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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0064.PDF
60 Missiles and Spaceflight Making it Clear? In the House of Commons on December 13, Mr John Eden asked the Prime Minister "which Ministers have a Departmental responsibility for research into and development of the opportunities of space technology; what are the particular sphere of responsibility of each Minister concerned; and which Mini ster is required to co-ordinate their various activities.'' Mr Mac- millan replied: "There is a distinction between the capacity to launch a vehicle into space and the particular uses which may be made of that capability. My right hon Friend the Minister of Aviation has a general responsibility for space technology. In consultation with him, the Minister for Science, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary of State for Air and the Postmaster-General are responsible, respectively, for scientific, defence, meteorological and communications aspects of space research." In a supplementary question Mr Eden again asked who was responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the various depart ments. Mr Macmillan's reply appeared to indicate that nobody was responsible for this, and that "broadly speaking, this system is working satisfactorily." Huntsville Concentrates A further step to relieve the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville of projects unconnected with the Saturn launch vehicle is the decision, announced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on December 12, to trans fer the NASA Agena programme, with its associated Atlas and Thor boosters, from Marshall to the Lewis Research Center at Cleveland. This transfer is expected to be complete in about three months. Ranger Improvements A Board of Inquiry set up by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has found that "certain improvements" could be made in the design, construction, system test and checkout of the Ranger spacecraft, which could contribute to increased flight reliability. These improvements are to be made, and the Ranger 6 craft, which was being readied for launch early this year, will not be flown but will be subjected to an intensive test programme. For this reason, NASA state, the Ranger launch schedule will be delayed by several months. Delta's Bigger Boost The Delta launch vehicle used to place the Relay 1 satellite in orbit on December 13 was the first example of an improved version of the rocket designated DSV-3B. A higher- thrust first-stage engine and increased second-stage tankage are The Mercury type of emergency escape tower, which carries the space craft clear of the booster in case of emergencies on the pad or in the early stages of flight, is being adopted for the three-man Apollo craft. This is the Apollo escape-tower rocket, being developed by Lockheed Propulsion Company under subcontract to North American FLIGHT International, JO January 1963' Pointing finger of a NASA engineer at Langley Research Center indicates: an early scale model of the lunar excursion module for Project Apollo. Full-scale models of the craft are being built and tested at the new lunar landing research facility at Langley used in the new version which, according to the Douglas company,, has an increased payload capability (from 5001b to 8001b in a 300- mile Earth orbit). The Relay 1 launch represented the fourteenth consecutive success for the Delta vehicle. Main data for the Delta DSV-3B include: first-stage thrust, 172,0001b, burn time, 146 sec; second-stage thrust, 7,5001b, burn time, 165sec; third-stage thrust, 2,7601b, burn time, 42sec. Space-age Education The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has selected 88 colleges and universities to receive graduate training grants for the 1963-64 academic year. It is anti cipated that approximately 800 graduate students, engaged on "space-oriented" research, will participate. The purpose of the grants, NASA states, is "to help achieve the long-range objectives of the national space programme and meet the nation's future needs for highly trained scientists and engineers. These skills are in short supply today and will be needed in increasing numbers over the next decade." Photographing Meteors A network of 16 stations to photograph meteors is being established by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under a $42,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Automatic cameras will take photo graphs on every clear night from dusk to dawn; from a comparison of pictures taken by different stations estimates of the trajectories and impacts point of the meteors will be obtained; and attempts will be made to locate, recover and analyse them. Inventors' Awards The following cash awards for inventions were made to National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel last month:— For the design of the Mercury spacecraft, $4,200 to Maxime A. Faget, Andre J. Meyer, R. G. Chilton, Jerome B. Hammack and C. C. Johnson of the Manned Spacecraft Center, W. S. Blan- chard of Langley Research Center and A. B. Kehlet, formerly of the Langley Center. For development of Mercury-type caps-ale escape tower, $1,500 to Maxime A. Faget and Andre J. Meyer. For invention of Mercury-type vehicle parachute and equipment jettison system, $1,000 to Andre J. Meyer. For development of Mercury-type astronaut's couch $2 100 to Maxime A. Faget and Jack Heberlig of the Manned Spacecraft Center. For development of an ablation rate meter, $2,000 to Emedio M. Bracalente and Ferdinand C. Woolson of Langley Research
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