Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1973 - NASA History Page

372 Pages·2007·8.69 MB·English

NASA SP-4018
A S T R O N A U T I C S A N D
A E R O N A U T I C S , 1973
Chronology of Science, Technology, and Policy
Text by
Science and TechnoIogy Division
Library of Congress
Sponsored by
NASA Historical Office
Scientific and Technical Information OjjiEce 1975
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTBATION
Wshington, D.C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402
Price (paper cover) $4.90
Stock Number 033-000-00617-9
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 6540308
Foreword
This volume in NASA’cso ntinuing series of annual chronologies records the
events of 1973. The 15th year of the space agency’s existence is memorable
to the public as the Year of Skylab and the Year of Jupiter. The nation’s
first earth-orbital laboratory was launched. Beginning with a dramatic 10-day
fix-it effort that restored Skylab’s capability to generate electrical power,
three three-man crews rendezvoused and docked with the space laboratory.
Their total of 12 351 man-hours in space supported the feasibility of pro-
longed manned space flight. Even more impressive were the volume and
quality of experiment results. The sophisticated battery of telescopes in the
Apollo Telescope Mount produced 182 842 frames of film and 941 hours of
manned viewing of the sun. The earth was not neglected either. Orienting the
laboratory toward the earth, astronauts took a total of 40 286 frames of
earth-resources photographs. Electric furnace experiments with zero-gravity
manufacturing offered interesting possibilities of new industrial processes that
cannot be achieved in earth gravity. Assimilation of the knowledge contained
in the mass of data is still continuing.
As the year closed, Pioneer 10 swept by the planet Jupiter after a 21-month
flight that traversed a billion kilometers. Passing through the intense radia-
tion surrounding the largest planet in our solar system, Pioneer 10 sent back
300 closeup photographs of the planet and its inner moons, along with other
measurements of the swirling atmosphere and its massive Red Spot and of
the magnetic, radiation, and electrical environments. Even as it returned the
data-much of which contradicted previous theories-Pioneer 10 was heading
outward toward the orbits of Saturn and Pluto. In the late 1980s it will be-
come the first man-made object to leave the solar system and voyage into
interstellar space. The events of Skylab and Pioneer were only the most
visible successes of 1973, however; many other important events accom-
plished their objectives with less notice.
On a smaller scale, but particularly important to a few, was the announce-
ment of a new heart pacemaker developed from electronic components and
batteries originally designed for use in space. The new model was recharge-
able, thus eliminating the need for periodic surgery to replace the earlier
instrument.
Uses for the vast amount of data from the Earth Resources Technology
Satellite Erts 1 multiplied as it completed its first year in space in July 1973:
planning land use, managing water resources, estimating crop yields, inven-
torying timber, exploring for minerals and petroleum. The practical benefits
from this and similar programs seem at this writing almost limitless. Indeed,
the principal problems are no longer the acquisition of such data, but rather
its rapid and economical reduction int9 usable forms.
In aeronautics, work went forward on a number of programs: digital fly-
by-wire, which will significantly improve aircraft control; the supercritical
wing, which provides significant fuel savings; reduction of noise and pollu-
tion; and hydrogen injection to increase efficiency and reduce pollution from
iii
iV FOREWORD
gasoline engines. Collectively these efforts promise safer flight, fuel economies,
and less damage to our environment.
Thus on most counts NASA activities seemed to bear out the Administrator’s
statement in late 1973 that NASA was providing more emphasis on becoming
L<m ore like one of the service agencies of the government.”
Altogether 1973 was a productive year, punctuated at times with excite-
ment. And while real achievements were being realized, plans were being
laid for subsequent programs, and this volume offers specific information
about both.
Edwin C. Kilgore
Deputy Associate Administrator
for Center Operations
December 1974
Contents
PAG..E.
Foreword ______________________________________________--- 111
Edwin C. Kilgore, Deputy Associate Administrator
for Center Operations
Preface _______________________________________________---- vii
January _____ _____ _______ ___- ___ __ - ___ _____ __ ____ __ ______- 1
February _ __ ______ _ _ __ __ ____ __ _ ___ _____ _______ __ __ ___ ___ __ 35
March _________________________________________________-_- 61
April ___________________________________________-________- 101
May __ _ ______- _ ____ _ ____ ___ __ _____ _ __ __ _ _ ___ _ __ - __ ___ ____ 131
June ___ __ __ ______ ___ ___ __ _____ __ __ - ___ ____ _ _ _ _ -__ ___ ___ __ 171
July _ _ __-- _ ___ __ ___ _______- __ __ ____ ____ ____ _____ _ _ ___ __ ___ 203
August _____________________-__________-_________________- 235
September _ _____ ____ __ ____- __ _ _ __ ___ _ __ _ _ ___ ____ _ _ ___ __ ___ 255
October________-____________-_-___-_________-_______--2_7-9- -
November _ _ _ __ _ - __ - - _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 307
December ________________________________--____--_------ -- 335
Summary _ _ - ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ 357
Appendix A : Satellites, Space Probes, and Manned Space Flights,
a Chronicle for 1973 ___________________________--_______- 363
Appendix 3: Chronology of Major NASA Launches, 1973 _______ 395
Appendix C: Chronology of Manned Space Flight, 1973 _________ 399
. .
Appendix D : Abbreviations of References .................... 403
Index and List of Abbreviations and Acronyms __________________ 407
V

A brief, chronological account of key events of the year in space and in
the atmosphere, Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1973 records dates, actions,
hardware, persons, scientific discoveries; plans, decisions, achievements, pre-
liminary evaluations of results, and samples of public reaction and social
impact. The volume is offered for reference use within the Federal Govern-
ment and by the public. It should be of use to present and future scholars in
a variety of disciplines.
The sources, identified by abbreviations that are explained in Appendix D,
were those immediately available in NASA and other Government agencies,
the Congress, and the professional societies, as well as the press. Contradictory
accounts have been resolved and doubtful ones verified whenever possible by
querying participants. Cross-references are given in the text, and the detailed
index will aid in tracing related events through the year. The index also
serves as a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.
General editor of the volume was the Publications Manager of the NASA
Historical Office, Frank W. Anderson, Jr., and the technical editor was Mrs.
Carrie E. Karegeannes. Archivist Lee Saegesser collected current documenta-
tion. The Science and Technology Division of the Library of Congress, under
an exchange of funds agreement, drafted monthly segments in comment
edition form, which were circulated for corrections, additions, and use. At
the end of the year, the entire manuscript was reworked to include comments
received and additional information that was not available when the monthly
segments were prepared. At the Library, Patricia D. Davis, Nancy L. Brun,
Shirley M. Singleton, and May Faye Johnson carried principal responsibility.
Arthur G. Renstrom of the Library prepared preliminary indexes for the
first six months; Informatics TISCO, Inc., prepared the detailed index for the
annual volume.
Appendix A, “Satellites, Space Probes, and Manned Space Flights, 1973,”
Appendix B, “Chronology of Major NASA Launches, 1973,” and Appendix C,
“Chronology of Manned Space Flight, 1973,” were prepared by Leonard C.
Bruno of the Library of Congress. Appendix D, “Abbreviations of Refer-
ences,¶’w as prepared by Mrs. Karegeannes.
Without the assistance of many persons throughout NASA and other Federal
agencies, the content of this volume would be less reliable and complete.
Comments, additions, and criticisms are always welcomed by the NASA His-
torical Office.
Monte D. Wright
Director, NASA Historical Ofice
PRECEDING PAGE BLANK NOT
vii
January 1973
January 1: NASA had scheduled 15 spacecraft launches in 1973 from Ken-
nedy Space Center, Eastern Test Range, and Western Test Range, KSC
announced. Launches would include four Skylab missions, three of them
manned; Intelsat-IV F-6, F-7, and F-8 for Communications Satellite
Gorp.; Pioneer-G to fly by Jupiter; Canada’s Telesat-B comsat; RAE-B
Radio Astronomy Explorer; United Kingdom’s Skynet 11-A comsat;
Mariner mission to fly by Venus and Mercury; ITOS-E Improved Tiros
Operational Satellite; ERTS-B Earth Resources Technology Satellite ; and
AE-c Atmosphere Explorer. ( ICSC Release 1-73)
* NASA and Soviet space officials had agreed to permit representatives of the
U.S. and U.S.S.R. to observe and advise in Apollo and Soyuz flight con-
trol rooms during orbital phase of July 1975 joint mission, Aviation
Week & Space Technology reported. No agreement had been reached to
permit U.S. observers at the Soviet launch site during liftoff of Soyuz
spacecraft. [See March 15-30.] (Av Wk,1 /1/73, 13)
* An Aviation Week 8 Space Technology editorial noted the aerospace indus-
try forecast for 1973 was for continuing improvement “across the entire
technical spectrum.’’ The year 1971 had bottomed out the 1969-1970
recession and provided the “first tangible evidence of upswing.” The
year 1973 should continue the uptrend “on a modest but solid curve.”
Industry had been “under increasing pressure from Congress, the Penta-
gon and the taxpaying public for the last five years to improve its
manageria1 efficiency and the reliability performance of its products. The
pressure has now accumulated to the point where the industry must re-
spond, both internally in cleaning its own house and mounting an
aggressive campaign for government contracting reforms to match, or
face the very real spectre of nationalization in the public mood that may
well prevail four years hence.” (Hotz, Av Wk, 1/1/73, 11)
* The “deeper meaning” of Apollo 17 (Dec. 7-19, 1972), the last manned
lunar landing mission in the NASA program, was discussed by author
William I. Thompson in a New York Times article: The mission had
represented a “sunset” of rocket technology. “Apollo 17 turned the night
into day, but elsewhere smalIer lights were going on as men began to
discover relationships between consciousness and the growth of plants
. . . , between enzyme change and faith healing. . . , and between mind
and matter in psychokinesis. . . . The space program was an important
scaffolding, but now that the building of the new human culture is up,
we no longer need the scaffolding.” To spend a fortune on rockets now
“would be the same as spending a fortune on dirigibles in 1916. There
are other forms of space travel to be invented, and these forms are more
likely to spring from the new paradigms emerging in science than from
the hardware of the old technology. The era of the rocket has climaxed
in Apollo 17; if we push on and ignore the sense of an ending, we shall
find only the bitterness and disappointment of the anticlimax.” (NYT,
1/1/73, 3 :13)
1
January 2 ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTECS, 1973
January 2: Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, expressed gratifi-
cation in his monthly letter to the staff “with NASA’es xcellent perform-
ance in 1972, and with the successful transition . . . from the completed
programs of the Sixties to the new programs and new challenges of the
Seventies. In 1972, Phase I of the national space effort of the United
States was completed and Phase I1 well begun.”
NASA’fisr st year with all launches and missions successful underlined
that it was NASA’csu stom “to do the unprecedented and then quickly
make it routine.” Zero failures could now be the goal year after year. Dr.
Fletcher also noted that of 18 space launches in 1972 half had been for
other organizations or countries, with 8 being reimbursed.
On another “important front,” the NASA-wide payload cost-reduction
campaign begun in 1972 had gone well, with valuable suggestions from
Centers and contractors. The effort “was not a routine cutback exercise
and not a threat to anyone’s security. It is, instead, a creative effort to
expand our usefulness even though funds are limited. And you can be
sure it has a lot to do with NASAl’osn g-range survival as the instrument
of the US. Government to handle most kinds of space and aeronautical
R&D and other related assignments.” (NASA Activities, 1/15/73, 2-3)
Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Presidential Science Adviser, resigned to return
to private industry. The former communications systems scientist at Bell
Telephone Laboratories, Inc., had served as Director of White House
Office of Science and Technology for 28 mos and had instituted reorgani-
zation of the Federal science complex. The New York Times quoted White
House sources as saying the resignation was prompted by disappointment
that his advice had not been heeded by the Nixon Administration. Fed-
eral support for science and technology expressed as percentage of
budget outlays for research and development had reached the lowest
point since latter years of the Eisenhower Administration. The White
House had declined comment on the resignation and had not released
the text of Dr. David’s letter to the President. (Lyons, NYT, 1/3/73, 1)
Grumman American Aviation Corp. was formed by the merger of Grum-
man Corp.’s general-aviation interests and American Aviation Corp.
Grumman’s Gulfstream 1 and 2 and Ag-Cat program assets were trans-
ferred to American Aviation Corp. in exchange for shares in American.
Corporate headquarters of the new company would be in Cleveland, Ohio,
with Grumman President E. C. Tow1 as company Chairman and Ameri-
can President and Chief Executive Officer R. W. Meyer as President.
(Znteravia, 4/73, 301; Grumman Corp pro)
January 3: President Nixon accepted the resignation of Dr. Edward E.
David, Jr., as Science Adviser and Director of Office of Science and
Technology [see Jan. 21. (PD, 1/8/73, 10)
* NASA planned to spend up to $100 million during the next five years on
the post-Apollo lunar science program to extract information from 385
kg (850 Ibs) of lunar samples, 30 000 photos, and “miles” of magnetic
tape from six Apollo lunar landing missions, the New York Times re-
ported. Director Anthony J. Calio of Manned Spacecraft Center Office
of Science and Applications had said in an interview that recommenda-
tions in an October 1972 report of the Lunar Science Institute were being
followed in much of MSC’S planning, but the MSC Lunar Receiving
Laboratory would be closed on completion of Apollo 17 sample process-
ing. The sample collection might be divided for storage at another
Government facility as a “precaution.” The LRL report had said preser-
2