AERONAUTICS AND SPACE 1973

this special aeronautics and space report brought to you by nasa aeronautics and space 1973 these were the highlights this was the year of skylab skylab got off to a shaky start when a heat deflecting micro meteoroid shield was ripped off during launch causing the loss of one solar wing and jamming the other although in orbit the big space station was overheating at a low on power people on the ground however hastily designed a replacement an umbrella-like device that would protect the workshop's thin skin from the hot sun the first crew then used the newly designed sun shade to repair the overheating space station they also deployed the jammed solar wing result an increase in electrical power and a cooler place to work and work they did three separate astronaut crews have lived in skylab for extended periods of time proving that man can withstand prolonged weightlessness by training skylab's onboard telescopes in the direction of the sun the science of solar astronomy has been extended beyond the limits of earth-based observations we're learning more about the sun than ever before information that may one day help us use this giant furnace as a means of generating and controlling energy for use on earth using cameras and remote sensors the crews have accumulated hours and hours of intense observations of the earth observations that have ranged from taking measurements of hurricane ellen over the atlantic ocean to photographing possible huge new mineral deposits in nevada by the time skylab ends more than 42 000 pictures of the earth's surface will have been taken they called her arabella the space spider actually arabella was one of several student experiments on skylab the question raised by a young high school student from massachusetts was can a spider spin a web in the absence of gravity the answer as you can see was yes tiny fish were another subject for study this buck roger-like backpack was also tested the well-dressed space van of the future may very well get about like this american astronauts and soviet cosmonauts trained this year to prepare for a joint space mission in 1975. the two crews will meet and join their spacecraft while in orbit around the earth beyond the rescue capability they will demonstrate it is hoped the complex project will lead to future international cooperative programs it's called the reusable space shuttle taking off like a rocket and landing like an airplane it will virtually replace the way we transport manned and unmanned spacecraft into orbit by the early 1980s to prepare for the shuttle research and development programs continued to move ahead as high-speed wind tunnels were used to help solve the problems of re-entry here undergoing tests are special recoverable booster rockets that will be retrieved after launch other engineers prepare to make shuttle vibration studies finding out where the stress areas are at nasa's flight research center in california the x-24b lifting body was air dropped several times the x-24 is developing maneuvering and landing capabilities for future aerospace vehicles like the space shuttle this is an artist concept of the asteroid belt a scientific spacecraft pioneer 10 spent 210 days passing through the thousands of rocks sand and dust that make up the asteroid belt on its way to this planet jupiter on december 3rd after traveling half a billion miles from earth pioneer 10 returned close-up pictures and scientific data as it passed within 81 000 miles of the giant planet data about its temperature and the makeup of its atmosphere mercury smallest planet in the solar system and closest planet to the sun so close that it's difficult to observe from earth this mariner spacecraft is on its way there now after swinging around venus next february picking up speed from that planet's gravity it will be propelled on toward mercury on march 29 1974 as mariner flies by the tiny planet its two television cameras will return pictures while other instruments probe in an effort to better understand its makeup technicians work around the radio astronomy explorer satellite at the kennedy space center its job is to explore the sources of low frequency radio noise in our galaxy and beyond launched into orbit around the moon it is expected to provide astronomers with a better picture of extraterrestrial radio signals work continued in the preparation of viking the spacecraft scheduled to land on mars in 1976 trying to answer as many questions as possible before landing on the red planet scientists have been attempting to simulate the martian atmosphere progress is also being made in preparing biological sensing devices to determine if life exists there for years nasa has used sounding rockets to probe the region of the earth's atmosphere just below satellite level but above the area where balloons returned data this year was no exception with some 80 launches both here and abroad several of the launches were in support of the manned orbiting skylab comet kahutek is on its way visible between mid-november and late january it will eventually be as bright or brighter than the famous halley's comet of 1910 when kahutek reaches its closest point to the sun on december 28th it will have completed a journey that began about two million years ago four nasa spacecraft sounding rockets balloons skylab ground-based observatories and telescope carrying aircraft like this will team up to form the most comprehensive comet watch ever planned astronomers are eager to determine the elements that make up kahutek elements that should tell us more about the nature and origin of the sun and other planets santa barbara california louisiana and mississippi cleveland ohio all these places like many others have one thing in common each was photographed by the earth resources technology satellite orbiting 570 miles overhead since being launched in mid-1972 the earth resources spacecraft has returned nearly 100 000 pictures of our planet more specifically it is proving extremely useful in such applications as land use and timber inventory crop identification water pollution and improved maps to geologists this area of california looks like this when the appropriate geologic information is superimposed investigators look forward to even more exciting possibilities for operational use in the future for example during this past summer a remote sensing station was tested that can tell when conditions exist for a forest fire to occur in less than an hour valuable fire index data was relayed via the earth resources satellite to the california division of forestry headquarters in sacramento the highly successful experiment has important implications for those areas troubled by forest fires helping verify images from spacecraft are the u2 high altitude earth survey planes flying at altitudes of 65 000 feet the u2 has evolved into a sophisticated research tool in its own right these are just a few of the high quality pictures returned pictures that have spotted smoke from forest fires in california and helped survey the extent of damage done by tree killing tussock moths in washington and oregon the lewis research center in cleveland is seen of a program to explore and demonstrate how navigation of the great lakes may be extended year round ice maps are made with the help of a reconnaissance plane on loan from the u.s army its special radar provides detailed images similar to black and white photographs another plane records ice surface temperatures nasa scientists also regularly fly in coast guard helicopters equipped with the type of radar that measures ice thickness to verify these instrument measurements with actual conditions on the ice surface samples are taken along the flight path the system is expected to be in use this winter making it possible to extend the shipping season and potentially saving millions of dollars nasa's aeronautics program is geared toward improving civil and military aviation noise abatement airport congestion visibility tests short and vertical takeoff planes and all aspects of aircraft safety in great demand are the many simulators that help man work better with his machines some simulators use motion to make the pilot's senses believe he is flying this man-machine integration as it's called tries among other things to determine the proper roles for humans and computers emphasis continues on the rapidly growing class of planes used by individuals or as executive aircraft consider the problem of wake turbulence tornado-like patterns of air the trail behind large jets these vortices as they are called pose a hazard for smaller lighter weight aircraft following in their wake through laboratory and wind tunnel tests and actual in-flight analysis nasa is studying ways to break up the whirling air masses eliminating the danger to smaller planes a research program is underway to identify acceptable airplane ride qualities these passengers respond to a variety of vibrations and motions without actually flying simulators like this one at the langley research center are used to study passenger response under controlled conditions the simulator work is correlated with flight tests at the flight research center volunteer passengers read write eat and drink typical passenger activities during the flight they evaluate the degree of motion and electronically record their rating the us army flying crane helicopter is a unique machine when the helicopter developed excessive vibrations under certain payload conditions the army was assisted by nasa in solving the problem the solution developed involved bonding stiff lightweight boron epoxy materials to the aluminum frame the process eliminated the problem and provided a weight saving of 60 pounds besides so successful has the composite materials program been that test applications are planned for the wing rudder and aileron components of large transport aircraft at the flight research center test pilots are flying a plane without having to leave the ground actually it's a new way of flight testing advanced aircraft that's both more economical and less hazardous a typical flight involves air launching a large scale model from high altitude a research pilot in a realistically recreated cockpit on the ground complete with flight controls flies the remotely piloted craft using computers and television the television camera is installed in the model where the pilot would normally sit this view is then transmitted to the test pilot since the research pilot on the ground has direct control over the model he is able to perform high risk flight maneuvers such as stalls and rolling at the end of a typical nine minute test flight the model is lowered by parachute in the final stages it is recovered in mid-air by a helicopter and brought gently to the ground for reuse speed and fuel consumption these factors have great impact on the design and performance of future aircraft this air force plane the yf-12 is being test flown to study such things other areas of research include heating flight stability and control structural dynamics gust response and since the plane cruises at three times the speed of sound at seventy five thousand feet the physics of the earth's upper atmosphere manned space flight space science and applications aeronautics and research and development 1973 a year of significant achievement this special report brought to you by nasa the national aeronautics and space administration