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Aeronautics E. Space Activities 1968

THE FROM ATS-III 22,300 MILES IN SPACE

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE COUNCIL

WASHINGTON, D C 20IO2

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.25 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE OF TRANSMITTAL

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

This report summarizes a year of significant achievement in aeronautics and in space- culminating in the epochal 8 flight in December, in which three orbited the ten times and returned safely to Earth. A courageous, pioneering exploration ! The outstanding success of the mission attracted world acclaim and greatly enhanced the prestige of the IJnited States as the leading space-faring nation. The capability of the astronauts and the integrity of their space equipment justified our highest hopes. The APOLLO 8 flight was preceded by the very successful 1 l-day of the Earth . in -the first manned flight test of the APOLLO . These great missions bring us nearer to reaching our national goal of landing men on the Moon in this decade. Our astronauts have now flown 18 manned space missions, during which they experi- enced 3,215 man hours in space flight. Together with the activities of the , this makes a total to date of 28 manned flights and 3,846 man hours in space. Through this investment we have obtained new products, services, and knowledge ; we have enhanced our national security; we have improved our international relations; and we have stimulated our educational system. Our Nation is richer and stronger because of our space effort. I recommend that America continue to pursue the challenge of .

THE WHITE HOUSE, January 1969. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I-U.S. Aeronautics and Space Activities-1968 Summary ______------1 Chapter 11-National Aer6nautics and Space Council- _ __ _ -__ __ - - - _ _------5 The Vice President ______5, International Cooperation ______5, Aeronautics ______5, Comparison of US. and Soviet Space Programs ______5, New Goals Required ______6, Council Activities------6 Chapter 111-National Aeronautics and Space Administration-_ __ - _ _ _ - - _ __ - - - _ - _ ------8 Manned Space Flight_-____8,Lunar and Planetary Programs- _____ 14, Space Science and Applica- tions--_ _ __ 14, Advanced Research and Technology- - - _ - _ 17, Aeronautics- __ _ _ - 18, Chemical Propul- sion ______20, Biotechnology and Human Research ______2 1, Space Vehicle Systems______23, Electronics and Control______23, Space Power and Electric Propulsion ______25, Nuclear Program __----27, Tracking and Data Acquisition___--_28, University Programs-_-__- 30, International Affairs-_----30, Industry Affairs- __ __-31, Technology Utilization- _ _ _ _ -32, Relationships with Other Government Agencies______33, NASA Safety Program ______34, Facilities Management------35 Chapter IV-Department of Defense______...... - ______------36 Space Development Activities______36,Space Ground Support__--__39, Aeronautics Development Activity-_____40,Supporting Research and Technology_-____43,Cooperation with Other Government Agencies--- _--46 Chapter V-Atomic Energy Commission______- ______48 Nuclear Rocket Propulsion______48,Space Electric Power______50,Space-Directed Advanced Tech- nology Development_--___51, Space Nuclear Safety Activities___-__51,Space Isotopic Fuel Develop- ment______52,-Based Detection of Nuclear Explosions in Space and in the Atmosphere------52 Chapter VI-Department of State______--__-__- -- 53 Chapter VII-National Science Foundation-______- _ - _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ - _ - - - - - _ _ _ ------5 5 Chapter VIII-Department of Commerce__-______- ...... ___-_ 58 Environmental Science Services Ad~inistration______58,ESSA Research Laboratories_--_--61, Coast and Geodetic Survey Operations_-____63,Weather Bureau Operations____-_64,Environmental Data Service______65, National Bureau of Standards______65, Applied Technology ______67, Maritime Admin- istration ______67, Office of State Technical Services______68 Chapter IX-National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council/National Academy of Engineering _ - ______- - ______- ______- ______69 Space Science Board-----_69, Committee on Atmospheric Sciences----__71, Office of Scientific Person- nel --____72, Division of Behavioral Sciences______72, Division of Biology and Agriculture __-_-_72, Division of Earth Sciences------72, Division of Engineering__---_73, Committee on SST-Sonic Boom -___-_ 74, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board- _____74 Chapter X-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory______-__-_-______-____-_ 76 Project Celescope ___---76, Satellite Tracking______77, Meteoritics______77, Mount Hopkins Observa- tory ______78, Atomic and Molecular Astrophysics______78 Chapter XI-Department of Transportation- ______- ______- __ _ _ _ - ______- ______80 Aviation Safety Research and Development____-_80, Other R&D Programs Fostering Civil Aero- nautics- - _ _ _ -84 Chapter XII-Federal Communications Commission- - ______- _ _ __ - __ _ - ______- _ _ - ______- 86 Regulatory Activities-_____86, Activities of the International Consultative Committee (CCIR)------86, Forthcoming ITU Conference on and Space Services-_--_-86, Space Techniques for the Maritime Mobile Service-____-87, Aeronautical Development_--___87

V Chapter XIII-United States Information Agency ______89 Guidelines______89, Treatment ______89 Chapter XIV-Arms Control and Disarmament Agency ______21 The Space Treaty ______91, Defining Space______91, Space Cooperation______92, Verification and Inspection__----92, Use of Satellite Communication Systems To Reduce Risk of War------92 Appendix A-1-U.S. Spacecraft Launch Record (Chart)______93 Appendix A-2-U.S. Spacecraft Record (Table); U.S.S.R. Spacecraft Successfully Launched------94 Appendix A-~uccessfulUS. Launches-1968 ______-_- 95 Appendix B-Major Space “Firsts” _____ ...... ______...... 102 Appendix GU.S. Applications -1958-1968 ______104 Appendix D-History of U.S. and Soviet Manned Space Flights______107 Appendix E-U.S. Space Launch Vehicles______108 Appendix F-Nuclear Power Systems for Space Applications- - - - - ______- ______- _ _ __ _ - 109 Appendix G-1Space Activities of the U.S. Government (New Obligational Authority)______110 Appendix G-2Space Activities of the U.S. Government (Expenditures)______111 Appendix G--pace Activities Budget; Aeronautics Budget- ______- _ _ __ _ - ______112 Index ...... 113

VI CHAPTER I

U. S. AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACTIVITIES 1968 SUMMARY

As 1968 came to an end, America moved dramatically Earth orbit. This unmanned launch, using the SAT- near its national goal of landing men on the Moon URN IB vehicle, was the first test of the Lunar in this decade. Three U.S. astronauts became the first Module, in which two astronauts are expected to humans to depart from the confines of Earth's gravi- descend from the mother APOLLO spacecraft for the tational sphere of influence and venture to the close first lunar landing sometime during 1969. The results vicinity of the nearest celestial body. were successful enough so that it was decided that a Launched from Cape Kennedy on a V second such test was unnecessary. vehicle on December 21, the APOLLO 8 crew took The , which was launched at their spacecraft on man's first trip to the vicinity of the Cape on April 4, was the second unmanned flight the Moon. They orbited the Moon 10 times, coming of the /APOLLO system. The Command within about 70 miles of its surface. Returning to and re-entered from 400,000 feet, Earth on December 27-147 hours after lift-off-they simulating the speed of a return from the Moon, and re-entered the atmosphere and splashed down in the landed in good condition about 50 miles from its target Pacific Ocean target area. Taken aboard an aircraft point. carrier, Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders were found to be in excellent health. In the next step, on October 11, the APOLLO 7 pay- load went into orbit from Cape Kennedy aboard a The astronauts broadcast live television programs back SATURN IB, taking its three-man crew on the first to Earth while en route to the Moon, while in lunar manned APOLLO mission. The flight lasted almost orbit, and during their return to Earth. Those pioneer- 11 days and covered 4.5 million miles, with splash- ing pictures were, in turn, given wide distribution down occurring on October 22 exactly in the planned throughout the world via communications satellites. Atlantic Ocean target area. Major features of the The great precision of the launching, the re-entry, and mission included live television transmission from all intervening events such as injection into lunar orbit space; production of drinking water as a by-product and departure from that orbit for Earth return prom- of fuel cells; and the largest number of inflight re-starts ised success for the entire lunar program. of a manned spacecraft propulsion system. The three- This great milestone in human achievement was the man flight, first for the United States, totaled 781 man-hours in space, a new record. year's final step in a carefully.. planned succession of APOLLO missions. On January 22, NASA launched A thorough study of the results of the highly successful the payload from Cape Kennedy into APOLLO 7 flight, together with favorable assessments

1 2 SUMMARY of the status of the spacecraft and for ground vehicles, and to provide broad meteorologkal the next flight, led to NASA’s decision to fly a lunar- coverage of the globe. orbit and return mission with APOLLO 8. A milepost was reached in the short history of mete- Earlier, space officials had obtained much new knowl- orological satellites in May, when the 1,000,OOOth edge and confidence required to proceed with the flight TIROS-ESSA cloud-cover picture was transmitted by program from the successes in the unmanned lunar ex- the ESSA 6 satellite, which had been launched by ploration programs-RANGER, LUNAR ORBITER, NASA in 1967 for the Environmental Science Services and . The first two of these projects were Administration. April 1 marked the eighth anniversary completed in earlier years; the last was concluded of the launch of TIROS 1, the first to early in 1968, when the seventh and last SURVEYOR send back usable cloud pictures. Two new meteor- landed on the Moon. Launched from Cape Kennedy ological satellites-ESSA 7 and Owere launched dur- by an - vehicle on January 7, ing 1968. Still another use of an ATS spacecraft was SURVEYOR VI1 soft-landed at its planned site near proven when ESSA and NASA cooperated to use the Tycho Crater on January 9. In addition to returning ATS-I11 for taking photographs, from which films more than 20,000 photographs, the spacecraft took were prepared, of tornadoes and hurricanes. The same part in a laser communications experiment, detecting satellite was used to send weather data from the U.S. a tiny laser beam directed to it from Earth. The experi- to Europe, Africa, and South America-a service which ment indicated that lasers could be used for space com- became semi-operational late in the year, and ATS-1 munications, and for accurately measuring great continued to be used for transmissions to the Pacific. distances. Dissemination of satellite weather photographs was greatly expanded during the year, both within the U.S. NASA plans five APOLLO flights in 1969. , an Earth-orbital mission scheduled for the first quar- and abroad. ter of the year, will be the first manned flight of the The navigational satellite system, de- complete lunar vehicle-SATURN V launch vehicle, veloped by the Navy and made available for civilian the Command and Service Modules, and the Lunar use in 1967, was made fully operational in 1968. Module. Lunar landing is expected in late 1969. On December 7, NASA orbited its second ORBITING In a year during which the spotlight of space activity ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY (OAO-2) , returned to the dramatic field of manned flight, there the heaviest and most complex automated satellite ever was also solid progress in unmanned satellite programs launched by the U.S. The OAO-2, which carries 11 which are increasingly benefiting mankind through im- telescopes, is returning pictures of stan that were provements in communications, weather prediction, previously impossible to study by optical means. navigation, and scientific investigations. Military space activity continued to progress, with de- One new INTELSAT I11 spacecraft was launched by velopment of the Air Force’s MANNED ORBITING NASA for the Corporation, LABORATORY (MOL) approaching a point of peak adding to the service provided for the international activity. Associate contractors began exchanging test consortium Intelsat. ComSat spacecraft were utilized assemblies of major system components; there were for live coverage of the Mexico City Olympics to TV successful demonstration firings of the first-stage en- Europe and Asia, as well as elsewhere in North Amer- gine of the IIIM booster for MOL; prepara- ica, and for similar coverage of the November 7 elec- tions. The APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SAT- tions were made for static-testing of the remaining ELLITE (ATS) series of NASA spacecraft were also liquid engines and solid motors; and construction of used in communications experiments. On the military the launch complex at Vandenberg AFB, California, side, the Department of Defense expanded its total neared completion. The MOL, which will enhance of operating communications satellites and ground the Nation’s security, has no missions as a weapons terminals. The ATS series, in synchronous orbit system. 22,300 miles above the Earth, also demonstrated that it For the second consecutive year, a major international could be used to pinpoint the location of aircraft and accord involving space activity went into effect. 0x1 CHAPTER I 3

December 3, the President announced the entry into Advances were made in the effort to apply aeronautical force of the international Agreement providing for the technology to develop reusable spacecraft. NASA’s rescue and return of astronauts, and the return of HL-10 lifting body research vehicle completed 12 suc- space objects from foreign soil. More than 75 nations cessful glide flights, and a was used for have signed the Agreement. the first time in November to propel the vehicle to higher altitude and speed. Despite the successes in the , the United States launch total in 1968 was substantially Nuclear rocket and space power programs progressed lower than in 1967, which in turn had represented a on several fronts. There were power tests of the numerical drop from the two preceding years. The PHOEBUS-PA reactor; first tests of a cold-flow test 64 US. launches that were successfully conducted, engine, resembling a flight configuration, in a new however, reflected the growing sophistication and capa- test stand which partially simulates flight conditions; bility of the space effort, exemplified by the unprece- and first test firings of the PEWEE-1 fuel element test- dented APOLLO accomplishments. bed reactor. The Soviet Union, with 74 successful launches dur- A summary list of major U.S. accomplishments in ing the year, slightly exceeded its total of 67 successful 1968 includes : in 1967. On October 26, the 3 1. Four APOLLO missions, which steadily developed spacecraft with a single cosmonaut aboard was sent on our lunar exploration capability, were climaxed at the a four-day Earth-orbital mission marking the first Rus- end of the year by man’s first trip out of the sphere sian manned flight since the fatal SOYUZ 1 mission of his familiar gravitational field and into the orbit in April 1967. The rendezvoused, but did of the Moon, and a successful return. not dock with the unmanned , which had 2. The final SURVEYOR mission completed the space been orbited on October 25. The other major high- program’s unmanned lunar exploration activity, re- light of the Soviet program in 1968 was the separate turned photographs and other data, and was success- launching of three unmanned ZOND spacecraft. Two fully used in an experiment in laser communications. of these were recovered, after circumlunar flight, one 3. The second ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OB- in the Indian Ocean and the other on Soviet soil after SERVATORY (OAO-2) was successfully orbited an aerodynamic glide-skip re-entry over the ocean. with an unprecedented total of 11 telescopes, and be- Some primitive forms of life were aboard at least one gan returning previously unobtainable data on the of the circumlunar flights. stars. Aeronautics activity in 1968 included the first test 4. The APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SAI‘EL- flights of the U.S. Air Force’s C-5A, the largest mili- LITES performed a variety of meteorological, naviga- tary cargo aircraft, meeting its June flight schedule. tion, and communications assignments. Three of the aircraft have now flown 31 flights for a total flying time of about 88 hours. 5. An INTELSAT I11 spacecraft was successfully launched by NASA for the Communications Satellite On the civilian side of aeronautics, Government and Corporation. airline experts reevaluated the design submitted for construction of two prototype Supersonic Transports 6. The ESSA 7 and 8 satellites were launched to niain- (SST) during the year and decided that the variable- tain the operational weather satellite system estab- sweep wing design was not the best choice for this lished in 1966. ESSA 6, launched in 1967, transmitted commercial SST. The program was therefore delayed the 1,000,000th TIROS-ESSA cloud-cover picture. to allow the airframe contractor to make design 7. ESSA and NASA cooperated in using the ATS-I11 changes, and in September a fixed-wing design was satellite to obtain closely timed pictures of tornadoes selected. SST engine development proceeded satisfac- and hurricanes; films made from the pictures were torily. It is now hoped that protoypte aircraft construc- used to study the development and life cycles of the tion will begin in 1969. storms. 4 SUMMARY

8. A special facsimile transmission was added to the 14. The nuclear rocket and space power programs established US. network to relay Automatic Picture progressed, with successful test firings of two types of Transmission (APT) photographs to Weather Bureau reactors and a cold-flow.test engine closely approach- and military ground stations, greatly increasing dissem- ing a flight configuration. ination and operational use of satellite data. Trans- 15. In air traffic control and navigation, there was mission of satellite and standard meteorological data successful testing of a device to improve a controller’s from the U.S. to AFT stations in Europe, Asia, and ability to guide aircraft around heavy storms; virtual South America via the ATS-I11 satellite started exper- imentally in July, and by October had become semi- completion of a prototype all solid-state transmitter operational. Transmissions to the Pacific via ATS-I for the VOR navigational system, which will improve continued. reliability and reduce costs; and testing of a system of area navigation which will permit more flexible and 9. NASA launched the European Space Research Or- direct navigation on instruments. ganization (ESRO) Highly Eccentric Orbit Satellite (HEOS-I) into orbit for a study of interplanetary 16. The international Agreement on rescue and return physics. It was the first foreign satellite to be launched of astronauts, and return of space objects from foreign by NASA on a reimbursable basis. soil, took effect. More than 75 nations are signatories. 10. The military’s MANNED ORBITING LABORA- 17. The U.S. participated in a United Nations-spon- TORY (MOL) program neared a peak of activity ored Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses and construction of its launch complex approached of Outer Space, held in Vienna. completion. 18. Through 1968, 21 countries were taking part in 11. The Phase I Defense Satellite Communications cooperative, mutually funded space activities with the System was enlarged to a constellation of 22 operating United States. In addition, scientists from eight satellites and 39 surface terminals. countries were engaged in cooperative sounding rocket 12. The TRANSIT navigational satellite system grew programs, and 52 countries had APT facilities to re- to a four-satellite, fully operational system. ceive cloud-cover pictures directly from U.S. satellites. 13. The C-5A, world‘s largest military cargo aircraft, 19. The United States launched a total of 61 space- made its first flights. craft into Earth orbit, and three on escape trajectories. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND CHAPTER SPACE COUNCIL I1

Introduction programs with some 70 nations in space enterprises. The United States has taken a leading role in the de- The National Aeronautics and Space Council, estab- velopment of international treaties and agreements, lished by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of and in international arrangements for sharing advances 1958, has a statutory responsibility for advising and in space communications and other beneficial applica- assisting the President on policies, plans, and programs tions, including weather forecasting and navigation. of the United States in aeronautical and space The United States has made concerted efforts to in- activities. During 1968, the Council carried out its itiate new cooperative space arrangements in order to responsibilities in a variety of fields whose scope was utilize space for the advancement of our foreign policy both national and international. Its work encompassed aims. both civil and military aeropace projects. Moreover, of major importance has been the initiative role and the follow-through participation of the United The Vice President States in international treaties and agreements affect- ing national security in space and safety and rescue of The Vice President, by statute, is the Chairman of the astronauts. National Aeronautics and Space Council. He exer- cised forceful leadership in the aeronautics-space field during the year under review. As a matter of policy and Aeronautics practice, he emphasized the importance of bringing Early in the year, the Vice President, in a Council the benefits of the space program into early practical meeting, arranged for coordinated action by the De- realization for the well-being of mankind. In the partment of transportation, the Department of De- course of his duties, the Vice President continued to fense, and NASA to analyze the relationship between acquaint himself at firsthand with both the problems the benefits that accrue to the Nation from aviation and and the progress of our national space effort. In ad- the Nation’s level of aeronautical research and devel- dition to his continuing attention to the space pro- opment. This action was in response to a recommenda- gram, the Vice President maintained particular inter- tion by the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and est in the pressing problems of aeronautics, specifically Space Sciences that the Council undertake such a task. with regards to new aircraft, improved air safety, and Because of its direct responsibility for the evolution of lessening the noise and air pollution created by jet national transportation policy, the Department of engines. He also vigorously supported the principle of Transportation was assigned leadership in the study. continued U.S. participation in international exhibits, Progress reports were received and consultations under- such as the Paris Air Show. taken during the year.

International Cooperation Comparison of U.S. and Soviet Space The United States continued to make leading contribu- Programs tions to space technology, space accomplishment, and Since the first satellite was launched some 11 years international peace-building through cooperation in ago, the United States has, as of December 31, 1968, space. In the latter category there are now cooperative placed 606 spacecraft into Earth orbit or on escape

5 6 NASC missions, while the Soviet Union figure is 358 or 37% Council Activities of the total effort. The United States has 3,215 man- hours in space flight, compared with 631 for the During 1968 the Council and its staff dealt with a U.S.S.R., or about 83% of the total manned flight variety of aerospace problems. A number of meetings hours. Of equal significance perhaps is the fact that were held to coordinate the exchange of interagency the United States has made major technological information and to evaluate fiscal year 1969 and fiscal advances in unmanned space activity, bringing direct year 1970 budget plans. Continued consideration was benefits to mankind in meteorology, communications, given to post-APOLLO space goals, foreign-affairs as- navigation, and observation. Moreover, the United pects of U.S. space programs and opportunities for ex- panded international cooperation in outer space, CO- States leads in the dissemination of scientific informa- tion obtained from space investigations, launching of ordination of the U.S. presence in major international the world’s most powerful operational booster scientific and cultural events having an aerospace con- tent, plans and prospects for natural resources survey (SATURN V), the use of on-board nuclear power satellites, policy aspects of communications satellite units, well in the number of spacecraft success- as as development, planning and safety aspects of nuclear fully launched. rocket and space nuclear-power projects, aeronautical In making this comparative analysis, however, it is research funding, aeronautical safety, and reduction essential that we derive satisfaction but no com- of airport noise. placency from our relative status. The U.S.S.R. effort In brief, the Council directly and through its staff, is Vigorous and appears to be on a trend of increasing engaged in a broad range of policy, coordinating, and investment and increasing accomplishment. At exist- informational activities. Among these were: ing rates, the Russians could overtake and possibly a. Supervised and edited the President’s surpass the U.S. Annual Report to the Congress on Aero- nautics and Space Activities for 1968. New Goals Required b. Submitted reports to the President and the Council Chairman on significant The years 1958-1968 have been filled with signifi- space and aeronautics activities and plans. cant accomplishments in the space domain, and the c. Maintained a mutually informative rela- decade ahead will present new challenges and new tionship with both the members and their opportunities, none of which will be successfully dealt staffs of appropriate committees of the with if the Nation is complacent over its achievements Congress on domestic and foreign aero- of the past. The challenges of initiative have been well nautics and space developments. met; the determination to maintain the pace is to be d. Increased public understanding of the tested in the coming years. national space program through speeches, Since the greatness of a nation depends to an im- articles, correspondence, and other public portant degree upon mastering and putting to use contacts. technological advances, new goals and new directions e. Participated in analysis of, and made must be established in space to maximize the existing recommendations concerning, our na- and potential benefits of this new national asset. A tional budgets for space and aeronautics. sound basis for determining that our Nation benefits f. Coordinated for the President the policy from such activity may be seen in the advances which decisions involved in launching nuclear have taken place in communications, meteorology, power units in spacecraft. navigation, and Earth resources observation, as well g. Helped to develop recommendations on as the spinoffs from space research in the form of new the evolution of communications policy. products, new services, and novel managerial tech- h. Furnished briefing materials, including niques. Beneficial beginnings have also been achieved space photographs, for use in connection in the application of space-proven systems analysis to with visits to Washington of high-ranking urban problems and other non-space needs. officials of other nations. CHAPTER II 7 i. Participated in the planning for aero- space programs under the cognizance of nautical and space exhibits abroad, in- the Department of Defense and the cluding the Paris Air Show which is National Aeronautics and Space Admin- scheduled for 1969. istration. j. Examined the need for legislative changes n. Visited space installations, examined fa- affecting space and aeronautics. cilities, and . engaged in interagency as k. Maintained liaison with the technological well as Government-industry meetings and aerospace communities. and briefings on new developments in 1. Reviewed the status of space booster pro- aeronautics, space technology, and space grams, both chemical and nuclear, and benefits. of meteorological, navigation, communi- cation and applications technology satel- 0. Maintained a current record of U.S. and lite projects, including Earth resources Soviet space launches, developed com- survey satellites. parisons between US.and U.S.S.R. space m. Reviewed and maintained continuous activities, and reviewed the space accom- liaison with the national aeronautics and plishments and potentials of other nations. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND CHAPTER SPACE ADMINISTRATION I11

Introduction several ways of alleviating this problem. V/STOL efforts moved ahead with the start of tests of the XV- In 1968, the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- 5B fan-in-wing airplane and the assignment of the tration recorded a number of advances in its aero- tilt-wing XC-142 to the Langley Research Center for nautics and space programs. The results of the further research. SURVEYOR program to obtain data on the Moon and its environment were particularly satisfying. The XB-70 and the X-15 flight research programs continued, with the emphasis in the latter shifting After making APOLLO improvements prompted by to experiments for the Air Force. A space cabin life the January 1967 fire at Cape Kennedy, the manned support system was successfully tested by simulation space flight program made significant advances toward for a 60-day period during which four men lived and the lunar landing goal announced in 1961. The four worked in a closed chamber. Lifting body research APOLLO launches during the year-APOLLO 5,6,7, work progressed materially with the powered flight of and agave evidence that the anticipated lunar mis- the HGlO in November. sion could be accomplished in 1969. The two manned missions (APOLLO 7, employing the SATURN IB The space power and electric propulsion program launch vehicle, and APOLLO 8, using the SATURN continued to make advances with both engine designs V) showed that the hardware, the communication net- and performance concepts. An electric propulsion sys- work, and the personnel were at the proper stage of tem was tested on the ATS-IV mission, even though readiness required to complete the APOLLO program. the spacecraft failed to achieve its correct orbit. The 35-KWe SNAP4 power conversion system was further Space sciences and applications activities included the tested, and the SNAP-27 generator reached the final landing on the Moon of SURVEYOR VII-the last stage of development. The technology was developed in this series of highly productive unmanned satellites, for an advanced solar cell array which would provide the flight qualification of the APOLLO Lunar Surface greater power while reducing hardware weight. Experiments Package which the APOLLO astronauts will leave on the Moon, and the determination that In the joint NASA-AEC nuclear rocket program, it will be feasible for the astronauts to collect and NERVA engine work progressed with completion of bring back to Earth lunar soil samples. flow tests on the first ground experimental engine (XECF), hot tests on the 5,000-megawatt PHOE- In addition, NASA orbited sophisticated APPLICA- BUS-2A reactor, first power testing of the first PE- TIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITES capable of WEE reactor, and positioning of the first “hot” ground forecasting global weather, maintaining worldwide experimental engine (XE) in the test stand for check- communications, locating vehicles on and above out. In addition, advances were made in component Earth’s surface, and assisting in studies of the space and stage technology. environment and solar phenomena.

In advanced research and technology, investigations Manned Space Flight covered a wide range of current and future needs. Very satisfactory results were achieved in laser re- With the historic flight of APOLLO 8 to the Moon search, particularly in its application to space com- and back to Earth in the closing days of 1968, man- munication. Studies of jet aircraft noise showed kind entered a new era and the United States became 8 CHAPTER 111 9

a truly spacefaring nation. The 6-day lunar flight was second stage and the Lunar Module into an orbit of completely successful, taking three APOLLO astro- 120 by 88 nautical miles. nauts to within about 70 miles of the lunar surface during their 10 . Separation of the Lunar Module from the S-IVB stage was accomplished as planned, using the Lunar The epochal mission ended on December 27 with a Module reaction control system. The planned mission precision in the Pacific Ocean, completing sequence included two firings each of the Lunar Mod- the journey begun from the in ule descent and ascent propulsion systems. Florida on December 21. The fight climaxed four APOLLO missions in a year of manned space flight Overly conservative programming of the Lunar Mod- progress, and demonstrated impressively the capability ule guidance computer caused early shutdown of the of U.S. crews and equipment to fly into space beyond first descent propulsion system burn. The engine was the equilibrium point of Earth‘s gravitational pull. cut off after 4 seconds of the planned 38-second dura- tion. Data indicated that this premature shutdown re- Meanwhile, preliminary steps were being made in the sulted when the computer sensed that the thrust had APOLLO Applications Program, which is intended not built up to the predesignated level. Indications are to capitalize on the space flight capabilities this nation that there were no problems with the engine or with is developing in the APOLLO Program. the computer itself. Apollo Program--The pace of the APOLLO Program The premature cutoff of the burn resulted in flight accelerated during 1968 as it moved into full opera- controllers shifting to a previously planned alternate tional status, moving closer to the planned lunar land- mission sequence. This provided for two firings of the ing missions beginning in 1969. The program pro- descent engine, two firings of the ascent engine, and ceeded toward its objectives with four APOLLO a separation of the two stages of the Lunar Module flights-two unmanned tests in January and April to simulate an aborted lunar landing, and was success- and two manned missions in October and December. fully carried out. Following the APOLLO 5 and 6 unmanned tests of the spacecraft and launch vehicle, the APOLLO 7 As the first test flight of the complex and unique Lunar successfully tested the spacecraft in an Earth-orbital Module, incorporating new systems of propulsion as mission. Then APOLLO 8, the first manned launch well as other characteristics that distinguish this vehi- with the SATURN V rocket, carried out man’s most cle (designed to operate only in space and on the lunar far-reaching exploration as a preliminary to setting surface), the efficient performance of this module was foot on lunar soil in 1969. a significant achievement. Both descent and ascent propulsion systems worked satisfactorily for this crit- APOLLO 5.-One of the key milestones in the APOL- ical aspect of the lunar mission, wherein these en- LO Program was achieved on January 22, with the gines must function properly in order to assure the successful flight of APOLLO 5. This unmanned mis- return of the astronauts to the Command Module in sion was the first Earth-orbital flight of a Lunar lunar orbit, after the expedition to the Moon’s surface. Module, the vehicle designed to land two astronauts on the Moon. As a result of this test, every major piece APOLLO 6.-The second unmanned flight of the of the APOLLO-SATURN space vehicle has now SATURN V was accomplished with this mission, been successfully flight-tested and proven in space. which was launched on April 4. Additional and re- dundant tests which were first performed on the near- The major objectives of the flight were to verify the perfect mission were undertaken on this operaiion of the descent and ascent propulsion sys- flight. tems, including restart and Lunar Module staging; Its primary objectives were to demonstrate the struc- evaluate Lunar Module structure; and evaluate launch ture, thermal integrity, and compatibility of the launch performance. All these objectives were satisfactorily vehicle and spacecraft; to confirm launch loads and accomplished. dynamic characteristics; to demonstrate stage separa- The launch vehicle for this mission was a SATURN tion ; to verify operation of the propulsion, guidance IB. It performed according to plan and placed the and control, and electrical systems; to evaluate per- 10 NASA formance of the space vehicle emergency detection that the spacecraft successfully accomplished its system in a closed-loop configuration; and to demon- mission. strate mission support facilities and operations required Anomalies on the APOLLO 6 mission were traced to for launch, mission conduct, and Command Module three significant technical problems: recovery. ( 1) The first technical problem involved the J-2 The APOLLO 6 was launched from Kennedy Space engine carried on the second and on third stages of the Center on schedule on April 4. The first stage operated SATURN V. The data analysis has tracked the source for the planned duration of 148 seconds. Separation of the problem to the same cause in bcth stages-a of the booster and ignition of the second stage also took leak, and then a rupture, in the propellant line; place as planned, and the second stage operated near- normal for the first 264 seconds of a total programed (2) The second technical problem was a “Pogo” ef- time of 368 seconds. At the 264-second point, engines fect, i.e., the amplitude of longitudinal oscillations, or No. 2 and No. 3 shut down prematurely. However, the v$brations,in the space vehicle which exceeded the de- SATURN V vehicle not only maintained its stability, sign requirements for the spacecraft, during the latter but the three remaining second-stage engines compen- part of the first stage burn; sated by continuing to function until cutoff 426 sec- (3) The third technical problem was an anomalous onds after ignition. The longer-than-planned burning condition concerning a sheet of metal that separated time partially compensated for the loss of total thrust from the spacecraft-LM adapter. resulting from the premature shutdown of engines No. 2 and No. 3. A course of action to correct these problems, and to demonstrate their correction, was quickly decided upon The second stage separated normally, followed by the and successfully implemented. These actions included : third-stage ignition and operation for 170 seconds, 29 (1) A fix to the 5-2 engine (which the SATURN IB seconds longer than programed, to offset the lower also carries in its second stage) and a demonstration second-stage thrust. The third stage placed the of the fix, prior to certifying the manned flight of APOLLO spacecraft into an Earth orbit with a perigee APOLLO 7, using a SATURN IB launch vehicle; of 96 nautical miles (n.m.) and an apogee of 196 n.m. (2) a fix to the first-stage “Pogo” problem on the When attempts to restart the third-stage engine after SATURN V, and (3) a fix to the SLA anomaly, prior two orbits proved unsuccessful, an alternate APOLLO to certification of a manned flight on the third SAT- mission plan was put into effect. The third stage was URN V, in APOLLO 8. separated, and the spacecraft’s propulsion system re- APOLLO 7.-The APOLLO 7 mission was one of sponded successfully to ignition commands. It op the most successful manned space flights in the history erated for minutes and 25 seconds, consuming most 7 of the U.S. space program. All primary mission objec- of its propellants to reach an apogee 12,000 n.m. above tives were completely accomplished. Every detailed Earth. A second burn was not attempted. test objective was accomplished, as well as three which Although the spacecraft re-entered at a speed about were not originally planned. 4,000 feet-per-second below that planned, it neverthe- The SATURN launched a manned APOLLO space- less accomplished the intended test of the heat shield craft for the first time. at lunar entry speed. It landed within 49 n.m. of the target point, and was brought aboard the recovery This was also the first 1l.S. flight with a three-man ship OKINAWA. crew in one spacecraft; the first flight in which the spacecraft used its own self-contained propulsion sys- It is important to note that APOLLO 6 was a safe tem for major maneuvers; the first flight using the mission from a crew safety standpoint, in spite of the advanced communications designed for deep space op abnormal engine performance conditions. erations; and the first exercise of the corresponding In addition, although an alternate mission was selected ground communications network. It was the first space because of the launch vehicle problems, data indicated test of the TV equipment, essential for the APOLLO CHAPTER 111 1.1

Moon mission. Finally, a new on-board computer con- the ground tests of the APOLLO 8 spacecraft, and re- trol system was used for the first time. view of the previous APOLLO flights, led to the deter- mination that the SATURN was thoroughly proven The APOLLO 7 space vehicle was launched from V for manned flight and that the APOLLO Command Launch Complex 34 at Cape Kennedy on October 11, and Service Module spacecraft was ready for flights within 3 minutes of the time and date established 10 into deep space. It was determined that taking the weeks before. All launch events occurred as planned. APOLLO 8 deep-- space flight- would gain engineer- The manual control test of the launch vehicle’s sec- ing and operational information that would increase. ond stage (S-IVB) was completed as planned with the the confidence for a manned lunar landing during crew reporting excellent results. Separation of the 1969. ‘-IvB and the Command/Service (CSM) APOLLO 8.-As a followup to APOLLO 7, the occurred on schedule. Transposition of the CSM and APOLLO 8 mission demonstrated an even more flaw- simulated docking were accomplished, with the crew less performance in man’s first flight to the Moon. All maneuvering the CSM to within 440-5 feet of the primary mission objectives were completely accom- S-IVB. plished. Every detailed test objective was accomplished, On the second day, two burns of the service propulsion as well as five which were not originally planned. The system (SPS) set up the rendezvous with the S-IVB, SATURN V space vehicle flew several systems and which was completed by braking the CSM to within new configuration details for the first time, in addition approximately 70 feet of the S-IVB, which was then to flying its first manned APOLLO Block I1 tumbling. spacecraft. On subsequent days, six additional burns of the SPS For this first APOLLO flight to the lunar vicinity, the were performed, including the eighth and final burn, APOLLO mission operations team successfully coped on the last revolution, to de-orbit the CSM. with lunar launch opportunity and lunar launch win- Following a nominal re-entry, the APOLLO 7 space- dow constraints in carrying out a perfect launch. craft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean on Octo- APOLLO 8 provided man his first opportunity to ber 22. Splashdown occurred about 8 miles north of the personally view the far side of the Moon, to view the recovery carrier, the U.S.S. Essex. The crew was picked entire body from only 60 nautical miles away, to view up by a recovery helicopter. the Earth from over 200,000 nautical miles away, and Checkout of the spacecraft systems was a principal ob- to enter Earth’s atmosphere through a restrictive lunar jective of the APOLLO 7 flight. Extensive operational return corridor at lunar return velocity of 24,530 miles checkouts of the environmental control, guidance and per hour. navigation, spacecraft electrical power, and service The APOLLO 8 space vehicle was launched from propulsion systems were accomplished to the extent Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center at 7 :5 1 possible in .Earth orbit. Crew performance, prime and EST on December 21. Prelaunch operations and all backup spacecraft systems, and ground support facili- launch events occurred as planned. The spacecraft and ties were evaluated throughout the mission. APOLLO launch vehicle third stage were inserted into a circular 7 accomplished 100% of the mission objectives. parking orbit nearly 115 miles above Earth. Engineering firsts included live television from space After more than 2 hours and 50 minutes, the third and drinking water produced as a byproduct of the stage engine was re-ignited for more than 5 minutes, fuel cells. increasing the spacecraft speed to 24,200 miles per hour The success of the mission paved the way for the de- to place the APOLLO on a translunar trajectory. The cision to schedule APOLLO 8 as a lunar-orbit mission. trajectory was one that would enable the spacecraft to swing around the Moon and return to Earth auto- This fateful determination was made only after a matically if the lunar orbit insertion maneuver were thorough assessment of the total risks involved and not performed. Twenty minutes after the burn, the the total gains to be realized in this next step toward third stage was jettisoned in a course that would take a manned lunar landing. Satisfactory results in all of it into solar orbit after passing beyond the Moon. 12 NASA

The first midcourse correction was made at 11 hours Hardware Development and Employment-SATURN into the flight and was so accurate that two later IB.-Two SATURN IB’s (SA-204, SA-205) were scheduled correctional burns during translunar coast launched during 1968, on APOLLO 5 and APOLLO were cancelled as unnecessary. A fourth planned burn 7. Nine SATURN IB’s, including two for usein the was performed about 8 hours before reaching the APOLLO Applications Program, are still in test, Moon. manufacture, or in storage. SATURN V.-TWO SATURN (SA-502, SA- After more than 69 hours in flight, during which the V’S space ship had passed from Earth’s to lunar 503) were launched in 1968, on APOLLO 6 and gravitational pull, the astronauts inserted the space- APOLLO 8. Two SATURN V’s are at KSC, while craft into an elliptical lunar orbit with a propulsion sys- 10 are in manufacture, test, or checkout. tem burn. A second burn established the orbit at about Command and Service Module.-The Command and 69 miles. Service Module design was verified by the highly SUC- The crewmen conducted many landmark sightings cessful flight of APOLLO 7. during the 20 hours the spacecraft was in lunar orbit. Manufacturing of Command and Service Modules Extensive photography of the Moon was carried out 103 and 104 was completed. CSM-103 was delivered with both still and moving picture cameras. Real-time to Kennedy Space Center in August. Command and TV pictures of the lunar surface and the Earth were Service Modules 104 and 106 were delivered to KSC transmitted at various times during the mission. The in October and November, respectively. The remain- live transmission of voice and pictures by the astro- ing 14 flight vehicles were in various stages of manu- nauts, particularly during the lunar orbit phase, was facture, test and checkout. a spectacular highlight. Lunar Module.-During 1968 major milestones were After 10 revolutions of the Moon, the transearth injec- accomplished in the Lunar Module (LM) program. tion maneuver was performed with the spacecraft pro- As a result of the successful APOLLO 5 mission, NASA pulsion system so accurately that only one small mid- concluded that a second unmanned Lunar Module course correction was required. Two subsequent mission would not be required. planned midcourse corrections were cancelled. Fifteen Mandatory changes are being implemented for the minutes before Earth entry, the Command Module and remaining 11 Lunar Modules. The first manned flight its crew separated from the Service Module. of the LM is scheduled for APOLLO 9 in the first Traveling at 24,600 miles per hour, the spacecraft en- quarter of 1969. tered Earth‘s atmosphere over the Western Pacific at Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package.-Apollo an altitude of 400,000 feet. Six days, two hours and 51 Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) ef- minutes after liftoff the spacecraft splashed down, ap- forts included testing the qualification model, fab- proximately 5,100 yards from the recovery ship, USS ricating the flight article, and testing it. Due to the YORKTOWN. The crew was picked up by a recovery time constraints during the first lunar expedition, its helicopter and was safe aboard the ship at 12 : 20 p.m. deployment has been scheduled for the second lunar EST, December 27. landing. A simpler science package has been devised for the first landing. Forthcoming Launches.-Five APOLLO flights are scheduled for 1969. APOLLO 9 will see the first Facilities.--Construction was completed on a major manned flight of the complete lunar space vehicle, the new facility, the Lunar Sample Receiving Laboratory SATURK V launch vehicle, the Command and Serv- at the Manned Spacecraft Center, and the facility Modules, and the Lunar Module. This Earth- was activated during 1968. orbital flight is scheduled for the first quarter of 1969. APOLLO Applications-The APOLLO Applications Subsequent flights will continue the incremental test- Program (AAP) was conceived to make optimum use ing, which is expected to lead to the lunar landing of the manned space flight capability developed dur- sometime in 1969. ing GEMINI and APOLLO. The program takes ad- CHAPTER 111 13

vantage of the space vehicles, facilities, and organiza- Advanced Manned Missions-Intensive study con- tions as they are made available by the APOLLO tinued during 1968 in major areas of Advanced Program. Manned Missions, leading to such ultimate goals as manned permanent space stations, lunar bases, and Because of budgetary restrictions, AAP initiated a low-cost space transportation systems. “holding” action to bring into clear focus the entire -program. The concept of a flexible “Core Program” Space Stations.-The space station studies point to was developed and planning was under way around a multi-purpose, general-usage laboratory significantly a “core” of a limited number of launches that can more advanced than the Workshop of be expanded when funds becbme available. These in- the APOLLO Applications Program. The space sta- clude an Orbital Workshop mission, a resupply mis- tion-laboratory would be used for a variety of disci- sion, a Lunar Module/ plines including astronomy, Earth sciences and appli- (LM/ATM) mission, and a resupply for this mission. cations, industrial processes, physics, life sciences, and Long-duration Earth-orbital missions were planned for advanced technology. scientific, technological, medical, and human-factor Basic concepts have included a space station designed purposes; and for solar astronomy studies. Experi- for two or more years of operation, for a crew of nine ments under consideration for AAP missions would study the useful application of space systems, meteor- persons. ology, Earth resources, and communications. Low-Cost Transportation.-A low-cost transportation Progress was made during the year on the major AAP system development was studied in parallel with the hardware contracted for, including the Orbital Work- the space station, emphasizing a more operationally shop, the APOLLO Telescope Mount (ATM) , Mul- efficient and cost-effective manned round-trip Earth- tiple Docking Adapter, Airlock, and many of the orbital transportation system. Logistics systems for experiments. personnel rotation, expendables resupply, and experi- ments and experiment module delivery-which rep Orbital Workshop Missions.-Development of the resent a major share of the manned Earth-orbiting SATURN I Workshop Mission (AAP-l/AAP-2) was a major task during the year. This mission will use the space station program costs-were considered. empty hydrogen tank of the S-IVB stage (after its use Lunar Exploration.-The manned lunar exploration as a launch-vehicle stage) as the nucleus of an em- project studied in 1968, covering the effort following bryonic space station. In orbit the Workshop consists the APOLLO manned lunar landings, parallels the of the modified stage plus two modules: an Airlock, APOLLO Applications and Space Station Programs. and a Multiple Docking Adapter. The studies envisioned programs early in the 1970’s The first Workshop Revisit Mission (AAP-3A) has to make maximum utilization of APOLLO hardware, been planned to use a single SATURN I’B launch of as with APOLLO Applications. Improved APOLLO the modified three-man Command and Service Mod- systems and the addition of new systems were consid- ule, to rendezvous and dock with the SATURN I ered, to increase stay-times on the surface, improve Workshop set up in the previous mission. mobility, and increase the range of traverses. The accomplishment of 14-day missions and the utili- Work also progressed in 1968 on the Solar Astronomy zation of highly mobile flying units and rovers with Mission (AAP-3lAAP-4). This mission will use the ranges up to 6.2 miles was considered feasible in the SATURN I Workshop as a base of operations for first half of the 1970’s. Fourteen-day orbital survey mk- the manned APOLLO Telescope Mount ( ATM) solar sions were studied, considering techniques of metric observatory. photography, radar, altimetry and tracking, high-reso- The APOLLO Telescope Mount spacecraft is a deriva- lution photography and spectroscopy. As with the tive of the . The descent APOLLO Program, return of lunar samples to Earth stage is replaced by a structural rack which carries the was seen as an essential part of lunar surface missions. solar astronomy instrument and other systems. Other APOLLO follow-on surface science would be 14 NASA conducted with APOLLO ALSEP experimental equip- orbit the planet in 1971 for at least 90 days. They ment, later augmented by additional automated sta- will measure the composition, density, pressure, and tions. temperature of the Martian atmosphere, and transmit data on the composition of the planet’s surface, its Lunar and Planetary Programs temperature, and topography. About 70 percent of the surface of Mars will be covered in some way by the SURVEYOR-On January 9 the last of the lunar various experiments aboard the spacecraft. These will soft-landers, SURVEYOR VII, landed just north of include television, an infrared radiometer, an infrared the crater Tycho on a rugged, rock-strewn ejecta interferometer spectrometer, an ultraviolet spectrom- blanket. This region of the Moon’s surface (probably eter, and a cosmic-ray telescope, in addition to experi- not suitable for manned landings) was chosen because ments in dual-frequency and S-band occulation, and it is in the lunar highlands far from the mare basins celestial mechanics. of the equatorial belt previously scouted for potential Design of the spacecraft system and its subsystems was APOLLO landing sites. The area is believed to be progressing from the conceptual to the detailed phase, covered with debris from deep beneath the surface and the two Mars orbiters may be launched by two thrown out when this crater was formed. ATLAS-CENTAUR vehicles during a 20-day period SURVEYOR VI1 transmitted over 20,000 pictures, in May 197 1 to arrive at the planet in November. performed three chemical analyses of each of three Also, two missions to orbit and land on Mars are different samples, manipulated and tested the lunar soil, and provided other data. Detecting tiny one-watt planned for 1973 to provide further data on the laser beams projected from Earth, the spacecraft dem- planet’s atmosphere and surface, and to detect extra- onstrated that lasers could revolutionize communica- terrestrial life. tions in space, could measure considerable distances Preliminary design studies of the spacecraft for these with great accuracy, and might have additional uses. flights were completed, and scientists have proposed MARINER-Two spacecraft of the MARINER class various experiments for them. are scheduled to fly by Mars next year to investigate the Martian atmosphere and surface characteristics, and Space Science and Applications to increase scientists’ overall knowledge of the planet. One, launched in February, will pass the equatorial Orbiting Observatories-NASA’s fifth ORBITING region in July; the other, launched in March, will pass GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY (OGO-V) , a more southerly region in August so that it will be weighing 1,347 pounds, was launched on March 4 to study the south polar cap and the surrounding into a highly elliptical orbit reaching halfway to the region. Moon. Its instruments measure the Van Allen radia- tion belt, the magnetopause, and beyond these regions Tests of the flight spacecraft have proceeded as planned without major problems arising, and mission to an altitude of 92,000 miles. Among the 24 experi- analysis and design studies have shown that they can ments on board, designed to provide a coordinated take up to 166 “far-encounter” photographs. Cover- survey of phenomena in space, are those to investigate ing almost all of the Martian surface, these pictures solar flares and X-rays, primary cosmic rays, and would be better than the best ever taken from Earth. Earth‘s upper atmosphere. The studies have also helped the principal investiga- Also, the second ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL tors for this mission plan the most efficient use of their OBSERVATORY (OAO-A2), weighing 4,000 scientific instruments at the time the MARINERS are pounds and carrying over 900 pounds of instruments, close to the planet, and assisted them in determining was launched December 7. It resembled the OAO-1- when this would be. successfully orbited in April 1966-which failed to Following these two MARINER fly-by missions to return scientific data. The two experiments aboard Mars (as well as the MARINER Mars fly-by of 1964), OAO A-2 map the celestial sphere in the ultraviolet, two other MARINER spacecraft are scheduled to determine the energy distributions of the stars in the CHAPTER 111 0 15 ultraviolet range, and determine the emission line activity and their influence on Earth's environment. intensities of diffuse nebulae in the same spectral band. Data transmitted by these spacecraft (launched in 1965, 1966, and 1967 and by PIONEER IX, launched Explorer and International Satellites-In addition, November 8) formed the basis for daily reports to the five EXPLORER satellites and two international satel- Environmental Science Services Administration for lites were orbited. studies and predictions of solar weather. The activity NASA launched, in May, the international satellite of the affects not only long-range radio communi- IRIS or ESRO-11, designed and built by the European cations but the weather on Earth. Space Research Organization. The spacecraft carried experiments in cosmic rays and solar X-rays from Sounding and BallooneDuring the year Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France. The almost 100 rockets were launched at altitudes between Agency also launched, in October, the second inter- 25 and 125 miles in studies of astronomy and space national satellite ISIS-11, a cooperative project of physics. The launchings were in the United States and Canada and the United States designed to further in Canada, Norway, Brazil, and India. knowledge of ionospheric physics. The spacecraft con- Also, about 50 high-altitude balloons, flying above tinues the studies begun by the two Canadian topside 95% of Earth's atmosphere, were able to carry heavier sounders ALOUETTE I and I1 in 1962. scientific instruments than the rockets (or satellites) EXPLORER XXXVII, built by the Naval Research for more comprehensive investigations of various Laboratory to continue its solar studies, was orbited phenomena in space. by NASA in March. To continue geodetic studies of BIOSATELLITES-Scientists have completed their the surface of the Earth, EXPLORER XXXVI analyses of the results of the biological experiments re- (GEOS-11) was launched in January. A third covered from the two-day flight of BIOSATELLITE EXPLORER, V (EXPLORER XL), was I1 in September 1967. Additional ground control designed by the State University of Iowa to continue studies of the effects of vibration and acceleration on its studies of Earth's radiation belt, its magnetic field, life forms of the same species as those orbited in this and energetic particles. EXPLORER XL and an air satellite confirmed that and weightless- density satellite, EXPLORER XXXIX, were placed ness combined with an onboard radiation source were into a near polar orbit by one launch vehicle primarily responsible for the changes observed in most in August. EXPLORER XXXIX uses radio tracking of the organisms tested on the BIOSATELLITE. to study air density in the atmosphere. BIOSATELLITES D and F-to be put in 30-day or- The orbiting of EXPLORER XXXVIII in July bits in 1969 and 1970-will carry highly instrumented marked a substantial advance in developing instru- pigtailed monkeys to investigate the effects of weight- ments for radio astronomy in space. The spacecraft lessness on the central nervous system, the cardiovas- featured a new type of antenna system built like a cular system, and the general metabolism, and on per- crossed-)(, which allowed each arm to extend to 750 formance and behavior. The flight spacecraft for these feet, or an overall length of 1,500 feet. When each arm missions has undergone qualification tests and fully was played out to 455 feet (for a total of 910 feet) in instrumented monkeys were tested for their month in July, extensive radio observations were made. In Sep- space. Experiments were being developed and tested tember, with its antennas extended to a total of 1,200 for the 21-day BIOSATELLITES C and E, which will feet, the spacecraft met the objectives of its mission involve studies of rats, plants, and human cells. by measuring the direction and intensity of radio APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATEL- signals from cosmic sources in the planned frequency LITES-The cameras aboard APPLICATIONS range. The antennas were then extended to their full TECHNOLOGY SATELLITES I and I11 (ATS-I length in October. and -111) supply unique meteorological cloud-cover PIONEER-In their widely separated orbits about pictures for research and operational use. Among the the Sun PIONEERS VI, VII, and VI11 continued backup services which they provided to the Communi- to investigate the interplanetary medium and solar cations Satellite Corporation in 1968 were television 16 NASA coverage of the Eucharistic Congress in Bogota, Co- similar to those provided for INTELSAT-I, -11, and lumbia, the Olympic games, the World Series, and the -111. This 2,452-pound spacecraft (INTELSAT-I1 launches of Project APOLLO. weighed 357 pounds, INTELSAT-I11 640 pounds) will have to be launched by either a larger ATLAS- ATS-I, launched in December 1966 over the Pacific, CENTAUR or a TITAN-AGENA. and ATS-111, in November 1967 over the Atlantic, are in orbits 22,300 miles above the Earth. Also, in response to requests from the FCC and Com- Sat, NASA provided technical advice on stabilization The launch vehicle for ATS-IV, launched in Au- systems for INTELSAT-IV and reviewed and com- gust of this year, failed to operate correctly. This space- mented on the specifications for this satellite. craft, still attached to the vehicle’s second stage, re- entered Earth‘s atmosphere in October. Navigation-Traffic Control Satellite*NASA used its Omega Position Location Experiment, OPLE- Other APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATEL- flown on ATS-111 (and operating along with the LITES to be orbited are ATS-E in 1969, ATS-F in Navy’s Omega position location system)-to come 1972, and ATS-G in 1973. within two to five miles of locating an airplane in Communications Satellites-ECHO I, the passive re- flight; within less than a mile of pinpointing a moving flector balloon seen by millions since it was orbited car; and within one to five miles of locating a ship. on August 12, 1960, re-entered the atmosphere off the OPLE, 22,300 miles above Earth, also tracked a bal- coast of Chile this May and burned up. loon used for meteorological research during its 200- mile, 10-hour flight. Although its design life was only 18 months, the first commercial communications satellite-EARLY BIRD Meteorological Satellites-NIMBUS I1 (launched in or INTELSAT-I, launched by NASA for ComSat in May 1966) was still responding to commands and its April 1965-was still operating. Three in the INTEL- TV cameras continued to transmit some pictures. SAT-I1 series, orbited during 1967, continued in com- (NIMBUS 111) was planned to test in- mercial service, extending satellite coverage to over struments measuring the atmosphere’s vertical tem- two-thirds the world. Larger and more powerful d perature profile. Its launching was unsuccessful when than INTELSAT-I, they are designed to operate for its launch vehicle failed. NIMBUS B-2 is scheduled three years. INTELSAT-I1 transmits telephone and to repeat this mission in the spring of 1969. Other telegraph messages, data facsimile, black and white or launches include NIMBUS-D in 1970, NIMBUS-E color TV, and supports Project APOLLO. in 1972, and NIMBUS-F in 1973. In September and December NASA launched the first TIROS-M, representing the next generation of opera- two of five INTELSAT-I11 satellites. The spacecraft tional weather satellites, will replace the Improved in the September launch failed to achieve the planned TIROS Operational Satellites developed and onbit when its launch vehicle failed. The INTELSAT- launched by NASA for the Environmental Science I11 satellites are larger, with greater capacity than the Services Administration (ESSA) . To be launched in INTELSAT-11, and are designed to operate for five the second quarter of 1969, it will determine if one years. spacecraft with redundant systems can provide both ComSat has contracted for INTELSAT-IV satel- global recorded and local direct-readout cloud-cover lites-an advanced version of INTELSAT-111. The data day and night. Two spacecraft in the present first of these four INTELSAT-IV spacecraft is sched- TIROS operational Satellite (TOS) series are needed uled for a late 1970 launching. for this daytime capability only. INTELSAT-IV will be a larger, more sophisticated NASA orbited two of these TOS spacecraft for ESSA satellite than the third INTELSAT with 5,000 to in 1968. Both of them (ESSA 7 and 8) supplied global 6,000 two-way voice circuits and greater operational recorded data. ESSA 8 was launched because random flexibility than any of the INTELSATs launched to failures in a redundant TV camera and a tape re- date. It will operate for seven years. NASA will pro- corder within two weeks of launch left ESSA 7 with- vide ComSat with launch services for INTELSAT-IV out spare systems. ESSA 6 (launched in November CHAPTER 111 17

1967) continued to provide daytime, direct local-read- Other Launch ExperienceDuring 1968 SCOUT out cloud-cover data. Also, ESSA-11, -111, and -V still orbited three EXPLORER satellites and two ESRO operated and were providing limited picture cover- international spacecraft, carried out the Re-entry F age. (ESSA-I1 and -111 were launched in 1966; and RAM C-B experiments, and launched a space- ESSA-V in 1967.) craft for the Defense Department. Meteorological Sounding RocketsIn addition, - launched two spacecraft of the EX- NASA launched 47 research sounding rockets of PLORER class, PIONEER IX, two meteorological the NIKE-CAJUN class to obtain data at altitudes satellites for the Environmental Science Services Ad- between 20 and 60 miles and to develop experiments ministration, and the HEOS I scientific satellite for for providing new kinds of meteorological data. To the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) . supply meteorologicd data and develop reliable, less AGENA orbited two spacecraft. OGO-V was launched expensive techniques in making the routine measure- by an ATLAS/AGENA using the first Improved AT- ments needed for aerospace operations and research, LAS, SLV-3A. (This marked the completion of the 110 HASP or ARCASONDE rockets were launched. phase-out of the ATLAS-AGENA with the transfer Earth Resources Survey Program-In cooperation of the launch facilities to the Air Force.) with the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Com- THORAD-AGENA experienced its first failure on a merce, and Navy, NASA continued to investigate the NASA mission when one carrying the third NIMBUS possible use of space-acquired data in surveying the spacecraft veered off course and was destroyed by the world's natural resources. In these studies two types officer. of aircraft flew special cameras, infrared imagers, ATLAS-CENTAUR was used to launch SUR- microwave radiometers, radar, and other remote sen- VEYOR VII, the last of NASA's spacecraft to soft sors over a network of ground test sites providing geo- land on the Moon, and an ORBITING ASTRO- scientists with Earth resources information. One of NOMICAL OBSERVATORY (OAO A-2). HOW- these supplied data from flights up to 15,000 feet; an- ever, this vehicle failed in launching the APPLICA- other from fights up to 30,000 feet. Seventeen flight TIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE-D when the missions were conducted over 63 test sites during 1968. CENTAUR stage failed in its second burn restart, to NASA also will use an airplane loaned to it by the prevent the spacecraft from achieving its planned Air Force (the Air Weather Service) to test some of orbit. its remote sensors at altitudes above 40,000 feet. The potential of surveying Earth resources by means Advanced Research and Technology of satellites is under coordinated study. It is anticipated BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH that increasing attention will be given to this technol- ogy for this purpose. Fluid DynamicsIn sonic boom research, progress was made in understanding propagation of the PESSUE Geodetic Sate11ite4EoS-11 ( wave from an aircraft maneuvering through a non- was launched On January were Data uniform atmosphere. Analytical techniques and a being provided Of its instnunents--Doppler and by number of programs for predicting the boom optical beacons, laser detector, and range-range rate were developed, and simple, inexpensive prediction transponders. In addition, data were still being ob- methods were being devised for testing against the tainod from the large passive balloon satellite. more sophisticated computer programs. Theoretical PAGEOS-I, orbited in June 1966. studies of aircraft configurations with some lift dk- All of this information was being applied to the Na- tributed toward the nose indicated that sonic boom tional Geodetic Satellite Program to set up a unified could be reduced significantly without apparent pen- world geodetic reference system and define precisely alty in cruise performance; the theoretical concepts Earth's gravitational field. were being evaluated in the wind tunnel. 18 NASA

Research was started on the basic fluid dynamic mech- Materials-A cobalt-tungsten-iron alloy was developed anisms of noise generation in turbulent supersonic ex- which maintains its magnetic properties and strength haust jets, and a preliminary theory for predicting noise at temperatures in the 1200" to 1400" range. It was being devised. In studying the basic mechanisms will make possible lighter and more compact power of noise reduction it was found that a shroud-induced generation equipment for spacecraft as well as more secondary-flow mixes with the supersonic exhaust so as efficient electric generators and motors for use on to convert the flow to subsonic, thus reducing noise Earth. without a thrust penalty. The fluid dynamic details of the flow were being studied. Other materials work includes the development of a glass composition twice as stiff as most current indus- The gas dynamic laser concept offers the possibility of trial fiberglass composites. This development may pro- obtaining high-power system output (megawatts rather vide a basis for a new family of glass fibers, the than the kilowatts of more conventional lasers). Con- development of the Pyrrone polymers into resins for sequently, a new research program was established to fiberglass laminates having better mechanical proper- investigate a number of such techniques, and a molec- ties than those currently used, and also development of ular laser concept and an electric arc expansion laser the Pyrrone polymers as foam materials having densi- were proven experimentally. ties in the 30-40 lb. per-cubic-foot-range, high com- Applied Mathematic.Mathematica1 techdques de- pressive strengths, and potential applications in aircraft veloped for precise analysis of the motions of the Lunar structures and in spacecraft ablative nose cones. Orbiters were used in the discovery of Mascons, very dense mass concentrations which apparently exist Aeronautics some 50 miles below the lunar surface. The location of the Mascons was indicated by variations from the Aircraft Aerodynamics-Progress was made on meth- expected circular orbits of the spacecraft. The ods of reducing the sonic boom generated by super- gravity anomalies were plotted on a map of the Moon's sonic configurations and the shock-induced boundary- surface and proved by statistical correlation analysis to layer separation on wings at transonic speeds. correspond to locations of several of the large circular Aircraft Structures-Preliminary analytical and ex- lunar seas. The latter may have been produced by colli- perimental studies at Langley Research Center indi- sion with iron asteroids, now deeply buried beneath the cated that weight reductions of 25-50 percent may be surface, which would account for the densely concen- achieved with aluminum or titanium structures re- trated subsurface masses. The same mathematical tech- inforced by bonding high-strength boron or carbon niques should be applicable to the analysis of data filaments at selected locations. A program was initiated collected by future planetary orbiters. to develop and evaluate this information and to pro- Electrophysics-The discovery at the Electronics Re- vide engineering data needed for the design phase. search Center that the electrical output of certain semi- Air-Breathing Propulsion-Advanced inlet and ex- conductors, such as gallium antimonide, was very haust nozzles previously tested in the design stage on sensitive to applied pressure led to the development of small models in the wind tunnel were installed on one a minute (3/32-inch diameter by 1/32-inch. height) of two nacelles added to an F-106 aircraft and were transducer which transforms pressure into an electrical flown at or near the speed of sound. The other na- signal. Mounted in a cardiac catheter which was in- celle, to be subjected to the same flight conditions, will serted into the left ventricle of the heart of an anes- be used as a standard reference. Purpose of the tests thetized dog, the transducer provided details of the is to provide information on the interactions between variation of blood pressure during the heart pumping the propulsion system and the air frame. cycle. Additional research was under way to develop Aircraft Operating Problems-In research on ways a completely self-contained transducer which will not of modifying warm fog to improve visibility, theoretical require any external power supply. Such sensitive studies and laboratory tests indicated that seeding with transducers can be used to measure small pressure var- salt crystals of very small and carefully controlled size, iations in spacecraft as well as for medical diagnosis. was effective. In field tests, natural dense fogs were CHAPTER 111 19 seeded with salt from an agricultural spray airplane Supersonic Transport-In the National Supersonic flying just above the fog. Swaths over 200 yards wide Transport Program, NASA supported the intensive were cut into a 300-foot-deep dense fog. Clearing configuration design-improvement program, particu- occurred a few minutes after seeding and lasted for up larly in studies related to the SCAT 15F design; in to 20 minutes. addition, the NASA wind tunnels at Ames and Lang- Research efforts continued on methods of improving ley were used extensively in a revised test p’~gram agreed upon between the FAA and the SST con- aircraft directional control and braking on wet and tractor. slush-covered runways. Various runway surface tex- tures and materials as well as tire tread patterns were V/STOL Aircraft-The V/STOL Transition Re- investigated in the laboratory. After laboratory tests search Tunnel at the Langley Research Center is ap- indicated that transverse grooves cut into the runway proximately 50% complete anad is expected to be in surface can be effective, the NASA Wallops Station operation by the latter part of 1969. The test section runway was resurfaced and grooved, and various air- is designed to provide more accurate aerodynamic data craft were used as test vehicles. No degradation in air- on advanced V/STOL aircraft models by avoiding or reducing the tunnel-wall effects encountered by such craft braking and controllability occurred on landing models in conventional wind tunnels. or rollout on the grooved surface, even when wet or flooded. The Ames Research Center began tests of the XV-5B fan-in-wing airplane. These tests, together with wind- Aircraft Flight Dynamics-Flight tests with a spe- tunnel-model tests of other lift-fan VTOL configura- cially-equipped variable-stability jet transport aircraft tions will provide data required by designers of air- showed that a two-segment steep landing approach for craft embodying this concept, which is considered one noise-abatement could be flown with the same preci- of the more promising for high-performance civil and sion as a conventional straight-in approach without a military transport applications. significant increase in pilot workload. The improved Another VTOL concept-also considered potentially systems incorporated in the test aircraft were evaluated useful for transport applications-is the tilt wing, on by NASA, and airline pilots. The research indi- FAA, which the NASA has conducted very extensive research cated that a two-segment profile guidance system, a since 1949. To continue this research, the XC-142, modified flight director, and an autothrottle, were the the largest non-helicopter VTOL aircraft built in this primary requirements for accomplishing the noise country, was assigned to the Langley Research Cen- abatement approaches. Secondary requirements, which ter for further evaluation of the tilt-wing concept might be needed for some current jet transports having specifically, and to investigate generally the landing characteristics less desirable than those of the test air- operation of V/STOL transports, particularly in poor craft, included a rate command control system, ad- visibility. vanced cockpit displays, and direct lift control. NASA-USAF XB-70 Flight Research Program- Aircraft Noise Alleviation-Research on ways of The XB-70 completed 13 flights in 1968 under modifying turbofan nacelles to minimize engine fan- NASA funding and management responsibility. The compressor noise indicated that it is technically feasible flights sought data on dynamic loads; st&fity, con- to reduce noise significantly near the approach path trol, and handling qualities; engine-inlet matching; of jet aircraft. ground-based and airborne simulator validation; and The program to develop a “quiet engine” for air- general performance of large supersonic aircraft. planes moved forward with the issuance of a request In March the airplane was removed from flight status for proposals by NASA. The goal of the “quiet en- for several crew-escape system changes and the instal- gine” program is to produce a turbofan demonstrator lation of research-related equipment for a modal con- engine capable of operating at a noise level at least trol (elastic mode control) system designed to reduce 15 to 20 decibels below present engines powering four- the structural dynamic gust response of flexible air- engine commercial jet aircraft. planes flying in rough air, improve the “ride” qualities, 20 NASA and extend the fatigue life of the aircraft. The system thrust. The feasibility of applying fluorine-hydrogen to operated successfully when flight tests were resumed flight propulsion systems has been thoroughly demon- in June. The remainder of the flights in 1968 were de- strated and this technology is now ready for applica- voted principally to acquiring data for the dynamic tions to high energy missions to the far planets or to loads flight-test program. the Sun. A new NASA-DOD Memorandum of Understanding Test work continued bn advanced high-performance executed in May calls for the continued use of the engine technology for future launch vehicles. A 100- XB-70 aircraft until the currently planned program inch-diameter plug-nozzle thrust chamber, which is completed or until available funds are depleted (ap- burns and hydrogen, was tested at sea proximately March 30,1969). level, and the annular combusion chamber will be X-15 Research Aircraf-In January, the NASA- tested at simulated high-altitude conditions to deter- USAF Board which investigated the X-15-3 accident mine the flight performance characteristics of this of November 15, 1967, reported that, in its judgment, design. A unique feature of the design-the aerody- the accident was precipitated during the ballistic por- namic plug centerbody formed by feeding exhaust gas tion of the flight when the pilot allowed the airplane into the base of the engine-makes it possible to design to deviate in heading and then flew the airplane to a much shorter upper stage; it is being considered in such an extreme attitude with respect to the flight studies of advanced launch vehicles. path that there was a complete loss of control during The OF,-diborane propellant combination may be the re-entry portion of the flight. The Board concluded useful for small near-planet probes and soft-landing that the pilot’s improper controlling of the aircraft was spacecraft because of its storability in space and high- the result of some combination of display misinterpre- density impulse. Thrust chamber tests at an altitude tation, distraction, and possibly vertigo. test facility with FLOX-diborane determined the Although all of the most important NASA experiments vacuum performance of this space-storable propellant in the X-15 flight program have been completed, it combination in a realistic rocket chamber. Specific im- was decided to continue the program to obtain data pulse values of 400 seconds were measured at combus- required by the Air Force for three high-priority tion chamber pressures of 100 p.s.i.a. (FLOX was used experiments. to simulate the rather more expensive oxygen- A total of 13 flights were made by 8 different pilots difluoride (OF,) oxidizer.) above 50 miles during the year, primarily for the Air Work on less expensive methods of fabricating rocket Force experiments. X-15 aircraft completed a total of equipment progressed. Liquid rocket components were 199 flights by the end of 1968, including 154 at Mach fabricated by electrodeposition of nickel, thus eliminat- 4 or greater, 109 at Mach 5 or above, and 4 at Mach ing the requirement for welding or machining intricate numbers greater than 6. No speed or altitude maxi- shapes and improving reliability. In research on de- mums beyond those obtained earlier (4,520 miles per structive combustion-driven oscillations, progress was hour and 354,200 feet) were reached in 1968. made in stabilizing small and medium-sized rocket en- gine combustion chambers with combinations of baf- Chemical Propu Is io n fles and acoustic absorption devices. However, in study- Liquid Propulsion Systems-Propulsion research effort ing occasional failures to achieve stability, it was found concentrated on demonstrating and testing improved that the tuned absorbers greatly affect the acoustic concepts for spacecraft propulsion. A modified RGlO resonances of the chamber to which they are attached, engine using fluorine and hydrogen was tested under sometimes detuning the assembly so that the absorber simulated altitude conditions; all test objectives were is not effective. Therefore, alternative designs with met, and all engine components performed satisfac- improved acoustic qualities are being investigated. torily. A single engine accumulated over 1,000 seconds Solid Motor Progran-For the large solid motor of firing time at various operating conditions, includ- project, technology improvements in propellant formu- ing one 300-second steady-state test at 15,800-1b.- lation, case materials, nozzle ablatives, and insulation CHAPTER 111 21 were being investigated, to reduce the cost of compo- cable to many other nonconductive materials; the nents without sacrificing- reliability. demonstration of the feasibility of several types of start-stop-restart solid-propellant motors ; the develop- During the last 260-inch motor test, pieces of propel- ment of an analytical model to predict the entire igni- lant were ejected through the nozzle shortly before tion transient for a particular class of motors and the the end of burning. The ejection was caused by a lack demonstration of its general validity; and further of fusion between propellant batches and the motor evaluation of a lithium/fluorine/hydn>gen tripropel- wall during the 19 days required to pour the 300 lant hybrid system. The effect of introducing hydrogen propellant batches into the motor. In a study of the a third propellant is to reduce the combustion tem- problem, it was found that the propellant does not as perature and increase the . This pro- distribute itself as uniformly as had been predicted. pellant combination has a theoretical specific impulse Some propellant batches proved to be several days old of over 500 seconds among the highest obtainable from before they reached the motor case wall, at which time chemical reaction propulsion systems. they will not bond properly. Less-viscous propellants and improved processes for pouring the propellant into the motor case were being investigated. Biotechnology and Human Research A motor-case steel which costs only one-third as much Vestibular Research-Sixteen anti-motion sickness as the alloy used in previous chambers was success- drugs were tested singly and in combination in 500 fully tested in a subscale three-foot-diameter model. tests on 50 volunteer subjects. A combination of am- It proved to be much less vulnerable to flaws formed phetamine and scopolamine was found to be far more during the welding process, surviving intentionally effective than the popular anti-motion sickness drugs produced flaws several inches long and 80% of the and should have widespread application in commer- way through the wall thickness without affecting struc- cial and private transportation. tural performance. Stress Endocrinology-A new technique for the main- Nozzles made with new ablative materials and proc- tenance of body fluid and electrolyte balance was esses were successfully test-fired on several occasions. developed in connection with studies of the stresses of Although the nozzles tested had an 8-inch throat diam- aerospace flight and their effects on fluid and electro- eter, it is estimated that the new materials could lyte balance. Changes in the amount and composition reduce the finished nozzle ablative cost by from 30 to of urine, which are clues to fluid and salt loss through 80%. Such a reduction would be significant, since the kidney, are fed into a computer which calculates ablative liners cost about a million dollars in a typical the corrective amounts of fluid and electrolyte needed. full-size 260-inch solid motor. The most successful This information is then used to control replacement materials will be tested on larger-size nozzles as soon as into the circulation through a motor-driven syringe. practicable. Since maintenance of proper fluid and electrolyte bal- Other research in this area was concerned with the ance in burn victims is necessary to prevent shock, this insulation system used in motors, which is applied method of automating its control should prove useful ‘‘wallpaper’’ fashion in multiple thicknesses of 0.1 inch, in their treatment. even where 3 to 5 inches of material is required. In an Bioinstrumentation-Bioinstmments developed by effort to replace this costly and time-consuming NASA centers have found widespread applications in method, a contractor was hired to investigate the Government agencies and elsewhere. The Federal application of slurry materials which can be “poured” Aviation Agency used spray-on electrode kits, recorders, into place and smoothed with a trowel. Such a proc- and data-analysis equipment from Flight Research where applicable, could reduce costs (currently $10 ess, Center for monitoring the effects of job stresses on air per pound) by 90%. traffic controllers. A private ambulance company em- Solid Propulsion Technology-Activities in this area ploys the spray-on electrodes and related equipment to included the finding that the microwave non-destruc- transmit electrocardiograms from ambulance to hos- tive testing technique, successfully used in detecting pital where they are analyzed before the patient &VW. defects in large samples of solid propellant, is appli- In addition, information on the spray-on electrode 22 NASA technique was furnished to more than 200 domestic gallons of distilled tap water. All of the water met the and foreign hospitals and laboratories. quality standards established by the National Academy of Sciences, its potability was acceptable, and no ill The Electronics Research Center tested a newly effects were noted in any of the subjects. developed oculometer-an instrument which measures eye pupil size, blink rate, and direction of gaze without Spacecraft Atmosphere Control-For physiological attachment to the subject. Its accuracy in measuring reasons, extended manned space flights will use a twe eye pointing direction is better than 0.5 degrees. The gas atmosphere (oxygen plus nitrogen or another inert device should be useful in determining optimum lay- gas). A mass spectrometer system for sensing and con- outs for cockpit instruments, in measuring mental trolling a two-gas atmosphere was designed, fabricated, alertness, in studying how children learn to read, and and tested. The reliability of the unit, which weighs in gun and camera aiming systems, and mm/computer only 6% pounds and uses less than 3% watts of power, communications, as well as in other areas. was tested and proven in the 60-day, four-man, space cabin simulator test. The system continuously moni- Aircraft Noise and Sonic Boom-NASA is conducting tored the partial pressures of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon laboratory studies and field surveys to obtain a better dioxide, and water vapor and controlled the oxygen understanding of noise parameters they affect people as and nitrogen concentrations with the desired accuracy. psychologically and physiologically. In 1967, acoustical Its response rate was fast enough to keep within the and sociometric surveys of airport noise carried out in desired range, and there was no performance degrada- Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles involved in- tion over the test period. terviews with over 3,500 people while related noise measurements were being taken. Three additional Protective Systems-Significant improvements in the cities will be surveyed. The potential noise char- Ames Research Center hard spacesuit helped achieve acteristics of future V/STOL aircraft were being eval- several design goals: a weight of 55 pounds; improved ulated by means of noise synthesis and simulation mobility in the waist, torso, and pelvic sections; re- techniques developed for predicting the noise signa- fined closure development; improved boot configura- tures of aircraft while still in the design stage. tion and ankle joint articulations; shoulder width re- duction to 24 inches; and operational pressures up to The synthesized noise is to be tested on subjects, and 10 pounds per square inch. its effects compared to those of existing aircraft. In a study of reactions to sonic bqom, subjects were exposed Locomotion and Restraint Aid-The Ames Research to simulated outdoor sonic booms of different wave- Center developed a locomotion and restraint aid forms and intensity and judged their relative loud- (LARA) for possible use in large spacecraft. A torso ness and annoyance by using a paired comparison harness and a track are connected through springs to technique. It was found that judgments were unaf- hold an astronaut’s feet against the spacecraft struc- fected by changes in sonic-boom duration and that ture and thus provide normal traction and center-of- slower boom rise-times resulted in decreases in sub- gravity control. Tests in a neutral buoyancy tank jective loudness and thus in annoyance. showed that the LARA eliminates the need for cum- bersome tethers, foot stirrups, and other work aids and Life Support Systems-In a space cabin simulator life enables the astronaut to walk, sit, stand, and work in support system test completed in April, four men lived a zero-gravity environment. and worked for 60 days in a closed chamber. During 5 1 days of the test their oxygen requirements were sup- Space Tools-Tests have shown that most conven- plied from oxygen reclaimed from their expired carbon tional hand tools are unsatisfactory in a weightless dioxide. When the oxygen recovery system malfunc- environment since they require the user to exert a large tioned, the crew restored it to full operation, and the torque, and any attempt to do this in space is likely run was completed as planned. During the period of to result in turning the man rather than the tool unless “down time” oxygen was furnished from a stored sup he is firmly anchored. Special tools and fasteners de- ply. For 57% days two men drank only water regener- veloped by NASA centers to overcome this problem ated from urine and cabin condensate, consuming over include a quick-operating fastening device which re- 51 gallons of this water. The other two men drank 55 quires only a small turning force (Ames), and a tool CHAPTER 111 23 using an inertial method for tightening or loosening to spacecraft. In addition, the spacecraft nuts and bolts (Marshall). To tighten a nut, a lightly yielded useful data on radiation fields in space, space- restrained operator imparts a rotary motion to a craft thermal control techniques, and rotational dy- weighted crossbar on the tool shaft; to loosen it, he namics of satellites. sharply raps the end of the crossbar. Experiments to determine the meteoroid penetration resistance of simple double-sheet structures indicated Space Vehicle Systems that the effectiveness of the spacing between the sheets, Aerothermodynamics-The NASA HL-10 lifting- in increasing penetration resistance, increases with in- body research vehicle completed 12 successful glide creasing velocity over the range of velocities possible the laboratory. effect is attributed to the relative flights following minor modifications to the vehicle in This to correct roll control deficiencies uncovered in its increase in projectile and front-sheet melting and vilr initial flight in December 1966. The program moved porization that occurs as the impact velocity increases. However, the actual effectiveness of double-wall struc- into a second phase when a rocket engine was used tures in preventing meteoroid penetration must be for the first time in November to propel the vehicle to determined in the actual environment. To do this, im- a higher altitude and increased Mach number. The proved pressure cell sensors were developed which will rocket engine was ignited and lifted the craft from make it possible to obtain anchor-point data on such 35,000 feet to over 43,000 feet. During 184 seconds effectiveness by means of quite modest flight experi- of engine burn the vehicle reached a top speed of ments. 610 m.p.h. A new anode design, developed for solar simulator Progress was made in research on a flexible wing lamps, reduced lamp failure due to inadequate anode designed for land recovery of manned spacecraft cooling. The new liquid-cooled anode has a carefully which can be stowed and deployed like a conventional contoured coolant passage through its tip so that the parachute. Drop tests of a 4,000-square-foot wing with coolant velocity is higher in the hottest region. The payloads of 5,000 pounds were successfully conducted new lamp configuration was also tentatively adopted under conditions simulating terminal descent of a by DOD for use in 30-Kw lamps to be carried aboard large manned spacecraft such APOLLO. Advances as helicopters for producing night illumination. were also made in research on parachutes capable of decelerating and landing unmanned probes in the Martian atmosphere. Effort was concentrated on ex- Electronics and Control tending. parachute technology to higher Mach num- Fluidic Yaw Control SubsystewThe Langley Re- bers and on investigating attached inflatable devices search Center evaluated and laboratory tested a offering higher drag effciency and consequent greater fluidic yaw control subsystem, based on a design re- landed payload weights. searched and developed at the Center. Preliminary Structures-Laboratory tests of small models of a data indicated that the desired performance can be very large orbital radio telescope antenna (about 1,500 achieved and plans were made to continue testing to meters in diameter) indicated that such a large flimsy obtain more data on reliability and to develop a closed- structure should be practicable. Studies were also un- loop system using a newly developed fluidic gyroscope. der way on deployment and control techniques and The objective of this research is to develop a low-cost, on experimental methods for demonstrating system reliable, automatic control system for light general feasibility. aviation aircraft. Environmental Factors-On August 29, the three Brushless DC Motor-An early model of the DC PEGASUS satellites were switched off after each had brushless motor has been ground tested for over three operated in orbit for more than three years. During years, recording over six billion shaft rotations; similar their operation, they recorded a total of 2,265 verified models, driving lubrication type experiments, have been meteoroid penetrations, yielding the most significant space flight-tested. Test data indicated that the motors data available at this time on the meteoroid hazard will provide high reliability and improved performance 24 NASA as drive motors for gyro gimbals, solar array panels, light and operates on the parametric principle, pro- and other applications. ducing an output which has the single color charac- teristic of normal lasers but can be tuned over a wide Scanning Electron Mirror Microscope-The Elec- band. The tunable characteristic will be useful in laser tronics Research Center developed and tested the pro- communication systems and in laser analysis of the totype of a new instrument, the scanning electron constituents of materials. mirror microscope (SEMM) for non-destructive study and examination of semiconductor devices. The mirror RAM C-11-The RAM C-I1 re-entry communication effect is achieved by establishing a voltage gradient flight experiment, conducted on August 22, sought between the electron beam and the test specimen which diagnostic data on attenuation of radio signals reflects the impinging electrons, thereby keeping them (“blackout”) at re-entry velocities in the 25,000 feet away from the surface of the device under test and per second regime. The test provided values of electron preventing damage. The test results were satisfactory, density in the flow field which will be compared with and an operational model is being developed. and used to improve the theoretical models. .This work will make it possible to predict radio blackout more Semiconductor Memory Device-A variable-threshold accurately, and to develop techniques for alleviating transistor was developed which can be used as a non- the blackout problems experienced on returning space- volatile, high-density information storage element and craft and planetary landers. requires no power to maintain the state of the system. The device is a modification of the field effect tran- Combustible Gas Detector-Ames Research Center sistor. The new device can be interrogated repeatedly developed a system which will readily detect minute by small signals and restored to its original state by quantities of combustible hydrocarbon gases. Using the application of a voltage pulse of equal magnitude a small helium-neon laser, operating in the infrared at but opposite polarity. It is compatible with large-scale 3.39 micrometers, and a solid-state detector, the sys- integration technology and can substantially reduce tem measures the absorption of the laser light at the the complexity of logic circuits in computer vibration frequency of the coupled hydrogen and car- applications. bon atoms. Its sensitivity is such that it can be used to measure the absorption coefficients of gases such as Laser Research-An argon laser was used by Goddard methane, gasoline, alcohol, and acetone. The system Space Flight Center as a high-power signal to measure has the advantage of remote detection, since the laser some of the effects of the atmosphere on narrow light and the detector can be isolated from the combustible beams projected out into space, information which is gases and can be used when large volumes are to be essential for work on laser communication. The laser monitored. It is being evaluated for detecting fire and signals were received by the GEOS I1 satellite and explosive hazards as well as seepage from natural gas telemetered back to Earth for analysis. This experi- lines. The principle may also be used in medical appli- ment was the first successful laser communication with cations and industrial process control. a satellite. Solar Radiation Measurement-The Jet Propulsion Two ground stations using laser systems made contact Laboratory (JPL) developed a highly accurate wide- with the SURVEYOR VI1 vehicle, on the surface of band radiometer for measuring real and simulated the Moon. The SURVEYOR TV camera photo- solar radiation. Because of its confirmed accuracy, the graphed the Earth, and the pictures telemetered clearly instrument is applicable as an absolute standard with indicated the locations of the two laser ground stations. less than 0.5 percent error throughout the visible and This experiment, which demonstrated that a relatively IR range of the spectrum. The device was used to Cali- low-power but very narrow laser beam can be precisely brate other radiometric instruments for solar simulator pointed to an object on the lunar surface, is a signif- experiments, and it was flown on high-altitude aircraft at feet to determine true solar radiation outside icant advance in research leading to the establishment 40,000 the major portion of Earth‘s absorbing atmosphere. of deep space laser communication. The ability of this device to provide accurate data on The first continuous-wave tunable laser was developed solar energy should have application in research on the and operated under a NASA grant. It produces red heat balance of spacecraft. CHAPTER 111 25

X-ray Detection-In research on solar phenomena and Data compression and resultant saving in channel prediction, it is necessary to measure low- capacity is achieved by transmitting only the computed energy X-rays produced by the Sun. However, detec- values which can be interpreted on the ground to give tors for “soft” rays, such as proportional counters, are the required information. limited to wavelengths shorter than 2 nanometers At JPL, investigators found that it was feasible to (lO-Dm) by the opacity of the material used as en- increase the amount of video information which can trance windows, which must be extremely thin. but be transmitted from deep space by using a mathemat- able to withstand the difference beween the gas pres- ical process (the Fourier transform) to compress tele- sure in the counter and the ambient space environment. vision pictures a hundred-fold or more for transmis- The Electronics Research Center developed a simple, low-cost method for making such windows which in- sion from planetary spacecraft to Earth. A digital volves stretching inexpensive polypropylene sheets ap- computer breaks the picture down into its elementary proximately 26 micrometers thick to a resultant thick- frequency and phase components and selects for ness of only 1 micrometer. X-ray counters made with transmission only those which contribute most to pic- such window material withstood a pressure differential ture quality, thus saving channel capacity. By revers- of nearly 1 atmosphere, permitted transmittance of 70 ing the process at the receiver, the picture can be percent of X-rays up to wavelengths of 11 nm, and reconstructed. made it possible to extend the detector measurement range to cover the soft X-ray region (.1-10 nm.) of the spectrum. Space Power and Electric Propulsion Cockpit DisplaysIn a NASA-sponsored research The Agency’s space power and electric propulsion project, it was found that a hologram and moving light programs continued to receive research and develop- source could be used to replace certain complex elec- ment emphasis during 1968. tronic navigational displays in aircraft and space- Electric Engine Systems-The SERT I1 (Space craft. Other displays being developed use a cathode ray Electric Rocket Test) spacecraft, aimed at verifying tube to portray a set of electronically generated con- long-term ion thruster performance in space, continued verging straight lines which change position to simulate to progress toward a 1969 launch. perspective in response to vehicle orientation. The re- searchers were able to achieve a similar effect from a In addition, during the past year, experimenters made single hologram transparency made of a point source the first attempt to use electric propulsion operationally of light recorded in two different positions. The holo- in a NASA program. The ATS-IV satellite carried an gram was made so that the reconstructed con- operational resistojet system for East-West station-keep- sisted of two rows of points which appeared to recede ing along with an ion engine experiment. While the behind the transparency in true three-dimensional per- spacecraft failed to achieve synchronous orbit, it’ was spective. By moving the reconstructing light source in possible to test both the operational and experimental coordination with vehicle motion, an illusion of change systems. Telemetered results indicated that design per- in perspective can be created to show required naviga- formance was achieved. tional corrections. At the end of the year approximately 5,000 hours of Data Compression-Studies at Goddard Space Flight a planned 8,000-hourYhigh-temperature resistojet en- Center showed that telemetry channel capacity can be conserved by applying a mathematical technique, “bit durance test had been completed. Such engines could plane encoding,” to on-board measurements of en- be used in the manned space station as position control ergetic particles by scientific spacecraft, thus “com- systems. pressing” the data by a factor of 50 or more before Work also continued on the systems technology for transmission. When this technique is used, data solar-powered electric primary propulsion. Such sys- samples, in the form of binary numbers, are arranged tems offer potential cost and capability advantages for in a rectangular matrix, and the statistical properties automated space missions and continued to appear of the matrix extracted by an on-board computer. feasible. 26 NASA

Nuclear Electric Power Generation-The major com- grams began testing at the NASA Plum Brook Test ponents of the 35 KWe SNAP-8 power conversion Reactor. Important experimental data were obtained system were subjected to further testing. By year’s end, on the voltage breakdown characteristics of certain all three system pumps had exceeded 10,000 hours of materials, fuels, and mechanisms. And a joint NASA- demonstrated life. Development of the boiler and tur- AEC-Contractor team established reference reactor bine, which had lagged in previous years because of designs (at the 300-KW power level) for the three technical problems, was progressing satisfactorily. principal fast neutron spectrum thermionic reactor Basic system technology testing of the “breadboarded” concepts. power conversion system, using a non-nuclear heat Solar Power Generation-A significant advance in source, led to the demonstration, in principle, of the the generation of electric power in space was realized automated bootstrapped start-up typical space with the recent completion of a four-year effort operation. to achieve technology readiness of a large-area, The SNAP-19 isotope generator was launched on the lightweight, photovoltaic solar cell array. Up to 50 KW NIMBUS B spacecraft on May 18, 1968. The mission of electric power can now be generated at a weight was aborted because of a booster guidance malfunc- cost of 50 lb/KW on board spacecraft that are sub- tion. The SNAP units, however, were subsequently re- jected only to low-level acceleration after solar cell covered and, to a considerable degree, demonstrated array deployment. Such space vehicles would include the safety of the device. Another SN‘4P-19 isotope most unmanned planetary flyby spacecraft and many generator is to be flown on a duplicate NIMBUS B synchronous-altitude applications satellites. spacecraft early in 1969. This new technological capability represents a roughly The SNAP-27 generator reached the final stage of 50-fold advance in power level over the highest used development. It will be ready for use on APOLLO thus far in the nation’s space efforts. For many import- as a source of power for the APOLLO Lunar Surface ant uses such a capability would permit the power sys- Experiment Package (ALSEP) . Steps were being taken tem weight to be reduced by a factor of 2 to 3, while to adapt and evaluate SNAP-19 and SNAP-27 tech- still generating the required amount of electric power. nologies for deep-space planetary science missions. Chemical Power Generation-A simulated planetary The advanced nuclear electric power program con- landing has shown that a battery can survive both ster- tinued to stress three energy conversion concepts for ilization temperatures and forces many times that of long-lived power in the kilowatt range and higher. normal gravity. A 12-cell, silver-zinc battery, sterilized In the potassium Rankine turbogenerator program, at 257” F for 24 hours, was dropped into the Cali- continuing progress was made in the development of fornia desert aboard an experimental Mars lander. basic and component technologies. As a specific ex- Moments after impact the battery began furnishing ample, new, higher-strength, liquid metal corrosion- the power to extend a wind gauge and to operate a resistant refractory metal alloys were reported. radio transmitter and a timer. The effort in the Brayton cycle turbogenerator pro- The combination of reinforced electrodes, heat-resist- gram continued to emphasize development of the high- ant separator, and high-strength plastic case proved performance components and subsystems in the 2-10 that batteries can be built to withstand unusual heat KWe power range. The single-shaft 5.5 KWe compact, and shock. The present product is marginal, however, rotating unit began undergoing preliminary tests. This and needs improvement before it can be used with unit consists of a turbine, alternator, and compressor mounted on the same shaft and rotating on gas bear- confidence for such a difficult mission. ings. Subsystem tests on the control, start-up and gas In another area of effort, an experimental power con- management system were being initiated, and a com- trol unit successfully withstood a typical sterilization plete power package was being assembled for a system cycle (125” C for 72 hours) and underwent drop test- test early in 1969. ing equivalent to 2,500 g’s. Subsequent laboratory tests In the thermionic conversion area, a number of signifi- disclosed no degradation in power control unit per- cant events occurred. Four uranium fuels test pro- formance. CHAPTER 111 27

Nuclear Rocket Program from the engine nozzle is carried away by means of an exhaust duct. A shielded engine test compartment The nuclear rocket program is a joint endeaver of the surrounds the engine and provides, in conjunction with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the exhaust duct, a means for reducing the pressure Atomic Energy Commission. The program’s objective around the engine to simulate certain aspects of opera- is to develop a 75,000-pound-thrust engine for space tion in space. Steam ejectors pumping into the duct mission application. This engine, identified as NERVA create the space environment. The front of the duct (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) ,will is closed to prevent the back flow of hydrogen into the have a specific impulse of about 825 seconds, the capa- duct vault area. bility for multiple restarts in space, and a very high re- liability. It has been determined that an engine of this A heavy schedule of activity was carried out during size could perform a large number of the advanced the year at Engine Test Stand No. 1 in preparation for missions currently being considered in NASA plan- hot tests of the XE ground-experimental engine. ning. Engine development is being accomplished us- In April 1968, a series of experiments was run in the ing a base of technology which took 13 years of exten- stand using the cold-flow ground-experimental engine sive analytical and experimental research to acquire. (XECF) to investigate the initial start characteristics This work, still in progress, will end with the testing of the engine and to provide a training period for the of the XE ground-experimental engine. test crew. These experiments revealed several minor Apart from the NERVA effort, the nuclear rocket problems, such as oscillations in the steam-ejector inlet program includes supporting and advanced technology line to the duct, and excessive vibrations of the front, activities to advance non-reactor component tech- duct-vault closure wall. The engine system and test nology and stage technology. The objective in each of stand operated as planned, and the test results pro- these areas is to advance the technology pertinent to vided the basis for proceeding .with final preparations nuclear rocketry beyond the initial performance ob- for the conduct of “hot” engine experiments. Later, jectives established for NERVA. the XECF was removed and re-installed with remote- handling equipment, demonstrating the capability to The past year was an active one in the nuclear rocket remotely remove and reinstall the engine in the stand. program. A major milestone was achieved with the completion of cold-flow tests on the first ground- Following the XECF test program, a series of experi- experimental engine (XECF) in Engine Test Stand ments was conducted, with the aid of an engine simu- No. 1. At Test Cell “C,” hot tests were completed on lator, to checkout the operation of the test stand emer- the most powerful reactor ever tested in the program- gency-cool-down system. This system provides an alter- the PHOEBUS-2A reactor. Significant advances were nate means for cooling down the engine reactor in the made in fuel-element technology as demonstrated in event the flow of propellant is cutoff through the laboratory tests. The first PEWEE reactor, a reduced- engine propellant feed system. Though some initial size reactor designed to serve as a test bed for verifying problems were encountered during the experiments the results of fuel-element tests conducted in the with some of the lines and valves, all test objectives laboratory, was moved to Test Cell “C” and power- were met and good data were obtained. tested. The first “hot” ground-experimental engine After the checkout of the emergency cool-down system, (XE’I was installed in Engine Test Stand No. 1 for work continued at ETS-1 in preparation for the XE checkpoint prior to power-testing. All of these events “hot” tests. Remaining to be accomplished were: the and activities were directed toward establishing a firm completion of modifications to permit the remote re- base of technology for the development of the moval of the exhaust duct following the XE test pro- NERVA engine. gram, reinforcement of the front duct closure wall, in- Engine Test Stand No. l-Engine Test Stand No. 1 stallation of an improved steam-ejector inlet line, and is designed to permit the testing of nuclear rocket en- final checkout and audit of the engine and test stand gines in a nozzle-down altitude and in tandem (directly control systems. underneath) with the propellant tank placed as it Non-Nuclear Component Technology-One of the would be arranged in a flight stage. The hydrogen gas major events reported last year was the introduction 28 NASA of the PEWEE reactor into the supporting and ad- of nuclear radiation on materials, including the liquid vanced technology portion of the nuclear rocket pro- hydrogen propellant. Good data are now available on gram. The reactor came into being as a result of studies the effects of radiation on metallic and organic mate- conducted at Los Alamos to arrive at a more econom- rials. Very little is known, however, about the effects ical approach to test promising advanced fuel materials of radiation heating on liquid hydrogen, and this will and design concepts. PEWEE is now a reality, and the be of fundamental importance in determining propel- first test article, the PEWEE-I, was moved to Test lant boil off losses, tank pressure level and the fluid Cell “C” for checkout and power tests. properties of the hydrogen entering the engine pump. While the PEWEE reactor work was being accom- An experimental 5,000-gallon liquid hydrogen tank plished, studies were initiated at Test Cell “C” to define and supporting equipment is being designed and the facility modifications that would be required to fabricated for the purpose of verification of analytical test a PEWEE reactor. These studies indicated that it predictions of nuclear heating of liquid hydrogen. would be desirable to go to a more efficient feed system Continued supporting research is being conducted in design to cut down on liquid hydrogen losses. the area of long-term cryogenic storage. Work also is Examination of the existing Mk 25 turbopump design underway to develop a means for the reliquification of revealed that by reducing the blade height of the approximately 3 pounds-per-hour of hydrogen vapor. pump and modifying a few other components, e.g., This quantity is representative of the amounts boiled the bearings and balance piston, the same basic hard- off from a well-insulated stage during long-term flights ware could be used to provide the 50 pounds-per- in space. second of liquid hydrogen required for PEWEE reactor testing. Using the Mk 25 turbopump without these modifications would mean .that more than 40 percent Tracking and Data Acquisition of the pump flow would have to be bypassed and NASA’s Tracking and Data Acquisition program con- burned. The cost savings that would be realized more tinued to support the missions of this agency and other than justified the changes. As a result of these analyses, agencies and certain foreign governments. Such mis- two sets of turbopump hardware were modified this sions included APOLLO 7, APOLLO 8, SURVEYOR year to meet PEWEE test needs. VII, PIONEER IX, RADIO ASTRONOMY EX- In the area of controls, the Lewis Research Center PLORER, and the ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL reported on the developmet of integrated fluidic con- OBSERVATORY-OAO-A2. Even while providing trol circuits, an extension of technology of wide-rang- this operational support, the network facilities and ing usefulness. Integrated electronic circuits have been equipment were modified and augmented to meet the in use for some time now and have opened a whole requirements of approved future missions. new field of microelectronics and high-density pack- Manned Space Flight Network-All of the Manned aging. Through the use of integrated circuits, equip- Space Flight Network facilities required to support the ment of low size, weight and power consumption can APOLLO lunar landing became operational during be manufactured to the most rigid standards and the year. The Network land facilities, specifically con- specifications. figured for APOLLO support, consist of eleven 30- In a nuclear-powered stage, however, the radiation foot antenna stations and three stations equipped with environment makes it almost impossible to use elec- 85-foot antennas. In addition, four instrumentation trical and electronic equipment in many areas. Fluidic ships and eight instrumentation aircraft provide cover- equipment on the other hand can be made relatively age over the broad ocean areas. insensitive to such environments. The extension of The Network started a busy year of flight activity with fluidic technology provided by Lewis, therefore, is a its support of the APOLLO 5 mission (January 22). much welcomed advance. The new network facilities provided excellent sup- Nuclear Stage Technology-Of major interest in the port, simultaneously, to both the LM spacecraft and development of nuclear-powered stages is the effect the S-IVB stage of the SATURN IB launch vehicle. CHAPTER 111 29

The Network also performed flawlessly during its sup- Deep Space Network-During the year, the Deep port of APOLLO 6, launched April 4. For this mission, Space Network supported the final flight of NASA's seven of the eight instrumentation aircraft were de- unmanned lunar programs. While it will furnish sup ployed. As preplanned, the two aircraft in the Pacific port to the lunar phases of APOLLO, in the future Ocean area successfully acquired the spacecraft during it will support planetary and interplanetary flight terminal re-entry and tracked it to splashdown. programs. Next, the Network provided excellent support to the The final unmanned lunar flight, SURVEYOR VII, first manned APOLLO flight, APOLLO 7, launched was launched on January 7, and received continuous October 11. First-time requirements, such as real-time coverage by the Deep Space Network until it success- television reception from the astronauts in orbit, were fully soft-landed on the Moon on January 9. The net- handled in an almost routine manner. To meet the work's last contact with the spacecraft occurred on television requirement, NASA installed specialized February 20. During the period of coverage, the track- equipment (scan converters) at two of the network ing stations received over 2 1,000 television pictures stations: Corpus Christi, Tex., and Merritt Island taken from the lunar surface. (Cape Kennedy), Fla. For similar coverage of APOL- The network continued to handle a substantial work- LO lunar missions, the Agency installed these units at load in 1968, with PIONEER IX (launched success- the Goldstone, Calif., and Madrid, Spain, stations. fully on November 8) added to the on-going PIO- The Network's successful support of the four APOL- NEER VI, VII, and VI11 missions. The PIONEER LO missions in 1968 resulted in large measure from spacecraft, originally planned for a useful lifetime of the experience gained during numerous mission simu- 6 months, have exceeded all design expectations, and lations conducted between flight missions. These real- their lifetimes are now estimated at 5 years. istic simulations, assuring constant operational readi- While it was providing this mission support, the net- ness of both facilities and personnel, were enhanced work was also being modified and augmented to meet by the use of a Test and Training Satellite (TETR) . the dual MARINER '69 mission requirements. New In addition to the mission simulations involving real- multitelemetry equipment was being installed at the time operations with the Mission Control Center at network stations. Although specifically constructed for Houston, the TETR spacecraft provided a tracking MARINER '69, this equipment was designed with target for checkout of individual stations. The first sufficient flexibility to accommodate, with only a min- such satellite, TETR-I, was successfully launched in imum of changes, other spacecraft which may evolve December 1967; it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on after 1970. April 26, 1968. A second spacecraft, TETR-11, was In June, two Deep Space Network Stations at Gold- launched piggyback aboard the vehicle which placed stone, Calif., successfully tracked the Asteroid Icarus PIONEER IX in its trajectory around the Sun. as it passed within 4 million miles of Earth (June 14). TETR-I1 participation in the Network checkout con- A standard-size 85-foot-diameter antenna, with a tributed to the successful support of the APOLLO 8 powerful 450-kilowatt transmitter, transmitted radio mission. waves to the Asteroid, and the giant 210-foot antenna The APOLLO 8 flight demonstrated the network's received the radio wave echoes some 42 seconds later. capabilities for support of a manned lunar landing. Studies of the signals received have improved our knowledge of the Asteroid's physical characteristics and Voice communications were excellent; tracking and its rotation rate. Preliminary analysis of the data in- trajectory determination accuracies were well within dicated that Icarus has a radius of requirements ; telemetry provided all data required about one-fourth mile and rotates once every 2Vz hours. for control center assessment of launch vehicle, space- craft, and astronaut functioning; and the network re- Satellite Network-The Satellite Network continued ceived and relayed the first manned flight television to support about 40 satellites. This network serves both sequences from near the Moon with better quality NASA's scientific and applications satellites and a wide than those of APOLLO 7. variety of space projects conducted by other Govern- 30 NASA ment agencies and by private industry (the Cob- special training, research, and facilities. The Office of munications Satellite Corporation) . In addition, most University Affairs maintains overall policy level super- of the NASA tracking and data acquisition support vision. The program, which is designed to enable the to international programs is provided through its universities to participate fully in the aerospace effort, facilities. emphasizes high-quality research which benefits NASA and at the same time strengthens the colleges Among the major flight projects successfully launched and universities. during 1968 and supported by the network were OGO- V, , and OAO-A2. During the In 1968, project-oriented research was funded at the EXPLORER 38 (RADIO ASTRONOMY EX- $101-million level. Of some 1,400 active projects with PLORER) mission, the network contributed signif- universities, 30 percent were started in this year. The icantly to a major technological achievement by step funding technique was used to achieve more pre- NASA. The satellite’s antennas were extended to their dictable long-term support patterns and to even out maximum length of 750 feet each, resulting in a tip-to- funding fluctuations related to variations in NASA’s tip measurement of 1,500 feet-about five times longer annual budgets. As a result, research funds were used than any object previously placed in space. Extension more efficiently and output was increased. of the antennas was controlled by a series of radio During the year, the content and nature of the Sus- signals orginated at the control center, Greenbelt, Md., taining University Program were modified to meet the and transmitted to the satellite via the network track- changing conditions of the space program and a re- ing stations. duced budget. Support of the program (set at $45.1 In addition to meeting the planned support require- million in 1965) was reduced to $10 million in 1968, ments of a flight mission, such as RAE, the Network necessitating a cut in the predoctoral training pro- is often called upon to provide emergency or extra- gram from 1,300 new starts in 1966 to only 45 in 1968. ordinary support. An example occurred during the No new funds were earmarked for the construction of ATS-4 mission. Because the launch vehicle malfunc- facilities on university campuses in 1968, and the re- tioned, the spacecraft was placed into a highly elliptical search program ($13 million in 1966) was reduced to orbit rather than a planned synchronous orbit. A series approximately $6 million in 1968. As a consequence, of delicate spacecraft maneuvedirected by com- practically all participating universities received re- mands transmitted via the Network-was necessary to duced support, a few were dropped from the pro- reduce the spin rate of the spacecraft. The commands gram, and additional schools will have to be dropped were successful and the spin rate decreased, thereby in the coming year. permitting some spacecraft experiments to be con- ducted and data acquired. Without the command International A’ffairs capability of the network, these valuable data would have been unobtainable. The number of countries participating in cooperative, mutually funded projects with NASA increased to The network was also supporting OAO-A2, launched 2 1 in 1968, as agreements were completed with Mexico December complex scientific satellite required 7. This and Switzerland. New agreements were reached with unprecedented support for real-time command and Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Norway, control coverage. The network fully met all support Spain, and Sweden. requirements and continues to receive valuable astro- nomical data. The Agency further diversified its international co- operative projects, signing agreements with the Bra- zilian National Commission for Space Research University Programs (CNAE) and the Mexican National Commission of These programs, which comprise all NASA-sponsored Outer Space (CNEE) . These accords provide for CO- research projects in educational institutions, include operation in developing, testing, and using Earth re- two main parts: (1) Project-oriented grants- and re- sources sensors in aircraft, with emphasis on applying search contracts; (2) sustaining university support for such techniques to the specific economic problems of CHAPTER 111 31

Brazil and Mexico. An agreement was also made with Foreign investigators selected to analyze the lunar sur- Mexico for the use of APT equipment loaned by face material to be brought back by the Apollo astro- NASA to supply cloud pictures to Mexican govern- nauts increased from 29 to 35. Two new countries ment agencies and to coordinate APT data with other represented in this program are Australia and Belgium. meteorological information from conventional sources. Forty-four experiments on the lunar surface samples proposed by these investigators have been approved. Programs such as these are responsive to the fre- quently expressed desires of the President and the The Inter-American Experimental Meteorological Congress that ways be explored to apply space re- Network (EXAMETNET) , a joint venture by NASA search and technology to the problems of developing with Argentina and Brazil, continued active. Small countries. meteorological rocket launchings at Wallops Island were coordinated with launchings in Argentina and In December, NASA and the German Ministry for Brazil. Scientific Research agreed to a cooperative project to release a barium-ion cloud at an altitude of about The Administrator of NASA served as Chairman of 20,000 miles. As the cloud dissipates along the Earth's the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference mapetic lines of force, it will be photographed to on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space permit the measurement of magnetic and electric held in Vienna, Austria, in August. The U.S. Tech- fields, to simulate the action of the on an nical presentation, which NASA arranged at the re- ionized comet trail, and to provide basic new data quest of the Department of State, featured 49 papers on behavior of an ion cloud in a collisionless plasma. and lectures addressed specifically to the two themes Meanwhile, earlier projects came to fruition. During of the Conference: the practical benefits of space ac- the year, NASA launched three satellites built and tivities, and the opportunities for international co- funded by the European Space Research Organization operation-both with special reference to the needs (ESRO) . ESRO-11, designed for the integrated study of developing countries. of cosmic rays and solar radiation, was launched in May. ESRO-I, launched in October, continued to On May 3, an agreement was concluded with the study high-latitude energetic particles and their effects United Kingdom to establish and operate a tracking on the ionosphere. On December 5, NASA also station on Grand Bahama Island to support project launched the ESRO Highly Eccentric Orbit Satellite APOLLO. The existing agreement with the United (HEOS-I) , an interplanetary physics research space- Kingdom for the operation of the tracking station in craft, in an elliptical orbit carrying it more than 120,- Bermuda was broadened on January 17 to include sup- 000 miles from Earth. HEOS-I was the first foreign port of non-experimental space projects of a peaceful satellite NASA has launched on a reimbursable basis. and scientific character. Foreign experiments flown on NASA spacecraft in- Brazil, Ethiopia, Mauritius, and Thailand agreed to creased to 11 with the launching of ORBITING GEO- the temporary stationing of geodetic satellite observa- PHYSICAL OBSERVATORY V, which carried one tion camera teams on their territory as part of the Yrench, two British, and one Dutch experiment. National Geodetic Satellite Program. Sounding rocket experiments were launched in cooper- An agreement was concluded with Mauritius on Sep- ation with Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, tember 3, for the building of a parking apron at Plais- Norway, Spain, and Sweden. New sounding rocket ance Airfield, Mauritius, to accommodate the opera- cooperative agreements were made with all of these tion of APOLLO/Range Instrumentation Aircraft countries except Argentina. (A/RIA) . Cooperation in aeronautics involved Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on four separate Industry Affairs projects involving V/STOL aircraft. Through this NASA continued its efforts to improve its contracting shared-cost work, NASA benefitted from highly ad- practices, to improve the management of Government vanced foreign developments in this field. property, to reduce costs, to improve its labor relations, 32 NASA and to strengthen its reliability and quality-assurance While the number of man-days lost resulting from activities. negotiations were substantial, management actions de- veloped in advance of negotiations virtually eliminated Development of Contracting Guide-NASA, in close any impact on NASA programs. When the 7,200 man- cooperation with the Department of Defense and days lost as a result of negotiations are deducted from other Government agencies, developed new training the year’s total of 10,000, the remaining loss is less than instructions and operating guidelines. These cover in- the comparable figure for 1967. centive contracting aspects of the procurement process from procurement planning through source selection, Reliability and Quality Assurance Office-NASA cost analysis, negotiation, and contract administration. completed a comprehensive evaluation of the Reliabil- ity and Quality Assurance activities at all of its field While there is a significant difference between the installations. These reviews focused on organizational defense procurement mission and the space program, and management problems and resulted in a number of there are many similarities in the research and devel- improvements in the conduct of the NASA Reliability opment contracting situations. The procurement regu- and Quality Assurance Program. The Agency was mak- lations of NASA and DOD have much in common. ing plans to initiate a new series of evaluations of the In addition, both agencies use many of the same in- Reliability and Quality Assurance operations which dustrial Contractors. Thus, NASA’s actions to develop common guidelines wherever possible will assist both will focus on hardware effectiveness. industry and Government contracting offices. Government Property Management-NASA con- Technology Utilization tinued its efforts to improve the effectiveness of its Through its Technology Utilization Program, NASA property administration during the year. New property continued its efforts to increase the return on the na- management procedures now included in NASA con- tional investment in aerospace research and develop- tracts were helping the contractors to develop better ment by encouraging additional uses of the knowl- and tighter controls for Government property. This edge gained. subject was given major emphasis by the NASA Head- quarters Procurement Management Survey teams and This Agency also continued to prepare and distribute by other specialized teams during their visits and Tech Brief announcements and Special Publications at reviews conducted at NASA installations. a high rate. It received more than 16,000 individual re- quests for Tech Brief backup material, and more than Cost Reduction-During 1968, the NASA Cost Re- duction Program pmduced savings of $320 million. 9,500 requests for general information regarding prod- During a period of increasing austerity, the progress ucts and services of the Technology Utilization and general acceptance of the basic concepts of Program. planned verifiable economies reflect the positive atti- During the year, the Lawrence Radiation Laboratories tude of NASA employees and contractors toward the (LRL) of the Atomic Energy Commission began re- program. The NASA in-house program produced cost porting through the NASA announcement system in- reductions of $150 million, with an added contribu- novations derived from its research endeavours. LRL tion of $1 70 million from voluntary participation by thus joined Argonne National Laboratories and Sandia 38 major contractors. At the end of its fifth year of Corporation as AEC contractor installations participat- operation this program has produced measurable accu- ing in the NASA-AEC Tech Brief announcement mulated savings of $1.8 billion. program. Labor Relations-The number of man-days lost be- As evidence that the NASA-sponsored experimental cause of strikes increased from 4,791 in 1967 to slightly Regional Dissemination Centers (RDC’s) form a over 10,000 in 1968. This increase resulted primarily unique bridge among the governmental, academic, and from the large number of negotiations of labor con- industrial communities, Indiana University and the tracts in the space and construction industry which im- University of Pittsburgh, hosts of two of the older pacted directly on the Center support contractors. RDC’s, decided to continue operations after NASA CHAPTER 111 33

financial support ends. Such support is expected to NASA sponsored several conferences on technology end in early 1969. utilization in cooperation with the Small Business Ad- ministration and the Atomic Energy Commission. The Two other Regional Dissemination Centers-at Mid- west Research Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and at Office of State Technical Serivces of the Department of Commerce, the Science Information Exchange of Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.-completed the Smithsonian Institution, and the Library of Con- the NASA-sponsored phase of their experiments dur- gress National Referral Center for Science and Tech- ing 1968. Each was also'making plans to continue aero- nology participated in the conferences. Audiences were space technology dissemination and transfer activities. composed primarily of senior officials from medium Oklahoma State University, under contract to NASA, and small-sized nonaerospace industrial organizations. was preparing educational monographs based on NASA R&D reports. Such reports are to be dissem- The NASA-sponsored Computer Software and Man- agement Information Center (COSMIC) at the Uni- inated on a trial basis to professors of upper class and graduate engineering courses. Two hundred and forty- versity of Georgia continues to gain acceptance from eight professors at 106 universities requested these the industrial, education, and business communities monographs for review and classroom use. The deci- as an outlet for NASA-developed computer programs. sion to have such monographs developed was based on Approximately 400 computer programs are listed in evaluation reports received from professors who have the COSMIC catalogue. Many more are being eval- used similar devices in their classrooms and ovenvhelm- uated by the university. The Department of Defense ingly favor them. and NASA reached an interagency agreement, under which DOD research and development installations Late in 1967 NASA contracted with the Denver Re- search Institute (DRI) to conduct studies that might will furnish computer program listings, card decks, run improve the eff eciveness of NASA's technology trans- instructions, and associated software to COSMIC for fer programs by providing data on the uses made of evaluation as to their commercial utility and possible the technology. Continued analytical efforts by DRI inclusion in the COSMIC inventory. should contribute to a further understanding of the factors affecting technology transfer. Relationships With Other Government NASA continued to work with the Office of State Agencies Technical Services (OSTS), U.S. Department of Com- merce. One RDC director was designated as respon- Early in the year, NASA's Office of Defense Affairs sible for the State Technical Services Program in New was redesignated the Office of DOD and Interagency Mexico. OSTS asked another director to help develop Affairs. In the process, this office's assigned functions such a program for Indiana. were broadened. Three Biomedical Application Teams worked with 18 One of the coordinating mechanisms between NASA medical schools and medical research institutes to help and the Department of Defense is the Aeronautics and identify and solve technical problems inhibiting the Astronautics Coordinating Board (AACB) and its progress of medical research. More than 60 technology panels covering aeronautics, launch vehicles, manned transfers were effected by matching identified problems space flight, supporting space research and technology, with information from NASA. space-flight ground environment and unmanned The Biomedical Application Team approach was also spacecraft. being applied to problems in the public sector. One During the year, the AACB reviewed the proposed team, under contract to NASA, was working with the facilities construction programs for fiscal year 1969. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to help It also reviewed the large ground test facilities needed solve problems in police communications in medium- to carry out foreseeable aeronautical programs in the sized cities. Another was working with the Bureau of next 10-15 years. In addition, it initiated launch ve- Reclamation, helping to solve problems related to hicle studies to determine the future needs, and estab- weather modification. lished a policy concerning the criteria that would ap- 34 NASA ply to biological in-flight experiments being considered APOLLO accident, the agency has substantially for the manned space flight program. strengthened its safety organization, developed new In other areas of effort the AACB studied the DOD safety concepts and data, and established better means and NASA funding patterns with respect to univer- of disseminating guidance. sities; reviewed the instrumentation aircraft and ship NASA’s Safety Program is based on identifying haz- requirements in support of the APOLLO Program ards, eliminating or controlling them as much as pos- and DOD programs; and initiated a review of certain sible, and defining the remaining risk. Risk evaluation DOD and NASA activities where cost reductions could is to be an intrinsic part of basic decision-making. The be achieved. same management elements charged with program SUC- During the year, the number of military detailees as- cess are responsible for achieving adequate safety. Safety staff personnel are to establish guidelines, pro- signed to NASA was reduced to about 300. Approxi- vide consultation, and check performance to assure- mately 10 NASA employees were assigned to DOD adequacy of safety efforts. In addition, the agency organizations. increased its control of contract safety matters and took Policy coordination and high-level exchange of plans measures to make certain that the hazardous aspects and proposals took place through the National Aero- of contractor activities are identified. nautics and Space Council, of which the Administrator The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.-This panel, of NASA is a member. advisory to the Administrator, initially concentrated NASA developed informal relationships with the De- its efforts on APOLLO technical management and sys- partment of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) tem safety activities. Reviews were held at the Manned to consider areas of mutual interest involving the role Space Flight Centers and at the APOLLO principal communications satellite technology might play in ad- contractors’ plants. A permanent Executive Secretary vancing educational and cultural objectives (instruc- staff supports this activity. Actions taken to strengthen tional TV in schools, public TV, and medical educa- the functional management of safety during the year tion for practicing physicians). included, among others, having a new NASA Director NASA continued to work with the Department of of Safety and appointing a Headquarters Installation Transportation on matters involving aeronautical re- Safety Officer. search. In addition, the two agencies continwd to ex- APOLLO Safety.-Efforts resulting directly from the plore matters concerning development of navigation APOLLO 204 accident continued into 1968. They in- satellites and related space technology that might apply cluded follow-up on Command Module design changes, to certain transportation problems. procedural changes, and the incorporation of addi- NASA advised the Federal Communications Commis- tional safety features at the launch complex. Addition- ally, substantial efforts were put forth in all manned sion (FCC) on some of the technical aspects of com- space flight activities in emphasizing safety across-the- munications satellite systems, including launch vehicle board with special attention to system safety. Scheduled capability and costs. It also participated actively in the work of the President’s Task Force on Communi- safety evaluations are now routine. cations Policy, with particular emphasis on the issues One of the agwssafety motivational efforts is the involving the use of the elecromagnetic spectrum, a Manned Space Flight Awareness Program, which re- domestic satellite system, and the deveolpment of com- wards exceptional individual contributions to safety. munications technology. Additionally, a Zero-Defectssn-Delivery Program suc- cessfully persuaded 20 air-freight carriers to provide special care to NASA space-hardware shipments. NASA Safety Program Study contracts were awarded in the area of space NASA took additional action to develop a more effec- rescue aspects of the Advanced APOLLO Applica- tive system of identifying hazards and providing con- tions Program. trols appropriate to the complexity of its programs and Protection of Property.-Fire prevention and protec- the sophistication of its technologies. Since the tion received a great deal of attention, with emphasis CHAPTER 111 35 on the risk assessment and adequacy of staff skills. conduct of safety research where gaps in safety tech- Particular attention was given to collections of both nical data are identified. valuable and one-of-a-kind property items. Consider- able work was done to assure protection of the com- Facilities Management ponent parts and to protect locations of the tracking- and data-acquisition networks supporting AFQLLO. NASA significantly strengthened its facilities manage- ment program by integrating various Headquarters Identification of Hazards.-NASA established an facilities elements into a single Office of Facilities. The agency-wide Hazards Identification Committee. This new office provides direct support to the Program committee was active in the areas of identifying and Directors in developing and maintaining NASA's in- classifying known hazards of NASA operations. This house and contractor-held industrial plant capability. group will be instrumental in instituting an appropriate It is also responsible for the full range of management system to make certain that pertinent data is ade- activities necessary for the planning, acquisition, de- quately collected, classified, and disseminated. velopment, use, and disposal of facilities. Safety Standards.-Agency-wide safety standards do Major new facilities that became operational during not exist, although generally accepted standards are the year include a Flight Simulator for Advanced used by the field installations. A NASA Safety Stand- Aircraft at the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, ards Committee, with agency-wide representation, was Calif. ; a Propulsion Component Evaluation Facility established to advise on external and internal standards at the Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio; a suitable for agency adoption. Among the many stand- Space Power Facility and a Spacecraft Propulsion Re- ards under consideration are those on lasers, electro- search Facility at Lewis Research Center's Plum Brook magnetic radiation, and pesticides. Station, Sandusky, Ohio; a Flight- Crew Training- Aerospace Safety Research Data Institute (ASRDI) .- Facility, an Atmospheric Re-entry Material and Struc- This institute was initiated as an effort of the Lewis tures Evaluation Facility, and a Lunar Receiving Lab- Research Center and as an intrinsic part of the NASA oratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Safety Program. The ASRDI will provide a bank of Tex.; and an AEROBEE 350 Launch Complex at the interpreted safety technical data and will support the White Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, N. Mex. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CHAPTER IV

In t roduct ion hardware and experience valuable to both the APOLLO and the MOL programs. Three major actions and events highlighted Depart- ment of Defense space and aeronautical activity during Titan I11 Space Booster-The TIT.4N I11 Program 1968: ( 1) Enlargement of the Phase I Defense Satel- continued in the flight test phase, with two TITAN lite Communications System to a constellation of 22 IIIC launches occurring during the year. The first operating satellites and 39 surface terminals; (2) launch, in June, successfully carried eight initial De- Growth of the TRANSIT navigational satellite system fense Communications Satellites into orbit; the second, to a four-satellite, fully operational system; and (3) in September, placed three Office of Aerospace Re- First flights of the C-5A, the world’s largest military search satellites and one experimental communication cargo aircraft. satellite into various orbits. The R&D flight test program has been extremely suc- Space Development Activities cessful. A total of 58 useful payloads have been car- Manned Orbiting Laboratory-Development of the ried on nine of the TITAN IIIC developmental launch Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) continued to vehicles to date. progress during the year with the program approaching The R&D goals of the TITAN IIIC development its peak of activity. program have been essentially ‘accomplished, although two R&D vehicles remain to be flown. TITAN I11 The flow of structural test assemblies of major system components between associate contractors began, and configurations are being produced both with and with- out the large solid motors attached, thus making it pos- procurement of various subsystem components con- tinued. Demonstration firings of the first-stage engine sible to handle a wide variety of military payloads. The of the TITAN IIIM booster engine were concluded TITAN I11 configurations have demonstrated high re- successfully, and preparations were made for static liability, and there is a great degree of commonality test firings of the booster’s second-stage liquid-fuel between versions. engine and the seven-segment solid rocket motors. Con- DOD Satellite Communications-The DOD program struction of the MOL launch complex at Vandenberg for satellite communications consists of the Long Dis- Air Force Base, California, neared completion and tance Point-to-Point System and the Tactical Satellite preparations were made for the installation of asso- Communications Program. ciated ground equipment. Long Distance Point-to-Point System-This system Fourteen Aerospace Research Pilots continued training for the 30-day MOL missions, during which they will meets the Government’s unique needs for satellite com- conduct defense-oriented experiments involving very munications. It consists of the SYNCOM, Defense complex equipment. The flight program will advance Satellite Communications System (DSCS), and Inter- both manned and unmanned space technology and national Cooperative Efforts. ascertain the full extent of man’s utility in space for SYNCOM-The SYNCOM satellites, developed and defense purposes. orbited by NASA originally for R&D purposes, have The close working relationship between NASA and provided DOD Earth terminals with an interim means DOD continued to provide an exchange of technology, for passing operational traffic in the Pacific area. Dur-

36 CHAPTER IV 37

ing 1968, as the greater capabilities of the DSCS be- Each new satellite will be able to provide hundreds came increasingly available, use of the SYNCOM of voice channels over the portion of the Earth visible satellites by DOD decreased. SYNCOM I1 is no longer to it‘and additional hundreds of channels within the scheduled for use because of technical difficulties ; how- narrow beam areas. The Phase 11 Earth subsystem will ever, SYNCOM I11 is in regular use. Shipborne ter- utilize to the maximum the terminals acquired during minals have been activated aboard the USS ANAP- Phase I by modifying them to Phase I1 specifications. OLIS and USS ARLINGTON and use SYNCOM I11 Additional terminals will be procured and certain new to operate with a ground terminal at Guam to provide types of terminals will be developed to meet special an operational system for the Navy. requirements. With the new satellites and increased number of Earth terminals, the Phase I1 system will Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)- greatly increase the number of satellite channels avail- The Initial Defense Communications Satellite Project able for unique Government needs. It will provide (IDCSP) was declared operational in 1967, and since greater communication capabilities into and within that time has been designated Phase I of the Defense theaters of operations much more quickly and ef- Satellite Communications System. The Phase I space fectively than do conventional communications subsystem deployment was completed in June 1968, techniques. when eight additional satellites were successfully or- bited by a TITAN IIIC launch vehicle. Of the total of International Cooperative Efforts-Under the pro- vision of an earlier Memorandum of Understanding, 26 Phase I satellites placed in orbit, 22 are currently the Department is procuring two synchronous “SKY- being scheduled for operational use. The initial ground NET” satellites for the United Kingdom as an terminal procurement of 29 terminals has also been augmentation of the United States Phase I system. The completed, with terminals deployed to New Jersey, first SKYNET satellite is scheduled for launch in mid- Maryland, Colorado, California and Alaska, as well 1969. Tests using Phase I satellites were conducted in as Hawaii, Guam and other overseas bases. Addition- which simultaneous operation of two United States ally, three terminals have been leased from industry and two United Kingdom Earth terminals demon- and deployed overseas. Seven shipborne terminals are strated the feasibility of simultaneous but independent being modernized for installation on Fleet flagships and use of one satellite. In addition, there were explora- the USS WRIGHT. tory talks with the United Kingdom of possible op- erational use of the Phase I1 system by that nation. This Phase I system has proved a most useful addi- tion to command and control communications capa- Cooperative effort with NATO for the establishment bility. It has permitted the re-routing and continua- of NATO’s preliminary satellite communications sys- tion of vital communications during two separate - tem continued during 1968. Use of Phase I satellites cable breaks in the Western Pacific, and it has pro- was provided to NATO for tests between two Earth vided a new capability not previously possible-the terminals purchased from a U.S. firm by NATO. Also rapid transmission of high-quality photographs directly during 1968, procurement actions by NATO resulted in the Department contracting with a U.S. commer- from Vietnam to the United States. cial source for a SKYNET-type satellilte for NATO use In June 1968, it was decided to proceed with Phase beginning in late 1969. I1 of the DSCS. Under current Phase I1 concepts, Support of Canadian R&D satellite communications several new satellites will be placed in synchronous tests continued with the preparation of plans for ad- equatorial orbit by early 1971. They are to be equipped ditional tests in early 1969. with “Earth coverage” antennas which direct most of their radiated power towards the Earth so as to uni- Tactical Satellite Communications Program (TAC- formly cover that portion of the globe visible to the SATC0M)-This is a joint Service Program which satellite. In addition, there will be steerable narrow- has made substantial progress during the past year. beam antennas capable of concentrating a portion of Building on the earlier work of the Massachusetts In- the satellite’s power on an area of the Earth’s surface stitute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory experimental one to two thousand miles in diameter. satellite series, the Services in 1968 continued test- 38 DOD ing of the fifth satellite (LES-5), launched in July the feasibility of using satellites for reliable naval tac- 1967 into a near-synchronous equatorial orbit with a tical communications and to develop operational slow eastward drift. New communications techniques procedures and doctrine. All practical operational ap have been tested, using experimental terminals in- plications are being explored with a view toward stalled in airplanes, ships and trucks; and joint tests enhancing open-sea communications reliability. were conducted with selected NATO countries. Air- The military Services are conducting a cooperative craft, ships and ground terminals have acquired valu- TACSATCOM testing program involving nine NATO able data through the exchange of error-free teletype participants-Belgium, Canada, Federal Republic of messages, without interruption, over transoceanic and Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, SHAPE transcontinental distances. A larger and more ad- Technical Centre, United Kingdom and United States. vanced satellite (LES-6) was successfully orbited on The NATO countries joined with the United States September 26, 1968. This satellite is now in stationary in the test program, using terminals built in their own synchronous orbit, and the Services have initiated an countries or purchased in the United States. extensive test program to explore further the uses and techniques for tactical communications. Spaceborne Nuclear Detection (VELA)-The pur- A larger, more complex satellite (TACSAT I) is pose of the VELA Satellite Program is to develop a now scheduled for launch in early 1969. This satellite satellite capability to detect nuclear explosions from the will be tested, in conjunction with a limited number of Earth’s surface to deep space. It is a joint research and communications terminals installed in tactical vehicles, development program of the Department of Defense operational aircraft and combat ships, to provide the and the Atomic Energy Commission. basis for the development of a truly operational tacti- Launches of two satellites each have occurred in 1963, cal satellite communication system within the next few 19M, 1965, and 1967; another launch is scheduled for years. 1969. The AEC-furnished payload for detecting nu- The Air Force has had the responsibility for develop- clear radiation, electromagnetic pulse signals, optical ing and launching the experimental satellites for the radiation from the fireball, and natural space back- TACSATCOM Program and has developed appro- ground will incorporate improvements to previous priate aircraft terminals. Extensive testing of these designs. terminals has proceeded, in coordination with the other Services. The on-orbit spacecraft have continued to perform well. In addition to the function of monitoring for The Army has built and is testing several types of nuclear test ban treaty violations, the spacecraft are ground terminals-jeep, shelter and van installations- supplying a wealth of natural radiation background under varied environmental conditions and in simu- lated tactical situations to demonstrate the operational data which are used by NASA, the Environmental feasibility of using spacecraft repeaters for tactical Science Services Administration (ESSA) , and DOD. communications needs. An advanced portion of the Geodetic Satellites-Effort in the DOD geodetic Army program involves two families of terminal con- satellite program during 1968 included observations of figurations, similar except for frequency bands. These GEOS-B, PAGEOS, NAVY NAVIGATION SATEL- terminals are being developed on a concept of modular LITES, SECOR, and other satellites. The GEOS-B, construction and commonality of basic equipments to which carries a SECOR transponder, an optical guarantee interoperability betwen terminal types. The beacon, a Doppler transmitter, and a rangejrange rate terminals have been developed in man-pack, team- transponder in addition to laser reflectors and a C- pack, jeep-mounted, shelter installations, airborne and Band beacons, was launched by NASA in January seaborne configurations. Tests will be initiated in early 1968. The geodetic satellites will continue to provide 1969, with the launch of the TACSATCOM I satellite. more precise information about the Earth’s size, shape, Using similar techniques, the Navy is extensively testing mass, and gravitational field, in addition to deter- terminals aboard ship, on naval aircraft, with other mining geodetic positions for features on the Earth’s Services and in supporting laboratories to demonstrate surface. CHAPTER IV 39

The Army Corps of Engineers continued the SECOR Space Ground Support Geodetic Satellite Program, providing a global control net around the equatorial area and geodetic positions DOD National Ranges-The principal Department of for range tracking instrumentation. Observations made Defense National Ranges which provide ground (and in 1968 resulted in the extension of the SECOR net- airborne) support for space activities are: ( 1) Air work to the Indian Ocean area. It is expected that the Force Eastern Test Range (ETR), (2) Air Force network will be completed when the last link, at Western Test Range (WTR) , (3) Air Force Satellite Hawaii, is closed during 1969. A second major program Control Facility (SCF), (4) Navy Pacific Missile managed by the Army, and accomplished by the Army Range (PMR), and (5) Army White Sands Missile and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, is the PAGEOS Range (WSMR). All provide range support to all Primary Geometric Network. This program will estab- Government users whose programs are uniquely suit- lish a world-wide geometric net and constitutes the able for implementation at a particular range or primary contribution to the Naional Geodetic Satellite ranges. All are currently in the process of conversion Program. Observations have been accomplished from of telemetry systems to operation in the Ultra High 33 of the 45 stations, and are schedded to be completed Frequency (UHF) band. At PMR and WSMR, space by the end of Fiscal Year 1970. activity amounts to approximately 4% of the total range effort. Activity at the major space support ranges The Navy Doppler Network (TRANET) observed follows : several satellites during 1968, including the NAVY NAVIGATION (TRANSIT) SATELLITES, Eastern Test Range-During the past year the Eastern GEOS-A, and GEOS-B. Thirteen permanent stations Test Range has been emphasizing development and and five mobile vans were in operation. These data improvement of its mobile data-gathering fleet. These are used to improve the model of the Earth's gravity are aircraft and ships which can be strategically lo- field and provide center-of-mass positions for specific cated throughout the world to gather data for various locations as required. The program has now resulted ballistic and space programs when land-based instru- in the determination of harmonic coefficients of the mentation is not adequate or available. gravity model through the 12th degree and order, and Eight APOLLO Range Instrumented Aircraft became selected higher terms. (Prior to the use of satellites, the operational in 1968 and successfully supported vari- gravity model was known only through the second ous DOD programs and the manned APOLLO pro- degree and order.) In addition, the positions of 19 new gram. Four additional telemetry aircraft will become sites were determined this past year. operational in 1969. A modification program to im- The Air Force PC-1000 camera systems continue to prove the support capability of the Advanced Range operate in South America to provide a satellite densi- Instrumentation Ships has also been initiated. fication network in support of mapping and charting Western Test Range-Five instrumented ships devel- efforts in that area. oped for the support of the APOLLO program be- Navigation Satellite System (TRANSIT)-The came operational in the spring of 1968. These ships TRANSIT System, operated by the United States are operated by the Air Force in support of NASA. Navy, achieved the operational four-satellite constel- A precision tracking radar, an FPQ-6, became opera- lation in March, when a new commercially built tional at the Western Test Range's Pillar Pt., Calif., satellite joined the three laboratory-built satellites tracking site in June 1968. This radar will improve launched in 1967. The TRANSIT System was the capability for accurate flight trajectory measure- officially declared fully operational to the Fleet in ments of ballistic missiles launched from Vandenberg October. Air Force Base, Calif. Following the Vice President's announcement of the Bikini Atoll, which'was under the control of the West- release of the TRANSIT System for commercial use ern Test Range, was recently returned to the Trust in 1967, two companies have developed shipboard re- Territories of the Pacific. The AEC has declared that ceivers for sale to interested US. parties. this location is now habitable. 40 DOD

Satellite Control Facility-Major effort has been con- of the continuing work is in the areas of weapons tinued toward overall upgrading of Satellite Control clearances, static and fatigue testing and full-flight Facility capabilities established in previous years. Con- envelope clearance. struction began on a new addition to the Satellite The F-1 11D model which incorporates the advanced Test Center at Sunnyvale, Calif. This will provide 14 avionics package is, of course, still in the development new Mission Control complexes and house the Ad- stage, with first deliveries not scheduled until the latter vanced Data System (ADS) and the Expanded Com- part of 1969. The emphasis is almost completely on munications Electronics System (EXCELS). The the avionics system, since development and testing of Space Ground Link Subsystem (SGLS) was installed the aircraft itself has been largely accomplished in the at three tracking stations and successfully supported F-1 11A program. the first satellite flown with this new equipment in October 1968. Installation of SGLS is continuing at The success of the accelerated service test program the remainder of the tracking stations. The new Guam which was initiated in June 1967 at Nellis AFB, Nev., station is nearing .completion and will become opera- resulted in a decision to deploy six F-111A’s to SEA tional in early 1969. This modernization will provide for a 6-month operational evaluation. This deploy- a flexible, responsive satellite control network for ment took place on March 15, 1968, with the first existing and future DOD space programs. stop at Guam, 5,770 nautical miles from Nellis. The unit landed at Takhli on March 17 and flew its Space Detection and Tracking-Air Force SPACE- initial combat mission 8 days later. The combat mis- TRACK and Navy SPASUR form the North Ameri- sions flown demonstrated a high capability for pene- can Air Defense Command’s Space Detection and tration and promise bombing accuracies during night Tracking System (SPADATS) . A new AN/FPS-85 and inclement weather unequalled by our other tac- phased array radar became operational in 1968. Lo- tical systems. cated at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., it will significantly improve the SPADATS capability to detect, track, Although the F-111 losses in 1968 were highly pub- identify and catalog all man-made objects in space. licized and were the cause of concerted investigative efforts by the Air Force, it should be noted that the Aeronautics Developmen t Activity safety record of the F-1 11 exceeds other century-series aircraft at an equivalent point in time and is equalled G5A Heavy Logistics Transport Aircraft-The only by the F-4. C-5A, the world’s largest military cargo aircraft, made its first flight and commenced Category I testing bn The fatigue test program has revealed the need for schedule, in June 1968. Since that time three aircraft a modification to the wing cany-through structure. have flown 31 flights, for a total flying time of approxi- This modification will be installed in retrofit for air- mately 88 hours. Delivery dates on the next three air- craft already assembled in production or in-fleet. craft have slipped slightly, but deliveries are expected Delivery of the first F-1 11C aircraft to the Australians to be back on schedule in May 1969. The C-5 engine took place in September 1968. Delivery of the remain- (TF-39) has completed the 150-hour endurance test ing aircraft will be made after modification of the of the Formal Qualification Test (FQT) . It is esti- wing carry-through structure. mated that the FQT will be completed in May 1969. On August 31, 1968, the first strategic bomber version F-1 11 Aircraft-The F-1 11 A program has been in the process of transition from development to in-fleet status of the F-111 was delivered to the Air Force. Desig- during the past year. Nearly 90 aircraft have been nated the FB-111A, the aircraft was accepted and delivered to the Tactical Air Command. The Con- flown to Edwards AFB, where scheduled flight test tractor’s Category I test effort at Ft. Worth, Tex., will be completed. Later, bombers will be delivered to Eglin AFB, Fla., and Edwards AFB, Calif., is con- Carswell AFB, Tex., for build-up of the Combat Crew tinuing in those areas which normally proceed through- Training Wing. out production delivery. The Air Force Category I1 Tactical Air Command is in the process of equipping program at Edwards AFB also continues. The bulk the tactical wing at Nellis AFB. Crews are also flying CHAPTER IV 41

the F-1 11A in the Combat Crew Training Wing at additional sonobuoys, and will carry a larger weapon the same location. load. Its sensors will include a new radar, sonobuoys, magnetic detection devices, and cameras. The highly Advanced Tactical Fighter-The Navy released a integrated avionics system will be designed around a Request for Proposal (RFP) to industry in June 1968 central digital computer of advanced design, enabling which describes a two-place, twin-engine, advanced the crew to process and interpret the large amount of fighter aircraft, the F-14A. The F-14A will be a new information received from the sensors. airframe utilizing the TF30-Pl2 engine and AWG-9/ PHOENIX missile control system which will be mod- VS(X) development is proceeding on schedule. In ified to be compatible with SPARROW, SIDE- April 1968 a contract was awarded to develop the WINDER, and guns as well as PHOENIX. In addi- TF-34, a high by-pass turbofan engine designed spe- tion to its Fleet Air Defense capability, the F-14A will cifically for the VS (X). Five major aircraft manufac- have capabilities generally superior to those of the turers submitted proposals in April 1968 to conduct F-4 in other fighter roles in the early 1970’s. Advanced- Contract Definition for the aircraft. Two companies technology engines and avionics are under develop- were selected in August for this Contract Definition; ment for installation in the F-14A airframe to pro- they submitted firm development and production pro- duce a modification with significant improvement in posals in December. performance, to counter the threat of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Helicopter Development AH-56A (CHEYENNE)-The AH-56A is the first The Air Force has initiated Contract Definition for helicopter developed as an integrated aerial weapons an advanced air-superiority weapon system to be oper- system. Ten prototype aircraft have been fabricated ational in the mid-1970’s. This aircraft, the F-15, is and delivered to the Army. It is designed to be the designed to provide the necessary maneuverability and fastest, most lethal and least vulnerable helicopter in performance for air-to-air combat to maintain air supe- the 1970-80 timeframe. Since the first flight occurred riority. It will replace the F-4 in the air-superiority September 21, 1967, the contractor has conducted an role and assist in balancing the overall tactical force intensive ground and flight test program, Test results capabilities .in the 1975-1980 period. Although em- to date indicate that performance specifications will phasis has been placed on optimizing the F-15 for be met. On January 8, 1968, the Army exercised a pro- air superiority, it will also have a substantial visual air- duction option to procure 375 CHEYENNE’S over a to-ground capability for augmenting and fulfilling tac- four-year period. tical requirements when air supremacy has been achieved. AH-IG (HUEYC0BRA)-The Army developed and procured the AH-IG in 1966 in response to an urgent A-7 Development-The Navy A-7A has proven its requirement of the Vietnam field commander for an versatility, flexibility and increased ordnance-carrying improved armed helicopter. The AH-IG carries capability in combat, numerous squadrons having seen machine guns, rockets and a grenade launcher. De- action. The A-7D/E Air Force/Navy joint develop- ployment of the aircraft to Vietnam began in August ment program is progressing on schedule. Incorpora- 1967. The AH-IG serves as the Army’s interim armed tion of the TF-41 engine in all the Air Force A-7D helicopter pending the production and deployment aircraft and the Navy A-7E (following production of the AH-56A. number 67) is expected to improve performance significantly. V/STOL Development Carrier-Based ASW Aircraft-The VS (X) is to be a CX-86The Canadian Government is procuring three. new carrier-based Anti-Submarine Warfare ( ASW) (2x434, formerly designated CL-84, test aircraft for aircraft to replace the present S-2E Tracker. The military operational suitability testing beginning in VS(X) will have vastly improved speed and range calendar year 1969. US. DOD personnel will assist as compared with present carrier-based ASW aircraft. in and monitor these tests by providing advice, limited It will have a four-man crew capable of monitoring equipment, and one part-time engineer. 42 DOD

X-22-The X-22 ducted-propeller research aircraft is detect turbulence ahead of an aircraft in flight. This, being used, under Navy management, as a variable- in turn, was assigned to the Department of the Air stability research aircraft. A Military Performance Force. Evaluation (MPE) utilizing the variable-stability sys- A detailed management and development plan has tem is scheduled for March 1969. been prepared by the Department of the Air Force to Light Intratheater Transport-The Light Intra- initiate the DOD portion of the plan in Fiscal Year theater Transport (LIT) is being programmed for the 1970. The Air Force is also actively coordinating its mid-1970’s to replace the C-7’s/C-l23’s and augment activity with that of the Department of Commerce. the C-130E’s. The new transport will be able to operate Tropic Moon III-Tropic Moon I11 is a program to in the forward area to support Army combat units and modify 16 €3-57 aircraft to a self-contained night-attack will have adequate payload capacity to distribute cargo configuration. These aircraft will contain an array of that has been offloaded from C-5 and C-141 aircraft. electronic sensors fully integrated with the weapon The program is in the final steps of the concept formu- delivery system to provide for improved target detec- lation phase, which is evaluating V/STOL (vertical/ tion and accurate weapon delivery in darkness. Be- short takeoff or landing) and STOL (short takeoff or cause of their relatively high speed potential and landing) concepts. Results of these evaluations will munitions-dispensing versatility, the aircraft will provide the basis for design selection. primarily be employed against interdiction targets in medium-to-high threat areas. AC-130 Gunship II-The side-firing AC-130 Gun- ships were developed for night and limited all-weath- Shed Light-Shed Light is a grouping of U.S. Air er operation to support interdiction and close air-sup- Force programs which will provide increased night op- port missions in a semi-permissive environment. They erational capability to our tactical forces as rapidly as are configured with four 20mm Gatling guns and four possible. It involves approximately 60 primary and 7.62mm miniguns, night-attack sensors for improved supporting development projects. These are interre- target detection and accurate gun laying. Modification lated to provide an effective mix of weapon systems to of these aircraft is currently in progress. strike a variety of targets in various threat environ- ments. Both self-contained and hunter/killer system Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft-During 1968 concepts have been explored. the Air Force continued studies and advanced de- velopment of critical components in order to amplify Significant progress has been made over the past 30 and verify the design and characteristics of an ad- months in developing night-attack sensors and in in- vanced strategic bomber with sufficient range and tegrating them with existing aircraft. Several equip- flexibility to enable it to meet both nuclear and con- ments have been employed and evaluated in combat or ventional weapons delivery requirements. are in the process of being developed with testing to be conducted in Southeast Asia. These include Low-Light The Air Force has an approved program that will in- Television equipment mounted on B-57 and A-1E volve a competitive design phase for systems, avionics aircraft; Side-Looking Infrared and Forward-Look- and propulsion contractors. This effort will be directed ing Radar with Moving Target Indicator installed on toward reducing development lead time ; over a two- AC-130 Gunships; night observation devices on AC- year period it will define the details of the system to 130 and Forward Air Control (FAC) aircraft; and provide more accurate configuration and cost estimates. battlefield illumination and airborne real-time recon- No commitment to build a vehicle will be made until naissance systems in RC-130 aircraft. the two-year effort and the projected threat are evaluated. More sophisticated and advanced sensor packages for several different types of aircraft will be placed in National Clear Air Turbulence Program-The De- operation in the near future. These will include im- partment of Defense has been assigned responsibility proved electronic sensors and sensor integration with for that portion of the National Clear Air Turbulence improved information displays, data processing and Program concerned with observations, measurements, transmission systems, navigation and weapon delivery special reconnaissance, and development of devices to systems. CHAPTER IV 43

Unconventional Airborne Platforms-The Advanced opment effort toward future military needs. Advanced Research Projects Agency ( ARPA) has given special spacecraft configurations will be considered in con- attention to relatively invulnerable targets appearing junction with both available and advanced launch with more regularity in Vietnam. Included among vehicle concepts. these are heavy artillery, trucks, mortars, and rockets. Advanced Space Power Technology-The Air Force An examination of the characteristics of unconven- program has continued to identify various advanced tional platforms, such as balloons, airships, and ex- concepts for improving the power-to-weight ratio of tremely small aircraft, indicates that these may offer electrical power systems essential for space missions unique capabilities in locating and destroying hard in the 1970's and beyond. targets. In 1968, advanced development of a Large Retractable In the SILENT JOE I1 program, ARPA is evaluat- Solar Cell Array was initiated to demonstrate the capa- ing the potential utility of airships as platforms for bility and reliability of lightweight, flexible solar cell conduct of special operations in support of killing hard arrays. Current plans provide for a flight demonstration targets and defense of military installations. During of this array in Fiscal Year 1971. Successful demonstra- the current, preliminary, phase of the program, an tion of this technology will enable a 50% reduction in airship is being tested and various airship designs are weight and an 80% reduction in volume over current being studied together with various payloads. A low- solar cell array configurations in the 500-watt to 20- risk development program is being initiated to develop kilowatt power range. airship and payload systems for special missions in Radiation-Cooled Fuel Cell High Load Test-The Air Southeast Asia. Force has completed in-house the high load testing of a radiation-cooled fuel cell module developed under a Supporting Research and Technology contract with industry. The fuel cell was subjected to Over-the-Horizon ( OTH) Radar-Radars developed a high-power load profile (90-minute cycle) to deter- during and after World War I1 to detect and track mine its overload capabilities under conditions repre- aircraft have had limited ranges. This limitation was sentative of several potential user requirements. The due to the geometry of the detection environment module was operated in a thermal-vacuum bell jar (line-of-sight) and the operating frequency selected. chamber through an environmental temperature range The Department of Defense has now developed OTH from 20' F to 100' F. Power produced by the fuel cell radars, utilizing ionospheric refraction of radar energy, ranged from approximately 56 to 385 watts (130 watts which have demonstrated a capability to detect air- average). The average power represented a 30% in- craft (and missiles) below the line-of-sight horizon. crease, or overload, over contract design and perform- The OTH techniques have demonstrated radar detec- ance requirements of 100 watts. tion ranges of several thousand miles. Laboratory and Cobalt40 Thermionic Generator-The Air Force has field evaluations are continuing, to determine the desir- recently established the feasibility of using Cobalt40 ability and feasability of applying this technique to isotope as a high-temperature thermal energy source improve the capability to detect and track aircraft as of thermionic energy conversion for space and ground well as to enhance missile early-warning capabilities. power. This achievement is expected to be a step Spacecraft Technology and Advanced Re-entry Tests forward in high-temperature thermal energy source (START)-The Air Force's current efforts in de- technology for static-energy conversion devices (both veloping technology for maneuverable re-entry space- thermionic and thermoelectric generators) . Availability craft are concentrated in two major areas. These are of such a heat source has been an objective for several the PILOT (X-24A) program and advanced space- years, and its absence has been a deterrent to full craft studies. The X-24A testing will be limited due to exploitation of thermionic generators. the reduced likelihood that this technology will be Although Cobalt40 isotope was available in large applied directly to future military systems. The ad- quantities at relatively low cost, it had not been con- vanced studies will seek to channel exploratory devel- sidered a suitable energy source for space electrical 44 DOD power generators. It was generally accepted that the perimental satellite. It may lead to low-cost, simple shielding required to reduce its very intense gamma equipment for ships, aircraft, and other users. radiation to safe working levels would be prohibitive Turbojet Engines-The Air Force has achieved tech- in size and weight. However, this intense gamma radia- nological advances in turbojet engines. This year two tion can be turned into an asset by using a new new engines were flown on their maiden flights with generator design approach in which the gamma radia- very good results, one new engine has started develop- tion shielding weight is not critically degrading. ment, and demonstrator engines- continue to be tested DOD Gravity Experiment (DODGE)-The DODGE for use in new aerospace weapon systems. satellite, launched in 1967, is the first satellite to use The TF-41 and the TF-39 turbofan jet engines both three-axis gravity-gradient stabilization at near- had excellent test flights in the A-7D and C-5A, re- synchronous altitude. Many experiments have been spectively. The Air Force also began development of conducted, including extending and retracting the 10 demonstrator engines for the F-15 air-superiority long booms, tumbling the satellite, studying boom aircraft, while advanced development work continued bending due to solar heating, and determining the in support of potential VTOL systems and the ad- effects of solar pressure. Operation within the limits vanced manned strategic aircraft (AMSA) . of +-2" in roll and pitch and 5"-7" in yaw was dem- onstrated in 1968. Evidence indicates that it will be Advanced Turbine Engine Gas Generator ( ATEGG) - desirable to couple a single-axis gravity-gradient boom This program provides a means to demonstrate new system with a small moment-of-inertia flywheel for component design concepts in an engine environment. the optimum semipassive stabilization at this great The objective is to provide new engine component altitude. technology which can be used, in future aerospace systems, with low risk and minimum development SOLRAWolar Radiation Monitoring Satellite Pro- time. Four contractors are participating in the gram-The objective of the Program is to program. perform continuous monitoring of solar X-ray and ultraviolet emission to provide indices of solar activity These contractors are developing turbine-engine gas- upon which a system of ionospheric disturbance fore- generator cores which push the threshold of technology casting can be based. on all fronts, placing emphasis on thermal efficiency and thrust-to-weight ratio. Significant increases in The SOLRAD IX satellite, launched March 5, technology are possible, in a minimum of time and 1968, provides data which are reduced and encoded with modest funding, through the demonstrator engine in a standard format and delivered to the AGIWARN approach. and SOFNET networks within 15 minutes of recep- tion. From analyses of these data, warnings of in- Turbo Shaft Engine Project-The Army is conducting creased solar activity are sent to the Communications a development program in which each of two con- Commands. tractors will build and test a 1,500-shaft horsepower (SHP) demonstrator engine to demonstrate advanced Navigation by Satellite-The Naval Research Labora- tory is developing a new satellite navigation concept gas turbine engine technology. Goals are engines that called Timation, which can be used for providing con- will have 40% lower weight and 25% lower tinuous navigational fixes from low-altitude or syn- fuel consumption than current engines of comparable chronous satellites. In the Timation experiment a satel- power, while also providing higher reliability and im- lite contains a stable oscillator controlling its trans- proved maintenance features. The program is now half completed, and the preliminary indication is that missions. On a ship the navigator compares the satel- the objectives can be attained. lite's transmissions with his own oscillator. If both os- cillators are suitably synchronized, he can determine Aircraft Propulsion Subsystem Integration ( APSI)- his range from the satellite. Knowing the satellite's The Aircraft Propulsion Subsystem Integration Pro- position, he can use celestial-navigation techniques to gram is an Air Force project to develop air inlet, en- determine the ship's position. The concept has been gine and exhaust nozzle design criteria which may be proven feasible in tests conducted in 1968 with an ex- used to assure compatibility between airframe and pro- CHAPTER IV 45

pulsion systems of future gas turbine-powered air- Indications are that the LAMS reduces significantly craft. These criteria will permit the selection of that the fatigue damage rates incurred in gust turbulence. combination of airframe, inlet, engine and exhaust Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)- nozzle which will tend to minimize future propulsion The AWACS is being developed to provide the Aero- system losses throughout the aerospace vehicle’s flight space Defense Command with a survivable warning envelope. and control environment for air-defense interceptors, Industry contractors of this program have been busy and the Tactical Air Command with command, con- over the past year developing coordinated tests and trol and communications for quick-reaction global de- studies to solve the problem of aircraft propulsion ployment with the Composite Air Strike Force (CASF) compatibility. The work completed thus far indicates to any limited-war area. that high payoffs in performance gains are possible. The AWACS will be self-contained in a subsonic, The program has ramifications that extend to added cargo, jet aircraft. The aircraft will contain a sur- performance in all aerospace vehicles, both military and veillance radar capable of detecting and tracking low- civilian. Aircraft will benefit through improved inlet flying aircraft, a mixture of long- and short-range systems engine performance and reduced nozzle drag, communications, data processing, and displays. It will particularly in the supersonic regime of flight. carry a crew of about 30-40 personnel.

VTOL Integrated Flight Control Systems (VIFCS)- Advanced Composite Materials Application-A full- The objective is to evolve handling-qualities criteria, scale horizontal stabilizer for the F-111 has been control power requirements, displays and aerodynamic made using a boron-plastic composite skin. It weighs prediction techniques to support the development of 25% less than the tail with aluminum skin. A set future operational V/STOL aircraft. The primary re- of these tails will be flight-tested early in 1969. search flight-test vehicle is a modified XV-4A air- Boron-plastic composites have also been applied to craft, designated the XV-4BJ which uses a jet direct- several secondary structures. Upper and lower wing lift configuration. The two-place XV-4B aircraft has a panels and an aft main landing gear door for the total of six 5-85-19 jet engines. Two are used as lift/ F-1 11 aircraft have been successfully fabricated and cruise engines and are mounted in nacelles on either tested. An A4outer wing fence, T-38 landing gear side of the fuselage. The other four are used as lift en- door, and an F-4 rudder have also been fabricated gines and are mounted vertically in the center of the and tested. All components have been flight-tested, fuselage. and some have over 100 hours of flight time. No dam- age to any of the components has occurred during the The XV-4B completed all its conventional-mode test flight-test program. objectives in two flights. The first vertical take-off and landing flight will occur in the near future. Work is currently under way on wing and fuselage development and on jet engine components. The tech- Load Alleviation and Mode Stabilization (LAMS)- nology has also been developed for the application of The flight-test phase of the Load Alleviation and boron-plastic composites to helicopter aft main rotor Mode Stabilization (LAMS) Program was completed blades (CH-47 aircraft) and C-5A wing slats and in May 1968. The objective of the two-and-a-half- F-X wings. An eventual weight savings of about 50% -year Advanced Development effort was to demon- is expected. strate advanced flight control techniques which would alleviate gust loads and control structural Space Experiments Support Program-The Air Force oscillations. Space Experiments Support Program (SESP) com- A heavily instrumented B-52E aircraft was modified bines different Department of Defense space flight to use the system in flight tests. Aircraft response data experiments on single launch vehicles and insures that launch vehicle capacity i3 fully utilized. in turbulent flight conditions were obtained for dif- ferent aircraft control system configurations, includ- Related to this effort is an Aerospace Research Support ing an unaugmented system and the LAMS system. Program, which now utilizes SESP boost capacity for 46 DOD research and environmental satellites. In the overall DOD Support of NASA-DOD support of NASA program during 1968, a total of three launches success- totaled more than $225 million during Fiscal Year fully orbited eight satellites containing 26 experiments. 1968. The major items of support include operation of the National Ranges, which provide support to both Under the Quadripartite Military Technical Coopera- manned and unmanned spacecraft launches. Two tion Program, we have recently invited the United hundred ninety-one military personnel are assigned to Kingdom, Canada and Australia to fly experiments NASA (186 Air Force, 20 Navy, 83 Army, 2 Marine aboard our Space Experiments Support Program. Corps). Examples of the more than 400 support activ- Other cooperative efforts are already under way in ities follow : the military communications satellite area. ARMY- Systems Survivability-The Air Force has continued to develop its program to assure the survivability of its Construction Support-The Corps of Engineers sup- weapons systems in the hostile environments of both ported NASA by providing real estate acquisition and land management services, and design and construc- nuclear and non-nuclear conflicts. As an adjunct of tion of facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, this program, it is preparing satellites to withstand not the Mississippi Test Facility, and the Electronics Re- only the natural environments of space but also the search Center. harsher environments arising from nuclear weapon detonations. Efforts are continuing to assure continued Lunar and Planetary Actiuities-The Army Map Serv- operation of satellite systems during atmospheric ice assisted NASA by producing large-scale maps, pho- nuclear testing, should it be resumed, or in wartime. tomaps, and landmark graphics from LUNAR ORBITER photography for use in the APOLLO program and various scientific studies. Construction of Cooperation With Other Government a 1 : 2,000-scale lunar landing site relief model, for use Agenies in astronaut training, was begun. Studies to improve the lunar geodetic control network were continued. A Coordination and .cooperation continues with other series of Mars maps was produced for use in planning Government activities, particularly the National Aero- the MARINER 69 Flyby. nautics and Space Administration (NASA). Included are frequent informal discussions at all levels of the Aerospace Feeding Systems-The respective agencies, scheduled meetings of formal co- Natick Laboratories continued to develop new and ordinating panels and boards and direct support to improved aerospace food products for NASA and NASA. the which were made avail- able for use in simulated tests and flight qualifications. National Aeronautics and Space Council-Policy co- About 30 candidate flight foods have been improved ordinated and high-level exchanges of plans and pro- and crush protection increased. Menus for APOLLO posals take place through this organization, of which flights were planned according to the astronaut’s in- the Secretary of Defense is a member. dividual selectibns from available flight-qualified foods. Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board NAVY- (AACB)-During the calendar year, four AACB meetings were held in which information was ex- APOLLO-The Navy continued to provide the re- changed, and space and aeronautics programs were covery fleet and other support forces to assist the coordinated. Emphasis was placed on conducting joint APOLLO program. studies in manned space flight, space networks and Medical Projects-The Naval Aerospace Medical In- ranges, environmental monitoring, propulsion, and a stitute, Pensacola, Florida, provided facilities and per- number of other areas of common DOD/NASA ac- sonnel to assist NASA in the study of space-related tivity. These studies are directed not just at avoiding medical phenomena. Also, technical research and in- duplication and assuring full coordination, but at pos- spection services were furnished in the NASA acquisi- sible savings through reductions and consolidations. tion of astronaut seats for the Zero-G test facility. CHAPTER IV. 47

AIR FORCE- engine-start transient of anticipated thermal environ- Test Range Support-Approximately 25% of the total mental conditions imposed on the engine components. United States Air Force support provided NASA dur- b. A base recirculation study was conducted to ing the first six months of this year was devoted to test- determine the instrumentation techniques and methods range support of spaceflight and recovery operations. for measuring velocity pressure and density in base flow A significant portion of these costs was for the fields around a SATURN rocket cluster model. APOLLO Range Ships, which will provide communi- cations and data support for that program. Other types c. SATURN protuberance testing was conducted of test-range support include range instrumentation, using variable-height, generalized protuberance shapes data acquisition, transmission, processing and reduc- on the SATURN S-IVB full-scale panel model. Static tion, calibration and repair of precision measurement and dynamic pressures and boundary-layer parameters equipment, industrial support, launch-complex control were measured. and support operations, and facilities engineering on the Air Force Eastern and Western Test Ranges. Propellants-The Air Force has continued to supply support for NASA's requirements in propellants and Arnold Engineering Development Center (support for pressurants. Under this arrangement, the Air Force the SATURN booster) : Logistics Command serves as the single manager for a. Altitude testing of the 5-2 engine continued, propellants and pressurants when it is considered in with the objective of identifying the effects on the the best interest of the Government. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION CHAPTER v

Int rod uctio n peat NIMBUS is being readied for launch in the first half of 1969, and a new SNAP-19 unit has been deliv- In 1968 substantial progress was made in the joint ered to NASA for integration into the spacecraft) ; AEC/NL4S.4 nuclear rocket program. Highlights for (d) start of development of a 20-watt plutonium-238 the year included (a) the completion of two high- fueled generator for a NAVY NAVIGATION power tests on the PHOEBUS-2A reactor; the major SATELLITE. test, at powers up to 4,200 megawatts, provided data on the nuclear and thermal characteristics of high By the year’s end, substantial progress had been power-density-reactors; a second test (with peak power made in space-directed advanced technology develop- at 3,700 megawatts) furnished data on the control of ment. The program to develop a basic advanced reac- nuclear rocket reactors; (b) the completion of a series tor concept, the in-core thermionic reactor, is continu- of tests on the XECF engine (a cold-flow test engine) ing. Another advanced concept, the liquid metal- to investigate the performance of a nuclear rocket en- cooled space reactor, is presently being phased out. gine under conditions partially simulating flight; (c) the initiation of power tests on the “hot” ground- Nuclear Rocket PropuIs ion experimental engine (XE) in ETS-1, and (d) the suc- cessful testing of the PEWEE-1 test-bed reactor at Test During 1968, preliminary planning in preparation for the development of the 75,000-pound thrust engine Cell “C”. Significant progress also was made in the extension of fuel-element technology. The activities was completed, and a development schedule was de- cited are directed specifically toward establishing a fined which indicated preliminary flight tests based base of technology for the development of a 75,000- on current NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Ve- hicle Application) and PHOEBUS reactor technol- pound-thrust NERVA engine. ogy could be accomplished in seven to eight years. During the year, the AEC continued to produce tech- (Budgetary constraints in Fiscal Year 1968 forced a nology required for development of a family of long- reassessment of the future space program, and a re- lived space reactor power systems in the 10 kilowatt to examination of the goals of the nuclear rocket pro- the megawatt range, and to develop and test nuclear gram. These reviews led to the decision to reduce the radioisotope electric power units for space use. High- NERVA thrust level from the 200,000 pounds origi- light events included: (a) testing of the flight-config- nally proposed to 75,000 pounds. The 75,000-pound- ured ground-prototype version of the zirconium hydride thrust engine is not the best choice for manned plane- nuclear reactor, the S8DR, which will be capable of tary exploration, but it is quite suitable for a wide serving as a heat source for space power systems up to range of other missions for which nuclear rockets are 100 electrical killowatts; (b) completion and delivery, being considered. The lower-thrust engine will use for integrated system testing, of five SNAP-27 isotopic hardware of the size used in the technology program space electric power generators, to be used on and test facilities basically available. Development APOLLO landings as part of the APOLLO Lunar costs, therefore, will be less than those of the 200,000- Surface Experiment Packages (ALSEP) ; (c) launch pound-thrust engine, particularly over the next several failure of the NIMBUS B satellite carrying a SNAP-19 years.) In addition, work proceeded on the prelim- isotopic generator, followed by recovery from the ocean inary design of the NERVA reactor and critical en- off California of the isotope fuel of the generator (a re- gine hardware, i.e., the nozzle and nozzle hot-bleed 48 CHAPTER V 49 port, reactor pressure vessel and turbopump. Work During 1968, laboratory tests of improved fuel elements also was initiated on the preliminary design of modi- provided test durations of more than 100 minutes. fications required to test the NERVA engine in Engine These tests were conducted under conditions far more Test Stand No. 1, at full power and under simulated severe than thoie existing during operation of the flight conditions. NRX-A6 reactor. Fuel element materials research has now shifted toward cyclic testing at higher power den- Reactor and Engine System Technology Activities- sities and temperatures. The PHOEBUS-2A reactor tests were originally planned to demonstrate high-power reactor perform- In the laboratory programs for improving fuel ele- ance for direct application in the 200,000-pound- ments performance, electrically heated corrosion fur- thrust NERVA engine. When the NERVA engine naces are used for corrosion testing. The results of these thrust was reduced to 75,000 pounds, the demonstra- performance tests must be checked periodically through tion of high-power reactor operation became of sec- full-scale reactor tests. Investigations hme indicated ondary importance, and the PHOEBUS-2A became that a smaller-sized test reactor, requiring a smaller a tool for obtaining data on reactor design concepts number of fuel elements, would be more economical. being considered for use in the NERVA flight reactor As a result, the fabrication of two such reactors, the and on a new method of reactor control based on using PEWEE-1 and PEWEE-2, was initiated. the liquid-hydrogen propellant flowing through the During 1968, Test Cell “C” was modified to meet reactor core to regulate the fission process. PHOE- the requirements for PEWEE reactor testing and the BUS-2A test results follow : PEWEE-1 reactor was moved to the ce!l for checkout (a) In the major experiment of the PHOE- prior to power testing in December. Tcst cell modifi- BUS-2A test program, the reactor was operated cations consisted primarily of the addition of a new for a total test time of approximately 32 min- liquid-hydrogen turbopump and minor changes to vari- utes, 12 minutes of which was at a power level ous lines and valves to accommodate PEWEE flow above 4,000 MW. A peak power of 4,200 MW requirements. was achieved. Good data, applicable to the The PEWEE fuel element test reactor was designed NERVA flight reactor, were obtained zbout the by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to provide an control of high power-density nuclear rocket economical means of evaluating the performance of reactors. fuel elements in the nuclear rocket program. PEWEE (b) In a subsequent test, the PHOEBUS-2A reactors are smaller than their NERVA and PHOE- was restarted to conduct a series of experiments BUS counterparts and, therefore, can be built and at low and intermediate power levels. The re- tested in less time and at lower cost. Design of the actor was operated over a wide range of power first PEWEE reactor, PEWEE-1, lbegan in May 1967. levels up to about 3,700 MW and for a total test Eighteen months later, on December 4, 1968, power time of approximately 30 minutes. The experi- testing of PEWEE-1 was completed, in a successful ments gave additional data on the nuclear and program to develop and evaluate the design. Significant thermal characteristics of high power-density power operation totaled about 90 minutes, 40 minutes of which were at the design power of 514 megawatts reactors. These data will be very useful in the and a hydrogen temperature of 4,600”R. The reactor development of the NERVA flight reactor. was also subjected to four thermal cycles in achieving Fuel Element Materials Research-Significant work the total operating time. The test of PEWEE-1 also also was conducted to improve the performance and provided data on the performance of advanced experi- duration capability of nuclear rocket reactor fuel mental fuel elements under the highest temperature elements. and power density conditions ever achieved in the The initial duration objective for nuclear rocket fuel nuclear rocket (or any other reactor) program. elements was achieved in December 1967, with the XECF Ground-Experimental Engine Tests-The demonstration of 60 minutes of full power (approxi- XECF engine tests were the first of a series of experi- mately 1,100 megawatts) with the NRX-A6 reactor. ments planned to investigate the performance of a 50 AEC .

nuclear rocket engine under conditions partially simu- cycle power machinery to produce electric power in lating flight. The test also was the first to be conducted space up to about 100 electrical kilowatts. in Engine Test Stand No. 1, the new down-firing A reference power system using the zirconium hydride test stand, and to utilize the XE ground-experimental reactor and the “compact” thermoelectric converter engine, an engine closely approaching that of a flight was studied during 1968 with the objective of defining configuration. No fissionable material was included subsystem and component development needs and in the XECF reactor core; for this reason, no thermal mission integration requirements. This system offers energy was generated during the tests. an essentially static powerplant of high reliability for The XECF cold-flow test program was initiated in use in the mid-1970’s at power levels in the range of 1968. The two major test objectives were to verify 15-30 kilowatts. A joint AECINASA study was made that ETS-1 was ready for, “hot,” i.e., nuclear, engine on the possible use of this system for the orbital work- testing and to investigate engine startup in the test shop-type missions. System studies and development of component technology for reactor systems of this stand under simulated altitude conditions. Other ob- type will continue in 1969. jectives included the checking of enginelstand operat- ing procedures and the investigation of engine Space Radioisotope Power Systems malfunctions under simulated altitude conditions. The SNAP-3. The isotopic power concept new being used engine system and test facility operated as planned, in space systems is a radioisotopic thermoelectric gen- and the test results provided the basis for proceeding erator (RTG), fueled with plutonium-238. This con- with the “hot” tests of the XE engine. cept has been in active use since the first SNAP-3 As was to be anticipated, the XECF test series revealed power system was launched aboard a navigational a number of design and operational problems. Most satellite in 1961. On June 29, 1968, the SNAP-3 unit of these have been corrected; correction of those re- completed its seventh year of operation in space. It has already operated two years beyond its five-year maining is expected to be completecl in time to support design life, and is still in operation. the start of XE engine tests. SNAP-19 Isotope Generators. On May 18, 1968, The final experiments of the engine system technology the NASA THORAD-AGENA-D vehicle, which was portion of the nuclear rocket program will be the to carry the NIMBUS-B weather satellite and SNAP- “hot” tests of the XE engine. Assembly of the engine 19 isotope generators into orbit, was destroyed because was completed in the fall of 1968. Full-power engine of a guidance system malfunction. Search and detec- tests are scheduled for the first half of 1969. tion operations for the two SNAP-19 plutonium-238 fueled capsules succeeded in finding the submerged satellite ; the two fueled capsules have been recovered Space Electric Power and returned to Mound Laboratory for examination Space Reactor Power Systems and return of the fuel to inventory. Zirconium Hydride Reactors. Testing of the flight- Because of the importance of the NIMBUS-B weather configured ground-prototype uranium-zirconium hy- satellite mission, NASA has reprogrammed a NIM- dride reactor SNAP-8 Developmental Reactor BUS-IS2 mission, again using the SNAP-19 isotope (S8DR), started in 1968. This reactor is based on generators. The delivery of the SNAP-19 flight SYS- technology successfully demonstrated in the SNAP- tem to NASA was completed in December 1968, with 10A program in 1965 and further investigated in the a launch scheduled for the spring of 1969. SNAP-8 Experimental Reactor (S8ER). The test pro- SNAP-27 Isotopic Generator. The SNAP-27, being gram includes demonstrations of restart capability and developed by the AEC for NASA, is also fueled with continuous operation for at least 10,000 hours at design Pu-238 and is designed to provide at least 50 watts of conditions of 1,300” F outlet temperature and 600 conditioned power. The SNAP-27 units will provide all thermal kilowatts. Reactors of this type can be mated the power for APOLLO Lunar Surface Experiments with thermoelectric converters or mercury Rankine Packages (ALSEP) to be placed on the Moon by astro- CHAPTER V 51

nauts during APOLLO missions. These experiments modules under both air and vacuum conditions are in- are to provide information for a period of one year after dicating extremely stable performance. .4n electrically the astronauts return to Earth. heated generator, representative of the state of the art, in performance tests at 990" C produced 27 watts of SNAP-29 Isotopic Generator. The SNAP-29 genera- power at a measured efficiency of 5.8%. Optimized ma- tor is planned to be fueled with polonium-2 10, to pro- terials now under development should improve that vide hundreds of watts of electrical power for three performance significantly. months. Thermoelectric conversion subsystems, heat transfer units using heat pipes, and fabrication and High-Temperature Radioisotope Capsule. A capsule test of the heat-source components are under develop- that can contain Pu-238 fuel forms at 2,000" F for ment. A ground demonstration of a prototype flight more than five years is being developed. It utilizes a system is planned for Fiscal Year 1970. refractory metal structural shell and a noble metal oxidation-protection shell. Fabrication techniques for Navigation Satellite Generator. Design and develop- the capsule have been demonstrated, and short-term ment of an isotopic generator for the Navy's improved creep tests have been completed. navigation satellite was started. This generator, using plutonium-238 fuel, is being designed to produce at Compact Converter. Metal-encapsulated, void-free least 20 electrical watts at a weight of less than 20 compact thermoelectric converters have shown excel- pounds. lent improvement in long-term performance and ef- ficiency during 1968. Materials interaction that had Space-Directed Advanced Technology previously led to long-term performance degradation in the 1,000" F temperature regime has been elimi- Development nated by use of inert materials. Progress in this pro- Advanced Space Reactor Concepts-Advanced space gram has led to the investigation of a multikilowatt reactors are being developed for high-performance, reactor-compact converter system for NASA applica- long-endurance space power needs envisioned for the tion. Direct loading of isotope fuels into the compact 1980's and beyond. Electrical outputs in the power converter and heat pipe-isotope-compact converter range of hundreds-to-thousands of kilowatts are being concepts are being investigated. Use with high power- considered. density fuels such as curium, polonium, and cobalt-60 appears promising. During 1968, the AEC conducted technology develop- ment of two basic advanced reactor concepts, the in- ISOTEC. Two nominal 30-watt electrically heated core thermionic reactor and the liquid metal-cooled ISOTEC generators have been tested during 1968, reactor. In 1968 the in-core thermionic program con- performing essentially as expected from earlier data. tinued to emphasize the development of fueled thermi- These generators use lead-telluride thermoelements onic converters capable of long-endurance operation at bonded into a sandwich panel which rejects waste heat emitter temperatures above 3,000" F. Several proto- directly to space from its outer surface. type converters were operated in-pile for over 1,000 hours. Space Nuclear Safety Activities Continuation of the liquid metal-cooled space reactor program beyond 1968 was not authorized by Congress Work is continuing on the evaluation of the recovered and the project is now essentially phased out. Further capsule materials and fuel of the SNAP-19 generators plans for this concept have not yet been defined. to determine the actual behavior of this system in an alien environment. Space Power Conversion Technology-SiGe. High- temperature ( 1,800° F) silicon-germanium (SiGe) The safety evaluation of the SNAP-27 system, to be thermoelectric modules were fabricated. These are typi- used on the APOLLO Lunar Surface Experiments cal of the conversion devices being considered for ad- Package (ALSEP) is continuing. vanced space radioisotope power concepts. Long-term Programs to evaluate the safety aspects of several new life tests (over 35,000 hours) of silicon-germanium fuel forms have been initiated and are continuing. 52 AEC

Work is progressing on several search, detection, and During 1968, the DART I1 (Decomposed Ammonia recovery techniques which it is hoped will become Radioisotope Thruster), a propulsion device for posi- operational in the very near future. tioning a spacecraft in space, was designed, fueled, and demonstrated successfully in a simulated space Space Isotopic Fuel Development environment. To meet the requirements of more efficient and de- Polonium 210-Polonium 210 is being developed as a manding conversion systems, studies of new fuel forms, heat source for 90-150 day missions that demand high materials, and methods of containment compatible specific power (thermal power per unit volume or with the required increased temperatures have been weight) and a minimum of shielding. Rare earth- initiated. polonium compounds now being studied offer im- proved stability over the pure metal for short missions Satellite-Based Detection Nuclear (several months). This effort is focused on a program Of to develop and provide a Po-210 fuel form for the Explosions In Space And In The SNAP-29 unit. Atmosphere Curium 244-Curium 244 has the attractive combina- The AEC-instrumented VELA Satellite Program con- tion of a reasonably high thermal specific power, a tinues with the preparation for the fifth launch in relatively long operational life, and the availability 1969 in the planned series of five launches. Four suc- of a thermally and chemically stable compound. How- cessful launches have placed eight VELA nuclear-test ever, the neutron radiation of Cu-244 does require detection satellites into near-circular co-planar orbits more shield weight than other alpha fuels under devel- of about 65,000 nautical miles radius. The newest pair, opment, such as Pu-238 and Po-210. placed in orbit with 180' phase separation by a TITAN During 1968, efforts were continued to characterize IIIC booster in April 1967, have an attitude control this fuel as to chemical, physical, radiation, and other system to keep one axis oriented toward the Earth, as properties. Capsule closure sealing methods and de- will the fifth pair, soon to be launched. Earth-orienting signs are under investigation. the satellites has made it possible to expand the origi- nal space surveillance capability to include atmos- Plutonium 238-During 1968, there was continued pheric test detection. Sophisticated optical and development of the oxide of plutonium-238 (87.5 electromagnetic pulse detection techniques are now in- years half-life) for use in radioisotope power units. cluded. The fifth pair of satellites will contain major Development of the process for production of pluto- advances in most areas of instrumentation, in keeping nium dioxide microspheres was one of the items of with the goals of this program. research. Desirable properties of this material are rela- The new scientific data collected by the VELA satel- tive chemical and biological inertness; high melting lites in the course of performing their test-ban monitor- temperature; thermal, chemical, and radiation stabil- ing functions have been of great importance to the ity; and ease of handling. A pilot plant of a new scientific community in interpreting solar-terrestrial re- microsphere production process known as Sol-gel was lationships. Since July 1964, when the second satellite demonstrated and installed. Checkout is proceeding, pair was launched, the VELA satellites have provided and the pilot plant is expected to be operational in what is probably the most detailed information avail- 1969. Using the oxide fuel form, heat sources were able on the solar wind-characteristics and the state of fabricated for several generator systems and for Earth's bow shock, magnetosheath, and magnetos- evaluation in the fuel technology programs. pheric tail. In t roduction space technology. Seventy-eight countries and 13 spe- cialized agencies and international organizations par- The Department of State in 1968 continued its efforts ticipated in the conference. American scientists, gov- to foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses ernment officials and industry representatives delivered of outer space and foreign support for various aspects 49 scientific papers and evening lectures, about one- of the U.S. national space program. It played an active fourth of the total number of papers presented. role in responding to inquiries from abroad (particu- larly from Western Europe, where future plans for At its 1968 session in Geneva, the United Nations participation in space programs were under review) Outer Space Committee’s Legal Subcommittee contin- about US. policies affecting cooperation or assistance. ued negotiations of a convention on liability for damage The Department also maintained close consultation done by objects launched into outer space. Several is- with other US. agencies concerning further possibil- sues proved insurmountable obstacles to completion of ities for future cooperative undertakings in space sci- the draft at the Legal Subcommittee session, making ence and applications with other countries, such as the it unlikely that the United Nations would meet the surveying of Earth resources from satellites. deadline it had set for itself, the 23d General Assem- bly. The Legal Subcommittee held another brief dis- Among the principal international developments dur- cussion of the question of defining ‘(outer space” and ing 1968, noted below, were the entry into force of the questions relating to various uses of outer space, no- Astronaut Rescue and Return Agreement, convening tably direct broadcast satellites. of a United Nations Conference on Outer Space, and further growth of the INTELSAT global commercial When the parent U.N. Outer Space Committee met in communications satellite system. October, it again discussed direct broadcast satellites and decided to establish a Working Group to study first Astronaut Agreement-The Agreement on the Rescue the technical aspects and then the political, legal, and of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts, and the Re- other implications of the subject. turn of Objects Launched Into Outer Space, was signed by the Secretary of State at a ceremony held on Earth Resources Survey Program-An agreement was .4pril 22, 1968, in Washington. Signing ceremonies concluded in September with the Government of Bra- were held on the same date in London and MOSCOW, zil, confirming arrangement between NASA and the the other depositary capitals. More than 75 nations Brazilian space commission for a cooperative research have signed. The Senate advised and consented to program in remote sensing for Earth resources surveys. US. ratification by a vote of 66-0 on October 8, 1968. A principal purpose of the program is to develop tech- an December 3, the President announced that the niques and systems for acquiring, interpreting and Agreement had gone into force. utilizing Earth resources data from aircraft. The De- partment of Agriculture, the Geological Survey and Activities Within the United Nations-The United the Navy Oceanographic Office are participating with Nations sponsored a Conference on the Exploration NASA in carrying out US. responsibilities under the and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was held in agreement. Vienna August 14-27. The purpose of the conference was to identify and describe, primarily for the benefit An agreement for a similar program with Mexico was of developing countries, the practical applications of concluded in December. 53 54 STATE

Tracking Networks-The facilities abroad that are other support units at appropriate locations around part of NASA's global tracking network were main- the globe. tained during 1968 under bilateral agreements previ- Cooperation With Department of Defense-The De- ously concluded with the countries concerned. These partment of State continued to work closely with the facilities consist of stations supporting the manned Department of Defense during 1968 on international space flight program, a tracking and telemetry network aspects of space-related programs of particular interest for scientific satellites, and deep-space antennae at to DOD, such as the Initial Defense Communications four locations around the world. Also, an agreement Satellite Program (IDCSP) with the United Kingdom concerning the establish- . ment of a tracking facility on the Island of Grand Communications Via Satellites-Membership in the Bahama entered into force in May. An extension of International Telecommunications Satellite Consor- the agreement with the Malagasy Republic was effected tium (INTELSAT) ,the global commercial communi- by an exchange of notes in December 1967. cations satellite system, grew to 63 during the year with the addition of three new countries. Several others In September, an agreement was concluded with are expected to join in the coming months. The na- Mauritius which permits deployment to that island of tions now represented in INTELSAT account for a aircraft specially equipped to conduct airborne moni- major portion of the world's total international tele- toring of certain aspects of APOLLO missions. communications traffic. The ESRO (European Space Research Organization) INTELSAT's global capabilities were enhanced in satellite telemetry and command station-established 1968 by an increase in the number of ground stations near Fairbanks, Alaska, under the terms of an agree- in the various member countries from 15 to 22. Many ment concluded in November, 1966-became opera- others are under construction. There are 14 stations tional in 1968. in the Atlantic area and 8 in the Pacific region. This An agreement was concluded with Japan in September total is growing steadily and should reach 45 to 50 providing for the establishment and operation in Oki- by 1970. nawa of a Japanese-satellite tracking station. The first of a third generation of higher-capacity com- Contingency Recovery of Astronauts-As in the case munications satellites was successfully launched in De- of each of the manned GEMINI flights, the Depart- cember. Other launches will follow as soon as possible, ment of State and its overseas posts maintained a state since additional capacity is urgently required. of alert throughout the APOLLO 7 and 8 flights, to A still more advanced generation of satellites, the support NASA and DOD in case of an emergency fourth, was authorized by INTELSAT's governing recovery requiring such support. A Task Force was body in October. The first of these space vehicles is organized so as to enable the Department, in the event of an unintended landing or other emergency, to call scheduled for launch in 1971. immediately upon the appropriate posts abroad to ar- During 1968, the Government, together with the Com- range through the respective host governments for such munications Satellite Corporation (the U.S. entity in assistance as might be indicated by the nature of the INTELSAT) , continued preparations for a 1969 in- emergency. Similar arrangements will be made for all ternational conference which is to develop permanent manned APOLLO flights. arrangements for INTELSAT. The original 1964 Before each manned space flight mission, the De- agreements establishing interim arrangements for IN- partment through our embassies abroad also facilitates TELSAT call for convening a conference in 1969 to the positioning of Air Force Search and Rescue and formulate definitive arrangements. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CHAPTER VI1

Introduction E. 0.Hulbert Center for Space Research at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.-NSF sup- This year as in the past, the contributions made by the ported several university staff members, who proposed National Science Foundation to the Nation's space astronomical research programs using rockets and effort consisted for the most part of support given to satellites, to work with the staff and facilities of the basic research projects at colleges and universities, to Center. In addition, it supported theoretical inter- national programs, and to national research centers pretation and analysis of data. throughout- the country. Facilities such as radio tele- scopes and scientific balloons are also provided by NSF The Kitt Peak National Observatory (Arizona)- for scientific research related to outer space. The following- reflecting- telescopes continued in full operation for research in astronomy by visitors and staff National Radio Astronomy Observatory (West Vir- members : two 16-inch photometric telescopes, two ginia) -The facilities of the National Radio Astronomy 36-inch photometric and spectroscopic instruments, a Observatory, at Green Bank, W. Va., were used by 141 50-inch remotely controlled telescope which is pro- visitors from 46 different institutions during the year. grammed for photometric work, and an 84-inch gen- Spectral-line work continued to ,bea very active area eral-purpose reflector ; also, a long-focus solar telescope of research; in fact, a previously undiscovered line at of 63-inch aperture, the world's largest. In addi- 6.3-centimeter wavelength was detected by visitors tion, a program of rocket astronomy is conducted for using the 140-ft.-diameter radio telescope. The new staff and visitors. Work was started during the year line arises from an energy level transition in an excited on a new 150-inch reflecting telescope as a major addi- state of the OH molecule. tion to the observatory. equipment.-. The telescope is In collaboration with other observatories in this coun- scheduled for completion in 1972. try and abroad, very long base-line interferometry ex- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile)- periments have been conducted. Experiments using the Five telescopes were in operation during the year for 140-ft. radio telescope and a smaller telescope in visitor and staff observing programs: two 16-inch tele- Sweden have measured components of an intense radio scopes used mainly for photometric work, 36-inch and source and have found them to be as small as 0.002 60-inch telescopes which had both photometric and seconds of arc in diameter. spectroscopic capability, also a 24-inch Schmidt-type Visitors using the 300-ft.-diameter transit telescope wide-angle camera on long-term loan from the Uni- discovered a new pulsar source, and there is a possible versity of Michigan. Contracts were let for the optics identification of two others. The pulsars are the newly and mounting and also the dome structure for the discovered radio sources which pulsate in intensity 150-inch reflecting telescope which is being built under with periods from a fraction of a second up to two joint support of the NSF and the Ford Foundation. seconds, depending on the source observed. They pul- Completion of this Southern Hemisphere telescope is sate at an extremely uniform rate. expected in 1973. Significant savings in cost have re- The three-element interferometer at Green Bank was sulted because of the simultaneous construction of the in much demand by vistors, and a visitor program was two 150-inch telescopes for Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo. commenced with the 36-ft. millimeter wave antenna National Center for Atmospheric Research (Colo- at Kitt Peak. rado)-Several studies of the Sun and interplanetary 55 56 NSF medium received continued attention during Fiscal vations of auroral X-rays and luminosity at the Year 1968 at the High-Altitude Observatory of NCAR. foot of the magnetic field line on which the These analyses are devoted towards an increased un- geosynchronous satellite ATS-1 is located. derstanding of the solar photosphere, solar chromo- Engineering-The Engineering Division supports a sphere, solar , and solar activity well as of as number of research programs related to aeronautics the solar wind and its interaction with the Earth's and space activities. An example of some engineering magnetosphere. Among the advances of the year were: research is the work being carried on at the University 1. The successful observation of the brightness of of California. With the assistance of NSF research the Sun in the far-infrared (wavelength 50- grants, a group at the University of California, Berke- 300~).These measures allow the temperature ley, has developed a rarefied gas facility of extraordi- at the coolest part of the solar atmosphere to be nary flexibiility and capacity. This facility was planned established and have a direct bearing on our with several objectives in view. It is designed to extend further understanding of the structure of the the range of current rarefied gas dynamics investiga- solar atmosphere. tions to lower-density ranges while preserving previous 2. The successful operation of a dense-plasma fo- mass flow capability at test-section pressures of 70 to cus machine to produce temperatures of up to 80 microns. New investigations will be implemented in 300 million degrees absolute. This machine areas of nearly-free-molecule flows, dilute plasmas, and places at the disposal of our research staff collision processes. Additionally, it is designed to pro- plasma of a temperature equal to or in excess vide a suitable environment for free molecule testing of those found in the most excited regions of and for the study of molecule interactions at the sur- the solar corona. face of the gas phase. Numerous studies are under 3. A successful theoretical model of the flow of way on supersonic flow, turbulence, flow of ionized the solar wind through the magnetic fields pen- gases and wave dynamics. etrating the solar corona. The model is zble to Another study on low-density flows is under way at reproduce many of the characteristics of the Princeton University. A unique new testing facility structure of the solar coronal streamers, which was designed, built and put into operation with an have been observed at edipses for centuries. NSF Engineering Division grant. This facility for low- Solar-Terrestrial Program-The primary objective of density, hypersonic, gas dynamic research uses a the Solar-Terrestrial Program is the study of the inter- graphite heater and nitrogen as a test gas. Using a action between solar behavior and terrestrial phe- liquid nitrogen-cooled conical nozzle and a test section nomena. The Program supports over 70 research 12 inches in diameter, Mach numbers of 15 to 22 can programs in this aspect of space-related sciences. The be developed with uniform test cores 1 to 4 inches in following research received emphasis during FY 1968 : diameter and 6 to 10 inches long. Satisfactory opera- tion has been obtained for stagnation pressures from 1. The generation and characteristics of solar 30 to 350 psi at stagnation temperatures from 1,500 flares and their effects on terrestrial magnetic storms and anomalous radio communications; to 2,300' K. Studies have been made on flows around 2. The structure of the interplanetary medium as flat plates and cones with leading-edge dimensions of revealed by the modulation of cosmic rays re- less than 0.00 1 inches. Detailed pressure distributions ceived at the ground; and flow-field studies were measured, using special 3. The development of models for Earth's mag- probes developed during the studies. netosphere, radiation belts and plasma flow US. Antarctic Research Program-The US. space from theoretical studies based on surface and effort has several ties with Antarctica. Data on the satellite measurements; ionosphere and magnetosphere which are obtainable 4. The coupling mechanisms between the mag- only in the high latitudes, owing to the configuration netosphere and the atmosphere. Most investi- of the Earth's magnetic field, axe obtained through gations of the contributed to the study. use of a 21-mile-long antenna, Satellite readout sta- For instance, the Foundation supported obser- tions, and cosmic ray monitors. Satellites are also CHAPTER VI1 57 monitored for the space programs of several agencies performing research in the ice-free areas, tests hard- and countries to help determine the shape of the geoid, ware and techniques being developed for space ex- refine orbital Paths, acquire gravity data, and estab- ploration, such as life-detecting samplers and lunar lish geodetic ties. drills. Logistical aspects of the conduct of a research Antarctic environmental factors provide useful paral- program in a remote and hostile environment have led lels to those hypothesized for extraterrestrial bodies. to a close study of the U.S. programs in Antarctica NASA, with the cooperation of Foundation grantees by several NASA groups. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CHAPTER VI11

Introduction of the development and life cycles of these storms. Equipment has been designed to permit timely acquisi- The Department of Commerce has four major organi- tion of these pictures for operational use. zational units engaged in activities that contribute to the National Space Program. Three science and tech- The satellite-interrogated ocean buoy program was ad- nology bureaus contribute directly : the Environmental vanced by the successful test of a prototype moored in Science Services Administration, the National Bureau 14,500 feet of water at 35" N. 48' W. in the North At- of Standards, and the Office of State Technical Serv- lantic. After remaining on station successfully for 4 ices. The fourth bureau, the U.S. Patent Office, con- months, the mast broke during an unusually severe tributes indirectly through the issuance of patents on storm and the buoy was recovered. The test demon- inventions with space applications. strated the stability of the buoy and the durability of the mooring, which remained intact. Environmental Science Services A special facsimile transmission was added to an estab- Administration lished US. network to relay Automatic Picture Trans- mission photographs from receiving stations to 23 The Environmental Science Services Administration Weather Bureau and 28 military stations on the net- fulfills the Department's responsibility to describe, un- work. This relay of APT photos has greatly increased derstand, and predict the state of the atmosphere, the dissemination and operational use of satellite data. oceans and the space environment, and the size and The Weather Facsimile Experiment transmission of shape of the Earth. ESSA has five major subunits which satellite and standard meteorological data from the contribute either directly or indirectly to space tech- United States to APT stations in Europe, Africa, and nology: the National Environmental Satellite Center, South America via the ATS I11 satellite started experi- the Weather Bureau, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, mentally in July, and by October had become semi- the ESSA Research Laboratories, and the Environ- operational. WEFAX transmissions to the Pacific via mental Data Service. ATS-I continued during 1968. Response from recip- Highlights of 1968-Two Environmental Survey ients is enthusiastic. Satellites-ESS.4 7 and 8-were launched during 1968 to maintain the operational weather satellite system es- Meteorological Satellite-The National Operational Meteorological Satellite System (NOMSS) was like- tablished in February 1966. April 1 marked the eighth wise maintained during 1968 by the launch of ESSA anniversary of the launch of TIROS I, the first weather 7 and 8. These satellitzs furnished worldwide pictorial satellite to send back useable cloud pictures. The one- coverage of the Earth and its cloud systems daily, ex- millionth satellite picture was received on May 27, cept in areas of polar night. 1968. The ESSA series of satellites partially fulfills one of With the cooperation of NASIZ experimenters, ESSA the main objectives of the NOMSS-daily observation used the ATS-I11 satellite to obtain closely timed pic- of global weather conditions-but does not permit tures of both tornadoes and hurricanes. Films made nighttime observations of cloud systems or temperature from these pictures, taken every 15 minutes during pe- patterns. TIROS-M, the: operational prototype of the riods of maximum lighting, were used to study details ITOS (Improved TIROS Operational Satellite) sys- 58 CHAPTER Vlll 59 tem satellites, will add a nighttime cloud surveillance Applications Technology Satellites-APPLICA- and day-and-night temperature mapping capability by TIONS TECHNOLOGY SATELLITES ( ATS-I means of a scanning radiometer. This spacecraft also and ATS-111, launched respectively on Dec. 6, 1966, will combine the functions now performed separately and Nov. 5,1967, by NASA) have successfully demon- by two ESSA satellites, with a consequent saving in strated the potential of a geostationary satellite for costs because fewer launches will b? required each environmental observation. Both satellites contain spin- year. The launch of the TIROS-M spacecraft, planned scan cloud cameras which can take pictures approxi- for the middle of Calendar Year 1969, will be followed mately once every 20 minutes. ATS-I photographs the by the launch of ITOS operational spacecraft starting Pacific basin and ATS-111 photographs the Atlantic. late in 1969. The ATS-I11 camera was designed for color photog- raphy, using three separate color channels. The system Operations of the ESSA Satellites-ESSA satellites worked well for several months, but subsequent mal- orbit the Earth in about 114 minutes (tt average alti- function of the red channel has reduced ATS-111 to tudes of 760 nautical miles. essentially black-and-white photography. Details on One type of ESSA satellite is equippzd with two Ad- the uses of these cameras and the transponders aboard vanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) units, each these satellites are given elsewhere. of which is capable of maintaining global cloud-cover Computer-Processed Cloud Mosaics-Cloud photo- surveillance. One camera is used operationally; the graphs are processed routinely by computer for opera- second is held in reserve, thus materially increasing the tional use; the pictures are digitized, rectified, and fit useful lifetime of the satellites. Thc pictures from into global mosaics for routine transmission via fac- AVCS-equipped satellites are transmitted to ground simile to all U.S. Weather Stations. Some have been stations in Alaska and Virginia, relayed to a central transmitted experimentally (and successfully) to APT processing unit at Suitland, Md., processed, and made stations in Europe, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean available to the United States and international me- area, and North and South America by means of teorological community. transmitters on board the ATS satellites. Special mo- Equipment for the other type of ESSA satellite is also saics of the tropics are sent to the National Hurricane redundant; each of the two Automatic Picture Trans- and the Tropical Analysis Centers in Miami during mission (AFT) cameras can take and immediately the hurricane season. The mosaics are also printed in transmit pictures of the area beneath the satellite to catalogues of cloud photography to make the informa- simply equipped ground stations within a 2,000-mile tion accessible to research scientists. range of the spacecraft. The APT pictures furnish local forecasters with a fresh (3%-minute-old) view Operational Applications of Satellite data-Routine of the cloud patterns over or adjacent to the local area; and reliable receipt of data from both types of ESSA these are used widely by U.S. meteorological agencies. spacecraft has resulted in widespread usage of satellite Meteorologists in many countries have become accus- information in daily operations both in the United tomed to using APT pictures for operational forecast- States and abroad. Data available are those centrally ing. Thus the APT-equipped satellites have become an processed in the United States, and the pictures re- part of the World Weather Watch, an interna- ceived locally from the satellites equipped with Auto- tional meteorological observation system now under matic Picture Transmission cameras. APT photographs development. Mosaics covering the United States and are used operationally for analyses, local and area fore- adjacent areas are prepared daily from APT pictures casts, and for briefing pilots on weather conditions over received at Suitland. Copies are distributed to local long transocean routes. and national news services, and are used daily by many Satellite photography is particularly useful for tracking newspapers and television stations in the United States. weather systems across the vast areas of Earth where NIMBUS II-APT pictures from the NIMBUS II conventional observations are lacking. The most spec- R. & D. satellite were used operationally until the sys- tacular use is in the discovery and tracking of tropical tem ceased functioning near the beginning of April storms, typhoons, and hurricanes wherever they may 1968, more than 22 month after launch. occur. During 1968, 33 of these storms had been seen 60 COMM

by the satellites, and advisories had been sent to for- photographs have enabled research meteorolo- eign countries and U.S. installations worldwide. A gists to study details of tornado and hurricane de- method devised for estimating maximum winds in these velopment. The ATS pictures, available at either tropical storms from characteristics seeil in the satelitte 15-, 24- or 30-minute intervals, provide views of pictures has been used successfully for several years. these storm systems heretofore unavailable. A ma- Tracking of storms in middle and high altitudes has jor research effort is being directed toward devis- resulted in improved advisory service to coastal areas ing more efficient and timely methods for the and to shipping on the high seas. extraction of multilevel wind information from the ATS spin-scan cloud camera pictures and Winds in the 30,00040,000-foot levels, as estimated films. from ESSA photographs are used routinely in computer analyses, and are transmitted daily to users worldwide. d. Digitized daily records of cloud data axe being These experimental winds provide information over used to supply various products such as average 5- tropical and subtropical areas that are almost com- day, monthly, and seasonal cloud charts, and pletely devoid of conventional upper-level wind brightness charts. Films of the daily digitized information. charts show broad-scale motions in both the tropics and mid-latitudes, and show climatic regimes in a Research and development programs of the National graphic fashion. These charts and films are prov- Environmental Satellite Center-In 1968 work con- ing useful for heat-balance studies, radiation tinued on a number of long-term projects, and was studies, ice mapping, and long-period variations initiated on several new projects. The research included in large-scale weather features; they also show studies to increase basic understanding of atmospheric promise of being useful for developing improved processes, the objectives of which are to improve global cloud climatologies. weather analysis and forecasting; the development of new instrumentation for measuring environmental data e. Plans are under way for intensive investigations from satellites; and the development of new methods of the Ocean surface, the interactions between the and procedures for using satellite data in daily opera- sea and the atmosphere, and the temperature tions. Among the more than 50 investigations under structure of the ocean by means of satellite sen- way, the following are of particdar interest: sors. The state of sea surface is being estimated by analysis of reflection of the Sun seen in satellite a. A number of instruments are being designed pictures; analyses such as these will yield esti- to obtain measurements of the vertical structure of the atmosphere. The Satellite Infrared Spectro- mates of surface wind speeds in remote areas. Temperature fields and ocean currents will be meter (SIRS), developed by NESC and funded by NASA, is to be tested on NIMBUS B2, sched- mapped and the information used in meteorologi- uled for launch by the middle of 1969. The In- cal and oceanographic investigations. frared Temperature Profile Radiometer, an adap- International Cooperation-The continued worldwide tation of SIRS, is under development for testing availability of Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) on NIMBUS E. This instrument has a spatial pictures and the experimental semi-operational trans- scanning capability to permit operation over mission of satellite data through the Weather Facsimile partly cloudy skies. Experiment (WEFAX) on the ATS satellites has b. Procedures for obtaining the extent and depth helped to maintain the image of the United States as of snow fields from satellite pictures are being an unstinting sharer of scientific results in space pro- investigated. An operational guide for mapping grams. At the end of 1968, 52 foreign countries re- the extent of snow cover was developed under an ported 108 APT stations in operation. Application of NESC contract in 1968. Large-scalc mapping of satellite products was discussed and demonstrated daily snow cover and sea ice by means of satellite pic- by United States participants at the International Con- tures is being done experimentally. ference on the Peaceful Uses of Space in Vienna. Cur- c. Procedures developed for making time-lapse rent and planned satellite products were also discussed motion picture film from ATS-I and ATS-I11 at the International Cloud Physics Conference in To- CHAPTER Vlll 61

ronto and at the International Union of Geodesy and facility is a center for a net of stations used to detect the Geophysics-World Meteorological Organization precipitation of solar protons into the high atmos- (IUGG-WMO) meetings in Bergen, Norway, during phere in the Arctic region. August 1968. US. participants furnished major con- Solar X-ray data are obtained on a timely basis from tributions to the WMO satellite meteorology work- the SOLAR RADIATION SATELLITE, SOLRAD shop held in Melbourne, Australia, during November 9, for use in making disturbance forecasts. Data are and December 1968. The National Environmental obtained with the cooperation of the Naval Research Satellite Center provided training and study facilities Laboratories. for WMO, NATO, and AID fellows from China, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, In cooperation with Canadian scientists, SKUA Switzerland, and Thailand, and briefings for many rockets intrumented to monitor radiation in the other foreign scientists during 1968. 1.27 x millimeter wave length range, are used to obtain measurements of the diurnal variations and Washington-Moscow Data Exchange-Pursuant to height profiles of molecular oxygen in the excited state. the 1962 bilateral agreement between the United Several successful flights have been made from Fort States and the U.S.S.R., exchange of satellite data con- Churchill, Canada, and data obtained are being ana- tinued over the Washington-Moscow data link during lyzed. These results are important in understanding 1968. The U.S.S.R. furnished data from their COS- the electron balance of the lower ionosphere. MOS 184, launched in 1967, and COSMOS 206 and 226, launched in 1968. The United States furnished Auroral zone absorption events observed from the satellite photographs and nephanalyses (cloud maps) Earth's surface are compared with energetic particle based on ESSA 3, 5, and 7 data; these products are observations obtained by NASA satellites while pass- used in daily analysis operations at the World Weather ing through the tail of the Earth's magnetosphere at Center, Moscow. Traffic from Moscow includes satel- about 17 Earth radii. These comparisons indicate that lite photographs, nephanalyses, and radiation analyses. the particle source producing the absorption is rela- tively close to the Earth. ESSA Research Laboratories A preliminary study has established the feasibility of providing forecasts of solar activity for the APOLLO The ESSA Research Laboratories, with main offices in Applications Program-Astronomical Telescope Mount Boulder, Colo., and a number of Laboratories in field (AAP-ATM) program. The aims of this program are stations elsewhere, conduct research and provide serv- to supply to the ATM astronauts forecasts the proba- ices in support of the broad ESSA mission require- of bilities of occurrence and probable location of solar ments. Activities include a number of scientic disci- flares so that high-resolution instruments can be plines : oceanography, Earth sciences, geomagnetism, activated and properly oriented to obtain measure- tropospheric and ionospheric and magnetospheric ments. The Space Disturbance Forecasting Center will physics. Programs include tropospheric radio and opti- also collect and disseminate solar data for use during cal wave propagation, ionospheric radio propagation, postflight analyses of data obtained in the ATM monitoring and forecasting solar activity and its effects program. in Earth's vicinity, and research on solar radiation in- teractions with the magnetosphere. The ERL Aeronomy Laboratory conducts research on the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. The Labora- The ERL Space Disturbance Laboratory monitors and tory operates, in cooperation with Peruvian scientists, predicts fluctuations and disturbances in Earth's space a facility using radio techniques based on the scattering environment associated with solar activity. Research of radio waves by electrons to obtain measurements of activities support these services and increase under- the high ionospheric region. Recently, the technique standing of the manner in which solar particles affect has been used to measure electric fields in the high Earth's environment. ionosphere, measurements previously obtained at great A facility at Anchorage; Alaska, is now operational as expense and for short time periods only, by rockets. The part of the Space Disturbance Forecasting Center. This current method is based on monitoring the vertical 62 COMM electron drift in the ionosphere and makes possible duced by photons and the contamination in the emis- continuous studies from a ground facility. This station sion from energetic particles. also makes measurements of ionospheric parameters, Magnetic storms and subvisual optical emissions, such as electron and neutral temperatures. In some known as red arcs, are studied by comparing simul- cases, comparisons between these measurements and taneous data from several satellite electron-density those obtained by satellites show significant discrep- measurements with ground-based optical experiments. ancies. Since other evidence indicates that the scatter These analyses show that the electron density within results obtained from the ground are accurate, the un- the arc is less than that outside the arc. These studies certainties may be associated with the satellite are expected to lead to an explanation of the red arc measurements. and other ionospheric effects. Ultraviolet data from the NRL SOLRAD satellites The Tropospheric Telecommunications Laboratory are monitored during periods.of atmospheric occulta- conducts studies to develop and improve communica- tion and analyzed to obtain oxygen density in the vicin- tions by means of satellites. The operational use of ity of 62 miles. The results show that summer densities satellites for air traffic control is under consideration are about 1.5 larger than winter densities. to help alleviate overcrowding of radio frequency bands Theoretical studies were undertaken which success- currently in use. One objective is to define interference fully explain the ionospheric resonances observed by protection ratios required to maintain adequate intel- satellite radio sounders. This theoretical development, ligibility over communications circuits. Air traffic con- which involves echoes from the plasma in the near trol transmissions are simulated, using conventional cir- field of the antenna, explains certain aspects of these cuits under varying conditions. Both subjective and resonances, which have been difficult to explain by objective evaluations of the transmissions are made. previous theory. Communications and telemetry with satellites some- Part of the Aeronomy Laboratory rocket program is times suffer interference by scatter of signals from conducted in cooperation with the rocket program of other communications links which are precipitated the Space Disturbances Laboratory. The rockets are into the satellite acquisition systems. A program to instrumented to obtain the electron density in the analyze this problem has been undertaken ; computa- ionosphere by means of radio signals transmitted from tions have been made of precipitation scatter, relating levels of received power to probability of occurrence. the rocket using Faraday rotation techniques. Electromagnetic wave devices used for tracking objects A method for obtaining atomic oxygen measurements in space and for measuring geodetic distances and an- by using thin films of silver has been developed for use gles have accuracies which are limited by the time- on rockets. These thin films, exposed to the atmosphere space variation of radio or optical refraction. Measure- during the rocket’s flight, produce silver oxide, thereby ments of refraction effects taken in Colorado and in changing the electrical resistance. The data thus ob- Hawaii are being used to study the correlation of tained yield atomic oxygen profiles. range and angular position errors with refractive-in- Data obtained from the ALOUETTE I and I1 top- dex data obtained from a variety of sensing elements. side sounders and the earlier EXPLORER XX are These studies will improve accuracy in geodetic meas- analyzed to determine the effects of magnetic storms urements and missile tracking. on ionospheric electron density. A new method devel- Another approach to this problem is being studied by oped this year provides electron density and tempera- the Wave Propagation Laboratory. This laboratory ture profiles from topside sounder data more precisely has used radiometers to measure the emissivities of at- than in the past. mospheric water in its various forms at several fre- Further theoretical developments on the effects of quencies in the millimeter wave region. The measure- electric charge on satellite probes have increased ac- ments were made together with periodic meteorological curacies of data from these probes. This theory takes observations and observations by the Tropospheric into account effects such as secondary emission pro- Telecommunications Laboratories of radio phase path. CHAPTER Vlll 63

Since the accuracy of radar tracking of missiles, satel- Satellite triangulation computer programs have been lites, and other objects is limited by these effects, com- revised to provide improved statistical analysis, to elim- parative analysis of the various observations may yield inate inconsistencies in the raw data, IO incorporate a new method, employing radiometry, to improve range data and to handle fully correlated observations. tracking accuracy. The data will also be analyzed to The BC-4 camera data, totalling about 150,000 indi- establish the effects of atmospheric water on satellite vidual directions, have been sent to the NASA Geo- remote sensing in the millimeter wave region. detic Data Library. Aggregated reduced directions have Satellite photographs are used by the Atlantic Ocean- been provided to the Smithsonian Astrophysical ographic Laboratories in the study of low-level con- Observatory. vective cloud patterns in the eastern Caribbean and A series of studies on the need for additional scale western tropical Atlantic Ocean. These patterns will measurements in the worldwide network resulted in be related to observations of temperature, pressure, the conclusion that five such measurements are wind and other meteorological parameters obtained desirable. during the Barbados experiments. Ocean thermal data obtained by the ESSA research vessels in the vicinity The long-range and high-precision short-range orbit- of the Gulf Stream will be correlated with high-resolu- prediction computer programs for balloon satellites tion infrared radiation data from NIMBUS 11. were improved and refined by introducing a flexible gravitational model into the former and a theoretical The Air Resources Laboratory has established micro- model to account for solar radiation pressure into the phone networks for measurements of sonic booms from latter. Resonance theory was applied to PAGEOS geo- supersonic aircraft. These measurements will be corre- detic satellite orbit to extract numerical values for lated with meteorological data and with aircraft flight resonant gravitational harmonics. configurations. A project is under way for determining the high-fre- quency variations of Earth’s gravitational field by Coast And Geodetic Operations Survey applying a surface density layer instead of spherical har- The Coast and Geodetic Survey uses satellites opera- monics. This will bypass the problem of convergence tionally in geodesy and precise navigation; is engaged in the latter mathematical representation. in studies to determine the feasibility of using satellite The Satellite Triangulation Division continued data techniques in performing its assigned tasks; and sup- acquisition providing technical supervision for 15 geo- ports space facilities and activities indirectly through detic camera units throughout the world. Eight sys- its seismic and geomagnetic activities. tems are operated by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Geometric Satellite Triangulation-The Coast and four by the Army Map Service, and one, owned by Geodetic Survey’s Geodetic Research Laboratory de- West Germany, is operated jointly with the Coast voted most of its 1968 activity to support the worldwide and Geodetic Survey. The Survey also operates one Geometric Satellite Triangulation Program being con- system with the United Kingdom and another with ducted under a cooperative agreement between the South Africa. Thirty-four of the 43 pIoposed stations Department of Commerce and the Department of have been or are presently occupied. Defense. The Laboratory provided technical and scien- Time Transfer Tests-The Satellite Triangulation Di- tific support in the areas of data acquisition, laboratory vision together with the National Bureau of Standards measurements of field records, data reduction proce- and NASA continued tests on transferring time via dures and data analysis. NASA’s APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATEL- Preliminary results obtained at 25 stations of the world- LITES, ATS I and 111, to isolated stations in various wide network and from about 350 events indicate that parts of the world. Accuracies of +2 niicroseconds are the eventual goal of an accuracy of about k20 feet in now being achieved. This method is now used to trans- latitude and longitude and 33 feet in height at each fer time to Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia, and station is feasible. Villa Dolores, Argentina. 64 COMM

A Time Recovery Receiver has been developed to check 2. The variation of propellant type, mode of and establish precise time on five isolated Antarctic failure, or propellant weight did not produce a stations. Since the range of ATS satellites is not suffi- statistically significant TNT equivalence for the cient to reach the Antarctic, U.S. Navy TRANSIT sat- tests monitored. ellites must be used. The result is an accuracy of 50 3. There were sufficient data to establish a microseconds. statistical rate of decay of the acoustic signal Earth Resources Program-In connection with through the distance range of 2,000 to 10,000 feet. NASA’s Geodetic-Cartographic sub-program, studies While there was sufficient evidence to indicate a continued on the application of space technology to TNT equivalence of liquid propellants approaching lo%, it the Earth Resources Program. Emphasis was placed was pointed out that there is no assurance that the on the definition of and the specifications for a photo- conditions for maximum efficiency of the propellant grametric space system for the establishment of geo- explosion were actually met. Therefore, it may be pos- detic control and determination of the geometric shape sible to have a rocket detonation with an efficiency of Earth‘s Ocean surfaces. The photogrammetric system greater than 10%. consists of two wide-angle mapping cameras, two pan- oramic cameras, two stellar cameras and a laser or Among the recommendations included in this report radar altimeter, all in a single rigid package or mount. was a call for continuance of the seismic monitoring The C. & G.S. contracted with NASA to be responsi- pmgram in the areas of potential damage during the ble for aircraft flight tests of a camera-laser package launch of larger missiles. for the evaluation of a NASA-developed laser altim- Geomagnetism-ESSA’s Fredericksburg Geomagnetic eter which is nearing completion. Center continued to make calibration and test facil- Activities in Support of the Tsunami Warning Sys- ities and services available to NASA as a contribution tem-Continued efforts are being made to improve toward the development of space instrumentation. A the operation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey’s 19th century Swiss-made theodolite, having a large, Tsunami Warning System through faster communi- calibrated circle of very high quality, was renovated cations and data telemetry. An experiment is planned and modified by the Center for use in accurately align- for 1969 in which sea-level data will be transmitted via ing space sensors. the NASA ATS-I11 satellite from an underwater plat- All magnetic survey data collected from world-wide form near Andros Island, in the Bahamas, to NASA’s sources were screened and evaluated by C. & G.S. Goddard Space Flight Center. These data were used in a continuing, cooperative ef- Seismological Activities-The Coast and Geodetic fort to improve knowledge and understanding of the Survey’s Seismology Division has done a series of characteristics and behavior of Earth’s magnetic field. seismic measurements from propellant explosions to These studies proceed through the development of assess potential damage from rockets during launch accurate mathematical models of the magnetic field operations. A report on the results of monitoring 12 from surface levels to satellite altitudes. intentional explosions of rocket propellants has been C. & G.S. personnel assisted the World Magnetic Sur- submitted to NASA’s Advanced Studies Office at the vey Board of the International Union of Geodesy and Kennedy Space Center. Geophysics in preparing for an international Sympo- The conclusions of this study are : sium, to be held in Washington, on “Description of the Earth‘s Magnetic Field.” 1. For rocket detonations, the TNT equivalence determined by seismic techniques in the far field (beyond 1,000 feet) area ranged from a low 0.2% Weather Bureau Operations for 25,000 pounds of a mixture of liquid oxygen The rapid gains made in 1967 by the Weather Bureau and liquid hydrogen confined by missile failure, in participation in the space program have been con- to 22% for a solid-propellant explosion with a solidated during 1968. Experiments are continuing in charge equivalent to 7,000 pounds of TNT. data relay, with plans to include test collection of data CHAPTER Vlll 65 from ships at sea. Implementation of specific pro- Air Force at Kunia, Hawaii, and are relayed through grams for increased operational utilization of satellite Honolulu to San Francisco by cable. data has been intensified, notably in tropical storm Meteorological Support-The Space Operations Sup- forecasting. The Bureau is also providing greater sup- port Division of the Weather Bureau continued to port to various satellite programs both directly and furnish meteorological services to NASA in support indirectly. of the manned spaceflight program, including the fore- Experiment With ATS-1 Satellite-Experiments in casting of weather and sea conditions for the APOLLO data collection and relay of river stage and rainfall 7 and APOLLO 8 flights. This division furnishes a measurements are being continued by the Weather continuous weather observing and forecasting service Bureau’s Office of Hydrology using NASA’s ATS-1 in support of activity at Cape Kennedy, supplies spe- yeostationary satellite. Operational experience accwnu- cialized forecasts and meteorological support for test lated from this erperirnent will furnish a basis for and development activities at NASA’s Manned Space- effective planning of future systems. craft Center and Mississippi Test Facility, and de- velops special studies on weather and climate condi- Experiment With ATS3 Satellite-The Weather Bu- tions ’affecting both space and aeronautical activities reau is providing support for the ATS WEFAX of NASA. (Weather Facsimile) experiment by having JFK-New York, Miami, , and San Juan receive the WEFAX transmissions and submit evaluations of these The Environmental Data Service to National Environmental Satellite Center. The Environmental Data Service, a major subunit of Snow Surveying-Under a contract effort, an “Oper- ESSA, archives satellite data after they have been ational Guide for Mapping Snow Cover from Satel- used operationally. Both raw and processed data are lite Photographs” has been developed for the plains placed in the archives of the National Weather Rec- areas of the United States. Work is now progressing ords Center (NWRC), which provides retrieval serv- on developing techniques for mapping snow cover in ices for research scientists. Since satellite data are used the mountain States of the West. TIROS and ESSA most frequently in conjunction with other meteorolog- photographs of the snow cover in the western States are ical data, NWRC serves as a convenient one-stop out- being used in experimental support of the Weather let for the users. Government and private-sector Bureau’s River and Flood Forecasting Service. scientists, universities, and industry can purchase, at Sensor Study-A sensor evaluation study is being made cost, copies of the data in film, picture, or magnetic under contract to ascertain what satellite sensors hold tape form. Data catalogs are published to provide the most promise of providing useful data in meeting customers a means to identify the particular items problems confronting the Weather Bureau’s hydrologic desired. Over 2,800 reels of data were furnished to mission. Results of this study will be used as input to users in 1968. planning the applications of space-derived data to hydrology. National Bureau Of Standards Digitized Cloud Mosaics-The operational program The National Bureau of Standards, through the de- for facsimile transmission of digitalized mosaics has velopment and improvement of a system of precise been expanded to provide information not only to the and consistent measurement, provides technological 50 States and Puerto Rico but also to the US. Air Force and Navy to fulfill their special requirements. support for a number of national programs including those in space and aeronautics. Automatic Picture Transmission ( APT)-Early in 1968 the Weather Bureau began the transmission of The NBS activities pertinent to these efforts fall into raw APT signals interspersed with conventional mete- three broad categories : orological charts on a central facsimile network. The Basic Measurement and Standards-Work in this area APT data are acquired by NESC at Wallops Island, is centered on the development of a complete and Va., the Weather Bureau at San Francisco, and the consistent system of physical measurements. Special 66 COMM emphasis is placed on those required by the advanced g. Lens deterioration in space. technologies used in aeronautics and space activities, h. Field pattern of large radar antennas. since in these areas far greater accuracies than those needed for general use are often mandatory. In addi- i. Noise in communications devices. tion, the often unique character of these new tech- j. Missile-warhead detection. nologies makes demands on the measurement system necessitating research and development in heretofore 2. Materials research: unexplored areas of ‘basic science and technology. a. Liquid rocket fuel. Materials Measurement and Standards-An entirely b. NASA corrosion problem analysis. new series of demands has been created for new and improved materials capable of performing efficiently C. Thermodynamic properties of chemical in space. Highly pure and well-characterized mate- compounds. rials are needed. Standard Reference Materials de- d. Reaction heat measurements on light element veloped at NBS under this activity provide a unifying fluorides. base for the measurement technology needed for cre- ating, manufacturing and distributing a wide variety e. Thermal degradation of polymers. of products vital to the space effort. Analysis, particu- f. Physical chemistry of planetary atmospheres. larly failure analysis, of materials that have been ex- posed to the aerospace environments is also part of g* Electron beam electrolysis. this activity. 3. Standard Reference Materials. Standard Refer- Technological Measurement and Standards-Con- ence Materials ( SRM’s) are well-characterized mate- cerns of this area are technological or “engineering” rials that can be used to calibrate a measurement S~S- measurement and standards which deal with products, tem or to produce scientific data that can be readily commodities, devices, processes and systems. Prin- referred to a common base. The SRM’s discussed be- ciples of good measurement, rather well defined in the low are typical of the many samples produced at NBS, science area, are applied to the determination of the and sold at cost for use in a wide variety of space and performance of working systems. As the complexity aeronautical work.

and technical sophistication of systems increase, par- 0 Two high-purity platinum SRM’s and two gold ticularly in the U.S. space program, it is increasingly SRM’s were recently certified for composition. These important and difficult to define and measure those standards calibrate instruments necessary to measure characteristics of a system which best describe its per- elements in such components as transistors and formance. Major efforts are being made to meet these other solid-state devices used in space applications. needs. 0 A wide range of metallo-organic SRM’s have been Items of particular interest in each of these three ma- developed and made available for testing the ’wear jor areas are listed below. of modern jet engines, and predicting failure rates. 1. Basic standards : Metallo-organic standards are used in the air trans- portation industry to detect engine failures before a. Clock synchronization via satellite and Moon- they occur. Eight standards recently certified con- bounce radar. tain metals found in the analysis of engine oils. b. Communications “blackout” during re-entry. Three oxygen and air SRM’s were recently certified. c. Destructive vibrations in space vehicles. They calibrate gas measuring instruments for de- d. Fatigue cracks in airframe fasteners. termining the concentration of oxygen in air, and have applications in measuring content in space e. Radiation detectors in space vehicles. capsule environments, aircraft cabins, and other en- f. Laser power and energy. closures related to space travel. CHAPTER Vlll 67

The determination of the thickness of metals plated hanced to the highest degree. NBS conducts a program onto various substrates is important in both the air- with NMA, other agencies, and industry, for selecting, craft and space industries. Four new gold-on-nickel developing, evaluating and publicizing methods of thickness standards were issued to permit precise measurement which permit improved process control. measurements for the thickness of metal coatings. Development of Space Radiation Detectors. NBS has Gold is often plated on electrical components to continued its program for the fabrication and testing provide stability and resistance to oxidation and of solid-state nuclear radiation detectors used in space corrosion. In many space and aeronautical applica- exploration. The detectors, not elsewhere available, tions, metal and non-metal surfaces are plated with are used to measure the exposure of satellites to high- metals to enhance performance and durability. energy radiation during flight.

Applied Technology Dissemination of Space Data. The NBS Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information is the Techniques for Man-Comjmter Systems. The Bu- Government focal point for public dissemination of reau is assisting the NASA Electronics Research Center R&D reports related to space sciences and tech- in the development of techniques for man-computer nology. It distributes NASA publications and unclassi- systems for future space programs. Emphasis is on fied materials related to space or aeronautics produced graphically oriented time-sharing systems-the use of by other Federal agencies. multiple display terminals with computer systems. Night-Flying Helicopters. Special electroluminescent Tape Recording Systems for Space Vehicles. Mag- lights, unaffected by the severe vibrational environ- netic tape recorders are one of the crucial links in ment, have been developed to permit nighttime forma- relaying data from the space laboratory or observatory. tion flying of military helicopters. Studies are now Premature failure of these recorders is often traced under way to determine the feasibility of extending the to tape systems or their components. To avoid such use of these lights to high-performance aircraft. failures NBS has designed and built equipment for performance tests of tapes. This equipment simulates in-service conditions and measures changes in electrical Maritime Administration and surface characteristics of sample tapes. Maritime Mobile VHF Satellite Communications Test Telemetering Transducer Evaluations. NBS carries Program out a project jointly supported by NASA and other In 1968, the Maritime .4dministration cooperated with agencies for developing methods of evaluating the the NASA APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SAT- performance of telemetering transducers. This con- ELLITE (ATS) Program office in a test of long-dis- tributes to the reliability of information received in the tance ship-to-shore communications via an ATS satel- testing of vehicles. lite. Communications terminals were the SS SANI’A LUCIA and the NASA ATS ground stations at Ros- Performance of High-Temperature Thermocouples. man, North Carolina, and Mojave, California. In the development of advanced propulsion systems for aircraft, the high-temperature conditions that exist The objective was to investigate the feasibility of using in engines during testing are critically important. NBS a simple, low-cost, shipboard-transceiver communica- is investigating the performance of high-temperature tions unit for voice and various data rates. The tests thermocouples used to improve the accuracy of meas- investigated multipath fading, signal strength, and data urements made during tests. error. Major emphasis was placed on securing infor- mation for leaders in the communications and mari- Methods of Measuring Semiconductor Materials, time industries and the Government on the trade-off Process Control, and Devices. Semiconductor devices considerations and work necessary in implementing a play a key role in all phases of the performance of service satellite communications relay system for mari- vehicle, satellite and other systems developed by time uses. Another objective was to assist in developing NASA. It is essential that the performance, inter- a U.S. position on maritime satellite communications changeability, and reliability of these devices be en- for use in international discussions, and in meetings of 68 COMM the State Department with other nations of the In- Office Of State Technical Services ternational Marine Consultative Office of the United Nations and World Advisory Radio Conference. During 1968, the Department of Commerce’s Office of State Technical Services (OSTS) continued to coop- The first test trip was from New York via the Panama erate with NASA’s Technology Utilization Division Canal to Valparaiso, Chile, and return during Febru- to make more effective non-Federal application of the ary and March. The second trip over the same route was made in May and June. A public demonstration advanced technology developed through Federally sup- of satellite-relayed communications between Baltimore, ported research and development. This cooperation Md., and the SS SANTA LUCIA as it was approach- was formalized through a working agreement estab- ing Valparaiso was conducted on Maritime Day, lished in August 1966. The program involves joint May 22. participation in national conferences on information dissemination and technology transfer, and a continu- The test results were generally very good. Attempted resolutions of navigation line-of-position were not de- ing joint review of program planning for the most finitive and the results indicated that modifications effective application of information made available are required in the testing methods. Public announce- through the NASA Regional Dissemination Services ments of the tests have resulted in early scheduling of and the Technical Reports by the State Technical international meetings to further resolve radio treaty Services Program. The OSTS makes a continuous ef- matters dealing with maritime communications via fort to relate unique technical needs of local industry satellite. with NASA’s advanced technology. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Introduction During the past year, the Space Science Board and its specialized committees and panels carried on a series The National Academy of Sciences is a private or- of studies and programs d>irectedtoward providing ganization of scientists and engineers that serves upon guidance on the problems, opportunities, and impli- request as an official advisor to the Federal Govern- cations of space research. The Board itself met four ment. These advisory services are carried out largely times during the period to discuss outstanding matters by the National Research Council, which was estab- in space research with NASA management and senior lished by the Academy to act as an operating agency. staff of the National Science Foundation, National Within the Research Council, guidance in matters Aeronautics and Space Council, President’s Science relating to the national space program is provided Advisory Committee, and other interested agencies. As primarily by the Space Science Board, but the counsel is customary, sessions were scheduled to take into of other units is also made available where aeronautical account critical times in budget planning and formu- or space activities relate to their fields of specialization. lation; thus the Board’s views have been available to Among those called upon during 1968 were the Divi- program planners for consideration. Special attention sions of Behavioral Sciences, Biology and Agriculture, was given to formulating programs and priorities for Earth Sciences, and Engineering; the Committees on exploration of the planets by ground-based and space Atmospheric Sciences and on the SST-Sonic Boom; techniques and for study of the near-Earth environ- and the Office of Scientific Personnel. ment, over the next decade or so. Other studies in progress or completed include the role of sounding The National Academy of Engineering was established rockets in scientific research; the requirements for a in December 1964. It is independent and autonomous large space telescope for astronomical investigations; in its organization and in the election of its members, air and water standards, atmosphere regeneration, and shares in the responsibility given the National and waste management in manned space flight; and Academy of Sciences under its Congressional Act of evaluation of possibly harmful side effects of proposed Incorporation to advise the Federal Government, upon space experiments. request, in all areas of science and engineering. The aeronautics and space advisory activities of the Na- Special Studies on the Planets and the Near-Earth tional Academy of Engineering are carried out by the Environment-A study on planetary exploration was Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. convened by the Board during June 1968 to recom- mend scientific priorities for investigations of the plan- ets in the light of new information and current budg- Space Science Board etary constraints. Twenty-two scientists representing The Space Science Board is a consultative group which, all interested disciplines participated. The report of in addition to its responsitbilities to the Federal Govern- the study, Planetary Exploration, 1968-1975 (July ment, furthers space research generally by encouraging 1968), recommends that the planetary exploration pro- discussion of scientific advances and research opportu- gram be presented in terms of the contributions it can nities. Internationally, the Board represents the U.S. make to a wide range of scientific disciplines, and that scientific commun,ity on the Committee on Space Re- a substantially increased fraction of the total NASA search (COSPAR) of the International Council of budget be devoted to unmanned planetary explora- Scientific Unions. tion. It recommends that NASA initiate a program of 69 70 NAS

small spacecraft to orbit Venus and Mars at every Lunar Science Institute-The establishment of a planetary opportunity and to make exploratory mis- Lunar Science Institute adjacent to the Manned sions to other targets, notably and Mercury. Spacecraft Center, Houston, was announced by the A series of missions to Mars stressing biological objec- President on March 1, 1968. It was further announced ’ tives, including an orbiter in 1971 and a Mariner-type that the National Academy of Sciences had agreed to orbiter and lander in 1973, is recommended. Other help establish the LSI and initially to operate the fa- recommendations include continuing reassessment of cility. The Institute will provide a university atmos- sterilization requirements for Venus and Mars landers, phere for scientists wishing to have access to the unique and support of ground-based studies, in particular the facilities of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, where funding of a major new planetary radar observatory. lunar samples returned by the astronauts will be taken. Close working relationships will be developed between Earlier studies on space research conducted by the the MSC and the staff and guest workers at the LSI. A Board have underlined the importance of ground- specialized library, lunar photographs, office and work- based planetary astronomy to complement and support ing space, and conference facilities are planned. LSI planetary exploration with space vehicles. Planetary is conceived as a broadly based institution, providing Astronomy: An Appraisal of Ground-Based Oppor- an institutional base for scientists interested in lunar tunities (NAS Pub. 1688, 1968) presents the results research to work with the MSC scientists. of a 2-year study by a panel of the Board. It evaluates the current state of knowledge in planetary astronomy; Contamination and Interference Studies-In response indicates fields of ground-based astronomy likely to to a request from NASA, the Board’s Committee on be particularly productive in the future; assesses and Potential Contamination and Interference from Space compares investigative techniques now in use or under Experiments evaluated selected space experiments in development ; and makes specific recommendations on terms of their likelihood of producing adverse en- requirements for personnel, personnel training, and vironmental effects or interfering with other experi- new or improved facilities. ments. The list of experiments was derived by NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications from an in- A study on the physics of the near-Earth environment ternal review of all its projects. The experiments fell was held at Woods Hole, Mass., in August 1968 with in four general categories: electromagnetic radiation, the participation of some 45 scientists. The purpose of energetic elementary particles, ion clouds, and the study was similar to that of the planetary explora- contamination. tion study in June: to recommend programs and pri- The Committee’s report, “Evaluation of Possible Ad- orities for investigation of the Earth’s neutral and verse Effects of Proposed Experiments,” was issued ionized atmsophere, magnetosphere, and effects of and July 1, 1968. No adverse effects are anticipated from interactions with solar and cosmic radiations and mag- the energetic particle or ALSEP experiments. The netic fields. The study report, Physics o/ the Earth in Committee expressed its concern that experiments in Space: A Program of Research, 1968-2975 (October regions of the electromagnetic spectrum adjacent to 1968), defines a program of satellite, space-probe, and bands reserved for radio astronomy be carefully con- sounding-rocket missions for a concerted attack on trolled. The Committee was also concerned about the specific questions related to fundamental physical SNAP-19 nuclear isotopic system and other radio- mechanisms of the Sun-Earth system, in contrast with isotope thermonuclear generator packages and asked the exploratory surveys that characterized the past to be kept informed on a case-by-case basis of proposed decade. The recommended program, which requires experiments of this type. No evidence is seen that ion a level of support close to that of the past 6 years, places cloud experiments produce harmful effects, but the particular emphasis on coordinated investigations and on the development and utilization of new experi- Committee suggests that the entire question of possible mental techniques such as variable-orbit and clustered adverse effects of chemical releases needs further study. satellites. The importance of organizing a major ob- In response to a request to the Board by the Advanced servational effort during the period of low solar ac- Research Projects Agency of the Department of De- tivity in 1974-1975 is also stressed. fense, the Committee is evaluating the proposed re- CHAPTER IX 71 lease of relatively large quantities of barium in the ography on US. space research during 1967: United upper atmosphere, from the standpoint of atmospheric States Space Science Program: Report to COSPAR. contamination or interference with other geophysical Another international function carried out under the activities. aegis of the Board is the World Data Center A sub- Symposium on BIOSATELLITE I1 Results-At the center for rockets and satellites. The subcenter col- request of NASA the Board sponsored a symposium to lects and exchanges results of research conducted with report to the scientificcommunity preliminary results of spacecraft and sounding rockets; these data are made the thirteen experiments aboard BIOSATELLITE 11. available to interested persons on request. Six-month The symposium was held at the Academy, February 23- catalogs of accessions are issued; announcements of 24, 1968; some 200 scientists attended. Papers presented satellite launchings and monthly reports of sounding are published in the June 1968 issue of Bioscience and rocket firings are distributed internationally. In ac- the chairman’s summary appears in the July 1968 cordance with the organizational patterns that have Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. evolved for other subcenters of WDC-A-that they be Physiology in the Space Environment-The potential located within the establishments conducting exten- sive research in the relevant disciplines-the Academy effects on the cardiovascular system of stresses asso- ciated with long-term manned space flights have been and NASA have discussed the feasibility of transfer- ring WDC-A:R/S operations to the (NASA) God- studied by an ad hoc group of the Board’s Life dard Space Flight Center’s Space Science Data Center. Sciences Committee. Their report, Physiology in the Broad policy matters would continue under the respon- Space Environment, I :Circulation (NAS Pub. 1485A, sibility of the Academy’s Data Center Coordination 1968) concludes that currently available biomedical in- formation is not sufficient to meet operational require- Office. meats for development and execution of three-year manned space flights. Methods recommended to se- Committee On Atmospheric Sciences cure the necessary level of knowledge include a The NAS Committee on Atmospheric Sciences ex- systematic program of ground-based and in-flight amines the current status in the atmospheric sciences experimentation, improved instrumentation, and the and undertakes reviews and studies in specialized or utilization of biomedical systems analysis. new areas for which particular needs or a potential for The Panel on Air Standards for Manned Space Flight rapid progress are emerging. Scientific fields that have has collected data on over 200 possible contaminants received special attention by the Committee are inter- which, in its opinion, might constitute hazards on long- action between the oceans and the atmosphere, at- term manned missions and has recommended, where mospheric ozone, experimental atmospheric measure- possible, long-term exposure limits. An industry-NASA- ment techniques, problems in small- and large-scale Academy review of the panel’s report, “Atmospheric weather modification, and the numerical modelling of Contaminants in Spacecraft” (June 1968), was held the global general circulation. A result of the latter to examine the effects of the standards on equipment study has led to national and international planning design. for a Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) , International Activities-The Eleventh Plenary of and the establishment of a US. Committee for GARP. The Committee is presently completing a one-year COSPAR was held in Tokyo, May 8-21, 1968. In study on the status and potential of a number of re- conjunction with the meeting, there was a special ses- mote probing techniques. sion on stratospheric circulation, as well as three major symposia : Solar Flares, Biological Effects of Radiation U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research in Space, and Small Rocket Instrumentation. As is cus- Program-The Committee, established in March 1968, tomary, the Space Science Board, through its Com- serves as the principal focus for the US. scientific and mittee on International Relations, organized United technological communities in the planning and devel- States participation in the COSPAR meeting. The opment of US. participation in GARP. The objective Committee also reviewed U.S. contributed papers and of the program is to increase our understanding of the prepared the annual report and 1,500-reference bibli- global general circulation of the atmosphere; its ulti- 72 NAS

mate aim is to develop the physical and mathematical tina. The program was cosponsored by the Argentine basis for extended prediction. The USC-GARP has National Commission for Space Research. identified several scientific problem areas as crucial to this aim, and notes that engineering and technological Division of Behavioral Sciences developments in atmospheric sensing and processing are equally important to the attainment of the scien- Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics, and Bio- tific goals. An observational system utilizing a large mechanics (CHABA)-A new Committee working variety of surface-, air-, and space-based platforms, group on aircraft collision avoidance was formed in will be necessary to define the entire atmosphere below 1968 to study two questions: whether the supersonic 18.6 mi. This is an essential step in understanding the transport will require warning lights during the super- dynamics and thermodynamics of major atmospheric sonic portion of its flight, and the problem of anti- processes over the land and ocean areas of the world. collision devices for general aviation aircraft. Committee on Vision-During 1968, the Committee’s Office Of Scientific Personnel working group on space simulation conducted on-site evaluations of 10 NASA-supported projects on vision The NAS-NRC Office of Scientific Personnel ad- research. NASA has also asked for Committee sug- ministers for NASA the NASA International Univer- gestions to aid in formulating the agency’s long-range sity Fellowships in Space Science and the NASA Post- vision research plans. doctoral and Senior Postdoctoral Resident Research Associateships. The fellowships are open to foreign graduate students and postdoctoral scientists who are Division of Biology and Agriculture sponsored by their national or regional space agency, The Committee on Remote Sensing for Agricultural research council, or ministry of education. Fellowship Purposes has nearly completed a monograph on this appointments for study or research at one of the 33 par- subject that will present the present status of aerial ticipating US. universities are for twelve months, with sensing, including techniques and equipment. The re- possibility of renewal for a second year. From the start port will be illustrated with color plates showing the of the fellowship program in 1961, to December 31, potential application of the art. The usefulness of such 1968, there have been 2 12 fellows from 19 countries, at remote sensing for rapid and accurate inventory of ag- 28 U.S. universities. During 1968 there were 77 fel- ricultural and natural resources, and in estimating cur- lows (62 graduate and 15 postdoctoral) from 13 coun- rent levels of productivity, is discussed. Publication by tries at 23 universities in the United States. These the Academy is expected by mid-1969. fellowships are cooperatively financed by NASA and the foreign sponsoring agency. Division of Earth Sciences The associateships, financed by NASA, are open to United States or foreign investigators of unusual abil- N,S-NAE Committee Advisory to ESSA-The NAS- ity, for research in areas of science having to do with NAE Committee Advisory to the Environmental Sci- space exploration. Eight NASA centers now participate ence Services Administration reviews and advises on in the program, which was initiated in 1959, and about ESSA programs; among them, weather modification 475 scientists from 37 countries have held appoint- and data handling for weather and oceanographic ments. Appointments are for one year, with the possi- needs are directly related to ESSA satellite programs. bility of renewal. During 1968 appointments for ap- Committee on Space Programs for Earth Observa- proximately 190 man-years were made, about half of tion-The Committee advises on remote sensing activ- these being renewal appointments. ities of the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS acts In addition to administering these programs, the Of- as coordinator of the Department of Interior’s Earth fice of Scientific Personnel arranged for three space Resources Observation Satellite ( EROS) program, scientists from U.S. universities to attend and present and carries on in-house and external contract studies lectures at the Latin American School for Space Re- which are reviewed by the Advisory Committee. Sub- search in January-February 1968 at Bariloche, Argen- committees have been established in five discipline CHAPTER IX 73 areas : geography; cartography; geology and mineral ress. The central review committee revised its in- resources; hydrology and water resources; and ocean- terim report, issued in early 1968, and made major ography and marine resources. Principal interest dur- rceommendations relating to research and develop- ing the year focused on applications to be derived from ment, funding, organization, communications, and two recommended systems : a long-life satellite with progL’ainemphasis. A presentation on the work of the advanced TV cameras providing repetitive observation Study was made July 31 to representatives of NASA of the Earth’s surface, for the purpose of assessing and such Federal user agencies as the Departments of Earth’s resources; and a short-life satellite providing Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Develop- one-time observation of the Earth’s surface with a ment, Interior, State, and Transportation. A series of physical film-recovery system, for the purpose of con- seminars on special aspects of the program was also trol extension and map compilation. held on August 1,2, and 3. Committee on Remote Sensing of Environment-The Materials Advisory Board-The Materials Advisory Committee is concerned with evaluating the status and Board provides advisory services for the Academies- research potential of sensor technology, including its Research Council in the field of engineering materials space applications, and with providing guidance for a and material processes, responding to requests from strong national program in this field. Its Subcommittee the Government and the national private sector. A on Security Classification Review has explored security large part of its effort over the past ten years has been restrictions to facilitate the utilization of sensory tech- concerned with the problems of materials for aero- niques for tasks requiring unclassified equipment and space. Two major problem areas are (1) the extremely data. The Subcommittee suggests that civiilian scien- high temperatures encountered in power plants and tific consultants be utilized to help resolve classifica- re-entry surfaces, and (2) materials of highest ratio tion issues so that more rapid civilian application of of strength-to-density and stiffness-to-density. advanced remote sensing techniques may be assured. Following are typical examples of MAB studies, com- pleted in 1968 or under way, which bear directly on Division Of Engineering aerospace. Report MAB-231, “Long Range Aero- space Manufacturing Development,” describes tech- Summer Study on Space Applications-Now nearing niques and methods that will have to be developed completion, the final report of the Summer Study on to fabricate structures with the aerospace materials Space Applications conducted under the auspices of predicted for the 1975-85 period. Ceramic Processing NRC’s Division of Engineering will be issued early in (NAS Pub. 1576) charts research and development 1969 and will reflect the work of participants in the necessary for production of improved ceramics for high Study’s two summer sessions at Woods Hole during temperature and other applications. Report MAB- 1967 and 1968. Made at the request of NASA, the 243, “Infrared Transmitting Materials,” explores the Study obtained the recommentations of highly quali- fied scientists and engineers on the nature and scope of feasibility of producing melt-formed glasses to trans- the research and development program needed to pro- mit in the 8-1 4 micron range under elevated tempera- vide the technology required to exploit the applica- ture conditions. Report MAE206M(7), “Metalwork- tions of Earth-oriented satellites. ing Processes and Equipment,” provides recommenda- tions to stimulate progress toward the advances in There were some 60 active participants at the July 1968 metalworking that are needed to utilize the new, dXi- session, during which two new technical panels-on cult-to-work materials such as titanium and refractory points-to-point conimunications and on systems for re- alloys,. Report MAB-236, “Structural Design mote sensing information and distribution-met ; with Fibrous Composites,” defines the design problems uni- and the work of earlier technical panels in the fields of que to these new materials in aerospace applications. forestry, agriculture, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorolo,gy, oceanography, sensors and data systems, A study, requested by NASA, is nearing completion point-to-point communications, broadcasting, naviga- on coatings for the high temperature oxidation protec- tion and traffic control, and geodesy and cartography tion of superalloys, refractory metals, and graphite; was reviewed and modified in the light of recent prog- another study is being initiated on the attack of high 74 NAS

strength superalloys by sulfur-containing gases in concluded that “While physiological studies to date turbines (above 1800” F). A 2-year study, requested indicate little cause for concern, a review of field studies by the Air Force, is now concluding on improved tech- of the psychological impact of the sonic boom shows niques for systematic and optimal selection of mate- a growing consensus that is discouraging for the use rials for specific applications and for definition of the of the current version of the commercial supersonic materials test data necessary for screening, selection, or transport over populated areas at speeds at which it design. A high-priority study of methods for harden- will be generating a sonic boom.” Nevertheless, “there ings of materials for re-entry vehicles has been under is little likelihood that residents of our major metro- way since July 1968 and will be reported in 1969. politan centers will hear a sonic boom generated by the currently proposed version of the commercial Committee on SST-Sonic Boom supersonic transport arriving at or departing from commercial airports, such as those serving inter- During 1968, the Committee’s Research Subcommittee continental flights in the vicinity of our large metro- . completed and published its “Report on Generation politan centers.” Since the Subcommittee expressed and Propagation of Sonic Boom.” Although the Sub- “cautious optimism in its belief that in the future it committee did not rule out the possibility that future may be possible to design and build a commercial SST commercial supersonic aircraft designs may yield that will, when flying supersonically, generate a boom significant reductions in sonic boom intensities, it did of acceptable characteristics,” recommendations were conclude that the most realistic prospect for reducing made for research that would provide the aircraft the boom from commercial SST’s lies in the area of designer with human-response type design criteria successive small reductions brought about by refine- essential to his future work. Such recommendations ments in conventional aircraft design, better under- include a continuation of laboratory studies of the an- standing of boom theory, and improvements in propul- noying properties of the boom, and of studies of both sive efficiency and operating procedures. The Subcom- individual and community reactions to both varied mittee singled out five areas requiring additional work : levels of the boom and repeated booms over a period Theoretical and analytical studies of shock wave pro- of time, “if and when scheduled supersonic military pagation through turbulent layers of the atmosphere, flight training programs provide opportunities.” effcts on the boom of different types of natural and man-made topography, effects of aircraft acceleration Aeronautics and Space Engineering and maneuver on shock wave generation and propa- gation, aircraft design studies to minimize sonic ‘boom Board effects, and statistical compilations of lboom over-pres- The National Academy of Engineering established the sure and impulse type data. ASEB in May 1967 for the primary purpose of apply- A “Report on Physical Effects of the Sonic Boom” was ing the expertise of the national engineering commu- issued by the Suibcommittee on Physical Effects. The nity to significant policy and program issues of concern Subcommittee called for immediate development of to NASA and other Federal agencies in the field of facilities in which damage-susceptible materials and aeronautics and space engineering. The Board will components could be exposed to simulated sonic booms recommend to the Government the priorities that it in order to.develop much needed statistics on probabil- believes should be assigned to engkeering objectives, ities of damage to normal building materials and struc- propose ways to bring engineering talents more effec- tures. The Subcommittee also called for further work tively to bear on aerospace problems of national im- on boom propagation theory and analysis as a basis portance, and suggest methods to improve engineer- for determining how assembled buildings are likely ing education in the aerospace field. to react to such phenomena as the air and ground The Board completed its first major study on pressure waves produced by wind gusts and natural August 13, 1968, with publication of its report on and man-made microseismic disturbances. “Civil Aviation Research and Development: An AS- The Subcommittee on Human Response, in its “Re- sessment of Federal Government Involvement.” The port on Human Response to the Sonic Boom,” has report recommends over 100 actions aimed at helping CHAPTER IX 75 to solve the major problems hindering the growth of ference was requested and supported by the U.S. Army civil aviation. The recommendations range from gen- Research Office, Durham, N.C., and involved selected eral consideration of Government agency relationships representatives from industry, Government, and uni- and responsibilities to specific actions for increased versities. Major problems of aircraft noise reduction aeronautical research and development. were discussed, and actions were recommended for As a related activity, on July 30-31, 1968, the Aero- deriving a better understanding of the noise genera- nautics and Space Engineering Board arranged a joint tion mechanism in rotor aircraft and of the factors Army-NAS-NAE conference on helicopter and determining noise detectability and annoyance. A re- V/STOL noise generation and suppression. The con- port of the conference was published in November. SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL CHAPTER OBSERV AT0 RY x

Introduction puter facility and a worldwide tracking and data- acquisition network. Among activities of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) this year were the following: All spacecraft subsystems are operating excellently and in the manner required for conducting the Celescope a. Completion and launch of Celescope on OAO- observing program. The Celescope checkout period, A-2, and initial data acquisition by the Dec. 14-17, was devoted primarily to determining the experiment. observational limits required to provide safe and ac- b. Participation in the National Geodetic Satel- curate data acquisition. During this period, scientif- lite Program, including observations of GEOS ically valuable data were obtained on one star field in 2 flashes. Draco, containing two B stars and seven A stars, and in two star fields in Lyra, each containing about 15 stars c. Cooperation with satellite-tracking programs of types A and B. During this checkout period it was in France, Great Britain, the U.S.S.R., Greece, determined that observations cannot be safely made Switzerland, and Australia. when the sun shines on the OAO. In course of this d. Installation of three observing instruments at checkout, Celescope Camera No. 2 received some SAO’s new Mt. Hopkins Observatory near damage in the form of false stars, as a result of over- Tucson, Arizona. exposure during daylight. e. Establishment of a new research program in From Dec. 18 to 24, the University of Wisconsin had atomic and molecular astrophysics. control of the OAO for scientific data acquisition. On December 25, SA0 began control of the satellite. High- f. Analysis of four years of photographic meteor quality data were obtained on 10 to 30 stars in five observations, leading to several possibilities that star fields during real-time operations from the Ros- challenge earlier assumptions. man, N.C., STADAN station. SA0 then began operat- ing from overseas STADAN stations, using the OAO Project Celescope command memory to allow data acquisition when the satellite was in the dark. It was discovered that this NASA’s second ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OB- mode of operation led to charge buildup in Camera SERVATORY, OAO-A-2, containing the Smith- No. 2, resulting in some additional damage. Control sonian’s Celescope experiment as well as an experiment of the OAO was temporarily transferred back to the of the University of Wisconsin, was launched on University of Wisconsin pending detailed analysis of December 7, 1968. the damage mechanism. At present, it is believed that The Celescope experiment consists of four telescopic the damage mechanism applies only to Camera No. 2, television photometers. Its purpose is to map the sky which is of a different design from the other cameras, in four ultraviolet color bands. OAO spacecraft subsys- and that it can be controlled by restricting operations tems provide power, command, and data-handling to real-time dark. capability, and control the pointing of the Celescope The Celescope experiment has demonstrated its ability experiment. The OAO is controlled by a complex to fulfill its scientific objectives; it has already ob- ground system consisting of a centrally located com- tained exciting new data on the ultraviolet brightness

76 CHAPTER X 77 of stars of types B, A, G, and K; it is obtaining inter- and theoretical interest. Animal guidance systems, for esting data regarding Lyman-alpha radiation in Earth’s example, are of theoretical interest as a biological proc- outer atmosphere. The damage to Camera 2 has slowed ess and have potential relevance to man’s physical down the speed at which data can be acquired, but problems of navigation. The biology staff of the Smith- not compromised the scientific program. sonian Institution and scientists of the Observatory have determined the means by which a Doppler sys- Sate II ite Tr ac ki ng tem would allow an animal carrying a one-half-pound packaEe to be tracked anywhere in the world. Operations-The Observatory has strengthened its Upper Atmospheric Studies-The density variations of worldwide network of astrophysical observing stations the upper atmosphere during the intense magnetic by collecating laser systems with three of its 12 Baker- storms of May 1967 have been studied by -analyzing Nunn cameras. These stations, which are situated in the drag of six satellites with perigee heights between 11 countries, are augmented by more than 150 Moon- 210 and 621 mi., deduced from positions obtained by watch stations in 24 countries. The network provides the precise reduction of Baker-Nunn photographs. The satellite launch and tracking support for national space study has confirmed that the density variations can be programs and furnishes data for scientific research, explained by an increase of the atmospheric tempera- particularly atmospheric physics and geodesy. ture during the magnetic storm; the dissipation of the SA0 is participating vigorously in the National Geo- additional energy that causes the temperature increase detic Satellite Program. This year the network made must occur in the lower thermosphere, at a height close more than 2,500 photographic observations of GEOS to that where most of the extreme-ultraviolet radiation 2 flashes. The observatory also has various agreements is absorbed. by which it receives photographic data from many na- Much work has been done to construct plausible tions, including France, Great Britain, Switzerland, models of the variable structure of the upper atmos- and the U.S.S.R. phere above 56 mi. Several shortcomings have been Laser systems at SA0 sites at Mount Hopkins, Ariz.; found in the past 2 years in the models currently in Maui, Hawaii ; and Dionysos, Greece, participated in use throughout the world. The new models are in- an international program with the French Centre Na- tended to eliminate the defects. Satisfactory results tional d’Etudes Spatiales, the Greek National Tech- have been obtained with a set of empirical static models nical University, the Australian Weapons Research in which the temperature at 56 mi. varies in phase with Establishment, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight the exospheric temperature, with a range equal to 2.5 Center. The resultant precise range information on percent of the latter. Purely theoretical models of the five retroreflector satellites supplements eight files of diurnal variation are being developed in parallel, to intensive observation by the SA0 Baker-Nunn cameras. gain insight into the dynamics of the upper atmosphere. All these models are based to a great extent on the These optical and laser observations, as well as data results of satellite-drag analysis; 8 to 10 satellites are from several other tracking stations, form the base for constantly tracked by the Baker-Nunn cameras to pro- the 1968 Standard Earth, now in preparation. vide the raw material for these studies. Observations After providing on-site training to Argentine nationals, now cover a complete sunspot cycle, i.e., the full range SA0 turned over the Villa Dolores K-50 camera sta- of upper-atmosphere temperature. tion to the Observatory’s cooperating agency, the Com- ision Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales, for Meteoritics continued geodetic work. SA0 has a broad research program in meteoritics, One of the more interesting applications of satellites which includes the analysis of observations of meteors, could be their use to track wild animals. This technique as well as laboratory studies of meteorites and other would lead to new knowledge concerning animal navi- meteoric material. These investigations contribute to gation, migratory behavior, and territoriality. An un- our understanding of the origin and composition of derstanding of these phenomena is of both practical the solar system and have a direct practical application 78 SA0 in providing information on the hazards of meteoroid from Greenland ice may contain material from the collision with manned spacecraft. Tunguska explosion in in 1908. The meteor radar system at Havana, Ill., has been im- proved by calibrations of antenna patterns and other The Mount Hopkins Observatory in electronic equipment. These calibrations will permit a Relation to the Space Program quantitative measure of the ionization of a meteor, The new Mt. Hopkins Observatory of SA0 is situated and thus of its magnitude. 35 miles south of Tucson, in the Coronado National Located near Urbana, Ill., a newly developed system Forest. At altitudes above 7,000 ft, the site enjoys su- utilizing image-orthicon television will make observa- perior seeing and sky transparency in both the visible tions of the light of faint meteors simultaneously with and the infrared. the meteor radar system. Three instruments are already operating on a 7,600-ft Analysis of 4 years of photographic meteor observations ridge. One is the unique 33-foot-diameter optical reflec- by the Prairie Network has led to several possibil- tor used for gamma-ray astronomy. Very high-energy ities that challenge earlier assumptions. The mass gamma rays interact with the atmosphere to produce flux of large meteoroids entering the Earth's atmos- flashes of light detectable on the Earth. They occur in phere is one or two orders of magnitude larger than the form of very faint, extremely short-lived light pulses expected. From present best estimates of the relation seen only in the direction of an arriving gamma ray. between the luminosity and the mass of these bodies, SA0 constructed the optical reflector to count such their average density is 0.4 g/cm8, while the average light pulses and to establish whether certain suspected value for meteoritic stone is 3.5. Also, the terminal celestial sources, e.g., supernova remnants, radio galax- masses of these bodies are very small, suggesting a near- ies, and the recently discovered pulsars, do in fact radi- catastrophic ablation in the atmosphere. Finally, the ate gamma rays. rate of meteorite fall may not exceed 0.1 per year of The second instrument is a prototype laser, which is bodies 1 kg or larger. These conclusions support the being evaluated and improved with a view toward de- possibility that most meteoric bodies, regardless of size, ployment of such lasers at other stations of the SA0 are low-density, fragile objects of cometary origin. Un- satellite-tracking network. The laser measures to answered are basic questions concerning the source, within a meter the distances to satellites thousands of frequency distribution, and ablation processes of miles away. Its pointing.mount is accurate enough to meteorites. acquire satellites when they are in the Earth's shadow Mesosiderites, the smallest, most obscure class of mete- and are consequently invisible. In fact, the laser can be orites, and one generally ignored, are now being closely used to illuminate a dark satellite sufficiently to per- studied. If they represent a form of primitive matter, mit it to be photographed against a star background. they are of special interest because they have nearly The third instrument is a Baker-Nunn camera, with the right mass density and the right potassium and ura- associated equipment, moved from Las Cruces, N. nium contents to represent samples of the primitive Mex., to this new site. material from which the Earth was formed. Present A fourth major instrument, a 60411. reflecting tele- research is concentrated on their mineralogy and scope, is being constructed for installation in 1969. It metallurgy. will be used to obtain high-resolution spectra of stars, Mineralogical investigation of dust samples of Green- nebulas, and planets. The last observations will be used land ice 100 to 250 years old showed no extraterrestrial for improved determinations of the physical and chem- materials, while that of samples from ice 50 to 100 ical properties of the planetary atmospheres. years old did. These results suggest that the influx of extraterrestrial material is mostly sporadic rather than Atomic and Molecular Astrophysics continuous and that large proportions of measurable Recognizing the growing importance of studies of cosmic dust fall in discrete events that may not have planetary atmospheres, SA0 has established a re- worldwide effects. Specifically, the younger samples search program in atomic and molecular astrophysics. CHAPTER X 79

The temperatures of the electrons and positive ions in showed that its density is, at most, 1% that of Earth's the ionosphere of a planet are important physical pa- and that carbon dioxide must be the main constituent, rameters. They result from a balance between various being at least 60% of the total, and more likely nearly heating and cooling processes. The dominant cooling 100%. A search has begun for emission of light by process in the upper atmosphere of the planet was iden- oxygen atoms in the Cytherian upper atmosphere, tified and then embodied in a new theoretical descrip- which should give us a clue to the puzzle of the absence tion of the thermal balance. A new nocturnal heating of any appreciable amount of oxygen on Venus. These process has also been identified. observations should be continued in 1969 when Venus Completion of the analysis of the absorption of sun- comes close to Earth. light by carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Introduction extinguishing systems. In this area, only recently entered by industry, FAA has had almost ex- The Department of Transportation engages in clusive experience. aeronautical research and development through one of its major components, the Federal Aviation Adminis- b. Midair collision. FAA continued the efforts tration. This work supports the mission of insuring of prior years, in cooperation with industry, to safe and efficient use of the Nation’s airspace by both achieve an operationally and economically sound civil and military aircraft, and the broader, more gen- means of reducing this hazard, both inside and eral mandate to foster civil aeronautics and air com- outside the United States. Efforts are directed to- merce. Civil aviation has grown rapidly in recent years, ward: (1) standardization of aircraft exterior and concurrently new problems have been posed and marking and lighting; (2) development of simple old ones aggravated. This situation calls for con- pilot-warning instruments ( PWI’s) ; and (3) de- tinued progress now and in the future, particularly in velopment of a sophisticated collision-avoidance research and development. system (CAS) . Among FAA’s raponsibilities are formulation of the technical requirements, includ- ing civil-military compatibility, that a CAS must Aviation Safety Research and meet for US. operations, and coordination (in Development cooperation with the State Department) of U.S. with foreign efforts in this area of research to In-Flight Safety-Notable progress was made in 1968 assure international acceptance of a common toward reduction or elimination of the following in- CAS. Progress in 1968 included: (1) Manufac- flight hazards : turers developing CAS equipment for airline and a. Fire. Three items stand out: ( 1) Duplication FAA evaluation reached the fabrication stage; of turbine fire from combustion-chamber failure, (2) FAA negotiated with the Air Transport As- or “combustor burn-through,” was achieved by sociation (ATA) to define FAA‘s role in initial FAA during the year, under controlled test-stand flight-testing of CAS equipment; (3) FAA com- conditions. The resultant improved understand- pleted negotiations for contractual effort in the ing of the engineering considerations involved is computer-simulation field aimed at enhancing enabling the agency to evaluate various means of for users the benefits from simultaneous operation preventing or protecting against this most severe of collision-avoidance and air-traffic-control sys- type of fire. (2) FAA disseminated to industry tems; and (4) it also completed negotiations for and to other Government agencies the test results contractual study of a) ways to make aircraft from two full-scale fire-test programs completed easier to see and b) areas suitable for use of pilot- in 1967. The results were achieved with a pod- warning instruments. mounted turbofan engine in configurations sim- ulating those of new-generation jumbo jets as well c. Weather. There are four notable items. (1) as those of current in-service aircraft. (3) FAA With data analysis completed in early 1968, the was, at the end of 1968, nearing completion of a year saw the publication of results from tests comprehensive handbook on use of gas analyzers (ended in 1967) in which morc than 100 jet for ascertaining the adequacy of aircraft fire- pilots from the airlines, industry, and the mili- 80 CHAPTER XI 81 tary services “flew” under varied but closely con- it, and (2) effects of the vortex on encountering trolled conditions of severe turbulence in the U.S. aircraft. Progress in 1968 included (1) comple- Navy’s Johnsville (Pa.) centriiuge simulation tion of negotiations to procure a three-tower sens- facility. While showing current turbulence pene- ing and recording system, and (2) the conducting tration techniques to be adequate, the test results of tests that confirmed feasibility of the sensing and demonstrated the potential of an instrumentation recording system, provided a basis for realistic system for achieving smoother and safer penetra- programming of future effort, served FAA needs tions. Flight-testing of this instrumentation system in litigation resulting from alleged wake-turbu- is scheduled for 1969. (2) The year saw satis- lence incidents, and provided documentation for factory completion of design and testing of a consideration by the International Civil Aviation digital weather-outline generator, a device which Organization’s Special Planning Group in assess- removes the undesirable weather clutter from the ing wake turbulence in relation to aircraft sep- air traffic controller’s radarscope and replaces it aration criteria for North Atlantic operations. with clear outlines of storm areas. This feature, e. Propeller failure. At year’s end, FAA was flight- included in FAA’s general modernization pro- testing the prototype of a device-a propeller- gram, eventually will improve controllers’ capabil- blade-vibration recording system-that may fill ity to guide airplanes around heavy storm areas. the existing need for better evaluation of propel- (3) In mid-1968, FAA signed a contract aimed at lers for general-aviation airplanes. In the past sev- repairing the relative lack of engineering-quality eral years, there have been some 100 failures of data, in scheduled air carrier operations, on oc- such propellers, all unpredictable by present currences such as encounters with turbulence. standards of evalution. (This lack is in contrast with the abundance of data on performance and handling characteris- f. Sabotage. Though several promising methods tics of airplanes as flown by engineering pilots of detecting concealed explosives in passenger during test and certification programs.) The con- luggage have been tested by FAA since 1960, tract calls for instrumenting three jet transports no practical and economically feasible method with recording systems capable ol providing the has been developed ; the search continues, how- kind of data desired. By the end of 1968, instal- ever, in close coordination with other Govern- lation of one of the three systems had been com- ment agencies and the air trarispoi t industry. In pleted. The other two will be installed in 1969. 1968, there were two notable steps. (1) The con- and data-taking will continue until mid-1970. (4) tractor delivered for evaluation by FAA’s Na- Efforts continued toward development of devices tional Aviation Facilities Experimental Center, at for detecting and avoiding clear-air turbulence Atlantic City, an engineering model of a “chemo- (CAT), a hazard more often encountered at the sensor’’ device for detecting explosive vapors; the higher altitudes flown by jets than at the lower evaluation will be completed by mid-1969. (2) flight levels. The device nearest to operational FAA initiated a project to explore the feasibility practicality is an infrared remote-air sensor. It of a detection system based on analysis of neutron depends on correlation between remote-air tem- activation. peratures, which it measures, and the presence of CAT. Under current scheduling, preparation g. Hijacking. An effort was launched in 1968 to of a technical standard for this device is about develop a practical and economically feasible two years away. method of detecting concealed weapons on air- line passengers before they board the aircraft. The d. Aircraft wake turbulence. Vortexes in the wake effort will coninue until a satisfactory method is of large aircraft in flight can be hazards to fol- achieved. lowing aircraft. In 1968, FAA continued a pro- gram begun in 1967 to develop solutions to this h. SST emergency cockpit temperatures. FAA problem. The search for solutions will follow completed in 1968 a program begun the previous determination of (1) the characteristics of the year to determine the tolerable upper cockpit tem- vortex field flow behind the airplzne generating perature during cooling emergencies in supersonic 82 DOT

transports. Profiles of performance degradation hood is designed to protect eyes and lungs against at high temperatures were prepared for the ten- smoke or fire damage during the time required to tative SST airworthiness standards. evacuate the aircraft. Final tests were begun to perfect operational details. i. Any of foregoing. Efforts are under way to develop a method of recording the display on d. Emergency evacuation. In June 1968, FAA air traffic controllers’ radarscopes, to make it completed a year-long study aimed at developing possible to review the display at any time in case new concepts for emergency evacuation of trans- of an accident or other incident. During 1968, port aircraft following survivable accidents. The several types of recorders were evaluated, and it study describes and theoretically evaluates 51 such was determined that radar video could be shown concepts, which will undoubtedly be used in the on a helical scan recorder at a reasonable price. development of future aircraft. Completion of procurement arrangements for, Airport Safety-FAA continued various programs and the fabrication and delivery of, a prototype during 1968 to prevent aircraft accidents at or in the are expected to take about two years. vicinity of airports, or to minimize the consequences Postcrash Safety-FAA continued in 1968 various of such accidents. Notable efforts were concerned with: R&D efforts aimed at increasing the likelihood of occu- a. Runway grooving. Continuing work of previ- pants surviving aircraft crashes. Notable progress was ous years, this program aims at improving air- made in programs concerned with: craft braking traction on wet or slush-covered a. Cabin interior materials. Data from testing of pavements; it is conducted in cooperation with such materials in earlier years, combined with the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- results from similar testing by aircraft and tion, the Department of Defense, and foreign aircraft-material manufacturers, supported an organizations. Progress in 1968 included (1) com- amendment to the Federal Aviation Regulations, pletion of design criteria for optimum grooving effective in late 1967, imposing new standards of pattern, from testing of 18 groove patterns cut in fire resistance for materials used in aircraft cabin taxiways at several airports, and (2) the grooving interiors. Continuing such testing in 1968, FAA of a runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport (run- placed specific emphasis on smoke and toxicity ways had previously been grooved at Washington hazards. National, Kansas City Municipal, and John F. Kennedy International Airports) . b. Safety fuels. In 1964, FAA began developing thickened fuels as a way to reduce the fire hazard b. Airports surface detection equipment (ASDE) . following a survivable aircraft accident; in 1968, This equipment is designed to provide controllers this effort progressed to the completion of detailed with a radar display of airport ground traffic when jet engine fuel-nozzle and combustor-component direct viewing is impeded, as by darkness or laboratory tests. A jet engine was successfully weather. The usefulness of early models was started and operated on a new gelled fuel ex- limited because, to eliminate outside light and hibiting promising safety characteristics. Com- reflections, the controller had to view the display patibility of this fuel and of an emulsified fuel under a hood. In 1968, FAA completed data col- with jet engine fuel systems is being tested to lection for evaluating performance of a recently identify problem areas and develop solutions. developed bright-display model, usable without These tests are expected to show system modifica- a hood, in operation at Chicago’s OHare Air- tions that may be necessary before flight test of port traffic control tower. The prospect is for a safety fuels, currently scheduled for 1971. favorable report and a resultant national pro- c. Protective hood for passengers. In 1968, con- gram to improve operational ASDE’s. tinuing work begun two years earlier, FAA devised c. Jet transport aircraft landing characteristics. an improved sealed hood for use of passengers In line with its continuing responsibility for moni- surviving an aircraft crash followed by fire; the toring routine air carrier operations to determine CHAPTER XI 83

areas where regulatory or procedural improve- c. Pilot-training with angle-of-attack instrument. ments are needed, FAA began in 1967 a program Completed in 1968, this program was part of the to photograph and analyze operational perform- broad objective to find new means and proce- ance of civil jet transports during approach and dures for reducing the number of general-aviation landing. The data-taking phase of the program, accidents, particularly those (often fatal) result- carried out at six different jet airports, was com- ing from stalls. The program showed that use of pleted in 1968. Data reduction and analysis will the angle-of-attack instrument in training student continue into 1969, to be followed by issuance of pilots produced superiority in certain flying skills the final report. Program results will be used as the as compared with training not including the basis for re-establishing certification performance instrument. criteria for transport aircraft. d. Analysis of airframe and landing-gear strength. d. Engine protection from bird ingestion. The FAA completed in 1968 a comprehensive study sucking of birds through jet-engine intakes is an of loads imposed on the airframe of an aircraft occasional hazard, especially in the vicinity of by maneuvers involved in taxiing, thus providing airports. In 1968, FAA test-flew an FAA aircraft data needed for developing improved structural equipped with a promising engine-inlet protective design criteria. A companion study provided in- device resulting from a contract negotiated in formation useful for designing more efficient 1967. landing-gear systems; it gathered data on fatigue and fracture toughness of steel having a tensile General-Notable R&D projects not mentioned above strength of 300,000 pounds per square inch, a to promote aviation safety included the following: prime material for transport landing-gear a. Objective private-pilot flight test. FAA con- structures. tinued in 1968 work begun in 1967 to develop e. More crash-resistant Right-data recorders. an objective certification flight test for private FAA began a two-year effort in June 1968 to im- pilots. The present test, in use for more than 35 prove the crash survivability of magnetic tape or years, may, despite numerous modifications, be other recording materials used in aircraft flight- outmoded; in any case, its administration is strain- data recorders and cockpit voice recorders. In- ing the resources of FAA’s field offices. What is formation from such recorders is of vital wanted from the test under developments is relia- importance to FAA and the National Transpor- ble identification of competent pilots at minimum tation Safety Board in the investigation of aircraft inconvenicence, delay, and expense to both the ap- accidents. plicant and the Government. Progress in 1968 in- f. Underwater location beacon. During the year, cluded completion of the first phase of develop- FAA completed evaluation of, and issued a final ment-the study and profiling of the private-pilot report on, an acoustic underwater location beacon. population-and the start of the second phase- This device can be attached to flight-data or cock- development of the test itself-which is expected pit voice recorders carried in aircraft, and holds to be completed in 1969. promise for locating specific parts of such recorder b. Integrated VFR-IFR pilot-training. The pur- equipment following the crash of an aircraft in pose of this program, begun in 1967 and com- water. pleted in 1968, was to develop and experiment g. Safer civilian sport parachuting. The recent with a curriculum combining the teaching of fly- increase in accidents among civilians undergoing ing under visual flight rules (VFR) with flying training in “skydiving,” or parachuting for sport, under instrument flight rules (IFR). The results prompted FAA in 1968 to start development of included the first objective evidence that this a device for remote control of the studcnt jumper’s method of giving pilots the greater resourceful- reserve parachute. This safety device, to be op- ness of IFR capability is advantageous, and there- erated by the parachute jump instructor, is ex- fore promotes aviation safety. pected to be completed by mid-1969. 84 DOT

Other R&D Programs Fostering Civil Navigation and Navigational Aids Aeronautics a. All-solid-state VOR tiansmitter. The VOR Air Traffic Control (very-high-frequency omnidirectional r a d i o range) is the key navigational aid for aircraft fly- a. Advanced radar traffic control system (ARTS ing en route between airports. During 1968, a I1 and 111). ARTS I1 (originally referred to as contractor virtually completed development of a DAIR, for direct altitude and identity readout) prototype of an all-solid-state VOR transmitter. is a joint enterprise of FAA and the Department The new transmitter, when available for opera- of Defense, under a 1967 civil-military contract tional use instead of the current vacuum-tube calling for development and production of a type, will provide more reliable service-and at prototype. Intended for use at civil airports and the same time reduce maintenance costs by saving Air Force and Navy installations of low air-traffic personnel time and obviating costly tube density, it will show aircraft altitude and identity replacements. on controllers’ radarscopes in numerals only; it is designed, however, to be expandable to the b. Improved Doppler VOR monitor. In 1968, capability of presenting additional or more com- FAA satisfactorily tested and completed produc- plex information, using letters as well as nu- tion specifications for an improved Doppler VOR merals (alphanumerics). In 1968, the ARTS I1 monitor. The new monitor is expected to bring equipment, after demonstration at the contrac- maintenance time and effort for Doppler VOR’s, tor’s plant, was deiivered to FAA’s National now considered excessive, into line with mainte- Aviation Facilities Experimental Center, at At- nance experience with standard VOR’s. (The lantic City, for joint FAA-DOD test and evalua- Doppler VOR is a modification of the standard tion. ARTS I11 is the current designation of VOR adapting it to sites otherwise unusable be- equipment originally referred to by the term cause of terrain or other unfavorable factors.) TRACON (terminal radar approach control) c. Area navigation. Present instrument-weather and an alphabetic letter to indicate degree of air traffic moves basically along fixed airways in sophistication. For use at medium-density ter- line with one of the radials from a VOR. Because minals, ARTS I11 presents flight data to the con- this tends to cause airway congestion and is not troller in alphanumeric form. At the end of 1968, necessarily the shortest distance between an air- it was ready to enter the production phase. craft’s departure point and destination, a more flexible, off-airway type of navigation is desirable. b. STOL and VTOL air traffic. Through dy- In 1968, such a system, employing pictorial dis- namic simulation studies at FAA’s National Aero- plays and course-line computers, underwent joint nautics Facilities Experimental Center, new FAA/airline-industry operational testing in the procedures were developed to permit mixing of Washington-New York-Boston airspace. At year’s the growing STOL (short takeoff and landing) end, definition of flight and control procedures, a and VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) air prerequisite to operational implementation of the traffic with standard air traffic, especially in the system, was under way. controlled airspace areas in the vicinity of airports. d. All-weather landing system. Work of previous c. Satellite-supported air traffic control system. years continued on the three technical components FAA continued, with others, efforts of the previ- of an all-weather landing capability for aircraft: ous year aimed at use of satellites to improve high- ( 1 ) electronic ground-based guidance, (2) air- frequency communications for aircraft flying over borne equipment, and (3) approved lighting. The oceanic and sparsely populated areas. Analysis of objective is to integrate these components so that, APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATEL- while the pilot remains the decision-maker, the LITE test data from flights over the Pacific and automatic landing capability is at his disposal un- Alaska indicated the feasibility of very-high- der Category 111 weather conditions (zero-zero frequency communication via satellites. visibility in the final step of the category). Prog- CHAPTER XI 85

ress in 1968 included: ( 1) partial testing of the As a result of this evaluation, it was determined that Category I11 guidance system, after installation at the variable-sweep-wing design was deficient in range the National Aviation Facilities Experimental and payload and thus would not provide an adequate Center, (2) completion of tests of an automatic technical foundation for a commercial supersonic landing system developed for the C-141 (the Air transport for airline use. Therefore, the program was Force’s Lockheed-built aircargo transport, FAA- delayed approximately one year to permit the airframe certificated for commercial version in 1965) and contractors to undertake further design work to make start of testing of a similar system developed for technical changes. the civil transport four-engine jet CV-880, That effort proceeded on schedule, and in September and (3) testing of lighting systems and recom- a fixed-wing design was selected. The remainder of the mendation that they be reconfigured. year was spent in further developing that design for Supersonic Transport Development Program-Dur- evaluation by the Government and the airlines with ing January 1968, the Government and the airlines the aim of beginning prototype construction in 1969. conducted an evaluation of the design submitted for The SST engine development program proceeded construction of two prototype aircraft. satisfactorily. FEDERAL COMMU MICATIONS CHAPTER COMMISSION XI1

Introduction Activities of the International Radio Consultative Com mittee (CCIR) Three more countries joined the International Tele- communications Satellite Consortium in 1968, and, as An international Interim Meeting of Study Group IV of December 31, 1968, 63 countries were members (Space Systems and Radio Astronomy) of the CCIR of the Consortium. Additional Earth terminal stations (International Radio Consultative Committee) was became operational, bringing that total from 16 to 22, convened in October, 1968, at Geneva. This Commit- and others were planned or under construction in tee (encompassing 14 such Study Groups) serves as advisor to the International Telecommunication Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Additional Union (ITU) on technical matters involving the use satellites with larger capacity than those presently in of radio. For the Study Group IV meeting, the FCC orbit are expected to be launched in 1969. provided the spokesman for the US. Delegation, who also served as International Chairman of Working Group In, dealing with sharing problems for the Regulatory Activities communication satellite service. Developments of ma- jor interest included: (a) The Communications Satellite Corporation (ComSat) A new study program con- cerned with efficient utilization of the geostationary was granted authority to participate in the testing and orbit and the formation of an International Working launching of the first satellite of the INTELSAT I11 Party to deal with this subject; (b) the formation of series of communication satellites. The Commission a new Working Group IVD on “communications be- also granted ComSat authority to participate in tween space and maritime or aeronautical stations”; the construction of four new satellites to be owned and (c) the future use of frequencies above 10 GHz by the International Telecommunications Satellite by the space services. Also, there was considerable in- Consortium. terest in the broadcasting-satellite service and a tech- nical report on the subject was revised substantially. The first of the three INTELSAT IV series of satellites is planned for launch into synchronous orbit in the first quarter of 197 1 and will provide increased capacity Forthcoming ITU Conference on Radio for the global communications systems. Astronomy and Space Services

The new satellite will be designed to carry in excess The Commission has been in frequent consultation of 5,000 two-way voice grade circuits or a combination with the Office of Telecommunications Management of different kinds of communication transmission. The to prepare for the forthcoming ITU (International life expectancy of each INTELSAT IV satellite is Telecommunication Union) World Administrative about seven years. Radio Conference on matters pertaining to radio as- tronomy and space services. The ITU Administrative The Commission has under consideration comments Council, in May 1968, adopted a Resolution calling filed by various companies, associations or individuals for such a conference in late 1970 or early 1971, and in the Commission’s Notice of Inquiry into the possible set forth a tentative agenda for comments. In response use of communication satellites for domestic purposes. to the Resolution, the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry

86 CHAPTER XI1 87

(Docket 18294) in August 1968, which dealt with The ITU World Administrative (Maritime) Radio (a) the conference agenda, and (b) the possible re- Conference, Geneva, September-November 1967 allocation of spectrum space above 10 GHz to provide adopted Recommendation No. MAR 3 relating to the additional frequency bands for rfie communication- utilization of space communication techniques in the satellite service, based on joint studies with the Office maritime mobile service. The recommendation invited of Telecommunications Management (OTM). A administrations, IMCO and the CCIR, respectively, to Second Notice of Inquiry in this docket which was undertake a study of maritime operational require- released in October 1968, concentrated on matters ments for a safety and navigation radiocommunica- relating to the conference agenda, and set forth new tions system via satellite and the technical aspects of concepts with respect to the future role of the ITU such systems. in regulatory matters pertaining to the space services. Commission staff representatives participated in the It is expected that further Notices of Inquiry will be preparation of guidance material for and served on issued, as the conference prepartory work progresses, the US. Delegation to the Fourth Session of the so as to permit development of the Preliminary Views IMCO Sub-committee on Radiocommunications, of the United States regarding the conference for dis- tribution abroad in January, 1969. London, April 1968, and the Interim Meeting of CCIR Study Groups IV-C and D, Geneva, Septem- ber-October 1968, which considered inter alia mari- Space Techniques for the Maritime time radiocommunications via satellite. The IMCO Mobile Service Sub-Oommittee developed a questionnaire which is being circulated to participating member governments The Commission, working with the Inter-Govern- to develop information necessary for the determina- mental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) tion of the operational requirements and technical Sub-committee on Radiocommunications, the Inter- aspects of maritime communications via satellite. Such national Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), the information will be used in the national and interna- Radio Technical Commission for Marine Services tional planning on this subject. (RTCM), industry and other Government agencies, is studying the potential value of adapting satellite The World Administrative Radio Conference relay techniques to the communications requirements (WARC) of the ITU, scheduled for late 1970 or early of the maritime mobile service. 197 1, is expected to give consideration to maritime communication needs using satellite techniques. The The RTCM, an organization in which Government ITU Radio Regulations (Paragraphs 273A and 352B, and industry cooperate in studies of existing and pro- EARC for Space, Geneva, 1963) presently contain posed systems of maritime communications, established authority for the aeronautical mobile service to use a Special Committee SC-57 “Maritime Mobile Satel- lite Communications” to investigate the possibilities of space communication techniques, whereas no provi- utilizing satellites for marine communications and sions exist for the maritime mobile service. navigation. A test program was developed which was subsequently adopted by the Maritime Administration Aeronautical Development as a basis for tests conducted durinq early 1968 in The Commission, in discharging its statutory responsi- which VHF communications were relayed via NASA‘s bilities with respect to non-Government uses of radio ATS-1 and 3 satellites between U.S. ground terminals for aviation, prescribes the manner and conditions un- and the SS SANTA LUCIA enroute from Port New- der which frequencies may be assigned for aeronautical ark, N.J. through the Panama Canal to Valparaiso, Chile, and return. These tests together with those per- telecommunications. In addition, the Commission as- formed during 1967 through 1968, by the U.S. Coast signs frequencies to aircraft radio stations, aeronautical Guard from the cutters USCGC KLAMATH, STAT- enroute, radionavigation, aeronautical advisory, and EN ISLAND, GLACIER, and CASCO have dem- other stations comprising the aviation radio services. onstrated the feasibility of communicating With ships Commission staff representatives have continued work- at sea via satellite. ing nationally with other Government agencies and the 88 . FCC aviation industry, and internationally with the Inter- The Commission staff representatives have partici- national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the pated in the preparation of material to be used as International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), guidance material for the use of US. representatives towards development of system parameters and the to international conferences including the CCIR and application of space radiocommunication techniques to the ICAO. Members of the staff served on the U.S. help satisfy the communication and navigation re- Delegation to the CCIR Interim Meeting, Geneva, quirements of domestic and international civil September-October 1968 which treated inter alia aeronautical satellites. The staff is preparing documen- aviation. tation for the forthcoming ITU Space WARC sched- The air transport industry, under the authorization oi uled to convene in late 1970 or early 1971. the Commission, continued tests which were begun The Commission authorized Aeronautical Radio, Inc., in 1966 to access the relative merits of AM versus FM and various scheduled airlines to participate in tests modulation techniques and normal power versus sub- using NASA’s APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY stantially higher power aboard aircraft as elements be- SATELLITES (ATS) . Tests using the ATS satellites tween an aeronautical station and aircraft stations via are continuing. Satisfactory communications were ex- satellites. The Commission staff continued study of the changed, relayed via satellite, over both the Atlantic results of those tests as well as the results of other and the Pacific between ground terminals and air- studies in order to determine the most suitable tech- craft. Continued testing and analysis of the results is nique to be used in aeronautical satellite systems. in progress. UNITED STATES INFORM AT ION AGENCY CHAPTER XI11

Introduction are being adapted to advance the industrial arts and seek practical applications. U.S. exploits in space captured headlines around the world in 1968. Telling that story abroad with words, pictures, and exhibits was the U.S. Information Treatment Agency. Apollo Program-Voice of America’s on-the-scene More than 2 million viewers in 11 countries saw USIA- coverage of the launch and recovery of APOLLO 7 provided exhibits about the U.S. space program dur- and APOLLO 8 was carried in many languages to ing the year. The Voice of America produced more both sides of the Iron Curtain. Motion pictures and than 1,200 features on space and space science which TV productions depicting the achievement were dis- were carried on 6,126 different broadcasts in as many seminated abroad to more than 100 countries where as 36 languages. Backed by USIA-produced pamphlets, USIA maintains posts. books, films, and dai’ly output of the Wireless Files, Magazines, pamphlets, and the Wireless Files were America’s achievements in space were publicized more used to focus world attention on the significance of the heavily than in any preceding year. achievements . U.S. space exhibits were featured at the Cultural Fes- G uidelines tival in Mexico City (October 19-November 30) at ’ USIA used the following as guidelines for treatment of the 1968 Olympic Games. Viewers pronounced the space news : exhibit as “far and away the best’’ there. a. The U.S. seeks to develop all phases of space Other Achievements-USIA also publicized abroad technology--manned and instrumented explora- such successful U.S. space achievements as SUR- tion, space science, and space applications-to VEYOR 7, the Earth environmental satellite EX- produce benefits for man, not just to land a man PLORER 38, and the ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL on the Moon. OBSERVATORY. The cooperative efforts being ex- pended by Free World nations in the peaceful use of b. Through cooperation with other nations in outer space were emphasized. The solar studies satel- developing space for peaceful uses, the United lite PIONEER, now in orbit around the Sun, was given States is dedicated to peace in space through wide play through all Agency media, as was the prac- measures for rule of law and arms control. tical application of ATS-3 in carrying the Olympics c. The United States conducts its civilian space and live coverage of the APOLLO 7 and 8 launches. program in an open manner. Press and Publications-The Agency’s Press Service d. Crew safety is given major attention in all coverage of U.S. space activities began in 1968 with a review of the program during its first 10 years, and U.S. manned space flight operations. ended with intensive reporting on the APOLLO e. The U.S. space effort is a means of acquiring flights. Pamphlets included “The International Role new information to put space to work for man; of U.S. Weather Satellites” and “Above and Beyond: space technology and its range and innovations The United States’ Space Program.’’

89 90 USIA

America Illustrated for carried four features available, but UNESCO estimated that 300 million and one shorter item in special positions. In production persons heard VOA broadcast John Glenn’s flight in at year’s end was a five-page layout on “Our First Day 1962. Since then, addition of powerful transmitting on the Moon-What Will It Be Like?” Topic for complexes such as those in Greenville, N.C., Monrovia, Africa carried five features with one in the planning Liberia, and Bangkok, Thailand, have enabled VOA stage. to reach still greater audiences. For example, the 1965 GEMINI broadcasts carried by our GreenviIle trans- Three packets: “America in Space-The First 10 mitters reached an estimated 100 million listeners in Years,” “APOLLO 7, First Manned Flight for Amer- Latin America alone. ica’s Moonship,” and “APOLLO 8, Three Astronauts Aim for the Moon,” were completed and disseminated. Motion Pictures and Television-USIA’s Motion Pic- ture and Television Section not only produced a wide The Wireless Files carried thousands of words almost variety of special films on the space program using its daily on virtually every phase of America’s space pro- own facilities, but it successfully garnered the output gram. Black-and-white and color newsphotos were of many other government and private agencies and sent to every post for placement in the press or display helped disseminate the footage abroad. Highlighting on television or in exhibits. its production was a 15-minute animated color film Assistance was provided to more than 80 foreign jour- on the meaning of the space program to the man- nalists covering the manned APOLLO launches at on-the-street. It was titled “And, Of Course You.” Cape Kennedy. “APOLLO 7 the Second Decade,” a 27-minute film, Radio-Special on-the-spot broadcasts enabled the was released worldwide about 75 hours after splash- Voice of America to provide language coverage to the down. It was distributed to 115 countries and trans- world on the APOLLO launches. Features on other lated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Arabic. aspects of the space program also were broadcast via Exhibits-In addition to the successful Mexico City VOA facilities. exhibit, USIA staged a touring space show in Ecua- Like the special space documentary, “The Years of dor, where viewers included all five of the governors Apollo,” a considerable number of VOA’s extensive of the provinces visited, and all seven of the mayors space programs received double play-first on Voice of the cities in which the exhibit was shown, plus lead- broadcasts and later through placement on local radio ing officials of each city and province. Afghanistan’s stations around the world. royal family were among many who saw the US. Space Exploration Exhibit in Kabul. Greece and Togo Not only does VOA package its space programs for also were successful space exhibit locations. replay locally, but it also creates additional radio series on science for initial use by foreign stations. For ex- Information Centers-Nearly three dozen books on ample, more than 100 programs on space are offered space and space science were suggested to posts in 1968, in the Latin American Division’s Capsula Cientifica and five books and 23 other publications were auto- series-currently broadcast by an estimated 250 radio matically distributed to USIA libraries abroad. stations. Six books on space were translated into six languages VOA broadcasts of space flights are estimated to reach for distribution to USIA posts around the world. more than a third of a billion radio listeners through- A 52-slide series was produced to illustrate a special out the world-seven times the number reached dur- packet containing three lectures on aspects of Amer- ing an average news week. Current statistics are un- ica’s space program. ARMS CONTROL AND CHAPTER DISARMAMENT AGENCY XIV

Introduction ACDA has been concerned, along with other agencies, in the necessary follow-on actions related to the infant The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency continues Outer Space Treaty. Among these have been the to have a strong interest in space programs, both na- Astronaut Assistance and Return Agreement, the cur- tional and international, and expects to be closely rent negotiations on a liability convention, and actions involved with many of them for the foreseeable fu- such as the preparation of instructions for U.S. over- ture. The Agency maintains an active research effort seas posts to ensure that the provisions of Outer Space in this area, participates in preparing U.S. positions Treaty are uniformly complied with. on international space issues, and joins with other agencies on several space committees and panels. Since this Treaty came into force there have been no indications that any nation has vdlfully or inad- ACDA believes there is an urgent requirement that vertently violated any of its provisions. Nevertheless, space be reserved for peaceful purposes and therefore there have been questions about a Soviet test program participated in the negotiation of the Outer Space involving a possible fractional orbital bombardment Treaty, supported the follow-on Astronaut Assistance system (FOBS) . It is clear, however, that a FOBS vio- and Return Agreement, and is interested in the cur- lates neither the spirit nor the letter of Article IV of rent negotiations on a liability convention. These the Space Treaty, which declares: “States parties to measures reinforce the concept of a rule of law in space the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the and the cooperative international nature of space Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any activities. other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install Space programs meet many of ACDA’s objectives such weapons on celestial bodies or station such weap- through providing exciting and prestigious peaceful ons in outer space in any other manner.” An FOBS outlets for national ambitions, through focusing na- is a land-based (not a space-based) system, essentially tional energies on peaceful uses of space rather than similar to an ICBM. It does not pose a continuing weapons programs, and through nurturing interna- threat of bombardment from outer space against na- tional cooperation and stimulating healthy competi- tions. In any event, it is deployment of stationing of tion. These programs can and have increased the iluclear weapons in space which is prohibited by the stature and the effectiveness of international organi- treaty and there is no prohibition, actual or implied, zations, particularly those within the United Nations against research or development of a space weapons structure, and so have materially improved the ma- systems by any nation. Moreover, there is no evidence chinery for dealing with arms control issues or prob- that any FOBS has carried a nuclear warhead. lems on a world-wide basis. Defining Space The Space Treaty The problem of defining outer space, in part spot- The Outer Space Treaty has become one of the sev- lighted by the Outer Space Treaty, has been recently eral important arms control achievements of our era, examined in such forums as the U.N. Scientific and along with the Antarctic Treaty, the Limited Nuclear Technical Subcommittee, where it was found that ‘Test Ban Treaty, and the recently negotiated Non- there are no satisfactory physical criteria on which to Proliferation Treaty. base a definition of space or to locate its boundaries.

91 92 ACDA

The U.S. position has been that it is premature to bilities for verifying arms control agreements through establish a definition, that further experience in space potential space surveillance systems. Current efforts operations is essential before a satisfactory solution can center on remote sensing technolog], but ACDA is be found. Although no practical difficulties have yet also studying such future concepts as a possible U.N. arisen over the absence of a space definition, ACDA arms control satellite inspection system. continues to be involved in developments on this issue in light of its importance to various verification con- cepts of concern to the Agency. Use of Satellite Communication Sys- Space Cooperation tems to Reduce Risk of War ACDA has supported such efforts as the European Launcher Development Organization, has generally ACDA’s research into methods to reduce the risk of encouraged multinational cooperative space activities war resulting from accident or miscalculation has in- and currently, along with other U.S. agencies, is study- cluded an investigation of the potential application of ing the merits and drawbacks of an international space satellite communication techniques in this role. The agency. The Agency also joins other U.S. organiza- existing “hot line” between Washington and MOSCOW, tions in studying the feasibility of satellite Earth re- based on more conventional means of communication, source survey programs. has already demonstrated the usefulness of rapid and private means of communication between heads of Verification and Inspection state. Through the development of satellite communi- ACDA has maintained a research pmgram aimed at cation capabilities, the “hot line” concept may eventu- improving both technological and organization capa- ally be extended on a worldwide basis. APPENDIX A-1 93

I

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v, u, c c E E E W 5 cCI c U U aa U c U m U -=.- W 0 U W -0 .-- - 0 .-- -0 m -m 0 rn e 3% ...... W - E ...... :. -c >>:% m s; u g v, W 0 Y ii

I 0 0 0 c 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 Q) 00 Is C LD c+ m N L- 94 APPENDIX A-2

U.S. Spacecraft Record

Earth orbit Earth escape Earth orbit Earth escape Year Year Success Failure Success Failure Success Failure Success Failure

1957 ...... 0 1 0 0 1964 ...... 69 8 4 0 1958...... 5 8 0 4 1965 ...... 94 8 3 0 1959...... 9 9 1 2 1966...... 95 12 5 '1 1960 ...... 16 12 1 2 1967 ...... 77 4 10 0 1961 ...... 35 12 0 '2 1968 ...... 61 3 3 0 1962 ...... 54 12 4 1 1963 ...... 60 11 0 0 Total.. ... 575 100 31 12

NOTES The criterion of success or failure used is the attainment of This tabulation includes spacecraft from cooperating Earth orbit or Earth escape rather than a judgment of mission countries which were launched by US. launch vehicles. success. 1 These Earth escape failures did attain Earth orbit and therefore are included in the Earth-orbit success totals.

U.S.S.R. Spacecraft Successfully Launched

Year...... '57 '58 '59 '60 '61 '62 '63 '64 '65 '66 '67 '68 Total Spacecraft...... 2 1 3 3 7 21 18 38 73 51 67 74 358

Notes: U.S.S.R. tabulation combines successfully launched 12 spacecraft intended for escape missions but attaining only Earth-orbit and Earth-escape spacecraft. In the total of 357 Earth orbit, and 23 spacecraft used as launching platforms in are included 21 spacecraft launched on Earth-escape missions, low parking orbits for higher-orbit missions or Earth escape. APPENDIX A-3

Successful US. Launches-1968

Launch date (GMT) Apogee and Spacecraft name Perigee (in COSPAR designation Spacecraft data statute miles+ Remarks Launch vehicle Period (minutes)- Inclination to Equator (degrees)

Jan. 7 Objective: Soft-land on Moon near crater TYCHO Soft-landed SURVEYOR VI1 successfully soft- SURVEYOR VI1 on “ejecta” blanket lurain; obtain post-landing on moon. landed on the Moon in its desig- 1A TV pictures of lunar surface; operate Alpha nated target area, transmitted Atlas-Centaur Scatter experiment to determine chemical char- over 20,000 excellent photos, and acteristics of soil; and dig into soil with surface successfully accomplished the sampler tool. Alpha Scatter and soil digging Spacecraft : Triangular three-legged frame 1Or high, experiment. and 14’ between legs; solar cell paver supply. Landing weight: 639 Ibs.

Jan. 11 Objective: To establish one world datum and to 978 Excellent geodetic data was ob- GEOS I1 adjust all local datums to the common center-of- 671 tained. Soacecraft is still DTO- 2A mass of the Earth, providing geodetic control 112. 2 viding us

Mar. 4 Objective : To acquire correlative scientific data 91, 188 Spacecraft is operating normally OGO-V in the magnetic fields, energetic particles, and 181 and providing significant data. 14A plasma disciplineg from a stabilized platform as 3,744 Atlas-Agena D apogee sweeps from the forward leading quad- 31 rant of the magnetosphere into the geomagnetic tail, with data being obtained both in the inter- planetary medium and within large sections of the magnetosphere. Spacecraft: Rectangular box 67“ long, 32” wide, and 31” deep. Active 3-axis and spin stabiliza- tion; solar cell power supply. Weight: 1,347 lbs.

Mar. 5 Objective : To monitor into the ascending portion 549 Spacecraft is operating normally EXPLORER of the solar cycle the Sun’s energetic X-ray 31 7 and providing significant data. XXXVII emissions: measure the time history of X-ray 98. 7 (SOLRAD IX) emission intensity and spectral quality of solar 59.4 17A flare emissions; correlate these measurements scout with those of optical and radio ground-based observatories; and provide real-time solar data to interested participants. Spacecraft: Twe!ve-sided cylinder, 30” diameter and 27” high; spin stabilization; solar cell power supply. Weight: 195 lbs.

Mar. 13 Objective : Development of space flight techniques 260 Decayed Mar. 24, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 82 18A Spacecraft: Not announced. 89. 9 Titan IIIB 99. 9 Mar. 14 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 242 Decayed Apr. IO, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 1~..I4 20A Spacecraft: Not announced. 90.2 Thor-Agena D 83.0 Mar. 14 Objective : Development of space flight techniques 326 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 299 2OB Spacecraft: Not announced. 94.6 Thor-Agena D 83. 1 Apr. 4 Objective: To demonstrate structural and thermal 223 Two of the five second stage engines APOLLO 6 integrity and compatibility of the launch vehicle 107 shut down prematurely; third 25A and spacecraft and to confirm launch loads and 89. 8 stage restart ignition sequence Saturn V dynamic characteristics; to demonstrate separa- 31. 6 failed. In spite of these anomalies, tion of S-I1 from S-IC and S-IVB from S-11; a successful mission was flown, to evaluate performance of the space vehicle; and leading to the perfect Apollo 7 to demonstrate support facilities and operations. flight. Spacecraft: Payload consisted of S-IVB stage, Instrument Unit, Command and Service module, Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter, and a Lunar Module Test Article. Total weight at insertion into orbit: 265,050 lbs. Apr. 6 Objectives: To determine flexibility of cadmium 5, 789 Still in orbit. OV 1-13 sulfide solar cells in a space environment and to 3443 26A measure /electron energy spectra and 199.5 Atlas angular distribution of electrons. 100.5 Spacecraft: Cylinder 30” by 27” diameter. Weight: 290 lbs. Apr. 6 Objective: To obtain high-resolution measurements 6, 173 Still in orbit. OV 1-14 of proton/electron flux, spectra, decay and time 348 26B variations. 207.8 Atlas Spacecraft: Cylinder 30” by 27” diameter. Weight: 100.0 300 lbs. Apr. 17 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 262 Decayed April 29, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 79 31A Spacecraft: Not announced. 891 9 Titan I11 B 111.4 APPENDIX A-3 97

May 1 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 176 Decayed May 15, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 115 39A Spacecraft: Not announced. 88. 6 Thor-Agena D 83. 1 May 16 Objective: To investigate X-ray radiation emitted 673 Six of the seven experiments are ESRO-I1 by the Sun, to reach a better understanding of 204 providing useful data 41A the Sun itself and to correlate X-ray flux changes 98.9 scout with heating and ionization of the ionosphere; 97. 2 to investigate corpuscular radiation of the Sun, particles trapped in the magnetic field of Earth, and cosmic ray particles; and to investigate the electron component of primary cosmic radiation. Spacecraft: Twelve-sided cylinder, 33.5“ high and 30” in diameter. Solar cell power supply. Weight: 153 lbs. May 23 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 561 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 509 42A Spacecraft: Not announced. 102.1 Thor-Burner I1 98. 9 June 5 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 262 Decayed June 17, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 85 47A Spacecraft: Not announced. 89. 9 Titan IIIB 110.5 June 13 Objective To extend an interim defense com- 21,027 to Spacecraft are operating in a IDCSP 19, 20, 21, 22, munication satellite’system. 21,401 near-synchronous constellation 23, 24, 25, and 26 Spacecraft: Symmetrical 24 face polyhedron, 20,954 to along with 18 earlier spacecraft 50A, B, C, D, E, F, 36” diameter by 32’’ high; spin-stabilized; 40 20.976 previously launched. G, and H watt solar cell power supply; low channel 1,335.’5 to Titan IIIC capacity; X-band. Weight: Each spacecraft 1, 350. 6 100 lbs. 00.1 June 20 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 251 Decayed July 16, 1968.

DEFENSE~~ and technology. 113 52A Spacecraft: Not announced. 90. 3 Thor-Agena D 85.0

June 20 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 322 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 273 52B Spacecraft: Not announced. 94. 1 Thor-Agena D 85. 1

lulv 4 Objective: To Monitor low-frequency radio signals 3,652 The spacecraft is operating ~XPLORER in space from sources including the Milky Way, 3,639 normally and has provided XXXVIII the Sun, Jupiter, and Earth’s environment. 224. 4 significant data. (RAE-A) Spacecraft: Cylindrical structure 31 ” high and 59. 2 55A 36” in diameter with 4 extendable X-shaped Thor-Delta 750’ antennas, gravity-gradient stabilization. Weight: 607 lbs.

July 11 Objective: To measure density of the atmosphere 1,032 Decayed Nov. 6, 1968. OV 1-15 from 160 to 500 Km and its variations with 94 59A position and time. 103.0 Atlas Spacecraft: Cylinder 30” by 27” diameter. Weight: 89. 8 300 lbs.

July 11 Objective: To measure density of the atmosphere 286 Decayed Aug. 19, 1968. OV 1-16 from 65 to 110 nm. 82 59B Spacecraft: High-density ball (“Cannon Ball”) 90.4 Atlas with omnidirectional accelerometer. 89. 8

AUP. 6 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 24. 769 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 19,685 63A Spacecraft: Not announced. 1,436.0 Atlas-Agena 9.9 98 APPENDIX A-3

Aug. 6 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 266 Decayed Aug. 16, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 88 64A Spacecraft: Not announced. 90.5 Titan IIIB 109.5 Aug. 7 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 161 Decayed Aug. 17, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 100 65A Spacecraft: Not announced. 88. 7 Thor- Agena 82. 1 Aug. 8 Objective: To extend measurements of latitudinal, 1,548 Spacecraft performed normally. EXPLORER seasonal, and solar cycle variations in the upper- 425 XXXIX air density. 117.9 66A Spacecraft: A 12-foot diameter, inflatable sphere, 80. 6 constructed of a 4-pl laminate consisting of alternating layers of mil aluminum foil and polyethylene-terephtholate plastic film; battery and solar cell power supply; no stabilization. Weight: 20.5 lbs.

Aug. 8 Obiective: To make direct measurement of the 1,573 Spacecraft is operating normally EXPLORER XL iownflux of charged particles into the atmos- 424 and providing significant scientific (INJUN phere; to study geomagnetically trapped charged 118. 3 data. EXPLORER) particles with emphasis on their spectra, spatial 80. 6 66B distribution, and time variations; and to study the very-low-frequency radio emissions in the iono- sphere. Spacecraft: Hexagonal cylinder 29” high and 30” diameter; magnetic stabilization; solar cell power supply. Weight: 153 Ibs.

Aug. 11 Objective: To conduct a carefully instrumented 405 Failure of the Centaur stage to ATS-4 gravity-gradient orientation experiment directed 139 ignite for a second burn prevented 68A toward providing basic design information and, 93. 3 achievement of the transfer orbit Atlas-Centaur thus, to determine the feasibility and usefulness 29.0 prior to injection into synchronous of gravity gradient as a means of stabilizing orbit. No useful data obtained. synchronous-orbit applications satellites in the presence oi perturbing effects generated within the satellite or caused by environment. . Spacecraft: Cylindrical 6 high and 4’8“ in diam- eter with extendable boom measuring 25‘ across; gravity-gradient and active stabilization; solar cell power supply. Weight: 860 lbs.

Aug. 16 Objective: To operate two Advanced Videcon 918 All systems are functioning normally, TOS-E/ESSA-VI1 Camera Systems in a Sun-synchronous orbit, 885 and ESSA is obtaining excellent 69 A crossing the equator between 2:35 and 2:55 p.m. 114.9 data. Thor-Delta daily, to obtain daily global cloud photos and a 101.7 flat plate radiometer to measure the heat balance of the atmosphere. Spacecraft: Cylindrical 37” diameter by 35” high; spin stabilized; solar cell power supply. Weight: 145 Ibs.

Objective: Development of space flight techniques 200 Decayed Sept. 25, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 89 74A Spacecraft: Not announced. 89. 1 Titan IIIB 106.0

Sept. 18 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 243 Decayed Oct. 8, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 111 78A Spacecraft: Not announced. 90. 1 Thor-Agena D 83. 0

Sent. 18 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 318 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 312 78B Spacecraft: Not announced. 94.7 Thor-Agena D 83. 2 APPENDIX A-3 99

Sept. 26 Objective: To investigate radiation at synchronous 22, 232 Still in orbit. OV 2-5 altitude. 21,827 81A Spacecraft: Near-cubic 23” by 23” by 24”. Weight: 1,418. 1 Titan IIIC 250 lbs.

Sept. 26 Objective: To investigate radiation in the Van 22,236 Still in orbit. ov 5-2 Allen belt. 115 818 Spacecraft: Octahedron. Weight: 21.5 lbs. 630.8 Titan IIIC 26. 4

Sept. 26 Objective: To measure transfer of heat in liquid 22, 225 Still in orbit. ov 5-4 Freon in a zero-G environment. 22,220 81C Spacecraft: Weight: 28.4 lbs. 1, 435. 8 Titan IIIC 3. 0

Sept. 26 Objective: To provide test data on an expanded 22,236 Still in orbit. LE= UHF tactical communications satellite operating 22,233 81D with various types.. of aircraft/ship/ground._ ter- 1, 435. 9 Titan IIIC minals. 2. 9 Spacecraft: Cylinder 534‘ by 4’ diameter; spin stabilized; geo-stationary. Weight: 360 lbs.

Oct. 3 Objective: To perform an integrated study of the 932 The spacecraft is functioning nor- ESRO I-A high-latitude ionosphere, including particle ex- I7 1 mally and providing significant 84A periments, auroral photometry, and ionospheric 102. 6 data. scout experiments. 94 Spacecraft: Cylindrical 30” diameter and 39” high with sensor booms extendinp tip-to-tiD 95.6’’ and 60” height. Passive magnegc stabiliation; solar cell power supply. Weight: 189 lbs.

Oct. 5 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 316 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 300 86A Spacecraft: Not announced. 94. 5 Thor-Agena D 74.9

Oct. 11 Objective: To verify proper operation of the 177 Crew consisted of Walter M. Schirra, APOLLO 7 Command and Service Module (CSM) systems 138 Commander; Don F. Eisele, 89A and operational capabilities of the CSM, crew, 89. 6 Command Module pilot; and Saturn IB and manned space flight network support facilities 31. 6 Walter Cunningham, Lunar in an Earth-orbital environment. To qualify heat Module pilot. All primary and shield; to determine Environmental Control secondary objectives of the flight System radiator performance and coating degra- successfully accomplished. Length dation; to perform transposition and simulated of flight: 260 hours, 8 minutes, 15 docking; and to evaluate CSM active rendezvous seconds. Service Propulsion Sys- activities. tem restarts: 8. Spacecraft: Payload consisted of Command Module and Service Module; active stabilization; three 3 1-cell Bacon-type hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells plus battery power supply. Total weight at injec- tion into initial orbit: 69,345 Ibs. Weight of CSM at injection: 32,557 Ibs.

Oct. 23 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 529 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 497 92A Spacecraft: Not announced. 101.3 Thor-Burner 11 99.0

Nov. 3 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 177 Decayed Nov. 23, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 108 98A Spacecraft: Not announced. 88. 8 Thor-Agena D 82. 1 Nov. 6 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 249 Decayed Nov. 20, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 90 99A Spacecraft: Not announced. 89. 8 Titan IIIB 106.0 100 APPENDIX A-3

Nov. 8 Objective: To obtain solar plasma, magnetic field, .99AU The spacecraft is functioning nor- PIONEER IX and cosmic-ray measurements in the region of .75AU mally and is returning significant lOOA space which is inward toward the Sun from the 297.55 days scientific data. Thor-Delta orbital path of Earth. .09 Spacecraft: Cylindrical structure 37” diameter and 35” high; active stabilization; solar cell power supply. Weight: 147 lbs.

Nov. 8 Objective: To provide a pre-mission checkout for 584 The spacecraft is functioning TTS manned space flight network stations; to provide 231 normally. lOOB training of MSFN ground system crews; to pro- 97. 9 Thor-Delta vide routine mission simulations; and to develop 33 and verify acquisition and hand-over techniques. Spacecraft: Octahedral shape, approximately 14” on a side; passive magnetic stabilization; solar cell power supply. Weight: 40 Ibs. Dec. 4 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 454 Decayed Dec. 12, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 94 108A Spacecraft: Not annoqnced. 89. 3 Titan IIIB 106.2

Dec. 5 Objective: To investigate interplanetary magnetic 138,841 Spacecraft is functioning normally HEOS-A fields, and study solar and cosmic-ray particles 263 and is providing significant 109A outside the magnetosphere during a period of 6, 749 scientific data. Thor-Delta (ESRO maximum solar activity. 28. 3O procured) Spacecraft: ESRO developed, designed, and con- structed ; cylindrical shape 48.6” diameter and 27.3” high; spin stabilized; solar cell power supply. Weight: 240 lbs.

Dec. 10 Objective: To make precise astronomical observa- 486 Spacecraft is functioning normally, OAO-2 tions from above Earth’s atmosphere of stars, 479 and significant scientific data is 11OA planets, nebulae, galaxies, and the interplanetary 100.4 being received. Atlas-Centaur and inteistellar matter in the regions of their 350 electromagnetic radiation spectrum that do not penetrate Ea~th’s atmosphere, Le., ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray. Spacecraft: Octagonal body 10’ high and 7’ wide with 2 external solar panels and other append- ages; active stabilization; solar cell power supply; Weight: 4,400 lbs. Dec. 12 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 148 Decayed Dec. 28, 1968. DEFENSE and technology. 109 112A Spacecraft: Not announced. 88. 6 Thor-Agena D 81.0

Dec. 12 Objective: Development of space flight techniques 916 Still in orbit. DEFENSE and technology. 862 112B Spacecraft: Not announced. 114.4 Thor-Agena D 80. 3 Dec. 15 Objective: To operate 2 Automatic Picture 907 All systems are functioninq normally TOS-F/ESSA VI11 Transmission (APT) camera systems in a Sun- 88 1 and ESSA and other APT ground 114A synchronous orbit crossing the equator between 114. 7 station operators are receiving Thor-Delta 08:40 and 09:OO a.m. daily 102O excellent pictures. Spacecraft: Cylindrical 42” diameter and 23” high; spin stabilized; solar cell power supply. Weight: 286 Ibs.

Dec. 19 Objective: To provide equivalent of 1,200 2-way 22, 255 The spacecraft has been positioned INTELSAT I11 voice circuits or 4 color TV channels to carry 22,241 on the equator in synchronous 116A communications traffic between North America, 1,436 orbit at 31° West longitude Thor-Delta Europe, South America, and Africa. . 775O near the eastern tip of Brazil. Spacecraft: Cylindrical 56’’ diameter and 78’’ high; spin-stabliized ; solar cell power supply. Weight : 303 lbs. APPENDIX A-3 101

Dec. 21 Objective: To verify crew, space vehicle, and lunar orbit Crew consisted of , APOLLO 8 mission support facilities on a manned lunar 70. 1 Commander; James A. Lovell, 118A orbit flight plan ; to demonstrate performance of 69. 7 Jr., Command Pilot; and Saturn V nominal and selected backup Lunar Orbit 119. 0 William A. Anders, Lunar Rendezvous mission activities, including trans- 12. 33' Module Pilot. The flight com- lunar injection, Command and Service Module pleted 10 lunar orbits and navigation, communications, and midcourse cor- successfully returned to Earth rections, and Command and Service Module and was recovered in the consumables assessment and passive thermal Pacific Ocean on Dec. 27, 1968. control. Total flight time: 147 hours, 41 Spacecraft: Payload consisted of Command Mod- seconds. ule and Service Module; active stabilization, 3 3 l-cell Bacon-type hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells plus battery power supply Total weight at injection into lunar orbit: 46,444 lbs. APPENDIX B

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE COUNCIL WASHINGTON

December 31, 1968

Major United States And Soviet ‘Firsts’

One of the indexes used to compare the space programs of the United States and the Soviet Union are the “firsts” achieved by each nation. Since it measures the quantity but not the quality of achievement, such compilation can be misleading. However, when broken down into meaningful areas, it can help in judging emphasis and even relative progress if coupled with other evidence. Regardless of whether a “first” gives either country a significant lead in a particular area of space technology, the fact of being first is significant in the formation of public opinion. In fact, regardless of actual technological competence, the relative position of the United States and the U.S.S.R. in space is often judged by the “firsts” achieved by each. A list of all of the “firsts” scored by each side would be long and meaningless. An effort has been made to select those actions or accomplishments which seemed to be of major importance, bearing in mind that because of the closed nature of some space activities, the list of major “firsts” may be incomplete. This list is divided into five broad categories of space interest. It is not a comparison of space competences but rather a cataloging based upon the timing of events.

102 Major Space ‘Firsts’

United States Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Event Satellite Launch Event Satellite Launch date date

Science Sciencs Van Allen radiation belts .... Explorer I ...... 2/ 1/58 Orbiting geophysical lab .... 111 ...... 5/15/58 Earth shape measured ...... I ...... 311 7/58 Farside lunar picture ...... I11 ...... IO/ 4/59 Orbiting solar observatory ... OS0 I ...... 3/ 7/62 Cosmic ray measurements ... Proton 1...... 7/16/65 Data from Venus ...... Mariner I1 ...... 8/27/62 Lunar surface pictures ...... Luna IX ...... 1/3 1/66 Geodetic satellite ...... Anna IB ...... 1013 1/62 Lunar surface bearing test ... Luna x111 ...... 12/21/66 Lunar close-up pictures ...... Ranger VI1 ...... 7/28/64 Venus atmospheric probe ... Venera IV ...... 6/12/67 Mars pictures ...... Mariner IV ...... 1 1/28/64 Micrometeorite satellite ..... Pegasus I ...... 2/16/65 Lunar orbit pictures ...... Orbiter I ...... 8/10/66 Lunar trenching ...... Surveyor I11 ...... 411 7/67 Color picture of full Earth DODGE ...... 7/ 1/67 face . Lunar soil chemical analysis.. Surveyor V ...... 9/ 8/67 Point-stabilized Orbiting OAO-2 ...... 12110168 Astro-Observatory . Live lunar TV broadcast ... Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68

ripplicationr Applications Active communications...... Score ...... 12/18/58 TV pictures from space ...... Explorer VI ...... 8/ 7/59 Weather satellite ...... Tiros I ...... 4/ 1/60 Navigation satellite ...... Transit IB ...... 4/13/60 Missile detection ...... Midas I1 ...... 5/24/60 Passive communications..... Echo I ...... 8/12/60 Nuclear explosion detection .. Vela Hotel ...... 1011 7/63 Manned viewing of lunar ... Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68 far side

Bio and Manned Flight Bio and Manned Flight Manned orbital maneuver ... Gemini 111 ...... 3/23/65 Biosatellite ...... Sputnik I1 ...... 111 3/57 Controlled extravehicular Gemini IV ...... 6/ 3/65 Recovery, orbited animals... Sputnik V ...... 8/19/60 activity . Recovery, orbited man ..... 1...... 4/12/61 Manned ... Gemini VI, VI1 ...... 121 4/65 Multi-manned spacecraft .... 1...... 1O/ 12/64 Manned docking ...... Gemini VIII-Agena .... 3/16/66 ..... Voskhod 11 ...... 3/18/65 Manned lunar orbit ...... Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68 Recovery, circumlunar live Zond V ...... 9/2 1/68 Mannedlunarreturn re-entry Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68 animals. Manned Earth escape ...... Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68 -- Space jlight and Propulsion Space Flight and Propulsion Multiple spacecraft payload .. Transit/Solrad ...... 6/22/60 Space flight ...... Sputnik I., ...... IO/ 4/57 Payload recovery ...... Discoverer XI11 ...... 8/10/60 Earth escape spacecraft ..... Luna 1...... I/ 2/59 Synchronous satellite ...... Syncom I1...... 7/26/63 Lunar impact ...... Luna I1 ...... 9/12/59 Hydrogen rocket orbited ..... Centaur I1 ...... ill27163 Orbital platform launch .... Sputnik V ...... 2/12/61 Docked spacecraft maneuver . Gemini X-Agena ...... 7/18/66 Venus flyby., ...... Venera 1 ...... 2/12/61 Lunar lift-off ...... Surveyor VI ...... 1 I/ 7/67 Mars flyby ...... Mars 1...... 111 1/62 Lunar-velocity re-entry ...... Apollo I ...... 1 I/ 9/67 Venus impact ...... Venera I11 ...... 11/16/65 Constant deceleration re-entry Apollo 8 ...... 12/21/68 Lunar soft landing ...... Luna IX ...... 1/3 1/66 Lunar orbiter ...... Luna X ...... 313 1/66 Automatic docking ...... Cosmos 1861188 ..... 1012 7- 29/67 Recovery. lunar payload .... Zond V ...... 912 1/68 Auxiliary Pornn Systems Auxiliary Power Systems Solar cells ...... Vanguard I ...... 3/17/58 Battery power ...... ...... lo/ 4/57 Isotope power ...... Transit IVA ...... 6/29/61 Nuclear reactor in orbit ..... Snapshot I ...... 4/ 3/65 Fuel cell ...... Gemini V ...... 8/21/65

103 104 APPENDIX C

U.S. Applications Satellites 1958-1 968

COMMUNICATIONS

Date Name Launch vehicle Remarks

Dec. 18, 1958 Atlas B First comsat, carried taped messages. Aug. 12, 1960 Echo I Thor-Delta 100-foot balloon served as first passive comsat, relayed voice and TV signals. Oct. 4, 1960 Thor-Able Star First active-repeater comsat. Dec. 12. 1961 Oscar I Thor-Agena B First amateur radio “ham” satellite. June 2, ’1 962 Oscar I1 nor-Agena B July 10, 1962 Telstar I Thor-Delta Industry-furnished spacecraft in near-Earth orbit. Dec. 13, 1962 Relay I Thor-Delta Active-repeater comsat. Feb. 14, 1963 Syncom I Thor-Delta Succesnfully injected into near-synchronous orbit but com- munication system failed at orbital injection. May 7, 1963 Telstar I1 Thor-Delta July 26,1963 Syncom I1 Thor-Delta First successful synchronous orbit active-repeater comsat. After experimental phase, used operationally by DOD. Jan. 21, 1964 Relay I1 Thor-Delta Jan. 25,1964 Echo I1 Thor-Agena B 135foot balloon, passive comsat, first joint use by U.S. and U.S.S.R. Aug. 19, 1964 Syncom I11 Thor-Delta Synchronous-orbit comsat; after experimental phase, used operationally by DOD. Mar. 9, 1965 Oscar 111 Thor-Agena D Apr. 6, 1965 (Early Thor-Delta First Intelsat (ComSat Corp.) spacecraft, 240 two-way voice Bud) circuits ; commercial transatlantic communication service initiated June 28, 1965. Dec. 21, 1965 Oscar IV Titan IIIC June 16,1966 IDCSP 1-7 Titan IIIC Initial Defense Communication Satellites Program. Active- repeater spacecraft in near-synchronous orbit, random- spaced. Oct. 26, 1966 Intelsat 11-F 1 Thor-Delta First in Intelsat I1 series spacecraft; 240 two-way voice circuits or one color TV channel. Orbit achieved not adequate for commercial operation. Jan. 11, 1967 Intelsat 11-F2 Thor-Delta Transpacific commercial communication service initiated Jan. 11, 1967. Jan. 18,1967 IDCSP 8-15 Titan IIIC Mar. 22, 1967 Intelsat 11-F3 TAD Positioned to carry transatlantic commercial communication trdEC. July 1,1967 IDCSP 16-18 Titan IIIC July 1, 1967 LES 5 Titan IIIC Tactical military communication tests with aircraft, ships, and mobile land stations from near-synchronous orbit. Sept. 27,1967 Intelsat 11-F4 Thor-Delta Positioned to carry commercial transpacific communication traffic. June 13, 1968 IDSCS 19-26 Titan IIIC Sept. 26, 1968 LES 6 Titan IIIC Continued military tactical communications experiments. Dec. 18, 1968 Intelsat 111 Thor-Delta First in Intelsat 111 series of spacecraft. 1,200 two-way voice circuits or four color TV channels. Positioned over Atlantic to carry trdEc between North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. Entered commercial service on Dec. 24, 1968. APPENDIX C 105

NAVIGATION

Date Name Launch vehicle Remarks

Apr. 13, 1960 Transit 1B Tha-Able Star First navigation satellite. Used Doppler frequency shift for position determination. me 22, 1960 Transit 2A Thor-Able Star -4eb. 21, 1961 Thor-Able Star June 29, 1961 Transit 4A Thor-Able Star Used the first spacecraft nuclear SNAP-3 as a secondary power supply. Nov. 15, 1961 Transit 4B Thor-Able Star Dec. 18, 1962 Transit 5A scout Operational prototype, power failed during first day. June 15, 1963 NavSat scout Used gravity-gradient stabilization system. Sept. 28, 1963 NavSat Thor-Able Star Used first nuclear SNAP-SA as primary power supply. Dec. 5, 1963 NavSat Thor-Able Star June 4, 1964 NavSat scout Oct. 6, 1964 NavSat Thor-Able Star Dec. 13, 1964 NavSat Thor-Able Star June 24, 1965 NavSat Thor-Able Star Aug. 13, 1965 NavSat Thor-Able Star Dec. 22, 1965 NavSat scout Jan. 28, 1966 NavSat scout Mar. 25, 1966 NavSat scout May 19, 1966 NavSat scout Aug. 18, 1966 NavSat scout Apr. 13, 1967 NavSat scout May 18, 1967 NavSat scout Sept. 25, 1967 NavSat scout Mar. 1, 1968 NavSat scout

WEATHER 0BSER.VATION - Apr. 1, 1960 Tiros I Thor Able First weather satellite providing cloudsover photography. Nov. 23, 1960 Tuos I1 Tha-Delta July 12, 1961 Tiros 111 Thor-Delta Feb. 8, 1962 Tiros IV nor-Delta June 19, 1962 Tiros V Tha-Delta Sept. 18, 1962 Tucw VI Thor-Delta June 19, 1963 Tiros VI1 Thor-Delta Dec. 21, 1963 Tiros VI11 Thor-Delta First weather satellite designed to transmit continuously local cloud conditions to ground stations equipped with APT receivers. Aug. 28, 1964 Nimbus I Thor-Agena B Carried Advanced Videcon Camera System, APT, and a high- resolution infrared radiometer for night pictures. Tuos IX Thor-Delta First weather satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit. Tiros X Thor-Delta ESSA I Thor-Delta First operational weather satellite; carried two wide-angle TV camera svstems. Feb. 28, 1966 ESSA I1 Thor-Delta Complemer&ed ESSA I with two wide-angle APT cameras. May 15, 1966 Nimbus 11 Thor-Agena B Oct. 2, 1966 ESSA 111 Thor-Delta Odd-numbered ESSA spacecraft carry two Advanced Videcon Camera Systems. Even-numbered spacecraft carry two Auto- matic Picture Transmission camera systems. Dec. 6, 1966 ATS-1 Atlas-Agena D Provided continuous black-and-white cloud-cover pictures from a synchronous orbit, using a Soumi camera system. Jan. 26, 1967 ESSA IV Thor-Delta Apr. 20, 1967 ESSA V Thor-Delta Nov. 5, 1967 ATS-3 Atlas-Agena D Provided Continuous color cloud-cover pictures from a syn- chronous orbit. usine" three Soumi camera svstems. Nov. 10, 1967 ESSA VI Thor-Delta Aug. 16, 1968 ESSA VI1 Thor-Delta Dec. 15, 1968 ESSA VI11 Thor-Delta 106 APPENDIX C

GEODESY

Date Name Launch vehicle Remarks

Oct. 31, 1962 Anna 1B Thor-Able Star Used three independent measuring techniques: Doppler fre- quency shift, flashing lights, and radio triangulation. Jan. 11,1964 Secor I Thor-Agena D Uses radio triangulation and trilateration. Oct. 10, 1964 Beacon-Explorer Scout Conducted reflecting-light geodetic measurements. XXII Mar. 9, 1965 Secor I11 Thor-Agena D Mar. 11, 1965 Secor I1 Thor-Able Star Apr. 3, 1965 Secor IV Atlas-Agena D Apr. 29, 1965 Beacon-Explorer Scout XXVII Aug. 10, 1965 SecorV scout Nov. 6, 1965 GEOS-I Explorer Thor-Delta XXIX June 9, 1966 Secor VI Atlas-Agena D June 23, 1966 Page- I Thor-Agena D Spacecrafti s a 1Wfoot-diameter balloon used as a photographic target to make geodetic measurements. Aug. 19, 1966 &cor VI1 Atlas-Agena D Oct. 5, 1966 Secor VI11 Atlas-Agena D June 29, 1967 Secor IX Thor-Burner I1 Jan. 11,1968 GEOS I1 Thor-Delta

DEFENSE SUPPORT

Date Number of Launch vehicle used Remarks Spacecraft

Apr. 13, 1959 to 10 Thor-Agena A This list does not include communications, navigation, or geodetic Dec. 31, 1968. 31 Thor-Agena B satellites specifically identified above in the application categories. 106 Thor-Agena D 4 Thor-Able Star 5 Thor-Altair 6 Thor-Burner I1 4 Atlas-Agena A 12 Atlas-Agena B 67 Atlas-Agena D 17 Titan IIIBAgena D 3 Titan IIIC APPENDIX D 107

History of U.S. and Soviet Manned Space Flights

Spacecraft Launch Date Crew Flight time Highlights

Vostok 1 Apr. 12, 1961 Yuri A. Gagarin 1 hr. 48 mins. First manned flight. Mercury- May 5, 1961 Alan N. Shepard, Jr. 15 mins. First U.S. flight; suborbital. 3 Mercury- July 21, 1961 Virgil I. Grissom 16 mins. Suborbital; capsule sank after Redstone 4 landing. Aug. 6, 1961 Gherman S. Titov 25 hrs. 18 mins. First flight exceeding 24 hrs. Mercury- Feb. 20, 1962 John H. Glenn, Jr. 4 hrs. 55 mins. First American to orbit. Atlas 6 MerCUV- May 24, 1962 M. Scott Carpenter 4 hrs. 56 mins. Landed 250 mi. from target. Atlas 7 Vostok 3 Aug. 11, 1962 Andrian G. Nikolayev 94 hrs. 22 mins. First dual mission (with Vostok 4) Vostok 4 Aug. 12, 1962 Pavel R. Popovich 70 hrs. 57 mins. Came within 3.1 mi. of Vostok 3. Mercury- Oct. 3, 1962 Walter M. Schirra, Jr 9 hrs. 13 mins. Landed 5 mi. from target. Atlas 8 Mercury- May 15, 1963 L. , Jr. 34 hrs. 20 mins. First long U.S. flight. Atlas 9 June 14, 1963 Valery F. Bykovsky 119 hrs. 6 mins. Second dual mission (with ) Vostok 6 June 6, 1963 Valentina V. Tereshkova 70 hrs. 50 mins. First woman in space; within 5 mi. of Vostok 5 Voskhod 1 Oct. 12, 1964 Vladimir M. Komarov 24 hrs. 17 mins. First 3-man crew. Konstantin P. Feoktistov Dr. Boris G. Yegorov Mar. 18, 1965 Aleksei A. Leonov Pavel I. Belyayev 26 hrs. 2 mins. First extravehicular activity (Leonov, 10 minutes) Mar. 23, 1965 Virgil I. Grissom 4 hrs. 53 mins. First U.S. 2-man flight; first manual John W. Young maneuvers in orbit. June 3, 1965 James A. McDivitt 97 hrs. 56 mins. 2 1-minute extravehicular activity Edward H. White, 2d (White). Aug. 21, 1965 L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. 190 hrs. 55 mins. Longest-duration manned flight to Charles Conrad, Jr. date. Gemini 7 Dec. 4, 1965 Frank Borman 330 hrs. 36 mins. Longest-duration manned flight. James A. Lovell, Jr. Gemini 6-A Dec. 15, 1965 Walter M. Schirra, JI. 25 hrs. 51 mins. Rendezvous within 1 foot of Gemini Thomas P. Stafford 7. Mar. 16, 1966 Neil A. Armstrong 10 hrs. 41 mins. First docking of 2 orbiting space- David R. Scott craft (Gemini 8 with Agena target rocket). Gemini 9-A June 3, 1966 Thomas P. Stafford 72 hrs. 21 mins. Extravehicular activity; rendezvous. Eugene A. Cernan July 18, 1966 John W. Young 70 hrs. 47 mins. First dual rendezvous (Gemini 10 Michael Collins with Agena 10, then Agena 8). Sept. 12, 1966 Charles Conrad, Jr. 71 hrs. 17 mins. First initial-orbit rendezvous; first Richard F. Gordon, Jr. tethered flight; highest Earth- orbit altitude (853 miles). Nov. 11, 1966 James A. Lovell, Jr. 94 hrs. 35 mins. Longest extravehicular activity Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (Aldrin, 5 hours 37 minutes). Soyuz 1 Apr. 23, 1967 Vladimir M. Komarov 26 hrs. 40 mins. Cosmonaut killed in re-entry accident. Apollo 7 Oct. 11, 1968 Walter M. Schirra, Jr. 260 hrs. 8 mins. First U.S. three-man mission. Donn F. Eisele R. Walter Cunningham soy- 3 Oct. 26, 1968 Georgi Beregovoy 94 hrs. 51 mins. Maneuvered near unmanned Soyuz 2. Apollo 8 Dec. 21, 1968 Frank Borman 147 hrs. First manned orbit(s) of Moon; first James A. Lovell, Jr. manned departure from Earth's William A. Anders sphere of influence; highest speed ever attained in manned flight.

U.S. U.S.S.R. I U.S. U.S.S.R.

Total manned spacecraft hours...... 1,434 556 Manned space dockings...... 7 0 Total man-hours in space...... 3,215 631 Manned flights...... 18 10 Total extravehicular activity...... 12 hrs. 10 mins. Multi-manned flights...... 12 2 Rendezvous ...... 12 2 Maneuverable spacecraft...... 12 1 108 APPENDIX E

United States Space Launch Vehicles

~~~~ Thrust Height Payload (pounds) (in thou- Max. less Vehicle Stages Propellant sands of dia. space- 300 NM First pounds) (feet) craft orbit Escape launch (feet)

Scout...... 1. Algol (IIB) ...... Solid ...... 100.9 3.3 64.4 320 50 1 1965 (60) 2. castor 11...... Solid ...... 60.7 3. 11...... Solid ...... 20.9 4. Altair I11 or FW4. Solid ...... 5.9 Thrust-augmented 1. Thor (SLV-2A) LOX/RP...... 172 11 90 1,200 250 1966 (60) Thor Delta. Plus three TX 33-52.. . Solid ...... 2 54 2. Delta (DSV-3). .. IRFNANDMH.. . 7.5 3. F WAD...... Solid ...... 5.9 Thrust-augmented 1. Thor (SLV-2J) LOX/RP...... 3 170 11 105 1, 590 1968 (60) Thorad-Delta. Plus three TX 354-5.. . Solid ...... 2 52 2. Delta (DSV-3). .. IRFNA/UDMH.. . 7.8 3. FW-4D...... Solid ...... 5.9 Thrust-augmented 1. Thor (SLV-2H) LOX/RP...... 170 11 80 2,900 ...... 1966 (60) Thorad-Agena. plus. three TX 354-5. .. Solid...... 2 52 2. Agena ...... IRFNANDMH.. . 16 Atlas-Agena...... 1. Atlas booster and LOX/RP...... 450 10 100 7,500 1,430 1968 (60) sustainer (SLV- 3A). 2. Agena ...... IRFNA/UDMH.. . 16 Titan IIIB-Agena. .... 1. Two LR-87...... NaO4/Aeroaine.. .. 440 10 112 8, OOo 1,550 1966 2. LR-9 1...... NaO4/Aerozine. ... 100 3. Agena ...... IRFNA/UDMH.. . 16 Titan IIIC ...... 1. Two 5-segment Solid...... 2,400 10x30 110 23, OOO 5,200 1965 120" diameter. 2. Two LR-87...... NoO4/Aerozine.. .. 440 3. LR-9 1...... N,O1/Aeroeine. ... 100 4. Transtage...... NaO4/Aerozine. ... 16 Atlas-Centaur...... 1. Atlas booster and LOX/RP...... 450 10 100 9, 100 2,700 1967 (62) sustainer. 2. Centaur (Two LOX/LH ...... 30 RL-IO). Uprated Saturn I. ... 1. S-IB (Eight H-1). LOX/RP ...... 1,600 21.6 142 40,W@...... 1966 2. S-IVB (One 5-2). LOX/LH...... 200 105 NM SaturnV...... 1. S-IC (Five F-1). . LOX/RP...... 7,570 33 4 281 285,000@ 101,500 1967 2. S-I1 (Five 5-2). .. LOX/LH...... 1, 125 105 NM 3. S-IVB (One 5-2). LOX/LH...... 225

NOTES:Definitive data are difficult to compile. Payload 3 Plus. capacity data vary according to the place and direction of 4 363 feet, including Apollo modules and Launch Escape launch as well as intended orbital altitude. Vehicles still under System. development may fall short of or exceed their projected capaci- Propellant abbreviations used are as follows : Liquid Oxygen ties, both in payload and in engine thrust. First stage thrust and a modified Kerosene-LOX/RP; Solid propellant com- shown is sea level value. Modifications of existing vehicles bining in a single mixture both fuel and oxidizer-Solid; have already raised their performance, and future modifica- Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid and Unsymmetrical tions may be expected in several cases. In general, these data Dimethylhydrazine-IRFNA/UDMH ; Nitrogen Tetroxide and apply to the latest versions now under development. Aerozine-N204/Aerozine; Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydro- 1 The date of first launch applies to this latest modification gen-LOX/LH. with a date in parentheses for the earlier version. Values marked...... are either zero or not pertinent 2 Each. for the vehicle. APPENDIX F 109

Nuclear Power Systems for Space Applications

Elm- Designation trical Design Application Fuel Status Power life (warn)

SNAP-3 2.7 5yem Navigation satellites (DOD) Plutonium-238 Units launched in June and November, 1961. June unit still operating in orbit, but quantitative performance data not available. SNAP-SA 25 5 years Navigation satellites (DOD) Plutonium-238 Units launched in Septem- ber and December, 1963, are still operating, but at a lower power level. Third satellite failed to orbit in April, 1964. . SNAP-11 25 90 days Moon Probe (NASA) Curium-242 First fueling of a generator with Curium-242 accom- plished in July, 1966. In October fueled unit com- pleted 90-day test under simulated conditions. Generator not used; since no 90-day lunar missions approved. SNAP-1 9 30 1 year NIMBUS B weather Plutonium-238 Nimbus B launch aborted; satellite (NASA) Pu-238 fuel recovered from offshore waters. Replacement unit delivered for use in Nimbus B-2. SNAP-27 50 1 year Apollo Lunar Surface Plutonium-238 Five complete power units Experiment (ALSEP) delivered for ALSEP (NASA) integrated system tests. SNAP-29 500 90-1 20 days Manned and unmanned Polonium-2 10 Detailed design and sub- space applications (DOD components development and NASA) initiated. Fueled systems scheduled for ground test during 1969-70 period. Isotope-Brayton 5,500 5 years with Manned stations, lunar Plutonium-238 AEC will develop isotope System. replace- base (DOD and NASA) source for joint AEC- ment of NASA system ground compon- test in early 1970’s. ents. Navigation Satellite 20 5 years Navigation Satellites Plutonium-238 Development program Generator. POD) initiated. SNAP 1OA 500 1 year Unmanned missions Zirconium hy- Tested in orbit in 1965. dride reactor. Reactor-Thermo- 1-100 kw 1-5 years Manned and unmanned Zirconium hy- Subsystem Technology electric or Mercury mission dride reactor. under development. Rankine. 110 APPENDIX G-1

Space Activities of the United States Government

HISTORICALSUMMARY AND 1970 BUDGETRECOMMENDATIONS JANUARY 1969-N~~OBLIGATIONAL AUTHORITY [In millions of dollars]

NASA Department Total of Defense AEC Commerce Interior Agriculture NSF space Total Space'

1955...... 56.9 56. 9 3.0 ...... 59. 9 ...... , 72.7 72. 7 30.3 7.0 ...... 7.3 117.3 ...... 78.2 78. 2 71. 0 21. 3 ...... 8. 4 178.9 1958 ...... 117.3 117.3 205.6 21.3 ...... 3.3 347.5 305.4 235.4 489.5 34.3 ...... 759.2 523.6 461.5 560.9 43.3 ...... 1 1,065.8 1961...... 964.0 926.0 813.9 67.7 . , . _...... 6 1,808.2 1,824. 9 1, 796. 8 1,298. 2 147. 8 50.7 ..__...... __..._1.3 3,294.8 3, 673.0 3,626. 0 1, 549. 9 213. 9 43.2 ...... 1.5 5,434.5 5,099. 7 5,046. 3 1, 599. 3 210. 0 2.8 ...... 3.0 6,861.4 5, 249. 7 5, 167. 6 1, 573. 9 228. 6 12.2 ...... 3.2 6,985.5 5, 174. 9 5, 094. 5 1, 688. 8 186. 8 26. 5 4. 1 ...... 3.2 7,003.9 1967...... 4,967.6 4,862.2 1,663.6 183.6 29. 3 3.0 ...... 2.8 6,744.5 4, 588. 8 4,452. 5 1, 921. 8 145. 1 28. 1 2.0 0. 5 3. 2 6, 553. 2 1970.. budtret: ---- 1969...... 3,994.9 3,844.8 2,082.5 117.2 20. 2 2. 2 . 7 3. 3 6,070. 9 1970...... 3,760.5 3,599.0 2,218.7 105.5 9. 7 6.0 3. 6 3. 7 5, 946. 2

1 Excludes amounts for aircraft technoloev in 1959 and NOTE: Details mav not add to totals because of roundine.- succeeding years. Amounts for NASA-NACA aircraft and space activities not separately identifiable prior to 1959. Source: Bureau oithe Budget.

U.S. SPACE BUDGET - NEW OBLIGATIONAL AUTHORITY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS 8. 0

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 19170

REQUEST JAN. 1969

NASC STAFF APPENDIX 6-2 111

Space Activities of the United States Government

HISTORICALSUMMARY AND 1970 BUDGETRECOMMENDATIONS, JANUARY 13, 1969-EXF'ENDITURES [In millions of dollars]

NASA Department Total of Defense AEC Commerce Interior Agriculture NSF space Total Space 1

1955...... 73.8 73. 8 ...... 75. 3 71. 1 16.5 6.3 ...... 6.2 100.1 76. 1 47. 5 19. 2 ...... 7.3 150. 1 1958...... 89.2 89. 2 ...... 4.0 248.9 145.6 58. 8 341.0 32.6 ...... 1.5 433.9 401.0 329.2 . . 888.4 . . . . 744. 3 693.6 710.0 64.3 . .. . 1,257.0 1,225.9 1,028.8 130.0 .9 2,386.6 . . . . 2,552.3 2,516.8 1,367.5 181.0 1. 1 4,078. 6 1964...... 4, 171.0 4, 131.3 1,563.5 220. 1 2. 6 5, 929. 8 . . . 5,092.9 5,035.0 1,591.8 232.2 1966...... , . ., . . . 5,933.0 5,857.9 1,637.4 188. 3 1967...... 5,425. 7 5,336. 7 1,673. 1 183.6 4, 723. 7 4, 595. 3 1,890. 2 146. 5 29. 0 2. 0 0. 5 3. 2 6,666. 7

1969...... , . . . . 4,249.7 4,097.5 2,095.0 117.0 27. 4 2. 2 . 7 3. 2 6, 343.0 1970 3, 950. 0 3, 791. 3 2, 175.0 107. 7 32. 3 3. 0 3. 5 3. 5 6, 116. 3

1 Excludes amounts for aircraft technology in 1959 and NOTE:Details may not add to totals because of rounding. succeeding years. Amounts for NASA-NACA aircraft and space activities not separately identifiable prior to 1959. Source: Bureau of the Budget.

REQUEST JAN. 196 NASC STAFF 112 APPENDIX 6-3

Space Activities Budget

1970 BUDOETDOCUMENT, JAN. 13, 1969 [In millions of dollars]

~~~ New obligational authority Expenditures 1968 1969 1970 1968 1969 1970 actual est. est. actual est. est.

Federal space programs: NASA 1 ...... 4,452. 5 3,844.8 3, 599. 0 4, 595. 3 4, 097. 5 3, 791. 3 Department of Defense ...... 1, 921. 8 2, 082. 5 2,218.7 1,890.2 2,095.0 2,175.0 Atomic Energy Commission ...... 145. 1 117.2 105.5 146.5 117.0 107.7 Department of Commerce ...... 28. 1 20. 2 9. 7 29. 0 27. 4 32. 3 Department of Interior ...... 2. 0 2. 2 6.0 2. 0 2. 2 3.0 Department of Agriculture ...... 0. 5 0. 7 3. 6 0. 5 0. 7 3. 5 National Science Foundation ...... 3. 2 3. 3 3. 7 3. 2 3. 2 3. 5 Total ...... 6, 553. 2 6,070. 9 5,946. 2 6, 666. 7 6, 343.0 6, 116. 3 NASA: Manned space flight ...... 3, 154. 9 2, 510. 2 2, 339. 3 3,096. 6 2, 756. 6 2,412. 6 Scientific investigations ...... 511.0 406. 1 488. 9 583.7 469.5 478.6 Space applications ...... 130.5 124.9 169.6 115.8 126.9 148.9 Space technology ...... 379.8 336.6 340.3 409.6 380.6 358.3 Aircraft technology ...... 136.3 150.2 161.5 128.4 152.2 158. 7 Supporting operations ...... 327.4 349.4 378.4 389.7 363.4 393.3 Adjustments to NOA basis ...... -51.1 +117.5 -117.5 ...... Total ...... 4, 588. 8 3, 994. 9 3, 760. 5 4, 723. 7 4,249. 7 3,950.0

1 Excludes amounts for aircraft technology. Source: Bureau of the Budget.

Aeronautics Budget

[In millions of dollars]

New obligational authority 1968 1969 est. 1970 est.

Federal aeronautics programs: NASA 1 ...... 136.3 150.2 161.5 Department of Defense 2...... 1, 125.5 987.4 1,349.3 Department of Transportation 3-Federal Aviation Agency...... 142.4 - 30.0 0. 0 Total...... 1,404.2 1, 107.6 1,510.8

R&D, RPM, C. of F. 3 R&D, SST. Unobligated balances rescinded in 1969. RDT & E aircraft and related equipment. Source: Bureau of the Budget. INDEX

.. Page Page A-7 senes aircraft______41 Argentina ______31 AC-130 Gunship I1______42 Argonne National Laboratories______32 Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft Arms Control and Disarmament Agency______91 ( AMSA) ______42 Amy ...... 44,46 Advanced nuclear space technology ______5 1 Army Map Service______46 Advanced re-entry tests ...... 43 Arnold Engineering Development Center_____ 47 Advanced Research Projects Agency ( ARPA) _ 43,70 Asteroids ...... 29 Advanced Turbine Engine Gas Generator Astronauts ______1 (ATEGG) ______44 Rescue and return treaty ______3,4,53 Advanced Vidicon Camera System (AVCS) __ 59 Astronomy 2,55,56,76 Aeronautics ______5, 18, 80-84 ASW aircraft...... 41 Development activity ______19,40,87 ATLAS ______2, 14, 17 Safety ______4,19,80-84 Atmosphere control, spacecraft ______22 Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) ______38,48 Board (AACB) ______33,46 Atomic and molecular astrophysics 78 Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board_--_ 74 Australia ______31,40 Aerospace Research Pilots ______36 Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) ) ____ 4, Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel______34 3 1,58,59,60, 65 Aerothermodynamics ...... 23 Aviation Safety______80 Agriculture, Dept. of ...... 17,53 Balloons ______15 AH-1G (HUEYCOBRA) ______41 Basic measurements- ______65 AH-56A (Cheyenne)...... 41 Belgium ______31,38 Airborne Warning and Control System Bikini.. Atoll ______39 (AWACS) ______45 Bioinstrumentation ______2 1 Aircraft Propulsion Subsystem. Integration Biotechnology _ _ - ______2 1 (APSI) ______44 BIOSATELLITE ______15,71 Air Force ______17,45,47 Brazil ______.. 15, 30, 31,53 Range support______47 Buoys, satellite-interrogated ______58 ALOUETTE ______15,62 C-5A ______-______3, 36, 40 Ames Research Center ______19,22,24 Canada ...... 15,30,31,37,38,61 Antarctica ______56 Celescope, Project ______76 APOLLO ______1, CENTAUR ...... 2, 14, 17 8,9 et seq., 28, 29, 31, 34,48, 89 Cerro Tololo Inter-herican Observatory____ 55 APOLLO Applications Program______9, 12,61 Chemical propulsion ______20 APOLLO Lunar Surface Experiments Package Chemical power ______26 (ALSEP) ______8, Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) program______42 Cloud maps 59,60,61 12,26,48,51 ...... APOLLO/Range Instrumentation Aircraft Coast and Geodetic Survey______58,63 Cobalt-60 thermionic generator ______43 (A/RIA) ______31,39 Combustible gas detector -______24 APOLLO Telescope Mount ______-______13,61 Command and Service Module (CSM) _ 9 et seq., 12 APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SATEL- Commerce, Dept. of ______17,58 LITES ______2, Committee on Atmospheric Sciences______71 8, 15, 17, 25, 30, 58,59, 60,63, 64,65, 67, 88 Committee on SST-Sonic Boom ______74 Applied technology______67 Communications.. Satellite Corp______2, 16, 30,86 ARCAS rocket ______17 Communications satellites______16 113 114 INDEX

Page Page Contamination and interference studies----_- 70 Fog ...... 18 Contracting guide______--_- 32 France ______15, 30,31 COSMOS satellites______61 Fuel cells ______-____-- 43 COSPAR ______-_-_ 69,71 Gas dynamics...... 18,56 Cost reduction ______-_--- 32 Geodetic satellites______17 Data compression______--_- 25 Geological Survey, U.S ...... 53 Deep Space Network ______29 Geometric satellite triangulation______63 Defense, Dept. of ______2,17,36 Georgia, Univ. of ______33 Defense Satellite Communications System---_ 36,37 GEOS ______15,17,24,38,39 Defining space______-_-____91 Germany ______30,31,38 Denver Research Institute ______33 Global atmosphere research program--_----- 71 Division of Behavioral Sciences ______72 Goddard Space Flight Center __-______24,25 Division of Biology and Agriculture ______72 Goldstone, Calif ______29 Division. .. of Earth.. Sciences ______--__ 72 Grand Bahama...... 31,54 Division of Engineering______.-__ 73 Guam ...... 40 DODGE ______---_------44 HASP...... 17 EARLY BIRD___-______-_-__16 Hawaii ______--__-______--39 Earth resources satellites ______13 Hazards Identification Committee______35 Earth resources survey ______17,30,53,64 Health, Education and Welfare, Dept. of---- 34 Eastern Test Range ______39 HEOS ...... 4,31 ECHO ______16 HL-10 lifting body ______3,8 Edwards AFB ______40 Human research ______2 1 Eglin AFB ...... 40 Hurlburt, E. 0. Center for Space Research--- 55 Electric Power ______43,50 Hurricanes ______59 Electric Propulsion- _ _ - - __ _ _ - - ____ - - ______25 Icarus, Asteroid ...... 29 Electronics and control...... 23 India ______15,30,31 Electronics Research Center ______18, 22, 24 Indiana Univ ______32 Electrophysics.. .______.. 18 Industry affairs______31 Engineering Division, NSF ______56 Initial Defense Communications Satellite Proj- Engineers, Corps of ______46 ect (IDCSP) ______2,4 Environmental Data Service______58,65 INTELSAT consortium______2,3,53,54,86 Environmental Science Services Administra- INTELSAT satellites______2,3, 16,86 tion ______-___ 15,16,38,58,72 International affairs______30 ESRO satellites...... 4, 15, 17, 31 Interior, Dept. of ______17 ESSA Research Laboratories______58,61 International Civil Aviation Organization ESSA.. satellites ______2, 3, 16, 58, 59, 60 (ICAO) ...... 88 Ethiopia ______31 International Radio Consultative Committee European Launcher Development Org. (CCIR) ______-______- 86,88 (ELDO) ______92 International Telecommunication Union____- 86 European Space Research Org. (ESRO) ____ 15. Iowa, State Univ. of ______15 31,54 Isotopic fuel...... 52 EXAMETNET.. ______31 Exhibits, space______90 Italy ...... 38 EXPLORER ______15,17,30,62 5-2 engine______10 F-14A ______41 Japan ______54 F-15 ______41 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)______24,25 F-106 ______18 Kitt Peak National Observatory______55 F-111 series ______40 Labor relations______32 Federal Aviation Administration______2 1, 80-84 Langley Research Center ______8,18,19,23 Federal Communications Commission__-_- 16,34,86 Lasers ______1,8,18,24,64, 77 Flight dynamics______19 Lawrence Radiation Laboratories______32 Flight Research Center...... 21 LES Satellites______37,38 Fluid dynamics______17 Lewis Research Center ...... 28 INDEX 115

Page Page Life support ______22 Naval Aerospace Medical Institute ______46 Light Intratheater Transport (LIT)______42 Naval Research Laboratory______15,44,61 Lincoln Laboratory______37 Navy Oceanographic Offce______53 Liquid Propulsion ...... 20 Navy, U.S ______17,46 Load Alleviation and Mode Stabilization Navigational satellites_- 2,4, 16, 36, 38, 39,44, 48, 51 (LAMS) ______45 Nellis AFB ______40 Locomotion and restraint aid (LARA) ______22 NERVA ______--____ 8,27,48,49 Long-Distance Point-to-Point System- ______36 Netherlands ______15,38 Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory_-______-_ 49 NIKE-CAJUN ______17 Lunar and planetary programs (unmanned) - 2,3,14 NIMBUS ______.. 16,17,26,48,50,59,60,63 Lunar exploration ______13 Noise alleviation______8,18,22,74,75 Lunar Module (LM)______-______9,12,28 Norway ______15, 30, 31, 38 LUNAR ORBITER ______2,18,46 Nuclear detection ______52 Lunar Science Institute_____-______---_ 70 Nuclear electric power ...... 26,51 Madrid, Spain______-______--29 Nuclear rocket program ______3,27,48 Malagasy ______54 Nuclear safety ______51 MANNED ORBITING LABORATORY Nuclear space systems...... 3,51 (MOL) ______2,4,36 OBSERVATORY satellites- 2,3,14, 17,28,30,31,76 Manned space flight ______-____--___ 1,8 Ocean surface______L-____60 Manned Space Flight Network ______28-29 Office of Scientific Personnel ______72 Office of State Technical Services______33,68 MARINER.. ______.. 14,29,46 Maritime.. Administration______-______, 67 Oklahoma State Univ .______33 Maritime mobile service______87 OPLE ______16 Mars ______14 Orbital Workshop ______13 Marshall Space Flight Center ______-_-____ 23 Outer Space Treaty______91 Materials measurement...... 66 Over the Horizon (OTH) Radar ______43 Materials research ______18,73 PAGEOS...... 17,38,63 Mathematics,.. applied ...... 18 Paris Air Show______5 Mauritius.. ______3 1,54 PEGASUS ______23 Meteontics ______L______77 Peru ______61 Meteorological satellites______2, 16,58,59 PEWEE ______3,8,27,28,48,49 Mexico ______30,31,53 PHOEBUS ______3,8,27,48,49 Midwest.. Research Institute ______33 PILOT ...... 43 Mission Control Center...... 29 PIONEER ______15,17,28,29 Motion sickness______21 Pittsburgh, Univ. of ______32 Mount Hopkins Observatory______78 “Pogo>Y effect______10 Natick Laboratories ______46 President’s Science Advisory Committee_---- 69 National Academy of Engineering______69 Propulsion, air-breathing ______---- 18 National Academy of Sciences______- 69 Princeton University ______56 National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- Property management______32 tration ______8 Radio Astronomy Explorer______28,30 National Aeronautics and Space Council- 5,34,46,69 Radio Attenuation Measurements (RAM), National Bureau of Standards______65 Project ______17,24 National Center for Atmospheric Research RANGER ______2 (NCAR) ______55 Re-entry “blackout”______24 National Environmental Satellite Center Reliability and Quality Assurance Office----- 32 (NESC) ______58,60 Runways ...... 19 National Geodetic Satellite Program--___--_ 31,39 S-IVB SATURN stage ______9,11,28 National Operational Meteoroligical Satellite Sandia Corporation ______.. 32 System ______58 Satellite Control Facility ______--__------40 National Radio Astronomy Observatory______55 Satellite Network ______29,30,77 National Research Council___-______69 Satellite Test Center ...... 40 National Science Foundation ______55 SATURN IB ...... 1,9, 12,28,47 116 e INDEX

Page Page SATURN V ______1,10, 12,47 THORAD-AGENA ______17,50 Scanning electron mirror microscope__------24 Time transfer tests ______63 SCOUT ______17 TIROS ______2,16,58 SECOR ______-____----__. .. 38,39 TIROS Operational Satellite (TOS)______16 Seismological activities- ______- - - _ _ 64 TITAN-AGENA ______16 Semiconductor memory device ______24 TITAN IIIC______1- 36 Sensor study ______65 TITAN ~IIM______--______-_2 SERT______-______-_____----____25 Tools, space ______22 SHAPE Technical Centre______-_-__ 38 Tracking and data acquisition ______28 Shed Light, Project ...... 42 TRANET ______39 SILENT JOE I1 ______- 43 TRANSIT (see navigational satellites) SKYNET______37 Transportation, Dept. of 5,34,80 Small Business Administration____-______33 Tropic Moon I11 42 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory__-___63, 76 Tsunami warning system _-______64 SNAP systems,______8,26,48,50,70 Turbo engines ______44 Solar power.. 26 Tycho Crater ______1,14 Solar radiation measurement______24 United Kingdom______15,31,37,38,54 Solar-terrestrial program______56 United Nations______53 Solid propulsion ______20,2 1 United Nations Conference on Outer Space___ 4, SOLRAD ______--_---__44,61 31,53,60 Sonic boom ______- 17,18,22,74 United States Information Agency ______89 Sounding rockets ______4, 15,17,31,62 University.. programs ______30 SOYUZ ______-____-__-___------3 USSR ______.. 3,5 Space detection and tracking ______40 Van Allen radiation belt ______14 Space Experiments Support Program (SESP) 45 Vandenberg AFB ______2,36 Space power ______25 VELA 38,52 Space Science Board ______69 Vestibular research ______21 Space stations- ______13 Vice President ______5,39 Space suits______22 Voice of, America ______89 Spacetrack ______40 V/STOL ______8,19,22,31,41 Space vehicle systems...... 23 VTOL Integrated Flight Control Systems SPADATS ______-__ 40 (VIFCS) ______45 Spain ______30,31 Wallops Island ______3 1 SPASUR ______--___ 40 Washington-Moscow data exchange______61 STADAN ______76 Wayne State University.. ______-__-______33 START ______43 Weather Bureau ______58,64 State, Dept. of ______31,53 Weather Facsimile Experiment______58,W Stress endocrinology______2 1 Western Test Range ______39 Supersonic Transport (SST) ______3,19,74,81,85 Wisconsin, Univ. of ______76 SURVEYOR ______2,8,14,17,24,28,29 Woods Hole study______70,73 Sweden ______30,31 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) _ 61 Switzerland ______30 X-ray detection...... 25 SYNCOM ______36 X-15 ______8,20 Tactical Stellite Communications Program--__ 36,37 Tech Briefs______32 X-22 ______42 Technological measurements ______66 XB-70 ______8,19 .. . XC-142 ______8,19 Technology.. utilization...... 32 Television ______- ______- _ _ - ______2 XE engine______-______8 Test and training satellite (TETR)______29 XECF engine tests ______49 Thailand ______-_ 31 XV-5B ______.. 8,19 THOR-DELTA ______17 Yaw control, fluidic______23

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