Appendix B MAJOR NASA LAUNCHES, 1975 The following table of major NASA launches includes payloads carried by all rocket vehicles larger than sounding rockets launched in 1975 by NASA or under NASA direction. During 1975, the U.S. had 34 launches of which 28 were successful. Of these, 7 were launches by DOD. The remaining 21 were NASA launches, 10 for its own program, including ASTP in July; the two Viking spacecraft launched toward Mars in Aug. and Sept.; 3 applications satellites, Landsat 2, Geos 3, and Nimbus 6; and 4 scientific satellites-Oso 8, Sas-C (Explorer 53, launched by an Italian crew from the San Marco platform into an equatorial orbit); AE-D (Explorer 54), and AE-E (Explorer 55). In 1974, NASA had launched only one all-U.S. scientific payload. Launches for others included 3 spacecraft for DOD; 3 comsats-Intelsat IV in May and Intelsat IVA in Sept., and the RCA Satcom 1; 2 for NOAA, Sms 2 in Feb. and Goes 1 in Oct.; and 3 international satellites-Anik for Canada in May, Cos-B for ESA in Aug., and Symphonie 2 in Aug. for the West GermanFrench consortium. The table includes vehicle and payload performance under categories S for successful, P for partially successful, and U for unsuccessful. A fourth category (Unk) indicates payloads that did not operate because of vehicle failure. The categories, which are unofficial, do not take into account that U missions may produce valuable information, or that payloads with a longlife design may fail to meet design requirements and become officially unsuccessful at a later date. Further information on these launches appears in Appendix A and in the indexed entries in the text. Remarks Circular sun-synchronous near-polar orbit; companion to Erts 1, launched 1972. Operated by NOAA after 10 Mar.; used with Sms 1 for 24-hr coverage of western hemisphere; to be used with Goes 1 in future operational system. Classified payload Circular orbit; demonstrated use of satellite altimeters for mapping ocean surfaces; conducted successful satellite-to-satellite tracking with Ats 6. Decayed 29 May; classified payload. Third small astronomy satellite; extended spectral range and longer continuous observation. Last of 3 comsats launched by NASA for Canada under a 1971 agreement. Seventh and last successful Intelsat IV satellite; launched by NASA for Comsat General Corp; commercial operations began June 1975. Most sophisticated metsat yet developed; near-polar circular orbit; 9 experiments to obtain data for numerical model. Eighth OSO spacecraft, larger and more sophisticated than previous ones; circular orbit; all 8 experiments active. First international space flight; 4 crew transfers during joint flight of nearly 2 days; crew returned safely 24 July. (WTR) European Space Agency satellite, launched by NASA into highly elliptical near-polar orbit; all spacecraft systems and experiments active. First on-site investigation of surface material of another planet; successful soft landing on Mars 20 July 76. Second of 2 comsats developed jointly by France and Germany; all systems active. Second spacecraft successfully launched to Mars; successful soft landing 3 Sept. 76; successfully returned scientific data. First of improved IVA series, twice the communications capacity of Second of a series of 3 second-generation atmosphere explorers; First operational spacecraft in a series launched by NASA for NOAA; Last of 3 second-generation atmosphere explorers; elliptical First of a series of 3 domestic comsats to be launched by NASA for RCA Corp.; stationary orbit at 119°W; commercial operations to begin March 1976. Appendix C MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS, 1975 A high point in NASA's activity in 1975 was the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, in which three astronauts in the Apollo (ASTP) spacecraft and two cosmonauts in the U.S.S.R. Soyuz 19 flight-tested a mechanism for joining two orbiting manned spacecraft from different countries, in history's first international manned space flight. The ASTP achieved a number of firsts: First space flight involving crews and spacecraft of more than one nation; first linking in orbit of spacecraft of more than one nation; first detection of a pulsar outside earth's galaxy; first separation of live biological materials in space, by electrophoresis; first communications between a manned orbiting spacecraft and ground controllers through an orbiting unmanned satellite (Ats 6). The Soyuz 19 liftoff for ASTP was the first Soviet launch shown on live television, and its parachute descent and landing were the first to be televised live. Of the 28 ASTP experiments, 21 were U.S., 5 were joint U.S.-U.S.S.R., and 2 were West German. All primary mission objectives were met. ASTP was the only U.S. manned flight of the year, and would be the last until the Space Shuttle flights scheduled for the 1980s. The U.S.S.R. attempted 4 manned launches including Soyuz 19 for ASTP; 3 of these were successful. The April anomaly was attributed to a booster failure, and the crew was retrieved safely; the incident called into question the safety of crews during ASTP, but the latter ended successfully. By the end of 1975, the U.S. had made 31 manned space flights: 2 suborbital, 20 in earth orbit, 3 in lunar orbit, and 6 lunar landings, with a total of 43 different crewmen. The U.S.S.R. had made 27 manned flights, all in earth orbit, with 34 cosmonauts. The U.S. total of manned-spacecraft hours in flight was 7681 hr 10 min; the U.S.S.R. total, 5265 hr 3 min. Total cumulative man-hours in space for the U.S. were 22 503 hr 39 min; for the U.S.S.R., 10 734 hr 48 min. |