircraft systems and operations. In 

Aug., the candidates would take the standard USAF water-survival 

course at Homestead AFB in Ha., and would attend lectures on 

spaceflight history, technical-assignment methods and procedures in the 

astronaut office, manned-spacecraft engineering, Space Shuttle program, aerodynamics, flight operations, and the many disciplines 

associated with preparing and operating vehicles in space. Astronauts, 

engineers, and JSC management and support contractors would be instructors and lecturers. (NASA Release 78-98; JSC Roundup, July 7/78, 

1; Marshall Star, July 19/78, 2) 

NASA announced that HiMAT (highly maneuverable aircraft 

technology), a flight-research vehicle to demonstrate advanced 

technologies for air superiority fighter concepts in the 199Os, would 

begin flight tests later in 1978. Engineering studies had indicated the 

HiMAT would have twice the turning capacity of the most maneuverable 

fighter, doing 8g turns at near-supersonic (6g turns at supersonic) speeds 

with no loss of speed or altitude. 

NASA and the USAF had jointly designed the craft to hasten the 

transfer of advances in aeronautical design from research laboratories 

into flight testing and to expand design techniques leading to quantum 

jumps in performance from one generation of aircraft to the next. 

HiMAT would exploit the "undirectional" stiffness of advanced composite materials in its wings and canard (small forward-wing) surfaces, 

layering the composite material to capitalize on natural bending of the 

wing/canard during flight. The HiMAT design would combine for the 

first time the lift of the wing and canard to enhance maneuverability and 

controllability. NASA would use the remotely-piloted technique it had 

developed, to fly HiMAT in high-risk flight testing without risking a test 

pilot and to reduce the costs of man-rating the aircraft. Built by 

157 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Rockwell Intl. Corp.’s Los Angeles Aircraft Division, HiMAT was one 

of NASA’s many aeronautics R&D efforts aimed at maintaining U.S. 

superiority in civil and military aviation. (NASA Release 78-99) 

July 7: NASA announced that a USAF launch team, members of the 

6595th Space Test Group, and a team from the Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory had launched NASA’s SeaSat-A at 6:12pm June 26 from 

Vandenberg AFB on a USAF/General Dynamics Atlas F/Lockheed 

Agena. Launch sequence went smoothly, with orbit insertions at launch 

plus 57min over the east coast of Africa. The satellite, called SeaSat I in 

orbit, had deployed its solar panels and communications and sensor 

antennas during the second and third orbits, and extended its synthetic 

aperture radar antenna about 1Opm. Spacecraft and booster problems 

had delayed launch since May; program officials had feared additional 

postponements would jeopardize the use of SeaSat I in oceanmonitoring programs to confirm the accuracy of the data it returned. 

Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. had built the spacecraft for NASA and 

integrated its sensors. (JPL Universe, July 7/78, 1) 

KSC reported that NASA’s 4-engine Jetstar aircraft had completed the 

second of five flight tests of the microwave scanning beam landing 

system (MSBLS) installed at the orbiter landing facility. The first three 

flight tests were to verify the system’s ability to land the unpowered 

Space Shuttle orbiter safely on the 15 00Oft runway; the final two would 

be to commission (declare operational) the runway-landing system. 

Because orbiters could approach KSC from either the northwest or 

southeast, the center would have to commission the system twice. Each 

of the first tests had taken about a week, as the Jetstar had made daily 

2hr passes over the runway at different altitudes and azimuths. Precision 

laser tracking system instrumentation that could locate an aircraft at 

distances of 14mi and altitudes of 100 to 20000ft had locked on to 

special instrumentation in the Jetstar, continuously tape recording the 

Jetstar’s position while the MSBLS tape recorded the same data. The 

tapes had been fed into a computer and compared; any positional errors 

in the MSBLS could then be corrected, aligning the landing system. 

(Spaceport News, July 7/78, 2) 

* JSC had updated data from the two Voyager spacecraft, the JSC 

Roundup reported, to show them on course and (as of July 1) 

425 875 313mi (Voyager I) and 408 475 978mi (Voyager 2) from earth. 

Voyager I was 152 714 714mi from Jupiter; Voyager2, 172 112 418mi; 

Voyager I was 651 024 027mi from Saturn; Voyager 2, 651 229 423mi. 

Voyager I would encounter Jupiteron March 5, 1979; Voyager2 on July 

9, 1979. JPL had been managing the Voyager program and providing 

158 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

deep-space tracking. Roundtrip communications had taken 76min for 

Voyager 1 and 72min for Voyager 2. (JSC Roundup, July 7/78, 4) 

July 10: The U.S. Navy had orbited two clusters of ocean-surveillance 

satellites to monitor radio communications and radar emissions from 

Soviet submarines and ships, and would add more spacecraft to expand 

coverage, Av Wk reported. The Navy had launched the first of the two 

clusters (each consisting of three small satellites in close proximity) in 

1976, the second cluster in 1977, all from Vandenberg AFB into nearcircular 63"-inclination orbits at 7OOmi altitudes. At that altitude, the 

spacecraft could receive signals from surface vessels more than 2000mi 

away. 

The Naval Research Laboratory, which in Dec. 1971 had buiIt and 

launched three spacecraft as a first demonstration of using multiple 

satellites to direction-find and eavesdrop on Soviet surface vessels and 

submarines, had designed and built the ocean-surveillance satellites 

(NOSS). Martin Marietta had begun production of additional satellites 

with E-Systems, Inc., as major subcontractor to provide the electronic 

intelligence (elint) receivers and antennas. For the future, the Navy had 

planned a more advanced spaceborne ocean-surveillance system using active radar to pinpoint the position of surface vessels, to be developed for 

launch by 1983 under a program called Clipper Bow. (AvWk, July 

10/78, 22) 

July 11: NASA announced it had selected General Electric Co., Valley 

Forge, Pa., to provide a Landsat-D mission system consisting of a flight 

segment (and backup) and a ground segment that would include a data 

management system, an operations control center, a Landsat assessment 

system, and a transportable ground station, all to be managed by GSFC. 

General Electric would fabricate the mission-unique equipment and integrate and test the flight segments, as well as build and install the 

ground segment in government facilities. Proposed cost of the cost-plusaward-fee contract was approximately $70.5 million, to cover the 

Landsat-D launch in late 1981 and early orbital operations. 

The thematic mapper (TM) in Landsat-D's instrument module, a 

second-generation 7-band multispectral scanning radiometer with a 

ground resolution of about 30m (looft), could extend the inventorying of 

earth resources. NASA had designed Landsat-D to improve activities 

such as crop forecasting, vegetation-health assessment, forest- and 

range-resources management, water-resources management, land-use 

mapping, and mineral exploration. (NASA Release 78-102) 

0 ESA announced that Europe's first comsat, Ots 2, had been operating 

correctly at the end of the 8-wk period covered by an insurance contract, 

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Ots 2, launched May 12 from Cape Canaveral, had reached its final station 35 900km above the equator at 10"E. Its six SHF antennas would 

cover western Europe, the Middle East, north Africa, the Azores, the 

Canary Islands, Madeira, and Iceland. Ots 2 had successfully exchanged 

signals with four large earth stations and eight stations equipped with 

small antennas. Checks and preliminary tests would continue until the 

end of September, when ESA would turn over Ots 2 to its users, national 

telecommunications administrations grouped in interim Eutelsat and 

European research units and centers. The experimental program would 

include telephone and television traffic-routing tests, propagation experiments, and a variety of experiments related to new comsat applications in 

Europe. (ESA Release July 11/78) 

July 12: NASA announced it had awarded TRW Defense and Space 

Systems Group, Redondo Beach, Calif., a contract for the materials 

processing in space (Spacelab) program at an estimated cost of approximately $9.7 million. TRW would be prime contractor for various 

aspects of the Materials Processing in Space (MPS). program, the contract to cover the initial phase of the MPS Spacelab-payloads project expected to begin in September 1978 and continue through 1981. TRW 

would develop (and support the operation of) specialized and general 

purpose payload systems that would accommodate a variety of different 

materials processing experiments during recurring earth orbit missions of 

the Space Shuttle. 

NASA had selected the first series of experiments from among proposals by scientists from the U.S. and numerous foreign countries. Objectives of the MPS program were to study new or improved processes 

and to identify candidate products of initial commercial interest: electronic materials, metals, glasses, and certain chemicals produced by 

processes such as crystal growth, solidification, and containerless processing. MSFC would manage operational aspects of the program. 

(NASA Release 78-103; ARC Astrogram, July 27/78, 3) 

Cosmonaut Valery Kubasov had spoken of the possibility of joint experimental flights by the USSR's Salyut-type orbital station and the U.S. 

Space Shuttle, according to a Tass report. Kubasov noted that such flights 

could use the joint approach and docking procedures worked out for the 

Apollo-Soyuz test project and tested during the joint Soviet-U.S. flight 

of Apollo and Soyuz in July 1975. A new agreement between the USSR 

and the U.S. on cooperation in space research for peaceful purposes had 

came into force the previous May, Kubasov pointed out. He added that 

millions of Americans, like the citizens of the USSR, had viewed the 

Soyuz-Apollo program as a display of goodwill by the two nations and 

the beginning of great cooperation between nations in space. 

However, Av Wk reported that any U.S. Space Shuttle/Soviet Salyut 

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space station joint mission was in deep trouble, if not already dead, 

because of increased U.S. concern over technology transfer to the Soviets 

and the current abrasive political climate between the two countries. A 

NSC interagency committee had reevaluated the entire joint mission 

idea, while U.S./Soviet discussions on the project were in limbo. The 

project probably would have been discussed during a planned 

technology-oriented trip to the USSR by presidential science adviserFrank Press, but the White House had canceled the trip in disapproval of 

the Soviet treatment of dissidents. (FBIS, Tass Intl Svc in Russian, July 

12/78; Av Wk, July 17/78, 13) 

July 13: KSC announced that for the third consecutive yr it would host 

about 80 of the nation’s leading atmospheric physicists and lightning 

researchers, representing 10 universities, 2 research laboratories, NOAA, 

and 3 other NASA centers, for a summer of combined study of the electrical properties of thunderstorms. The thunderstorm research international program (TRIP) would use the unique meteorological facilities 

built at KSC during the Apollo and Skylab programs, to assess 

thunderstorm hazards during launch operations and to monitor the high 

incidence of lightning-charged storms in the area during the summer. 

Participating investigators would bring their own instruments for many 

of the experiments; others would use KSC’s instruments, like the fieldmill system built for the Apollo program to detect buildup of electrical 

charges in overhead thunderclouds; KSC’s instrumented aircraft, 

NASA-6, used in previous lightning studies; and the lightning detection 

and ranging (LDAR) system that detected electrification in distant 

clouds. NOAA’s geosynchronous operational environmental satellite 

Goes would provide satellite photographs for the scientists. 

Experiments would include an evaluation of prototype lightning sensors as part of the scientific package to be flown in 1982 on the Jupiter 

orbiter probe designated Project Galileo, first planetary spacecraft to be 

carried aboard the Space Shuttle; a study of evolution of lightning activity; examination of the structure of waveforms radiated from lightning, 

for characteristics indicating storm type; obtaining from ground-based 

systems range and azimuth data on lightning strokes; monitoring of 

electric-field and corona (surface discharge of electricity) current over 

water; and study of the relationship of precipitation-formation development in thunderclouds to lightning occurrences. (KSC Release 66-78; 

Spaceport News, July 21/78, 1) 

@ Langley Research Center announced it had selected Frank Godfrey, 

contract specialist, to participate in the Education for Public Management program of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Univ. As part of a federal government effort to develop promising 

mid-careerists’ talents and abilities for management in the public sector, 

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JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

the program would train individuals identified by their agencies as having potential to assume increased responsibility for agency programs and 

policies. Godfrey, who had been at LaRC since 1974, had served as a 

loaned executive to the 1977 Peninsula United Fund Campaign and was 

on the adjunct faculty of St. Leo College. (LaRC Release 78-35) 

July 16: NOM announced it had developed a technique that would permit national weather centers around the world to monitor rainfall over 

agricultural areas, detect potential flash-flood situations, and predict 

rainfall from hurricanes while they were still at sea. Once the technique 

had been perfected, automated, and put into operation, scientists could 

use earth-orbiting satellites to estimate rainfall from convective 

(vertically-developed) clouds and to monitor the movement and distribution of precipitation over the planet’s entire surface. 

Dr. William Woodley and Cecilia Griffith of the Commerce Department’s National Hurricane and Experimental Meteorology Laboratory 

had adapted the experimental method from a similar system of 

estimating rainfall from convective< weather systems in the tropics, applied successfully during cloud-seeding experiments in southern Fla. The 

imagery had revealed a difference between young rain-producing clouds 

and dying rainless systems, both of which had appeared in bright shades 

on satellite images. NOAA’s National Weather Service had already made 

quasi-operational use of a similar method, applied by flood forecasters 

in predicting flood potential of approaching hurricanes and large 

thunderstorms. Woodley and Griffith had begun to use the technique in 

a real-time warning mode to detect potential flash flood situations. 

(NOAA Release 78-94) 

JuZy 17: Worldwide demand for international satellite communications 

would increase by more than 100% in the next 5yr, INTELSAT announced. The prediction came out of the fourth global telecommunications traffic meeting sponsored by INTELSAT, in which 172 international communications experts representing 93 telecommunications entities around the world participated. Purpose of the annual meeting was 

to forecast the demand for services provided by the INTELSAT system. 

INTELSAT would use these forecasts in configuring its system to meet 

user requirements with maximum efficiency, and in planning for future 

satellite systems. 

Preliminary figures from the meeting indicated that global demand for 

satellite-telecommunications capacity would increase from 14 105 

equivalent full-time simultaneous telephone circuits at year end 1978, to 

- 29 282 circuits by the end of 1982, up 108%. The biggest demand was 

expected to be from countries surrrounding the Atlantic Ocean, where 

communications traffic by satellite was expected to rise by 114% over the 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

next 5yr. Traffic in the Indian Ocean region was projected to increase by 

98070, and in the Pacific Ocean region by 91%. (INTELSAT Releases 

78-19-1, 78-20-1) 

July 18: NASA reported that the Netherlands astronomical satellite ANS 

had been a success, based on comparison of mission results and 

prelaunch objectives. ANS, an Explorer-class x-ray and ultraviolet mission, was a cooperative program of the U.S. and the Netherlands, the 

U.S. providing a 2-part medium-energy x-ray instrument and the Scout, 

launch vehicle, and the Netherlands providing the spacecraft, a 2-part 

soft x-ray instrument, and a small ultraviolet telescope with 

photometers. During its 2Omo lifetime, ANS had measured positions, 

spectra, and time variations of galactic and extragalactic x-ray sources in 

the energy range 2 to 15keV; defined upper limits of silicon-line emissions around 2keV; and transmitted more than 18 000 observations of 

about 4000 objects in the UV range 1500 to 3300A, in addition to other 

unexpected discoveries. 

Although an unplanned elliptical orbit had drastically limited the x-ray 

observations, particularly in the pointed mode, and had substantially increased the spacecraft’s exposure to radiation, the data it had returned 

were of a consistently high quality, except for partial failure of half the 

soft x-ray instrument lOmo after launch. ANS had reentered the atmosphere June 14, 1977. (NASA MOR S-875-74-01 [postlaunch] July 

18/76) 

NASA reported the US. Postal Service would commemorate the Viking missions to Mars by issuing a special postal stamp Thursday, July 20, 

second anniversary of the Viking I landing on Mars. LaRC and the 

Postal Service would hold a First Day of Issue ceremony in LaRC’s activity center, and Dr. Donald Hearth, center director, would buy the first 

stamp. Robert McCall, whose two large murals were on display in the 

National Air and Space Museum, had designed the stamp. 

NASA had launched two Viking spacecraft toward Mars in Aug. and 

Sept. 1975; the Viking I lander had touched down on Mars at 8:12am 

EDT July 20,1976, and the Viking 2 lander arrived at 659pm EDT Sept. 

3, 1976. During the mission ending in Nov. 1976, the landers and their 

partner, the orbiter spacecraft, had conducted experiments in 13 scientific disciplines. NASA had extended a reduced Viking mission until May 

1978‘to gather more information on Mars’s weather, seasonal variations, 

and soil characteristics; a further reduced mission controlled by JPL 

would continue through Feb. 1979. The Viking high-resolution 

photographs of the planet from the surface and from orbit, numbering 

more than 30 OOO, had mapped most of Mars and had provided scientists 

with valuable information. (NASA Release 78-106; LaRC Release 78-34; 

Langley Researcher, July 14/78, 1) 

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JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

July 19: NASA announced that the Egyptian government had reserved 

four small self-contained payloads to fly on the Space Shuttle in the 

1980s. At the NASA Hq ceremony July 13, Dr. Mohamed Shakar, 

minister of the embassy of Egypt, and Dr. Farouk El-Baz, research director for the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Earth and Planetary 

Studies, gave NASA officials a down payment to reserve Space Shuttle 

space. 

The payloads called “getaway specials,” each weighing no more than 

90kg (2001b) and no larger than 0.5m3 (5ft3), would fly on a spaceavailable basis. NASA had received payments for about 240 small 

payloads so far; purchasers had included private individuals, commercial 

firms, and foreign countries. The Egyptian purchase marked the first 

foreign educational use of a Shuttle payload, as Egyptian students would 

compete in proposing experiments for the Shuttle missions. Dr. El-Baz 

would direct evaluation of the proposals. (NASA Release 78-107) 

0 NASA announced that Dr. Robert Frosch, NASA administrator, and 

Professor S. Dhawan, secretary of the department of space and chairman of the Space Commission, Government of India, had signed a 

memorandum of understanding (MOU) July 18 for launch in 1981 from 

the Space Shuttle of India’s first national satellite, INSAT-1. INSAT-1, a 

multipurpose spacecraft in geostationary orbit, would provide India with 

domestic public telecommunications and direct TV broadcasting and 

meteorology services. This was the first MOU NASA had signed with a 

foreign government setting forth terms and conditions under which 

NASA would furnish Space Transportation System launch services on a 

reimbursable basis. (NASA Release 78-109) 

0 NASA announced that Puerto Rico’s governor Carlos Romero Barcelo 

and officials from DOE, NASA Hq, and LeRC would dedicate on July 

21 the federal government’s second large wind-turbine generator to be 

field-tested by a U.S. utility, on the small Puerto Rican island of 

Culebra. NASA had designed the turbine to produce 200kw of electric 

power in winds of 29 to 60kph (18 to 34mph) measured 9m (30ft) above 

ground level, equal to 20% of Culebra’s electric power, or about enough 

power for 150 island homes. The Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority would operate the wind turbine for 2yr, supplying test data to DOE 

and NASA on the performance and economics of large wind-energy 

systems used by utilities. Later in the yr NASA planned to begin operation of a much larger wind turbine rated at 2000kw (2mw) near Boone, 

N.C. (NASA Release 78-104; DOE Release R-78-266) 

* MSFC reported that a failure in Skylab’s power system July 9 had 

caused loss of vehicle attitude; MSFC engineers had reconfigured the 

164 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

system and fully charged the spacecraft’s batteries, before performing 

reorientation maneuvers to return it to its minimum-drag attitude. 

Skylab was now about 24Omi above earth, rolling at about 2 revolutions 

per hr. Engineers had planned maneuvers to stop the roll and place the 

vehicle first in a solar-inertial attitude, then in an end-on velocity vector 

that would encounter minimum atmospheric drag. However, Dr. Chris 

Kraft, JSC director, said in a copyrighted interview with the Dallas 

Morning News reported in the Washington Post: “I don’t believe Skylab 

is going to live long enough for us to get to it with the Space 

Shuttle . . . We’re going to have to live with the fact that Skylab is going 

to die a natural death.” (Marshall Star, July 19/78,1, July 12/78,1; JSC 

Roundup, July 21/78, 1; ARC Astrogram, July 13/78; 1; W Post, July 

21/78, A14) 

0 MSFC announced that ISEE-C, third and last of the spacecraft in a 

joint NASA/ESA study of near-earth environment, would be launched 

August 12. Isee I and 2 built by ESA had, since they were launched into 

looping trajectories Oct. 22, 1977, been gathering detailed data on solarwind particle control of the boundaries between earth space and interplanetary space. ISEE-C, at a point in a sun-centered orbit where 

gravitational forces of the earth and sun were exactly equal, should obtain nearly continuous data on the fluctuating solar wind and on special 

solar phenomena, about an hr before the solar particles would flow past 

the earth orbit of Isee I and 2. (Marshall Star, July 19/78, 4) 

0 GSFC reported that, after a 2mo search, its Copernicus satellite had 

located what might be a second invisible “black hole” in the universe. The 

satellite’s x-ray experiment had found in the constellation Scorpio what 

was believed to be a super dense collapsed star with such strong gravity 

that even light could not escape it. Scientists had declared it much more 

active and convincing than the first black hole found, Cygnus X-1. The 

new black hole was orbiting Scorpio V-861, a supergiant star visible with 

the naked eye from earth, and gradually siphoning away the larger star’s 

atmosphere. 

Tracing the massive amounts of x-rays released from matter 

emanating from the giant star had led scientists to what they called the 

”best black hole yet”; discovery had given astronomers their first opportunity to study a black hole as it passed behind its companion star and to 

test some of their black-hole theories. Glen Pollard, coinvestigator on 

the project, said he hoped the new information would define the shape of 

the cloud of stellar material sucked into the black hole, reveal the 

dynamics of such systems, and provide a measure of the quantity of 

material being removed at speeds up to 2 million mph. Studying black 

holes would extend astronomers’ knowledge of physics into areas not 

165 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

observable on earth-the physics of relativity. (Goddard News, July 

19/78, 1) 

GSFC reported it had held in June the first regional remote-sensing applications training course for state-related users of remote-sensing 

systems. Participants represented agencies implementing or planning 

facilities to use Landsat image data. Developed by Dr. Nicholas Short, 

GSFC training officer, and Henry Robinson of CSC, the course had offered comprehensive explanations of image processing offered by expert 

lecturers drawn from NASA, outside agencies, and contractors. (Goddard News, July 19/78, 4) 

GSFC reported that its astronomers believed they were about to confirm for the first time the presence of gold on a star, perhaps as much as 

100 billion tons of it. That amount of gold would indicate the star contained one part per 100 O00, comparable to earth’s one part per million. 

William Heacox and David Leckrone of GSFC’s Stellar and Cosmic 

Astronomy Branch had planned additional observations to confirm the 

first signs of gold on Kappa Cancrii, a blue-white star visible to the 

naked eye in the constellation Cancer. The astronomers had found the 

gold traces on the star while using the IUE satellite to look at chemically 

peculiar stars rich in exotic elements. (Goddard News, July 19/78, 2) 

GSFC reported that U.S., Canadian, and other scientists had been 

studying the first data from the applications Explorer mission Aem I, 

launched Apr. 26 into a polar orbit. Using information on day-night 

temperature changes, the scientists had examined black-and-white and 

false-color images for clues to the locations of mineral resources and to 

identify rock types, soil-moisture changes and plant stress, and the effects of urban heat islands. The first false-color image had covered a 

700km swath of the eastern U.S. from Cape Hatteras to Lake Ontario. 

The scientists would correlate data from Aem I, first of a series of 

satellites for NASA’s heat-capacity mapping mission, with data from 

other satellites, especially Landsat. (Goddard News, July 19/78, 2) 

0 INTELSAT reported it had commissioned a $23 500 study in 1979 of 

ionosphere effects on communications-satellite transmissions. Cable and 

Wireless Ltd., U.K., in Hong Kong would conduct the study to discover 

the cause and extent of, and remedy for, fluctuations in satellite-signal 

strength noted by earth stations near the equator. The fluctuations in the 

4 and 6GHz frequency band, believed to be caused by sunspot activity, 

had occurred only in the evenings, mainly during equinox periods, and 

had impaired international communications. As scientists had predicted 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

1979 would be a high sunspot-activity year, data gathered then would be 

vital to INTELSAT attempts to overcome such interference. 

(INTELSAT Release 78-21-1) 

July 20: NASA announced that an Ames Research Center scientific team 

led by Univ. of Chicago astronomer Dr. Richard Miller and ARC 

astrophysicist Dr. Bruce Smith had been pioneering in computer simulations of cosmic events that might alter traditional ideas of how galaxies 

formed, what shapes they assumed, and what happened when they collided. 

Using ARC’S ILLIAC IV, world’s most powerful computer, the researchers had recreated the birth and evolution of stars and galaxies, 

compressing 200 million yr into several hr of computer time and reducing 

the distance light traveled in 100 OOOyr to the length of a television 

screen, to witness galaxies colliding and gas clouds begetting embryonic I 

stars. Computer simulations had shown elliptical galaxies, thought to be 

oblate (shaped like a frisbee), to have a 3-dimensional prolate shape 

(oblong); astronomers had found observational evidence confirming the 

computer discovery. The researchers had instructed the computer to 

create swirling systems of 100 000 computer points, each point representing the mass of about 1 million suns to give the simulated galaxy a 

realistic total mass. Each point had felt the gravitational pull of its 

neighbors and had absorbed energy from exploding supernova. Furnishing a computer with the power of ILLIAC IV with a detailed program on formation and dynamics of galaxies had proved computer 

simulation to be a useful approach to explaining basic astrophysical 

processes. 

ARC scientists had filmed several computer simulations showing 

results unexpected in light of traditional astrophysical theories. For example, vast congregations of computer-generated stars had repeatedly 

evolved into stable prolate bars that rotated end over end to form what 

was perhaps the true shape of elliptical galaxies. When Miller and Smith 

had set two simulated 50 000-star galaxies on a collision course, the colliding galaxies had exhibited much greater interaction than was forecast. 

First they contracted, their gravitational fields reinforcing each other, 

then they bounced back in violent expansion flinging hundreds of stars 

out of the galaxies, resulting in merged galaxies containing considerably 

fewer stars. The two researchers’ most recent efforts had centered on 

tracing simulated masses of gas as they coalesced and formed stars. 

(NASA Release 78-108) 

0 NASA announced that officials from DOE?, the U.S. Forest Service, 

and LeRC had gathered atop a 2392m (7684ft) peak to dedicate a pioneer 

solar-cell-powered lookout tower that would demonstrate applications of 

167 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

solar-electric technology in the foreseeable future. The lookout tower, on 

Antelope Peak in Calif.% Lassen National Forest, would use a 300w 

solar-cell system to power the tower’s refrigerator, water pump, lights, 

radio-communications equipment, and small appliances used by a fire 

lookout who would live round the clock in the tower. Electricity 

generated by the solar cells would charge eighteen 12-volt lead/acid batteries, storing up to 36kw-hr of electric energy and supplying normal 

amounts of power for about a mo before needing recharge. 

The tower’s solar electric power system had been designed to operate 

continuously for a yr without fuel or periodic maintenance. LeRC had 

built the solar electric-power system funded by DOE through the Test 

and Applications Project managed by the center as part of DOE’S 

photovoltaic conversion program. LeRC officials noted that, at current 

prices, electricity generated by solar-cell power systems over a 20yr 

system life wouId cost about $1.75 per kw-hr, which compared favorably 

with the price of electricity generated in remote areas by alternate 

methods such as diesel generators. (NASA Release 78-1 10; DOE Release 

R-78-270) 

The Naval Research Laboratory reported that a team of its space 

scientists had evaluated two new types of far-ultraviolet electrographic 

cameras. Designed for possible use in the Space Shuttle program to investigate radiation spectra of distant stars and other celestial objects, 

both cameras would use alkaline halide photocathodes having more sensitivity in the vacuum ultraviolet below 2000A, and higher angular resolution, than cameras previously used. 

One camera, the internal-Schmidt-optics type, had an opaque 

photocathode like those NRL had used in previous sounding-rocket 

flights, in the lunar camera on the ApoZZo 16 mission, and on Skylab 4. 

The new camera, flown on two sounding-rocket missions, had on the 

first flight obtained far-ultraviolet images of the Andromeda galaxy and 

on the second had recorded the North America nebula in Cygnus and 

far-ultraviolet spectra of stars in Cygnus. The other camera developed by 

NRL, a more conventional end-window type, had a semitransparent 

photocathode intended for possible use at the focus of a large telescope 

or for making spectrographs on the Spacelab. This large-format electrographic camera, instead of using a phosphor screen, would record 

directly on film the electrons emitted by the photocathode, allowing better resolution and photometric accuracy. NASA had supported development of the electrographic cameras. (NRL Release July 20178) 

July 21: After 2 decades as key booster in NASA’s space program, the 

Atlas Centaur would remain “old reliable” for a variety of planetary, 

commercial, and military payloads launched in the 1980~~ Lewis News 

168 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

reported. The Centaur project had begun in November 1958 when 

DOD’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) awarded the first 

contract to General Dynamics after a study recommending a high-energy 

upper stage for the Atlas launch vehicle. Before the study, Pratt and 

Whitney had received a contract for a hydrogedoxygen rocket engine. 

Since Centaur would be the first space-launch vehicle to use a liquidhydrogen/liquid-oxygen combination, a whole new technoIogy was 

needed for handling materials, behavior, fabrication, and testing of 

liquid hydrogen in a space environment, not only to make Centaur a success but also because this fuel was to be used for the upcoming Apollo 

program. 

In 1958 Centaur received its first mission assignment, definition of 

geosynchronous orbit, and in 1960 its first deep-space mission. The creation of NASA resulted in transfer of the Centaur program from ARPA 

to NASA in July 1959. LeRC, which had pioneered research in hydrogen 

technology and had fired an experimental liquid-hydrogedliquidoxygen engine with 50001b thrust as early as 1953, received technical 

management of Centaur in 1962. The first successful flight of an Atlas 

Centaur in Nov. 1963 included the world’s, first inflight ignition of a 

hydrogen/oxygen rocket engine. Centaur had proved its operational 

capability in 1965 by successfully-injecting a dynamic model of the 

Surveyor spacecraft into a prescribed transfer trajectory, resulting in a 

simulated lunar-target impact. 

After successfully launching Surveyor (for the first soft landing on the 

moon) and Pioneer 11 (for a flyby of Jupiter), NASA in the mid-1960s 

had directed its efforts to integrating the Centaur with the USAF Titan 

booster. General Dynamics had built an improved Centaur adaptable to 

both the Atlas and the Titan boosters; Martin Marietta had conducted 

studies for NASA on integrating the Titan booster with an improved 

Centaur, and on modifications needed to the Titan launch facility at 

ETR . 

Atlas Centaur missions had included earth-orbiting spacecraft such as 

the applications technology satellite, orbiting astronomical observatories, Comstar, high-energy astronomical observatories, and FltSatCom. Atlas Centaur, used for future missions with HEAO and FltSatCorn spacecraft, would remain one of NASA’s prime launch vehicles until the Space Shuttle became fully operational. (Lewis News, July 21/78, 

1) 

In 1977 JPL scientists Donn Lynn and Jean Lorre had agreed to apply 

image-processing techniques to photographs of the Shroud of Turin, but 

had not expected their results to be published in newspapers and 

magazines around the world, JPL Universe reported. Their “mild 

curiosity” about the relic had introduced them to other American scien169 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

tists who proposed using a variety of sophisticated tests to determine how 

the shroud had been imprinted. The result was a trip planned for Oct. 

that would take Lynn and Lorre to Turin, where church authorities 

would allow the American science team an unprecedented 24hr examination of the shroud itself. 

Coinciding with a public exhibition and international conference 

about the shroud, the tests would entail infrared and ultraviolet 

photography as well as conventional black-and-white pictures. Other 

team members would make radiographic and x-ray fluorescence examinations, all to investigate the mechanical formation of the “negative” 

image on the cloth. The shroud had been stitched to a protective cloth 

backing, but the team would use a flexible optical instrument to examine 

the reverse side of the fragile fabric. Major business corporations, including photographic and electronic-equipment companies such as 

Polaroid, Kodak, and the Brooks Institute of Photography had agreed to 

lend or donate facilities and equipment for the tests. Lynn and Lorre expected to provide a quick-look report of their findings soon after the 

Turin exhibition. (JPL Universe, July 21/78, 1) 

The JSC Roundup printed a report by Dr. Thornton Page on his experiences during a friendship tour to China. Page, who had used the 

extreme-ultraviolet camera during Apollo missions, had asked for and 

received tours of Chinese astronomical facilities; in discussions with 

Chinese, Page learned most of their data were of western origin because 

of the limited quality and size of Chinese astronomical instruments. 

“They were delighted to have the books, reports, pamphlets, and photos 

I presented to them, particularly the NASA photos of Shuttle, Skylab in 

orbit, and ALSEP instruments deployed on the moon,” Page reported. 

“They spoke about the large telescope under construction in Nanking, 

and their own telescope planned for a mountain site some 30mi northeast 

of Peking. Drs. Pan How-Ren and Wu Jian-Cheng are calibrating x-ray 

and far-UV detectors for use on a satellite, but they could not tell me 

when it will fly.” 

The Chinese told Page that a major change in national policy on 

science had taken place during the past yr, since the “Gang of Four” had 

been removed from power. Chairman Hua had given high priority to 

science and technology and had set a goal of doubling by 1982 the 

number of scientists and technicians in China. “None of the scientists I 

met,” Page added, “was involved in teaching, and none of our other visits 

to universities and high schools in Manchuria or Shanghai revealed 

classroom instruction in these subjects.” (JSC Roundup, July 21/78, 1) 

JuZy 24: NASA announced that mission controllers at ARC had completed final course adjustments for the Pioneer II encounter with Saturn 

170 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

Sept. 1 , 1978. Controllers reported Pioneer I1 had locked on a trajectory 

that would bring it within 30 OOOkm (18 OOOmi) of the edge of Saturn’s 

outer ring; any approach closer to the ring edge would risk impact with 

fragments in the ring. Pioneer ZZ would then swing under the plane of 

the rings to a point 25 O00km (15 00Omi) from the planet’s surface. 

Without the course correction, Pioneer 11 would have flown by Saturn 

at a much greater distance (100 OOOkm or 6OOOOmi). Pioneer data 

transmitted to NASA tracking stations indicated the spacecraft had 

responded perfectly to a day-long series of commands calling for timed 

rocket thrusts to alter its trajectory. (NASA Release 78-113) 

NASA announced the ground breaking on a mountaintop near Boone, 

N.C. , for the largest US. wind-turbine generator, scheduled for completion later in 1978. Using two 30m (looft) steel rotor blades, the wind turbine would produce 2000kw of electric power in winds of about 39 to 

69km (24 to 40mi) per hr, enough to meet the needs of about 500 homes 

in and around Boone, and would be the largest system field-tested by a 

local utility under DOE’S wind-systems development program managed 

by LeRC. General Electric Co. had been prime contractor for the Boone 

machine, which would be field-tested by the Blue Ridge Electrical 

Membership Corp. (NASA Release 78-105; DOE Release R-78-270) 

0 LaRC announced that Dr. Peter Calder, project director for the Olympus 593 engine at Rolls Royce Ltd., Bristol, England, would be guest 

speaker at a center colloquium July 31 on “Engine Options for Supersonic Cruise Aircraft.” Calder would discuss the Olympus 593 twin-spool 

turbojet engine produced by Rolls Royce in Britain and SNECMA in 

France, which had powered the Concorde supersonic jet transport. He 

would describe development of the engine and its inlet, and discuss possible modifications to improve propulsion system operating efficiency and 

environmental acceptability. Concorde supersonic passenger service 

from Paris and London to South America and the Middle East had been 

under way for 2.5yr and to North America for 2yr, initially to 

Washington, D.C., and then to New York. (LaRC Release 78-38; 

Langley Researcher, July 28/78, 2) 

0 INTELSAT announced that it, together with the Federal Republic of 

Germany and Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB), had funded 

development of a new high-efficiency solar-power collector. MBB had 

built the lightweight deployable solar array for use in satellites of the 

1980s, with AEG Telefunken as subcontractor for solar cells on the array 

surface. ComSatCorp laboratories in Clarksburg, Md., had tested the array. Its weight, considerably less than that of current counterparts, 

would mean lower launch costs, and its higher power output would handle more onboard satellite electronics, enlarging its communications ca171 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

pacity. At the beginning of a 7yr mission, the new solar array would provide up to 38watts of power per kg of weight, a 300010 increase over current models. Incorporating thin solar cells in the design might increase 

output to 5Owatts of power per kg of weight. (INTELSAT Release 

78-22-1) 

July 26: NASA announced that 16 astronaut candidates from JSC, including six female candidates, would undergo three days of training 

beginning July 31 at the Homestead Air Force water survival school in 

Fla. [See July 6.1 More than half the 35 current candidates had had water 

survival training before entering the NASA program. Each day’s activities would include classroom lectures on water-survival techniques 

and actual training in the water. The candidates, wearing a tethered 

parachute harness, would slide down a wire from a tower and be towed 

through the water in the harness to practice parachute release. In other 

exercises, candidates towed aloft under a parasail canopy would land in 

the water to be picked up by boat. On the final plunge from the parasail 

into the water, candidates wearing full survival gear would be picked up 

from their liferaft by helicopter. The’Air Force’s 3613th Combat Crew 

training squadron operated the water survival school. (NASA Release 

78-1 14) 

NASA announced that effective July 30, the Legislative Affairs Division would become a separate organizational entity reporting to the Office of the Administrator. Experience over the past 8mo indicated that 

this change would better balance the workload of the senior staff and 

assure close and continuous liaison with the Legislative Branch. (NASA 

special anno July 26/78) 

0 MSFC announced it would issue a request for proposals (RFP) from 

industry to develop automatic welding for commercial use. Under 

NASA’s requirement to transfer new technology to industry, it had 

decided to seek a new line of equipment for economical and more productive automatic welding of single and double contour welds. 

Automotive, shipbuilding, small watercraft, military hardware, 

aerospace, petroleum, and solar heating and cooling industries might use 

such an invention. 

MSFC had built a prototype model with real-time computer-controlled 

weld speed and torch-angle control for making a variety of contour 

welds. The unit, equipped with digital closed-circuit television weldingtorch guidance, could automatically maintain accurate alignment of the 

torch and weld joint during welding. Values for up to 5 constantly changing variables, measured and fed into the control computer to maintain 

constant speed and angle, could easily make contour corrections at every 

millimeter of travel or more frequently. The contract would call for 

172 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. 1978 JULY 

development on a cost-sharing basis of commercial versions of the equipment for purchase and use by industry. MSFC’s computer-weld skate 

with automatic torch guidance had three patents, two on the computer 

control and one on the closed-circuit television guidance; NASA had applied for an additional patent for the entire computer-weld skate. These 

patents could be licensed by the successful proposers. (Marshall Star, 

July 26/78, 4) 

The Dept. of Transportation announced it had issued an updated plan 

for development of an all-weather landing system that would eventually 

replace the current instrument-landing system worldwide. An FAA update of the original 1971 national plan had set forth requirements for 

completing the prototype phase of the program, on terms set by the 

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) earlier in 1978. ICAO 

had selected the US ./Australian time-reference scanning-beam 

microwave-landing system (MLS) to be the standard approach-andlanding guidance system of the future. The updated “National Plan for 

Development of the Microwave Landing System” called for completion 

of the prototype development and testing phase by the end of 1982. The 

plan made allowance for a transition phase’between system development 

and implementation. Although it made no firm recommendations on implementation of the system, it described alternate strategies. Work had 

been completed on two of the six MLS configurations: a smallcommunity airport version and a basic system for most commercial 

fields. Still to be developed were the “expanded” version for large hub 

airports and various tactical systems for military use. 

DOT also had drafted a document for adoption by ICAO on Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) that would prescribe 

technical and operational characteristics of MLS to ensure quality of 

system performance and compatibility of air and ground components 

throughout the world. (FAA Release 63-78) 

Juh 27: NASA announced it would launch on or about Aug. 7 from 

Cape Canaveral the second of two Pioneer spacecraft designed for direct 

measurement of Venus’s dense searing atmosphere, making the 354 

million km (220 million mi) flight to Venus on an Atlas Centaur rocket. 

Pioneer/Venus 2, 20da out from Venus, would separate into five 

atmospheric-entry craft. Four would enter Venus’s atmosphere at points 

over the earth-facing hemisphere, two on the day side and two on the 

night side, and the fifth (the transporter bus) would enter on the day side. 

The Pioneer/Venus 2 entry probe would arrive five days after the 

Pioneer/Venus 1 orbiter. 

The 30 experiments aboard the two Pioneers, a coordinated observational system, would employ the most spacecraft (6) ever devoted to one 

planet. NASA has designed the flights to study atmosphere and weather 

173 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, ma 

on another planet on a global scale as an aid to understanding the forces 

driving earth weather, and had issued a fact sheet (NASA Release 78-100) 

giving details on the surface, atmosphere, and stratosphere of Venus. 

(NASA Release 78-101) 

NASA announced that JPL engineers had commanded the shutdown 

of the Viking 2 orbiter on July 25, when it ran out of attitude-control gas 

after circling Mars 706 times over the past 2 yr. Several mo previously, 

orbiter 2 had sprung a leak in one of its attitude-control jets; engineers 

had slowed the leak but could not stop it completely. Viking 2, launched, 

Sept. 9, 1975, had traveled more than 643 735 OOOkm (400 million mi) to 

reach Mars orbit Aug. 7, 1976. The Viking 2 lander, riding piggyback on 

the orbiter, had landed Sept. 3, 1976, in the Utopia Planitia region of 

Mars’s northern hemisphere. Plans called for the Viking I orbiter and 

both Viking landers, functioning well almost 3yr after launch, to operate 

through Feb. 1979. The Viking project would continue through Sept. 

1979 to allow scientists and engineers to process a backlog of data from 

the spacecraft and experiments. NASA had designed the orbiters to 

operate for 150da after planetary encqunter and to orbit for at least 50yr, 

in hopes of avoiding planetary contamination before they disintegrated. 

(NASA Release 78-1 15) 

0 The ARC Astrogram reported that the quiet short-haul research aircraft (QSRA) built by Boeing under a contract from NASA had actually 

been a remanufactured twin-engine C-8A “Buffalo” airplane originally 

produced by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada, Ltd., that had been 

modified as an experimental aircraft to demonstrate technology for quiet 

short-haul commercial airliners of the future with short takeoff and 

landing capabilities. 

The remodeled aircraft had made its first flight July 6 at Boeing Field, 

Seattle, Wash., strictly to test airworthiness and not for highperformance takeoffs or landings. A failure in the lateral stabilityaugmentation system (an automatic system to keep the plane stable during flight) had caused initial unsteadiness. The pilots had switched off 

the system and had flown the plane manually, correcting the motion 

problem. Pilot Tom Twiggs commented: “I didn’t see any surprises. The 

QSRA simulation at Ames was one of the most accurate simulations I’ve 

flown. The failure modes we studied in the simulator saved the day in the 

first few moments of the flight.” The plane had reached its maximum 

altitude of 6500ft and a speed of 120knots, maximum allowed by 

engineers for the first flight. 

As of July 20 the plane had completed 10 flights with a total flight time 

of 13hr, and had accomplished all the objectives of the Boeing pre-ferry 

flight program except the noise tests. NASA would expect the QSRA at 

174 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

ARC in early August. (ARC Astrograrn, July 27/78, 1; AvWk, July 

17/78, 21; Aerospace, Summer 78, 14) 

July 28: NASA announced that a water pump and grain mill powered by 

solar cells, which had been installed in a remote Upper Volta village, 

would soon relieve the daily burdens of the villagers. Under a 

cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International 

Development (AID) and NASA, AID would purchase all hardware including the solar-cell array, pump, and grinder; LeRC would provide 

manpower and technical management to design, fabricate, install, and 

monitor the system. The project would Iast about 1.5yr- several mo to 

set up the system and a yr for experimental operation, after which the 

villagers would run the system. 

Dr. Louis Rosenblum, chief of the Solar and Electrochemistry Division at LeRC, said the solar-cell power system, after its completion in 

Dec. 1978, would be able to supply a peak 1.8kw of electricity; the water 

pump would be able to supply 4542 liters (1200 gal) of water per day. 

“The grinder will cut the time required to produce flour from 2hr to 10 

minutes per family,” he added. The cooperative project, part of an AID 

study of energy needs in food systems of less developed countries, would 

also address the socioeconomic effects of reducing the time needed by the 

women to grind grain and draw water. “There are more than three 

million villages without electric power in the world today,” Dr. 

Rosenblum continued. “Success of the experiment in Upper Volta is 

bound to influence the direction taken by other developing countries to 

satisfy the pressing energy needs of their large rural populations.” 

(NASA Release 78-1 11) 

LaRC reported the White House had issued a statement July 20, 1978, 

commemorating the ninth anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon. 

The statement read in part: “Nine years ago today, the world paused to 

watch two brave men tread the surface of the moon. It was a moment 

without precedent in human experience, a moment when terrestrial life 

reached out to touch another world. It is a source of pride for us that 

those men were Americans. Today, the lunar surface is criss-crossed in a 

half dozen places with the footprints of American astronauts and implanted with a variety of American scientific instruments. 

“The Space Shuttle, our next major manned space project, will begin 

regular, routine economical operation in the early 1980s. . . . In the 

deeper reaches of space, we will continue to seek to expand our 

knowledge of the solar system and the universe of which we are a part. 

“As time and technology take us ever more deeply into the space age, it 

will continue to be our policy to conduct operations in space as required 

for our national well being and to support the right of all nations to do 

175 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

likewise. In so doing, we remain committed to the underlying principle of 

the exploration and use of space for peaceful purposes and for the 

benefit of all mankind.’’ (Langley Researcher, July 28/78, 2; Spaceport 

News, July 21/78, 1; JSC Roundup, July 21/78, 4; DFRC X-Press, July 

28/78, 4) 

July 30: The Washington Post reported that two Soviet cosmonauts had 

set a new Soviet space walk record on July 29, spending 125min outside 

the Salyut 6 space station testing a new type of suit and working with 

equipment mounted on the station, the accompanying Progress 2 supply 

ship, and their own Soyuz 29. Cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and 

Alexander Ivanchenkov were the fourth team of cosmonauts to successfully board the Salyut 6 after it reached orbit the previous Sept. 

Kovalenok had filmed his colleague during part of the walk and had 

relayed the color footage to earth for broadcast on Moscow television. 

Tass, the Soviet niws agency, said the two cosmonauts had dismantled 

instruments and devices on the outer shell of Salyut 6, loading them into 

Soyuz 29 for shipment to earth, and had mounted new instruments, including devices to measure radiation; on the Salyut. Instruments being 

returned had measured micrometeor activities and had aided research on 

“polymers, optical and other structural material used in building advance 

spacecraft,” Tass said. The report did not give details on the new space 

suit, but the cosmonauts said that their “semistiff” clothes were well 

designed and that life-support systems had been improved to facilitate 

movement and “better fixation outside the station.’’ 

U.S. experts had interpreted the length of the Salyut mission and 

repeated trips to it by Soviet cosmonauts as indicating a focus by the 

Soviet space program on building permanent orbital platforms. The 

report had not indicated when the two cosmonauts would return to 

earth, but observers suggested that the next mission (Soyuz 30) would 

probably come soon and would be a marathon stay aboard the orbiting 

station. (W Post, July 30/78, D10; FBIS, Tass in English, July 29/78) 

July 31: NASA announced that its scientists had been studying radar images of the North American coast from SeaSat I, first ocean-monitoring 

satellite, launched in June 1978 and now in a 805km (500mi) high polar 

orbit. One of the satellite’s five microwave sensors, a powerful radar 

system called a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), could take pictures of 

earth’s surface day or night under any weather conditions. A typical SAR 

operation had produced a continuous swath of radar images 97km 

(60mi) wide by 4023km (2500mi) long, extending from the Mexican west 

coast to Alaska. JPL, manager of the SeaSat project, had processed the 

images. Scientists from NASA, NOAA, the Natl. Environmental 

Satellite Service, the U.S. Navy, and USGS had received images of the 

176 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 JULY 

Arctic pack, the Gulf Stream off the east coast of Fla., the Caribbean 

off the northern coast of South America, and a hurricane zone near the 

Baja Calif. peninsula. (NASA Release 78-116) 

* ESA announced that its Geos 2 scientific satellite, launched from Cape 

Canaveral July 14 on a Delta and placed in geosynchronous orbit, had 

reached its scheduled position of 6"E on July 26. It would move during ' 

its 2-yr mission from its first operational station in geosynchronous orbit 

35 900km above the equator through a zone extending from 0" to 37"E 

longitude. On July 26 the European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, West Germany, had switched on the S-band telemetry system and 

the magnetometer experiment, and would switch on six other experiments progressively until the satellite had become fully operational in 

early Aug. All data confirmed that Gem 2 was functioning correctly. The 

satellite, positioned on magnetic field lines linked to the earth's auroral 

zones, could correlate those data with similar data acquired from 

associated auroral stations by ground-based balloon-borne or rocketborne instruments. NASA had expected that the Geos 2 data, correlated 

with data acquired by the already launched Isee A and B and by the 

ISEE-C scheduled for launch in Aug. 1978, would constitute a substantial body of information on the magnetosphere to aid in understanding 

the effect of interplanetary-space processes on the near-earth environment. (ESA Release July 31/78) 

During July: The USAF announced it had launched a second prototype' 

satellite in DOD's NavStar global-positioning system from SAMTEC 

facilities aboard an Atlas F booster. The 955-1b navigational satellite 

working with a previously orbited NavStar satellite would be part of the 

program's concept-validation phase using six satellites to test navigation 

capability at the Army's Yuma, Ariz., proving grounds. When fully 

Operational in the 1980s, the 24-satellite NavStar system would provide 

precise worldwide navigation coverage 24hr a day. The Air Force's 

global-satellite control network, managed by SAMSO's Air Force 

Satellite Control Facility at Sunnyvale, AFS, Calif., would track and 

operate the satellite. (AFSC Newsreview, July 78, 12) 

The USAF announced it had launched a third defense meteorological 

satellite from SAMTEC facilities at Vandenberg AFB on a Thor LV-2F 

into a near-polar sun-synchronous orbit 450mi above the earth. The 

1131-lb satellite carrying visual and infrared instruments had joined two 

previously orbited spacecraft in providing high-priority weather 

forecasts to U.S. military commanders worldwide. The sensors could 

detect and observe developing weather patterns and could track existing 

weather systems over remote areas, including oceans. 

After 30 days of on-orbit tests, the satellite was orbiting the earth every 

177 
JULY ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

IOlmin, scanning a 1841-mi area on each pass and photographing the entire earth over a 12-hr period. It would transmit weather imagery in real 

time to ground and shipborne terminals around the world for military 

purposes and, through NOAA, to the civilian community. (AFSC 

Newsreview, July 78, 1) 

0 NASA announced that President Jimmy Carter had presented 1977 

presidential management-improvement awards to Curtis Helms and 

Thomas Winstead of MSFC’s structures and propulsion laboratory. The 

two were among 7 awardees, selected from 50 nominees, honored at a 

May 23 ceremony in the White House rose garden. Their redesign of the 

Space Shuttle external fuel tank, eliminating one of the two vent-relief 

valves, had reduced vehicle weight and program costs while still meeting 

venting requirements and reliability standards, resulting in total savings 

of $5.6 million. (NASA Actv., July 78, 27) 

NASA announced it had made several personnel changes. Richard 

Smith, deputy director at MSFC, had been appointed deputy associate 

administrator for Space Transportation Systems at NASA Hq for a oneyr tour of duty beginning August 15. Smith had transferred to NASA in 

1960 from the rocket research and development team at the Army’s 

Redstone Arsenal, when the development operations division of the 

Army Ballistic Missile Agency had become the nucleus of MSFC. He had 

managed the Saturn program, and in January 1974 had become director 

of science and engineering, and later deputy director, of the center. 

Smith had received NASA’s exceptional service medal for contributions 

to the Apollo and Skylab programs as well as the medal for distinguished 

service. (NASA Release 78-1 12; NASA anno July 19/78) 

NASA had named Harry Sonnemann deputy chief engineer at Hq, 

responsible to the chief engineer for managing program assurance, safety 

and environmental health, and the systems engineering divisions. Sonnemann had come to NASA in October 1977 from the office of the assistant secretary of the Navy, where he was special assistant for electronics 

and special assistant for antisubmarine warfare and ocean control from 

1968 to 1977. He had also worked on the development of large seismic 

arrays as assistant director for field engineering in DOD’s Advanced 

Research Projects Agency’s nuclear test detection office from 1964 to 

1968. (NASA anno July 20/78) 

Scientist-astronaut Dr. Joseph Allen had returned to active flight 

status at JSC’s astronaut office. From August 1, 1975, until his return to 

JSC, Allen had been director of the office of legislative affairs at NASA 

Hq; and he would continue those duties in addition to his astronaut 

duties until a replacement was named. He had returned to JSC as senior 

scientist-astronaut and was eligible for selection as a Space Shuttle 

178 
ASTRONAWKS AND AERONAWICS, 1978 JULY 

crewman. NASA had selected Allen as a scientist-astronaut in 1967; he 

had completed the initial academic training and a 53-wk course in flight 

training at Vance AFB, Okla. Allen had been mission scientist as a 

member of the astronaut-support crew for Apollo 15, and was staff consultant on science and technology to the President’s Council on International Economic Policy. (NASA Release 78-33) 

NASA announced it had appointed Dr. Edward Ifft chief of international programs policy at Hq. Dr. Ifft had been a US. Foreign Service 

reserve officer, whose last assignment was director of the State Department’s office of disarmament and arms control. While a graduate student, Ifft spent a yr at Moscow State Univ. under a U.S.-USSR cultural 

exchange program doing research on low-temperature physics. He had 

joined the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1967; then 

moved to the State Department where he had been deputy chairman of 

the U.S. delegation that negotiated the threshold test-ban treaty in 

Moscow in 1974; and had participated in negotiations with the US. and 

USSR for a comprehensive test ban. (NASA Actv, July 78) 

0 The USAF announced that its ESD Spacetrack System Office had 

awarded Bunker Ram0 Corp. of Westlake Village, Calif., a $927 OOO 

contract for equipment to record and store data for military and 

authorized scientific use on all man-made objects orbiting the earth. The 

system would record information received at the Space Computational 

Center in NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colo., on positions 

of the thousands of satellites and other man-made objects in space, and 

would store the data for 3yr in the computer’s active file. It would also 

microfilm historical data for permanent storage. The new system had 

become necessary because the automatic data-processing equipment 

formerly used by the Aerospace Defense Command lacked permanentstorage capability and was very expensive to maintain. (AFSC 

Newsreview, July 78, 6) 

179 

PRECEDING PAGE BLANg NOT F&MED August 

August 1: NASA announced that Chimex Systems, Inc., of Houston, 

Tex., had received a subcontract from Computer Sciences Corp. of Falls 

Church, Va, for institutional computer systems engineering, development, and production operations under CSC's 5-yr contract with 

Johnson Space Center. A major factor of CSC's winning bid had been its 

plan to use minority subcontractors. This was the fourth NASA contract 

won by Chimex, which had provided keypunch services at Kennedy 

Space Center and engineering support and keypunch services at JSC. 

Under the new subcontract, Chimex would employ 40 people primarily 

in keypunch and data-distribution at an estimated $800 OOO per yr for 

5yr. NASA's minority business awards for the first half of N1978 had 

amounted to more than $37 million. (NASA Release 78-117) 

August 2: NASA announced it had turned over Goes 3, third in a series 

of geostationary operational environmental satellites, to NOAA for 

operation on July 5, 1978, at 16002. Since its launch on June 16, NASA 

engineers, wishing to ensure proper operation, had completed an orbital 

checkout in 14da, rather than the 30da required for previous GOES missions. Goddard Space Flight Center's newly installed GOES test 

laboratory had accelerated the schedule by allowing full-time communications with Goes 3; NOAA's Wallops Island facilities had been 

available to previous missions only part-time. Engineers had checked out 

Goes 3 during its westward drift at 2 deg/day toward its operational station at 135"W, and had corrected the orbit inclination from 1.7" to the 

specified 1 O. 

First pictures from the satellite's visible and infrared spin scan 

radiometer (VISSR), received June 29, were of excellent quality. More 

than 521b of the initial 801b load of hydrazine was available, enough for 

more than 5yr of normal operations. A minor problem with the 

spacecraft data-handling equipment that relayed signals from earthbased data-collection platforms had resulted from interference by VHF 

equipment that could be turned off during most of the mission. The 

GOES laboratory would monitor operating data to detect any variables 

in performance with time and temperatures. 

NASA had advised NOAA that, based on preliminary analyses, the 

spacecraft was operating under no constraints. According to NOAA's 

plan for final positioning, Goes 3 would replace Goes I at 135"W 

longitude; the Indian Ocean, would support the 

181 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

first bal experiment. (NASA M E4 12-78-01 [postlaunch] 

Aug 2/78) 

* Marshall Space Flight Center announced that its test engineers had 

successfully completed the first series of live firing tests of the Space 

Shuttle’s main propulsion system, with all major test objectives achieved. 

Rockwell Intl.’s Space Systems Group had conducted the test program 

for MSFC. The test version of the propulsion system had consisted of 

three Shuttle main engines mounted on an orbiter aft fuselage with a 

flight-type external propellant tank and associated systems. The first 

series of tests (Apr. 21, May 19, June 15, and July 7, 1978) had recorded 

systems operation at thrust levels from 70 to 90% of rated power for up 

to 100 sec; in the final test, engines were throttled down from 90% thrust 

to 70% and back up to 90%. The Shuttle would be the first spacecraft 

with throttleable engines. 

After removal from the test stand at the National Space Technology 

Laboratories, the engines had undergone modifications for more firings 

later in 1978. The next test series would run the engine at rated power 

levels (357 Wlb, or 1.67 million newtons at sea level) for more than the 

500sec required to lift the Shuttle into orbit. Results of the tests would 

verify main propulsion system operation before the first manned orbital 

flight, scheduled for 1979. (Marshall Star, Aug 2/78, 1) 

Work on the dynamics test stand had begun in preparation for the next 

series of Space Shuttle mated vertical ground-vibration tests, the Marshall Star reported. After changing the configuration inside the stand 

from a “hanging” to a “sitting” arrangement, MSFC engineers would adjust the platform to fit the vehicle assembly. For the first series of tests, 

the orbiter and external tank had been suspended from airbags on a truss 

structure high in the stand, to simulate the Shuttle after the solid-fuel 

rocket booster had separated and before external-tank jettison. The next 

series would test the ET, orbiter, and SRBs mated in the liftoff configuration; the SRBs would sit on a hydrodynamic support system to 

which the ET and orbiter had been attached. (Marshall Star, Aug 2/78, 

1) 

* GSFC reported that faint radio signals from 10 million billion miles 

away had given astronomers the first proof of the long suspected 

presence of methane (natural gas) outside the solar system. GSFC scientists had detected methane in three locations in deep space: in the Orion 

A gas cloud, and in gas clouds surrounding variable star RX Boo and 

carbon star IRC-plus-10216. “The discovery of methane outside our 

solar system could have an important role in determining the abundance 

of carbon in the universe,” noted Dr. Kenneth Fox. Methane previously 

182 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

had been detected only on earth, Jupiter, Saturn, and its moon Titan, 

Neptune, and Uranus. 

The discovery had confirmed that interstellar space was not devoid of 

complicated molecules; at least 40 types of molecules had been 

discovered suspended in space, and the findings were important to scientists attempting to construct models of the origin of the universe. Dr. Fox 

and Dr. Donald Jennings had searched for the emissions for 3yr using 

radiotelescopes at the Natl. Radio Astronomy Observatory at Greenbank, W. Va., Kitt Peak near Tucson, Ariz., and the Haystack observatory in Westford, Mass. “Methane now appears to be one of the most 

abundant molecules in Orion A, perhaps second only to hydrogen [the 

most abundant gas in the cosmos] ,” Fox said. Fox and Jennings planned 

to map the source of methane in Orion A for its precise location and any 

associations with stars or stellar objects. (Goddard News, Aug 2/78, 2) 

* Aerospace Daily reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee 

had approved a FY79 $4.359 billion funding bill for NASA, restoring 

$20.5 million cut by the House-passed companion bill for development 

of the teleoperator retrieval system (TRS) that NASA wanted to use to 

reboost or deorbit Skylab. Although the full committee had not changed 

the NASA funding approved earlier by Sen. William Proxmire’s subcommittee, Proxmire indicated that when the omnibus bill reached the Senate 

floor, he would move to cut all its appropriations, including NASA’s, by 

2%. The Appropriations Committee also approved a second FY78 supplemental funding bill that included $58.7 million to acquire the Navy’s 

fourth and fifth Fleet Satellite Communications (FltSatCom) spacecraft, 

as recommended earlier by the defense subcommittee. (AD, Aug 2/78, 

138) 

August 3: NASA announced it had selected astronauts Dr. Owen Garriott and Dr. Robert Parker to be mission specialists on Spacelab 1, 

scheduled for launch in the early 1980s. Mission specialists would be 

responsible for coordinating Shuttle operations with the commander and 

pilot in crew-activity planning, consumables usage, and Space Transportation Systems/payload interaction. The 7-day flight, a verification test 

of Spacelab systems and Spacelab/orbiter interfaces, would carry about 

40 experiments. Garriott had flown on the second manned Skylab mission of 56da duration; Parker had been a mission scientist and spacecraft 

communicator during Apollo and Skylab. 

Ten European nations, under agreements with the European Space 

Agency, had developed and financed Spacelab to be carried in the cargo 

bay of the Space Shuttle orbiter as a fully furnished laboratory adapted 

to the weightless environment of space and pressurized for working 

without space suits. Spacelab 1 would also carry two payload specialists 

183 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

(one European and one U.S. citizen) to operate the scientific instruments. (NASA Release 78-121; JSC Release 78-34; JSC Roundup, 

Aug 4/78, 1; Marshall Star. Aug 16/78,3; DSFC X-Press, Aug 11/78,3; 

Langley Researcher, Aug 11/78, 1) 

9 NASA announced it had selected four American scientists as payload 

specialists for the second Spacelab mission scheduled for 1981. Those 

named were Dr. Loren Acton of Palo Alto, Calif., research scientist at 

Lockheed’s Palo Alto research laboratory; Dr. John-David Bartoe of 

Reston, Va., and Dr. Dianne Prim of Alexandria, Va., both research 

physicists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory; and Dr. George 

Simon of Alamagordo, N.M., chief of the solar-research branch at the 

Air Force Geophysics Laboratory. Two of these scientists would be 

selected to fly on the orbiting space laboratory to operate the scientific 

experiments; the others would operate ground-based experiment equipment and assist the two in orbit. The Spacelab investigators’ working 

group (IWG), composed of Spacelab 2 principal investigators having experiments on the mission, had selected the payload specialists, each of 

whom was a coinvestigator on one 6f the Spacelab 2 experiments. 

Scientific investigations on Spacelab 2 would be mainly in astronomy, 

high-energy astrophysics, and solar-physics research, with others in 

plasma physics, botany, medicine, and space technology. Scientific instruments on the mission would be “pallet only,” exposed to space in the 

orbiter’s cargo bay. Payload specialists would operate their experiment 

equipment from the orbiter’s crew cabin, working in shifts to run the experiments 24hr a day. The mission, scheduled for launch from KSC in 

198 1 , would orbit at an altitude of about 450km (250mi) for 9da. MSFC 

had been responsible for payload specialist training as part of its overall 

management responsibility for the Spacelab mission. (NASA Release 

78-120; Marshall Star, Aug 9/78, 1) 

August 4: MSFC announced it had awarded Lockheed Missiles and 

Space Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., a $2.7 million contract to develop and 

deliver a flight experiment solar-array wing by May 1980 for a Shuttle 

orbital-flight test in November 1980. A significant step toward producing 

large amounts of power in space, the experiment would verify structural 

and dynamic characteristics of the solar-array wing, its electrical performance, and the readiness cif solar-array technology for planetary- and 

earth-orbit Space Shuttle payload applications. 

The solar-array wing, 32m (l05ft) long and 4m (13.5ft) wide, folded 

and stored in the Space Shuttle’s cargo bay during launch, would be extended to its full length and retracted several times during the test. When 

its solar-cell surface was fully extended, the array’s 82 panels would convert solar energy to produce 12.5kw of power. Only three of the panels 

would be active in the experiment flight. The experimental solar-array 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

wing would demonstrate that use of this technology to augment power 

for Shuttle and Spacelab could extend mission duration and lead to a 

solar-electric propulsion stage. Solar-array technology could have 

Shuttle-payload applications such as space-base construction, satellite 

power systems, and power modules. NASA’s Office of Aeronautics and 

Space Technology had directed the solar-array program as part of a 

larger effort on solar-electric propulsion for long-term missions in the 

mid-1980s. (NASA Release 78-123; Marshall Star, Aug 9/78, 1; DSFC 

X-Press, Aug 11/78, 4; AID, Aug 4/78, 151; AvWk, Aug 14/78, 15) 

0 Lewis Research Center announced that NASA Hq had joined with theFAA in sponsoring a 3-day aircraft-icing workshop at LeRC. Attended 

by more than 100 icing specialists, sensor/instrument specialists, 

meteorologists, and weather forecasters, the workshop had assessed 

fixed-wing and rotocraft operational icing, evaluated facilities requirements for R&D and certification, examined ways to improve icing 

forecasts, and identified gaps in knowledge of aeronautical icing. LeRC 

had been chosen for the conference because its research on icing in the 

1940s and 1950s was still important in aircraft certification; it also had 

the largest icing-study facility currently actively operating in North 

America. As a result of needs defined at the workshop, LeRC would 

begin a new program of research on icing. (Lewis News, Aug 4/78, 2) 

0 NASA reported that the Natl. Business Aircraft Association at its annual convention in St. Louis Sept. 13 would present to Dr. Richard Whitcomb, aeronautical scientist at Langley Research Center, its Meritorious 

Service to Aviation Award for 1978. Whitcomb would be honored for 

“significant contributions to the field of aviation.” Among those contributions were the area-rule design (a “Coke bottle” airplane shape that 

reduced drag and increased aircraft speed without the need for additional 

power, incorporated in every U.S. supersonic airplane now flying); and 

the “supercritical” wing developed during the 1960s to increase the speed 

and range of subsonic aircraft without an increase in required power or 

fuel consumption. Whitcomb had begun his career in 1943 with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s 

predecessor, and was head of LaRC’s Transonic Aerodynamics Branch. 

(NASA Release 78-1 19) 

August 7: Av Wk reported that the Defense Dept.’s high-energy laser 

program had been encouraged by a demonstration earlier in 1978 of the 

use of laser radiation to destroy a high-speed antitank missile in flight. 

The test, using a chemical laser built by TRW Systems under sponsorship 

of the Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), occurred at a TRW facility in southern Calif. near San Juan 

185 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Capistrano; Hughes Aircraft Co. had supplied the laser-beam 

pointingkarget-tracking system. 

DOD officials cautioned that, despite encouraging progress, highenergy lasers would not begin to replace conventional weapons, at least 

in the near future, because the Pentagon could not consider working on a 

high-energy laser-weapon system before FY82, and that date could slip. 

The most probable near-term application would be close-in air defense 

for large ships such as aircraft carriers, whose value would justify the 

cost of a laser-radiation weapon. Another potential near-term application would be mobile short-range air defense of high-value Army targets 

(known as the high-energy laser-tactical defense system). If the Pentagon 

decided to develop a laser-radiation weapon system, it would be only one 

in a mix of air-defense weapons, because of what appeared to be intrinsic 

range and weather limitations of lasers. (AvWk, Aug 7/78, 14) 

August 8 NASA announced that data returned by the American-BritishEuropean international ultraviolet explorer (IUE) satellite had suggested 

the existence of a massive black hole at the center of globular clusters in 

earth’s galaxy. A group of scientists Beaded by Dr. Herbert Gursky and 

Dr. Andrea Dupree, both of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for 

Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass., had examined six clusters, three of 

them x-ray sources. 

NASA, in cooperation with ESA and the British Science Research 

Council, had launched IUE in Jan. 1978 into a modified near-equatorial 

synchronous orbit to study a wide range of celestial objects in the 

ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Dr. Gursky said the 

onboard UV instruments had delivered unexpected information when 

they penetrated the background denseness of the clusters, which were 

like miniature galaxies 15 OOO light-yr away, to observe the cluster core. 

What they saw, according to Gursky, was probably radiation from a 

group of 10 to 20 bright-blue stars orbiting the core: “These stars may 

well be orbiting a massive black hole the size or mass of one thousand 

solar systems,” he said. However, existence of a black hole was not certain, as rotation of the stars in relation to the center of the million-star 

cluster had to be studied first. If the stars were indeed orbiting a massive 

black hole, Gursky believed they were right on the edge or, if not, might 

be providing their own gravitational equilibrium. 

What surprised the observation team, Gursky said, was the ability of 

the short-wavelength instrumentation to cut clearly through the millionstar cluster. “For the first time we are seeing in a clean way the center or 

core of those globular clusters, and we were surprised. You can see the 

clusters in visible light, there are lots of red giant stars there, which mask 

what is going on in the center. Now we have a tool, the IUE’s shortwave 

ultraviolet, capable of going for the first time right to the core through 

the whoIe cluster,” said Gursky. Although the team would continue to 

186 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

observe the six globular clusters, Gursky doubted their findings could be 

definite until NASA put the space telescope in orbit from the Space Shuttle in 1983. That telescope, using much more powerful instrumentation 

including short-wavelength ultraviolet, could study the blue stars in more 

detail. (NASA Release 78-122) 

0 In a report on Soviet space activities, Defense/Space Business Daily 

said Progress 2 had crashed into the Pacific Aug. 4, 2da after it had 

undocked from the Salyut station where it had been for 25da. This Progress resupply spacecraft (a modified Soyuz) had not been designed as a 

recoverable reentry and descent vehicle. 

The Soviets had orbited Cosmos 1028, believed to be another in a 

series of long-duration high-resolution reconnaissance/surveillance 

satellites; orbit was 182/272km, 67.1 O inclination, 88.7min period. 

Another in the series, Cosmos 905, launched Apr. 26, 1977, had remained in orbit 30da and was recovered. Others in the series had been 

Cosmos 758, in orbit for 20da after launch Sept. 5,1975; Cosmos 805, in 

orbit for 20da after launch Feb. 20, 1976; and Cosmos 844, in orbit 39da 

after launch July 22, 1976. (D/SD, Aug 8/78, 171) 

August 9: NASA announced that Landsat 3, an earth-monitoring 

satellite equipped to measure earth’s emitted and reflected radiance, had 

suffered a failure in its fifth (or thermal infrared) band. Launched 

Mar. 5 into a near-circular 917km (57Omi) high polar orbit, Landsat 3 

had returned excellent imagery from its other four bands. NASA 

engineers believed the thermal-sensor problem had resulted from 

moisture buildup on a glass screen through which the instrument viewed 

earth. Efforts to correct the situation had been unsuccessful, and NASA 

had convened a special review board to examine the problem. 

Scientists had hoped to use Landsat 3’s thermal data to detect crop 

stress and to recognize “heat islands” associated with urban and industrial development. However, NASA’s heat-capacity mapping mission 

(HCMM), launched in Apr. into an orbit more favorable to thermalinfrared data collection, had been returning excellent day-night data that 

could serve that purpose. (NASA Release 78-124; D/SD, Aug 14/78, 

203; AID, Aug 23178,236) 

JSC and the U.S. Geological Survey jointly announced that the Survey 

had published a surface-fault map of the southeastern greater Houston 

area. JSC geologist Uel Clanton and Earl Verbeek of the USGS had 

created the map covering about 200 sq mi to evaluate the magnitude of 

faulting in metropolitan Houston. The map had displayed 91 faults with 

a total length of 110 mi, cutting through residential and commercial 

areas in many cities. Faulting was extensive east and so 

Airport and in the Mykawa oil field in both northwesterly and north187 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

easterly directions. The mapmakers had used a combination of aerial 

photography and ground-level confirmation of faults. (JSC Release 

78-35; JSCRoundup, Aug 18/78, 1) 

Payload specialist candidates had begun training at MSFC for the 

late-1980 first Spacelab mission, the Marshall Star reported. The first 

5-day session had covered training approach and plans. Trainees were 

Michael Lampton of the Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; Byron Lichtenberg of 

the Mass. Inst. of Technology; Ulf Merbold of W. Germany’s MaxPlanck Inst.; Claude Nicollier, a Swiss, from the European Space 

Technology Center; and Wubbo Ockels of Groenigen Univ. in the 

Netherlands. One American and one European would fly on the mission; 

the others would assist on the ground. Later in the training cycle, NASA 

would select those to fly. (Marshall Star, Aug 9/78, 2) 

The Senate had cut $5 million from NASA’s $3.87 billion R&D budget 

for FY79 before passing a package appropriations bill that included the 

agency, Aerospace Daily reported. The Senate had first rejected by 

44-43, then accepted by 45-42, an amendment offered by Sen. William 

Proxmire (D-Wis.) to cut NASA’s budget and reduce budgets of five 

other departments and agencies by $805 million. Proxmire’s move might 

have spared NASA a far deeper cut, because Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) 

had proposed a 2% across-the-board cut for all agencies and departments covered by the bill (which, for NASA, would have been $80 

million). Proxmire had offered his more selective amendment as a 

substitute, to which Roth had agreed. The amendment did not specify 

where NASA should cut its R&D. (AD, Aug 9/78, 169) 

August IO: NASA announced that the first major symposium on crop 

monitoring based on space-age technology, scheduled for JSC Oct . 23-26, would discuss results of the Large-Area Crop-Inventory Experiment (LACIE). The symposium would give participants from government, industry-agriculture, and university communities around the 

world more information about LACIE’s pioneering effort and how it 

could best be used to improve the world food situation. LACIE, a 3yr 

program of NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture working 

with university and industrial research groups, had been designed to 

estimate wheat production in major growing areas throughout the world 

by using satellite data and the global weather-observation network. 

LACIE had begun in the fall of 1974 when DOA had recognized a need 

for information on wheat-growing areas outside the U.S. Landsat 

satellites continuously scanning agricultural regions had provided the 

electronic imagery for area estimates. Combined daily with groundacquired data and information received from 8000 worldwide weather 

188 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

stations, the imagery had made it possible to predict crop area, yield, and 

production of domestic and foreign wheat-growing regions and to give 

an early warning of problems. 

Earth resources scientists had learned to identify the “signature” (appearance) of wheat in the satellite data; others had been able to estimate 

the growth stage and potential yield of wheat. Computer programs combining records of weather conditions in past growing seasons with figures 

on crop yields in the past had enabled experimenters to estimate yields 

for the current growing season. Results from LACIE had shown the effectiveness of new technology in improving knowledge of global wheat 

production generally applicable to other crops. USDA was considering 

use of the data source to give early warning of significant changes in 

prospects for global commodity production. (NASA Release 78-125) 

0 LaRC announced it had awarded two computer contracts: one to the 

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., for an 

engineering model of a fault-tolerant multiprocessor (FTMP) computer. 

Draper Laboratory, which had designed the FTMP computer under a 

previous NASA contract, had intended it for safety-critical avionic and 

flight-control systems on future civil-transport aircraft. The FTMP 

could start and operate several aircraft functions (flight control, 

autopilot, navigation and guidance, and display and master alarms) 

without manual intervention and could also assess flight procedures including takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, and landing. The 2.5-yr contract 

would cost about $1.8 million. 

The second contract award was to SRI International, Menlo Park, 

Calif., for an engineering model of a software-implemented faulttolerant (SIFT) computer. Conceived by SRI under a previous NASA 

contract, SIFT would perform the same functions as FTMP. SRI would 

work under the $l.dmillion 2-yr contract in Menlo Park and at a subcontractor facility in Teterboro, N.J. LaRC would manage both contracts. (LaRC Release 78-42) 

0 The USAF had budgeted $664 million for space procurement in FY80, 

up from $379.6 million in FY79, Defense/Space Business Daily reported. 

Major increases were in the defense support program (early-warning 

satellite by TRW and Aeroject), up $48 million; the satellite data system 

(Hughes), up $80 million; the defense satellite-communications systems 

(DSCS), up $65 million; and the Space Shuttle (Rockwell Intl.), up $73 

million. The USAF had planned to buy five satellite systems in FY80: an 

RCA defense meteorological satellite program (DMSP) spacecraft; a 

defense support program spacecraft; a satellite data system spacecraft; 

and two DSCS spacecraft. One spacecraft to be purchased in FY79 

would be a DMSP. The Air Force had last purchased boosters (three 

189 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Martin Marietta Titan 111s) in FY78 and planned none for FY79 or 80, 

“assuming Shuttle stays on schedule,” a USAF official said. (D/SBD, Aug 

10/78, 188) 

August 14: NASA announced it had flown its quiet short-haul research 

aircraft (QSRA) to Ames Research Center to begin a flight-research program on design and operation of future quiet short-haul transport. The 

QSRA [see July 271 had been the first to achieve truly quiet operation of 

jet aircraft, through high-performance special treatment of the engines 

and nacelles to restrict landing and takeoff noise to relatively small areas. 

Operating less noisily than most small private aircraft, the 4-jet QSRA 

had a 90-decibel noise-impact area, smaller than 1 .3km2 (0.5mi2). Scaled 

up to the equivalent of a 150-passenger aircraft, the 90-decibel noiseimpact area would be less than 2.6km2 (lmiz), compared to the approximately 78km2 (30mi2) noise impact of comparable-size aircraft. 

High performance of the QSRA resulted from a design concept in 

which four jet engines mounted on top of the wing directed fan air from 

the engines across the upper surface of the wing and flaps, significantly 

increasing lift, particularly at lower speeds. Compressed air from the 

engines, fed through an ejector system, provided boundary-layer 

control-blowing at the wing leading edges and ailerons, further enhancing lift and control. Future QSRA-derivative aircraft the size of the Boeing 727 transport could carry the same payload at the same speeds but 

could operate from small airports with short runways (about 1/2 to lkm 

[ 1500 to 3OOOft], compared to current requirements for lengths of 1.6km 

[lmi] or more) and could operate without disturbing surrounding communities. (NASA Release 78-126; DSFC X-Press, Aug 11/78, 2; Av Wk, 

Aug 14/78, 20) 

0 NASA announced that Dr. Lo I. Yin, a scientist at GSFC, had 

demonstrated his invention of a hand-held x-ray device at the annual 

convention of the National Medical Association in Washington, D.C. 

The Lixiscope (low-intensity x-ray imaging scope), a gun-shaped instrument weighing about 0.67kg (1.251b), was powered by a single penlight 

2.7~ battery and a small radioactive source. Although Dr. Yin had not 

claimed his invention could replace x-ray equipment, he saw its value in 

mobility-in military situations or sports, for example. Dr, Yin had done 

this work under NASA’s technology utilization program, aimed at identifying and transferring aerospace technology benefits to the general 

public. NASA had patented the Lixiscope, and the license would be 

available at no cost. (NASA Release 78-127) 

GSFC reported that 100 representatives from U.S. industry and 

research institutions had met there to discuss possible applications of the 

Lixiscope, which had originated out of a need for single-photon imaging 

in x-ray astronomy. The sensitivity of the Lixiscope was so great that it 

190 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

could significantly reduce the dose of radiation received by a patient. 

Pulling a trigger on the device would unshield the radioactive source and 

send into the object being examined a low dosage of x-rays to be absorbed by a phosphor screen that would convert them to visible light. Six 

companies had applied for a license to manufacture or distribute the Lixiscope, not yet commercially available. NASA had estimated the cost of 

a mass-produced instrument composed entirely of existing technical 

components at about $5000. NASA was considering use of the device on 

the Space Shuttle. (Goddard News, Aug 16/78, 1) 

August 15: Dr. Christopher Kraft, Jr., JSC director, had invited 31 

former astronauts to take part in technical briefings and updates on the 

status of NASA programs at JSC Aug. 21-22, NASA announced. 

NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch would address the group; John 

Yardley, associate administrator for Space Transportation Systems, 

would review the Shuttle program. Others giving briefings would be 

Robert Thompson, manager of the Space Shuttle program; Aaron 

Cohen, manager of the Orbiter project; Glynn Lunney, manager of the 

Shuttle payload integration and development program; Lt. Gen. Thomas 

Stafford, former astronaut now deputy chief of staff for research, 

development, and acquisition, on the USAF Shuttle program; John 

Young, chief of the astronaut office; and flight crews of the orbiter approach and landing tests (ALT). Those attending would take conducted 

tours of the crew systems area, remote manipulator system, full-scale orbiter mockup, and the orbiter aeroflight simulator/Shuttle mission 

simulator. 

Astronauts invited were Edwin Aldrin, Jr .; William Anders; Neil 

Armstrong; Frank Borman; M. Scott Carpenter; Gerald Carr; Eugene 

Cernan; Michael Collins; Charles Conrad, Jr.; L. Gordon Cooper; 

Walter Cunningham; Charles Duke, Jr. ; Donn Eisele; Anthony 

England; Ronald Evans; John Glenn; Richard Gordon, Jr.; James Irwin; James Lovell, Jr.; James McDivitt; Edgar Mitchell; William Pogue; 

Stuart Roosa; Walter Schirra, Jr.; Harrison Schmitt; Russell 

Schweickart; David Scott; Alan Shepard, Jr.; Thomas Stafford; John 

Swigert, Jr.; and Alfred Worden. (NASA Release 78-128; JSC Release 

78-37) 

August 16: GSFC reported that two Voyager spacecraft heading for 

Jupiter had discovered low-frequency radio waves naturally emitted 

from the planet behaving in a manner directly opposite to that of its 

high-frequency emissions. The Voyagers, now slightly more than halfway to their 1979 Jupiter encounter, had looked back at the earth for 

new clues to the origin of natural low-frequency radio waves flooding 

into space from earth. “The polarization plane of the low- and of the 

high-frequency radio waves from Jupiter seems to be exactly opposite,” 

191 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

said Joseph Alexander, one of a team of GSFC scientists working on 

Voyager experiments. Observers could distinguish the source of the 

waves from the polarization plane (within which radio waves vibrated as 

they traveled through space) according to whether it varied randomly, 

systematically rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, or stayed constant. 

The Voyager spacecraft had permitted first-time measurement of the 

polarization plane of low-frequency radio waves, because the earth’s 

ionosphere had heretofore shielded the waves from ground telescopes. 

Scientists for years had observed the high-frequency waves, not similarly 

blocked. 

The GSFC team called the new data from Jupiter more puzzling than 

enlightening, with no explanation of why the waves differed so radically. 

One theory was that the two kinds of waves originated from entirely different kinds of processes in Jupiter’s atmosphere; another theory suggested the same emission mechanism for both, with waves generated 

from Jupiter’s southern hemisphere rotating clockwise at low frequency 

and those from the northern hemisphere turning counterclockwise at 

high frequency. As the Voyagers moved closer to Jupiter, the team 

hoped to find new clues by studying the planet’s response to the solar 

wind. (Goddard News, Aug 16/78, 1) 

9 GSFC reported that several Goddard-controlled satellites had observed the largest solar flare in recorded history July 11. The observations had furnished a new data base for scientists investigating the causes 

of solar flares and how they affected the earth. Explosions of solar flares 

on the sun’s surface had generated huge shock waves in the solar wind 

(ionized particles flowing at supersonic speeds over the earth and other 

planets) and had blasted into it new free-flying highly energetic particles 

that disorganized interplanetary magnetic fields. The flare had disrupted 

earth’s ionosphere and had blacked out shortwave radio communications 

for 2hr throughout the entire sunlit hemisphere. 

Two interplanetary monitoring platforms (IMPS) orbiting the earth 

had recorded the interplanetary magnetic field disturbances and the intensification of particle flow from the sun. Helios I, a sun-orbiting 

satellite observing the sun from the opposite side of the earth July 11, 

had recorded changes in and composition of the radio noise, plasma, 

magnetic fields, and energetic particles streaming from the sun. The flare 

had saturated the high-sensitivity detectors on orbiting solar observatory 

OS0 8, which had previously obtained data on smaller flares associated 

with the large-flare region. Atmosphere Explorer C had noted atmospheric heating from solar-wind particles deposited on the earth at 

high latitudes. The international sun-earth explorers A and B (Isee I and 

2) had obtained data on the accompanying magnetic fields and energetic 

particles, and Applications Technology Satellite 6 had recorded data on 

192 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

high- and medium-energy plasma particles. (Goddard News, Aug 16/78, 

2) 

GSFC reported that scientists using astronomy satellite Sas 3 had pinpointed just beyond earth’s galaxy the nearest of some 600 quasars found 

in the universe so far. The object, first discovered a yr ago, had never 

been identified as a quasar; besides being the nearest, the new quasar 

(named 0241) had been the third in recent mo found to radiate x-rays. 

The quasar had been 800 million light-yr away, obscured by thick dust in 

the galaxy and overlooked previously. Scientists hoped the nearby quasar 

might explain the mysteries of quasars’ origin, either as eruptions in the 

centers of galaxies or as long-dead objects associated with the beginning 

of the universe, whose light was only now reaching the earth. (Goddard 

News, Aug 16/78, 4) 

0 MSFC announced it had awarded to Mass. Inst. of Technology a 

$65 OOO contract to study the economic and environmental advantages of 

large space-system material delivery and construction from extraterrestrial sources. The 7-mO study, assuming previous mining and 

preprocessing of the materials on the lunar surface, would consider final 

space processing to produce commercial-grade materials for manufacturing, and would explore manufacturing processes required to produce 

large space-system components. 

Past studies had postulated economic and environmental advantages 

to the use of lunar materials for large space systems because such structures would require tremendous quantities of materials. One satellite 

power-system structure, for example, could occupy a 3mi2 area in space, 

and a large number of systems would be required to provide power to 

U.S. cities and towns. Materials mined and preprocessed on the moon 

and refined and manufactured in space would reduce the need to ferry 

large quantities of material from earth into space, avoiding the transportation costs and and potential environmental impact of heavy-lift launch 

vehicles passing through earth’s atmosphere. (Marshall Star, Aug 16/78, 

2) 

0 Aerospace Daily reported that Progress 3, launched by the USSR to 

dock with Salyut 6, had carried 6171b of food, 9921b of oxygenregeneration equipment, and 41gal of water to cosmonauts Kovalenok 

and Ivanchenkov, according to cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov, one 

of the designers of the Progress resupply vehicles. UP1 quoted a Novosti 

report that consumption of food, water, and air by a 2-man space crew 

would range from 44 to 661b per day; a 2-man space station would need 

about lotons of these supplies to stay in full operation for a year. (A/D, 

Aug 16/78, 202) 

e-3 

193 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

August 17: ESA’s Geos 2 had apparently suffered a collision in space that 

did not affect its payload performance but had badly disturbed experiments studying the low-energy plasma, Nature magazine reported. 

Geos 2 had become fully operational Aug. 2, with all onboard instruments functioning well; prospects for a full 2-yr, mission had been excellent until 07.13 GMT Aug. 5, when UHF telemetry temporarily shut 

off. The fault had seriously affected the low-energy plasma experiments: 

the electrical-reference potential of the spacecraft appeared to have 

jumped 12v for half of each 6-sec spin cycle. This seemed to be the result 

of slight damage to a solar-array panel that apparently shorted the output of a string of cells to the structure whenever they became illuminated. 

The design of Geos 2 had attempted to eliminate differential charging; 

the conductive indium oxide coating of the solar cells was supposed to 

offer a shorting path in the case of mechanical damage. 

The Space Shuttle might some day serve as a vacuum cleaner to gather 

the many manmade objects floating in space. In the meantime, the 

geostationary corridor had rapidly become crowded, and spacecraft 

designers would have to consider the probabilities and consequences of 

space collisions. (Nature, Aug 17/78, 631) 

August Z8: Pioneer Venus 2, launched from Cape Canaveral Aug. 8 on 

an Atlas Centaur, would take about 5mo to arrive at Venus, encounter 

being predicted for Dec. 9. The second craft of this mission was referred 

to as the multiprobe bus. Pioneer Venus I, launched previously, was an 

orbiter that would study the Venus atmosphere and other planet 

characteristics for 243da. 

In the multiprobe phase of the mission, a large entry probe would 

make detailed soundings of the lower Venus atmosphere and clouds, 

while three small probes descending through the planet’s atmosphere 

measured atmospheric conditions at widely separated points during a 

60min effective life before impact. NASA had designed the 30 experiments aboard Pioneer Venus I and 2 as a coordinated observation 

system; the mission would use six spacecraft - largest number ever 

devoted to one planet-and would make the most measurements at the 

greatest number of locations. 

The multiprobe spacecraft consisted of a spin-stabilized 2.4m 

(8ft)-diameter cylindrical bus weighing 904kg (19901b) and carrying 5 1 kg 

(1 161b) of scientific instruments. A thermal-controlled compartment in 

the cylinder would house instruments, communications, and datahandling systems, as well as navigation, orientation, thruster, and power 

systems. The large probe and three small probes would be launched from 

the bus, which was covered with solar cells. 

The high density, high temperatures, and corrosive constituents of the 

Venus atmosphere had offered designers of the entry craft a difficult 

problem, complicated by high entry speeds of about 41 600km/hr 

194 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

(26 000mi/hr). AIso, all instruments in the probe pressure-measuring 

vessels required either observation of or direct-sampiing access to the 

hostile atmosphere. (JPL Universe, Aug 18/78, 1; Spaceport News, Aug 

4/78, 1; Lewis News, Aug 4/78, 1; AvWk, Aug 17/78, 23) 

0 JSC announced it would issue an RFP for management-consulting 

firms to answer questions such as: Would controlling 40 to 60 Space 

Shuttle flights per yr limit JSC’s ability to perform its basic R&D job? 

How could JSC keep costs low to encourage maximum use of the space 

transportation system? How would increased Shuttle activity affect JSC 

relationships with other NASA centers and contractors? If Shuttle 

launches reached the expected rate of one or two per wk by 1985, JSC officials wanted to be sure these operations did not deplete already limited 

personnel and other resources JSC would need to remain a major R&D 

arm of the space agency. 

JSC planners had drafted an operations plan for the full-use era of the 

Shuttle, whose onboard capabilities had exceeded those of previous 

spacecraft. The plan would reduce the number of flight controllers now 

assigned to real-time ground operations, and would increase the effort 

put into flight planning. Because JSC flight control work would affect 

NASA-wide operations and JSC would have large responsibilities in 

future spaceflight R&D, center management wanted an outside examination of the plan and alternatives before making a commitment. (JSC 

Roundup, Aug 18/78, 1) 

* KSC reported that Joseph Malaga, center director of administration 

and management operations, had accepted appointment as vice chairman of the 16th Space Congress to be held Apr. 25 -27,1979. Sponsored 

annually by the Canaveral Council of Technical Societies, the congress 

had originated as a weekend seminar for engineers and technicians and 

had evolved into an event drawing speakers and delegates from technical 

communities throughout the world. Malaga would also be NASA’s 

senior representative to the Congress. (Spaceport News, Aug 18/78, 1) 

0 The remote location of the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) just east 

of Las Cruces, N.M., had made it ideal for testing space-propulsion and 

power systems and for investigating the behavior of propellants and 

other hazardous chemicals, said the JSC Roundup in a feature article. 

“We have no environmental limits for testing Shuttle programs,” said 

WSTF Technical Manager Louis Gomez. ‘We recently added seven 

square miles of buffer along the western boundary of the facility as we 

saw various types of land use creeping our way from Las Cruces.’’ 

Valued at $75 million in 1973 dollars, WSTF had been designed to 

operate with 1000 people; current facility population was 670, of which 

74 were NASA employees, most of the others being Lockheed Elec195 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

tronics Co. employees on a facility-maintenance and test-operations contract. Rockwell and McDonnell Douglas also had employees at WSTF 

for orbital-maneuvering and attitude-thruster testing. 

Currently on the test stands were a version of the orbital-maneuvering 

subsystem pod and the orbiter’s forward and aft reaction-control subsystems. OMS engines had been rated at 6000-lb thrust. Steam ejectors 

that could produce a vacuum of 120 000ft-equivalent altitude in two of 

the propulsion test chambers would simulate engine firing in a near-space 

environment. Liquid oxygen and alcohol fed to three modified X-15-type 

rocket engines would produce a plume quenched with water, making 

high-velocity steam to aspirate the altitude chambers. Another lab would 

burn, stretch, pound, heat, and immerse complex samples of materials 

and substances that were candidates for use in space, to record how the 

materials responded to such punishment. Some tests were on flame propagation in pure oxygen at varying pressures; others might be for flashpoints and impact ignition. 

When the tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) designed to work 

with the space transportation system (STS) would arrive on station in 

geosynchronous orbit, a new ground station at WSTF would collect data 

and voice transmissions to and from orbiters and other spacecraft. Three 

60ft-diameter Ku-band TDRS antennas and a control center/support 

building were under construction there. WSTF would relay Shuttle data 

and voice to other geosynchronous satellites; the transmission would 

bounce back from an adjacent RCA ground station to the two 30ftdiameter RCA dishes at JSC, then to mission-control at Houston. 

Western Union would employ about 100 people at the ground station 

after it had become operational in 1980. (JSC Roundup, Aug 18/78, 4) 

0 NASA’s Office of Legislative Affairs had reported on a letter from the 

National Taxpayers Union to Sen. James Abourezk regarding S.2860, a 

bill that would commit the U.S. to the development and demonstration 

of solar power satellites. The letter read in part: 

“ . . . Passage of this bill would commit the nation’s taxpayers to $25 

million . . . in fiscal year 1979. Conservation estimates indicate capital 

investment reaching a . . . price tag of $2.5 trillion! The proponents of 

this legislation indicate that passage would commit the nation to a program plan to study the feasibility of utilizing solar energy to generate 

electricity for domestic purposes. This is not the first phase of this study. 

We respectfully point out that such a program has already been underway for sometime by the Department of Energy and NASA. . . . “Boeing estimates that the cost of a single launch vehicle would be $10 

billion alone while the cost per satellite is in the $20.5 billion 

neighborhood. These are just a sampling of the costs in terms of dollars; 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

they do not reflect the potential dangers to the environment that are inherent in this program. While the use of solar energy is always viewed as 

benign, this bill would spawn a . . . malignancy on the nation’s already 

fiscally ill taxpayers . . ” (NASA Legis Actv Rept. Aug 22/78) 

August 22: NASA announced it had officially designated Space Shuttle 

orbital flight tests (OFT) as Space Shuttle 1 (SS-I), Space Shuttle 2 

(SS-2), etc. Following orbital flight tests, the same designation system 

would continue for Space Transportation System operational flights. For 

example, if the OFT phase had consisted of six flights, the next flight 

(first flight of the STS operational phase) would be Space Shuttle 7 

(SS-7). John Yardley, associate administrator of STS, had requested that 

emphasis be placed on a gradual conversion to the new official designation system. (NASA anno Aug 22/78) 

August 23: NASA announced that two radio astronomers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had discovered major changes deep in the atmosphere of Uranus. Dr. M.J. Klein of JPL and Dr. J.A. Turegano, a 

visiting research associate from the Univ. of Zaragoza, Spain, found that 

radio emissions from Uranus had become 30% stronger over the past 

10yr. Klein and Turegano, who had used NASA’s 64m (210ft) radio 

antenna at Goldstone, Calif, , explained that radio waves emanating 

from dense clouds on Uranus had originated deep in the atmosphere, 

where pressures might be more than 10 times greater than at earth’s surface. 

Observations in the spring of 1978 had confirmed the two 

astronomers’ discovery a yr earlier; the atmosphere of Uranus could be 

either warming or becoming clearer to the passage of radio waves, 

although the investigators doubted that temperature so deep in a planet’s 

atmosphere could warm more than 30% in only 1Oyr. They thought the 

change was more probably caused by the planet’s unique orientation: 

Uranus, unlike any other planet, spun on its side as it orbited the sun, 

and every 84yr (the length of one Uranus yr) the sun would shine directly 

on the North Pole. Forty-two yr later, the northern hemisphere would be 

dark with the South Pole pointed sunward. 

Ammonia gas in the planet’s atmosphere probably blocked radio emissions from Uranus’s deep interior. The scientists suggested that ammonia 

might have been preferentially depleted in the planet’s polar regions, 

either by convection currents or chemical reactions. If so, then the radio 

telescnpes would be registering hotter temperatures deeper in the atmosphere than those recorded lOyr previously when the planet had a different orientation to the sun. Theoretical studies to discover the relationship of the radio measurements to global changes in Uranus’s climate, 

weather patterns, and atmospheric chemistry would help in drawing 

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AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

general conclusions about planetary atmospheres applicable in turn to 

specific studies of earth’s atmosphere. (NASA Release 78-130) 

0 ESA and INTELSAT had prepared a joint offer of Marecs (formerly 

Marots) satellites, plus maritime packages on Intelsat V comsats, for an 

international joint-venture attempt to set up a pre-Inmarsat maritimecommunications system for the early 198Os, Aerospace Daily reported. 

The joint venture of Europe’s 17-nation Eutelsat group and other countries, including Japan and the Soviet Union, had accounted for about 

74% of Inmarsat shares. The U.S., with 17%, had not participated. 

At its July meeting, the joint group indicated preference for a space 

system consisting of three Marecs satellites dedicated to maritime communications, plus maritime packages to be added to the last three of the 

seven planned Intelsat Vs. If costs or other factors made the option unsatisfactory, the joint venture had two others: a four-Marecs system, or a 

combination of two dedicated Intelsat spacecraft and three Intelsat V 

maritime packages. (An option using four dedicated Intelsat satellites 

was no longer under consideration.) INTELSAT’s board of governors at 

its mid-Sept. meeting would decide on pricing and other details, and the 

joint venture would receive the ESA-INTELSAT proposals at its lateSeptember meeting. (AID, Aug 23/78, 234) 

August 24; NASA reported it had launched Isee 3 from ETR on a Delta 

rocket at 11: 12am EDT Aug. 12, 1978. Eleven days into the mission, the 

spacecraft had traveled approximately 900 OOOkm in a transfer trajectory 

out from earth to a halo orbit about the sun-earth libration point. All 

scientific instruments had been activated and were operational; all 

spacecraft appendages had been deployed except the + / - Z-axis antennas, which had partially deployed. 

The international sun-earth explorers (ISEE) project, a NASA/ESA 

joint contribution to the International Magnetospheric Study (IMS), 

consisted of two missions using three spacecraft to study solar-terrestrial 

relationships, NASA providing ISEE-A and -C and ESA providing 

ISEE-B. NASA had launched ISEE-A and -B (Isee I and 2) on Oct. 22, 

1977, on a single Delta vehicle into the same highly elliptical earth orbit, 

where they were both operating. Isee 3, just launched toward a heliocentric orbit near the sun-earth libration point, had carried a scientific 

payload of 16 detector systems and associated electronics provided by 12 

principal U.S. and European investigators to measure the solar wind and 

its fluctuations in detail. 

Whereas ISEE-A, -B, and -C were capable of contributing individually 

to scientific knowledge, the greatest return would result from acquiring 

data from all three spacecraft: ISEE-C in its heliocentric orbit would 

measure the sun’s input function unperturbed by the earth’s influence, 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

while ISEE-A and -B were measuring the effect of this input on the 

region surrounding the earth. At the time the ISEE-C entered its halo orbit in November 1978, it would become the world’s first libration-point 

satellite. (MOR S-862-78-03 [postlaunch] Aug 24/78, [prelaunch] July 

31/78; Mamhall Star, Aug 30/78, 2; Spaceport News, Aug 18/78, 1; 

ESA release Aug 10/78; Nature, Aug 17/78, 630; D/SD, Aug 17/78, 

630; Aug 14/78, 199) 

0 NASA had decided to launch its Venus-orbiting imaging radar (VOIR) 

late in 1984 rather than mid-1983 to reduce schedule risk, Aerospace 

Daily reported. Officials said the change, not meant to enhance VOIR’S 

prospects as a new-start candidate for FY80, would reduce the program’s 

first-yr and peak-yr funding needs. A 1984 launch funded in FY80 would 

permit Phase-B definition studies of the mission’s primary instrument - a 

synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) - to precede those of the spacecraft by 

about 6mo and to produce data for use in the spacecraft work. Work on 

both the SAR and the spacecraft development would begin 

simultaneously in the second quarter of 1981. Although the Dec. 1984 

launch opportunity was less favorable than that of May-June 1983, officials considered it acceptable and weight margins, based on completed 

Phase-A studies, adequate. (A/D, Aug 24/78, 241) 

August 25: The gondola of Double Eagle 11, first balloon to successfully 

cross the Atlantic, remaining parts of its balloon, and some of its equipment would soon become an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space 

Museum, the Washington Star reported. The U.S. embassy in Paris had 

notified the museum that the three balloonists wanted the Air and Space 

Museum to be the repository of their craft. They had planned also to present documents and onboard equipment that had not been jettisoned, as 

well as the balloon envelope (the shell containing the gas). 

While the balloon was still aloft, Melvin Zisfein, acting director of the 

museum, had cabled the U.S. embassies in London and Paris to approach balloonists Maxie Anderson, Larry Newman, and Ben Abruzzo 

on the Smithsonian’s behalf. When Lindbergh was still in the air on his 

historic flight, Paul Garber had sent a cable to the airfield at Le Bourget 

asking for the plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, which had become one of the 

museum’s premier exhibits. “I thought it would be nice to continue in 

that tradition,” Zisfein said. ( W Star, Aug 25/78, A-6) 

0 NASA announced it had appointed Terence Finn director of legislative 

affairs. Finn had served since Dec. 1974 as senior analyst for energy, 

science, and space on the staff of the Senate budget committee, where he 

had been responsible for the budgets of NASA, National Space Foundation, and DOE. He was teaching a graduate course, Congress and 

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AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Budget, at Catholic Univ., and also had taught at American Univ. and 

the Dept. of Agriculture Graduate School. Finn was a member of the 

American Political Science Association and a life member of the 

American Aviation Historical Society. (NASA Release 78-1 3 1) 

* The Langley Researcher reported that, under a program sponsored 

jointly by NASA and the American Society of Engineering Education 

(ASEE), a team of 19 university professors and two legal interns had 

spent the summer at LaRC on a study, An Integrated Air-Cargo 

Transport System. The team had reviewed forecasts of the air-cargo industry and had recommended changes in aircraft, air-freight terminals, 

air-transportation networks, and government regulation, to best serve 

national needs between 1990-2000. 

Recommendations had included designing a new medium-range aircraft for cargo service and a long-range aircraft that constituted an improved or derivative version of today’s craft; arrangements for all aircraft and major freight terminals to handle 20ft intermodal containers; 

continuation of air-cargo industry deregulation for at least the immediate future; and permission for airlines to own interstate trucking 

companies. Dr. Griffith McRee of Old Dominion Univ. had directed the 

study. (Langley Researcher, Aug 25/78, 4) 

0 Dr. Donald Hearth, LaRC director, had accepted an invitation to 

serve on the board of governors of the Natl. Space Club, the Langley 

Researcher reported. The club, a nontechnical nonprofit organization, 

had been founded in 1957 “to stimulate the advancement and application 

of space flight and related aerospace technologies for the benefit of all 

mankind.” It had sponsored luncheons with speakers from the aerospace 

community and had granted scholarships for postgraduate and doctoral 

studies in the aerospace sciences. The board of governors would offer advice and counsel and annually nominate and elect the recipient of the 

Goddard trophy, premier award of the aerospace community. (Langley 

Researcher, Aug 25/78, 3) 

August 28.- Soyuz 31, carrying East Germany’s first cosmonaut and a 

Soviet commander, had docked with the SaZyut 6 space station, the 

Washington Post reported. The USSR had launched Soyuz31 Aug. 26 at 

1751 Moscow time. Sigmund Jahn of East Germany and Valery Bykovsky had joined the Soyuz 29 cosmonauts who had been circling earth in 

the space station since June 16. Tass said the crew was well and had 

begun implementation of tasks assigned to them. It added that the 

launch of Soyuz 31 had been part of the preparations for an historic 

event, the 30th anniversary of the creation of the first German socialist 

state. The flight had been intended as an example of the use of space for 

peaceful purposes, based on “disinterested international cooperation and 

200 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 19’78 AUGUST 

comradely mutual assistance.” ( WPost, Aug 27/78, A 21; FBIS, Tass in 

English, Aug 26/78) 

August 29: Wallops Flight Center announced that an attempt to recover 

in midair an experiment launched on a single-stage meteorological rocket 

had been successful. The experiment (to obtain vertical profiles of nitricoxide concentrations in the middle and upper atmosphere between 50 

and 30km up) would later provide in situ measurements for use by 

Nimbus-G satellites from launch sites in the northern hemisphere. The 

payload launched Aug. 29 on a Super Arcas rocket at 3:38pm EDT had 

reached an altitude of 66km (216 OOOft); the 8.7kg payload ejected at 

apogee deployed the parachute immediately as programmed. Radars at 

WFC had vectored the fixed-wing Sky Van aircraft to an intercept position to snare the package in midair about 4km (13 OOOft) up and about 

13km (7 nautical mi) offshore from Wallops Island. (WFC Release 

78-13) 

August 30: Preliminary results of a yr-long energy-conservation study at 

LaRC had indicated that a family could save money and energy using 

new technical systems developed in the space program, NASA announced. A family of four that volunteered to live in a conventional 

house equipped with unconventional technical systems designed to save 

energy and water, had achieved the following results: total energy used 

for all purposes, including heating and cooling, was a little less than half 

the amount used by a conventional all-electric home under the same conditions. Total dollar savings from use of less energy and water had 

amounted to more than $1200 for the yr, an average of more than $100 a 

mo . 

The Technology Utilization House (called Tech House) was a 

contemporary-style home built at LaRC to test equipment available or to 

be shortly available. The family of Dr. Charles Swain, professor at 

Florida State Univ. in Tallahassee, had volunteered to live in the house 

for a year to test the technical systems under normal living conditions. 

Swain, his wife, daughter of 18, and son of 13 had moved into the house 

in August 1977 to live as normally as possible, while many of their actions were monitored, sensed, measured, and turned into computer 

printouts of data numbers. 

Early research results had indicated that all the systems incorporated 

in the Tech House had been put to use. Although some systems worked 

better than predicted, and others did not work as well, the technical information collected would be useful in redesigning or modifying some of 

the systems to make them more efficient. Analysis of the experiment data 

would tell engineers much more about how to customize systems to fit 

particular kinds of houses, to suit areas of the country with different 

geographical and climate conditions, or to meet special needs of in- 
AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

dividuals. One possible “sleeper” system incorporated in the Tech 

House-the water recycling equipment-might greatly benefit future 

homeowners if the U.S. continued to experience periodic water shortages. 

Preliminary performance data from some of the major systems indicated that thermal-design features such as improved insulation and 

doubledoor entries had accounted for about 60% of energy savings. 

Solar collectors on the roof and a solar-supplemented heat-pump system 

had supplied more than 50% of the energy required to heat the house, 

amounting to about $300 in energy-cost savings. The Tech House, 

funded by NASA’s Office of Technology Utilization, had been completed in June 1976 and opened to the public for a yr before the Swains 

moved in. (NASA Release 78-135) 

0 NASA announced that the United Nations would use the world’s most 

powerful comsat, the Cts communications technology satellite operated 

jointly by NASA and the Canadian Dept. of Communications, in a 

demonstration of remote simultaneous interpretation of a conference 

and of transmission by facsimile of ’conference documents for remote 

translation. Cooperating in the demonstration would be ComSatCorp 

and ENTEL, an Argentine state-owned telephone company. 

The UN Conference on Technical Cooperation Among Developing 

Countries currently meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, through Sept. 

12 would be the demonstration subject. Pictures and voices of the conferees sent to a portable NASA terminal at UN Headquarters in New 

York would be interpreted, translated into five official UN languages, 

and returned through Cts to a portable ComSatCorp terminal in Buenos 

Aires, where conference attendees could select the language of their 

choice. The New York terminal, a NASA-developed portable earth terminal bus, was a mobile broadcast-receive studio with a 2.4m (8ft) dish 

antenna designed for use with Cts. Another phase of the experiment 

would be high-speed simultaneous transmission on other Cts channels of 

texts of speeches and other documents from Buenos Aires to UN. Hq for 

translation and retilrn the next day. Cts earth terminals could transmit at 

a frequency of 14GHz and receive at 12GHz. (NASA Release 78-134) 

0 FAA announced it had awarded a $1 989 193 contract to Bendix Corporation’s Communications Division, Baltimore, Md., for prototypes of 

an advanced microwave landing system (MLS) offering precision allweather approach-and-landing guidance at large airports. Called the 

“basic wide” MLS because of its antenna system, it would provide more 

precise guidance than simpler lower-cost versions already demonstrated 

at locations around the world- the small community airport and “basic 

narrow” versions adequate for most commercial fields. The new equipment, installed by FAA at NASA’s Wallops center, would undergo tests 

202 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

for approximately 6mo as a joint FAA-NASA-USAF effort. The International Civil Aviation Organization had adopted the U.S./Australiandeveloped MLS earlier in 1978 as the stzindard approach-and-landing 

guidance system of the future [see April 241. Actual installation and use 

of the equipment at airports worldwide would follow a transition phase 

demonstrating MLS-unit operation in the field. (FAA Release 78-71) 

August 31: DOD’s top command, control, and communications official, 

Dr. Gerald Dinneen, had characterized the use of satellite-borne lasers to 

communicate with submarines as costly and inefficient , Aerospace Daily 

reported. In testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services, 

Dinneen had said such a scheme would require “a number of satellites.” 

Spreading out a laser beam would lose energy, so the beam would have to 

be relatively narrow to maintain contact with an antenna on the surface 

of the water. This would require either a large number of satellites, or 

scanning the beam around the surface of the water to communicate with 

other submarines. Dinneen had downplayed the idea of piggybacking 

blue-green laser kits on satellites (suggested as a possibility by 1981 or 

1982) because very few satellites, communications or navigation, had excess capacity: “If you are going to put something on,” he added, “you 

have to take off something else.” (AD, Aug 31/78, 276) 

During August: The USAF reported that NavStar 2, within seconds of 

reaching orbit after its May 13 launch, had been tracked by one of SAMSO’S stations. “About one hour after launch we made initial contact with 

the satellite,” said 2nd Lt. Joe Fury, satellite operations controller. “Controllers then tested the satellite’s systems to assure their operation before 

beginning other on-orbit checks to make the spacecraft function. ” In its 

initial 6-hr orbit, the NavStar had “talked” with ground controllers 

around the world, each of whom fine-tuned the satellite as it passed 

overhead. 

Two days after launch NavStar 2’s internal rocket motor, activated by 

a command from a satellite controller, had shifted it from an egg-shaped 

orbit into a circular 12-hr orbit; as it arrived there, the NavStar was spun 

up to 89rpm to stabilize it. For 1.5da, controllers sent computer-coded 

signals to gradually slow the spin rate to zero. After stabilization, controllers had deployed the two folded solar-array panels and began to 

warm up the navigation payload to receive computer data transmitted to 

the satellite, giving it the intelligence it needed to carry out its military 

mission. Three wk after launch, controllers had positioned NavStar 2 in 

a 10 W-nautical-mi drift orbit, slowly moving it toward the final position most suitable for the NavStar program. By the mid-1980s the 

NavStar system of 24 satellites would give users highly accurate data on 

position, velocity, and time in all weather, anywhere in the world. (AFSC 

Newsreview, Aug 78, 3) 

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AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

0 The USAF reported that the E-3A airborne warning and control 

system (AWACS), “leader” of the USAF command and control structure, had arrived at Wright-Patterson AFB for low-level flight tests conducted by the 6750th Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory to 

evaluate effects of aircraft noise. Tests with the E-3A would complete the 

1978 measurement phase of NOISEMAP, a computer program to assess 

environmental impact of aircraft noise that had included the F-15, A-10, 

C-141, and KC-135. The assessments would serve in making alternative 

aircraft assignments and flight schedules, deciding on appropriate noise 

suppressors, and discovering potential noise problems for aircraft under 

design. Civil engineers had used the program in fiiing sites for new 

buildings, determining requirements for adding noise-reduction 

materials to existing structures, and in orienting trim pads to minimize 

aircraft-noise impact on the community. 

AWACS was a modified Boeing 707 used as an airborne command 

post to coordinate fighters, close air-support aircraft, and strategic 

bombers in a combat arena. Its friend-or-foe antenna could identify 

enemy craft in a battlefield setting, allowing the 17-member AWACS 

crew to relay information to friendly aircraft. (AFSC Newsreview, 

Aug/78, 7) 

0 The AFSC Newsreview reported that the USAF had awarded Harris 

Corp.’s Electrical Systems Division, Melbourne, Fla., a $4.7 million contract to design and produce transportable weather-satellite receiving terminals. The company would build and deliver one operational prototype 

and three production units to support SAMSO’s Defense Meteorological 

Satellite Program (DMSP). 

The terminals (called Mark IV, a follow-on to the Mark I11 weather 

terminals currently in operation) would give military commanders 

precise weather information accumulated from DMSP spacecraft orbiting the earth every l0lmin. The terminals, half the size of present terminals, could fit on C-130 aircraft or M-55 trucks and be operational 

within 6hr, as opposed to the present 48hr, automatically tracking a’ 

satellite appearing over the horizon and receiving visual and infrared imagery in real time. 

An operator using magnification and other techniques could choose 

and enhance a specific area of coverage, or could process the entire 

4500-nautical-mi-long 1600-nm-wide satellite image. The Mark IV project officer, Capt. James Fowler, said that the operator, after choosing 

the area most suitable for the mission, could produce a hard-copy print 

in 2min and transmit the photo to four remote laser-image processors 

lOmi from the terminal. “This capability, unique to the Mark IV system, 

will provide battlefield unit commanders with weather data within 20 

minutes after the satellite’s pass,” he said. The prototype Mark IV ter204 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

minal had been scheduled for delivery in Feb. 1979; production units 

were to be in the field by Oct. 1980. (AFSC Newsreview, AugM8, 1) 

* The USAF reported that a wind-tunnel test at Arnold Engineering 

Development Center using a new type of model and new testing techniques had demonstrated selection of an optimum aircraft-wing shape. 

Previous efforts to determine the best wing shape for a particular aircraft 

had compared features of several (sometimes many) models representing 

educated guesses; even after selecting one shape, testers could not be certain there was not another more efficient. 

The latest test had used simulated flight conditions with a new 

computer-controlled wing model able to change shape automatically. 

Three-dimensional images made by a stereophotographic technique 

defined the actual wing shape during each flight change, making it possible to consider numerous shapes. The model, one of the most complex 

tested in AEDC’s 16-ft transonic wind tunnel, was a product of General 

Dynamic’s Convair Division, San Diego, that had been redesigned and 

reassembled by AEDC’s operating contractor ARO, Inc., after its arrival 

at AEDC. (AFSC Newsreview, Aug/78, 12) 

Air Force Magazine, in an article on Goddard Space Flight Center, 

called it the jack-of-all-trades among NASA’s space centers. It was 

NASA’s communications hub, with a system of landlines, undersea 

cables, and satellites reaching around the world and connecting the 21 

sites of the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) that had 

served all NASA’s spaceflight activities. GSFC also had one of the 

world’s largest assemblies of scientists, who theorized either scientific or 

applications satellite missions and made investigations into disciplines 

such as astronomy, planetary atmosphere, solar activity, and near-earth 

physics. About a third of scientific experiments on U.S. spacecraft were 

conceived, designed, and/or built by Goddard scientists. 

The Goddard-developed earth-resources survey programs used orbiting Landsats capable of scanning the planet (except for the polar 

regions) every 9da. The photographs they provided had allowed detailed 

study of the earth faster, cheaper, and more accurately than aerial 

photography. Its impact on agriculture worldwide could be enormous; 

Landsat would make possible, for example, an inventory in Calif.’s Imperial Valley of more than 25 separate crops in nearly 9OOO fields scattered over 458 OOO acres. Landsat data would identify specific crops and 

indicate their condition, permitting very accurate agricultural production 

forecasts. 

NASA planned to launch in the early 1980s a pair of Goddarddeveloped satellites containing space-tracking equipment to replace all 

but six of the present ground-based tracking stations, supplying data 

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AUGUST ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

85% of the time with greater efficiency and manpower savings. GSFC 

scientists were also making experimental and practical applications of 

laser technology. One program would eventually establish laser-satellite 

systems on each continent, to measure the most minute movements of 

the plates forming earth’s crust. (AFMag, Aug/78, 68) 

Transportation USA, in a story on 75 years of powered flight, quoted 

the Dec. 17, 1903, telegram from Orville and Wilbur Wright to their 

father in Dayton, 0.: “Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Success four flights 

Thursday morning. All against 21 mile wind. Started from level with 

engine power alone. Average speed through air 31 miles. Longest 59 

seconds. Inform press. Home for Christmas.” Newspapers had not been 

impressed; not even the Dayton Journal had mentioned the achievement. 

Ridiculed by the press and snubbed by their government, the two 

brothers had taken their craft to Paris and London; when stories of their 

successes and honors reached the US., the two were finally prevailed 

upon to come home. 

Aviation had then become big business. The value of airline property 

and equipment, not counting general aviation, had reached $125 million 

at the end of World War 11; by the end of 1955, the investment had 

multiplied tenfold to $1.4 billion. By 1965 it had reached $5 billion, and 

in 1977 $17 billion. In 1977 U.S. airlines carried 242 million passengers, 

and general aviation another 100 million. The FAA predicted that in 

1987 U.S. airlines would carry upwards of 500 million passengers annually, and that privately owned aircraft would carry 200 million. The 

future might see aircraft using energy other than petroleum; of particular 

interest was hydrogen, having pound for pound 3 times the energy output. If storage were not a problem, hydrogen might make an excellent 

aviation fuel. 

The article concluded: ‘We’ve come an unbelievably long way in the 

past 75 years-from a fragile craft airborne for 59 seconds to walks on 

the moon. No telling where our lust for flight may take us in the next 75 

years. The sky’s no longer the limit.” (Trsp USA, Summer 78, 3) 

ESA reported it had scheduled 3mo of propellant-mockup tests of the 

European launcher Ariane to begin at the French Guiana Space Center 

launch site [see June 161. Tests would check general conditions for 

launcher-assembly compatibility of ground facilities (platform, tower, 

etc.) with the vehicle, and for technical functioning of the fueling and 

draining facilities and systems both on the ground and on the vehicle. 

TheBatter three of four qualification flights scheduled from June 1979 to 

Oct. 1980 would launch Amsat (telecommunications for international 

radio amateurs), Firewheel (science/Germany), Meteosat-2 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 AUGUST 

(meteorology/ESA), APPLE (communications/India), and Marots-A 

(maritime communications/ESA). @SA newsletter Aug/78, 3) 

207 

P LNG PAGE BLANK NOT FlzlrlGb 

September 

September I: Johnson Space Center reported that 11 of 35 current 

astronaut candidates had undergone parasail training Aug. 28 at Vance 

AFB, Enid, Okla., learning how to land by parachute in the event of an 

emergency ejection from the T-38 aircraft over land. Other astronaut 

candidates had taken the course before entering the NASA program. The 

six female astronaut candidates along with five male counterparts had 

taken the 1-day training exercise. (JSC Roundup, Sept 1/78, 1) 

* The latest in a family of small-diameter 8-bladed propellers had completed wind tunnel testing at Lewis Research Center, the Lewis News 

reported. Third in a series tested and designed for new high-speed fuelconservative aircraft, these propellers had unique extreme curve to the 

blades designed to improve performance and minimize cabin noise during flight. At simulated cruise conditions of 855km/hr (53Omph) and 

9145m altitude (30 OOOft), the propellers proved less noisy and more efficient than previous models tested. NASA estimated that, at those cruise 

conditions, an advanced turboprop engine using the propellers could 

save 20 to 40% in fuel over current turbofan engines and 10 to 20% in 

fuel over advanced turbofan engines. 

LeRC work on the propellers was part of a NASA-wide effort toward 

50010 fuel savings in future U.S. aircraft, with testing expected to be completed in later 1980. Hamilton Standard Division of United Technologies 

Corp. had been contractor for design and fabrication of the advanced 

propellers. (Lewis News, Sept 1/78, 1) 

September 5: NASA announced plans to launch TIROS-N from WTR 

Sept. 15 as part of a third generation of new meteorological satellites. 

First of a series of eight polar-orbiting environmental spacecraft, 

TIROS-N would carry new environmental monitors representing significant technological advances over those on the current NOAA-series 

spacecraft. NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite Services (NESS) 

would operate TIROS-N, intended to improve weather analysis for more 

accurate weather forecasts; to locate ocean currents and areas of upwelling, important to fishing and shipping interests; and to acquire more 

precise data on snow cover, snowmelt, and rainfall, essential to waterresource management and flood forecasting. Also possible would be 

more accurate alerts of high-energy solar-radiation levels above the atmosphere, important to space missions, high-altitude commercial air209 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 .+ SE 

craft flights, long-range communications, and electrical powerdistribution networks. 

Its advanced data-collection and platform-location system meant that 

TIROSN would have for the first time an operational capability to collect and transmit environmental data from platforms on land, at sea, and 

in the air; and to determine the geographic locations of those platforms 

in motion on the surface of the sea, land, or aloft. TIROS-N’s scanning 

radiometer, most versatile to be carried aboard an environmental 

satellite, could gather and store for later playback visible and infrared 

measurements and images in 4 channels for more precise evaluation of 

land, ice, surface-water, and cloud conditions, and sea-surface 

temperatures, transmitting them in real time to both automatic picturetransmission (APT) and high-resolution picture-transmission (HRPT) 

users in more than 100 countries around the world. The vertical-sounder 

subsystem, containing three instruments, could register temperatures to 

within 1°C and moisture data from earth’s surface up through the 

stratosphere. Even under obscuring cloud cover, TIROS-N could obtain 

some data because one of the three instruments would be able to record 

microwave radiation regardless of clouds. 

TIROS-N would be a primary data source for the Global Atmospheric 

Research Program’s first global experiment, an international cooperative 

project of 140 countries scheduled to begin Dec. 1, 1978. Its instruments 

would meet FGE requirements for collecting quantitative data on earth’s 

atmosphere and sea surface to construct numerical atmospheric models 

for improved long-range weather forecasts. Sensors were multinational: 

the stratospheric-sounding units were from Great Britain, the datacollection platform-location system from France, and other sensors from 

the U.S. Ground-support systems were also multinational: the U.S. 

would acquire and process most data through NOAA’s command and 

data-acquisition (CDA) stations near Fairbanks, Alaska; Wallops 

Island, Va.; and a central processing system at Suitland, Md. France’s 

Centre National d’gtudes Spatiales (CNES) would process and distribute 

data associated with collection and the platform-location system. 

TIROS-N instruments had drawn heavily on technology from NASA’s 

Nimbus-spacecraft program: TIROS-N’s bus was a modified USAF Block 

5D spacecraft bus with a 25% growth allowance in payload-carrying 

capability. NASA had designed and funded TIROS-N; Goddard Space 

Flight Center would manage it during checkout (about 2mo) before turning it over to NOAA. Launch vehicle would be a standard reconditioned 

Atlas E/F. (NASA Release 78-132; NASA press conf. Sept 8/78; 

Spaceport News, Sept 15/78, 2) 

September 6: NASA announced that Voyager I on its way to Jupiter and 

Saturn had completed transit of the asteroid belt, leaving the region Sept. 

8. The belt, a band of rock and dust 360 million km (233 million mi) wide 

210 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter with its inner edge about 105 

million km (65 million mi) from earth’s orbit, was formerly believed an 

impassable hazard to spacecraft bound for outer planets and beyond. 

Voyager I, launched after Voyager 2, had entered the asteroid belt Dec. 

10 a few hours behind Voyager 2 on a master trajectory that would carry 

it steadily beyond Voyager2, which it would overtake Dec. 15. Voyager I 

would make its closest approach to Jupiter Mar. 5, 1979, at 286 OOOkm 

(178 OOOmi); Voyager 2 would pass 643 0oOkm (399 Ooomi) from Jupiter 

in July 1979. Both spacecraft would continue on to Saturn where 

Voyager I would arrive in Nov. 1980, Voyager 2 in Aug. 1981. (NASA 

Release 78-137) 

Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) said he would try his best to do away 

with $5.7 million in “federal pork” for lunar-rock analysis and “to force 

scientists to compete for lunar sample support with other basic research 

proposals in the geological sciences,” Defense/Space Business Daily 

reported. Proxmire said that NASA had spent a total of $41.2 million on 

lunar-sample analysis and had requested another $5.7 million for FY79. 

Although the House had approved the request, the Senate had adopted 

Proxmire’s recommendation to delete the funds, leaving the issue to be 

resolved in conference during Sept. Proxmire had maintained that lunarsample research should not enjoy privileged status over other basic 

research in geology, geochemistry, and geophysics, but should “compete 

with all other research in these areas, preferably at the National Science 

Foundation- our principal basic research agency. If the lunar samples 

have the value claimed for them when the curatorial facility was built, 

this should be no problem.” 

Proxmire said the Senate Appropriations Committee had directed NSF 

to seek proposals for lunar analysis next year as NASA phased out its 

research program. His correspondence had charged that the primary purpose of lunar analysis appeared to be training graduate students and 

keeping university laboratories well equipped. “I do not in any way mean 

to show disrespect for these motives or the participants in the lunar sample program,” Proxmire noted. “However, we have programs for training graduate students. We have programs for providing research equipment to universities. NASA’s moonrock program should not be used for 

these purposes.” (D/SBD, Sept 6/78, 4) 

September 7: NASA announced it had selected Computer Sciences 

Corp. , Falls Church, Va., to negotiate a 2yr cost-plus-award-fee contract 

for engineering support and related services at Wallops Flight Center. 

The contract would include support of instrumentation, computer operations, programming, data support, aerodynamics, mechanical design, 

and systems integration, both for flight articles and groundinstrumentation facilities and for related specializations. The company’s 

21 1 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

bid was approximately $3.8 million; the contract, effective Oct. 1, would 

contain options for three additional 1-yr periods. WFC would administer 

the contract. (WFC Release 78-14) 

Tokyo Univ.’s Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science had successfully launched a satellite to study the phenomenon of northern lights, 

the Washington Post reported. The 200-lb EXOS B, one of three artificial 

moons to be launched in Japan’s international magnetic-sphere observation program, would orbit the earth in an elliptical trajectory every 8hr 

45min. The northern lights (aurora borealis) was a luminous 

phenomenon best viewed in the Arctic region. ( WPost, Sept 7/78, A-16) 

September 8: NASA announced plans to launch Nimbus-G, first satellite 

designed to monitor manmade and natural pollutants in earth’s atmosphere and the last of seven Nimbus environmental-research 

spacecraft launched since Aug. 1964, from WTR no earlier than Sept. 

18, 1978. A 2rstage Delta launch vehicle would put the 907-kg observatory toward a near-polar orbit. I 

Nimbus-G would for the first time provide scientists throughout the 

world with continuous environmental data on physical conditions in the 

global atmosphere, the oceans, the dynamic atmosphere-ocean interface, 

and the earth’s heat balance - information vital to understanding 

climate, oceanography, atmospheric pollution, and regional and global 

weather patterns. NOAA and several U.S. university scientists wouId 

work with NASA scientists on the Nimbus-G project, along with scientists from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, South 

Africa, West Germany, France, and Belgium. For the first time ESA 

would bring on line a Nimbus-G direct reception and data-processing 

capability at Lannion in France that would eventually receive, process, 

and distribute on a regular basis Nimbus-G data to approved European 

investigators. 

The 8 highly complex sensors on Nimbus-G (seven from the U.S. and 

one from the U.K.) were improved versions of instruments carried on six 

previous Nimbus flights to answer three questions: Was ozone in the 

earth’s upper atmosphere changing? Was the earth warming or cooling? 

What was the extent of pollution in the world‘s oceans? Nimbus-G sensors would include four to measure atmospheric gases and pollutants and 

their interrelationships in the earth’s stratosphere and mesophere (the upper atmosphere from 10 to 90km [6.2 to 56miI up). The coastal zone color scanner, sensing colors of the oceans, would enable oceanographers to 

map chlorophyll concentrations, sediment distribution, and salinity in 

large areas of coastal or ocean water, and to detect and track water pollution such as oil spills, sewage and industrial waste dumpings, and river 

sediment. 

212 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

GSFC would manage the spacecraft, Delta launch vehicle, and global 

network for tracking and 2-way communications. Kennedy Space 

Center’s unmanned-launch operations team would supervise the Delta 

launch. General Electric Co.’s Space Division, Nimbus prime contractor 

with more than 50 major subsystem contractors, would be responsible 

for sensors and components in the spacecraft, launch vehicle, and 

ground-reception equipment. More than lo00 subcontractors and vendors had participated in the program. Cost of Nimbus-G spacecraft and 

instruments had totaled $79 million, $2.6 million less than budgeted. 

(NASA Release 78-136 [press kit]; MOR E-604-78-08 [prelaunch] Sept 

1/78, [prelaunch summary] Sept 1/78; Langley Researcher, Sept 22/78, 

4) 

0 NASA announced it had appointed Frank Simokaitis (Maj. Gen., 

USAF, Ret.) director of its DOD affairs division, Hq Office of External 

Relations. During World War 11, Gen. Simokaitis had been an instructor 

pilot and bomber pilot in the European theater. Later he had held a series 

of special investigative, legal, planning, administrative, and staff posts, 

including executive assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force from 1969 

to 1973. Until his retirement, Gen. Simokaitis had been commandant of 

the USAF Inst. of Technology at Wright Patterson AFB and commandant of the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management. He 

had received LL.B. and J.D. degrees from St. Louis Univ. and was a 

member of the bar of the State of Missouri, admitted to practice before 

the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Claims. (NASA Release 

78-139) 

* Langley Research Center announced that Dr. Leonard Hayflick, 

senior cell research biologist at Children’s Hospital Medical Center of 

Northern Calif., would speak on “The Biology of Human Aging” Sept. 

18 as part of LaRC’s colloquium series. According to Dr. Hayflick, the 

ability of the human body to maintain itself had been demonstrated from 

its large-scale immune and endocrine systems down to the cellular level; 

its highly adaptable self-maintenance ability had appeared in biological 

responses of astronauts to sustained zero-g environments. Why did this 

self-maintenance ability give way to the aging process and eventually 

death? Could the biological clock be altered, and would it be desirable to 

do so? Dr. Hayflick would discuss aging both from a demographic and a 

biological point of view. After explaining cell-culture technology and its 

implications, Dr. Hayflick would summarize some modern theories on 

the aging process. (LaRC Release 78-45) 

0 The U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology reported that 

Rep. Olin Teague (D-Tex.) had called for hearings on the current status 

of NASA programs. Convened by the subcommittee on space science 

213 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

and applications and chaired by Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla.), the hearings 

would review NASA projects, with particular emphasis on the Space 

Shuttle and the tracking and data relay satellite system. Fuqua said it had 

been subcommittee practice to hold hearings in the fall before considering NASA requests for new and continuing work in the next year’s 

budget. 

John Yardley, associate administrator for space transportation systems, and William Schneider, associate administrator for space tracking 

and data systems, would testify Sept. 25. Dr. Anthony Calio, associate 

administrator for space and terrestrial applications, and Dr. Noel Hinners, associate administrator for space science, would testify Sept . 26. 

Dr. James Kramer, associate administrator for aeronautics and space 

technology, and Raymond Kline, associate administrator for management operations, would both testify Sept. 27. (H Comm on Sci & Tech 

Release 95-114) 

September 9-Z4: FBIS reported that the USSR had launched Venera ZZ, 

an automatic interplanetary station, on Sept. 9 to continue exploration 

of Venus. Purposes of the mission were to study solar winds, cosmic 

rays, ultraviolet and roentgen rays, and (with apparatus designed by the 

USSR and France) gamma rays. Venera ZZ should reach the vicinity of 

Venus in Dec. 1978. (FBIS, Moscow Dom Svc in Russian, Sept 9/78) 

The USSR had launched Venera 12 Sept. 14 with a design and purpose 

similar to those of Venera ZZ, Tass announced. Onboard systems were 

functioning normally, and trajectories of both stations were close to 

original calculations. Venera I2 would also reach the vicinity of Venus in 

Dec. 1978. (FBIS, Tass in English, Sept 14/78) 

September ZZ: NASA announced it had tentatively selected five scientific 

experiments for its gamma ray observatory, a planned 1984 mission to 

explore a variety of the most energetic forms of radiation known: very 

high-energy gamma rays from pulsars, nuclear gamma rays, and gammaray bursts. Observatory data should provide a much better understanding of the nature of supernovas, pulsars, quasars, radio galaxies, the 

character of the early universe, and the possible existence of antimatter 

in the universe. Scientists also hoped to learn more about incredibly 

dense matter composing objects such as neutron stars, matter so compressed that a teaspoonful would weigh millions of tons. Data from the 

GRO might also tell more about gamma-ray bursts, erratic gamma-ray 

pulses of unknown origin that flashed across the solar system every 

month or so. Although Congress had not yet approved GRO, early 

solicitation of scientific participants and investigations would allow for 

mission definition and a prompt start after approval. 

GSFC would manage the observatory to be carried by the Shuttle into 

214 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

a planned orbit of 400 to 500km (250 to 300mi). NASA had selected principal investigators and experiments: Dr. James Kurfess of NRL, broad 

line gamma-ray spectrometer; Dr. Laurence Peterson of the Univ. of 

Calif., San Diego, narrow line gamma-ray spe ometer; Dr. Carl Fichtel 

of GSFC, high-energy gamma-ray detector; Dr. V. Schoenfelder of the 

Max-Planck Inst., Garching, W. Germany, medium-energy double 

Compton telescope; and Dr. Gerald Fishman of Marshall Space Flight 

Center, transient gamma-ray monitor. (NASA Release 78-140) 

0 NASA announced that tests by LeRC and General Electric Co., 

Peebles, O., on two experimental aircraft engines might result in major 

reductions in noise and air pollution. Technology of both engines, 

known as quiet clean short-haul experimental engines (QCSEE), had 

been directed to future short-haul commuter-type aircraft in the 450 to 

800km (300 to 500mi) range customarily used by the smaller airports. 

NASA intended to apply QCSEE technology also to engines in the 

80,700-newton (40 0001b) thrust size used in the largest planes of the U.S. 

commercial passenger fleet. 

The two 40 300x1 (20 0001b)-thrust power plants had run 8 to 12db 

quieter than the quietest engine (the CF6) on widebodied DC-10 and 747 

civil transports, about 16db below current FAA noise-level standards 

and some 9db below tougher FAA requirements set for the 1980s. Reduction in noise had resulted from slowing engine-exhaust velocity by increasing the ratio of air passing through the engine fan to air passing 

through the core of the engine, and by other design features including use 

of acoustically absorbent materials. 

Aeronautical engineers also reported substantial air pollution reductions for the research engines, compared with engines then flying; carbon 

monoxide emissions, for example, had decreased 84% in one engine and 

81% in another. Unburned hydrocarbons had decreased 98% for one 

engine, 97% for the other. LeRC engineers attributed air pollution improvements to new designs incorporated in the combustion system and 

said these lower emission levels would more than meet stringent EPA 

standards set for 1979. 

An additional bonus would be fuel savings of about 10% compared 

with current engines of similar size. Fuel savings had resulted from 

replacing normally heavy metal components (the engine cowling, frame, 

and fan blades) with lightweight nonmetallic composite materials of 

equal or greater strength. The experimental engines had internal differences, but the most visible was their location on the aircraft wing: one 

had been under the wing as in conventional installations, the other over 

the wing. Wing flaps in both positions deflected jet exhaust downward to 

add lift for short-run operations. 

QCSEE was a $30 million program to develop and demonstrate 

215 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

powered-lift engines (under and over the wing) that could reduce congestion, noise, and air pollution around airports. General Electric Co. had 

been prime contractor for both engines. (NASA Release 78-138) 

0 Hughes Communications Services, Inc., Culver City, Calif., had 

received a $335 million Navy Systems Command contract to provide 5yr 

of Leasat (leased satellite) communications services at each of four locations in space starting in 1982, Aerospace Daily reported. Hughes, which 

had proposed to use its Syncom-4 Shuttle-optimized spacecraft, had won 

out over Comsat General Corp. and TRW Inc. Leasat would replace the 

Gapfiller service currently leased from Comsat General’s Marisat system, 

and would complement the TRW-built Navy-owned FltSatCom system 

by serving both Navy ships and Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force 

ground-mobile forces. Choice of the Hughes system, dedicated to Pentagon use, should enhance prospects of a ESA and INTELSAT joint offer of a civilian system to be used by the pre-Inmarsat joint venture. 

(AD, Sept 11/78, 38) 

NASA had dropped supersonic ’ transport-oriented research aircraft, 

previously considered as a new start for FY83, from its latest 5-yr plan 

covering FY 1980-1984, Av Wk reported. Inclusion of the 75 0001b-class 

aircraft in an earlier 5yr plan had angered Congressional foes of supersonic transport. A senior NASA official acknowledged it had been a 

mistake to include the aircraft in the earlier plan. (AvWk, Sept 11/78, 

13) 

ESA announced it had awarded to the European consortium Cosmos 

headed by Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm, W. Germany, a contract for 

phases C and D of the scientific satellite Exosat to include fabrication, 

integration, and testing of the observatory intended to measure position, 

structural aspects, and spectral and temporal characteristics of x-ray 

sources. It would carry four experiments: two imaging telescopes for 

low-energy x-rays, a large-area proportional-counter array, and a gasscintillation spectrometer for medium-energy x-rays. 

The observatory, mounted on a 3-axis-stabilized platform, would 

travel in a highly eccentric orbit whose apogee (roughly above the North 

Pole) would be at 200 OOOkm altitude. ESA planned to launch Exosat in 

the second quarter of 1981 on an Ariane equipped with a fourth stage to 

put the spacecraft into the required orbit. (ESA Release Sept 11/78) 

September 12: LaRC announced that James Patton, Jr., head of the 

pilots’ office, would receive the Iven C. Kincheloe award at the annual 

symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in Los Angeles 

Sept. 30. The award would honor Patton’s professional accomplishment 

216 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

in initiation, formulation, and conduct of the NASA comprehensive 

general aviation stalllspin flight research program. John Reeder, chief of 

LaRC’s TCV program office and a Society fellow, had nominated Patton 

for the award. 

In his nomination Reeder noted, “During the (stall/spin) program formulation, Mr. Patton provided invaluable leadership and technical 

guidance to establish flight safety procedures and ensure a rational and 

productive flight research program. As a result of his efforts, Langley 

Research Center has established a stall/spin flight test facility, procedures, and equipment which provide the most sophisticated system to 

date for general aviation stall/spin research.” Patton had beenin his 

present position since 1968; he had started as a research pilot with NASA 

in Apr. 1966. (LaRC Release 78-46) 

0 INTELSAT announced that earth stations handling satellite communications in countries bordering the Indian Ocean would begin 

switching to a new larger-capacity comsat, Zntelsat ZV-A, which would 

carry about 6000 2-way telephone circuits (25010 more capacity than its 

Zntelsat ZV predecessor) and would eventually provide increased capacity 

for international satellite television. 

The Indian Ocean InteIsat had provided communications for and between countries in an area bounded approximately by Britain and 

Europe in the west and Japan and Australia in the east. The transition of 

47 earth stations through 150 steps was scheduled to start Sept. 18 and to 

be substantially completed by the end of 1978. No interruption or disruption of telecommunications services was anticipated, except that television transmission facilities would be unavailable during the latter half of 

Nov. 

The switchover operation would position Zntelsat ZV and Zntelsat ZV-A 

in orbit at the same location and synchronize their harmonic motion (a 

sway induced by natural forces acting on the spacecraft). The proximity 

of the satellites would allow earth stations to see both simultaneously, 

permitting changes in the operational configuration without a break in 

service. (INTELSAT Release 78-25-1) 

* A delegation from NASA Hq meeting in Paris with ESA‘s Spacelab 

program board would attempt to overcome W. Germany’s objections to 

a proposed barter agreement, under which NASA would provide four. 

free Space Shuttle launches instead of paying cash for Spacelab hardware 

it had agreed to buy, Aerospace Daily reported. 

The barter deal, proposed by ESA in 1977, had met with opposition 

from ESA-member governments. Main objection, stated most strongly 

by W. Germany, was that a European commitment to four Shuttle 

flights would be premature because European plans to use the Space 

217 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, iwa 

Shuttle and Spacelab ought to be definite before a barter would make 

sense. NASA had agreed to the barter instead of paying cash for a full set 

of Spacelab hardware it had agreed to buy years before. ESA felt that, 

under the barter, the industrial consortium headed by VFW-Fokker Ern0 

could continue to work with European money at a far more satisfactory 

pace than could be expected if they relied on NASA money. In exchange 

for the roughly $100 million the Europeans would pay, NASA would 

provide four free flights for Spacelab, two for ‘ESA and two for 

Germany. 

Observers said that W. Germany’s reservations centered on uncertainty about ESA’s Spacelab program, and that its own commitment to two 

flights was premature. If (as was likely) W. Germany’s Spacelab missions 

would not use the Shuttle-Spacelab system’s full capability although it 

had agreed to the dedicated launches, Germany would have to fill up the 

Space Shuttle or absorb the resulting losses. Other concerns were the rising costs of Space Shuttle flights, as launch costs in deutschmarks increased 

while the value of the dollar decreased. (AID, Sept 12/78, 43) 

September I2-I7: NASA announced it had received word from NORAD 

that the Pegasus I spacecraft assembly launched in 1965 would reenter 

earth’s atmosphere on or about Sept. 17. Predicted dispersion (footprint) 

of surviving pieces was 200km (125mi) cross range, 3500km (2175mi) 

down range. The Pegasus orbital band had extended 3 1.7 ON and 3 1.7 OS 

of the equator over an area 75% water. NASA estimated that reentry 

heat would destroy approximately 9705kg (21 4001b) of orbital hardware, and that about 726kg (16001b) might survive reentry in several 

pieces. Normal breakup of reentering spacecraft had not so far resulted 

in personal or property damage on earth; the possibility of a Pegasus 

fragment’s striking an individual or structure was considered to be less 

than that resulting from meteorites impacting the earth. 

Pegasus I, launched Feb. 16, 1965, had gathered micrometeoroid data 

for use in designing spacecraft; data collection had ceased Jan. 13, 1968. 

The Pegasus I assembly weighed about 10 430kg (23 0001b) and was 21m 

(70ft) long. The spacecraft, weighing about 1900kg (32001b), had remained attached to the empty S-IV stage and the instrument unit of the 

Saturn I launch vehicle. Neither the satellite nor the attached S-IV contained radioactive nuclear power sources or materials. Pegasus 2 was still 

in orbit; Pegasus 3 had reentered Aug. 4, 1969, over the Pacific Ocean. 

Aerospace Daily reported that Pegasus I and associated hardware had 

reentered earth’s atmosphere Sept. 17 over Angola. A NASA spokesman 

said there were no sightings or reports of debris. (NASA Release 78-141; 

Marshall Star, Sept 13/78, 2, 20/78, 2; DFRC X-Press, Sept 22/78, 2; 

A/D, Sept 20178, 91) 

218 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

September 13: A space processing applications rocket, SPAR V, was 

launched at llam CDT September 11, from White Sands, N.M., the 

Marshall Star reported. The SPAR V science payload contained 4 experiments to be processed during about 4min of near-zero gravity 

achieved by the suborbital flight. The flight appeared, from limited data, 

to have gone extremely well, lasting about 15min and reaching a height 

of around 102.5 statute mi. The payload was recovered about 55 to 6Omi 

down range in a low mountain area. The payload had no external 

damage and had been returned to the missile range. 

Two of the experiments studied resolidification of molten materials in 

low gravity, from photographs made at 1-sec intervals during the process. Another experiment verified results of a SPAR I1 experiment during 

which an immiscible liquid processed in an electric furnace exhibited 

unexpected massive separation. The fourth experiment both melted and 

crystallized several samples of materials during the low-gravity processing period, while a camera recorded particle behavior. (Marshall Star, 

Sept 13/78, 1; 6/78, 1) 

September 15: Jet Propulsion Laboratory arlnounced it had installed a 

new RCA domestic satellite (domsat) earth station with 1Om antenna, 

now fully operational as part of the NASA Communications Network 

(NASCOM). RCA had received a contract to provide three 56-kilobitper-sec (kbps) wideband data channels between JPL and GSFC, primarily to serve the Voyager project. The three channels, used with new 

NASCOM-installed “tri-channel” end terminals, would provide a 

168kbps end-to-end data transfer capability. 

The antenna was the completion of a high-data-rate link to JPL from 

the Deep Space Network’s 64m tracking station at Madrid; Voyager 

high-rate telemetry received at Madrid would be beamed up to the Intelsat satellite, down to an East Coast receiving station, then to GSFC for 

transmission to JPL over the new domsat link. Although the 56kbps rate 

had formerly sufficed for telemetry received from overseas stations, the 

Voyager encounters with Jupiter scheduled to begin in the spring would 

need a higher (115.2 kbps) rate. (JPL Universe, Sept 15/78, 1) 

JPL reported that solar cell roofing shingles made for it under contract 

by General Electric Co. could deal with the weather in two ways: they 

could both generate electricity and constitute a roof impermeable to wind 

and rain. The 50 shingles, developed and tested at JPL under a lyr 

$200 OOO contract as part of Task IV of DOE’S large solar array project, 

consisted of a rectangular synthetic-rubber base with a tempered-glass 

hexagon coating containing 19 photovoltaic cells. Solar-cell arrays would 

butt against each other when the modules were laid in the conventional 

e 

219 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

overlapping manner. The shingles produced an average of 98w/m3 according to GE tests, and an array of about 1900 shingles could supply 

90% of the power used by an all-electric home in the southwest U.S. 

However, the cost of the shingle-generated electricity was about $30 per 

watt, far higher than DOE’S $8-a-watt target. Environmental and field 

tests at JPL would verify GE’s results and study weathering effects, to 

help GE develop cost-cutting design refinements. (JPL Universe, Sept 

15/78, 1) 

* Aerospace Daily reported that House-Senate appropriations conferees 

would allow NASA to reprogram FY79 funds from Space Shuttle pro; 

duction into development as it had done with $100 million in 1978, if the 

agency first asked Congress for a budget supplement to restore the production money. Reporting on a Sept. 14 compromise $4.35 billion NASA 

money bill, the conferees promised that NASA would receive “prompt 

consideration” of a supplemental request. 

The reprogramming suggestion seemed to address the major concern: 

whether or not NASA could increase the rate of development spending 

ahead of supplement approval. Under a reprogramming, production 

would be slowed pending restoration of funds, but development could 

proceed at a rate consistent with the expected extra money. This arrangement had followed up on an earlier House provision dropped by the conferees, allowing NASA to set up a reserve fund for Shuttle development 

by taking $30 million from three science programs. 

The conferees had approved NASA’s $20.5 million request for 

development of a teleoperator retrieval system, with the proviso that 

NASA get approval from both appropriations committees before 

obligating more than $10 million of the money, and that the balance of 

$10.5 million be available “only for Space Shuttle funding requirements 

in the absence of committee approval,” Both committees had been skeptical of the TRS proposal because its use in a Skylab mission might be impossible in view of Shuttle delays and the deterioration of Skylab’s orbit. 

Conferees also had agreed to add $500 OOO to the money bill to start a 

Stereosat program; the House had added $4 million, the Senate nothing. 

The conference had compromised on an add-on of $2 million for a solarpower satellite system, ratifying the House cut of $5 million from expendable launch vehicles. It had also eliminated funds for the SET1 

(search for extraterrestrial intelligence) program. (MD, Sept 15/78, 65) 

September 18: Onboard equipment problems had delayed launch of 

Nimbus-G and TIROS-N from Vandenberg AFB, Av Wk reported. Tape 

recorder problems had caused cancellation of the Nimbus-G launch 

scheduled for‘Sept. 18; the new launch would not be before Oct. 2. 

Replacement of a malfunctioning processing unit had delayed the 

TIROS-N launch for 2wk. The problem appeared to be isolated and 

220 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

should not affect the unit’s design or the AF meteorological satellites 

then in orbit. 

Aerospace Dadj reported that NASA had returned the three tape 

recorders in Nimbus-G to the builder, RCA Corp., for cleaning and 

removal of loose solder that could cause short circuits; five essentially 

identical tape recorders on TIROS-N also needed cleaning. Nimbus-G 

and TIROS-N represented first uses of the NASA tape recorder, 

developed over several years by RCA as standard equipment for a variety 

of spacecraft. The problem had apparently arisen in soldering connectors 

to the mother board (a printed circuit board into which other PCBs were 

plugged); upon inspecting a tape recorder that had failed during tests, 

NASA found that loose solder had shorted pins. While drawing up a 

cleaning requirement for units not yet delivered, NASA had dismantled 

three tape recorders and had found loose solder capable of causing shorts 

in all three. (AvWk, Sept 18/78, 33; AD, Sept 18/78, 73) 

September 19: NASA reported that about 7da after a Delta rocket was 

scheduled to launch Nimbus-G‘into polar orbit from WTR, the second 

stage of the Delta would separately release two chemicals. Project 

Cameo (chemically active materials ejected in orbit) would consist of a 

single 90sec release of lithium over northern Scandinavia and a separate 

release of barium over northern Alaska, to study solar energy and 

plasma flows and electric fields in Arctic regions. Release of the lithium 

would create a huge bright-red cloud visible from Greenland, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe for a maximum of 5min. Release of 

the barium would create a bluish white cloud visible from the Soviet 

Union, Canada, and northwestern parts of the U.S. for a maximum of a 

half hr. NASA had timed the releases during Arctic twilight or early 

, morning, to ensure best lighting for ground-based and aircraft 

photography to pinpoint the position and configuration of each cloud as 

a function of time. 

Primary objective of the barium experiment was to trace the flow of 

plasma (ionized particles) in and above the earth’s ionosphere, with particular emphasis on the transition in earth’s electric field between the 

polar ice cap and the auroral zone over Alaska and Canada. Primary objective of the lithium experiment was to detect electric fields oriented 

parallel to the earth’s magnetic field. (NASA Release 78-142) 

0 LaRC announced that Dr. Donald “Deke” Slayton would be guest 

speaker Oct. 5 at a NASA-LaRC colloquium and a public lecture to commemorzte NASA’s 20th anniversary. Slayton, one of the original seven 

astronauts selected in 1959 for Project Mercury and the only one still active in the space program, was orbital flight test manager for JSC’s Space 

Shuttle Project Office. He had been chief astronaut and director of flight 

crew operations before going into space in July 1975 with the Apollo221 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Soyuz Test Project. Title of Slayton’s colloquium lecture would be “The 

Space Shuttle”; his public lecture, “Manned Space Flight: Past Triumphs, Future Challenges.” (LaRC Release 78-47; Langley Researcher, 

Sept 22/78, 2) 

0 JSC announced it had signed a contract with Itek Optical Systems 

Division of Lexington, Mass., for the Space Shuttle orbiter camera 

payload system. The $4 890 OOO cost-plus-incentive-fee contract would 

cover the first flight system with an option for a second. Planned for 

spaceflight on pallets and test racks built by NASA or ESA in the 

orbiter’s 15 by 65ft cargo bay, the system would be a flexible 

photographic array for earth-imaging surveys, remote sensing, and supplementing nonimaging systems. The second option (to produce a largeformat camera for the USGS) would, if exercised, increase the contract 

value by $1.5 million. (JSC Release 78-42) 

0 MSFC reported that the final airdrop test of a system to retrieve Shuttle solid-fuel rocket boosters by parachute had demonstrated that the 

system could save the boosters for reuse. The sixth and final airdrop 

Sept. 12 had successfully tested a main parachute under forces exceeding 

those expected during flight. A test vehicle released at about 6100m 

(20 0oOft) altitude from beneath the right wing of a B-52 aircraft had 

deployed a test parachute when vehicle speed reached about 66Okm per 

hr (4lOmph). 

Although actual booster recoveries would use three main parachutes 

each, the test had used only one because the test vehicle weighed only about 

a third as much as a booster would during recovery, and the B-52 aircraft 

could lift only 22 700kg (50 0001b). Use of only one parachute had suf-- 

ficed for the main parachute structural test, however, as it had sustained; 

the necessary load. Actual weight of the boosters to be recovered after 

Shuttle launches would be about three times the present world-record 

weight of 24 948kg (55 Ooolb) for parachutd recovery; each empty 

booster would weigh about 78 OOOkg (172 0001b) during descent. MSFC 

engineers had conducted all six drop tests at the National Parachute Test 

Range, El Centro, Calif. (Marshall Star, Sept 19/78, 1) 

September 20: NASA reported that a flight-configured Space Shuttle 

engine fired in tests at NASA’s Bay St. Louis, Miss., facility had exceeded 5OOOsec, the level to be met by a production engine to certify the main 

propulsion system for manned flight. Testing of the Space Shuttle main 

engine had increased dramatically, both in number of tests and time accumulated, since Aug. 12, 1978. Two engines had each accumulated approximately 7 lOOsec of testing time, putting total engine-testing time 

over 25 OOOsec in 342 tests. Among these were five consecutive runs of 

222 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS. 1978 SEPTEMBER 

520sec, the length of time needed to put the Shuttle into orbit, on one 

engine at rated power level. Preliminary flight certification, which required a flight engine to have run 5000sec, was expected in the spring of 

1979. Full-duration testing of the complete main propulsion system (a 

cluster of three engines) would resume in early 1979 when the first 

manned orbital flight configuration engines would become available. 

(NASA Release 78-144; JSC Release 78-40; Marshall Star, Sept 13/78, 1) 

NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch and Dr. John Keys, assistant 

deputy minister of Canada’s Dept. of Energy, Mines, and Resources 

(EMR), had signed an agreement Sept. 19 in Ottawa to establish a Canadian ground station at Shoe Cave, Newfoundland, to receive SeaSat data 

and to study data use, NASA announced. Under the agreement, Canada 

would build and operate a ground station to collect from SeaSat’s five 

sensors the data needed to support their own surveillance satellite project 

(SURSAT) and to furnish SeaSat data and related surface-truth information to NASA at no cost. NASA would be responsible for SeaSat data 

transmission to the station and for necessary technical information. Data 

from SeaSat would support a number of Canadian experiments to assess 

the usefulness of its synthetic aperture radar and other sensors for 

oceanographic research and coastal management. (NASA Release 

78-143) 

September 21: INTELSAT announced it would hold open its offer of a 

new satellite system for world maritime communications, since its board 

of governors had authorized continued development of a maritime communications package to be carried on a number of its Intelsat V international comsats as well as further discussions on provision of maritime 

services by a global-satellite system of three modified Intelsat V satellites 

and three European MARECS satellites, beginning in 1981. Observers 

expected that the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT), after its formal establishment, would eventually take over 

maritime communications. 

The board also had authorized Ford Aerospace and Communications 

Corp. to continue studies on maritime-communications equipment sets 

for its fifth, sixth, and seventh Intelsat V satellites. Although the 

packages could not increase international communications capacity, they 

would offer the equivalent of 30 voice circuits for maritime shore-to-ship 

and ship-to-shore communications and would improve the quality of ondemand voice, telex, telegraph, and data communications. 

Aerospace Daily reported that the choice between NASA’s Space Shuttle and ESA’s Ariane to launch Intelsat V had been put off until Dec. The 

board had apparently voted on at least two options, one of which was a 

compromise using both launch vehicles. The board had deadlocked, 

223 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

because of “a lot of abstentions,” said one source. (INTELSAT Release 

78-27-1; AID, Sept 25/78, 110) 

Soyuz 29 cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenkov had set a space endurance record in Salyut 6 Sept. 20 after more 

than 96da aloft, the Washington Post reported; the USSR had not indicated how much longer their flight would last. At 9: 17am Moscow time 

(2:17am EDT), the two had surpassed the previous record of 96da lOhr, 

set by Soyuz 26 cosmonauts Georgy Grechko and Yuri Romanenko Feb. 

11 aboard the same spacecraft. The two missions had been similar, consisting of scientific experiments and maintenance activities. Grechko and 

Romanenko had broken the 84day lhr 16min endurance record set in 

1978 by Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William 

Pogue. (W Post, Sept 21/78, A-16; W Star, Sept 20/78, A-13; FBIS, 

Tass in English, Sept 20/78; AvWk, Sept 25/78, 13) 

September 22: NASA reported that President Jimmy Carter had named 

six astronauts to receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, first 

such medal ever awarded by the US. The six were Neil Armstrong; 

Frank Borman; Charles Conrad, Jr.; John Glenn; Virgil Grissom 

(posthumous); and Alan Shepard, Jr. The President would present the 

medals Oct. 1 during a visit to KSC on the 20th anniversary of NASA’s 

establishment. Congress had authorized in 1969 the award “to any 

astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself 

by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of 

the Nation and of mankind.” Citations were as follows: 

-Neil Armstrong, for actions during Gemini 8 in Mar. 1966 to overcome problems and land his spacecraft safely, and for “steady cool professionalism, repeatedly overcoming hazards” on the Apollo ZI mission 

in July 1969, when he became the first person to walk on the moon. 

-Frank Borman, who had commanded Gemini 7 in Dec. 1965 and 

Apollo 8 in Dec. 1968, both of which “significantly hastened and 

facilitated achievement of the manned lunar landing objective.” On 

Apollo 8 he had commanded the first manned spacecraft to escape the 

earth’s gravity. 

-Charles Conrad, Jr., who from Aug. 1965 to June 1973 had participated in four spaceflights of increasing duration, complexity, and 

achievement. His contribution had culminated in the first manned 

Skylab mission in May and June 1973, when he commanded the crew 

that performed “lengthy, dangerous, and strenuous activities that were 

necessary to repair damage inflicted on the orbital workshop during 

launch and thereby save the two-billion-dollar program.” 

-John Glenn, Jr., first American to orbit the earth in the third 

manned mission of Project Mercury in Feb. 1962, when his professional 

224 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

handling of extreme difficulties with the spacecraft “demonstrated the 

value of the human pilot in space. . . . He rned to a nation and a 

world that seized on him as a major hero. This difficult role he handled 

with the same polite dignity that he brought to all his assignments.” 

-Virgil Grissom (posthumous), second American in space who from 

July 1961 to Jan. 1967 had participated in Mercury and Gemini 

spaceflights and had lost his life during preparation for the first Apollo 

flight. Experience gained from the first manned Gemini flight in March 

1965, which he commanded, led to “procedures necessary for the support 

of subsequent long-duration and rendezvous missions.” 

-Alan Shepard, Jr., first American in space aboard a Mercury 

spacecraft in May 1961, which “demonstrated that his country lacked 

neither the courage nor the technology to compete in the new arena of 

space.” He also was cited for showing in Feb. 1971 “the highest qualities 

of leadership” as commander of Apollo Z4, the third lunar landing mission. (NASA Release 78-146) 

JSC announced it had selected General Electric Co., Space Division, 

Valley Forge, Pa., for negotiations leading to a contract for the Space 

Shuttle orbiter food system galley. The estimated $1.2 million cost-plusfixed-fee contract, beginning December 1978 and ending January 198 1, 

would be for a facility including food-preparation equipment (hot and 

cold water dispensers, oven, water heater) and serving equipment (meat 

trays). (JSC Release 78-43) 

Dryden Flight Research Center reported that the KC-135, testbed aircraft to be modified with winglets in early 1979, had made its first flight 

at DFRC as a fully instrumental research aircraft. The data package 

would be ferried by air to Tinker AFB where it would undergo fatigue inspection. The transport-sized aircraft would return to DFRC in midNov. for reinstallation of the data package. Baseline-data flights with the 

conventional wing would begin in 1979, followed by installation of the 

winglets for full-data flights. (DFRC X-Press, Sept 22/78, 2) 

* DFRC announced it had returned its unmanned spin research vehicle 

(SRV) to flight status, following several mo of downtime for aligning the 

aircraft’s nose and adding tufts to study airflow. A B-52 had dropped 

the SRV at 45 O00ft; it had gone into a spin down to 20 OOOft and a 

lakebed landing. DFRC had scheduled a second flight test to be followed, if successful, by additional nose modifications. Changing nose 

shape would alter aircraft-spin characteristics. (DFRC X-Press, Sept 

22/78, 4) 

September 25: NASA reported that John Yardley, associate administrator for Space Transportation Systems, had testified before the 

225 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

House Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications on Space Shuttle status. Yardley said a detailed program review of cost, schedule, and 

performance had indicated substantial progress that year. He cited successful completion of approach and landing tests of Orbiter 101 (Enterprise), which had been shipped to MSFC for mated ground-vibration 

tests; mission-duration test firings of the main engines at the rated power 

level; and completion of the first phase of the 3-ggine main-propulsion 

configuration testing. 

A review of the Shuttle schedule had shown that all program elements 

could be ready for a Sept. 28, 1978, first manned orbital flight (FMOF), 

if all planned tests were successful and if adjustments to the orbiter’s 

maneuvering-system pod and the solid-fuel rocket motors were complete. Unforeseen problems or unsuccessful tests could delay the 

schedule; however, NASA believed the probability of flying the FMOF 

during CY 1979 was high. 

Significant Shuttle problems disclosed by the review had been in the 

main engine and in vehicle weight. Engine development, although slower 

than desired, had produced a design that, if tests went well, could be 

flight-certified by Sept. 1979. The weight problem had not affected early 

flight tests, but might hamper both the Galileo mission to Jupiter and 

certain USAF missions. Measures to reduce weight in the orbiter and external tank could satisfy all mission requirements until mid-1984, and 

performance augmentation options now under study could meet Shuttle 

mission requirements after that time. 

NASA would need additional funding to support the revised FMOF 

schedule, and to complete the Shuttle design and development test and 

evaluation program. Funding requirements had arisen not from any 

single program element but from several items (including the main 

engines, solid-fuel rocket boosters, external tank, and thermalprotection system), on which more work was needed than had been 

estimated. Shuttle development costs in FY79 and FY8O had exceeded 

previous plans, and current estimates of total Shuttle development costs 

were 8 to 9% higher than the earlier estimated $5.2 billion (1971 dollars). 

NASA had discussed Shuttle funding with OMB .as it affected the FY80 

budget, and had reviewed with DOD the potential impact if additional 

Shuttle development funds were unavailable in FY79. Preliminary 

assessments had shown the first FMOF would be delayed an additional 6 

to 9mo beyond the Sept. date, and delivery of production orbiters would 

be delayed up to lyr. (NASA Release 78-145; NASA testimony, US Subcomm on Sp Sci & Appl, Sept 28/78; JSC Roundup, Sept 29/78, 1; Marshall Star, Sept 27/78, l) 

* The Dept. of Transportation announced that the FAA would install 

under contract early in 1979 a warning system at 17 additional U.S. air226 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

ports to help pilots avoid hazardous low-level wind shear. Work under 

the $1.7 million contract would raise to 24 the number of airports with 

such equipment; the FAA, which had tested wind shear alert systems at 

seven other airports for a yr, had begun full-time operation of that 

equipment in early Sept. Wind shear (a change in wind direction and/or 

speed caused by thunderstorms and fast-moving weather fronts) could be 

particularly hazardous during takeoff and landing. An aircraft at those 

times might not have sufficient speed or altitude to recover from sudden 

and dramatic wind shifts. 

The low-level wind shear alert system (LLWSAS) developed for FAA 

by EMR Telemetry, Sarosota, Fla., used a minicomputer to measure 

wind speed and direction from as many as 5 wind sensors located on the 

airport periphery, and to compare these readings with wind data from 

the airport center. Detection of a significant difference in wind velocity 

(approximately 15 knots) would trigger aural and visual alarms in the 

control tower. Alerted by air traffic controllers, pilots could request an 

alternate runway, adjust approach or takeoff procedures, or execute a 

missed approach. (FAA Release 77-78) 

The People’s Republic of China had launched eight spacecraft, some 

of them military reconnaissance satellites, Av Wk reported. Mainland 

Chinese had confirmed earlier speculation that reentry packages returned 

from three PRC spacecraft were of that type. Av Wk also said that 

Cosmos 1031 launched Sept. 8 from Plesetsk by the USSR, appeared to 

be a close-look reconnaissance satellite to report on NATO’s Northern 

Wedding exercise to repel a simulated invasion of the Shetland Is. north 

of Britain. The satellite had an unusual perigee location of 60’N over the 

Shetlands; its inclination was 62.8’. (AvWk, Sept. 25/78, 9) 

September 26: Tass reported that, in an interview marking the first anniversary of the Salyut 6 launch, Pilot-Cosmonaut Dr. Konstantin 

Feoktistov had recommended designing a new orbiting scientific Salyut 

laboratory with a minimum of 7 or 8 docking units. The presence of only 

2 docking units on Salyut 6 meant that, after a cargo vessel had arrived 

and its equipment was transferred, it had to undock to make room for 

another vehicle. This was irrational, Feoktistov said. When a cargo ship 

departed, the Salyut would lose one complete “room” of the cosmic 

house (with a volume of about 6m3) that could accommodate equipment 

and scientific instruments. To add even one more component to a Salyut 

was not simple, as virtually its entire surface was covered with solar batteries, windows, television cameras, and various sensors. The nose fairing covering the station in the active phase of the launch also had 

restricted designers. Feoktistov stressed, however, the need to equip 

future space stations with several mooring ports to handle units for 

221 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

specialized research: technological, astronomical, and geophysical. 

(FBIS, Tass Intl Svc in Russian, Sept 26/78) 

September 27: NASA announced that LaRC physicist Dr. Joseph 

Heyman had received his third IR-100 award given by Industrial 

Research magazine for one of the 100 most significant new technical 

products of 1978. Presentation of the award to Dr. Heyman at a banquet 

in Chicago Sept. 21 marked the first time the magazine had selected one 

person three times for the honor. Dr. Heyman’s previous awards had 

been in 1974 and 1976. His 1978 device, jointly developed at LaRC and 

Washington Univ. , St. Louis, was an acoustoelectric transducer that 

used very high-pitched sound waves to improve accuracy in measuring 

deviations in structural properties. Unlike conventional transducers, the 

new device was insensitive to the shape of sound waves, and would allow 

researchers to identify and evaluate more accurately material flaws and 

to characterize biomedical specimens and tissue. Heyman’s first IR-100 

award had been for a continuous-wave ultrasonic microemboli monitor, 

which traced impurities in a patient’s blood during open-heart surgery. 

His 1976 award had been for an Ultrasonic bolt stress monitor to indicate 

changes in bolt strain of less than one part in 10 000. (NASA Release 

78-147; LaRC Release 78-48; Langley Researcher, Sept 22/78, 5) 

* NASA reported it had launched a 2-stage Nike-Apache sounding 

rocket at 1:30 am EDT Sept. 27 from Wallops Island to investigate 

ionization sources in the upper atmosphere during geomagnetic activity. 

The experiment had been postponed day to day since June 2, awaiting an 

intense magnetic storm that usually followed solar flares. The rocket 

payload had reached a peak altitude of 183km (114 statute mi), and 

preliminary results indicated that all instrumentation performed satisfactorily and obtained good data. The launch was the last in a series for the 

Joint American-Soviet Particle Intercalibration (JASPIC) Project to 

compare U.S. and Soviet particle-measuring instrumentation [see May 

151. The two nations had jointly conducted eight rocket-borne experiments in June from the Wallops range and the Soviet research ship, 

Professor Vize, located off Va.’s eastern shore. (WFC Release 78-1) 

* MSFC announced it had test-fired Sept. 6 at the White Sands test 

facility a version of the rocket engine that would maneuver the Space 

Shuttle orbiter. The l0sec-duration burn was the first firing of the 

6000-lb thrust engine in combination with propellant tanks, feedlines , and other components of the orbital maneuvering subsystem (OMS) pod. 

OMS engines using nitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine as oxidizer and fuel had been designed for reuse in up to 100 space missions, 

with lo00 starts for a total firing lifetime of 15hr. The engines would pro228 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

vide thrust for final orbital insertion at the end of launch phase, orbit circularization, orbit transfer, changing and rendezvous maneuvers, and 

deorbit burns. (Marshall Star, Sept 27/78, 2) 

The Congressional Record reported that Sen. Adlai Stevenson I11 

(D-Ill) had submitted S. 3530 proposing specific goals for the U.S. space 

program in the next lOyr, including large space structures, solar-power 

satellites, public service communications, space processing, and various 

space science initiatives, with procedures for the president to translate 

the goals into specific budget actions. 

“The United States stands today on the threshold of a ‘new era in 

space,’ . . . inaugurated with the launching of the space shuttle late next 

year, will be characterized by. . . ’routine utility.’ The prospect of 

conducting frequent trips to near earth orbit-up to 60 per year according to current projections-aboard the shuttle opens a range of applied 

and scientific activities not feasible with expendable rockets. “. . . . a commitment by the Federal Government is needed to initiate 

this new era in space. . . Decisions during the next year or so will more 

than likely set the course of U.S. space activities for the balance of this 

century. A balanced and reasonable program, as set forth in this legislation, will insure this Nation’s leadership in developing the space environment for the benefit of people in this country and around the world. . . ” 

(CR, Sept 27/78, S 16354) 

0 NASA, which had dropped plans in 1977 for a 1982 mission to rendezvous with Halley’s comet, had decided on a 1985 mission to rendezvous 

with comet Tempel 2 that would include a flyby of Halley’s comet and 

deployment of a probe into its coma, Defense/Space Business Daily 

reported. Powered by a solar-electric (ion) propulsion system, the 

spacecraft would deploy its probe toward Halley in 1985 and would 

rendezvous with Tempel 2 in 1988. Until mid-1978 NASA had been considering as a new start for FY81 a 1985 mission using ion propulsion to 

comet Encke. In testimony before the House Space Subcommittee, 

Associate Administrator Dr. Noel Hinners had said NASA would make 

systems-definition studies in FY79 of the spacecraft, science, and iondrive element of the Tempel 2 mission. (D/SBD, Sept 27/78, 108) 

September 28 NASA announced that it and the US. Army Aviation 

Research and Development Command at WFC had accepted the first 

rotor systems research aircraft (RSRA) to provide the U.S. with a 

sophisticated and much needed research facility for continued development of rotary wing technology. NASA and the Army would obtain data 

from the RSRA helicopters to verify and to investigate technology of existing and advanced rotor systems. RSIZA would make unnecessary 

229 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

costly and extensive modification of helicopter aircraft for flight investigations of each new rotor design, and could produce precise 

measurements of a variety of rotors under repeatable test conditions. 

RSRA featured the first helicopter-crew emergency-escape system (an 

active isolator/balance system) and could be configured as a helicopter, 

compound aircraft (helicopter with fixed wings), or fixed-wing aircraft. 

The active isolator/bdance system’s main rotor vibratory forces and 

moments could provide wide band attenuation of vibrations to the 

fuselage, permitting installation of different rotors without retuning the 

fuselage. The emergency-escape system allowed upward extraction of the 

crew, using tractor rocket motors to sever the main rotor blades and 

separate and fragment the canopies. The system, consisting solely of 

mechanical and pyrotechnic components, was insensitive to electromagnetically induced radiation and lightning. 

Acceptance marked completion of the design, fabrication, and flight 

test of the second RSRA delivered in helicopter configuration. The first 

RSRA had been scheduled for acceptance after completion of flight tests 

in the compound configuration. Sikorsky Aircraft Div. of United 

Technologies Corp. had built the RSRAs for NASA and the Army. 

(NASA Release 78-148) 

0 NASA announced it had rescheduled launches of the TIROS-N thirdgeneration operational meteorological satellite and the Nimbus-G 

pollution-monitoring satellite, originally set for mid-Sept. to Oct. 14 and 

23, respectively. NASA had postponed the WTR launches because of 

malfunction of an onboard computer in TIROS-N, and subsequent 

discovery of reworking required for tape recorders on both TIROS-N 

and Nimbus-G [see Sept. 181. NASA had returned the tape recorders to 

the manufacturer for correction of the suspected problem (loose solder 

particles) and would reinstall the instruments in the spacecraft over the 

next 2wk. (NASA Release 78-149) 

0 NASA announced it would award Rep. Olin Teague (D-Tex.) its 

Distinguished Public Service Medal Oct. 3 during a 20th anniversary 

observance. Chairman Teague, who headed the House Committee on 

Science and Technology, had announced he would retire from Congress 

after 2 decades of service. NASA had declared his unswerving support of 

the agency and the U.S. space program an inspiration to all NASA 

employees. (NASA anno Sept 28/78) 

* LaRC announced it had selected Dr. Larry Pinson, aerospace engineer 

in its structures and dynamics division, to participate in the President’s 

executive interchange program, designed to foster improved relations 

between the government and private industry by yearly having 50 to 75 

230 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

middle management executives from both sectors spend a yr in the opposite sector gaining in-depth on-the-job experience. The program had 

trained more than 450 executives since its inception under President 

Lyndon Johnson. 

Pinson had begun his term with the Aerospace Corporation, Los 

Angeles, in August. He had received awards for work on vibration of 

space vehicles, and had been a consultant during the Apollo program on 

various studies of light problems. He had received a Ph.D. in engineering 

mechanics from the Va. Polytechnic Inst. and had begun his NASA 

career at LaRC in 1963. (LaRC Release 78-51) 

September 29: NASA Administrator Robert Frosch announced that, 

upon signature by the President of the Inspector General Bill (or on October 1, 1978, whichever was later), NASA would establish an Office of 

Inspector General consisting of the present NASA management audit office and the NASA office of inspections and security. Pending nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate of a NASA inspector general, Robert Allnutt would act in that position. (NASA anno Sept 

29/78) 

0 LaRC announced that Dr. Donald “Deke” Slayton would present a 

portrait of Virgil (Gus) Grissom on loan from NASA to the Grissom 

Library, Newport News, Va. The library, opened in 1961, had been 

named in honor of Grissom in Aug. 1961 after his historic flight as pilot 

of the Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7) suborbital mission. Grissom, 

who had lived in nearby Stoneybrook Estates from 1959 to 1962, had 

kept in touch with the library by working with the children’s summer 

reading program. He had been killed in Jan. 1967 with Edward White I1 

and Roger Chaffee in an Apollo spacecraft fire during tests at KSC. 

Grissom and Slayton, who were among the original seven astronauts 

selected by NASA in 1959, had trained and worked at LaRC during the 

Mercury program. (LaRC Release 78-52) 

In an interview on NASA’s 20th anniversary, JSC director Christopher 

Kraft, Jr., said that speeding up the space program would require private 

capital. “Production in space will become an important part of our competitive position and have a great deal to do with the balance of trade.” 

Speculating on the future at JSC, Kraft said he believed it “highly probable that we’ll see a well developed space industry in the next ten years. I 

have an intuitive feeling that the thing is going to mushroom on us.” 

First major project for JSC would be to make the space transportation 

system operational: “If we’re going to make this thing a routine operation, it’s got to go in a more matter-of-fact manner, more like an airline 

operation, than we’ve seen in the past.”For the first 6 or 10 Space Shuttle 

23 1 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

flights, center employees could expect a level of activity similar to that 

during Apollo and Skylab “but after that point we’re going to have to 

phase into this new mode.” He emphasized he wasn’t implying airline 

pilots would fly the Space Shuttle: “It will still require highly trained 

astronauts because it is a very complex vehicle. With development of the 

transport system, we will see a new kind of astronaut - techniques will go 

into space very rapidly. The need for specific talent and skills will 

develop. ” 

Kraft predicted that, in the next few years, the U.S. would “recognize a 

need for permanency of man in space. The best way to do that is with a 

space station. We will probably develop a permanent space station that 

would be carried up as modules in the Space Shuttle.” (JSC Roundup, 

Sept 29/78, 4) . 

JSC announced that technicians had installed four radiator panels and 

a flash evaporator system (FES) in a chamber of Building 32 to prepare 

for Nov. tests of the Space Shuttle heat rejection system. Radiator panels 

that would reject heat and maintain a livable temperature for Space 

Shuttle crews would contain Freon. 21 flowing continuously through 

system loops, picking up heat throughout the ship and depositing cold; 

heat would be pumped to a central location and vented into space. From 

14 OOOft to orbit, the FES would cool the ship; in orbit, it would supplement panels that would open and, using ship’s maneuvers, reflect heat. 

The Nov. tests would close off the 120-ft-high chamber and pump liquid 

nitrogen through tubes in the black walls, dropping temperatures to 

- 320”; infrared lamps would then increase temperatures to the level required in space. This would be first testing of all system components as a 

unit. (JSC Roundup, Sept 29/78, 1) 

September 30: The Congressional Record reported that former astronaut 

Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R-N.M.) had introduced S. 3541, the NASA 

Solar-Power Satellite Program Act of 1978, authorizing research, 

development, and demonstration of obtaining electrical power from 

space through solar-power satellite systems or other energy sources. Successful demonstration of the technical and economic feasibility of this 

concept would supply an inexhaustible future energy both for domestic 

purposes and for export. “Either way,” said Sen. Schmitt, “such a 

demonstration could have a significant impact on our nation’s balance of 

trade. ’’ 

The bill would instruct NASA to begin a program aimed at resolving 

economic and technical problems surrounding the concept, including 

systems definitions; health, safety, environmental and socioeconomic 

studies; and technology assessments of various space energy sources 

compared with terrestrial eriergy sources. Favorable evaluations 

“would accelerate the design of a program to make this promising con232 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 SEPTEMBER 

cept operational at the earliest possible date,” Harrison concluded. (CR, 

Sept 30/78, S 16715) 

During September: NASA announced that scientists had confirmed 

detection by Pioneer Venus I, on the first leg of its 7mo voyage to Venus, 

of a powerful gamma-ray burst from somewhere in the universe. Socalled gamma-ray bursts, unknown until 1973, had enormous energies 

and occurred about once a month from random points in earth’s galaxy 

or even beyond. Discovery of their origin- black holes, brilliant supernova, neutron stars, or some totally unexpected source - would be a difficult task for astronomers. Pioneer Venus measurements of these bursts 

during its 482million-km mission should enable scientists for the first 

time to track the origins accurately. 

Two other American spacecraft (Vela, a DOE satellite orbiting the 

earth, and Helios B, a NASA-European scientific satellite orbiting the 

sun) had detected the gamma-ray burst; scientists would correlate observations of all the satellites to get a rough fix on the burst. Locating the 

origin of the burst would give scientists an idea of the extraordinary 

physical events that could produce such high-energy explosions; no current hypotheses could account for them. (NASA Actv, Sept/78, 19) 

0 The USAF reported it had mapped and measured on the most detailed 

Shuttle models tested so far at AEDC the air pressures and loads to be 

encountered by the Space Shuttle during launch. The 6wk program had 

been the first to use mockups of the complete Shuttle orbiter, external 

fuel tank, and solid-fuel rocket boosters in AEDC’s 16-ft transonic wind 

tunnel. NASA would compare results of these comprehensive tests with 

data obtained at AEDC and elsewhere on smaller, less detailed models. 

NASA would follow up on the AEDC transonic tests with supersonic 

tests of the same models at Ames Research Center. AEDC had recorded 

surface pressures on a 3% scale model with 1646 measuring points scattered over its surface, one of the most comprehensive pressure models 

ever used there. It had tested a 2% scale model in the aerodynamic-force 

part of the study using 9 measuring instruments, the most ever installed 

on an AEDC model; and had measured air pressure at 25 points around 

the base of the Shuttle model. (AFSC Newsreview, Sept 78, 4) 

Using the space environment for materials processing had limited application, and should be considered only on a case-by-case basis, according to a report by the Natl. Research Council’s committee on materials 

processiilg in space, which had studied NASA’s program. The committee 

said the early NASA program had used poorly conceived and designed 

experiments, often with crude apparatus, from which weak conclusions 

had been drawn and in some cases overpublicized. However, meaningful 

science and technology could result from experiments in space if the 

233 
SEPTEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

problems to be investigated in space were soundly based in terrestrial 

science or technology, and if the proposed experiments addressed 

specific problems instead of being scheduled to take advantage of flight 

opportunities or space-facility capabilities. The committee said it had not 

found economically justifiable reasons for producing materials in space, 

and recommended that NASA deemphasize this area of technology, 

(NRC News Report, Sept 78, 7) 

234 
October 

October I: President Jimmy Carter attended the Congressional Space 

Medal awards [see Sept. 221 ceremony Oct. 1 at Kennedy Space Center’s 

Shuttle landing facility. The White House press release of his remarks included the following: 

“ . . . We are here today to recognize and honor six American 

pioneers of the farthest and highest of all frontiers, the frontier of space. 

We honor them for individual human qualities, dedication, skill, extraordinary courage. But we do more than that. What those men have 

done is the most visible part of a vast and continuing collective accomplishment of many people. Tens of thousands of Americans, many 

of you, including scientists, engineers, administrators, skilled workers, 

others, have contributed directly to the success of the American space 

enterprise. They in turn have had the support of an entire nation and the 

good wishes of an entire planet. The glory that belongs to the six recipients this afternoon of the Space Medal of Honor belongs equally to 

those who helped them, and in a real sense, to all humanity who prayed 

for them and who supported them. 

“It is fitting that these ceremonies take place today on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And it is, of course, fitting that they take place here where 

the ships that took men to the moon were launched and where we will 

take our next great step into space with the first flight of the Space Shuttle, which I sincerely hope will be before my next birthday. . . . “ . . . In the last analysis, the challenge of space takes us very close to 

the heart of things. It brings us face to face with the mysteries of creation, of matter, of energy, of life itself. The men we honor today met 

that challenge and they were equal to it. Our nation met that challenge 

and was equal to it. And in the final two decades of the 20th century, 

Americans will reach out once more to the beauty and to the mystery of 

space, and once again, America, you and I, will be equal to that great 

task.” (White House Release Oct 1/78) 

* Wallops Flight Center announced that NASA, the Army’s Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory (ASL), the Air Force Geophysical 

Laboratory (AFGL), and the National Research Council (NRC) of 

Canada would undertake a joint scientific and technical support program to study the total solar eclipse of Feb. 26, 1979, last observable 

235 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

from North America in this century, and its effect on earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere. Aimed at improving predictions of atmospheric responses to a variety of disturbances, the program would include sounding rockets to be launched from a NRC/ASL small rocket 

site at Cochinour and from the NASA/ASL large rocket site on the 

Chucuni River, both in Canada, that would obtain measurements 

necessary for a quantitative description of the middle-atmosphere 

response. NASA would be lead agency for the U.S.; NRC would provide 

construction, ground- and flight-safety systems, launch coordination, 

and other launch-site support. 

WFC had planned 7 launches during the eclipse: 3 payloads with joint 

experiments for the Univ. of Illinois and the Univ. of Bern, Switzerland; 

1 payload with experiments for Cornel1 Univ. and NRL; 1 payload for 

the Univ. of Pittsburgh; and 2 payloads for Penn. State Univ. Site 

preparation had begun in June; launchers would be installed in Sept. 

WFC would provide mobile instrumentation systems to support launching, tracking, and data acquisition. (WFC Newsletter, Oct 1/78, 5) 

October 2: NASA announced award of an approximately $4.3 million 

contract to Control Data Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn. , for 

maintenance of the Langley Research Center computer complex, consisting of computer systems and auxiliary devices for processing scientific data to support center research programs and the scientific, 

engineering, and other technical personnel performing analyses , experimental data reduction, and real-time simulations. Work on the 2yr 

contract with three lyr options for extension began Sept. 28. (LaRC 

Release 78-55) 

0 NOAA announced that the American Water Resources Assn. would 

sponsor the fifth annual William T. Pecora memorial symposium June 

11-15, 1979, in Sioux Falls, S. Dak. The Dept. of Interior’s U.S. 

Geological Survey EROS data center would host the program, to focus 

attention on satellite remote sensing for observing the hydrosphere as a 

means of averting water shortages and of water management. Participants - scientists from NOAA’s Natl. Environmental Satellite Service, the U.S.G.S., NASA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, universities, and private industry- would present papers on applications of 

space technology to all phases of hydrology and water resources. New 

satellites such as Landsat 3, Nimbus 7, the heat capacity mapping mission satellite, and SeaSat I; new or improved sensors, including the scanning multifrequency microwave radiometer and synthetic-aperture 

radar; improved resolution on Landsat and HCMM thermal scanners; 

and new thermal bands on the advanced very high-resolution radiometer 

had affected hydrological technology and would be the subject of papers 

describing these improvements and capabilities. (NOAA Release 78-1 19) 

236 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

October 3: LaRC announced it had selected Mercury Co., Tustin, Calif., 

to negotiate a contract for a pressure systems certification/recertification 

and configuration management program, including engineering evaluation of ground-based pressure systems to ensure a safe environment and 

to facilitate operation of the center’s unique high-energy research 

facilities. The contractor would make in-service inspection and certification of these pressure systems in accordance with NASA guidelines and 

In a ceremony at KSC marking NASA’s 20th anniversary Oct. I, President Jimmy 

Carter awards the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to six astronauts: Neil 

Armstrong (center), first man on the moon; Charles Conrad, Jr., commander of 

the second lunar landing and of the first crew to occupy the Skylab space station, 

and Frank Borman, commander of the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon 

(seated at left); also to Alan B. Shepard, first American in space; Virgil I. 

Grissom (posthumouslj), second American in space; and John H. Glenn, Jr., 

first American to orbit the earth. (NASA photo 78-H-610) 

237 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

would continue the existing configuration management program. LaRC 

would manage the approximately $1.15 million 2yr contract, which had a 

lyr option for extension valued at approximately $637 OOO. (LaRC 

Release 78-56) 

October 4: Two U.S. payload specialists would join three Europeans at 

Porz-Wahn, W. Germany, Oct. 6 to begin training for Spacelab 1, first 

combined manned space mission of NASA and ESA, Marshall Space 

Flight Center reported. They would attend sessions in W. Germany and 

two other European countries conducted by the scientific investigators 

planning European-sponsored experiments to fly on Spacelab 1, the two 

NASA mission specialists assigned to the flight, with MSFC’s Charles 

Lewis and NASA training coordinator. Porz-Wahn was the site of ESA’s 

Spacelab payload integration and coordination in Europe (SPICE), 

which had coordinated European crew training. After the European trip, 

the group would begin a tour of U.S. scientific installations in Jan. 1979. 

(Marshall Star, Oct 4/78, 1) 

0 Two National Academy of Sciences committees, those on space 

physics (of the Space Science Board) and on solar terrestrial research (of 

the Geophysics Research Board), would meet for the first time at MSFC, 

the center announced. The former was developing for NASA a strategy 

for a 1980s research program in solar system space physics. Committee 

members would include 35 top-level scientists from government, industry, and universities throughout the U.S. (Marshall Star, Oct 4/78, 2) 

* The Congressional Record, at the request of Congressman Olin D. 

Teague (D-Tex), reported the remarks of Dr. Robert A. Frosch, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who 

introduced the President at the KSC ceremony, presenting for the first 

time the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to six astronauts. Dr. 

Frosch said in part: 

“NASA people have been privileged, not only to continue and to advance the 20th century transportation revolution in aeronautics, but to 

participate in laying the foundations of the future human adventure in 

and use of space. . . . The true marks and memories of a civilization are 

found not only in its physical creations, and how it cares for itself and its 

people, but in the progress it has contributed toward liberation of the 

mind from the constraining horizons of the past. One major force has 

been the growth of scientific knowledge through the exercise of human 

reason. 

“The spirit of man aspires to the stars. Every generation has looked 

out at the universe in search of faith, of hope, of beauty, of adventure, 

and of the power of knowledge. In our generation, a very few have taken 

238 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

the first brave steps out there to begin the great human adventure of using and understanding the universe beyond the earth. To honor those recent accomplishments, and to lead our way into America’s next decades 

of space, it is my privilege to introduce the President of the United 

States.” (CRY Oct 4/78, E 5400) 

October 5: NASA announced it had presented Rep. Olin Teague 

(D-Tex), chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, 

with NASA’s distinguished public service medal on Oct. 3 in an outdoor 

ceremony at NASA Hq. NASA Administrator Robert A. Frosch lauded 

Teague’s efforts on behalf of NASA, noting Teague’s “unswerving faith 

in the value and virtue of a dynamic and imaginative space program - a 

faith which he has conveyed to all the elements of the government, industry, and university team on which all progress in space depends.” 

Teague had announced he would retire from Congress after more than 30 

yr of service in the House of Representatives. (NASA Release 78-150; 

NASA anno Oct 3/78) 

October 9: ESA announced that Geos 2 had experienced a short-circuit 

between its solar cells and the spacecraft structure that had perturbed its 

functions. Although without major impact on mission objectives, the 

defect (origin of which had not been established) was affecting 3 of the 7 

payloads; experiment S-300 to measure magnetospheric fields and waves, 

and experiments S-302 and 303 to measure low-energy particles. Perturbations for very short periods corresponding to illumination of the 

damaged part of the solar array had degraded the signals transmitted by 

the three affected experiments. The experimenters could probably 

reconstitute the small amount of data lost. The remaining four experiments and all subsystems were functioning normally. (ESA Release 

Oct 9/78) 

0 Av Wk reported that the high-energy astronomy observatory Heao 1 

was each day discovering about three new x-ray sources in deep space. 

NASA expected that by the end of the mission in early 1979 the 

spacecraft would have found more than lo00 new sources. Heao 1 data 

had also revealed a new black-hole candidate in the constellation Ara, 

bringing to four the number of such candidates identified. (Av Wk, Oct 

9/78, 13) 

0 Av Wk commented on President Jimmy Carter’s acknowledgment in a 

KSC speech that the U.S. had been operating military reconnaissance 

spacecraft, and on the possibility of much wider dissemination of the information in reconnaissance-satellite pictures. Although everyone had 

long known that such systems existed, official announcement of ‘‘the fact 

239 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

of existence” would allow the U.S. a number of strategies: the 

reconnaissance-satellite pictures would be evidence to Congress of Soviet 

or other hostile activities; the White House might make available to the 

public pictures with lower than current state-of-the-art resolution; and 

some pictures might be immediately usable by federal agencies such as 

the Interior and Agriculture Depts. The announcement would also inform the public that the U.S. could actively monitor arms agreements 

with the Soviet Union, instead of relying on Soviet assurances that they 

were honoring agreements. (AvWk, Oct 4/78, 22) 

October IO: NASA announced that the two Pioneer spacecraft en route 

to Venus -the orbiter and the multiprobe - had passed major operations 

tests. Tests of orientation, timing, and separation systems aboard 

Pioneer Venus 2 for split-second release of three probes 9600km 

(6000mi) apart over Venus’s earth-facing hemisphere, and of systems on 

Pioneer Venus I (orbiter) controlling retrofire and injection into orbit (to 

take place behind the planet and out of reach of earth communications), 

had been satisfactory . Separate operations teams at Ames Research Center had sent 6400 

commands to the orbiter since its May 20 launch and 3600 commands to 

the multiprobe craft since its Aug. 8 launch. Virtually all experiments 

and systems (including thermal, orientation, command, communications, and data-return and power systems) on each of the multiprobe’s 

five entry craft had been operated and were working well. The orbiter’s 

instruments had been checked and calibrated, including systems for insertion into Venus orbit Dec. 4. 

Twenty days and 13 million km (8 million mi) from Venus, the 

multiprobe would split into a transporter bus and four probes, the bus 

serving as fifth probe. The multiprobe had covered 140 million km (87 

million mi), the orbiter 325 million km (202 million mi). Both spacecraft 

still had about 180 million km (112 million mi) to travel to Venus. 

(NASA Release 78-153; ARC Release 78-48; ARC Astrogram, Oct 

19/78, 1) 

0 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that NASA and DOE had 

selected 10 companies to begin contract negotiations for projects to improve current methods of manufacturing modules of photovoltaic cells. 

The $4 million effort would focus on improving production methods to 

reduce costs in 1979-1981, and would supplement current DOE efforts to 

make solar energy economically competitive with conventional power 

sources. 

Firms selected were Arc0 Solar, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.; Energy 

Materials Corp., Ayer, Mass.; Kayex Corp., Rochester, N.Y.; Kluicke & 

Soffa Industries, Inc., Horsham, Pa.; MB Associates, San Ramon, 

Calif.; Motorola, Inc., Semiconductor Group, Phoenix, Ariz.; RCA 

240 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

Corp., David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, N. J.; Sensor 

Technology, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.; Siltec Corp., Menlo Park, Calif.; 

and Sollos, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif. In the specified time period, the 

firms would develop techniques for mass-producing large modules of 

silicon-based photovoltaic cells for use by industries producing flat (nonconcentrating) photovoltaic modules. Techniques would include new 

ways to slice silicon solar-cell material and to assemble photovoltaic 

modules. JPL would manage the effort (designated Low-Cost SolarArray Project) for DOE. (NASA Release 78-151) 

October IZ: NASA announced that SeaSat, an experimental oceanmonitoring satellite launched June 26 from WTR, had stopped transmitting data shortly after midnight EDT Oct. 10 while over Australia. Scientists and engineers at JPL and Goddard Space Flight Center were working with Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. engineers to determine cause 

of the malfunction. (NASA Release 78-156) 

NASA reported the status of Voyager spacecraft as of Oct. 5, 1978: 

Spacecraft distance from earth: Voyager I, 704 692 OOOkm 

(437 875 000mi); Voyager 2, 668 582 OOOkm (415 437 000mi). 

Spacecraft distance to Jupiter: Voyager I, 105 983 OOOkm 

(93 816 Ommi); Voyager 2, 201 354 OOOkm (125 117 OOOmi). Spacecraft 

distance traveled since launch: Voyager I, 816 533 OOOkm 

(507 370 000mi); Voyager 2, 831 435 OOOkm (516 630 000mi). 

Spacecraft velocity relative to earth: Voyager I, 24.87km/sec 

(55 632mi/hr); Voyager 2, 27.10kdsec (60 620mi/hr). Spacecraft 

velocity relative to sun: Voyager I, 15.43km/sec (34 514mVhr); Voyager 

2, 14.18km/sec (31 727mi/hr). Date of Jupiter encounter: Voyoger I, 

March 5, 1979; Voyager 2, July 9, 1979. Date of Saturn encounter: 

Voyager I, November 12, 1980; Voyager 2, August 27, 1981. (NASA 

Release 78-154) 

* On the basis of a 4mo interagency review requested in June 1978, 

President Carter announced a U.S. civilian space policy that would set 

the direction of U.S. space efforts over the next decade. The policy 

would reflect a balanced strategy of applications, science, and 

technology development that would: 

1. emphasize space applications that would increase understanding of 

earth resources, climate, weather, pollution, and agriculture, with the 

private sector taking increasing responsibility for remote sensing and 

other applications; 

2. emphasize space science and exploration in a manner that would retain 

the vitality of U.S. space technology, yet would provide short-term flexibility to impose fiscal constraints when conditions warranted; 

241 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

3. take advantage of Space Shuttle flexibility to reduce the cost of 

operating in space over the next two decades to meet national needs; 

4. increase benefits for resources expended through better integration 

and technology transfer among national space programs and through 

more joint projects when appropriate, thereby increasing the return on 

the $100 billion investment in space to the benefit of the American peo5. assure U.S. scientific and technological leadership in space for the 

security and welfare of the nation, and continue R&D necessary to pro- 

_vide the basis for later programmatic decisions; 

6. demonstrate advanced technological capabilities in open and imaginative ways that would benefit developing as well as developed countries; 

7. foster space cooperation with nations by conducting joint programs; 

8. confirm U.S. support of the continued development of a legal regime 

for space that would assure its safe and peaceful use for the benefit of 

-mankind. 

Since space was becoming a place to work, an extension of the environment, the U.S. would pursue future activities in space when it appeared that national objectives could most efficiently be met through 

space activities. Finally, the U.S. found it neither feasible nor necessary 

to commit itself to a high-challenge space-engineering initiative comparable to Apollo. As resources and manpower requirements for Space 

Shuttle phased down, the U.S. would be able to give greater attention to 

new space applications and exploration, continue programs at present 

levels, or contract them. To meet the specified objectives, an adequate 

federal budget commitment would be made. 

The U.S. would maintain a position of leadership in space science and 

planetary exploration, said the President, continuing a vigorous program 

of planetary exploration and using the space telescope and free-flying 

satellites to usher in a new era of astronomy, space systems to develop a 

better understanding of the sun and its interaction with the terrestrial environment through space systems, and the Space Shuttle and Spacelab to 

conduct basic research. (White House Release Oct 11/78) 

ple; 

* MSFC reported the first-time assembly of all elements of a Space Shuttle-two solid-fuel rocket boosters (SRBs), an external tank, and an orbiter-in the dynamic-test stand at MSFC. Next step would be resumption of mated vertical ground-vibration testing, with the upcoming series 

of tests being in launch configuration, the Marshall Star reported. National and regional press representatives were present to film and report 

on the historic first assembly of the entire vehicle. The SRBs would 

undergo launch-configuration tests filled with inert propellant, replaced 

by empty units for configuration tests representing the vehicle just before 

SRB separation. (Marshall Star, Oct 11/78, 1) 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

The Marshall Star reported that Dr. Noel Hinners, NASA associate 

administrator for space science, had praised the performance of Heao I 

in a report to the subcommittee on space science and applications of the 

House Committee on Science and Technology. Dr. Hinners noted that, 

before launch of Heao I, scientists knew of about 300 X-ray sources in 

the sky; Heao I was discovering about 3 new X-ray sources every day [see 

Oct. 91. 

Another major result from Heao I was its observation of a hot 

plasma, apparently about a half billion degrees, extending beyond earth’s 

galaxy and possibly through the entire universe. A plasma of this 

temperature and density distributed uniformly throughout the universe 

would constitute about half the mass required to close the universe. “This 

concept is of such major importance for cosmologists that new Heao I 

data are being analyzed as they come from the spacecraft,” Hinners said. 

He also noted that Heao I data indicated a new black-hole candidate in 

the constellation Ara. Scientific results such as these had been “so significant that we made a decision to extend the operation of Heao I through 

March 1979,” Hinners concluded. (Marshall Star, Oct 11/78, 4) 

October 13: NASA announced it had given David Johnson, director of 

DOC’S National Environmental Satellite Service (NESS), the 1978 

William T. Pecora award for his work in applying satellite remote sensing to monitoring weather and the environment. NASA and DO1 had 

presented the award annually since 1974 for outstanding contributions 

by individuals and organizations to remote sensing. 

The 1978 award citation, presented to Johnson Oct. 11 in Sioux Falls, 

S.D., as part of the fourth annual Pecora memorial symposium on 

remote sensing, said that Johnson “has devoted a major portion of his 

scientific and managerial life to the development and implementation of 

remote sensing systems designed to observe weather patterns, impacts of 

weather and man on our environment, the climatological trends of the 

earth, and in the process eliminated or alleviated loss of property and life 

as a result of natural disasters.” Dr. Pecora, who died in 1972, had been 

undersecretary of the Interior and a motivating force in NASA’s Landsat 

earth-resources survey satellite program and in DOI’s EROS (earth 

resources observation systems) program. (NASA Release 78-155) 

0 Spaceport News reported astronomers studying data obtained by the 

international ultraviolet explorer IUE satellite might have discovered a 

third black hole believed to be at the center of a globular cluster (a 

miniature galaxy shaped like a globe) some 15 OOO light-yrs away. The 

IUE large &raviolet telescope had penetrated the background light corning from a globular cluster and reached its core, where researchers found 

243 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAlfTICS, 1978 

radiation from a group of 10 to 20 bright blue stars, apparently orbiting 

a black hole possibly small in size but with a mass equal to 1OOO stars like 

the sun. Researchers would study movements and interrelationships of 

the stars to define the rotation about the center of the million-star 

cluster. (Spaceport News, Oct 13/78, 7) 

0 JPL reported it had awarded CalTech a 5-yr extension, effective Oct. 

1, 1978, of its contract in force since 1962 for R&D work performed at 

JPL. Cost of the 5-yr extension, in contrast to previous 2 or 3-yr extensions, was estimated at more than $250 million annually. JPL would 

mark the 20th anniversary of its affiliation with NASA in Dec. 1978; 

before 1958, JPL had worked primarily for the Army Ordnance Corps. 

Running concurrently but separately with the R&D contract was an 

ongoing contract to provide buildings, equipment, and other facilities 

necessary for work performance. A separate memorandum of understanding (MOU) negotiated in Dec. 1968, stating terms of agreement between NASA and CalTech for JPL activities, had been updated and 

renegotiated and was due for completion by the end of 1978. (JPL 

Universe, Oct 13/78, 1) 

0 NASA and the state of Texas had signed a 3-yr agreement that the 

Texas natural-resources information system (TNRIS) would use Landsat 

computer-processed data in managing the state’s natural resources, 

Johnson Space Center reported. Project costs were estimated at $600 OOO 

for NASA and $750 OOO for Texas. Day-to-day operations would use a 

mix of manual and computer-assisted remote-sensing methods to 

monitor Texas natural resources; photographic and electronic data from 

aircraft, ground-truth measurements, and weather-station environmental data would supplement satellite data during early phases of the project. JSC and a TNRIS task force would design and implement the data 

system; NASA would provide technical expertise. (JSC Roundup, Oct 

13/78, 1) 

0 Sixty-five percent of the food carried on Shuttle missions would be 

cooked, packaged, and tested in a new JSC food lab, JSC reported. Orbiter menus would be standardized on a 6-day cycle. About 15% of Shuttle food- mainly flexpacks and thermostabilized food items - would be 

supplied by the U.S. Army’s Natick Research and Development Command in Mass. Another 20% would be off-the-shelf items, from chewing 

gum and snap-top puddings to peanut butter. 

The orbiter’s lower deck would contain a galley with an oven, serving 

trays, water dispensers, and other serving equipment. When the galley 

was installed and operational (about mission SS-7), an hr before meal 

time the crewperson cooking would spend about 5 min rehydrating 

dehydrated food items, loading meal trays, and placing them in the 

244 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

galley oven. After meals, trays and silverware would be cleaned and 

sterilized for reuse. 

JSC nutritionist Rita Rapp, who has seen space-food technology 

evolve from bland squeeze-tube pastes carried on Mercury spacecraft to 

the electrically-heated food trays in the Skylab wardroom, said, “We try 

to present foods in a normal way, more like people are accustomed to 

eating on earth. Operational experience permitted us to add new food 

items - wider selection and better packaging - as we learned 

weightlessness did not cause the problems everyone anticipated.” (JSC 

Roundup, Oct 13/78, 4) 

Scientists and marine biologists trying to preserve the Great Lakes 

from pollution would receive vast amounts of new and more accurate information from a Nimbus4 satellite scheduled for launch Oct. 23, 

Lewis Research Center announced. Among its seven sophisticated instruments to measure parameters ranging from stratospheric aerosols 

and ozone to polar sea ice extent would be a coastal zone color scanner 

(CZCS) to measure water color and temperature, two characteristics affected by amounts of pollution and algae in water. The scanner would 

operate exclusively over water, taking pictures of an area encompassing 

the entire Great Lakes system in 2min, or of any particular area every 4 

out of 5da, and would transmit the Great Lakes data to GSFC for recording and processing. Information in the form of photographs and 

digital-computer tapes would be archived and disseminated to assigned 

study groups. 

A Great Lakes experiment team with scientists from LeRC, EPA, 

NOM, the Canadian National Water Research Inst. and Center for 

Remote Sensing, the Environmental Research Inst. of Michigan, the 

Univ. of Minnesota, Case Western Reserve Univ., Ohio State Univ., and 

State Univ. of New York would assess the regional value of CZCS 

water-quality measurements. LeRC would be responsible for interpreting 

Great Lakes CZCS data and comparing it with coordinated ship 

measurements. (Lewis News, Oct 13/78, 1) 

0 The Washington Post reported the Carter Administration had decided 

to allow the Peoples Republic of China to buy an American communications satellite launched by the U.S. The administration was waiting for 

the Chinese to reconfirm interest in the deal, the most sophisticated 

technology transfer so far between two countries. Several yr ago the 

Chinese had reserved a slot for a communications satellite with the U.N. 

agency monitoring the field. Discussions were still tentative, as the 

Chinese would have to negotiate with the few U.S. comsat manufacturers and would have to buy an undetermined number of ground stations. A satellite would cost $15 to $17 million; placing it in oibit would 

245 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

cost $13 to $23 million, depending on the rocket used. Regardless of any 

military implications, the satellite sale would probably annoy the USSR, 

which had repeatedly warned of danger in Washington’s “playing the 

China card” (cultivating closer Chinese ties while Peking-Moscow relations were strained). (W Post, Oct 13/78, C-14) 

October 16: NASA announced that, as of Oct. 1, it had transferred the 

USNS Vanguard, which had supported Apollo, Skylab, and ApolloSoyuz manned-spaceflight missions for 12yr and was last of an original 

5-ship tracking and reentry-coverage flotilla, back to the U.S. Navy for 

navigation and ocean survey work. Vanguard, built by General 

Dynamics Corp.’s Quincy, Mass., shipyards and commissioned Oct. 15, 

1966, had been the last of three identical ships (Mercury, Redstone, 

Vanguard) specifically designed for and dedicated to manned spaceflight 

support. The ships had demonstrated their versatility by supporting 

automated scientific-satellite missions and their extensive capabilities, 

functioning as well as any ground tracking station. The Mission Control 

Center at Houston had transmitted and received voice commands, 

biomedical data, spacecraft-environment reports, and command/control 

functions directly through the ship, which had formed part of a tracking 

network to ensure communications with spacecraft out of contact with 

land tracking stations. Space Tracking and Data Network (STDN) 

veterans estimated that fully half the Vanguard‘s NASA lifetime had 

been spent in a mission-support status, the rest being in port, yard repair, 

or transit time. (NASA Release 78-157) 

* ESA announced its Uts 2 satellite had successfully completed its first 

transmission tests of television programs beyond continental Europe. 

During a conference on “The Role of Space Technology for Development” in Cairo Oct. 7-12, ESA had demonstrated TV-signal transmission from the British Post Office’s Goonhilly Downs station via Ots 2 to 

a transportable receiving station in Cairo. From Oct. 7 to 11, nearly 8hr 

of BBC-1 TV programs were transmitted directly from Britain to Egypt 

at a rate of about 1.5hr per day. Ferranti Microwave Division of Ferranti 

Electronics Ltd., in association with the U.K. Dept. of Industry, had 

developed the transportable station. 

After 5mO of preliminary tests, the Ots 2 communications-test program 

had reached an operational level that would last at least 3yr, to prepare 

for subsequent expIoitation of the operational European Communications Satellites (ECS) that would begin service in 1981. Tests had included telephone as well as TV routing and propagation experiments and 

new applications using much simpler terminals. Some 50 institutes, 

universities, and telecommunications entities would participate in the second category of tests, using more than 30 small terminals with 

3m-diameter antennas. (ESA Release Oct 16/78) 

246 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

October 17: NASA announced it had awarded the Douglas Aircraft Co.3 

McDonnell Douglas Corp. a modification of its contract for engineering 

investigations, analyses, design studies, and component testing to 

evaluate alternatives in designing laminar-flow control subsonic commercial transports for the early 1990s. The modification for work to be 

completed by late 1979 would permit more complete exploration of 

promising design alternatives and evaluation of structural concepts, and 

would include an option to conduct a feasibility study on use of a 

representative transport aircraft for leading-edge systems testing and 

full-wing chord laminar-flow control flight testing. (LaRC Release 

78-62) 

Defense/Space Business Dairy reported that the United Nations had 

presented its Peace Medal to Dr. Robert Frosch, NASA administrator, at 

NASA Hq in recognition of NASA assistance to a recent conference on 

technical cooperation among developing countries in Buenos Aires, 

Argentina [see Aug. 301. UN Undersecretary-General Bohdan Lewandowski presented the medal and a letter of appreciation from SecretaryGeneral Kurt Waldheim for NASA’s offer of the Cts satellite to the UN 

for communications between UN Hq in kYC and the conference. 

(NASA photo 78-H-625; D/SBD, Oct 17/78, 200) 

October 28: NASA announced that Dr. Robert Frosch, NASA administrator, and Roy Gibson, ESA director general, had met in Paris 

Oct. 7 at ESA’s annual Spacelab program meeting, during which NASA 

and ESA had signed three memoranda of understanding on the use of 

data transmitted by Landsat 2 and 3, Nimbus G, and SeaSat. The 

memoranda covered acquisition, preprocessing, and dissemination to national Earthnet stations (the European ESA network) of data transmitted by the spacecraft. They also dealt with acquisition and transmission 

of oceanographic data from microwave systems onboard SeaSat by the 

SeaSat Users Research Group Europe, under auspices of the European 

Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (Earsel), to study possible 

inclusion of microwave detectors on future European satellites. (NASA 

Release 78-158; ESA Release Oct 9/78) 

* Two experiments for HEAO-C had been delivered to the prime contractor, TRW, Redondo Beach, Calif., and the third was expected the 

following wk, MSFC reported. Scheduled for launch in late 1979, 

HEAO-C would survey gamma-ray emissions and study cosmic-ray particles from space. Like the first high-energy astronomy observatory 

launched in 1977, HEAO-C would be a scanning mission to perform sky 

surveys. The HEAO-B scheduled for launch in November 1978 would be 

a pointing mission, focusing on selected X-ray sources. 

The two delivered experiments were a high spectral-resolution gamma247 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

ray spectrometer (experiment C-1) and a heavy-nuclei experiment (C-3). 

Arriving Oct. 23 would be C-2, the European-produced experiment on 

isotopic composition of primary cosmic rays. Mechanical integration of 

the experiments would begin as soon as KSC returned mechanical 

ground-support equipment it was using to prepare for HEAO-B’s 

launch. Meanwhile, TRW would check out individual experiments to 

assure the devices had arrived in good working condition. Following 

mechanical integration, TRW would make individual data runs through 

late Nov. Electrical integration would begin after KSC returned the computer equipment now supporting the HEAO-B launch. (Marshall Star, 

Oct 18/78, 1) 

MSFC reported that NASA had awarded Edward Buckbee, director of 

the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, its distinguished public service 

medal, highest award to persons outside the federal government, in a 

ceremony Oct. 17 in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Robert 

Frosch presented the medal to Buckbee for informing the public through 

the Alabama Space and Rocket Center of NASA’s programs and activities, and for contributing to public understanding of the complexity 

of space and rocket technology. Buckbee had been a MSFC employee 

before joining ASRC. (Marshall Star, Oct 18/78, 1) 

October 19: NASA reported its scientists and engineers were continuing 

attempts to revive SeaSat, the ocean-monitoring satellite that had suddenly gone mute before an orbital pass over the Santiago, Chile, tracking 

station [see Oct. 111. Gene Giberson, SeaSat project manager at JPL, 

said that engineers there and at GSFC were assembling and analyzing 

tracking-station data from the spacecraft to determine possible cause of 

data interruption. NASA engineers would then work backward to 

reconstruct a “failure model” matching the data received just before and 

up to the instant the spacecraft ceased transmitting. If such a match 

could be made, the next step would be to find an alternate method of 

reestablishing contact with the spacecraft. The steps could take up to 

2wk. 

SeaSat had not had full benefit of its solar panels because they had 

received full sun during only half the spacecraft’s orbits. In December, 

when the spacecraft would be in full sun during 100% of its earth orbits, 

its batteries might be charged enough to overcome a problem caused by 

insufficient electrical power. (NASA Release 78-159; JPL Universe, Oct 

13/78, 1) 

NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Alan Lovelace announced the convening of a review board to determine the cause of the SeaSat failure [see 

Oct. 111. Lovelace named Dr. Bruce Lundin, recently retired director of 

LeRC, to head the review board, with other members to be named short248 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

ly. In 1973, Dr. Lundin had chaired the board that had investigated 

failure of Skylab Z’s solar panels to deploy in orbit. (NASA Release 

78-1 60) 

October 20: NASA announced that JPL, acting for the Dept. of Energy, 

had awarded study contracts to Acurex, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.; 

Boeing Engineering & Construction Go., Seattle, Wash.; and General 

Electric Space Division, Valley Forge, Pa., to develop a solar-energy 

concentrator for generating electric power. The contracts, each valued at 

about $240 OOO, would cover the first part of a two-phase program to 

develop a low-cost point-focusing solar concentrator. The concentrator 

would direct mirror-reflected sunlight to a heat absorber and heat-driven 

engine turning a generator to produce electricity to supplement electrical 

power for small communities and rural areas. 

The solar concentrator to be developed under the contracts would include the optics (mirrors) and the mechanism that allowed the concentrator to track the sun. Heat absorbers and engine generators would be 

developed under separate contracts. Prime objective of the contracts 

would be to obtain the best thermal performance at the least cost per 

concentrator. As many as six would be tested and evaluated at JPL’s 

Solar Thermal Test Site at Edwards, Calif. JPL would manage the study 

for DOE’S Small Power Systems Program under an interagency agreement with NASA. (NASA Release 78-161) 

* Dryden Flight Research Center commemorated the final flight lOyr 

ago of the X-15, piloted by Bill Dana, that reached in its 1 lmin free flight 

a top speed of 3716mph (5.38 times the speed of sound) and peak altitude 

of 255 OOOft. This chapter in aeronautical history would be celebrated by 

the Edwards, Calif., AIAA section at a dinner meeting featuring Bill 

Dana. The article in DFRC X-Press concluded: “Recent press reports call 

the Space Shuttle engines the first reusable liquid rocket engines. How 

soon they forget.” (DFRC X-Press, Oct 20/78, 2) 

0 President Carter at a press conference with editors and news directors 

was asked: “There was a big spread in the local (Cape Canaveral) 

newspapers yesterday that you were ordering cutbacks in the space program. And there are also rumors going around the Kennedy Space 

Center that as soon as the shuttle becomes operational, you will order 

even more cutbacks in an austerity program. So my question is this: 

What kind of space policy can we expect from your administration?” 

The President said: “I think a very aggressive space policy. Anyone 

who reads the documents that have been prepared very carefully, very 

thoroughly by the Defense Department, the CIA, NSC, all those who 

will use them, including Agriculture, Commerce, and finally approved 

by me, would say that it’s a very sound program based on scientific need 

249 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

and actually capitalizing now upon the great exploratory efforts that 

have been made in space. We look upon the Space Shuttle as a way to 

change dramatic, very costly initiatives into a sound, progressive, and innovative program to utilize the technology that we have available to us. 

“We’ll continue interplanetary space exploration. We’ll have a greatly 

expanded effort concerning astronomy assessments of the earth, 

weather, communications. We’ll expand our effort to bring into the 

space program now, both foreign countries and also private firms in our 

nation. And I think it is accurate to say that the Space Shuttle, which is 

approaching completion-we hope the first orbital flights will be less 

than a year from now-will open up a broad vista of new uses for our 

technology. 

“So, we’re not going to minimize or decrease our commitment to space 

at all. 1 think the spectacular efforts to send men to the moon and to 

make the first orbital flights, and so forth, have been just a precursor to 

now the more practical and consistent and effective use of our space 

technology. 

“So, it’s not a matter of playing down the importance of space; it’s a 

matter of using what we’ve already learned in the most effective way.” 

(Press Doc, Oct 20/78, 1976) 

October 23: NASA’s General Management Review Report presented data 

on the status of NASA program resources. 

FY 1978 Obligations (in millions of dollars) 

R&D: Annual Plan Actual (through Sept.) Yo 

Space Shuttle 1349.2 1346.7 100 

Space Flight Operations 263.8 261 .O 99 

Expendable Launch Vehicles 134.5 120.3 89 

Physics/ Astronomy 224.2 192.9 86 

Lunar/Planetary 147.2 128.0 87 

Life Sciences 33.3 19.8 59 

Applications 234.8 214.3 91 

Aeronautics 228.0 197.3 87 

Space R&D 88.7 83.9 95 

Tracking/Data Acquisition 278.3 265.1 95 

Technology Utilization 9.1 6.3 69 

Energy 7.5 6.8 91 

Plannhg/Program Integration 4.0 1.3 33 

Low-Cost Systems 9.0 6.4 71 

Total R&D 301 1.6 2850.1 95 

Construction of Facilities 162.3 97.0 60 

Research & Program Mgt. 890.2 889.7 100 

TOTAL NASA 4064.1 3836.8 94 

(NASA GMRR, Oct 23/78, 15) 

250 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

A Senate operational remote-sensing bill introduced by Sen. Harrison 

Schmitt (R-N.M.) and a House space industrialization bill introduced by 

Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla.) had increased pending legislation to carry 

civilian space policy beyond that outlined by President Carter, Av Wk 

reported. Both bills called for formation of government corporations to 

expand benefits of space exploration beyond the R&D stage. All the 

legislation would be reintroduced in the next Congress where, as a bloc, 

they would constitute the largest recent push for an expanded federal 

space effort. 

Other bills included a Space Policy Act introduced by Sen. Adlai 

Stevenson @-Ill.), for extensive design and application of large space 

structures in orbit over the next 1Oyr; National Space and Aeronautics 

Act introduced by Sen. Schmitt, for a 30-yr planning process in U.S. 

space and aeronautics research; Earth Data and Information Service Act 

introduced by Sen. Stevenson, for an operational Landsat remotesensing system as a new division of NASA; Solar-Power Satellite 

Research Development and Demonstration Program Act introduced by 

Rep. Ronnie Flippo (D-Ala.), for $25 million in near-term funding to 

research technologies required for a solar-pDwer satellite; NASA SolarPower Satellite Program Act introduced by Sen. Schmitt, for greatly expanded work on solar-power satellite technoiogy. (Av Wk, Oct 23/78,19; 

CR, Oct 13/78, S 19075; D/SBD, Oct 24/78, 234; Oct 27/78, 257) 

* Europe’s space industry was looking beyond Spacelab to future programs that would maintain technological advances and employment as 

well as joint development activities with the U.S. in manned spaceflight, 

AvWk reported. With delivery of the first Spacelab scheduled for next 

yr, European industry said U.S. delay in ordering a second flight unit 

might disrupt skilled manpower employment and management performance. Also, European industry officials had told NASA that its charges 

for Space Shuttle flights were too high, and that Europe should have 

special treatment in Space Shuttle/Spacelab use. W. Germany’s ERNO, 

Spacelab prime contractor, had proposed to NASA and ESA a second 

Spacelab as the basis for a barter agreement [see Sept. 121 under which 

costs of the second Spacelab would offset future Space Shuttle services 

for Europe. 

An ERNO spokesman had warned that NASA should not increase 

Spacelab 2 technical requirements to a point where the cost to Europe’s 

space industry was unreasonable. On the other hand, the barter agreement should not give the U.S. full autonomy in operating Spacelab or 

producing future Spacelabs. Commercialization of the Space Shuttle was 

essential, because “twenty million dollars (1975 price basis) for a standard Shuttle launch and possibly the same amount for a standard 

Spacelab flight service are hardly suited to arouse the interest” of Euro25 1 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

pean users, particularly industry, the spokesman said. (Av Wk, Oct 23/78, 

17) 

October 24: NASA announced that fabrication and testing of components was continuing at various locations throughout the U.S. in 

preparation for a scheduled first manned orbital flight of the Space Shuttle September 28, 1979. NASA had accelerated production and installation of thermal protection system (TPS) tile for Orbiter 102, had increased staffs at both the Rockwell facility and the Lockheed plant where 

the tiles were made, and had obtained new tile-inspection equipment. 

Testing of the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) continued at the 

Natl. Space Technology Laboratories; between Sept. 10 and Oct. 12, two 

engines had been test-fired for a total of 3794sec. Ten of the tests reached 

rated power level (RPL), accumulating 3096sec. Engine firings through 

Oct. 11 totaled 350 for 26 530sec total time, including 8909sec at RPL. 

NASA had scheduled full-duration testing of the three-engine cluster 

forming the main propulsion system for early in 1979, when the first manned orbital-flight configuration engines would become available. 

The third static-test firing of a solid-fuel rocket booster (SRB) motor 

occurred Oct. 19 at Thiokol Chemical Corp.’s test site near Brigham 

City, Utah. Early data indicated the test firing and gimbaling of the 

motor nozzle were satisfactory. 

MSFC had mated all the Space Shuttle elements - two SRBs, an external tank, and an orbiter (101)-for the first time in vertical vibration 

testing to verify that the structure would perform as predicted during 

various stages of flight. (NASA Release 78-162) 

* NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Alan Lovelace announced appointment of John Boyd as deputy director of DFRC effective Jan. 1, 1979. 

Since 1970 Boyd had served as deputy director of aeronautics and flight 

systems at ARC, where he had worked since 1947. Author of many 

technical reports, Boyd had received several honors for his work, including NASA’s exceptional service award. (NASA Release 78-163; 

DFRC Release 20-78) 

* NASA announced that its Tiros-N third-generation weather satellite 

launched from WTR Oct. 13 had returned excellent quality data and pictures from a near-perfect circular polar orbit at 870km (543mi) by 860km 

(537mi) altitude. Its advanced very high-resolution radiometer, the 

automatic picture transmission system, and the high resolution picture 

transmission system designed to provide local area coverage to hundreds 

of weather forecasters around the world were all working. After NASA 

completed a checkout in 3wk, it would turn over the satellite to NOAA 

for operation. (NASA Release 78-164) 

252 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

October 25: NASA announced launch of Nimbus-G (Nimbus 7 in orbit) 

on Oct. 24, 1978, at 414am EDT (08:14:00.722), Orbital values were: 

apogee, 954.6km; perigee, 953.6km; inclination, 99.2’; and period, 

104. lmin. 

Onboard recorded data dumped during the first Madrid pass showed 

an apparent reduction in indicated telemetry level, starting at approximately “plus 4 min” and continuing for 3Omin, at which time the 

telemetry levels returned to normal. Analysis was under way. Solar arrays had extended, and were normal to and tracking the sun; spacecraft 

attitude was stable. All spacecraft systems parameters were normal, and 

activation of the experiment systems had begun. (MOR E-604-78-08 

[postlaunch], Oct 25/78) 

0 LaRC announced selection of the Riggins Company, Inc., Hampton, 

Va., for negotiations leading to award of a contract to provide materials 

and services for construction of the Natl. Transonic Facility (NTF) at 

LaRC. The NTF would embody a unique wind-tunnel concept permitting use of temperatures as low as -300°F to improve simulation of 

airflow over planes in full-scale flight conditions. The contract, to be 

managed by LaRC, would include provision of liquid nitrogen, gaseous 

nitrogen, cooling water, and air and vacuum piping systems required for 

the wind-tunnel test environment. Riggins Co. estimated the contract 

value at $2.9 million, with work to be completed by late 1981. (LaRC 

Release 78-64) 

0 The third of four Space Shuttle solid-propeIlant booster motors 

(DM-3) to be tested during the development phase had been fired successfully the previous week at Thiokol cor~.’~ Wasatch Division in 

Brigham City, Utah, the Marshall Star reported. First of a prototype 

solid-fuel rocket motor (SRM) to be tested in flight configuration, the 

DM-3 included several features not tested in earlier firings: The motor 

aft skirt, containing a thrust-vector (directional) control-actuation 

system for the nozzle was on the motor for the first time. Also part of the 

overall test was recording data on the pressure inside the exhaust plume 

(flame), showing how much force would impact the launch platform at 

liftoff, that JSC and KSC would use in launch-facility studies. An onboard hydraulic system powered the thrust-vector control, moving the 

nozzle to change vehicle direction, for the first time in an SRM development test. Final event was a test of the linear-shaped explosive charge 

that would sever the nozzle aft-exit cone from the motor about 25mi 

above earth during Space Shuttle flights. (Marshall Star, Oct 25/78, 2; 

JSC Roundup, Oct 27/78, 1) 

* The Marshall Star reported that MSFC had begun ground-vibration 

tests of the Space Shuttle in its liftoff configuration in the dynamic-test 

253 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

stand, first test of the Space Shuttle with all elements mated in flight configuration. The test phase would run through November. Testpreparation crews from Bendix worked around the clock to prepare the 

stand, the Shuttle, and the shaker systems for the second phase of 

ground-vibration testing. The Space Shuttle's weight rested on the aft 

skirts of the two solid-fuel rocket boosters bolted to hydrodynamic support systems at the base of the test tower. When pressurized, the support 

systems would allow adequate vertical, lateral, and rotational movement 

of the entire Space Shuttle. 

Test engineers had predetermined a total of 83 shaker positions for the 

combination of Space Shuttle elements; using a spacecraft computers 

system to drive the shakers, the engineers could select different positions 

to determine vehicle response. The computerized system would 

automatically control up to 24 shaker channels from the 61 that were 

available, rated at 10001b, 1501b, and 501b force. (Marshall Star, Oct 

25/78, 1) 

October 29: FBIS carried from Tass a Pravda report that cosmonauts 

Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander lvanchenkov were concluding the 

program of scientific explorations in their 4.5mo orbital flight and 

preparing for return to earth, by reactivating the transport ship Soyuz 3I 

and closing down Salyut 6. The mission had produced new information 

for biologists, medical personnel, glaciologists, volcanologists, 

oceanologists, and firemen. One example was the previously unknown 

regularity of glacial movement in Latin American mountains; the 

cosmonauts also had observed seven forest fires in Australia. Visiting 

crews had already returned major portions of experimental results to 

earth. (FBIS, Tass in English, Oct 29/78) 

October 30: NASA declared the launch of ESA geostationary operational environmental satellite Geos 2 on July 14, 1978 successful. 

Launch-vehicle performance was nominal and had placed the spacecraft 

and its apogee-boost motor (ABM) into the desired transfer orbit. 

Satellite performance was satisfactory during the transfer orbit, and the 

ABM was fired successfully July 16, 1978. The satellite was being 

maneuvered over the South Atlantic to a position at 6"E above the 

equator. All subsystem functional checks were complete and satellite 

status was satisfactory. The mission had replaced Geos I, whose Delta 

vehicle had put it into an incorrect orbit in April 1977. (MOR 

M-492-302-78-02 [postlaunch] Oct 30/78) 

* NASA announced it had appointed a board to investigate the SeaSat 

spacecraft failure, in addition to Dr. Bruce Lundin, previously named 

chairman [see Oct. 191. Those appointed were Parker Counts, science 

and engineering department, MSFC; James Hannigan, flight control 

254 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

division, JSC; Maj. James Mannen, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile 

Systems Organization; T. Bland Norris, director of the astrophysics division, NASA Office of Space Science; Daniel Shramo, director of space 

systems and technology, LeRC; and James Stitt, director of electronics, 

LaRC. Board affiliates were Merland Moseson, director of flight 

assurance, GSFC liaison; Charles Terhune, deputy director of JPL, JPL 

liaison; Robert Kinberg, NASA legal counsel; and Dell Williams, NASA 

Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, executive secretary. 

In a letter to Dr. Lundin reporting the appointments, Dr. Alan 

Lovelace, NASA deputy administrator, urged that the board move as expeditiously as possible, “consistent with a thorough analysis of the facts, 

to determine the actual or probable causes of this mission failure.” Dr. 

Lovelace assured Dr. Lundin that appropriate NASA resources and all 

background information would be available to board members. (NASA 

Release 78-168) 

NASA announced it had planned, weather permitting, to have its 

Project Cameo release large bluish-white luminescent clouds of barium 

in the skies over Alaska beginning Saturday, October 28, and lithium 

over northern Scandinavia at a later date [see Sept. 191. The agency said 

Project Cameo clouds should be visible to residents of Alaska, eastern 

Russia, western Canada, and the northwestern U.S. The chemicals 

would have been released from the orbiting second stage of a Delta 

rocket that would have launched the Nimbus 6 satellite into polar orbit 

Oct. 24. Of the many high-altitude sounding-rocket chemical-cloud 

launches conducted by NASA throughout the world, this would be the 

first from an orbiting vehicle; the Delta second stage was in a circular 

near-polar orbit at about 950km (590mi) altitude. (NASA Release 

0 NASA announced award of a contract to Boeing Commercial 

Airplane Company, Seattle, Wash., for development and evaluation of 

selected advanced aerodynamics and active-control concepts for commercial transport aircraft. The contract, to be managed by LaRC, would 

be part of the second phase of energy-efficient transport (EET) work that 

had begun in early 1977 under two NASA contracts. The second phase 

would concentrate on ways to improve energy efficiency and operational 

economy for subsonic long-haul commercial transport aircraft, including 

wingtip extension or winglets, surface coatings for drag reduction, wingload alleviation systems, and active controWguidance systems. Boeing 

estimated the contract value at $17 million. (LaRC Release 78-65) 

During October: NASA issued a press kit in observance of its 20th anniversary, having opened for business October 1, 1958. To commemorate 

the anniversary, NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch wrote: 

“By the time a man or a woman has lived for 20 years, a new in78- 1 69) 

255 
OCTOBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

dividuality has been established, physical maturity has been achieved, 

important experiences have been undergone and digested, there have 

been some triumphs and some tragedies, the outlines of the individual’s 

role in society are beginning to come into focus, and it becomes possible 

to do some sensible planning and make some educated guesses about the 

future. Most importantly, a unique new entity with largely undetermined 

potential has come to exist in the world. 

“On its 20th anniversary, NASA-composed of some 23,000 men and 

women - is just such an entity. We are a unique agency, mandated by the 

people of our country through their elected representatives to develop 

and utilize space technology both for immediate practical application 

and to-expand our knowledge of the earth, its environment, the solar 

system and the universe. We are charged with assisting the Department 

of Defense in the use of space to maintain the security of our nation, and 

with the promotion of international cooperation in space for peaceful 

purposes. An important part of our charter calls for research and 

development to maintain U.S. leadership in aeronautics, and to improve 

civil and military aeronautical vehicles while minimizing their energy 

consumption and environmental degradation. We are further .charged 

with the dissemination to all potential users of new knowledge and 

technology acquired in the course of all these activities, and, alone 

among Federal agencies, we are required by law to ‘provide for the widest 

practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning 

(our) activities and the results thereof.’. . . “We have, after all, in just two decades, for the first time ever, put life 

from the planet earth on another body of our solar system, and in our explorations of the moon learned more about the nature and origins of that 

system than humanity was able to determine in all the centuries that went 

before. 

“In those two eventful decades we have landed extensions of our intelligence on Mars, begun an automated investigation that will eventually 

extend to all the planets orbiting the sun, achieved significant increase in 

our knowledge of sun-earth interactions and relationships, and through 

remote sensing satellites made order of magnitude improvements in how 

we view the natural and manmade phenomena of the whole earth, as a 

first step on the way to better management of all our resources. And we 

have put astronomy observatories into orbit above the obscuring atmosphere, which are beginning to supply data that may well change our 

conception- of the universe. 

“Closer to home we have initiated a communications revolution. 

Though barely begun, the communications satellite program has tied the 

nations and peoples of our planet together in a way never before possible, and it promises the benefits of intercommunity contact to the most 

remote and isolated areas. . . 

256 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 OCTOBER 

“In our 20th year, we are deeply involved in solving the primary problems of our time-through remote sensing, helping to locate new sources 

of fossil fuels while working with the Department of Energy to develop 

alternate energy resources. 

“With passenger cars alone burning almost a third of all petroleum 

products used in this country each year and causing most of the air pollution that blights our metropolitan areas, we are applying our scientific 

and engineering expertise to improving auto efficiency, economy, and 

environmental acceptability and to developing advanced auto propulsion 

systems. 

“Finally, exactly as is true of a man or a woman, the future from the 

perspective of 20 years is full of challenge, excitement, and opportunity. 

Consider, for example, that the 12 months following our 20th anniversary will see, among other events: 

-launch of the second HEAO to follow up the major astronomical 

discoveries of its predecessor; 

-arrival of the Pioneer orbiter and probes at Venus; 

-exploration of Jupiter and its moons by both Voyagers; and 

-first orbital test flight of the Shuttle. 

“Beyond our 21st year, we can see the Shuttle evolving as the major 

factor in all our operations in space, facilitating and accelerating progress toward nearly all our goals. . . “In short, on our 20th anniversary we at NASA can take pride in what 

we have already accomplished, satisfaction from the knowledge that we 

are doing useful work on the frontiers of science and technology for the 

benefit of our people and our country, and exhilaration at the prospects 

which lie ahead for the continued expansion of human knowledge and 

the improvement of the condition of mankind on the planet earth. 

“Truly a unique new entity has come to exist in the world, an entity of 

which each one of us can be proud to be a part.” 

Also included in the press kit was a chronology of major NASA 

milestones, descriptions of all NASA centers, and NASA’s major launch 

record. (NASA Release 78-133) 

257 

emmmG PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED 

November 

November 1: NASA announced it would rotate the Skylab space station 

180" in its orbit Nov. 3 because of low temperatures encountered by one 

of the control moment gyros (CMG) as a result of periodic long-term 

shading from the sun. The sun angle was a function of the orbit inclination (in Skylab's case, 50" relative to the equator), the position of the 

earth around the sun, and certain other seasonal factors. When the 

CMG, essential to Skylab's holding a stable attitude, was in shadow for 

ycessive periods, the bearing temperature dropped, interfering with 

lubrication and increasing friction on the bearings that could lead to 

possible CMG failure. Turning the Skylab in its orbit before midNovember would expose the CMG to more sun and maintain normal 

bearing temperatures. The reversed position was not expected to change 

Skylab's orbital-life predictions significantly. The maneuver would use 

none of the remaining nitrogen thruster fuel now on reserve for docking 

with the teleoperator-retrieval system, planned for the second Space 

Shuttle flight. (NASA Release 78-172; Marshall Star, Nov 8/78, 2; JSC 

Roundup, Nov 10/78,1; WPost, Nov 4/78, A-6; AvWk, Nov 13/78,65) 

0 NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch had announced establishment of a $250 000 Center Director's Discretionary Fund to support innovative ideas in research and technology at NASA centers, the Marshall 

Star reported. Funds would be used exclusively for pursuit of research 

and technology tasks, not for facility, personnel, travel, or R&D project 

problems. Priority would be given to support of in-house activities as opposed to studies or research by contractors. 

Dr. William Lucas, director of Marshall Space Flight Center, said he 

considered establishment of the fund a significant and favorable step, 

and he intended to be personally involved in all facets of the use of the 

fund and to retain direct control of all fund allocations. A small advisory 

panel of center personnel would assist the director in evaluating proposed fund uses and the progress of approved activities. (Marshall Star, 

Nov 1/78, 1) 

0 The Marshall Star reported that industry was being invited to bid on a 

cost-sharing contract to commercialize an electricity-saving device invented by MSFC engineer Frank Nola [see May 2, June 141. The inexpensive power-factor controller could reduce markedly the power consumed 

by millions of electric motors in use throughout the U.S. MSFC's RFP 

259 
NOVEMBER- . ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

I. 

specified that the contractor selected ‘%hail have capability of manufacturing 30,000 units per month, and should provide as a part of this effort 

the estimated production costs based on production rates of 10,000, 

20,000 and 30,000 units per month.” This type of cost-sharing contract 

had been one method used by MSFC’s Technology Utilization (TU) Office to make new technology available to the public, as required by the 

Space Act of 1958, and to demonstrate the utility and reliability of the 

technology. “By joining with industry in this type of project,” Aubrey 

Smith, TU director, said, “we encourage the transfer of new space 

technology to the private sector.” (Marshall Star, Nov 1/78, 1) 

e Wallops Flight Center announced it had launched a two-stage solidpropellant sounding rocket, the Taurus-Tomahawk, at 247p.m. Oct. 31. 

Both the Taurus and Tomahawk rocket motors were currently in use, but 

this was the first test flight of the combined configuration, which would 

be used for future NASA sounding-rocket launches. Peak altitude was 

554km (344 statute mi), and the successful test flight qualified the vehicle 

to launch scientific payloads. First operational launches would be in 

March 1979 from Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, to 

carry a 27.4kg (601b) payload to an altitude of 575km to conduct scientific experiments in the near-earth environment. (WFC Release 78-21) 

e Despite tight new restraints on federal spending, President Carter had 

instructed his aides to give special protection to R&D programscurrently scheduled to get $28 billion-in the FY80 federal budget, the 

Washington Post reported. This came a day after the President had announced an anti-inflation program that included spending cuts plus 

reduction of the FY80 budget deficit to $30 billion or less, a goal at least 

$3 billion tighter than his previously announced target. 

In a handwritten note Carter instructed his aides: “I want to maintain 

our strong support for R&D as (percentage) of budget.” This meant high 

priority for spending consideration in a field usually considered a prime 

target for any budget-cutting program. One White House aide indicated 

Carter’s instructions meant that R&D would be virtually exempt from 

new federal spending constraints; another said that R&D might still face 

some restraints if inflation did not ease. 

The President had previously expressed special concern that basic 

research (which accounted for $3.5 billion of the total R&D budget and 

had been dwindling until the Ford Administration reversed the trend) be 

protected from any budget-cutting considerations. Frank Press, Carter’s 

science adviser, said Carter’s decision constituted the nation’s “first 

presidential expression of an overall science and technology policy.” ( W 

Post, NOV 1/78, A-6) 

November 2: NASA announced plans to launch NATO-IIIC, third and 

260 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AJZROVAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

final comsat in a new series to serve the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on Nov. 15 from Kennedy Space Center. A US-NATO 

agreement had specified launch on a Delta rocket, and NATO would 

reimburse NASA $8.9 million for the launch vehicle and services. A 

Delta had previously successfully launched Nato IIA and ZZB in March 

1970 and February 1971, respectively; Nato IIIA in April 1976; and Nato 

IZZB in January 1977. 

NATO-IIIC would provide in-orbit backup to Nato IZZe and ZZZB in 

the NATO Integrated Communications System (NICS). At a geosynchronous orbital altitude of 35 900km (22 3OOmi), NATO-IIIC would 

orbit earth once every 24hr synchronized with earth’s 24-hr rotation 

period, keeping the satellite on station over the same spot above the 

equator. Once in its transfer orbit, the satellite would be controlled by 

U.S. Air Force Satellite Control Facility network on behalf of NATO., 

The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) 

served as satellite contracting agency for NICS. Ford Aeronautic and 

Communications Corp., Palo Alto, Calif., built NATO 111. (NASA 

Release 78-171; MOR M-492-207-78-03 [prelaunch], Nov 15/78; 

Spaceport News, Nov 10/78, 1) 

0 NASA reported successful static firing of a Space Shuttle main engine 

Oct. 30 at the National Space Technology Laboratories, Bay St. Louis, 

Miss. The firing Iasted for more than 13min, testing its ability to return 

the Shuttle orbiter to a landing site in case of mission abort during 

launch. The main engine operated continuously for 823sec, longest burn 

time an engine should require during an actual mission. A Shuttle orbiter 

would use 3 main engines having a normal burn time of about 8min. 

(NASA Release 78-173) 

0 FBIS reported the longest manned flight in history- 139da 15hr-had 

ended Nov. 2 at 14hr Smin Moscow time, after completing a program of 

scientific-technical researches and experiments on board the SalyutSoyuz orbital complex. The Soyuz 31 module landed in a preset area of 

the Soviet Union 180km southeast of Dzezkazgan (Kazakhstan). A 

preliminary medical checkup at the landing site indicated the cosmonauts 

had withstood the long flight well. 

Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenkov’s flight to SaIyut 6 

had begun June 15 in Soyuz 29. The international crew of Soyuz 30, including Poland‘s Miroslaw Hermaszewski, had joined the occupants of 

the orbital complex June 28 and returned to earth July 5. Soyuz 31, 

whose crew included the GDR’s Sigmund Jahn and returned in Soyuz 29, 

29, docked there Aug. 27 and later returned the Soyuz 29 crew. Fuel for 

the joint engine installations, equipment, life-sustaining materials, and 

materials for studies and experiments had been regularly delivered to 

SaZyut 6 by automatic transports Progress 2, 3, and 4. 

261 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

On Nov. 16 a Soviet medical expert said the cosmonauts had readapted 

quickly to earth’s gravity and had suffered no significant physical 

disabilities, the NY Times reported. These cosmonauts had exercised 

more during their flight than had previous crews, and the extra activity 

apparently helped them to readjust after their return. Only on their first 

day back had the cosmonauts been seriously affected by body weight, 

causing some uncoordinated movements. Red corpuscles and 

hemoglobin in the blood had dropped insignificantly, and white blood 

cells had increased moderately. Kovalenok had been underweight by 51b, 

regained in 3 da; Ivanchenkov by 8.51b, regained in 12. On their second 

morning back on earth, they had asked to walk in the park, 4da earlier 

than the medical experts had planned; their pulse rates increased by only 

15 to 20 beats a min after 1400 steps. Soviet medical experts were quoted 

as saying that it took the cosmonauts about lOda to readjust completely 

to earth’s gravity. (FBIS, Tass in English, Nov 2/78; NYT, Nov 17/78, 

A27; WPost, Nov 3/78, A 14; AvWk, Nov 6/78,21,13/78,21; D/SBD, 

Nov 3/78, 15; A/D, Nov 3/78, 17; Langley Researcher, Nov 17/78, 1) 

November 3: NASA announced preparations to launch its second high 

energy astronomy observatory HEAO-B, continuing a three-mission 

program to study some of the most intriguing mysteries of the universe: 

pulsars, quasars, exploding galaxies, and black holes. Launch would be 

from KSC on an Atlas Centaur about Nov. 13. Carrying a focusing x-ray 

telescope and a variety of sensitive instruments, HEAO-B would 

maneuver and point for long periods of time at selected x-ray sources 

previously identified by Heao 1. Pictures returned by HEAO-B would be 

the first spacecraft-generated x-ray images of objects other than the sun. 

HEAO-B’s images, acquired by x-ray telescope, would be converted to 

telemetry received and taped by ground stations and eventually 

reconstructed as photographs showing size, structure, and detail of objects viewed by the spacecraft. HEAO-B, with a design lyr mission 

lifetime, would be placed in low circular orbit far enough above the atmosphere to detect radiation normally unable to reach earth’s surface. 

MSFC had managed HEAO for NASA’s Office of Space Science. KSC 

would manage launch operations including prelaunch checkout, launch, 

and flight through observatory separation in orbit. Lewis Research 

Center managed launch-vehicle procurement and related activities for 

the HEAO program. MSFC would control the in-orbit HEAO observatories, in conjunction with TRW flight-control engineers operating 

from Goddard Space Flight Center. Cost of the three-mission HEAO 

program was about $248 million, HEAO-B’s approximately $87 million. 

(NASA Release 78- 165; MOR S-382-78-02 [prelaunch] Oct 30/78) 

0 NASA announced it had awarded Vought Corporation, Dallas, Tex., 

a modification of its contract to provide’Scout launch vehicles. Under 

262 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

the modification, Vought would provide NASA with 12 additional 

guidance systems for use on Phase 8 Scouts (107 vehicles had constituted 

Phases 1 through 7), the same system used on the launch vehicle since the 

Scout program began. Vought had been the Scout project’s prime contractor since 1959; the first Scout launched in 1960 was designed to put a 

130-lb payload into a 300-nautical-mi circular earth orbit. The latest 

Scouts were designed to place a 404-lb payload in that orbit. Scout 

vehicles had been launched from Wallops Island, Va., Vandenberg 

AFB, Calif., and San Marco, Kenya. Vought valued the modification at 

approximately $6.5 million. Langley Research Center would manage the 

2.5-yr contract. (LaRC Release 78-67) 

FBIS reported that the USSR and India had signed a protocol for 

launch of a second India satellite. The two countries were working on a 

flying model of the spacecraft and preparing ground stations. Representatives of the USSR Academy of Sciences and India’s outer-space exploration organization had discussed satellite plans for several yr. The second 

India spacecraft, like the first, would be launched from Soviet territory, 

and the carrier rocket and launching complex would be provided gratis 

by the USSR. (FBIS, Tass in English, Nov 3/78) 

FBIS reported the USSR announced it had fired a geophysical rocket, 

Vertikal7, to a height of 1500km for research on the ionosphere and on 

shortwave radiation. The instrument package, which separated at 175km 

on the ascent trajectory, contained equipment prepared by scientists 

from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet 

Union. Launch apparently took place from the facilities at Kapustin Yar, 

site of previous Vertikal launches. (FBIS, Tass in English, Qct 3/78) 

November 6: Ames Research Center Director C.A. Syvertson announced 

appointment of A. Thomas Young, director of the planetary program in 

NASA’s Office of Space Science, as deputy director of ARC effective 

Feb. 1, 1979. Young, who had held his current position since Nov. 1976, 

had served as missions operations manager and missions director of 

Project Viking as well as of other projects at LaRC, which he had joined 

in 1961. Young had received LaRC’s sustained superior performance 

award in 1967 for contributions to the lunar orbiter project and in 1977 

for his work on Viking. In 1977 he received NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal for contributions to Viking. (ARC Release 78-53) 

November 7: A new gallery, “Exploring the Planets,” opened Nov. 7 at 

the National Air and Space Museum, the Washington Star reported. 

Melvin Zisfein, acting museum director, said the gallery was “jammed 

full of information and contains more facts and figures and concepts 

than any other gallery in the museum. Yet the information is easy to 

263 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1918 

digest. We tried hard to make sure you didn’t need a degree in astronomy 

to understand it.’’ 

Keeping up with new information on the solar system (the gallery 

would be updated continuously) was one of the challenges. The gallery, 

designed by Lucius Lomas, had succeeded in teaching without neglecting 

imaginative features visitors had come to expect at the museum. Visitors 

could make a “Descent to Venus” in a simulated cockpit of an interplanetary spaceship circa 2150. A “Flight over Mars” from an altitude 

of 100 000 to 200 000ft (actually relief maps of the Martian landscape 

sculpted on to rotating cylinders and viewed through special windows) 

was based on photos taken from Mariner 9 and Vikings 1 and 2. A fullscale replica of the Voyager spacecraft was the largest single object in the 

gallery. The relative sizes of Jupiter and 21 other planetary bodies was 

conveyed in a corner by brightly colored spheres made to scale: Jupiter 

was loft in diameter; Ceres, the largest asteroid, linch; the earth, lft. Six 

computer terminals offered “Space Academy exams” where visitors 

could test their knowledge of the solar system. (WStar, Nov 7/78, F 3) 

November 8: INTELSAT announced award of a contract to improve 

satellite communications in regions plagued by frequent heavy rainfall 

that caused satellite signals to fade at higher frequencies. Under the 

$39 827 contract, the Technische Universitat Graz, Austria, would conduct yr-long experiments for simultaneous comparison of fading caused 

by rainfall in four di€ferent locations. Results would determine whether 

alternative earth stations for use during rainfall would solve the fading 

problem. (INTELSAT Release 78-31-M) 

0 INTELSAT announced it was seeking bids from U.S. domestic 

communications-satellite operators to provide television services between 

the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico had asked INTELSAT help in obtaining 

international television between the Tulancingo earth station near Mexico City and a number of points within the U.S. Although INTELSAT 

had already established international comsat service over the Atlantic, 

Indian, and Pacific oceans between a total of 192 earth stations and 94 

countries, its satellites (configured primarily for long-haul transoceanic 

communications) could not provide the coverage Mexico required. Consequently, INTELSAT’s board of governors had authorized it to seek 

alternative ways of supplying Mexico’s need until INTELSAT could do 

so with its own facilities. This was the first time INTELSAT had sought 

to lease long-term space-segment communications capacity outside its 

own resources. (INTELSAT Release 78-32-1) 

0 ESA’s Spacelab program board had turned down NASA’s proposal to 

barter Space Shuttle launch services for the second Spacelab NASA was 

264 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

committed to acquire, and the action was seen as final, Defeme/Space 

Business Daily reported. NASA had hoped to exchange launch service in 

return for the Spacelab in order to reduce costs [see Sept. 121. Although 

ESA itself favored the barter plan, the European governments had refused to commit themselves in advance to Space Shuttle flights. In lieu 

of the barter deal or any increased NASA funding, ESA might be asked 

to prefinance work on the second Spacelab until NASA could get the 

money. (D/SBD, Nov 8/78, 39) 

November 9: LeRC would host a major conference for U.S. industry 

Jan. 3 1, 1979, to review the marketing potential and technology status of 

large wind-turbine electric generators, the Lewis News reported. NASA 

had supported DOE in developing, with the aid of U.S. industry, large 

wind-turbine electric generators as a source of supplemental power for 

utility networks. LeRC was conducting both a technology-development 

program and an experimental program with the utility industry. LeRC 

engineers believed that large wind turbines could become a costcompetitive source of nondepletable electrical power, and that the time 

was right for additional industrial-equipment designers and producers to 

become involved in the nation’s wind-energy program. Those attending 

the meeting would discuss two advanced-design wind turbines in the 

planning stage: a 200kw wind turbine for operation at wind speeds lower 

than those used by current wind turbines, and one in the 1000 to 4000-kw 

range to produce electricity at a reduced cost per kw hr over smaller-scale 

units. 

The January conference would review elements of the U.S. windenergy program including objectives, present status of the technology, 

and current cost projections, emphasizing design of presently operating 

wind turbines, designs in progress for advanced machines, and plans to 

procure new lower-cost wind-turbine designs from industry. (Lewis 

News, Nov 9/78, 1) 

0 The U.S. reconnaissance-satellite program had apparently moved into 

a new phase emphasizing fewer satellites and longer orbital stay-time, 

Aerospace Daily reported, despite the fact that the USSR had an operational antisatellite program that might have influenced President Carter’s 

backing of a U.S. ASAT project. An Aerospace Daily study of 

worldwide satellite launches since the early 1%os indicated the US, had 

stopped using satellites for a close look at specific ground targets. These 

satellites, launched by the Titan 3B/Agena booster combination, had 

previously flown simultaneously with an area-surveillance class launched 

by Thor/Agena. The U.S. had apparently withdrawn its areasurveillance models from service in 1972 and substituted a type able to do 

both area and close-look surveillance - Lockheed’s so-called Big 

265 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Bird - and dropped the original close-look type. It had retained Big Bird, 

with 14 launches to date, complemented by an even newer type that 

might have had the same dual mission but performed better. 

Only two of the latest models had been launched, one in December 

1976 and one on June 14, 1978. This model could have been the subject 

of a controversy over alleged theft by a former CIA employee of an 

operating manual for a satellite code-named KH-11, which had an orbital life at least three times that of Big Bird, which had grown to an impressive 179da. The new model might have had a nominal lifetime of 

540da; the first one launched was approaching 24mo in orbit. This extended orbital life meant that the USSR and other countries were under 

constant surveillance; however, as the U.S. had only one or two satellites 

operating at any one time, the vulnerability of its monitoring effort had 

probably increased. (AD, Nov 9/78, 44) 

November 10: After each Space Shuttle flight, parachutes used to slow 

the descent of the Shuttle’s solid-fuel rocket booster (SRBs) would have 

to be washed, dried, and repaired before reuse; and KSC had modified 

for this purpose a facility formerly used as a news center and to refurbish 

Gemini parachutes, Spaceport News reported. Recovery vessels at sea 

would pull the parachutes from the water and wind them like fishing line 

on large deck reels for delivery to the facility, where they would be unwound, defouled, and hosed down. A chute arranged on hooks on an 

overhead monorail would proceed through the world’s largest automatic 

washer and dryer [see March 81 to remove any traces of corrosive sea 

water, Next the chute would be inspected for damage, with rips mended 

on special sewing machines. The chute then would be stretched on a 

worktable almost the length of the 220-ft building, and each individual 

panel would be systematically folded into place resulting in a tubular 

shape. A monorail would guide the bundle to a wedge-shaped packing 

canister. Depending on conditions, one parachute could move through 

the entire operation in less than 50hr. (Spaceport News, Nov 10/78, 3) 

0 Despite the wealth of data on Mars provided by Mariner 9 and the Viking missions, some mysteries remained, including the “White Rock,” a 

unique topographic feature nestIing inside a crater not far from the Martian equator, JPL Universe reported. White Rock‘s discovery by Mariner 

9 had intrigued scientists at Jet Propulsion Laboratory because of the 

reflectivity of its unknown basic material, and the fact that no other formation on Mars resembled it. 

At first glance White Rock looked like the paw-print of some manytoed animal, as it was rounded on two-thirds of its perimeter and on the 

remaining sides had great serrated formations like claws, referred to as 

“reentrants” and “dunes,” reaching into the floor of the surrounding 

Martian crater. Scientists believed the ridged area had been eroded by 

266 
White Rock, strange topographic feature inside a crater on Mars whose composition had puzzled scientists: not snow or ice, because of its proximity to the 

equator, the formation exhibited high reflectivity first noticed by Mariner 9 in 

1972, This photomosaic came from the Viking orbiter in Sept. 1978 (straight lines 

on the image resulted from assembly of the photographs into a mosaic). (NASA 

photo 78-H-634) 

ever-present Martian surface winds. The possibility of ice cover on its surface had been rejected early on because of its proximity to the equator. 

Speculation on its mineral composition had included salt and/or sand 

theories. 

Roughly 18km across, White Rock appeared to rise from the floor of 

an impact crater some 93km in diameter. Very small impact craters on 

the floor of the larger crater and on the feature itself might suggest the 

age of the formation in relation to its surroundings. Although labelled 

“white,” general opinion was that the feature had a very light orange or 

pink tint. After Mariner 9 discovered the unique feature, Viking had 

been programmed for a closer look; Viking’s more sophisticated vidicon 

would offer five times better resolution at a similar altitude. Computer 

processing of Viking data could produce information to help solve the 

mystery of White Rock. (JPL Universe, Nov 10/78, 2) 

267 
NOVEMBER %$, ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

0 Disagreement about the age of the newly discovered rings around 

Uranus was expressed at the Nov. 9 meeting of the American 

Astronomical Society in Pasadena, Calif. , the Pasadena Star-News 

reported. Discovered by astronomer Jim Elliot of Cornel1 Univ. in 

March 1977, the rings had sparked many scientific theories. Elliot 

originally had observed five rings; subsequent observations had disclosed 

four additional rings. Uranus’s rings did not spread into broad bands 

circling the planet like those of Saturn, but were narrow and confined to 

tight belts. 

Attracting most attention was the fifth ring, Epsilon, which was 

thicker and wider than the other rings, although its width varied from 20 to 

100km. The inner edge of the Epsilon ring did not move around the 

planet at a rate different from that of the outer edge, contrary to what 

might have been expected. Dr. Richard Goldreich of CalTech theorized 

that the Epsilon ring was bound together by its own gravity, which, in 

turn, meant it had substantial mass (possibly as much as 25grams per 

cm3, extremely dense by ring standards), causing him to conclude the 

rings around Uranus were very old. However, Judd Boynton, director of 

Geophysics Labs and Research in Berkeley, who had predicted that rings 

would be found around Uranus, had concluded the rings were of 

relatively recent origin, perhaps as young as 10 million yr. (JPL 

newsclips, Nov 10/78) 

November 13: NASA launched from Cape Canaveral the high energy 

astronomy observatory Heao 2 on an Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle [see 

Nov. 31. This was the second in a series of three NASA high energy 

astronomy observatories designed to survey the entire sky for x-ray 

sources, make measurements of the gamma-ray flux, determine source 

locations and line spectra, and examine the composition and synthesis of 

cosmic-ray nuclei. The 20ft 70001b Heao 2 was equipped to provide 

precise pointing capability of 1 arc-minute or better, and would focus on 

specific x-ray sources for detailed examination. Orbiting the earth at 

290mi altitude, Heao 2 had a design life of lyr. Nicknamed “Einstein” by 

project scientists, the mission would operate under a consortium 

representing the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Mass. 

Inst. of Technology, Columbia Univ., and GSFC. The spacecraft was 

built by TRW, Inc., under NASA direction. (NASA MOR S-832-78-02 

[prelaunch] date?; NYT, Nov 14/78, C-3) 

NASA reported that Cornel1 Univ. scientists had for the first time 

turned xenon, rarest of stable rare gases, into a metal by applying 

tremendous pressure on solid xenon. David Nelson, Jr., and Professor 

Arthur Ruloff of Cornell’s department of materials science and engineering, in work sponsored by LeRC, reported pressures of 320 O00 atmospheres applied to a tiny amount of solid xenon at - 241 “C ( - 402°F) 

268 
NOVEMBER RIGINAL’ PAGE 1s ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

OF POOR QUALITY 

NASA’s second high-energy astronomy observatory, heaviest manned earthorbiting spacecraft, undergoing checkout before launch on a mission of general 

sky survey, mapping x-ray sources and measuring lo w-energy gamma-ray flux. 

(NASA photo 78-H-623) 

had produced the metal. Xenon frozen solid would not conduct electricity; however, at the pressures applied in the Cornell experiment, the electrical conductivity of the frozen xenon increased more than a hundred 

billion times-that is, it behaved like a metal. 

Because the xenon returned to the insulating (nonconductive) state 

when the pressure was removed, no engineering applications were apparent. However, Ruloff noted, “The production of metallic xenon is of 

considerable scientific interest. Furthermore, the development of these 

techniques is a step forward in high-pressure research.” RuIoff believed 

that his group could make oxygen and krypton metallic, and possibly 

nitrogen, argon, and even hydrogen. If frozen hydrogen could be made 

metallic and remain in that state when the pressure was removed, it might 

have practical use as an extremely powerful rocket propellant, a superconductor, or an improved source for fusion energy. NASA would explore the possibility of making metallic hydrogen. (NASA Release 

78- 174) 

269 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1918 

* NASA announced appointment of Arnold Frutkin as NASA associate 

administrator for external relations, effective immediately. Frutkin had 

served as deputy associate administrator for external relations since 

March 2, 1978 [see March 11, and acting associate administrator since 

June 4. Previously he had headed NASA’s Office of International Affairs for 18yr. Frutkin would be responsible to the administrator for 

developing external policy and for coordinating NASA relations with the 

public, the international community, universities, state and local governments, and the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. 

Before joining NASA, Frutkin had been deputy director of the US. 

Natl. Committee for the Intl. Geophysical Year. (NASA Release 78-175) 

The U.S. Navy was assessing its current and future space systems with 

three studies completed and a fourth under way, Av Wk reported. The 

studies were “Soviet Threat,” assessments of how Soviet spacecraft affected U.S. naval operations and how the Soviet systems could be used in 

war; “Current U.S. Navy Status,” assessment of Navy dependence on 

current U.S. spacecraft systems and the implications for the future; 

“Mid-Term Look,” study of Navy exploitation of space in the next 15yr 

and what new systems should be considered; and “Far-Term Look,” a 

new study by the Natl. Science Foundation under a $200 000 Navy contract to forecast where Navy space systems were headed by the late 1990s 

and into the 21st century. 

In a move with immediate impact on management of Navy-associated 

space systems, the Navy had put ocean-surveillance programs under the 

Chief of Naval Operations because of the importance of command, control, and communications in ocean-surveillance activities and to coordinate these elements more efficiently. Ocean surveillance previously was 

managed along with antisubmarine warfare. (Av Wk, Nov 13/78, 67) 

November 14: NASA announced it was putting Pioneer Venus 2 through 

maneuvers in preparation for release of four probes to study the atmosphere of Venus. A large probe would be released Nov. 15, three 

smaller probes Nov. 19. The probes and their transporter bus would arrive at ,Venus and begin descent into the atmosphere Dec. 9. On Nov. 9, 

while Pioneer Venus 2 was 11 265 400km (7 OOO 000mi) from Venus, 

controllers at ARC had made a small trajectory correction to ensure the 

desired entry point at Venus for the large probe. They also commanded a 

90” rotation of the spin axis to point the aft-mounted medium-gain horn 

antenna toward earth, obtaining a fourfold increase in communications 

capability. On Nov. 15, just before large-probe release, ARC would 

maneuver the spacecraft to proper entry angle at Venus, followed Nov. 16 

and 19 by maneuvers to reach the desired small-probe entry points spread 

9660km (6000mi) apart over Venus’s earth-facing hemisphere. 

270 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEh4BER 

Each of the four probes had its own command, communications, 

power, and other systems. Heat shields and titanium pressure vessels 

would help the probes withstand Venus’s 480°C (900°F) heat, corrosive 

atmosphere, and crushing atmospheric pressure, 100 times that of earth. 

The multiprobe and its sister spacecraft, the orbiter, would conduct 30 

experiments to improve understanding OX Venus’s weather, which in turn 

would help scientists understand the forces driving earth’s weather. 

(NASA Release 78-177) 

November 15: NASA announced that, after nearly a mo of attempts to 

reestablish contact with SeaSat, its experimental oceanographic satellite, 

project officials had formally terminated the mission. JPL would process 

the data collected during the spacecraft’s 106-da lifetime; project officials expected the task to occupy more than 1.5yr. SeaSat’s syntheticaperture radar had completed some 300 data-gathering passes, during 

which it collected about 60hr of data including images of sea ice, waves, 

coastal conditions, and various land forms. The spacecraft’s scatterometer (measuring sea-surface wind speeds) and scanning multifrequency microwave radiometer (measuring sea-surface temperature and 

wind speed) had collected data for 99da. SeaSat’s altimeter and visual 

and infrared radiometer returned data for 70 and 52da, respectively. The 

instruments also completed a series of sea-surface fact-finding experiments. 

The SeaSat program had three objectives: to demonstrate techniques 

to monitor earth’s oceanographic phenomena and features from space on 

a global scale; to provide timely oceanographic data to scientists studying 

marine phenomena, and to users of the oceans as a resource (ocean shippers, fishermen, marine geologists, etc.); and to determine the key 

features of an operational full-time ocean-monitoring system. Analysis 

of SeaSat-collected data by teams of scientists, engineers, and user 

representatives indicated the first of the objectives would be largely met, 

as well as a high probability of accomplishing most of the other objectives. A failure review board [see Oct. 301 was working to determine the 

causes of the premature end of SeaSat operation. SeaSat had been launched June 26 from Vandenberg AFB; contact was lost Oct. 9 on its 

1502nd earth orbit when a so-far-unexplained short circuit drained all 

power from the batteries. (NASA Release 78-178) 

* Thiokol Corp.’s Wasatch Div. had delivered the last of eight empty 

solid-fuel rocket motor-case segments to MSFC for use in the final burnout phase of Space Shuttle ground-vibration tests scheduled for early 

1979, the Marshall Star reported. Current vibration testing was in the 

“liftoff” phase using motor cases filled with inert propellant; this phase 

would be completed and the Space Shuttle elements removed from the 

27 1 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

dynamic-test stand by the end of 1978. All the elements would be returned to the stand, including the empty motor-case segments, for final 

vibration-test phase simulating the actual Space Shuttle situation just 

before solid-fuel rocket-booster separation after expending the solid propellant. (Marshall Star, Nov 15/78, 1) 

Almost all major structural elements and systems of the first two 

flight-model solid-fuel rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle had either 

been delivered to KSC or were scheduled to arrive shortly, the Marshall 

Star reported. Delivered elements included eight booster-separation 

motors for one SRB, with eight for the other SRB due within the wk; all 

major components of the thrust-vector control (TVC) subsystems except 

the actuators, which were to arrive on Nov. 23; frustums and nosecaps 

for both boosters; the forward and aft skirts for the left-hand SRB (the 

aft skirt for the right-hand booster was en route by rail, and the forward 

skirt was scheduled for delivery Nov. 20); and most of the electricalsystems components. The parachute-recovery subsystem for the lefthand booster was at KSC; the system for the right-hand booster was due 

Nov. 22. (Marshall Star, Nov 15/78, 4) 

* After a flawless launch from KSC on an Atlas-Centaur at 12:24a.m. 

EST Nov. 13; Heao 2 was functioning satisfactorily in a near-perfect 

earth orbit, the Marshall Star reported. The observatory was expected to 

become fully operational by Nov. 16. First steps in orbit were to open the 

solar arrays and to separate the launch vehicle, both of which happened 

exactly on time. Ground stations were receiving and evaluating engineering data, as one by one each instrument was turned on to low power and 

checked out. All leftover gas had to be purged from the spacecraft before 

high voltage could be turned on to avoid electrical arcing or damage to 

delicate onboard instruments. MSFC was in control of Heao 2 together 

with TRW flight-control engineers operating at GSFC. (Marshall Star, 

Nov 15/78, 1) 

November 27: NASA reported completion of a 3yr Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) using space-age technology to monitor 

global wheat production. A symposium at Johnson Space Center attended by more than 700 conferees from 22 nations representing federal 

agencies, private companies, universities, and foreign governments, presented results of the experiment. 

The experiment had begun in 1974 to determine if data from a Landsat 

orbiting some 805km (500mi) above earth could be used with surface 

observations and weather information derived from U.S. operational environmental satellites to predict the size of the world’s wheat crop. Major 

foreign study areas were Canada and the Soviet Union, with preliminary 

examination of wheat-growing areas of Australia, People’s Republic of 

212 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

China, Brazil, India, and Argentina. The U.S. Great Plains area served 

for extensive test and evaluation of techniques, since it was the best 

source of statistical data with known reliability. LACIE had been designed to improve global wheat-production forecasts by making foreignproduction predictions as early as possible in the crop season. The goal 

of the project was to develop estimates accurate within 10% of the true 

production at harvest time in 9yr out of 10; tests over the winter-wheat 

area of the Great Plains showed the goal could be met. Using LACIE 

techniques to monitor Soviet wheat crops harvested in 1977, the system 

estimated a production of 91.4 million metric tons, less than 1% below 

the Soviets’ official announcement of 92 million tons. However, the 

system’s ability to achieve such accuracy from yr to yr had yet to be 

determined. Findings were presented at the four-day symposium by the 

LACIE participants: NASA, USDA, NOAA, and cooperating universities and industry. 

A peer-evaluation team composed of prominent scientists, chaired by 

Dr. Don Paarlberg, former director of economics for USDA, reviewed 

the LACIE techniques and reported on them to the symposium. Dr. 

Paarlberg stated that “LACIE results to date clearly demonstrate that 

present remote-sensing capabilities can be combined with or substituted 

for conventional methods of information collection in order to improve 

foreign crop production estimates.” He concluded that “ . . . for global 

wheat regions such as the USSR the LACIE technology can be made 

operational . . . for regions where technology requires improvement, 

funding for further research and development should be continued.” 

(NASA Release 78-179) 

NASA announced it had asked scientists to propose experiments for a 

1984 mission to obtain a first global view of the Venus surface. Launched 

by the Space Shuttle, the Venus-orbiting imaging radar (VOIR) 

spacecraft would circle the planet for at least 7mO taking radar pictures 

and measuring the atmosphere and the surface. It would be the most 

detailed scientific examination to date of the surface of Venus, 

perpetually covered by clouds. 

Announcing the solicitation, Dr. Noel Hinners, NASA associate administrator for Space Science, said: “NASA is engaged in a continuing 

program of space exploration, a major part of which is directed at the 

solar system. The VOIR program is a key step in that endeavor. . While considerable knowledge of Venus’s atmospheric properties will be 

forthcoming from the Pioneer Venus mission, and while the Soviet 

Venera missions have provided valuable data on surface properties at 

three localities, information regarding the surface morphology on a 

global scale and all of the insights that this scientific information provides is lacking. A major technical goal of the VOIR mission, therefore, 

is to obtain global radar imagery with sufficient resolution to address fun273 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

damental questions regarding the origin and evolution of the planet, and 

to lay the groundwork for subsequent more detailed investigations of the 

surface and interior.” Hinners emphasized that VOIR had not been approved but said that early selection of scientific participants and investigations would assure a well-defined program upon approval. 

Under present plans, in 1984 NASA would launch one spacecraft from 

the Space Shuttle to Venus with a typical trajectory beginning in Dec. 

1984 to arrive at Venus in May 1985. The spacecraft would remain in an 

elliptical parking orbit around Venus through May and June 1985, while 

the Deep Space Network was occupied with the Galileo project [see Nov. 

lo]. In late June or early July a propulsion maneuver would put VOIR 

into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 300km (180mi). Radar mapping 

and other science gathering would begin in July and continue for 5mo. 

VOIR imagery should verify the presence or absence of continents, 

ocean basins, mountain belts, rift valleys, fault belts, or volcanoes, and 

might reveal the nature and time sequence of plate tectonic activity, as 

well as any relationship between this and volcanic episodes in the history 

of the planet. If impact craters were present (as suggested by earth-based 

radar observations), the mission might determine their size and frequency. The VOIR orbiter, weighing approximately 5000kg (11 0001b) at 

launch, would consist of a bus with a synthetic aperture radar and other 

science instruments. (NASA Release 78-180) 

NASA was proceeding cautiously toward its prospective 30/20GHz 

satellite communications demonstration program, with development 

starting in FY82 instead of the faster pace envisioned earlier, Aerospace 

Daily reported. Several questions of policy and organization remained 

unresolved, one of them being administration guidelines that appeared to 

contradict President Carter’s recently announced civilian space policy 

[see Oct. 111. Major issues in the 30/20GHz program included whether a 

dedicated satellite was to be flown and, if so, whether and how it should 

be used, apart from demonstrating NASA technology objectives. 

Another issue concerned the relationship between NASA and the Commerce Dept .’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), set up to take over support formerly provided by 

NASA to public service satellite-communications users. 

The 30/20 GHz program had been presented in May to the NASA Advisory Council as a prospective FY80 development program, leading to 

1984 launch of a satellite using a Space Shuttle-compatible antenna less 

than 15ft in diameter, about 20 spot beams, and fast onboard switching. 

However, in November, an ad hoc satellite-communications subcommittee of the NAC learned that the current prospect was for multiplecontractor Phase B definition studies in FY80, with technology work to 

precede FY82 development and a 1985 launch. (AID, Nov 17/78, 78) 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

0 Launches of USSR military space missions continued a marked 

decline, with total flights in 1978 23% fewer than in 1977, a possible 

Soviet effort to influence the atmosphere for a SALT I1 agreement, 

Defense/Space Business Daily reported. Notable omissions from the Soviet 

military-spaceflight schedule were satellites related to antisatellite interceptor development and nuclear-powered ocean surveillance. These 

systems had come under intense public scrutiny and criticism in the past 

yr, as President Carter emphasized that they were major instruments of 

instability and needed to be banned. 

No antisatellite system launch had occurred for several months, since 

the Soviets had agreed to discuss a ban of such weapons and just before 

the convening of the first such meeting in May. The last Soviet oceansurveillance satellite was Cosmos 954, which had reentered over Canada 

Jan. 24 trailing fragments of its nuclear reactor [see Jan. 28, Feb. 201. At 

that point in 1978, the USSR had sent 50 military missions into space, a 

significant reduction from the 65 completed in the same time period in 

1977. However, the USSR had not reduced photographic reconnaissance/surveillance activity; launch of the high-resolution observer 

Cosmos 1047 Nov. 15 was the 28th photographic recon/survey mission 

in 1978, launched at the same rate as in 1977. (D/SBD, Nov 17/78, 79) 

November 18: NASA announced launch of Nato 3C, third and last in a 

series of defense-related comsats, at 7:46pm EST from ETR on a Delta 

into a synchronous transfer orbit, where it would gradually approach 

station at 50”W over the equator above the Atlantic. Early orbit 

parameters were 35 891km apogee, 184.5km perigee, and 27.2” inclination. The Ford Aerospace-built drum-shaped craft covered with a cylindrical solar array and weighing 346kg without its apogee kick motor 

would transmit voice, data, facsimile, and telex messages among military 

ground stations, serving as backup for Nato 3A and 3B launched in Apr. 

1976 and Jan. 1977, respectively. NATO would reimburse NASA $8.9 

million for launch services, including the vehicle. Mission life was 7yr. 

(MOR M-492-207-78-03 [prelaunch] Nov 15/78, [postlaunch] Feb 5/79; 

NASA Actv, Nov 20/78; Spacewarn Spx-301 kives date as Nov 19/78, 

0046UT1) 

November 19: Heao 2 had radioed back its first picture Nov. 18, an image of x-rays coming from the edge of what may be a black hole, the 

Washington Star reported. When the picture first appeared on a GSFC 

television monitor as a collection of bright dots against a black 

background, scientists and engineers were described as “ecstatic.” Dr. 

Riccardo Giacconi of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory said: 

“The significance of today’s event is that for the first time x-ray 

astronomy has become of age, and it has achieved the kind of resolution 

275 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

and sensitivity which has been traditional in the fields of radio and optical astronomy.” He said the x-ray telescope on Heao 2 should be able to 

detect x-rays from objects two-thirds of the way toward the edge of the 

universe, meaning that the satellite would be seeing radiation created 

roughly 10 billion yr ago. Giacconi added, “The scientific significance is 

what it tells us we are going to get in the future,” and noted the telescope 

was 100 to loo0 times more sensitive than previous x-ray detectors placed 

above earth’s atmosphere. 

The picture reconstructed by computer from data radioed back by the 

satellite was a test to demonstrate the capability of the telescope, which 

had a 23-in-wide mirror and an 11-ft focal length. Target for the test was 

a star system in the Milky Way galaxy called Cygnus X-1, selected 

because of its well known location and its brightness. Cygnus X-1, 6000 

light-yrs away, also happened to be the best candidate for a black hole; 

observations by a smaller x-ray satellite had shown that its x-ray emissions were unlike those seen from other objects. (W Star, Nov 19/78, 

A-13) 

November 21: GSFC announced that the third international sun-earth 

explorer Isee 3 had been injected into a halo orbit, most unusual ever 

proposed for a NASA space mission, to increase understanding of solarterrestrial relationships. Isee 3 was orbiting around the L-1 libration 

point, a point between the earth ahd the sun about 1.5 million km (1 

million mi) from earth at which the centrifugal and gravitational forces 

acting on a satellite were exactly counterbalanced. In this orbit, Isee 3 

would be able to monitor characteristics of the solar wind and other 

solar-induced phenomena such as solar flares about an hr before they 

disturbed earth space. 

GSFC’s Dr. Robert Farquhar, who devised the halo orbit, said it had 

been designed “to pass slightly above and below the ecliptic plane so that 

it will avoid excessive solar interference with spacecraft communications 

back to earth stations. To a person observing Isee3 from our planet, it will 

appear to be orbiting the sun, but it actually traces a halo above earth.” 

On entering the halo orbit, Isee 3 would accomplish three spaceflight 

firsts: a libration-point satellite; a spacecraft stationed in a halo orbit; 

and a spacecraft orbiting a point in space rather than a body such as the 

sun, earth, or moon. 

Libration-point orbits had aroused interest as possible ideal locations 

for future space colonies; they would also offer advantages in lunarfarside communications and as staging locations for lunar and interplanetary transportation systems. At least five of the libration points 

had been mentioned as possible sites for space colonies; one of them (the 

earth-moon L-5 point) was even the namesake for the leading group of 

space-colony enthusiasts, the L-5 Society. However, research concerned 

with space colonization had been mainly theoretical. Isee 3 should pro276 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

vide the first real flight experience for orbital operations of future space 

colonies. (GSFC Release G-78-85) 

0 Fourteen satellites, four of them NASA’s and two starting the Intelsat 

V series of international communications satellites, were on the 

preliminary schedule of NASA launches for 1979, Aerospace Daily 

reported. These missions would use expendable launch vehicles, and 

NASA hoped that its most significant mission of 1979 would be number 

15: first flight of the Space Shuttle. The tentative 1979 schedule would 

begin the transition of payloads from expendable launchers to the Space 

Shuttle. The Delta launch vehicle, workhorse of the 1970s, would carry 

only 4 of 1979’s 14 missions. Only three of the payloads were commercial, and half the 1979 launches would be from Vandenberg AFB and 

Wallops Island rather than KSC. The three launches scheduled in the 

first quarter of 1979 would use all three launch sites and three different 

launchers. Second-quarter payloads, all sponsored by organizations outside NASA, would also use all three launch sites. NASA planned five 

launches in the third quarter, which it hoped to close with the Space 

Shuttle’s first flight. (A/D Nov 21/78, 95) . 

FBIS reported that scientists and staff members of the Prague Institute 

of Geophysics were working around the clock as they received and processed data coming from the first Czechoslovak artificial satellite, 

Magion. Beginning Nov. 14, when Magion separated from Intercosmos 18 

and went into an independent orbit, it had returned data on the earth’s 

ionosphere and magnetosphere four times a day to the Czechoslovakian 

Panska Ves Observatory, where incoming information was computerprocessed and transmitted to the Flight Control Centre and to stations in 

the Soviet Union. P. Triska, in charge of the Magion experiment, said 

that onboard systems were working efficiently and that he and his staff 

were cooperating closely with their Soviet colleagues: “We draw up 

together working programs for Intercosmos 18 and Magion and exchange information.” (FBIS, Tass In English, Nov 21/78) 

November 22: LaRC announced it had awarded General Electric Company, Newport News, Va., a contract to provide rigid closed-cell foaminsulation material for use in the National Transonic Facility (NTF), a 

cryogenic wind tunnel under construction at LaRC. The insulation 

would be installed on the internal surface of the tunnel’s cylindrical 

pressure shell. The contract, managed by LaRC and estimated by GE at 

approximately $1.4 million, covered just over lyr; work would be performed at GE’s Thermal Systems Programs plant in Tacoma, Wash. 

(LaRC Release 78-81) 

November 23: ESA reported results of an attempt to quantify economic 

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NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

returns from its expenditures on space research, by cataloging and quantifying the positive benefits to industrial firms participating in the European space program and by identifying economic spinoffs outside the 

space effort generated in European industry from ESA contracts. 

ESA wanted to know what benefits its payments had procured for 

European firms and what amounts they represented in financial terms. It 

had asked the Theoretical and Applied Economics Department of Louis 

Pasteur Univ., Strasbourg, France, to conduct the study. 

Information collected from ESA contractors had identified and quantified 171 specific cases of benefit: for example, sales of new products, 

increased sales, maintenance of a production team, reduction of production and R&D costs, and amortization of equipment. The study classified 

the benefits under four major headings: technology, commerce, 

organization and methods, and work force efficiency. Benefits obtained 

outside ESA-member states accounted for 28% of the total, and 68% of 

the total benefit related to nonspace activities. Analysis showed the 

benefit/contracts ratio for each country was fairly uniform: for example, 

Germany 3.2, United Kingdom 2.9, Italy 2.6, France 2.5, and other 

member states, 2.2. 

This study of secondary economic effects generated by ESA contracts 

confirmed the agency’s success in promoting European industry 

worldwide. Moreover, the showing of economic benefits to individual 

countries demonstrated that they exceeded the amounts governments had 

invested in space research. A second phase of the study would produce a 

more precise analysis of the benefits by including economic factors not 

previously taken into account. (ESA Release Nov 23/78) 

November 24: If research now in advanced stages went well, Space Shuttle orbiter crews would enjoy tasty and nutritious meals served in an attractive manner, NASA announced. Menus would be well balanced 

(3000 calories a day) with hot entrees, “reasonably cold” fruit beverages 

or dessert, and plenty of condiments. A typical daily menu on the Space 

Shuttle might be: breakfast - orange drink, peaches, scrambled eggs, 

sausage, sweet roll, cocoa; lunch-cream of mushroom soup, ham and 

cheese sandwich, stewed tomatoes, banana, cookies, and tea; dinner - shrimp cocktail with sauce, beefsteak, broccoli au gratin, strawberries, pudding, cookie, and cocoa. Many of the foods (breakfast bars, 

for example) would come off supermarket shelves. All meals would be 

prepared with variety in mind, so that a crew would have a different 

menu for six successive days; on the seventh day the cycle would begin 

again. Dining would be from a food tray at a table in the galley, or the 

tray could be held in the lap or affixed to the wall. Ordinary eating utensils would be used. 

Foods planned for Shuttle crews included (thermostabilized) 

thermal/heat-processed foods canned or packaged in laminated foil 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

pouches, such as cheese spread, tuna, beef with barbecue sauce; (intermediate moisture) foods preserved by controlling the available 

moisture, such as dried apricots, peaches, breakfast bars; (rehydratable) 

dehydrated foods reconstituted with water, such as scrambled eggs, beef 

patty, chicken and noodles, all beverages; (irradiated) foods exposed to 

ionizing radiation to effect preservation, such as bread, rolls, and 

beefsteak; (freeze-dried) foods with all water removed to be rehydrated, 

or eaten as is with saliva acting as the moistening agent, such as strawberries, shrimp, bananas; (natural form) foods such as nuts and cookies. 

All this was far from the space meals of an earlier era, when Mercury and 

Gemini astronauts had to squeeze various kinds of food into their 

mouths from tubes, or when floating crumbs had to be recaptured before 

they got into the instruments. Some of the same people who had 

pioneered space food preparation were still working at JSC putting 

together the Space Shuttle food systems. 

From the beginning of the national space effort, the topic of food had 

captured the attention of both observers and participants. On short 

spaceflights, food was not too important; it became a more serious consideration, then a vital one, as crews began to range farther and stay 

longer. First menus had included only the tubes of paste-like food served 

at room temperature, lukewarm dehydrated cubes, or a few freeze-dried 

items. By the time of the long-duration Apollo flights, the types of and 

systems of preparing space food had become more sophisticated, and 

new means of heating and cooling had brought improved palatability. A 

breakthough came during ApoZZo 8 when the crew was surprised with a 

home-cooked Christmas dinner: pieces of turkey with most of the trimmings, eaten with a spoon rather than squeezed from a container. The 

turkey and gravy was a thermostabilized product packaged in a 

laminated foil pouch, leading to the development of a “spoon-bowl” 

plastic pack for rehydratable foods into which water was injected 

through a valve. Contents were spooned out through a zippered opening. 

Main differences between Space Shuttle food and that served on earlier 

flights would be greater variety and larger amounts, more efficient 

handling of food, and more comfortable natural dining arrangements. 

(NASA Release 78-176) 

November 27: The U.S. Postal Service would soon begin a lyr test of an 

electronic message service system that would reduce letters to electronic 

impulses, relay them to their destination by satellite, reconvert them to 

letter form using high-speed printers, and deliver them by regular carriers, Defense/Space Daily reported. If the test was successful, the agency could offer electronic mail services in up to 10 cities within 3yr. The 

initial test would send messages by satellite from one room in a Postal 

Service facility in Rockville, Md., to another room in the facility. 

A $2.3 million RCA study of the electronic message service system had 

279 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

concluded that it would cost the Postal Service 10 to 11 cents to deliver 

this kind of mail, a price equal to or less than present costs. RCA suggested that the system could be used within 6 to 8yr for up to one-fourth 

of the 100 billion letters sent through the U.S. mails annually and 

estimated it would cost the Postal Service $2 billion to install the system 

in 87 cities around the U.S. (D/SD, Nov 27/78, 120) 

Av Wk reported that Europe’s aerospace industry would probably get 

a sizable slice of procurements for the emerging global maritime satellitecommunications system (variously designated as the second-generation 

system, the Marisat 2 system, or the pre-Inmarsat system). Great 

Britain’s ambassador Peter Jay and France’s ambassador Francois de 

Laboulaye had made strong representations on Europe’s behalf to US. 

Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher. The fact that all prime 

contracts (and most of the dollar volume of procurement) for the first 

global satellite communications system, owned and operated by 

INTELSAT, had gone to U.S. firms had been a sore point in 

US.-Europe relations for more than a decade. ESA’s Marecs satellite 

scheduled for launch on an Ariane booster would figure in both plans for 

the new global system that had received most-favored consideration, as 

U.S. government agencies (led by the State Dept.) and ComSatCorp 

struggled to formulate a U.S. position. One plan favored by the U.S. for 

the interim system was to combine maritime communications packages 

on three Ford Aerospace-built Intelsat 5 satellites with two or three 

Marecs satellites. The other favored plan was to combine commercial 

communications packages on the Leasat system being established by 

Hughes Communications Services, Inc. for the U.S. Navy with two or 

three Marecs satellites. (AvWk, Nov 27/78, 13) 

November 28: The most extensive study ever made of Venus would begin 

in December when Pioneer Venus I and 2 arrived at the planet, NASA 

announced. Pioneer Venus I would swing into orbit around the planet 

Dec. 4, taking pictures and making measurements for one Venusian yr 

(225 earth days) or more. On Dec. 9 the four probes and transporter bus 

constituting Pioneer Venus 2 would plunge into the Venusian clouds at 

widely separated points to make detailed measurements of the dense atmosphere from top to bottom. These flights, the first devoted to studying the atmosphere and weather of another planet on a global scale, 

would use the largest number of vehicles so far for such a study, and 

would make measurements at the greatest number of locations. They 

also would seek information on characteristics of Venus’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere, as well as the lower atmosphere, and would 

study the interactions of these regions with the solar wind. 

At periapsis (orbital low point) the Pioneer orbiter would come as 

close as 150km (9Omi) to the planet’s surface, dipping into the thin 

280 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 ORIGmAL NOVEMBER 

OF POOR Q 

Venus upper atmosphere, sampling its composition, and making radar 

measurements of surface elevations and roughness. It would also take 

daily ultraviolet and infrared pictures of the thick clouds and atmosphere. The orbiter’s primary mission was designed to cover the time 

it took Venus to make one revolution on its axis; the slow rotation of the 

planet under the periapsis of the orbit would permit closeup radar mapping of the entire circumference. 

The four probes of Pioneer Venus 2 would enter the atmosphere at 

points 10OOOkm (6OOOmi) apart over the planet’s earth-facing hemisphere: the large probe would enter Venus’s atmosphere near the equator 

on the day side; the day probe would enter Venus’s southern hemisphere 

Artist’s conception of Pioneer Venus orbiter and multiprobe investigating the 

cloud-covered planet on their arrival in late 1978. The orbiter (left) would circle 

Venus for 8m0, relaying images of the clouds and measurements of the atmosphere, while making radar maps of the surface. The probe (right) would split 

into five entry craj?, four to sample the atmosphere down to the surface at widely 

separated points; the transport bus would continue to sample the upper atmosphere until it burned up from friction. (NASA photo 784-208) 

281 
NOVEMBER 

., 

ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

on the planet’s day side; the night probe, the night southern hemisphere 

on the night side; and the north probe, the north polar vortex on the 

night side. The transporter bus would enter in the southern hemisphere 

on the day side. 

Critical operations on arrival near the planet would be to inject 

Pioneer Venus I into orbit while it was out of radio contact behind 

Venus, and the entry and descent through the atmosphere of the four 

probes and bus. On Dec. 2, controllers at ARC would orient the orbiter 

for orbit insertion, and the next day would load command-memory sequences. On Dec. 9, the probes would be in position to make their hrlong descent through Venus’s atmosphere. Major operations problem 

would be retrieving probe data; during the critical lhr 38min of probe 

and bus operations at Venus, all the Pioneer spacecrafts would be 

transmitting simultaneously. Radio frequencies of the probe signals 

would shift rapidly because of huge entry decelerations - from 

42 000km/hr (26 000mph) to about 65km/hr (40mph) - and signal 

distortions caused by Venus’s dense atmosphere. One consequence would 

be that, after the 10- to 15-sec communications blackout during entry, 

signals would reappear again at new frequencies. To ensure recovery of 

the data, NASA had installed special equipment in DSN stations at 

Goldstone, Calif., and Canberra, Australia. To avoid loss of data, both 

DSN stations would use newly developed receivers and recorders with a 

frequency band wide enough to ensure receipt of the four shifting 

signals. The real-time system would use automatic tuners, but would lose 

some data. 

Scientists believed that the coordinated Pioneer Venus atmospheric 

data, combined with similar data from Mars, Jupiter, and other planets, 

would aid understanding of atmospheres in general. Studies of the interactions of temperatures, pressures, composition, clouds, and atmospheric dynamics different from those of earth should define 

mechanisms on another planet that would improve scientists’ understanding of earth’s complex weather processes. (NASA Release 78-181) 

* ESA’s meteorological satellite, Meteosat I, had been in orbit for a yr 

carrying out its image-taking, dissemination, and data-collection missions, ESA announced. Ground facilities at the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, for receiving, processing, 

archiving, and disseminating meteorological data from the satellite were 

ready to fulfill all requirements for the first GARP experiment, scheduled to begin Dec. 1. Meteosat I, which transmitted every half hr visible 

and infrared images of the earth, had been retransmitting to primary and 

secondary data-user stations some 300 formats per day in various digital 

and analog forms. It also acted as a relay for image data from the U.S. 

satellite Goes I over the Atlantic, transmitted through the Centre de 

Meteorologie Spatiale at Lannion at the rate of about 20 formats per 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

day. Meteosat I had also participated in Nov. in the first transmission 

tests of image data from the U.S. Goes3 satellite over the Indian Ocean, 

so that users had received data from three geostationary satellites covering approximately two-thirds of the globe. 

Data-collection platform experiments had demonstrated the high 

quality of the links between Meteosat I and the mobile platforms; about 

15 DCPs were operational, and about 10 were in the process of being admitted and would come into service in early 1979. 

Another mission of Meteosat I was to supply immediately usable 

meteorological products (wind speed, cloud height, sea-surface 

temperature, etc.). Meteosat image quality should maintain the serviceability of these products; results already achieved were at least comparable to those obtained by other geostationary satellites participating 

in the GARP. Use of the water-vapor channel, an original feature on 

Meteosat I, was considered by the meteorological community as a major 

advance in refinement of interpretation techniques. (ESA Release Nov 

28/78) 

November 29: Heao 2 continued to operate sbtisfactorily in its third wk 

in orbit, and plans were to rotate a new instrument into the focal plane of 

the observatory’s x-ray telescope within several days, the Marshall Star 

reported. Four of the five instruments aboard had been mounted on a 

revolving platform at the focus of the telescope so that ground controllers could rotate each into the focal plane on command. A highresolution imager located in the focal plane at launch had transmitted to 

earth Nov. 18 the first picture ever of an x-ray star and had sent many 

such pictures since then. 

Replacing the high-resolution imager would be a solid-state spectrometer able to observe the entire spectrum at once, measuring the 

energy (and therefore the wavelength) of each photon that struck the experiment’s silicon crystal. This would permit a better understanding of 

recently discovered astrophysical phenomena such as black holes, 

pulsars, and bursters. The solid-state spectrometer, the only life-limited 

instrument aboard, would have priority in the observatory’s initial viewing program. (Marshall Star, Nov 29/78, 1) 

* MSFC announced it had awarded RCA Government Systems Division 

an $880 000 contract to develop and deliver three video-instrumentation 

tape recorders for use on Spacelab 1 and subsequent missions. Under the 

contract, RCA would deliver three STAR-4 units before April 1980 for 

integration into Spacelab program equipment before the first launch 

planned for 1981. Spacelab crew members would use the units to record 

visual and analog data during communications blind spots, while the 

Space Shuttle was out of contact with NASA ground stations. The infor283 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

mation would be played back for transmission when communications 

were reestablished. 

The units, capable of about 500 record-playback operations between 

tape changes, could record for 45min simultaneously on one video and 

two audio channels under computer control. Video bandwidth was 

5MH2, audio bandwidths 50 to 8OOOhz. The instruments would undergo 

rigorous testing for high performance and reliability, and to ensure 

equipment compatibility with the manned-spacecraft environment. 

NASA would install two STAR-4s as part of the Spacelab 1 payload and 

keep the third as a spare. (Marshall Star, Nov 29/78, 4) 

0 U.S. and Chinese technical officials had begun discussion Nov. 28 of a 

plan for the People’s Republic of China to buy an American communications satellite, the Washington Post reported. The deal would constitute 

the most sophisticated transfer of technology yet between the two countries. A 15-member Chinese delegation led by Jen Hsinmin, director of 

the PRC’s Space Technology Research Institute, had met with officials 

from the State and Commerce Depts. and NASA at the start of a 23-day 

visit to the U.S. The Baltimore Sun quoted a State Dept. official as saying the U.S. would require, as a condition of purchase, that the PRC not 

use the satellite for military purposes, meaning that the satellite’s signals 

could be transmitted only within China’s borders. A White House official said it was understood the Chinese planned to use the satellite to 

transmit educational television. The communications system could cost 

as much as $50 million, including the price of sending the satellite into 

orbit. (W Post, Nov 29/78, A-19; B Sun, Nov 27/78, 13) 

November 30: NASA announced that an experimental oceanographic 

satellite had achieved an unexpected technological breakthrough: for the 

first time, earth-contour measurements by a satellite microwave sensor 

had exhibited an accuracy comparable to that of conventional’ ground 

and aerial surveys used for small-scale mapping. An experiment sponsored by WFC had produced terrain contouring from Geos 3 

(geodynamics experimental ocean satellite) radar-altimeter measurements at a height of 840km (52Omi) above earth. As Geos 3 circled the 

globe at 7km/sec (4mps), the radar altimeter pointed vertically down and 

measured the distance between the satellite and the earth’s surface with a 

precision of 50cm (20in). Nineteen Geos-3 passes over the San Joaquin 

valley of southern Calif. had recorded terrain elevations for 

40 OOOkmz( 15 500miz), and comparison of the satellite-derived contours 

with U.S. Geological Survey small-scale topographic maps showed 

agreement within lm (3ft). 

Since the altimeter had been designed as an ocean-sensing system, the 

acquisition of meaningful land data was unexpected. The ocean-optimized design of the altimeter and the nature of radar backscatter was ex284 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEMBER 

pected to limit measurement of terrain variatibns to smooth or gently 

rolling topography such as a coastal plain, interior plain, or valley. The 

Geos 3 overland results showed that satellite-borne altimeters could 

measure terrain elevations for more rugged areas with accuracy sufficient 

to satisfy many small-scale mapping requirements, at a cost competitive 

with conventional methods. This technique would be particularly useful 

in remote areas of the world, such as arctic and desert regions where conventional surveying was difficult and expensive. (NASA Release 78-183) 

0 NASA announced that a frame structure for mounting experiments inside the Space Shuttle orbiter’s payload bay had arrived by ship in Savannah, and would be transported by tug to the vehicle assembly building at 

KSC. Called an OFT (orbital flight test) pallet, the structure, fitted with 

NASA-developed subsystems, would provide electrical and other support to the experiments. This was the first of two pallet systems destined 

for use on two of the first six Space Shuttle flight tests. 

Designed and assembled by British Aerospace Corp. for ESA as part 

of the joint ESA/NASA Spacelab program, the pallet structure was 

nearly identical to that of experiment pallets to be used in Spacelab missions beginning in 1981. It was 3m (1Oft)’long and constructed in a 

U-shape to fit into the 4.5m (15ft)-diameter orbiter payload bay. Later in 

the Spacelab program, five pallets would be available for space missions. 

MSFC was responsible for delivery and system integration of the OFT 

pallets. (NASA Release 78-182) 

0 NASA’s Office of Space Science (OSS) had become less optimistic 

about how much money it could expect from Congress for Spacelab in 

the 1980s, and was trying to reduce the estimated cost of such missions, 

Aerospace Daily reported. The cost of Spacelab operations, together 

with inherent limitations on the work it could support, was working 

against previous forecasts of heavy use. 

Two yrs previously, OSS had viewed Spacelab as an opportunity for 

growth of NASA’s science program and had projected annual Spacelab 

budgets of $250 million or so, excluding launch costs, by the mid-1980s. 

Dr. Noel Hinners, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Space Science, 

said, “Now we don’t have the same optimism,” given the expected budget 

environment, Spacelab orbit staytime and schedule limits, and competition within OSS for continued development of free-flyers. A more 

realistic budget prospect now would be $100 to $125 million per yr, 

essentially permitting three missions per yr (one for physics and 

astronoiny, one for solar terrestrial programs, and one for life sciences), 

and development of one facility-class instrument per yr once steady-state 

operations were reached about 1984. That level of funding would be 

about the same as that for one major flight of planetary spacecraft per 

yr. (AD, Nov 30178, 127) 

285 
NOVEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

During November: Two Space and Missile Test Center (SAMTEC) test 

ranges had provided NASA with radar tracking and data-relay support 

during the reentry of Pegasus I, AFSC Newsreview reported. The 

micrometeoroid-detector satellite was NASA’s largest unmanned 

spacecraft when it was launched in February 1965. The Eastern Test 

Range at Patrick AFB, Fla., had served as lead range in satellite tracking, furnishing data from eastern sensors to GSFC; the Western Test 

Range at Vandenberg AFB had tracked the satellite after receiving acquisition data from NORAD. 

Employees of Federal Electric Corp., SAMTEC’s range technicalservices contractor, had worked from early Sept. 12 until late Sept. 16 

when reentry occurred off the coast of Angola. The company had used 

the TPQ-18 radar on south Vandenberg AFB, the FPQ-14 radar at 

Kaena Point, Hawaii, and the FPQ-6 radar at Pillar Point, Calif. In addition, SAMTEC Operations Control personnel at Vandenberg had 

supported the tracking and data relay provided to ETR from SAMTEC’s 

Kwajalein missile range in the Marshall Islands. (AFSC Newsreview, 

Nov 78, 1) 

The AFSC Newsreview reported that the Air Force Avionics 

Laboratory (AFAL) was preparing critical electronic equipment for the 

NavStar global-positioning system (GPS) to undergo initial flight tests 

with GPS satellites. A generalized development model (GDM) designed 

by AFAL and built by Rockwell Intl. Corp.’~ Collins Avionics and Missile 

Systems Division, Cedar Rapids, Ia., would demonstrate operation of 

GPS navigation equipment in a hostile electromagnetic-jamming environment. One GDM delivered to ASD’s 4950th Test Wing had been installed on a C-141 aircraft for testing. 

Evaluation of a GDM installed in two satellites had begun in August at 

the Naval Air Station, El Centro, Calif., and flight testing with three 

satellites against a ground jammer would begin in late Nov. GDM tests 

with four satellites in March 1979 would determine the equipment’s full 

antijam performance, using ground-based jammers and possibly an airborne jammer. A second GDM, to be delivered to AFAL in Feb. 1979, 

would be integrated with the laboratory’s GPS evaluator, after which 

AFAL engineers would conduct jamming tests in various simulated environments. (AFSC Newsreview, Nov 78, 12) 

0 The USAF’s Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) was 

conducting initial ground tests of a prototype laser-communications 

(LaserCom) system to transfer data from satellite to satellite as well as to 

and from ground and airborne users, the AFSC Newsreview reported. 

Over a 2yr period SAMSO would test the system at the White Sands 

Missile Range, N.M., in three phases: ground-to-ground transmission 

and reception of the laser beam, by reflecting it off a 24in steerable mir286 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 NOVEhlBER 

ror 1 to 6mi from the laser; interim air-to-ground tests, evaluating aircraft ability to acquire and point the laser transmitter toward a groundbased beacon laser; and full demonstration of the air-to-ground system, 

using prototype equipment. 

Although most of the tests had been successful in laboratory simulations, a few unknowns remained, including laser-beam communications 

through the atmosphere. LaserCom had some inherent advantages over 

existing satellite communications systems: for example, its narrow beam 

width enhanced security by allowing only the intended user to receive the 

beam. It also offered an unprecedented data-transmission capability 

because its 1-gigabit-per-sec rate would accommodate a great number of 

spacecraft, airborne and surface vessels, and ground users that would be 

relaying information to a synchronous-altitude LaserCom satellite for 

subsequent real-time or delayed transmission to other users. After completing its tests in 1980, DOD would evaluate the system for technical 

capability, requirements, and cost; should LaserCom application prove 

feasible, in-orbit operation of the system could begin as early as 1986. 

(AFSC Newsreview, Nov 78, 1) 

287 

PRIEICEDINB PAGE BLANK NOT FiLUED 

December 

December I: Aerospace Daily reported that John Yardley, NASA’s 

associate administrator for Space Transportation Systems, had addressed the National Space Club in Washington, D.C. Nov. 28 on the importance of Congress’s role in an aggressive space program, contrasting 

the cautious approach of the Carter Administration. He cited the 1978 

introduction of national space-policy bills by Sen. Adlai Stevenson 

(D-Ill.) and Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R-N.M.). On the House side, Rep. 

Ronnie Flippo (D-Ala.) had introduced, and the House overwhelmingly 

passed, a bill authorizing an unrequested $25 million to broaden and accelerate R&D for a solar power satellite system, including a hardware 

flight-demonstration phase that the administration had opposed as “premature.” 

The staff of the House Science and Technology subcommittee on 

space science and applications, chaired by Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla.), had 

been working on ways for Congress to facilitate “the space industrial 

revolution,” Yardley noted. He added that “if Congress does all these 

things, it will be in their tradition,” including taking the lead in developing the nation’s railroad system and passing the Homestead Act in the 

19th century. “The same kind of action will be needed soon for the space 

industrial revolution,” he said; the industrial activity required will “be 

brought to bear if the climate is correct. It’s up to the government to provide the environment to stimulate growth.” Whether this occurred, he 

concluded, “may be the difference in the next 50 years as to whether the 

United States continues to be world leader not only in space but economically- or becomes a second-class power.” (MD, Dec 1/78, 137) 

December 4: NASA announced plans to launch the Canadian comsat’ 

Telesat-D (to be called Anik-B in orbit) from ETR on a Delta no earlier 

than Dec. 15, 1978. TelesatKanada would reimburse NASA $19.2 

million for launch support under a March 11, 1978, contract. Telesat-D 

would be the fourth domestic comsat launched by NASA for Telesat/Canada, which owned and operated the satellites. Telesat-D would 

replace Anik AI, launched in Nov. 1972 and positioned at 109OW over 

the equator south of California. With a 7-yr design life, Telesat-D would 

provide point-to-point voice, TV, and data communications traffic to 

Canada’s 10 provinces. 

In addition to 12 commercial channels in the 6 and 4GHz frequency 

bands, Telesat-D would offer 4 channels in the 12 and 14GHz frequenodd be leased to 

289 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

.. epartment of Cornmuhications for 2yr with an option for a 

2yr extension. CDC would devote these channels to social experiments 

such as telemedicine, tele-education, teleconferencing, and Eskimo 

broadcasting to demonstrate how satellites can reach remote locations 

with small ground stations (a use begun by the communications technology satellite Cts, a joint U.S.-Canadian experiment). These channels 

would also carry out purely technical assignments to gather data on 

signal propagation and on power generation and usage. 

NASA planned to launch Anik-C1 and -C2 spacecraft (Telesat-E and 

-F) on the Space Shuttle in 1981, to replace Anik A2 and A3 (Tefesat B 

and C) launched in April 1973 and May 1975, respectively. {NASA 

Release 78-184; MOR M-492-201-78-04 [prelaunch], Dec. 12/78) 

0 Space platform studies by NASA’s Office of Space Science (OSS) had 

raised questions about the extent to which OSS would use Spacelab during the 1980s, Aerospace Daify reported. During the next yr or so, users 

would evaluate cost-effectiveness of the modular Spacelab being developed by ESA to fly in the Space Shuttle orbiter cargo bay against that of 

free-flying satellites and larger undefined space platforms. In the meantime, experiments and instruments for Spacelab would be selected partly 

on the basis of their adaptability to later missions aboard free flyers. 

Operating-cost estimates and the outlook for funding had tempered 

earlier OSS optimism about using Spacelab [see Nov. 301; the platform 

studies would likewise curb optimism if they substantially described activity that might be carried out better or cheaper on free flyers. A 

member of the NASA Advisory Council’s space science advisory committee noted at a Spacelab review that NASA could develop two 

Explorer-class free flyers at about the same cost as a few Spacelab 

flights. 

The space platform studies also had some political dangers: NASA 

had sold Spacelab previously as an integral part of the space transportation system, and would lose credibility if it backed off. However, Dr. 

Noel Hinners, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, pointed 

out to the committee that the platform studies were intended to avoid the 

Spacelab situation, which had handed science and applications researchers a facility they had little if any role in defining. If NASA proceeded with a platform, Hinners said, it would be because mission requirements had been identified, “not because somebody who likes to 

build things says, ‘Here it is.’ ” (AD, Nov 4/78, 144) 

U.S. analysts believed the USSR would continue to fly manned military space station reconnaissance missions even though the Soviets had 

not launched any such Salyuts since June 1976, Av Wk reported. Safyut 

3, launched in June 1974, and Salpt 5, launched in June 1976, were suc290 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

cessful military missions; the Salyut 2 spacecraft, which failed in orbit in 

April 1973, was also apparently a military Salyut. Significant design differences between the military and scientific versions included docking 

configuration, overall structure, and solar-panel placement. Introduction of the military configuration as early as the second Salyut flight was 

considered to be evidence of USSR emphasis on military-man-in-space 

planning and engineering. Photo reconnaissance was the prime objective 

of Salyut military missions; other military activities such as high energy 

research for possible weapons application were secondary. (Av Wk, Dec 

4/78, 17) 

December 5: Lewis Research Center and Dryden Flight Research Center 

would conduct flight tests of advanced models of propellers, some with 8 or 

10 blades, intended for new high-speed fuel-conserving aircraft, DFRC announced. LeRC had already measured aerodynamic performance of the 

approximately 1/7 scale (2ft-diameter) models in its wind tunnel, at a 

simulated cruise speed of 855kph (530mph) and altitude of 10 668m 

(35 OOOft). NASA estimated that, in those cruise conditions, an advanced 

turboprop engine with the new-design propeller could save 20 to 40% in 

fuel over current turbofan engines and 10 to 20% over advanced turbofan engines. (DFRC Release 23-78) 

RCA Americom Communications, Inc., announced it would launch 

its Satcom-3 domestic comsat in Dec. 1979, more than a yr earlier than 

planned, and would study procurement of a fourth comsat either based 

on current design or the first of a new generation of spacecraft, Aerospace Daily reported. Satcom-3 previously appeared on a Space Shuttle 

schedule for launch in mid-1981. Latest plans called for a DeIta launch 

like Satcoms I and 2; the Shuttle reservation would be assigned to 

Satcom-4. 

RCA Americom said it was advancing the Satcom-3 launch because 

traffic on the first 2 satellites was nearing capacity particularly in cable 

television, now using 900 earth stations, with 1400 to 1500 expected by 

the end of 1979. Satcom-3 would have the same 24-transponder capacity 

as the first two satellites, but would carry spare transponders and additional stationkeeping fuel to exceed its planned 8-yr lifetime. The company had asked the FCC for permission to station Satcom-3 at synchronous altitude over the equator at 132" W to serve the 50 states, mainly for cable-TV relays. RCA's Astro-Electronics Div., which had built 

the three Satcoms, estimated the cost of the third spacecraft and its 

launch at $40 million. (A/D, Nov 5/78, 150) 

* The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel had recommended elimination 

of the Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket booster's thrust-vector control 

(TVC) system and modification or replacement of the Shuttle orbiter's 

29 1 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

auxiliary power unit (APU), AerospaceDaiZy reported. The panel said its 

proposals should make the Shuttle a safer system during its operational 

phase. With “emphasis shifting to the problems of reusable operation 

from those of technical breakthrough,” it said in a summary report, “. . . it is not too soon for NASA to review the Space Shuttle design 

from this point of view.” The report concluded that the recommendations were “not reservation on the panel’s part as to the readiness for 

SS-1,” but rather said the Shuttle “will fly well, and probably on the 

scheduled date.” 

Modifications could be expensive, and panel members noted that such 

work might absorb the expected “Shuttle dividend,” funds from declining Shuttle development costs that might be devoted to other programs. 

NASA Administrator Robert Frosch responded that NASA might apply 

the panel’s proposals in designing its next space transportation system, 

instead of modifying the present system. (MD, Dec 5/78, 148) 

December 6: Early analysis of Space Shuttle liftoff-configuration 

vibration-test results at Marshall Space Flight Center had revealed two 

primary deviations, the Marshall Star reported: excessive movement in a 

forward section of the solid-fuel rocket boosters that contained guidance 

gyros, and a problem with transfer of loads (or forces) at the attach 

points between the boosters and external tank. After installing brackets 

to strengthen the boosters at the gyros location, NASA would conduct 

individual tests on that booster section at a test facility used for smaller 

components. Additional studies of load distribution at the attach points 

would determine if additional tests were necessary. After the most recent 

test phase, engineers found that about 80% of the test modes had 

verified predictions of hardware behavior during flight. The final test 

phase, beginning early in 1979, would simulate the Space Shuttle configuration just before burnout and separation of the solid-fuel rocket 

boosters at an altitude of about 43.5km (27mi). (Marshall Star, Dec 

6/78, 1) 

0 Harold Berger of the Natl. Bureau of Standards would give the colloquium lecture Dec. 11 on “Nondestructive Testing- Its Growing Importance for the 198Os,” Langley Research Center announced. The aero- 

. space and nuclear industries, which required unusually high reliability 

and quality in products and operations, had used nondestructive testing 

extensively since World War 11. Berger would describe the early use of 

NDT, including radiographic, ultrasonic, magnetic, penetrant, and 

eddy-current techniques. Although early NDT had increased safety and 

extended product life, it had the potential for significantly improving industrial productivity and conserving energy and materials. 

NDT was now facing growing problems such as an aging fleet of 

military airplanes; demand for a clean environment with NDT implica292 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, ma DECEMBER 

tions for nuclear plants, pipelines, and offshore facilities; and needs 

associated with product liability. These challenges had stimulated new 

developments; as an example, Berger would discuss radiography, including real-time methods, image enhancement, and unusual radiation 

techniques using neutrons and protons. (LaRC Release 78-83) 

0 The Marshall Star announced that the most extensive study ever 

made of Venus had begun with the arrival at the planet of Pioneer Venus 

I, the orbiter half of the two-spacecraft Pioneer Venus mission. It went 

into orbit Dec. 4 and was scheduled to take pictures and make measurements for one Venusian yr (225 earth days) or more. On Dec. 9, the four 

probes and transporter bus of Pioneer Venus 2 would plunge into the 

Venusian clouds at widely separated points to measure the dense atmosphere in detail from top to bottom. A spokesman at Ames Research 

Center, manager of the project for NASA’s Office of Space Science, 

reported Dec. 4 that Pioneer Venus 2 was on course and on schedule. 

(Marshall Star, Dee 6/78, 2) 

* On Dec. 12, the U.S. Coast Guard would receive its first lightweight 

portable firefighting module, developed under direction of MSFC‘s 

Technology Utilization Office, the Marshall Star reported. The manufacturer, Northern Research and Engineering Corp. of Cambridge, 

Mass., would deliver it to NASA representatives in Boston for transfer to 

the Coast Guard on completion of an acceptance test. 

Since MSFC had developed technology for lightweight highly efficient 

pumps in rocket engines, the Coast Guard had requested help in designing a unit small enough to be lowered onto the deck of small craft but 

capable of pumping hundreds of gallons of water per min. The module 

was 4ft wide, 5ft high, and 6ft long, and weighed 2500 lb, including fuel 

for 3hr of operation, and all equipment stored internally. Two people 

could set it up rapidly without tools, and it could deliver full output flow 

within l0min.; a special feature was a pair of fiberglass water cannons, 

or monitors, weighing 401b. The module could draw water from the sea 

through a lift up to 20ft long and pump at least lOOOgal per min through 

each monitor. 

Commercial applications included use on light trucks by local fire departments, on docks and ships for harbor fires, and for forest, offshore 

oil rig, and high-rise building fires, as well as an emergency booster 

pump for municipal water and for flood control and military operations. 

Aubrey Smith, head of TU activities at MSFC, said the firefighting 

module showed “how NASA-developed technology and expertise can be 

adapted for down-to-earth uses.” (Marshall Star, Dec 6/78, 1) 

* The Marshall Star reported delivery to Cape Canaveral of a light ionmass spectrometer (LIMS) developed by MSFC scientists, for integration 

e -7 293 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

with other instruments on the USAF‘s SCATHA (satellite charging at 

high altitudes) scheduled for launch on a Delta Jan. 25, 1979. SCATHA 

instruments would collect data on electrically charged particles in the upper ionosphere and magnetosphere to help solve the problem of staticelectricity buildup on satellite surfaces at geosynchronous altitude. The 

LIMS would measure density, temperature, and speed of low-energy ions 

from all directions, as sensors separated hydrogen, helium, and oxygen 

ions and recorded their speed and numbers. Martin Marietta Go., integration contractor, had delivered the instrument to MSFC 3wk 

previously, and MSFC personnel had installed flight sensors and completed final calibration before delivering it to the Air Force at the Cape. 

Designed for a nominal lyr lifetime, SCATHA might return data for 

possibly 3yr or more. (Marshall Star, Dec 6/78, 2) 

0 ESA announced successful completion Dec. 5 of the fourth development test of the Ariane launcher’s first-stage inflight configuration by the 

SociCtC EuropCenne de Propulsion, Vernon, France. The 142.9sec test (a 

propulsion time corresponding to depletion of the N204 propellant) confirmed that the propulsion system would function for the nominal duration of the stage’s flight, 142.5sec. Also tested was the silicon and 

phenolic-resin (SEPHEN 301) material to be used for Viking-engine 

nozzles, replacing other materials exhibiting inadequate resistance in 

previous tests. 

The second test of the third-stage flight configuration, scheduled for 

Nov. 28 at Vernon, had been interrupted when failure of the cryogenic 

engine (H8) to ignite caused a small explosion that damaged the propulsion bay, but not the test stand. ESA was investigating the incident and 

its effect on the development timetable; it would issue a new timetable in 

early January 1979, with the target of an operational Ariane in 1981 

unaffected. (ESA Release Dec 6/78) 

December 7: ESA announced that its council had unanimously authorized Roy Gibson, director general, to sign an agreement with Canada on 

Canadian participation in ESA’s basic activities. Canada would participate in meetings of ESA’s delegate bodies, and would have two delegates 

on the Council who could vote on questions relating to activities covered 

by the agreement. Canada’s financial contribution supporting its participation in general studies of future projects would be 1% of the net 

fixed common costs of ESA’s general budget. The agreement, a step 

toward closer relations between Canada and ESA, confirmed the 

Canadian government’s intention to expand collaboration in European 

space activities and to establish permanent institutional relations with 

ESA. Cooperation between Canada and ESA had begun in 1972, when 

ESA agreed to provide systems for Canada’s experimental comsat CTS. 

294 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

A March 1977 agreement defined the terms of cooperation in remote 

sensing. (ESA Release Dec 7/78) 

December 8: NASA announced that 8 women volunteers aged 45 to 55 

had emerged in November hale and hearty after nearly a month of tests 

at ARC’S Human Research Center during which they were isolated from 

friends and family. Like 40 other men and women aged 25 to 55 who had 

volunteered for space program tests since 1973, the ARC group had participated in a study of the effects of weightlessness on the human body. 

Researchers from ARC’S biomedical research division were interested 

in the tolerances and responses of a body reentering earth’s gravity after 

experiencing zero gravity in space. The long-term NASA experiment, the 

Bed Rest Program, would extend over the next 12mo with 2 more 

groups - 8 men, then 8 women, all aged 55 to 65 -undergoing the same 

tests. Prolonged horizontal bed rest (a physiological approximation on 

earth of zero-gravity) would cause bodily changes within 24 to 48hr and 

would maintain them throughout the program. Having approximated 

the effects of zero gravity, researchers could study human responses to 

the introduction of both normal and abnormal Shuttle-reentry gravity 

forces. Other tests in cooperation with Johnson Space Center had 

evaluated the protection offered by antigravity suits against reentry 

stresses. 

Those volunteering for the program in response to newspaper advertisements had undergone a series of exacting physical and psychological 

tests. The 3-phase study began with the 8 subjects moving into the 12-bed 

ARC research facility. After a 9-day control period came lOda of total 

bed rest, followed by a 5-day recovery period. During the bed rest experiment, participants had to remain flat except to raise their heads slightly 

to eat. The subjects even showered in a horizontal position, being moved 

on a wheeled gurney to a specially designed shower. They had no visitors, 

but could have incoming and outgoing telephone calls. The routine did 

not deviate from three meals a day, lights off at llpm, on at 7pm. At 

times the lower body underwent negative-pressure tests in a box. Researchers took daily blood samples and deep body temperatures. Electrocardiograms constantly recorded heart rates, and a “biobelt” around the 

waist constantly sent data to recorders. Before and during bed rest, the 

subjects took centrifuge rides designed to measure reflexes and coordination as the body made adjustments. The researchers tried to keep the subjects cheerful and to relieve natural boredom with books and games; 

each bed had stereo and color television. Medical attendants (doctors, 

nurses, and technicians) were on hand at all times. (NASA Release 

78- 185) 

0 NASA announced it would physically integrate all Space Shuttle/ 

Spacelab experiments at Kennedy Space Center. Extensive analysis and 

295 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

cost studies had confirmed an earlier tentative decision to do the work at 

KSC rather than at centers managing the Spacelab mission. “Physical integration” consisted of installing experiments on Spacelab’s racks and 

pallets. After Spacelab operations became routine in the mid-l980s, 

physical integration should require about 100 civil service and contractor 

man-yrs per yr at KSC. The analyses required to integrate experiments 

for each mission would continue at assigned Spacelab management 

centers. (NASA Release 78-186) 

0 MSFC announced it had awarded 28 contracts valued at $50 000 or 

more during October 1978. Organizations receiving contracts were 

United Technologies Corp.’s United Space Boosters, $250 888, modification of a facility for Shuttle assembly, checkout, launch operations, and 

refurbishment; McDonnell Douglas Co.’s Spacelab Integration Div., 

$2 400 540, engineering changes for Spacelab integration; Sperry Rand 

Corp., $335 329, increased funds for delivering Shuttle SRB multiplexer/demultiplexer; Garrett Corp., $469 143, engineering changes in 

design, development, manufacture, test, and delivery of solar heating 

and solar heating/cooling systems for operational testing; Martin 

Marietta Corp., $600 000, cost adjustments for designing structural attachments for large space structures; Univ. of Chicago, $3 460 230, addition of cosmic-ray investigation provisions to contract for Skylab 2 experiment; Univ. of Iowa, $2 125 198, ejectable plasma-diagnosis experiment for Spacelab 1 and similar experiment for Spacelab 2; Smithsonian 

Inst., $806 192, work on HEAO-B x-ray telescope; Bendix Corp., 

$1 000 OOO, changes to contract for Shuttle SRB electronics assembly 

and associated equipment; and Naval Research Laboratory, $1 275 300, 

increase in funds for solar-ultraviolet experiment on Spacelab. (MSFC 

Release 78-132) 

Representatives of LeRC, ARC, LaRC, other government agencies, 

and industry had met at Dryden Flight Research Center for what was 

probably the final symposium on NASA’s YF- 12 aircraft program begun 

in the late 1960s, the Lewis News reported. The airplanes would be mothballed by March 1979. DFRC’s Dr. James Albers, symposium chairman, 

said the symposium was to “disseminate recent research findings and 

stimulate exchange of information among participants engaged in design 

or research related to high supersonic flight.” 

The YF-12 had given NASA an opportunity for research on sustained 

supersonic flight. Several NASA centers had investigated propulsionsystem performance and the dynamics of mixed compression inlets; aeroelastic effects and thermal problems of high Mach number flight; and 

techniques of measuring aerodynamic data and operational parameters 

in extreme temperatures. Researchers had conducted a parallel series of 

laboratory experiments to augment the findings of the flight program. 

296 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

The symposium ended with an industry-government panel on “Future 

Perspectives in Supersonic Flight.” (Lewis News, Dec 8/78, 7) 

0 INTELSAT announced it would use both the Space Shuttle and ESA’s 

Ariane launch vehicle to orbit later spacecraft in the Intelsat V series. 

INTELSAT’s board of governors had ordered two Shuttle launches from 

NASA and one Ariane launch from ESA. Worth a minimum of $82 

million, the orders would cover the orbiting of the 5th, 6th, and 7th 

satellites in the Intelsat V series during 1981-82. The Shuttle would give 

INTELSAT its first experience with reusable launch vehicles; Ariane 

would be INTELSAT’s first use of a non-U.S. launch vehicle. 

INTELSAT said its decision was difficult because neither vehicle had 

been proven in operation. The organizations had scheduled its earlier Intelsat V satellites, like the then-current Intelsat IV and IV-A satellites, for 

launch on NASA’s Atlas Centaur. The agreement had provided for an 

Atlas Centaur backup for the series, should the first Shuttle not be 

available. (INTELSAT Release 78-34-1) 

December 11: The National Air and Space Museum would commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ historic Kitty 

Hawk, N.C., flight with the opening of a new exhibit featuring the 1903 

Wright Flyer, the Washington Star reported. The exhibit, including 

pages from the 1903 patent, photographs, and other memorabilia, would 

open three days before the actual anniversary of the Wright brothers’ 

flight Dee. 17,1903. The special Wright exhibit would be on display for a 

Yr. 

Paul Garber, first curator of the Smithsonian’s old National Air 

Museum, wrote in his book commemorating the occasion: “I was not at 

Kill Devil Hill to see Orville Wright make that most epochal of all 

pioneer flights. I wish I had been. But six years later I saw him piloting 

the Wright military flyer at Fort Myer, Va., and 39 years after that, I had 

the honor of bringing the first Wright ‘aeroplane’ back home and installing it in the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries building. (The 

plane had been in England.) I also helped obtain our third Wright 

airplane (the Vin Fiz) . . . “One day an acquaintance visited the museum with Orville Wright; 

. . . and I had the pleasure of meeting the first man to make a powered, 

sustained, and controlled flight . . . Later, he assisted me in preparing an 

exhibit illustrating some of the accomplishments of his brother and 

himself. I saw him on many occasions, and as I recall those times I only 

wish thst I had asked him more questions! Regrettably he died on Jan. 

30, 1948 [Wilbur Wright had died in 1912 of typhoid fever.]” In an interview before the exhibition opened, Garber said, “I can look through the 

window of a modern jetliner and see the Wright aircraft flying along, 

changing the course of history.” (W Star, Dec 11/78, DC-1) 

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DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

* Av Wk reported the Federal Aviation Administration prediction of an 

increase in the general aviation fleet from 186 600 active civilian aircraft 

in 1978 to 310 800 in 1990. Preliminary data indicated that hrs flown in 

general aviation aircraft reached 38.6 million in FY78, up 5.2% from 

36.7 million ih FY77. The FAA also predicted that by 1990 general aviation aircraft would be flying 67.4 million hr, increasing 4.8% yearly to 

74.6% over the 1978 total. The lower increase of annual hrs flown 

resulted from the current emphasis on conservation of resources, FAA 

said. Operating costs, expected to rise more rapidly than inflation, would 

affect private flying for pleasure. (AvWk, Dec 11/78, 70) 

December 12: NASA announced it had signed a $77 million contract with 

General Electric Space Division to build Landsat-D, most advanced 

earth-resources-monitoring satellite system to date, scheduled for launch 

in 1981 to view the earth from more than 640km (400mi) altitude. In addition to a multispectral scanner (MSS) like that on the first three Landsats, Landsat-D would carry a thematic mapper (TM) with spatial resolution three times as detailed as that of MSS. The new sensor could distinguish area features as small as 0.2-acre instantaneous field-of-view 

(IFOV) compared to the 1.2-acre IFOV resolution of present systems. 

The cost included a $5 million fee with possible additional earnings up to 

$4.3 million, depending on system performance once the satellite was in 

orbit. The contract included a backup spacecraft, data management 

system, operations control center at GSFC , transportable ground station, and a Landsat assessment system to demonstrate advantages of the 

TM over the MSS. 

Landsat data had served primarily for monitoring earth resources and 

managing food, fiber, and water resources; mineral and petroleum explorations; and landcover and land-use mapping. The U.S. Depts. of 

Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and State, and a number of states and 

foreign governments would participate in the Landsat-D mission. 

(NASA Release 78-188). 

0 FBIS reported that Oleg Gazenko, director of the USSR’s Manned 

Spaceflight Institute of Medico-Biological Problems, said in an interview 

that cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenkov were 

physiologically “as healthy as they were before the [Soyuz 291 

spaceflight” [see Nov. 21. The record 140-day flight had caused some 

functional changes: . . . “the cosmonauts lost a part of the muscle mass, 

which they have now restored. They returned to earth with erythrocytes 

that were born in space. The average life span of erythocytes is 120 days, 

and they are fully renewed during this period.” 

Gazenko said that the cosmic erythrocytes tended to be smaller, 

though they fully retained the main function of carrying oxygen to the 

tissues. “AS time passes, the erythrocytes that were born in weightlessness 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

will perish. But what will those that will replace them be like? Identical to 

those that were born before the space flight? Apparently yes, because our 

organism is a wonderful instrument of self-regulation; it excellently arranges all the processes taking place in it in such a way that they would 

meet the demands made by those conditions in which man is staying.” 

Gazenko had directed research that substantiated the possibility of 

manned spaceflight, and had received the 1978 USSR state prize for 

studies of ways to counteract unfavorable effects of weightlessness on 

the human organism, making lengthy manned spaceflights possible. 

(FBIS, Tass in English, Dec 12/78) 

December 13: MSFC reported that LaRC scientists were using the 

Pioneer Venus mission for an atmospheric-drag experiment to measure 

for the first time the orbital decay of a spacecraft in orbit around another 

planet. Orbital decay would result from atmospheric friction as the low 

point of Pioneer Venus Z’s orbit came within 150km (93mi) of Venus’s 

surface. From atmospheric drag, scientists could determine variations in 

the density of Venus’s upper atmosphere and deduce composition and 

temperature. Changes in the frequencies of the spacecraft’s radio signals 

has determined orbital decay with an accuracy of better than one part in 

a million. (Marshall Star, Dec 13/78, 2) 

December 14: The Intl. Council of Scientific Unions and the World 

Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that more than 140 nations would participate in the largest international scientific experiment 

ever held, beginning in January 1979. The Global Weather Experiment 

(GWE) would establish the practical limits of weather forecasting and 

design a global observation system to achieve them. During the 12mo experiment, a massive array of scientific personnel and observing equipment would monitor earth’s oceans and atmosphere to compile the most 

complete record of global weather data ever assembled. The experiment, 

part of the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP), would be a 

joint effort of the 2 organizations and all 147 member nations of WMO; 

5 other international organizations were also contributing. US. participants would include the Depts. of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, 

Transportation, and State; NASA; the Natl. Center for Atmospheric 

Research; the Natl. Science Foundation; the Defense Nuclear Agency; 

the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Coast Guard; and many academic institutions. NOAA would coordinate U.S. participation. 

The experiment would supplement the existing World Weather Watch 

(now generating more than 40 000 observations daily) with 10 satellites, 

about 50 reseslrch vessels, 110 aircraft (including 10 research planes), 300 

high-altitude constant-level balloons, and 300 instrumented drifting 

buoys. One focus of attention would be the broad belt around the 

equator, an enormous heat sink absorbing much of the sun’s energy and 

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DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

generating much of the world’s weather, but so far comparatively unobserved. To obtain more data on this crucial region, GWE would operate 

observing systems during two special periods (Jan. 5 to March 5, and 

May 1 to June 30) to gather vital tropical-wind information. The combined systems would generate weather data for 85% of the earth’s area 

not covered by the World Weather Watch. 

At the end of the Global Weather Experiment Nov. 30, 1979, centers 

in a number of nations would process the data and forward the results to 

World Data Centers in Moscow and Washington, D.C., and to meteorological research laboratories in Bracknell , England, and Princeton, N. J. 

Scientists would use computers to refine the data and construct for the 

first time a complete 12-mo world-weather history. They would run computer experiments using this unique record to test their results, and to 

determine not only the practical limits of weather prediction but also the 

data needed to reach these limits and the kind of system needed to gather 

the data. The socioeconomic impact of improved weather forecasts could 

be dramatic; industries, for example, could benefit from knowing what 

the weather would be as far as 8 to 10 (or even 14) days in advance. 

(GWE Release 78-1) 

December 15: DFRC and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had joined in a 

study of the “Mars airplane” (a derivative of the Mini-Sniffer), the 

DFRC X-Press reported. The idea of a Mars airplane resulted from a 

January 1977 meeting between David Scott, former director of DFRC, 

and JPL director Dr. Bruce Murray, who had offered JPL’s assistance in 

perfecting the hydrazine engine of the Mini-Sniffer remotely-piloted 

vehicle (RPV) designed to fly at 70 000 to 100 OOOft. The plane was 

originally a low-cost alternative to the U-2 for atmospheric research; 

DFRC’s Dale Reed and JPL personnel had recognized the possibility that 

the Mini-Sniffer could cruise halfway around Mars in the planet’s low 

gravity and thin atmosphere, using its unique nonairbreathing hydrazine 

engine. 

Developmental Sciences, Inc. had received a $60 000 contract for 

designs to send four Mars airplanes folded into capsules to conduct lowaltitude surveillance flights down Martian canyons and volcanoes and 

over icecaps. The researchers believed technology was advancing so 

quickly in lightweight solar cells, beamed-microwave energy, lightweight 

electric motors and batteries, and lightweight radioisotope electric 

generators, that it would soon produce a generation of high-flying longendurance long-range aircraft, the paper noted. (DFRC X-Press, Dec 

15/78, 3) 

* A jack-in-the-box parachute had proved to be an effective spinrecovery device, DFRC X-Press reported. Known as jack-in-a-box 

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ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

because of its deployment mechanism, the parachute had been installed 

in the nose of a spin-research vehicle, a 23-ft model of a modern fighter 

air-launched from a B-52 at 50 OOOft and flown into a spin at 25 Oooft. 

On command from a pilot on the ground, the nose parachute had deployed and recovered the vehicle from the spin. After parachute jettison, 

the SRV ground operator flew the SRV to a near-perfect landing on the‘ 

Rogers dry lakebed. Results indicated that maintenance of a relatively 

clean airflow around the nose of the aircraft would permit use of a 

significantly smaller parachute, simplifying its installation. (DFRC 

X-Press, Dec 15/78, 3) 

0 INTELSAT announced reduced charges for many of its satellite services for the ninth consecutive yr. Meeting in Washington, D.C., INTELSAT’S board of governors had reduced the monthly charge for full-time 

two-way telephone circuits on an INTELSAT satellite (about 80% of the 

INTELSAT system) from $1 140 to $960 beginning in Jan. 1979. Charges 

for on-demand telephone circuits (known as SPADE circuits) would 

drop from 16 to 14 cents/min. Original rate for satellite telephone circuits established by INTELSAT in 1965 was $5334/mo; since then, advancing technology had increased demand and improved efficiency so 

that INTELSAT could progressively reduce its rates. Marcel Perras of 

Canada, chairman of the board of governors, said INTELSAT was considering a 5-yr plan to lower the rate for satellite telephone circuits to less 

than $700/mO by 1983. (INTELSAT 78-35-1) 

December 18: JSC announced that one of the world’s most unusual 

freight airplanes, the Super Guppy, would deliver a high-fidelity mockup 

of the Space Shuttle orbiter crew compartment from the contractor in 

Calif. to neighboring Ellington AFB in Tex. for transfer to NASA, 

marking first use of the Super Guppy for delivering Space Shuttle equipment. NASA would install the mockup (a detailed model of the cockpit 

and living quarters on the Space Shuttle orbiter) in a JSC training area 

for use in crew familiarization. The nonworking mockup was built by 

Rockwell Intl., prime contractor for the orbiter. 

The Super Guppy took aboard the mockup at Los Alamitos Naval Air 

Station near Los Angeles and flew it to Ellington, refueling at DavisMonthan AFB, Tuscon, and Dyess AFB, Abilene. A modified Boeing 

YC-97J, the Super Guppy had the world’s largest internal dimensions in 

an aircraft; it could accommodate the fuselage of a 747, if sectioned. Its 

present configuration, test-flown by late NASA pilot Joe Walker in late 

1965, was first used by NASA early in 1966. The Super Guppy, equipped 

with 4 Pratt & Whitney T34 turboprops, had flown more than 2 million 

mi carrying NASA cargo and had seen extensive use in the Apollo and 

Skylab missions. It had last landed at Ellington AFB in June 1976. (JSC 

Release 78-58) 

301 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

0 LaRC announced selection of Telos Computing, Inc., Santa Monica, 

Calif., for negotiations leading to award of a contract to develop software for the Natl. Transonic Facility (NTF) wind tunnel at LaRC that 

would allow networking of four medium-sized computers to be the 

nucleus of NTF’s instrumentation complex. The contract would cover 

collection and display of all research measurements, as well as automatic 

control of many wind-tunnel test parameters. Telos estimated the value 

of the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract at $1.2 million. Work would be performed at LaRC over a 3-yr period. (LaRC Release 78-86) 

0 Engineers from Rocketdyne and NASA were trying to determine why 

a liquid-oxygen heat exchanger on a Space Shuttle main engine had failed 

during a test at the Natl. Space Technology Laboratories, Bay St. Louis, 

Miss., Av Wk reported. This was the first failure of a heat exchanger (an 

engine component converting liquid oxygen to gaseous oxygen to 

pressurize the Space Shuttle’s external propellant tank). Earlier in 1978 

the Natl. Research Council’s Assembly of Engineering had noted that, 

although the exchanger had not encountered any difficulties, the system 

“poses a potential threat to the total shuttle system” from a single-pointfailure standpoint. The committee said that, whereas redesign to add 

systems redundancy was impractical at that point, the system warranted 

continued examination for potential design improvements. NASA 

agreed with that assessment. 

Inflight heat-exchanger failure might start a serious fire or explosion 

that could result in loss of the spacecraft. Failure during the test had 

resulted in some engine damage, but none to the test-stand. Testing with 

different engines was continuing. (AvWk, Dec 18/78, 8) 

December 19: NASA announced it had decided not to reboost or deorbit 

the Skylab space station in orbit around the earth because success was 

unlikely. Uncertainties that had developed in Skylab systems, Skylab 

lifetime, Space Shuttle schedule, and teleoperator-retrieval system (TRS) 

delivery had made further planning for a rescue mission impractical. 

Factors leading to the decision included deterioration of systems aboard 

Skylab (recurring control-moment gyro anomalies, marginal power conditions, and minimal attitude-control impulse gas); high sunspot activity 

that was accelerating decay of Skylab’s orbit; and reviews showing that a 

Skylab-rescue mission would be difficult to arrange before April 1980. 

Skylab, currently orbiting at about 426km (265mi) altitude, was being 

maintained in a low-drag attitude and would be continually monitored 

while NASA assessed the possibilities of damage on reentry, now 

predicted to occur between mid-1979 and mid-1980. Most of the vehicle 

would burn up during reentry, but some fragments probably would reach 

earth’s surface. Skylab’s flight path was 75% over the ocean; the prob302 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

ability of injury or damage from it was less than that from meteorites, 

according to estimates. (NASA Release 78-191) 

At a press conference following the announcement, Bill Haines of the 

Chicago Sun Times asked: “Way back in the olden days I remember that 

there was a lot of talk about space rescue, and one of the philosophies 

seemed to be that if we got into trouble or the Russians got into trouble, 

the other side would come to the rescue. Have you made any approaches 

at all to the Russians to see if they could do anything about this? If not, 

why not? And do you intend to?” 

John Yardley, associate administrator for Space Transportation 

Systems, answered: “This is a little different from the space rescues that 

we had talked about. As you know, part of the ASTP program was to 

design docking equipment that could be prototypes of that. And we still 

have a long-range plan with the Russians, albeit rather fuzzy, to some 

day have this capability. 

“With respect to Skylab: After our ASTP, working with the Russians, 

of course, we had a fairly good working knowledge of the capabilities, at 

least that we knew of that were done in that program. And at least a year 

ago we got our own heads together and talked about whether or not they 

could do anything that we couldn’t do. We concluded that there are 

many problems that we won’t go into that it probably is not feasible, so 

we did not ask them. However, they are being informed of what we are 

doing here and if they make any proposals that we haven’t thought of 

that could be useful, we will certainly entertain them.” (NASA press conf 

Dec 19/78) 

December 20: NASA announced it had selected Global Associates, 

Oakland, Calif., to provide operating services at the Michoud Assembly 

Facility, New Orleans, La. Services provided under the contract would 

support NASA program activity and missions of the Depts. of Agriculture, Defense, and Commerce tenanted at the Michoud facility, as well as 

refuse collection and telecommunications services at Slidell Computer 

Complex, Slidell, La. MSFC managed both facilities. 

Under the 1-yr cost-plus-award-fee contract, with four 1-yr options for 

extension, Global Associates would provide management, personnel, 

and materials for plant engineering, maintenance, telecommunications, 

and property and supply, as well as mail, transportation, medical, and 

food services. Proposed cost over the 5-yr period was approximately 

$26.5 million. NASA’s primary program at Michoud was manufacture 

and assembly of external tanks for the Space Shuttle, including those for 

service as test articles, on test flights, and on operational missions. 

(NASA Release 78-192) 

0 Boeing had awarded a $2 million contract to United Technologies’ 

303 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Chemical Systems Division to build seven servoactuator systems (and 

two actuators for preflight testing) that would raise the inertial upper 

stage (IUS) to deployment position in the Space Shuttle payload bay, 

Defense/Space Business Daily reported. Each system would consist of 

two servoactuators (one for backup), composed of an actuator and electronic controller positioned on either side of a tilt table in the payload 

bay to which the IUS would be secured. On command, the system would 

physically tip the tilt table to a predetermined position (e.g., 58O) for IUS 

deployment. The actuator motor would drive an extendable shaft 41 to 

57in long to rotate the tilt table. Pyrotechnic devices on the tilt table 

would release the IUS, and springs would launch it into space. First flight 

of the IUS on board the Space Shuttle was scheduled for 1980. (D/SBD, 

Dec 20/78, 239) 

0 ESA reported on the mechanical-qualification tests of the CAT/ 

Apple/Meteosat-2 composite (a payload scheduled under the APEX program for the third test flight of Ariane in May 1980) taking place Dec. 

12-22 in the CNES facilities at Toulouse. The tests were to check 

behavior of the payload structure and the subsystems under conditions 

arising during launch; results would be compared with mathematical 

models. Undergoing tests would be a dynamic mockup subjected by 

means of an electroacoustic exciter to longitudinal and transverse vibrations like those occurring in flight. 

The payload being tested had three satellites mounted one above the 

other: the Ariane technological capsule (CAT), carried on all Ariane test 

flights; Apple, a technological satellite of the Indian Space Research 

Organization, which would carry a communications experiment; and 

ESA’s meteorological satellite Meteosat-2 which would continue the 

Meteosat mission into 1980. Apple and Meteosat-2 would be the first 

satellites placed in geostationary orbit by a European launcher. These 

tests were the first conducted in Europe on such a heavy payload, 6.5m 

high and weighing 1574kg. @SA Release Dec 20/78) 

0 FBIS reported the USSR had launched a communications satellite, 

Horizont, Dee. 19 under a program “for further improvement and 

development of communications systems and television transmissions.” 

Satellite apogee was 48 365km; perigee, 2581km; period, 23hr 40min; inclination, 1 1.3”. Horizont carried improved multiplex-relay apparatus 

for transmitting telephone and telegraphic radio communications and 

TV programs, including those from the 22nd summer Olympic games in 

Moscow. It had a three-axis system for precision orientation, a powersupply system with independent guidance and alignment of the solar batteries with the sun, a thermo-regulation system, a telemetry system for 

transmitting data on onboard systems, a radio system for precision 

304 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

measurement of the orbit’s parameters and control of the satellite, and 

an orbit-correcting system. All satellite systems were functioning normally. (FBIS, Tass in English, Dec 20/78) 

December 21: NASA announced it had awarded Lockheed-California 

Co., Burbank, Calif., a contract to develop and evaluate in fliht an 

augmented-stability active-control concept that would use a smaller 

horizontal tail on transport planes. Lockheed had estimated the total 

value of the cost-sharing contract, monitored by LaRC, to be $17.6 

million; the government would pay approximately $1 5.8 million, 

Lockheed $1.7 million. Work would be performed over 44mo at Lockheed’s Burbank facility. 

An earlier NASA contract with Lockheed (Phase I of the energyefficient transport program) was for conceiving aerodynamic and active 

controls that could increase energy efficiency of new and derivative civiltransport aircraft early in the 1980s. Results from that phase and from 

independently funded activities indicated that Lockheed was ready for 

flight demonstration of active controls to augment stability of a commercial air transport with a reduced horizontal-tail size. (NASA Release 

78-193) 

JPL Universe reported NASA Administrator Robert Frosch had characterized the Pioneer Venus mission as “a superb success” in a message 

congratulating personnel at NASA centers and in the industrial and 

scientific communities. Frosch had added: “The precise execution of the 

multiprobe encounters December 9 and the continuing excellent performance of the orbiter could have resulted only from a well planned and 

competently executed program . . .” 

The orbiter would continue its scientific measurements for 243da after 

Venus encounter; however, three small probes and a larger sounder had 

plunged into the Venusian atmosphere with destruction expected immediately upon impact. To the surprise of Pioneer Venus scientists, one 

probe had survived for 67min after impact, sending back information 

that would help confirm probe findings (particularly a wind experiment) 

before the 900” Venus temperatures silenced it. (JPL Universe, Dec 

21/78, 1) 

* INTELSAT announced it had awarded a $101 539 contract to General 

Electric Co., Valley Forge, Pa., for a reconfigurable-beam satellite communications antenna. Under the 15-mo contract GE would develop an 

antenna capable of beaming dual-polarized transmissions that could be 

reshaped on command while the satellite was in orbit; GE would also 

fabricate portions of such an antenna for demonstration. Reconfigurable-antenna developments might be incorporated into INTELSAT 

satellites launched during the 1980s. (INTELSAT Release 78-36-M) 

305 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

* FBIS reported the USSR interplanetary spacecraft Venera 12 had 

reached Venus Dec. 21 after a 98-day flight covering over 240 million 

km. The descent module had entered Venus’s atmosphere at 11.2 km/sec 

and soft-landed, transmitting scientific information from the planet’s 

surface for 1 l0min. During descent, the module made precise chemical 

analyses of the composition of the atmosphere and clouds, a spectral 

analysis of solar radiation scattered in the atmosphere, and a study of 

electric charges in the atmosphere from 62m above the planet’s surface. 

Scientific measurements continued after the module landed. The Venera 

12 station was continuing its flight in space, carrying a Soviet-French experiment for studying solar and galactic gamma flares. 

Venera ZZ, launched 5da before Venera 12, would reach Venus Dec. 

25. (FBIS, Moscow Dom Svc in Russian, Dec 21/78) 

December 22: NASA reported Voyager Z was 598 975 OOOkm 

(372 186 0OOmi) from earth; Voyager2, 544 445 OOOkm (338 303 000mi). 

One-way communication time for Voyager I was 33.3min, for Voyager2 

30.2min. Spacecraft distance traveled since launch was 931 872 OOOkm 

(579 038 000mi) for Voyager I, 936 428 OOOkm (581 869 000mi) for 

Voyager 2. Voyager Z’s velocity relative to earth was 70 830km/hr 

(44 013mi/hr), Voyager 2’s 68 537km/hr (42 586mi/hr). Voyager Z’s 

velocity relative to the sun was 49 262km/hr (30 609mi/hr); Voyager 2’s 

44 334km/hr (27 548mi/hr). (NASA Release 78-194) 

December 25: FBIS reported the Soviet Union’s Venera ZZ had reached 

Venus Dec. 25, and its descent module had made a soft landing some 

800km from where Venera 12’s descent module had landed. Main task of 

Venera ZZ and 12 was to examine the characteristics of various areas of 

Venus. After the descent module separated from Venera ZZ Dec. 23, the 

spacecraft had proceeded on a flyby trajectory some 35 OOOkm from the 

planet’s surface. The Venera 11 module, during descent and while on the 

planet surface, had performed research similar to that done by the 

Venera 12 module (scientific and technical experiments and exploration 

of Venus’s surface at 446°C and pressure of 88 atmospheres) for 95min. 

Descent-module data received by Venera ZZ were relayed to earth. After 

leaving the zone of radio visibility and completing receipt of data, 

Venera ZZ would continue in a heliocentric orbit. Scientific measurement 

and research begun on ’the earth-Venus interplanetary route would continue during the flight of Venera ZZ and 12. Data obtained from the two 

spacecraft would be processed and studied in the institutes of the USSR 

Academy of Sciences. (FBIS, Tass Intl Svc in Russian, Dec. 25/78) 

December 26: NASA announced the five Pioneer Venus atmosphericentry craft reaching Venus and the companion craft in orbit around 

306 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

Venus were the highlights of its space-exploration activities in 1978, the 

agency’s 20th anniversary yr. NASA had conducted 20 launches in 1978, 

mainly for other organizations and agencies; it was the third yr in NASA 

history with a 100% launch-success record. It had also seen completion, 

of major milestones in preparing for crew-carrying Space Shuttle missions scheduled to begin late in 1979. (NASA Release 78-190) 

December 27: NASA reported a delegation from the People’s Republic 

of China had been discussing with U.S. officials since Nov. 28 the possibility of U.S.-PRC cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology. 

The delegation also had visited several NASA centers and U.S. aerospace 

industrial establishments. NASA Administrator Dr. Robert Frosch headed the U.S. delegation; Dr. Jen Hsin-min, director of the PRC Academy 

of Space Technology, the Chinese delegation. 

Following up a visit to PRC in July by presidential science adviser Dr. 

Frank Press, the discussions had produced an informal agreement on 

developing a civilian communications system for PRC. China would purchase a U.S. satellite communications system, including ground receiving 

and distribution equipment; the U.S. would put the space portion of the 

system into geostationary orbit, and China would take over its operation. A similar informal agreement covered PRC purchase of a ground 

station capable of receiving earth-resources information from U .S. 

Landsat remote-sensing satellites including the Landsat D currently 

under development. 

The PRC delegation would remain in the U.S. until mid-Jan. for further technical discussions. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the 

discussions, and agreed on further talks to work out details of the informal agreements and to consider other forms of civilian space coopera-- 

tion. (NASA Release 78-197) 

0 NASA announced appointment of Robert AIler as director of tracking 

and data relay satellite system (TDRSS) program office at the NASA Hq 

Office of Space Tracking and Data Systems. Effective Jan. 2, 1979, AIler 

would be responsible for planning, direction, and evaluation of the 

TDRSS program. Working with NASA program and project managers, 

he would determine requirements and develop and implement plans for 

TDRSS support of NASA earth-orbital spaceflight missions. Western 

Union Space Communications, Inc. , would provide NASA with TDRSS 

tracking, command, and data-relay services under a lOyr telecommunications agreement. Aller had been deputy director of the expendable launch vehicles program in the NASA Office of Space Transportation Systems, and had served in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and the 

Skylab, Apollo, and Gemini programs. He had received the NASA 

307 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

medal for outstanding leadership and two NASA exceptional service 

medals. (NASA Release 78-195) 

December 28: NASA announced that 11 of its 16 launches scheduled for 

1979 would be reimbursables (launched by NASA for other agencies or 

corporations). Paying customers included DOD , NOAA, the United 

Kingdom, Western Union Corp., ComSatCorp, and RCA. As in 1978, 

most of the 1979 launches would emphasize use of space for the direct 

benefit of people: communications, environmental, and meteorological 

information. 

Activities in 1979 would include the first launch and orbital flight of 

the Space Shuttle; Jupiter and Saturn encounters by two Voyager spacecraft; and the Pioneer II flyby of the rings of Saturn. NASA would 

launch the Space Shuttle from KSC into its first orbital flight Sept. 28 

with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen as crew. They would 

land 53hr later at DFRC. 

The 1979 schedule would begin with two launches Jan. 25: DOD’s 

spacecraft charging at high altitudes. (SCATHA) from Cape Canaveral , and a stratospheric aerosol and gas experiment (SAGE-A) from Wallops 

Flight Center. In April NASA would launch NOAA-A for NOAA and 

Navy-20 for DOD from Vandenberg AFB. It would launch in May 

FltSatCom-B from Cape Canaveral, and UK-6 for the United Kingdom 

from WFC; Westar-C in July and Intelsat V-A in Aug., both from Cape 

Canaveral for ComSatCorp; in Sept., its third high-energy astronomy 

observatory HEAO-C from Cape Canaveral, and its Magsat-A from 

Vandenberg; in Oct., the solar maximum mission (SMM-A) from 

Vandenberg. NASA would launch Intelsat V-B from Cape Canaveral for 

ComSatCorp in Nov.; in Dec., NOAA-B for NOAA from Vandenberg, 

and RCA-C for RCA from Cape Canaveral. (NASA Release 78-196) 

December 29: Five European and U.S. scientists named in July as experimenters on NASA/ESA’s first Spacelab mission would begin training in the U.S. in Jan. 1979, NASA announced. The training tour, taking 

them to seven U.S. and two Canadian cities, would prepare them to 

operate equipment for scientific investigations that would fly aboard the 

Space Shuttle in 1981. Selection and training of these scientists to fly in 

space had been a departure from earlier NASA practice, as they were not 

career astronauts and had been chosen for the mission by the scientists 

who devised the experiments. This was also the first time that Western 

Europeans would fly in space, and the first time that NASA would orbit 

people who were not U.S. nationals. Of the five persons training for the 

mission, two-a European and an American-would actually fly on 

Spacelab 1; the others would operate ground-based experiment equipment and support the two in orbit. 

308 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

The chosen five had just returned from Europe where they had been 

since Oct. learning to operate the experiments chosen for Spacelab by 

European scientists. The science payload was about equally divided between NASA and ESA experiments in terms of weight, power, and 

volume requirements. Areas of investigation would include stratosphere 

and upper-atmosphere physics, materials processing, space-plasma 

physics, biology, medicine, astronomy, solar physics, earth observations, and technology areas such as thermodynamics and lubrications. 

MSFC would manage training in the U.S. as part of its overall responsibility for the first three Spacelab missions; ESA had managed the training in Europe. (NASA Release 78-198) 

During December: NASA announced it had silenced the scientific instruments aboard the orbiting solar observatory Os0 8 by radio command sent from Goddard Space Flight Center to NASA’s tracking station in Orroral, Australia, on the satellite’s orbit no. 18 072. A few 

moments later the Australia station confirmed that the satellite’s radio 

transmission had stopped. Last of the “sunshine” satellites that had 

begun investigating the sun with the launch of Os0 1 in 1962, Os0 8 

(launched from Cape Canaveral June 21, 1975) had surpassed its 1-yr 

design lifetime by 2yr. It had far exceeded all prelaunch mission objectives, and had obtained the most accurate observations yet of the solar 

chromosphere and transition regions, giving scientists a better 

understanding of these. 

Dr. Roger Thomas, Os0 8 project scientist at GSFC, said that the 

lessons learned from 16yr of OS0 satellites had been instrumental in 

developing new experiments for future studies of the sun such as next yr’s 

solar maximum mission. Four of the eight experiments aboard the 

1064kg Os0 8 had been designed to measure the sun during the quiet 

(solar minimum) period. Solar activity had increased substantially, and 

the solar-science community was preparing to study a period of maximum solar activity, in part through launch of the solar maximum mission in Oct. 1979. The nonsolar high-energy astrophysics experiments on 

Os0 8 also had made significant observations of the celestial sphere. 

These experiments had been superseded by Sas 3, Heao 1, and Heao 2. 

The Os0 8 control center at GSFC would be reconfigured to support the 

SMM mission. (NASA Actv, Dec 78, 12) 

NASA reported procurements during FY78 totalled $3660 million, 

3.6% more than during FY77. Approximately 81% of the net dollar 

value was placed directly with business firms, 5% with educational and 

other nonprofit institutions or organizations, 8% with the Calif. Inst. of 

Technology (for operations conducted by or through JPL), and 5% with 

or through other government agencies; 90% of the dollar value of the lat309 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

ter resulted in contracts with industry. About 53% of funds placed by 

NASA under JPL contracts resulted in subcontracts or purchases with 

business firms. In short, about 90% of NASA procurement was contracted to private industry. Of total direct awards to business firms, 72% 

were competitive procurements (either through formal advertising or 

negotiation) and 28% were noncompetitive. 

Small business firms had received $282 million (10%) of NASA’s 

direct awards, indicating that most agency awards to business firms were 

large continuing R&D contracts for major systems or items of hardware 

generally beyond the capability of small business firms on a primecontract basis. However, of the $633 million in new contracts worth 

$10 000 or more awarded to business firms during 1978, small business 

received $137 million (22‘70); in addition to direct awards, small business 

received substantial subcontract awards from 75 of the NASA prime 

contractors participating in its small business subcontracting program. 

Total direct awards plus known subcontract awards to small business aggregated $513 million, 17% of NASA’s total (direct plus indirect) awards 

to business firms. Included in awards to small business firms were 

$75.852 million awarded to minority business enterprises: $14.064 

million in direct awards, $32.151 million under Section 8(a) of the Small 

Business Act, and known subcontract awards of $29.637 million. 

In 1978, 49 states and Washington, D.C., participated in NASA 

prime-contract awards of $10 000 and over. These larger awards went to 

2068 business firms in 46 states and D.C., and to 341 universities and 

nonprofit organizations in 47 states and D.C. Labor-surplus areas in 40 

states had received 53% of the awards. (NASA ann proc rpt FY78) 

* NASA announced the inception of Orbit 81, an RCA educational program to involve inner-city high school students in designing and developing a scientific experiment for launch on the Space Shuttle in 1981. The 

program had resulted from discussions among representatives of the 

Camden, N.J., public school system, NASA, and RCA. Other high 

schools were conducting similar programs, but NASA officials called the 

Camden project unique because it was the only “total involvement program covering all the disciplines, arts, and skills” taught in the curriculum. Students taking courses other than science and mathematics 

could be active participants in the project. Selection of an Orbit 81 experiment would take place when students had gained enough scientific 

insight to participate in the decision. The program would include enrichment courses in space science, summer sessions, and tours of NASA and 

RCA facilities. RCA had donated surplus laboratory equipment to the 

schools; NASA would provide literature, special programs, lectures, and 

demonstrations. Students of Camden and Woodrow Wilson High 

Schools had attended a space colloquium presented by NASA and RCA. 

RCA had made an initial payment to NASA as part of the $10 OOO 

310 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1W8 DECEMBER 

reservation fee to ensure that the Orbit 81 payload, which could weigh up 

to 90kg and occupy no more than 0. 14m3, would have a place aboard the 

Space Shuttle when launch time arrived. (NASA Actv, Dec 78, 11) 

* NASA announced that its administrator, Dr. Robert Frosch, had accepted for NASA a document commemorating the anniversary of 

Charles A. Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight from New York to 

Paris in the “Spirit of St. Louis” on May 20, 1927. Copies of the framed 

Flight Philatelic Document, containing a series of American and French 

Lindbergh stamps and cancellations tracing the history of the aviator’s 

achievement, had been presented to 25 persons and organizations in the 

U.S. and France. Friends of the Nassau County Museum, Long Island, 

N.Y., had produced the tribute and selected the recipients, including 

President Jimmy Carter, French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing , 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and museums and agencies linked to aviation. 

Each of the documents bore seven American and French Lindbergh 

stamps with key cancellations, and each document was autographed by 

President Carter, President d’Estaing, Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac, U.S. 

Postmaster General Benjamin Bailer, French Postal Secretary Norbert 

Segard, and Mrs. Lindbergh. (NASA Actv, ‘Dec 78, 12) 

* DOT’S National Transportation Report noted that the department had 

been using administrative action to improve transportation. For example, while working for the Aviation Regulatory Reform Act, the department had led a federal interagency task force to develop guidelines for 

U.S. negotiators in reaching air service agreements with other countries. 

This had resulted in bilateral air service agreements with 13 nations that 

would increase competitive opportunities for airlines and lower passenger 

fares. Another major DOT aviation action was Secretary Brock Adams’s 

decision to allow existing Concorde supersonic aircraft to fly over U.S. 

territory, at the same time requiring future SSTs to meet the same noise 

standards as subsonic aircraft. (Natl Transp Rept Jan 77-Dec 78, 3) 

* The AFSC Newsreview reported that the USAF’s Geophysics 

Laboratory (AFGL) had successfully completed a rocket test flight of 

equipment to cope with lightning-like discharges that could affect earthorbiting satellites. These high-voltage discharges could interrupt 

transmissions of information to earth stations from geosynchronous 

satellites. A sudden rush of electrical current could confuse control circuits, causing a satellite to behave erratically or fail to function. Scientists were still analyzing information from the 160mi-high rocket flight, 

but preliminary results showed that the electrical buildup - which could 

reach thousands of volts -could be controlled by emitting negative or 

positive charges from the spacecraft. 

An Astrobee F sounding rocket carried equipment that released either 

311 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

negative charges (electrons) or positive charges (ions) as the electrical 

charge built up on the rocket body. This either kept the charging to a low 

voltage or provided an electrically conductive path around the rocket 

body so the charge could leak off slowly. The rocket payload contained 

instruments nearly identical to those scheduled for orbit in Jan. on a 

SCATHA (spacecraft charging at high altitudes) satellite as part of a test 

program managed by SAMSO, Los Angeles. (AFSC Newsreview, Dec 

78, 9) 

0 The USAF’s Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD) had awarded 

Hughes Aircraft Co., Canoga Park, Calif., a $90.25 million contract for 

engineering development and test of the AGM-65D imaging infrared 

(IIR) Maverick missile, the AFSC Newsreview reported. A 35-mo 

engineering-development program designed to fine-tune the IIR version 

of Maverick would ensure that the weapon incorporated the state-of-the-, 

art and was producible, maintainable, and reliable. ASD officials said 

testing, a key element in advanced development, would be equally crucial 

as the IIR program moved into the engineering development phase. The 

16-mo test series would begin with. ground-based studies and captive 

flight tests using helicopers and fixed-wing aircraft. Live firings of both 

telemetry- and warhead-equipped missiles from A-10, A7D, and F-4D 

and -E aircraft would complete the rigorous flight-test schedule. 

The IIR guidance system (fourth and most sophisticated mate to the 

already-proven Maverick) would also be used with two guided bombs, 

the Air Force’s GBU-15 and the Navy’s Walleye. The IIR Maverick’s 

digital-centroid tracker could pick up heat images generated by a target, 

calculate its approximate center, and guide the missile to target impact. 

USAF plans called for procurement of more than 31 000 IIR Maverick 

missiles; production would begin in mid-1981. (AFSC Newsreview, Dec 

78, 7) 

0 The AFSC Newsreview reported that F-15 fighter pilots had come 

closer to better anti-G (gravity forces) protection, with airworthiness certification of a high-flow ready-pressure anti-G valve developed by the 

USAF School of Aerospace Medicine. Tests of the valves installed in two 

F-15s at Edwards AFB, Calif., had checked their reliability under flight 

conditions. Alar Products, Inc., Macedonia, O., was manufacturing 15 

of the high-flow anti-G valves, and the ready-pressure attachment would 

be manufactured and added to the valves at USAFSAM. The valves 

would be installed in F-15s at Holloman AFB, N.M., and tested for 2 to 

3mo. If test results were favorable, the valve would be further developed 

by the Aerospace Medical Division’s life support system program office 

at Wright-Patterson AFB. (AFSC Newsreview, Dec 78, 12) 

0 The AFSC Newsreview reported that, pending arrival of the age of the 

312 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

Space Shuttle, the USAF Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) was modifying a Titan I11 34D booster to ensure prime and backup 

launch capabilities during Space Shuttle transition. The 34D was a 

modified Titan IIID that the USAF had put into operation in 1971; 

SAMSO had recommended it in 1975 to the Defense Science Board 

studying how DOD could manage an orderly transition from expendable 

to reusable launch vehicles. Instead of a variety of boosters, the 34D 

would use a common Titan I11 core for east- and west-coast launches, 

with the option of dedicating a 34D launch vehicle to either coast as late. 

as 6mo before launch. 

The 34D also was compatible with the new inertial upper-stage (IUS) 

vehicle, another SAMSO project in full-scale 'development by Boeing 

Aerospace Co. During the Space Shuttle backup era beginning in 1980, 

the 34D/IUS combination would be contingency booster for top-priority 

defense payloads. Plans called for development of seven 34D boosters to 

be used first for launching two defense satellite communications system 

(DSCS) spacecraft in July 1980 from Cape Canaveral. Four of the seven 

vehicles would serve east coast launches using the IUS, and three would 

serve polar launches from Vandenberg AFB. 

Differences between the 34D and Titan IIID included solid-fuel rocket 

motors lengthened 5ft each to align with new common-core attach 

points and payload fairing modified to extend from 40 to 55ft. The new 

fairing would make the 34D payload environment nearly identical to that 

of the Shuttle orbiter cargo bay, a step toward upper-stage commonality. 

The 34D program was in final design stage under contracts with Martin 

Marietta Aerospace, McDonnell Douglas Corp. , and United 

Technologies Corp. (AFSC Newsreview, Dec 78, 9) 

0 The Natl. Science Foundation reported that the 1979 federal budget 

presented in Jan. 1978 reflected greater austerity in R&D programs than 

during the previous 3yr, in which rate of R&D growth had exceeded the 

rate of inflation. R&D programs funded were those that met direct 

federal needs, general social and economic needs, or the need to accelerate private R&D efforts because of overriding national interest. The 

FY79 budget contained a rise for defense and space R&D programs of about 8% each, with only a 3% rise for all other R&D. This 

would reverse a 13-yr trend in which federal R&D support had shifted 

steadily toward civilian programs. The 1979 change had resulted not only 

from increases in defensehpace support at rates at least equal to anticipated inflation, but also from expected real-dollar declines in support of 

civilian R&D areas of health, energy, and environment. 

Federal R&D obligations rose 6% to an estimated $28.0 billion in the 

FY79 budget, an all-time high in current dollars, but inflation would 

mean a drop from the 1978 total figure in constant dollars. Later congressional actions had raised the level approximately 9% above that of 

313 
DECEMBER ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

1978, and action on supplemental requests might add another 2 or 3 

percentage points. Defense and space programs had accounted for more 

than 80% of the current dollar rise in R&D support in 1979. Funding for 

each of these was expected to increase by about 8% in 1979, whereas all 

civilian functions taken together would increase by only 3%. The 

defense/space share of the federal total in 1979 would be an estimated 

62070, more than the 1978 share but still considerably lower than the 77% 

share in 1969. (Analysis of Fed R&D Funding by Function, Dec 78, vii) 

0 ComSatCorp announced it had derived 57% of its 1978 operating 

revenues from services provided through Intelsat satellites; 37010 from 

maritime and U.S. domestic services provided by Comsat General 

through the Marisat and Comstar satellite systems; and 6% from its investment share in INTELSAT and operational and technical services. 

ComSatCorp had been considering expansion into the growing environmental information services field in which satellite technology 

could play a significant, possibly essential, role. Comsat General, in 

cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and Telesat Canada, had 

already demonstrated the ability of satellites and small unattended earth 

stations to collect water-resources data from remote areas of the U.S. 

and Canada. ComSatCorp would enter the field by acquiring at a price 

not to exceed $20 million Environmental Research & Technology, Inc. 

(ERT), currently engaged in a broad spectrum of environmental services. 

Adding ERT’s expertise in environmental data collection, monitoring, 

analysis, and prediction to ComSatCorp’s expertise in satellite communications and related technologies should make the organization better able to extend satellite-communications technology to the growing 

environmental-information services market. 

ComSatCorp had also been working to apply advanced technology in 

deveioping and manufacturing specialized products, inchding earthstation components, signal-processing systems equipment, and fiberoptics communications equipment. (COMSAT ann1 rept 78, 1-7) 

0 The Aerospace Industries Assn. announced that industry sales, earnings, backlog, export performance, and contribution to the U.S. balance 

of trade had improved substantially in 1978. Sales, at $37.3 billion, were 

up almost $5 billion over 1977; the major gain was in commercial sales. 

The high inflation rate had distorted sales data, but 1978 sales had increased about 15% above 1977, well in excess of the inflation rate. Industry profits as a percentage of sales rose half a percentage point to 

4.7%. 

Aerospace exports had reached an all-time high of $9.3 billion, $1.8 

billion more than in 1977. At a time when export sales were important to 

the U.S. economy, the aerospace industry recorded an international 

trade surplus of nearly $8.4 billion, leading all U.S. manufacturing in3 14 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 DECEMBER 

dustries in contributing to the nation’s balance of trade. Industry 

backlog at year-end, estimated at $51.4 billion, was a sharp increase over 

$44.3 billion in 1977, resulting mostly from a surge of new orders for 

commercial transports. (Aerospace, Winter 78, 2) 

315 

Appendix A 

SATELLITES, SPACE PROBES, AND MANNED 

SPACEFLIGHTS, 1978 

World space activity in 1978, 125 launches, matched that of 1977; 

however, the U.S. increased launches from 24 to 32, including Pioneer 

Venus 1 (an orbiter) and 2 (four probes and a transporter bus). The 

USSR decreased launches from 98 to 89 including a Vertikal geophysics 

probe, with 121 payloads, 96 in the Cosmos series. These included such 

specialized spacecraft as seven navigation satellites (Cosmos 991, 994, 

996, 1000, ZOIZ, 1027, and 1046) and four octuple-payload launches to 

improve tactical communications. The Soviets also launched six 

spacecraft in the Molniya comsat series; one Intercosmos spacecraft carrying experiments from other countries; the magnetospheric investigator 

Prognoz 7; two Venus exploration spacecraft, Yenera 22 and 12; and five 

manned Soyuz spacecraft of which Soyuz 28 carried the first Czech 

cosmonaut, Soyuz 30 the first Polish cosmonaut, and Soyuz 32 the first 

GDR cosmonaut. 

In 1978, other countries launched or sponsored six satellites. On Jan. 

26 China launched China 8, recovered in Feb. In Feb., Japan launched 

Exos 2 as part of the International Magnetospheric Study and ZSS 2 

(Ume), an ionosphere sounder; in Apr. BSE, nicknamed Yuri, was 

launched by NASA to experiment with direct-broadcast TV 

transmission-and-reception technology; and in Sept . Exos 2, another 

magnetosphere-research satellite. NASA launched Anik 4 in Dec. for 

Canada's domestic comsat system. 

Sources of these data include the United Nations Public Registry of 

Space Flights; the Satellite Situation Report compiled by Goddard Space 

Flight Center's Operations Control Center; and press releases of NASA, 

Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other government agencies, as well as the Communications 

Satellite Corporation. Soviet data come from statements in the Soviet 

press, translations from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service 

(FBIS), international news service reports, and announcements and 

briefings by Soviet officials. Data on satellites of other nations also come 

from the announcements of their respective governments and international news services. 

INB PAGE BLANK NOT FILMED 

317 
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Appendix B 

MAJOR NASA LAUNCHES, 1978 

During 19723, the US. had 32 launches (with 37 payloads), including 

two Pioneer launches to take pictures and conduct detailed scientific examinations of Venus. Of these, 12 (with 14 payloads) were launches by 

DOD. The remaining 20 with 23 payloads were NASA launches. Of 

these, 10 were scientific payloads (including the Cameo barium and 

lithium-cloud experiment payload carried in the rocket body of the Nimbus 7 and the interplanetary Pioneer launchers). 

Payloads launched for others in 1978 included two for DOD (a piggyback classified payload in March and FltSatCom 1 in Feb.); three eomsats for ComSatCorp (Intelsat IV-A F-3 in Jan., Intelsat IV-A F-6 in 

Mar., and Comstar 3 in June); two for NOAA (Goes 3 in June and Tiros 

Nin Oct.); and six international satellites (in Mar. &car 8, a cooperative 

effort by U.S., Canada, Japan, and West Germany; BSE for Japan in 

Apr.; OTS2 in May and Geos 2 in July for ESA; Nato IIIC in Nov. for 

NATO; and Anik 4 in Dec. for Canada). 

These tables usually categorize vehicle and payload performance as S 

for successful, P for partially successful, or U for unsuccessful. A fourth 

category (Unk) would indicate payloads that did not operate 

because of vehicle failure. These categories, which are unofficial, do not 

take into account that U missions might prodpce valuable information, 

or that payloads with a long-life design might later fail to meet the design 

requirements and might then become officially unsuccessful. Futher information on these launches appears in Appendix A and in the indexed 

entries in the text. 

347 
APPENDIX B ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

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Appendix C 

MANNED SPACEFLIGHTS, 1978 

Manned flight activity worldwide in 1978 consisted of five launches, 

all in the USSR Soyuz series. All crews docked successfully with Sdyut 6. 

These missions carried the first Czech, Polish, and GDR cosmonauts. 

The crew of Soyuz 29, who returned in Soyuz 31, set a duration record of 

3350hr. 48mio. 

At the end of 1978, the U.S. had made 31 manned space flights (2 

suborbital, 20 in earth orbit, 3 in lunar orbit, and 6 lunar landings) with a 

total of 43 different crewmen. The USSR had made 41 manned flights, 

all in earth orbit, with 54 cosmonauts. 

35 1 
APPENDIX C ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

352 
Appendix D 

NASA SOUNDING ROCKET LAUNCHES, 1978 

/ 

The accompanying table lists the 60 sounding rockets of the Arcas 

class and above launched by NASA in 1978. Launch sites were in Antarctica, Norway, Canada, and Sweden, as well as the United States. The 

rockets carried payloads for the Naval Research Laboratory, SAO, 

American Science & Engineering, Aerospace Corp. , NOAA, GSFC , MSFC, WFC, Norway, and 17 universities. Types of onboard experiments included 28 in plasma physics, 4 in solar physics, 9 in 

aeronomy, 7 in astrophysics, 4 in astronomy, 4 in meteorology, 2 in 

stratosphere research, 1 in space processing, and 1 vehicle systems test. 

Information for the table came from Goddard Space Flight Center’s 

Quick-Look Sounding Rocket data sheets, issued after launches, with 

additional information from some of the experimenters concerned. 

Launch dates are in local time. 

353 
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Appendix E 

ABBREVIATIONS OF REFERENCES 

Not all the sources are listed, only those that are abbreviated. 

Listed here are the abbreviations used for citing sources in the text. 

AAAS Bull 

A&A 

A&4 1977 

ABC 

AEC Release 

Aero Daily 

Aero Med 

AF Mag 

AFHF Newsletter 

AFJ 

AFSC Newsreview 

AFSC Release 

AIA Release 

AIAA Facts 

AIAA Release 

AIP Newsletter 

AP 

ARC Astrogram 

Astro Journ 

Atlanta JC 

AvWk 

B News 

B Sun 

Bull Atom Sei 

Bus Wk 

C Daily News 

C Trib 

Can Press 

CBS 

American Association for the Advancement of 

Science’s AAAS Bulletin 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ magazine, Astronautics & Aeronautics 

NASA’s Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1977: 

A Chronology 

American Broadcasting Company 

Atomic Energy Commission news release 

Aerospace Daily newsletter 

Aerospace Medicine magazine 

Air Force Association’s Air Force Magazine 

Air Force Historical Foundation Newsletter 

Armed Forces Journal magazine 

Air Force Systems Command’s Newsreview 

Air Force Systems Command news release 

Aerospace Industries Association of America 

American Institute of Aeronautics and AstroAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and AstroAmerican Institute of Physics Newsletter 

Associated Press news service 

NASA Ames Research Center’s Astrogram 

American Astronomical Society’s AstrophysiAtlanta Journal Constitution newspaper 

Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine 

Birmingham News newspaper 

Baltimore Sun newspaper 

Education Foundation for Nuclear Science’s 

Business Week magazine 

Chicago Daily News newspaper 

Chicago Tribune newspaper 

Canadian Press news service 

Columbia Broadcasting System 

news release 

nautics’ Facts 

nautics news release 

cal Journal 

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 

361 
APPENDIX E ASTRONAUTICS AND AF,RQNAUTICS, 1978 

C&E News 

C1 PD 

Cl Press 

Columbia J Rev 

ComSatCorp Release 

CQ 

CR 

CSM 

CTNS 

D News 

D Post 

DASA Release 

DFRC 

DJ 

DOC PI0 

DOD Release 

DOT Release 

EOP Release 

ESA Release 

FAA Release 

FBIS - SOV 

FonF 

FRC Release 

FRC X-Press 

GE Forum 

Goddard News 

GSFC Release 

GSFC SSR 

GT&E Release 

H Chron 

H Post 

INTELSAT Release 

JA 

JPL Lab-Oratory 

Chemical & Engineering News magazine 

Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper 

Cleveland Press newspaper 

Columbia Journalism Review magazine 

Communications Satellite Corporation news reCongressional Quarterly 

Congressional Record 

Christian Science Monitor newspaper 

Chicago Tribune News Service 

Detroit News newspaper 

Denver Post newspaper 

Defense Atomic Support Agency news release 

See FRC. 

Dow Jones news service 

Department of Commerce Public Information 

Department of Defense news release 

Departmeht of Transportation news release 

Executive Office of the President news release 

European Space Agency news release, use dated 

Federal Aviation Administration news release 

Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Soviet 

number 

Facts on File 

Flight Research Center news release, after 

8 Jan. 1976, became Dryden Flight Research 

Center (DFRC) news release 

NASA Flight Research Center’s X-Press 

General Electric Forum magazine 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Goddard 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center news release 

Office 

(not numbered) 

News 

lease 

SA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Sa 

%General Telephone & Electronics news release 

on Chronicle newspaper 

362 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 APPENDIX E 

JPL Release 

JPRS 

JSC Release 

JSC Roundup 

JSR 

KC Star 

KC Times 

KSC Release 

LA Her-Exam 

LA Times 

Langley Researcher 

LaRC Release 

LATNS 

LeRC Release 

Lewis News 

M HER 

M News 

M Trib 

Marshall Star 

MJ 

MSFC Release 

N Hav Reg 

N News 

N Va Sun 

NAA News 

NAA Record Book 

NAC Release 

NAE Release 

NANA 

NAS Release 

NAS - NRC Release 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory news release 

Department of Commerce Joint Publications 

Research Service 

NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 

(Manned Spacecraft Center until 17 Feb. 

1973) news release 

NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center’s 

Space News Roundup 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets 

magazine 

Kansas City Star newspaper 

Kansas City Times newspaper 

NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center news reLos Angeles Herald-Examiner newspaper 

Los Angeles Times newspaper 

NASA Langley Research Center’s Langley 

NASA Langley Research Center news release 

Los Angeles Times News Service 

NASA Lewis Research Center news release 

NASA Lewis Research Center’s Lewis News 

Miami Herald newspaper 

Miami News newspaper 

Minneapolis Tribune newspaper 

NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight CenMilwaukee Journal newspaper 

NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center 

New Haven Register newspaper 

Newark News newspaper 

Northern Virginia Sun newspaper 

National Aeronautic Association News 

National Aeronautic Association’s World 

and USA. National World Aviation - 

Space Records 

lease 

Researcher . 

ter’s Marshall Star 

news release 

National Aviation Club news release 

National Academy of Engineering news release 

North American Newspaper Alliance 

National Academy of Sciences news release 

National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council news release 

363 
APPENDIX E ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

NAS-NRC-NAE 

News Rpt 

NASA Actv 

NASA anno 

NASA GMR 

NASA HHR-39 

NASA Hist Off 

NASA Hq WB 

NASA Int Aff 

NASA LAR, XIII/8 

NASA Leg Off 

NASA MOR 

NASA prog off 

NASA proj off 

NASA Release 

NASA Rpt SRL 

Natl Obs 

Nature 

NBC 

NGS Release 

NMI 

NN 

NOAA Release 

NASA SP-4019 

NRL Release 

NSC Release 

NSC News 

NSC Letter 

NSF Highlights 

NSF Release 

NSTL Release 

NY News 

NYT 

National Academy of Sciences -National Research Council - National Academy of 

Engineering News Report 

NASA Activities 

NASA announcement 

NASA Headquarters “General Management 

Review Report” 

NASA Historical Report No. 39 

NASA History Office 

NASA Headquarters Weekly Bulletin 

NASA Office of International Affairs 

NASA Legislative Activities Report, Vol. XIII, 

NASA Office of Legislative Affairs 

NASA Headquarters Mission Operations Report, preliminary prelaunch and postlaunch 

report series (information may be revised and 

refined before publication) 

NASA program office (for the program reported) 

NASA project office (for the project reported) 

NASA Headquarters news release 

NASA report of sounding rocket launching 

NASA Special Publication No. 4019 

National Observer magazine 

Nature Physical Science magazine 

National Broadcasting Company 

National Geographic Society news release 

NASA Management Instruction 

NASA Notice 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdminisNaval Research Laboratory news release 

National Space Club news release 

National Space Club News 

National Space Club Letter 

National Science Foundation’s Science ReNational Science Foundation news release 

NASA National Space Technology LaboraNew York Daily News newspaper 

New York Times newspaper 

No. 8 

tration news release 

sources Studies Highlights 

tories news release 

364 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, wa APPENDIX E 

NYTNS 

0 Sen Star 

Oakland Trib 

Omaha W-H 

ONR Rev 

P Bull 

P Inq 

PA0 

PD 

PI0 

PMR Missile 

PMR Release 

Pres Rpt 74 

SA0 Release 

D/SBD 

Sei Amer 

Sei & Govt Rpt 

SciServ 

SD 

SD Union 

SET Manpower 

Comments 

SF 

SF Chron 

SF Exam 

Sov Aero 

Sov Rpt 

SP 

Spaceport News 

Space warn 

SR list 

SSN 

New York Times News Service 

Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper 

Oakland Tribune newspaper 

Omaha World-Herald newspaper 

Navy’s Office of Naval Research Reviews 

Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin 

Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper 

Public Affairs Office 

National Archives and Records Service’s Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents 

Public Information Office 

USN Pacific Missile Range’s Missile 

USN Pacific Missile Range news release 

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory news 

Defense/Space Business Daily newspaper 

Scientific American ’magazine 

Science & Government Report, independent 

bulletin of science policy 

Science Service News service 

Space Digest magazine 

San Diego Union newspaper 

Scientific Manpower Commission’s Scientific, 

Engineering, Technical Manpower Comments 

British Iriterplanetary Society’s Spaceflight 

magazine 

San Francisco Chronicle newspaper 

San Francis0 Examiner newspaper 

Soviet Aerospace newsletter 

Center for Foreign Technology’s Soviet Report 

Space Propulsion newsletter 

NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center’s SpaceIUWDS World Data Center A for Rockets and 

NASA compendium of sounding rocket 

Suviet Sciences in the News, publication of 

newspaper 

1974 Activities 

release 

(transiations) 

port News 

Satellites’ Spacewarn Bulletin 

launches 

Electro-Optical Systems, Inc, 

365 
APPENDIX E ASTRONAUTIC3 AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

St Louis G-D 

St Louis P-D 

T- Picayune 

Tech Rev 

Today 

testimony 

text 

transcript 

UN Reg 

UP1 

USGS Release 

USPS Release 

w Post 

W Star-News 

WFC Release 

WH Release 

WJT 

WSJ 

St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper 

New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technologj Review 

Today newspaper 

Congressional testimony, prepared statement 

Prepared report or speech text 

Official transcript of news conference or conUnited Nations Public Registry of Space Flight 

United Press International news service 

U.S. Geological Survey news release 

U.S. Postal Service news release 

Washington Post newspaper 

Washington Star-News newspaper 

NASA Wallops Flight Center news release 

White House news release 

World Journal Tribune newspaper 

Wall Street Journal newspaper 

gressional hearing 

366 
Aborted flights, 106 

Abourezk, James, 196 

Abruzzo, Ben, 199 

Acton, Loren, 94, 184 

Acurex, Inc., 249 

Adams, Brock, 32 

AEG Telefunken, 171 

Aeritalia, 33 

Aero Club of Great Britain, 101 

Aerospace Corp., 50 

Aerospace Industries Association, 32, 100, 314 

Africa, 3, S 

AFSatCom, 11, 26 

Agency for International Development, 38, 58, 175 

Agriculture, 69, 74, 97, 145, 187, 188, 272 

Agriculture, Department of, 1 

Air Force, 8, 11, 17, 22, 25, 26, 35, 82, 100, 113, 118, 153, 157, 203 

aborted mission, 64 

Aeronautical Systems Division, 312 

Avionics Laboratory, 286 

contractors, 28, 45, 46, 90 

contracts, 179 

Flight Dynamics Laboratory, 63 

Geophysics Laboratory, 31 1 

Project Blue Book, 74 

Space and Missile Systems Organization, 90, 135, 261, 286, 313 

Space and Missile Test Command, 144 

Air Force Geophysical Laboratory, 235 

Air-launched cruise missile, 5 

Aircraft 

civilian, 8, 32, 65, 70, 72, 154 

design, 8, 43, 96, 209, 230 

experimental, 101, 139, 157, 174, 225, 255 

Gossamer Condor, 45 

military, 9 

research, 64, 87, 89, 92, 301 

supersonic, 43, 296, 3 11 

testing, 56 

transport, 5, 35, 41, 47, 200, 255, 301 

Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program, 41 

Airlines, U.S., 206 

Airports, 39, 42, 59, 72, 121, 126, 173 

Gosselies, 5 

Kjevik, 5 

Nairobi, 5 

Yoff, 5 

367 
INDEX A§TRONALJTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Albers, James, 296 

Aleutian, Islands, 71 

Alexander, Joseph, 192 

Alfa 2 (launch vehicle), 33 

Allen, Joseph, 178 

Allenby, Richard, 21 

Albr, Robert, 307 

Allnutt, Robert, 135, 231 

Alloys, 36 

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 35, 91 

American Astronautical Society, 91 

American Astronomical Society, 268 

American Indians, 81 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 10, 35, 68, 91, 99, 108, 142 

American Society of Engineering Education, 200 

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 113, 137 

American Water Resources Association, 236 

Ames Industrial Corp., 43 

Ames Research Center, 17, 80 

contract, 11 1 

missions, 270, 282, 293 

people, 167, 263 

programs, 39, 43, 64, 86, 190, 233 

Amsat, 206 

Amsat Oscar, 53 

Anderson, Arthur, 74 

Anderson, Maxie, 199 

Andrews, Bill, 68 

Anik AI, 289 

ANS (satellite, Netherlands), 163 

Antarctic, 43 

Antennas, 10, 108 

ground-based, 26, 71, 106, 155, 202, 246, 305 

space-based, 3, 109, 149, 158, 160 

Anti-gravity forces protection, 312 

Apollo 8, 279 

Apollo 11, 79 

Apollo 13, 98 

Apollo 15, 179 

Apollo 16, 168 

APPLE (India), 207 

Apple (satellite), 304 

Applications Explorer Missions, 95 

Applications Systems Verification and Transfer, 54 

Applications Technology Satellite 6, 192 

Aquarius (command module), 98 

Arc0 Solar, Inc., 240 

Argentina, 12, 273 

Ariane, 7, 20, 59, 93, 140, 153, 206, 216, 223, 280, 294, 297, 304 

Ariel-5, 60 

Armstrong, Neil, 77, 224 

Army, 8, 17, 64, 86, 113, 235 

Ballistic Missile Agency, 16 

ApOllo-SOyuz, 10,42, 79, 160 

368 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 IN'DEX 

ARO, Inc., 205 

Association for the Space Science Exposition, 79 

Asteroids, 21 1 

Astrobee F (rocket), 3 11 

Astrometry, 20 

Astronauts, 7,27, 35,39,42,56,61,70,74,94,98, 106, 129, 157,172, 191,209,224,231, 

238 

pilots, 8 

scientists, 8 

Astronomy, 15, 35, 70, 78, 95, 132, 145, 165, 167, 168, 184, 186, 190, 193,214,239,243, 

Atlas (rocket), 2, 5, 89, 94, 121, 123, 144, 210 

Atlas-Agena, 82 

Atlas-Centaur, 2, 3, 5,25, 86, 94, 96, 136, 143, 168, 173, 194, 262, 268, 272, 297 

ATMOSAT project, 50 

Atmosphere mptorer C, 192 

Atmospheric cloud physics laboratory, 95 

Atmospheric variability experiments, 109 

ATS-6 (satellite), 79 

Australia, 5, 6, 92, 145, 272 

Automatic pilot-advisory system, 97 

Aviation Regulatory Reform Act, 31 1 

Aviation Week, 2 

AviatiodSpace Writers Association, 32 

AWACS (aircraft), 204 

Awards, 26, 35, 45, 49, 67, 82, 99, 101, 103, 107, 136, 142, 152, 178, 185,200,216, 224, 

B-1 bomber, 9, 75 

BAe Dynamics Group (UK), 132 

Bahcall, J. N., 109 

Bainbridge, William, 154 

balloons, 37, 109, 199 

Barber, Paul, 199 

Bartoe, John-David, 94, 184 

Bell Helicopter Textron, 64 

Bell-Northern Research Ltd., 39 

Beloit College, 109 

Bendix Corp., 202, 296 

Benham, Harold, 154 

Berezhnoy, Igor, 42 

Berg&, Harold, 292 

Big Bird (satellite), 266 

Bioengineering, 52 

Biology, 39, 43, 49, 70, 138 

Blackstock, Thomas, 103 

Blamont, Jacques, 50 

Blocker, Truman, 114 

Blue Ridge Electrical Membership Corp., 171 

Bluford, Guion, 8. 

Boeing Aerospace Co., 5, 35, 89, 90, 96, 156, 249,-255, 303, 313 

Boeing Engineering and Construction Co., 249 

Bond, Langhorne, 5,20 

Borman, Frank, 224 

Botany, 43 

275 

228, 230, 235, 238, 243, 247, 252, 263, 299 

369 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Bowen, Fred, 107 

Boyd, John 252 

Boynton, Judd, 268 

Brand, Vance, 61 

Brandenstein, Daniel, 8 

Brazil, 12, 119, 273 

Bristow, Frank, 87 

British Aerospace Dynamics Corp., 111, 143, 285 

British Civil AviatiodAuthority, 108 

British Interplanetary Society, 91, 131 

British Science Research Council, 186 

Brown, Harold, 1, 130 

Brown, Richard, 110 

Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 19 

BSE satellite, 97 

Buchli, James, 8 

Buckner, Horst, 32 

Bulgaria, 49, 263 

Bunker Ram0 Corp., 179 

Bykovsky, Valery, 200 

C-5 aircraft, 5 

C-130 aircraft, 5 

C-141 aircraft, 5 

Cable & Wireless, Ltd. (UK), 68 

Calder, Peter, 171 

Caldwell, J. J., 109 

California Institute of Technology, 152 

Calio, Anthony, 214 

Calspan Corp., 151 

CalTech, 21, 122, 244 

Canada, 4, 5, 12, 18, 38, 39, 94, 121, 202, 223, 272, 275, 294 

Canaveral Council of Technical Societies, 195 

Cape Canaveral, 5, 22, 62, 64, 82, 88, 93, 100, 268 

Carlos, H.M. Juan, 109 

Carr, Gerald, 224 

Carter, Jimmy, 1,8,9,28,31,44,45,46,74,75,77,92, 104, 113, 115, 122, 130, 142, 178, 

Caruso, Andrea, 15 

Cassidy, William, 37, 38, 144 

Ceallaigh, C. O., 32 

Central Intelligence Agency, 1 

Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (France), 20, 50, 140, 210 

Chaffee, Roger, 231 

Chapman, Kenneth, 4, 116 

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., 189 

Chase Econometrics, 63 

Chemical clouds, 255 

Cheston, T. Stephen, 79 

Chimex Systems, Inc., 181 

China, 33, 170 

China Navigation Society, 27 

Chirivella, Jose, 152 

Chitre, NandKishore, I5 

Christopher, Warren, 280 

224, 235, 239, 241, 245, 249, 260, 265, 274, 275 

370 
ASTRONAUTICS AND MRONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

Civil Aeronautics Board, 40, 113 

Civil Aviation Authority (UK), 20 

Civil Service Commission, 44 

Clanton, Uel, 187 

Clapper, Peter, 46 

Clouds, 95, 162, 255 

Coast Guard, 121, 176, 293 

Coats, Michael, 8 

Cohen, Aaron, 191 

Comets, 88 

Communications 

global systems, 47, 57, 78, 81, 83, 108, 153, 246, 304 

global systems antenna, 10 

lasers, 286 

problems, 203 

submarines, 203 

systems, 14,25, 39 

Communications Technology Satellite, 81 

Computer Sciences Corp., 155, 181, 211 

Computer Systems, 2, 6, 43, 49, 51, 81, 85, 141, 167, 172, 254 

massive parallelism, 72 

spacecraft, 87, 167 

Comsat General, 147 

ComSatCorp, 2, 3, 5, 7, 15, 47, 58, 94, 108, 113, 136, 143, 171, 202, 280, 314 

Comsats, 64, 80, 81, 83, 93, 108, 121, 136, 159, 164, 166, 261, 275, 277, 284, 291, 304 

COMSTAR, 47, 136, 314 

Concorde, 8,43, 59, 171, 31 1 

Condor, Gossamer, 70 

Conferences. See meetings, 55 

Congress, U.S. 

conference committees, 9 

House of Representatives, 38, 52, 92, 93, 103, 112, 132, 155, 289 

Senate, 75, 81, 92, 103, 112, 155, 289 

Conrad, Jr., Charles, 224 

Construction in space, 18, 84 

Control systems, 6, 15, 43, 202, 263, 272, 277, 312 

Copernicus (orbiter), 12, 16, 165 

Cornell University, 268 

Corning Glass Works, 6 

Cosmic rays, 32, 95 

Cosmology, 243 

Cosmonauts, 7, 13, 31, 36, 49, 56, 85, 150, 176, 193, 200, 224, 254, 261 

Cosmos 936, 14 

Cosmos 954, 18, 38, 275 

Cosmos 1031, 227 

Cosmos 1047, 275 

Cosmos program, 80, 123, 151, 187 

Cost reductions, 1,9, 35, 30, 42, 84, 105, 178, 201 

Counts, Parker, 254 

Covert, Eugene E., 75 

Covey, Richard, 8 

Cox, Roy, 108 

Cranston, Man, 9 

Creighton, John, 8 

371 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AF+RONAIJTICS, 1978 

Crippen, Robert, 61 

Crow, Duward, 136 

Cruise missiles, 100 

Cts (satellite), 39, 121, 202 

Cuba, 49, 69 

Curien, Hubert, 117 

Czechoslovakia, 49. 69, 125, 263, 277 

Dana, Bill, 249 

Data 

analysis, 2, 4, 6, 28, 35, 52, 88, 142, 166, 174, 271, 300 

collection, 4, 7, 34, 40, 42, 60, 77, 95, 96, 109, 143, 192, 198, 210 

management, 298 

processing, 179 

relay, 181, 196 

storage, 10, 179 

systems, 244 

transmission, 21, 57, 84, 145, 171, 223, 247 

users, 282 

Data-relay satellite, 155 

Day, RQY, 75 

de Havilland Aircraft, 174 

de Laboulaye, Francois, 280 

DeBakey, Michael, 148 

Deep Space Network, 67, 219, 274 

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 185 

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, 204 

Delta (rocket), 5, 15, 16, 40, 88, 93, 94, 97, 110, 116, 146, 221, 254, 261, 275, 277 

Department of Agriculture, 31, 57, 82, 188, 273 

Department of Commerce, 4, 31 

Department of Defense, 1, 11, 18, 21, 25, 26, 29, 31, 75, 77, 89, 115, 116, 122, 126, 155, 

National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 274 

186,203 

Advanced Research Project Agency, 169 

Department of Energy, 13, 31, 45, 52, 60, 68, 87, 112, 167, 171, 196, 233, 249 

Department of Interior, 1, 31, 38, 57, 82, 236 

Department of State, 29 

Department of Transportation, 40, 46, 99, 173, 226, 311 

Design 

aircraft, 8 

engineering, 2, 19, 247, 291 

instrumentation, 50 

spacecraft, 2, 292, 302 

Detroit Diesel Allison Division (GM Corp.), 60 

Development Sciences, Inc.. 300 

Dhawan, S., 164 

Dinneen, Gerald, u13 

Divita, David, 88 

Dixon, Robert J., 82 

DNA and RNA, 138 

Domingo, D.V., 32 

Double Eagle 11, 199 

Dryden Flight Research Center, 29, 43, 56. 83, 225 

Dscs 2 (satellite), 78 

DuPont Corp., 50 

372 
ASRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

Dupree, Andrea, 186 

Dzhanibekov, Vladimir, 7 

E-Systems, Inc., 159 

Earhart, Amelia, 83, 107 

Eastern Test Range, 86, 169, 286 

Economics 

aerospace industry, 4, 314 

aviation industry, 72, 206 

B-1 bomber, 9 

data storage, 10 

European space program, 278 

satellite launch, 245 

see also expenditures, 3 

Ecuador, 21 

Edelson, Edward, 137 

Education, 310 

Edwards Air Force Base, 28 

Egypt, 164 

El-Baz, Farouk, 164 

Electric Space Division, 249 

Electricity, generated from space, 80 

Electronic message systems, 279 

Elliott, David, 87 

Elliot, Jim, 268 

Emme, Eugene, 91 

EMR Telemetry, 227 

Encke comet, 229 

Energy 

conservation, 31, 35, 43, 68, 71, 103, 131, 137, 201, 215, 259, 291, 298 

costs, 220 

efficiency, 41 

Energy Materials Corp., 240 

England, 4 

Engle, Joe, 61 

ENTEL, 202 

Enterprise (orbiter), 6, 11, 29, 121 

Environmental Protection Agency, 31, 58, 145 

Environmental Research & Technology, Inc., 314 

Environmental Research Laboratory, 17 

Eppley Laboratory, Inc., 13 

ERN0 (W. Germany), 27, 251 

Erythrocytes, 298 

Escuela Politecnia National (Ecuador), 21 

European Broadcast Union, 110 

European Space Agency, 5, 7, 11, 15, 16, 20, 27, 33, 34, 57, 59, 83, 84, 88, 94, 109, 11 1, 

129, 140, 143, 150, 153, 159, 165, 177, 183, 186, 198, 206, 212, 218, 254, 265, 278 

expenditures, 93 

ots 2, 110 

European Space Operations Centre, 85, 109, 143, 177, 282 

Eutelsat, 160, 198 

Evans, John, 67 

Exos B, 212 

Exosat, 93, 216 

Expenditures 

373 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

comsats, 291 

climate research, 31 

European Space Agency, 1 11 

Intelsat program, 3, 119 

meteosat, 213 

MX-missile, 1 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 152 

research and development, total U.S., 103 

Space Shuttle, 44, 117, 218, 251 

See also Economics and Funding 

atmospheric, 11 1 

Avefria, 111 

biological, 39 

chemical clouds, 255 

CARP, 282 

life sciences, 91 

materials processing, 30, 124, 160, 219, 233 

meteorological, 271, 283 

scientific, 29, 30, 32, 53, 70, 110, 134, 177, 184, 194, 269 

Experiments 

Explorer, 166 

Explorer I, 16, 17, 62 

Explorer 52, 147 

Extraterrestrial life, 116, 144 

Extravehicular activity, 50 

Fabian, John, 8 

Fairchild Space and Electronics Co., 30 

Faise, Jr., Fred, 98 

Farnham, Lee, 147 

Farquhar, Robert, 276 

Fastie, W. G., 110 

Federal Aviation Administration, 5, 8, 20, 46, 113, 185, 202, 206, 215, 226, 298 

Federal Communications Commission, 58, 1 13 

Federal Electric Corp., 286 

Federal Republic of Germany, 27, 29, 58, 85, 92, 93, 106, 148, 171, 206. 218, 251 

Feoktistov, Konstantin, 85, 193, 227 

Ferranti Electronics, Ltd., 246 

Fichtel, Carl, 215 

Finke, Wolfgang, 117 

Finn, Terence, 199 

Firewheel (Germany), 206 

Fisher, Anna, 8 

Fishman, Gerald, 215 

Fletcher, James C., 26, 35 

Flight safety, 18 

F nie, 45, 251, 289 

F 

Fluorocarbons, 37 

Food, 278 

Ford, Gerald, 260 

Ford Aerospace and Communications Corp., 223, 261, 275 

Forest Service, 167 

Fowler, James, 204 

Fox, Kenneth, 182 

11, 25, 52, 86, 183 

374 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

France, 4, 20, 39, 50, 92, 119, 140, 210 

Friedmann, E. Imre, 43 

Frietag, Robert F., 79 

Frosch, Robert 11, 12, 38,44, 74, 75, 81, 97, 142, 164, 191,223,231, 238,247,255,259, 

Frutkin, Arnold, 49, 270 

Fullerton, Charles, 61 

Fulton, Fitzhugh, 67 

Funding, 226 

292, 31 1 

government, 1, 3, 9, 13, 16, 27, 31, 44, 48, 52, 103, 196, 211, 220, 285 

research and development, 48, 103, 259, 260, 313 

See also Expenditures. 

Fuqua, Don, 133,214, 251, 289 

Fury, Joe, 203 

Gagarin, Yuri, 85 

Galileo project, 12, 91, 148, 161 

Gamma rays, 34, 95, 120, 233 

Garber, Paul, 297 

Gardner, Dale, 8 

CARP, 282 

Garrett Corp., 296 

Garriott, Owen, 183 

Gazenko, Oleg, 298 

Geddes, William, 15 

Gemini, 79 

Gemini-Titan, 79 

General Dynamics Corp., 5, 89, 113, 135, 137, 169, 205, 246 

General Electric Co., 40, 52,96, 114, 147, 148, 159, 171,213,215,219, 225, 277,298, 305 

Geological Survey (U.S.), 187, 314 

Geophysics Labs and Research, 268 

George Washington University, 107 

Geos (satellite), 143, 177, 194 

Geos I and 2, 254 

Geos 2, 239 

Geos 3, 284 

German Democratic Republic, 49, 200 

Giacconi, Riccardo, 275 

Giberson, Gene, 248 

Gibson, Edward, 224 

Gibson, Robert, 8 

Gibson, Roy, 247, 294 

Gilliam, Issac, 136 

Ginter, R. D. “Duff”, 99 

Glaser, Peter, 70 

Glazer, J. Henry, 79 

Glenn, Jr., John, 224 

Glissada (USSR), 41 

Global Associates, 303 

Global Atmospheric Research Program, 116, 146, 182, 210, 299 

Global communication systems, See Communications. 

Global Weather Experiment, 146, 299 

Goddard Space Flight Center, 16 

observatory, 214 

contractors, 30 

375 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

missions, 11 1 

people, 21, 192 

programs, 40, 70, 96, 110, 181, 205, 210, 213 

Godfrey, Frank, 161 

Goes (satellite), 109, 161, 146, 181 

Goes I, 142, 282 

Goes 3, 283 

Goes C, 116 

Gold (presence in space), 166 

Goldreich, Richard, 268 

Gomez, Louis, 195 

Gossamer Condor, 45, 101 

Grechko, Georgy, 31, 56, 151, 224 

Gregory, Frederick, 8, 39 

Grey, Jerry, 132 

Griffith, Cecilia, 162 

Griggs, Stanley, 8 

Grissom, Virgil (Gus), 225, 231 

Grumman Aerospace Corp., 84, 98, 135 

Gubarev, Aleksey, 49 

Gurovsky, Nikolai, 14 

Gursky, Herbert, 186 

H-Sat, 59 

Haigh, Henry, 126 

Haile, Frank, 154 

Haines, Bill, 303 

Haise, Fred, 61 

Hall, Minard, 21 

Halley’s comet, 88, 229 

HALO experiments, 11 

Hannigan, James, 254 

Harr, Jr., Karl, 100 

Harris Corp., 10, 204 

Hart, Terry, 8 

Hartsfield, Henry, 139 

Harvey, John, 94 

Haskins, Glenn, 87 

Hauck, Frederick, 8 

Hawley, Steven, 8 

Hayflick, Leonard, 213 

Heacox, William, 166 

Head, Sara, 70 

Heao, 132 

Heao I, 34, 77, 120, 239 

Heao 2, 268, 272, 275, 283 

Heao B, 94, 262 

Hearth, Donald, 35, 107, 163, 200 

Heat-capacity mapping mission, 95, 187 

Helios I, 192 

Helios B, 233 

Helms, Curtis, 178 

Hermaszewski, Miroslaw, 150, 261 

Hessberg, Rufus, 14 

Heyman, Joseph, 228 

376 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

HiMat (aircraft), 157 

Hinners, Noel, 14, 120, 214,229, 243, 273, 285, 290 

Hoffman, Jeffrey, 8 

Honeywell, Inc., 2 

Horizont (satellite), 304 

Horton, Vic, 68 

Horz, Fred, 32 

House of Representatives, U.S. See Congress, 75 

Hovell, C. Ronald, 23 

How-Ren, Pan, 170 

Hsnmin, Jen, 284 

Hughes Aircraft Co., 38, 45, 47, 96, 124, 148, 186, 312 

Hughes Communications Services, Inc., 216, 280 

Hughes, Thomas, 91 

Hungary, 49, 263 

Hussain, Farooq, 17 

Hutchinson, Neil, 62 

Hydrazine engine, 300 

Icing, 185 

Ifft, Edward, 179 

ILLIAC IV (computer), 167 

Imagery, 40, 47, 178 

India, 7, 164, 207, 263, 273 

Indian Space Research Organization, 304 

Industralization in spade, 84, 231 

Infrared 

astronomical satellite, 144 

imaging, 47 

spectrum, 95, 146 

surveillance, 45 

water-vapor radiometer, 17 

INSAT-1, 164 

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 88 

Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (Japan), 41, 212 

Intelsat, 3, 10, 15,33,47,58,68, 113, 118, 143,145, 162,166, 171, 198,217,223,264,277, 

280, 297, 301, 314 

expenditures, 3, 119 

Intelsat IV-A, 2 

Intelsat IVA F-3, 2, 3 

Intelsat ZVA F-6, 3 

Interceptor satellites, 28, 64, 77, 89, 123, 130, 265, 275 

Intercosmos 18, 277 

International Academy of Astronautics, 91 

International Aeronautic Federation, 126 

lnternational Civil Aviation Organization, 6, 20, 92, 107, 173, 203 

International cooperation, 92, 97, 111, 117, 146, 165, 177, 183, 188, 198, 202, 210, 238, 

280, 294, 299, 307 

U.S. and Europe, 15, 83, 107, 143 

International cooperation. See also USSR, 92 

International Council of Scientific Unions, 146, 299 

International Geophysical Year, 17, 62 

International Hydrodynamics Co., 83 

International Magnetospheric Study, 143 

International Maritime Satellite Observation (INMARSAT), 223 

377 
INLEX ASTRONAuT1[(3s AND&$RONAUTICS, 1978 

ht Telephone and Telegraph, 96 

Int Ultraviole rer, 15, 16, 34, 70, 186, 243 

International Union of 

Interstellar wind, 32 

Ionosphere, 221 

Iran, 12 

Ireland, 92 

ISEE (satellite). 177, 192, 198 

ISEE 3, 276 

ISEE C, 165 

Italy. 12, 33 

Itek Optical Systems Division, 222 

ITT World Communications, 114 

IUE (satellite), 166 

Ivanchenkov, Alexander, 150, 176, 254, 261, 298 

Jackson State University, 39 

Jaehn, Sigmund, 261 

Jaffe, Leonard, 106 

Jahn, Sigmund, 200 

Japan, 3, 5, 12, 41, 51, 94, 97, 119, 149, 198, 212 

Japan Science Society, 79 

Japanese Broadcasting Corp., 52 

Japanese Defense Agency, 28 

Japanese Maritime Science Promotion Foundation, 79 

Jay, Peter, 280 

Jefferys, William, 110 

Jennings, Donald, 183 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 16, 300 

and Geophysics, 112 

contracts, 249 

missions, 50, 57, 86, 96 

people, 87, 88, 169, 197 

programs, 158, 240 

Jian-Cheng, Wu, 170 

Johns Hopkins University, 110 

Johnson, C. Curtis, 155 

Johnson, David, 243 

Johnson, Lyndon, 231 

Johnson, Marshall, 123 

Johnson Space Center, 59 

contractors, 50 

contracts, 222 

people, 8, 12, 172 

programs, 42, 56, 87 

Johnston, David, 114 

iet Particle Intercalibration Project, 228 

91, 105, 148, 191 

icle), 2, 12, 16, 84, 210, 241 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

missions, 4, 15, 40, 93, 96, 262 

people, 12 

programs, 7, 27, 33,49, 111, 295 

Spaceport, 130, 136 

Kenya, 90 

Kevlar, 50 

Keys, John, 223 

Killer satellites, 17, 28 

Kinberg, Robert, 255 

Kirhofer, William, 96 

Kirk, Robert, 32 

Kissel, Ralph, 120 

Klein, M. J., 197 

Klimuk, Pyotr, 150 

Kline, Raymond, 214 

Kluicke & Soffa Industries, Inc., 240 

Kovalenok, Vladimir, 150, 176, 254, 261, 298 

Kraft, Jr., Christopher, 114, 165, 191, 231 

Xramer, James, 214 

Kresge Eye Institute, 14 

Kubasov, Valery, 160 

Kuhn, Peter, 17 

Kuo-feng, Hua, 19 

Kurfess, James, 215 

L-5 Society, 276 

Lambert, K. L., 110 

Lampton, Michael, 129, 188 

Landing system, 173 

Landsat, 57, 67, 68, 166, 187, 205, 244, 272, 298 

contractors, 52 

Landsat I, 12 

Landsat 2, 7, 12 

Landsat 2 and 3, 247 

Landsat 3, 53, 97 

Landsat C, 7, 11, 40 

Landsat D, 7, 11, 30, 159 

Langley Research Center, 3, 18, 66 

contracts, 85, 189, 237, 277 

people, 103, 107, 161, 171, 213, 217, 299 

programs, 201 

Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment, 188, 272 

Large Space Systems Technology, 18 

Laser-heterodyne radiometer, 37 

LaserCom, 287 

Lasers, 17, 29, 41, 71, 77, 83, 141, 185, 203, 206, 286 

Latapie, Francis, I5 

Lawless, James, 137 

Learjet, 18 

Leasat. 147, 216, 280 

Leckrone, David, 166 

Leonov, Aleksey, 69 

LES 8 and 9 (satellites), 22 

Lewandowski, Bohdan, 247 

Lewis, Charles, 62, 238 

379 
INDEX ASRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Lewis Research Center, 14 

contractors, 60 

contracts, 2 

missions, 53 

people, 19 

programs, 39, 82, 105, 156 

Lichtenberg, Byron, 129 

Lilly, William, 75 

Lind, Don, 32 

Lindberg, Anne Morrow, 107 

Lindberg, Charles A., 311 

Linsky, Jeffrey, 70 

Liquid-fuel rocket, 2, 6, 104, 169 

Lissaman, P.B.S., 70 

Lixiscope, 190 

Lockheed International, 89, 114, 145 

Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., 6, 111, 158, 184, 241 

Lockheed-Georgia Co., 5 

Lomas, Lucius, 264 I 

Lomax, Harvard, 35 

Long Duration Exposure Facility, 3, 31, 133 

Loomis, Vincent, 83 

Lorre, Jean, 169 

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, 64 

Loudenslager, Leo, 126 

Louis Pasteur University (France), 278 

Lousma, Jack, 161 

Lovelace, Alan, 44, 133, 248, 252, 255 

Lovell, Jim, 99 

Lucas, William, 35 

Lucid, Shannon, 8 

Lunar and Planetary Institute (Texas), 55 

Lunar Curatorial facility, 38 

Lundin, Bruce, 248, 254 

Lunney, Glynn, 191 

Lushina, Louis, 33 

Lynn, Donn, 169 

MacCready, Paul, 46 

Magion, 277 

Magnavox, 130 

Magnetosphere, 143, 147, 177, 212 

Makarov, Oleg, 7 

Malaga, Joseph, 195 

Malfunctions, 80, 83, 88, 111, 187, 241, 248, 271 

Malkin, Mike, 75 

Management Services, Inc., 136 

Mannen, James, 254 

Manring, Lewis, 137 

Mapping, 187, 233, 285, 298 

Marecs (satellite), 198, 223, 280 

Marine Corps, 8 

Mariner 9, 266 

Marisat, 280, 314 

Marks, Alvin, 154 

380 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERQNAWCS, 1978 INDEX 

Marots-A, 207 

Mars, 44, 50, 56, 88, 163, 174,266 

White Rock, 267 

Mars airplane, 300 

Marshall Islands, 83 

Marshall Space Flight Center, 10, 11, 16, 22, 25 

contractors, 30, 193 

contracts, 135, 184, 296 

ground control laboratory, 31 

missions, 71 

people, 21, 49, 178 

programs, 6, 7, 13, 15, 27, 34, 41, 109, 141, 160 

Martin Marietta Aerospace, 313 

Martin Marietta Corp., 13.45, 65, 78, 90, 113, 119, 156, 159, 294, 296 

Mason, Brian, 144 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 193 

Materials processing (in space), 30, 150, 219, 233 

Maverick (missile), 312 

MB Associates, 240 

McBride, Jon, 8 

McCaIl, Robert, 163 

McCarthy, John, 19 

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., 65 

McDonnell Douglas Corp., 17, 46, 54, 89, 247, 296, 313 

McMurtry, Tom, 68 

McNair, Ronald, 8 

McRee, Griffith, 200 

McTigue, John, 68 

Mechanical Technology, Inc., 68 

Media, 249 

Medicine, 87, 105, 107 

Meetings, 10, 14, 18,21,32,41,55,66,70,81, 88, 107, 114, 122, 142, 161,171, 185, 188, 

Menrad, Wesley, 152 

Merbold, Ulf, 188 

Mercury (planet), 56 

Mercury (spacecraft), 42, 79 

Mercury Co., 237 

Mercury-Atlas, 79 

Mercury-Redstone, 79 

Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm, 171 

Meteorites, 37, 144 

Meteorology, 31, 49, 60, 109, 142, 161, 177, 189, 204, 209, 252, 271, 283, 299 

Meteosat system, 129, 213 

Meteosat I, 84, 282 

Meteosat 2, 206, 304 

Methane (in space), 182 

Mexico, 264 

Micro Creft, Inc., 66 

Micrometeorites, 4, 13, 32, 176 

Microwave scanning-beam landing system, 83, 92, 158, 173, 202. See also Time 

Midwest Research Institute, 63 

Miller, R. B., 96 

195, 213, 216, 236, 243, 246, 247, 265, 268, 273, 292, 296 

reference scanning-beam/microwave landing system. 

381 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Miller, R. H., 35 

Miller, Richard, 167 

Mineral exploration in space, 80, 166 

Mini-Sniffer (aircraft), 300 

Minority employment, 7, 8, 39 

Mission specialists, 8, 41 

Models, 6, 53, 56, 66, 205, 233, 286, 301 

Mofniyu 3 comsat, 13 

Molniya program, 10 

Mongolia, 49, 69 

Monitoring 

earth resources, 40, 53, 95, 121, 145, 158, 159, 176, 187, 205, 212, 241, 271, 298 

space-based, 31, 82, 159, 188, 230, 239, 266 

Morgan, Walter, 108 

Morrison, James, 33 

Moseson, Merland, 255 

Motorola, Inc., 240 

Muckelstone, Robert, 154 

Mueller, George, 68 

Mullane, Richard, 8 

Multispectral scanner system, 40, 53 

Murray, Bruce, 300 

MX (missile), 1, 2, 126, 153 

Myers, Dale, 45 

Mylar, 50 

Nagel, Steven, 8 

Nagoya University, 42 

Narimanov, Georgy, 80 

NASA-928 (aircraft), 88 

National Academy of Engineering, 77 

National Academy of Sciences, 75, 238 

National Aeronautic Association, 46, 56, 82, 125 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

budget, 10, 11, 30, 52, 57, 67, 92, 93, 103, 106, 188, 250 

contractors, 30, 90, 114, 153, 159, 303, 305 

contracts, 151, 156 

End-to-End Data Systems (NEEDS) project, 10 

expenditures, 152, 155 

ground facilities, 50 

launch schedule, 308 

management, 4, 5, 10, 33, 44, 106, 172, 231, 250, 252, 270 

minority businesses, 181 

minority employment, 39 

missions, 49, 57, 256 

Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, 28, 99, 152, 185 

Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications, 23, 25, 106, 142 

Office of Space Science, 122, 285, 290 

Office of Space Transportation Systems, 52 

people, 11, 20, 22, 33, 49, 91, 96, 99, 135, 178, 199, 213 

policy, 104, 142 

programs, 67 

research, 14, 15, 17, 31, 38, 63, 97, 142 

small business activity, 310 

impact on GNP, 63 

382 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTKS, 1978 INDEX 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Communications Network (NASCOM), 

National Business Aircraft Association, 185 

National Center for Atmospheric Research, 87 

National Environmental Satellite Service, 176, 209, 243 

National Eye Institute, 105 

National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, 74 

National Medical Association, 190 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1, 5, 13, 17, 18, 31, 68, 94, 109, 116, 

219 

122, 142, 146, 161, 176, 178, 210, 273 

National Parachute Test Range, 55, 90, 106, 222 

National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 183 

National Remote Sensing Agency (India), 7 

National Research Council, 74, 81, 235, 302 

National Rocket Club, 91 

National Science Foundation, 30, 31, 37, 43, 44, 144, 211, 270 

National Security Council, 161 

National Space and Technology Laboratory, 96, 261 

National Space Club, 200 

National Space Development Agency (Japan) 

National Space Technology Laboratories, 12, 119, 182, 252 

National Taxpayers Union, 196 

National Transonic Facility, 253, 277, 302 

Nato 3C, 260, 275 

Naval Electronic Systems Command, 26 

Naval Research Laboratory, 159, 168, 296 

Navigation systems, 177, 286 

NavStar, 100, 130, 134, 177, 286 

NavStar 2, 118, 203 

Navy, 5, 8, 17, 21, 25, 26, 52, 94, 99, 121, 176, 270 

Nellis Air Force Base, 83 

Nelson, George, 8 

Nelson, Jr., David, 268 

Nesterov, Peter, 126 

Netherlands, 144, 163 

Newcomb Cleveland Award, 35 

Newman, Larry, 199 

Nicollier, Claude, 188 

Nike-Apache (rocket), 228 

Nimbus 6, 42 

Nimbus B, 212 

Nimbus G, 11, 201, 213, 220, 230, 245, 247, 253 

Nippon Electric Co., 10 

Noise standards (aviation), 32 

NOISEMAP, 204 

Nola, Frank, 105, 137, 259 

NORAD, 218 

Norris, T. Bland, 255 

North American Rockwell, 98 

North Carolina A&T State University, 39 

Northern Research and Engineering Corp., 293 

Nosaka, K., 145 

Wallops Flight Center, 86, 90, 181, 201, 211, 235, 260 

Broadcasting Satellite for Experiment Purposes, 51 

383 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

O'Conner, Joseph, 147 

O'Leary, Brian, 80 

O'Neill, Gerald, 116 

O'Sullivan, D., 32 

OA02, 16 

Obayashi, Tatsugo, 41 

Observances, 175, 221, 227,231, 249, 255, 311 

Observations 

Observatories 

space-based, 34 

ground-based, 36, 277 

space-based, 15, 20, 70, 85, 94, 109, 120, 132, 214, 239, 247, 262, 269, 276, 283 

Ocampo-Friedman, Roseli, 43 

Ockels, Wubbo, 188 

Odetics Corp., 145 

Odyssey (Apollo mothership), 98 

Ogarkov, Nikoli V., 77 

Onizuka, Ellison, 8 

Orbit 81, 310 

Orbita network, 14 

Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3, 12 

Orbiting relay stations, 22 

Oscar D, 53 

Ots (ESA satellite), S9 

Ots 2, 109, 149, 246 

OTS A, 88, 149 

Out of Ecliptic program, 11 

Oxford University, 61 

Ozone monitoring, 88, 212 

P80-2 mission, 45 

Paarlberg, Don, 273 

Pacific Northwest Regional Commission, 67 

Page, Thornton, 170 

Pan American World Airways, 151 

Papago Construction Co., 112 

Parachutes, 55, 90, 100, 106, 125, 209, 222, 266, 300 

Parker, Robert, 183 

Particle-intercollabertion project, 112 

Patchett, Bruce, 94 

Patterson, N. Paul, 94 

Patton, Jr., James, 216 

Payload specialists, 184, 188, 238 

Payne, Randolph, 145 

Pegasus program, 218, 286 

Penaranda, Frank, 22 

People's Republic of China, 17, 19, 26, 81,227, 245, 272, 284, 307 

Perkin-Elmer Corp., 6 

Perras, Marcel, 145, 301 

Peterson, Laurence, 215 

Petrov, Boris, 14 

Phobos, 2 

Pierce, John, 27 

Pinson, Larry, 230 

Pioneer, 96, 117, 123, 138, 173, 194, 233, 240, 270, 280, 293, 299, 305 

384 
ASIXONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

Pioneer 11, 1, 84, 170 

Pioneer Venus, 61 

PIanetary exploration, 50 

Planning Research Corporation, 129 

Plasma-interaction experiment, 53 

Plessey Corporation, 20 

Podraczky, Emeric, 15 

Pogue, William, 224 

Poland, 49 

Policy 

research, 21 

science, 260 

social, 80 

space, 1, 33, 241, 249, 274, 289 

Pollution, 11, 88, 97, 145, 174, 212, 215, 230, 245 

Porter, George, 137 

Poseidon (missile), 82 

Postal Service, US., 163, 279 

Power sources 

batteries, 96 

electric, 103, 105 

microwave, 80, 107, 116 

nuclear, 1 I5 

renewable, 103, 156, 265 

solar, 16, 26, 80, 89, 115, 156, 175, 240, 249 

Power systems 

nuclear, 275 

Powersats, 93, 196 

Prague Institute of Geophysics, 277 

Presidential Command Network, 25 

Press, Frank, 26, 30, 122, 161, 260, 307 

Price, Melvin, 46 

Princeton University, 109 

Prinz, Dianne, 94, 184 

Progress I, 12, 29, 31, 36, 104 

Progress2, 176, 187 

Progress 2, 3, aqd 4, 26 1 

Progress 3, 193 

Project Cameo, 255 

Propulsion systems, 196 

Proxmire, William, 183, 188, 211 

Public opinion (space program), 154 

Puddy, Donald, 62 

Puerto Rico, 164 

Pyrheliometers, 13 

Quiet short-haul research aircraft, 174, 190 

Radar, 155, 199, 271, 273 

Radio Research Laboratories of Japan, 52 

Radio systems, 42, 86 

Radio waves, 191, 197 

Radiometers, 17, 37, 74, 95, 146, 159, 181, 210, 252, 271 

Rand, Robert, 87 

Rapp, Rita, 245 

Rasool, Ichtiaque, 23, 148 

385 
mw ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Ray, Dixy Lee, 67 

RCA Corp., 49, 89, 196,219, 221,240,279, 283, 291, 310 

RCA Global Communications, 114 

Recovery systems, 90 

Redstone (launch vehicle), 16 

Reed, Dale, 300 

Reeder, John, 217 

Reentry, 218 

Reentry flight dynamics simulator, 139 

Remek, Vladimir, 49 

Remote sensing, 7, 12, 34, 81,95, 123, 166, 295 

Research a 

atmospheric, 263, 300 

aviation, 96 

biomedical, 114 

climate, 31 

computer systems, 72 

design, 51 

expenditures, 48 

funding, 259 

grants, 35, 44 

high energy, 291 

high pressure, 269 

human, 295 

lunar, 21 1 

magnetic field, 80 

medical, 49 

ocean, 89 

scientific, 306 

solar, 184, 247 

space colonization, 276 

budget, 260 

funding, 103, 313 

Research and development, 4, 142, 158, 185, 188, 195, 244, 289 

Resnick, Judith, 8 

Resources monitoring, 21 

Ride, Sally, 8 

Riggins Company, inc., 253 

Robinson, Henry, 166 

Rockwell International Corp., 39, 56, 63, 114, 119, 125, 134, 139, 158, 182, 286, 301 

Rolls Royce Ltd., 171 

Romanenko, Yuri, 31, 56, 151, 224 

Romania, 49, 263 

Rood, Jack, 154 

Rosenblum, Louis, 175 

Rostafinski, Wojciech, 62 

Roth, William, 188 

Rotor systems research aircraft, 86, 229 

Rowe, Herbert, 22 

Royal Aeronautical Society, 101 

Ruloff, Arthur, 268 

Rupp, Charles, 120 

Safety 

Rocketdyne Division, 75 

386 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

aviation, 32 

Saito di Quirra, 33 

SALT, 2 

Salyut program, 30 

Salyut 2,291 

Salyut 3,290 

Salyut 4,70 

Safyut s, 14, 290 

&&uta, 7, 12, 13, 30, 31,36, 39, 56, 70, 104, 176, 193, 200, 224, 227, 254, 261 

Salyut 6/Soyuz 29, 150 

Salyut 27, 30 

SAMSO, 127 

San Andreas Fault Experiment, 141 

Sanchini, Dominic, 75 

Sas3, 193 

Satcom-3, 291 

Satellite charing at high altitudes (SCATHA), 294 

Satellite Communications Terminal Program Office, 22 

Saturn (planet), 1, 2, 84, 87, 170, 210, 241 

Saturn (rocket), 4, 72, 78, 79, 218 

Saudi Arabia, 33 

Scanning beam microwave landing system. See Microwave scanning beam landing system. 

Scatterometers, 271 

Schjeldahl Corp., 50 

Schmitt, Harrison, 35, 75, 104, 232, 251, 289 

Schneider, William, 99, 214 

Schoenfelder, V., 215 

Schroeder, D. J., 109 

Science Research Council (UK), 15, 60 

Scobee, Francis, 8 

Scott, David, 35, 136, 300 

Scott, Sheila, 154 

Scout (launch vehicle), 90, 95, 99, 163, 262 

SDC Integrated Services, Inc., 85 

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence, 66, 106 

Seasat, 57, 89, 100, 121, 134, 144, 176, 223, 241, 247, 248, 254, 271 

SeaSat I, 158 

Seasat A, 11 

SeaSat Users Research Group Europe, 247 

Seddon, Margaret, 8 

Senate, U.S. See Congress, US, 75 

Sensor systems, 40, 58 

Sensor Technology, Inc., 241 

SEPAC (space experiments with particle accelerators), 41 

SET1 program, 220 

Shakar, Mohamed, 164 ’ 

Shaw, Jr., Brewster, 8 

Shepard, Alan, 225 

Shklovsky, Iosif, 115 

Short, Nicholas, 166 

Shramo, Daniel, 255 

Shriver, Loren, 8 

Shroud of Turin, 169 

spacecraft, 34, 74, 77, 95, 177, 212, 236 

387 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONA!JTICS, 1978 

Sikorsky Aircraft, 86 

Siltec Corp., 241 

Simokaitis, Frank, 213 

Simon, George, 94, 184 

Simulation, 139. 156, 167, 174 

Sky Van (aircraft), 201 

Skylab, 12, 36, 61, 65,71, 78, 82, 106, 115, 120, 140, 156, 164, 224, 249, 259, 302 

Skylab 4, 56, 168 

Slayton, Donald “Deke”, 42, 221, 231 

Smith, Aubrey, 260, 293 

Smith, Bruce, 167 

Smith, Richard, 178 

Smithsonian Institution, 38, 42, 45, 144, 296 

Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, 164 

National Air and Space Museum, 79, 199,263,297 

Snap IOA test vehicle, 18 

snow, Harold, 87 

Societe Europeenee de Propulsion (Ftance), 7, 294 

Society for Automotive Engineers, 152 

Solar activity, 32, 37, 57, 122, 147, 165, 192, 198, 214, 235, 276 

Solar conversion devices, 16 

arrays, 26, 66, 78, 112, 132, 172, 184, 194, 219, 239, 248, 272 

cells, 132, 168, 171 

collectors, 194 See also Power sources, solar. 

primordial matter, 37 

Solar system 

Solar wind, 84 

Solar-Polat 

Solid-fuel rocket, 4, 10, 16,49, 54, 83, 88, 90, 100, 106, 111, 260, 271, 313 

Sollos, Inc., 241 

Sonnemann, Harry, 178 

Soviet Academy of Sciences, 14, 80, 148 

Soyuz 18, 56 

Soyuz21, 14 

Soyuz 24, 14 

Soyuz 26, 7, 13, 56, 224 

Soyuz27, 7, 12, 13, 31, 39 

Soyuz 28, 49 

Soyuz 29, 176,200,224, 261 

Soyuz30, 150, 176 

Souyz 31, 200, 254,261 

Space 

construction, 18, 84 

food, 245 

medicine, 13, 91, 111, 151, 262 

Space and Missile Systems Organizations (Air Force), 45 

Space and Missile Test Center, 286 

Space Computational Center, 179 

Space debris hazards, 18 

Space processing applications rocket, 219 

Space Shuttle, 25 

see Out of Eliptic program, 11 

costs, 44, 117, 218, 251 

crews, 7, 8, 39, 61, 278 

388 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, ma INDEX 

designation system, 197 

experiments, 3 

external fuel tank, 6, 178 

funding, 44, 220 

launches, 115, 195, 277 

management, 295 

missions, 12 

orbiter, 4, 6, 11.44, 50, 52, 69, 91,93, 104, 114, 158, 183 

payloads, 3, 12, 16, 18,20,29, 30,32,36,40, 38,50,57,82,89,91, 106, 110, 111, 124, 

policy, 90 

problems, 226 

propulsion, 6, 10, 19, 54, 72, 75, 80, 84, 90, 96, 182, 223, 253,261, 272, 292 

safety, 107 

systems, 120, 138, 155 

testing, 7, 21,42, 54, 60, 69, 72, 81, 83.90, 96, 103, 106, 119, 121, 132, 149, 156, 182, 

upper stages, 90 

156, 161, 164, 222, 273, 285, 297 

222, 232, 242, 252, 253, 271, 292, 302 

Space stations, 80, 85, 149, 161, 232 

Space Telescope, 6, 11, 16, 20, 21, 109, 110 

Space Transportation System, 41, 133 

Space walk, record, 176 

Spacecraft charging at high altitudes (SCATHA), 312 

Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network, 51, 205 

Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station, 21 

Spacelab, 21, 30, 95, 117, 124, 129, 134, 168, 183, 188, 296 

' 

costs, 285 

crew, 308 

experiments, 94, 309 

funding, 290 

management, 25, 41 

payloads, 29, 160, 284 

preparations, 27, 33, 217, 238, 264 

SPAR V, 219 

Spectrometers, 283, 293 

Speer, Fred, 34 

Sperry Rand Corp., 296 

Spin research vehicle, 225 

Sports coverage by satellite, 146 

SRI International, 189 

Stafford, Thomas, 10, 45, 191 

Stanford University, 39 

State University of New York, 109 

Steffen, C. J., 145 

Stennis, John, 9 

Stereosat program, 93, 220 

Stevenson, 111, Adlai E., 75, 229, 251, 289 

Steward, Robert, 8 

Stitt, James, 255 

Strategic Air Command, 11, 26 

Straub, Robert, 67 

Strong, Keith, 94 

Submarines, 131, 203 

Sullivan, Kathryn, 8 

389 
INDEX ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Super Guppy (aircraft), 301 

Supersonic transport, 216 

Surveillance, 223, 265, 275, 290 

infrared, 45 

ocean, 270 

submarine, 131 

Swain, Charles, 201 

Sweden, 92 

Swigert, Jack, 98 

Symposium. See meetings, 59 

Syncom-4, 38 

Synthetic-aperture radar, 199 

System for nuclear auxiliary power (SNAP), 115 

Systems, computer. See Computer systems. 

Systems Development Corp., 68 

Syvertson, Clarence, 99, 263 

Taurus-Tomahawk, 260 

TD I satellite, 16 

Teague, Oh, 93, 213, 230, 238 

Technische Universitat (Austria), 264 

Technology 

applications, 12, 27, 41, 52, 79, 236, 314 

future, 107 

transfer, 7, 62, 100, 122, 161, 172, 245, 284, 307 

utilization, 190, 201, 260, 286 

Technology Utilization House, 201 

Teledyne Brown Engineering, 40 

Teleoperator retrieval system, 71, 156, 183, 220, 259, 302 

Telesat, 314 

Telesat D, 289 

Telescopes, 35, 36, 145, 168, 186, 216, 243, 262, 276, 283 

radio, 197 

satellite’s, 15 

Television systems, 49, 50 

Telos Computing, Inc., 302 

Temple 2 comet, 88, 229 

Terhune, Charles, 255 

Terrell, Norman, 49 

Testing 

aircraft, 139 

equipment, 30, 105 

Texas A & M, 109 

Thagard, Norman, 8 

3B (Spacecraft), 78 

Thermal protection system tiles, 252 

Thiokol Corp., 10, 19, 55, 153, 252, 253, 271 

Thomas, Roger, 309 

Thompson, A., 32 

Thompson, J.R., 75 

Thompson, Robert, 42, 191 

Thor (missile), 17 

Thor/Agena, 265 

Time reference scanning-beamhicrowave landing system, 5, 6, 20, 107. See also 

microwave scanning-beam landing system. 

390 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

30 

Titan, 90, 313 

Titan (rocket), 2, 64, 78, 82, 134, 169, 265 

Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., 52 

Tokyo University, 212 

Tomahawk (missile), 5, 100, 113 

Tracking, 87,91, 159, 171, 196, 205, 246, 286 

Training, 172, 188 

Treaties, 33, 79, 179 

Trident (missile), 82 

Triska, P., 277 

Truly, Richard, 61 

TRW Systems, Inc., 25, 95, 98, 160, 185, 132, 268 

Tuckwell, N., 145 

Turegano, J. A., 197 

Twiggs, Tom, 174 

Uemura, Naomi, 42 

UFOs, 74 

Ullman, Al, 32 

Ultraviolet spectrum, 15, 34, 37, 168, 186 

United Kingdom, 5, 15, 16, 20, 92, 94, 119, 145, 210,246 

United Nations, 33, 39, 202, 247 

United Space Boosters, Inc., 49 

United Stirling (Sweden), 68 

United Technologies Corp., 55. 114, 209, 296, 303, 313 

University of Chicago, 45, 296 

University of Florida, 68 

University of Iowa, 296 

University of Pittsburgh, 37 

University of Texas, 110, 114 

University of Tokyo, 41 

Uranus, 1, 197, 268 

USS Barb, 100 

USSR, 12, 198 

VK-5, 60 

Academy of Sciences, 306 

Cosmos program, 80, 123 

Gagarin Space Centre, 69 

Glissada, 41 

Intercosmos program, 49, 150 

international cooperation, 9, 14, 39, 49, 55, 112, 263, 303 

lunokhod moon-rover (USSR), 80 

manned space flights, 7, 13, 65, 176, 227, 261, 290, 298 

, 39, 69, 80, 187, 214, 224, 227,254, 263, 275, 304, 306 

Tupolev TU-95, 65 

weapons systems, 17, 29, 77 

See also Salut, Soyuz, and Venera 

391 
INDEX ASI'RONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, 5, 6, 7, 11, 89, 90, 95, 97, 100, 115, 159, 227 

Vanguard project, 17, 62 

17aughn, Jr., Otha. 60 

Vaughn, Pat, 67 

Vela, 233 

Venera missions, 117, 273 

Venera I1 and 12, 214, 306 

Venus, 61, 80, 117, 173, 194, 214, 273, 293, 299, 306 

Venus (planet), 96, 123, 138, 233, 240, 270, 280 

Venus-orbiting imaging radar, 199 

Verbeek, Earl, 187 

Viking 

lander, 79 

orbiter, 2, 174 

project, 35, 44, 89, 267 

Viking I, 163 

Viking 2, 163 

Villafranca station (Spain), 16 

Voight Corp., 32 

Von Braun, Werner, 10 

VORTEX (Venus orbiter radiometric temperature experiment), 61 

Vought Corp., 17, 90, 116, 262 

Voyager project, 158, 192, 210, 219, 241 

Voyager I, 2, 105 

Voyager I and 2, 306 

Voyager 2, 1, 2, 86 

Waldheim, Kurt, 247 

Walker, David, 8 

Walker, Joe, 301 

Wallops Flight Center, 86, 90, 181, 201, 211, 235, 260 

WB-57F (aircraft), 87 

Weapons systems, 28 

aircraft, 9 

lasers, 29, 71, 77, 185 

missiles, 1, 5, 46 

nuclear, 17 

space-based, 17, 64, 77 

Weiss, Ted, 104 

Wenzel, K. P., 32 

Western Test Range, 5, 286 

Western Union Corp., 155, 196 

Western Union International, 114 

Western Union Space Communications, Inc., 307 

Westlake, Reginald, 15 

Whitcomb, Richard, 185 

White, 11, Edward, 231 

White Sands Missile Range, 286 

White Sands Test Facility, 195, 228 

Williams, Dell, 255 

Williams, Donald, 8 

Wind sheer, 227 

Wind tunnels, 35, 51,64,66,99, 103,205,209, 233, 253, 277, 302 

Wind-turbine electric generators, 164, 171, 265 

392 
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 INDEX 

Winglets, 35, 255 

Winstead, Thomas, 178 

Winter, David, 14, 114 

Wisner, William, 154 

Women, I, 8, 83, 94, 107, 148, 184, 295 

Wood, H. William, 15 

Woodley, William, 162 

Workshop. See meetings, 66 

World Data Centers, 300 

World Meteorological Organization, 229 

World Weather Watch, 299 

Wright, Wilbur and Orville, 206, 297 

X-15 (aircraft), 249 

X-rays, 34, 35, 60, 78, 95, 120, 163, 186, 190, 193, 239, 243, 262, 268, 275, 283 

Xenon, 268 

XFV-12A (aircraft), 139 

XV-15 (aircraft), 64 

Yardley, John, 75, 191, 197, 214, 225, 289, 303 

YF-12 (aircraft), 92, 296 

Yin, Lo I., 190 

Young, John, 61, 191 

Young, Richard, 43 

Young, Thomas A., 263 

Zaire, 33 

Zisfein, Melvin, 199 

393 

N P 

The NASA History Series 

HISTORIES 

Anderson, Frank W., Jr., Orders of Magnitude: A History of NACA and NASA, 

1915-1980 (NASA SP-4403, 2d ed., 1981). 

Benson, Charles D., and William Barnaby Faherty, Moonport: A History of 

Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations (NASA SP-4204, 1978). 

Bilstein, Roger E., Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the 

Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles (NASA SP-4206, 1980). 

Boone, W. Fred, NASA Office of Defense Affairs: The First Five Years (NASA 

HHR-32, 1970, multilith). 

Brooks, Courtney G., James M. Grimwood, and Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., Chariots 

for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft (NASA SP-4205, 1979). 

Byers, Bruce K., Destination Moon: A History of the Lunar Orbiter Program 

(NASA TM X-3487, 1977, multilith). 

Compton, W. David, and Charles D. Benson, Living and Working in Space: A 

History of Skylab (NASA SP-4208, 1983). 

Corliss, William R., NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958-1968: A Historical Summa@ 

Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell, On Mars: Exploralion of the 

Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell, The Partnership: A History of 

Green, Constance McL., and Milton Lomask, Vanguard: A History (NASA 

Hacker, Barton C., and James W. Grimwood, On the Shoulders of Titans: A 

Hall, R. Cargill, Lunar Impact: A History of Project Ranger (NASA SP-4210, 

Hallion, Richard P., On the Frontier: Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981 

Hartman, Edwin P., Adventures in Research: A History of Ames Research 

Levine, Arnold, Managing NASA in the Apollo Era (NASA SP-4102, 1982). 

Muenger, Elizabeth A., Searching the Horizon: A History of Ames Research 

Newell, Homer E., Beyond the Atmosphere: Early Years of Space Science 

(NASA SP-4401, 1971). 

Red Planet, 1958-1978 (NASA SP-4212, 1984). 

the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (NASA SP-4209, 1978). 

SP-4202, 1970; also Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). 

History of Project Gemini (NASA SP-4203, 1977). 

1977). 

(NASA SP-4303, 1984). 

Center, 1940-1965 (NASA SP-4302, 1970). 

Center, 1940-1976 (NASA SP-4304, 1985). 

(NASA SP-4211, 1980). 

395 
HISTORY SERIES ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS, 1978 

Pitt, John A., The Human Factor Biomedicine in the Manned Space Program 

Roland, Alex, Model Research: The National Advisory Committee for 

Rosenthal, Alfred, Venture into Space: Early Years of Goddard Space Flight 

Rosholt, Robert L., An Administrative History of NASA, 1958-1963 (NASA 

Sloop, John L., Liquid Hydrogen as a Propulsion Fuel, 1945-1959 (NASA 

Swenson, Loyd S., Jr., James M. Grimwood, and Charles C. Alexander, This 

to I980 (NASASPTii3,85). 

Aerdnautics, 1915-1958 (NASA SP-4103, 1985). 

Center (NASA SP-4301, 1968). 

SP-4101, 1966). 

SP-4404, 1978). 

New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury (NASA SP-4201, 1966). 

REFERENCE WORKS 

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President, annual volumes for 1975-1982. 

The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology (NASA SP-4009, vol. 1, 1969; vol. 2, 

1973; vol. 3, 1976; vol. 4, 1978). 

Astronautics and Aeronautics: A Chronology of Science, Technology, and 

Policy, annual volumes 1961-1977, with an earlier summary volume, 

Aeronautics and Astronautics, I95I-I960. 

Dickson, Katherine M., ed., History of Aeronautics and Astronautics: A 

Preliminary Bibliography (NASA HHR-29, 1968, multilith). 

Hall, R. Cargill, ed., Essays on the History of Rocketry and Astronautics: Proceedings of the Third through the Sixth History Symposia of the International 

Academy of Astronautics (NASA CP-2014, 2 vols., 1977). 

Hall, R. Cargill, Project Ranger: A Chronology (JPL/HR-2, 1971, multilith). 

Looney, John J., ed., Bibliography of Space Books and Articles from NonRoland, Alex F., A Guide to Research in NASA History (NASA HHR-50, 6th 

Skylab: A Chronology (NASA SP-4011, 1977). 

Van Nimmen, Jane, and Leonard C. Bruno, with Robert L. Rosholt, NASA 

Historical Data Book, 1958-1968, vol. 1, NASA Resources (NASA SP-4012, 

1976). 

Wells, Helen T., Susan H. Whiteley, and Carrie E. Karegeannes, Origins of 

NASA Names (NASA SP-4402,1976). 

Recent volumes are available from Superintendent of Documerlts, Government 

Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 early volumes from National Technical 

Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. 

Aerospace Journals, 1957-1977 (NASA HHR-51, 1979, multilith). 

ed., 1982, available from NASA History Office). 

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