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Aviation History
1971
1971 - 2022.PDF
MOON EXPLORATION IDEA FOR VIKING A modified version of the Mars Viking Lander could be used to continue lunar exploration automatically, according to a study carried out by Martin Marietta for Nasa's Langley Research Centre. The results of the study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics by Mr G. Lawrence of Langley Centre, manager of the Mars project. The study found that the Viking could carry out a variety of automated Moon missions with "surprisingly few modifications." Two Viking spacecraft are to be sent to Mars, to arrive in 1976. Orbiter sections will remain circling the planet while Lander sections descend to the surface. The Mars spacecraft will have both parachute and breaking rockets for descent, but, as the Moon has no atmosphere, an appropriate vehicle would require substitution of a larger engine for the parachute and heat shield. A number of possibilities were considered. One advan tage of the Orbiter/Lander combination is that the Orbiter could provide a communication relay so that the Lander could be put down on the far side of the Moon. It was also suggested that an appropriately modified Lander section could carry a scaled-down and automated version of the Apollo lunar rover, much in the vein of Russia's Luna 17/Lunokhod arrangement. Again, the Viking could be equipped with a Luna 16-type sample-collecting section which could return from 91b, 4kg up to 251b, 13kg of lunar soil to Earth. The cost of the unmanned Moon exploration programme using Viking spacecraft was not estimated in the study, but Mr Lawrence said that "such a project could be very attractive from the standpoint of costs." REUSABLE SATURN BOOSTER PROPOSED Boeing has suggested to Nasa that wings could be fitted to the first stage of a Saturn V to form an unmanned reusable booster for the space shuttle. The proposal was submitted as part of an interim report during a four-month extension to the shuttle study contracts. Nasa, originally hoping to make a decision on its approach to the shuttle programme before the end of the year, may now postpone such a decision until next spring. The proposed configuration, designated the RS-IC, would use the standard Saturn F.l engines and envisages use in the orbiter of the J.2 engines which power the Saturn upper stage. Such engines, however, would offer only about ten flights, compared with 100-flight reusability of the space shuttle main engine. The idea was forwarded, however, as an alternative to the plan for use of an interim disposable booster as a means of staggering development and reducing peak expenditure. The Boeing proposal is being received with mixed feeling in Nasa, some fears being expressed that even the limited reusability might lead to indefinite postponement of the fully reusable booster. Another disadvantage, however, is that the RS-IC would require up to double the specified 14-day turn-around time for the shuttle. SITE SELECTION QUANDARY FOR APOLLO 17 Nasa hopes to make a final decision on the landing site for the last Moon mission, Apollo 17, before the end of the year. Possibly the hardest decision yet required of Nasa in the Apollo programme, the selection will nevertheless be made as early as possible in order to leave ma!5B| for applied crew training. ^^^^i^^B Mr Lee Scherer, director of lunar exploration, said^JB recently "I can't thing of any other single decision in | Apollo as important. We're starting our final site selection sequence much earlier because we realise it's going to be * very difficult to get an opinion." He added that "the , important thing is to obtain the greatest amount of , information, before closing the books on Apollo, that will help us make the right decision in the future. Since it is * the last site, we're going to consider . . . every clue that * exists." The crater Alphonsus was selected last June as the prime candidate for Apollo 17 and still remains so. Scientists, | however, are examining material and data from the Apollo 15 mission to see whether any other accessible sites might prove even more scientifically productive. Also under consideration are the crater Gassendi, lying south of the Ocean of Storms, and areas near the edge of the Sea of ' Crisis. . NEW SPACECRAFT CONTROL COMPUTER Honeywell has developed a new low-power spacecraft- control computer for use in a wide range of unmanned space missions. The 231b, 10kg HDC.401 computer uses 26-9W of power to provide a one microsecond memory cycle time, and is being included as part of the control system which the company is developing for use in Nasa's Applications Technology Satellites F and G. Two parallel 401s will be used in each spacecraft. The computer has been under development since 1967. Two prototypes and four flight models are to be delivered before July next year to Fairchild industries, prime con tractor for the ATS spacecraft. Honeywell is providing the complete control systems under a $10 million contract Flight last week, page 492). EOLE BALLOONS ACCIDENTALLY DESTROYED Seventy-two French meteorological balloons were lost recently when France's Eole satellite, which was intended to interrogate the balloons, was instead accidentally instructed to destroy them. A total of 141 balloons, carrying meteorological sensors, had been released in the Southern Hemisphere since the satellite was launched on August 16 Flight, August 26, page 343). Eole was designed to relay , the balloon-gathered data to Earth, but a programming error led to it firing the destruct charges on half of them. The satellite can interrogate a large number of balloons simultaneously, and is to operate for 180 days, while up to 500 balloons are released. The destruct signal, which was received by Eole on its 364th orbit, originated from a con trol centre at Bretigny. CNES, the French, national space organisation, considered that the programme will still prove satisfactorily valuable. NEW SOUNDING ROCKET A new two-stage sounding rocket is being developed by Thiokol Chemical Corporation for the US Air Force's Cambridge Research Laboratory. The rocket, to be known as the Ute-Tomahawk, is designed to reach altitudes of from 160 miles to 190 miles. The Ute-Tomahawk will add to the wide range of vehicles already produced by Thiokol, which includes the exten sively used Nike-Tomahawk as well as the D-region Tomahawk, the Bullpup-Cajun and the Bullpup-Apache. In addition to the European Space Research Organisation, Japan, Canada and a number of European countries are customers for Thiokol-built rockets. Orbital practice At least one doctor is likely to partici pate in the Skylab programme. All four doctors in the astronaut corps are training for Skylab, according to Nasa administrator Dr James Fletcher, who expressed his recog nition of the value of having doctors perform Skylab medical experiments.
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