nasa the national aeronautics and space
administration presents aeronautics and
space report 1968 the year of Apollo a
year in which a decade of research and
development began to be realized the
Apollo three-man spacecraft and moon
rocket were proved ready for trips to
the moon
satellites like oh go pioneer and
orbiting astronomical observatory added
a wealth of scientific knowledge about
our own planet earth and the universe
airplanes that take off and land
vertically were flight tested as well as
planes without wings prototypes of
wingless spacecraft of the future these
are Aeronautics and Space highlights the
moon not nearly as mysterious as it used
to be has been photographed landed on
dug into and chemically sampled surveyor
7 was the last in a series of unmanned
spacecraft to land there reflecting on
surveyors contributions dr. William
Pickering director NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory surveyor accomplished
everything that we had hoped for from
that mission five out of the seven
surveyors which were launched landed
successfully on the surface of the Moon
and operated on the surface would be
severe photographs we were able to show
that landing a manned spacecraft on the
moon is quite a reasonable undertaking
and in fact that the man is will be able
to walk on the stuff to the moon without
danger of falling through or thinking
into the dust at any great depth we were
able to measure the bearing strength of
surface we were able to get the general
appearance of the surface to point out
for seven that in certain areas of the
moon at least there were not very many
large rocks which has to be contended
with but there were of course numerous
smaller and smaller craters we also
found the first chemical analysis of the
first of the moon by Professor perkovic
his experiment and this showed that in
the areas that we landed the rock or the
surface material rather was very similar
to a basalt here on the earth we were
also able to dig in the surface and get
an idea of the
of the feel of the surface as we went
down a little bit below the surface for
a matter of a few inches the material is
very much like a soft fan to begin JPL
is also applying its scientific know-how
to Mars flying by initially landing and
testing in the future the experimental
model of a wheel shaped planetary
landing craft is one of several Landers
being considered
in an effort to learn more about the
possibility of life on Mars the lab
again sent a scientific team to the
Antarctic carefully collected soil
samples in this and other desert areas
were returned and subjected to rigorous
analysis the Sun seething and turbulent
affecting every living thing on earth by
studying it we can learn more about our
own environment interplanetary Pioneer
spacecraft are doing just that 2 were
launched in 1968 at one point in their
voyage millions of miles into space they
passed directly behind the Sun the data
being returned is helping improve
weather forecasting and adding a measure
of protection to Mumbai last Ranaut's by
forecasting solar activity
also helping us learn more about the
earth's environment orbiting geophysical
Observatory oh go 5 by studying such
things as our magnetic field and
radiation belt solar flares and solar
wind we gain new insight into the
complex Earth's Sun relationship
some 454 relatively small sounding
rockets probed into the region below
where satellites operate giving a
detailed scientific picture of the
Earth's lower and upper atmosphere Radio
Astronomy Explorer one of five Explorer
type spacecraft launched here dr. John
Findlay chairman us lunar and planetary
missions board explains its job an
important project of the offices of
space science and applications this year
is the radio astronomy Explorer
satellite while gran based radio
telescopes such as this hundred and
forty foot instrument can observe at the
short radio wavelengths the radio
astronomy Explorer will make its
measurements at wavelengths of several
hundred meters in fact beyond the edge
of the radio window from the results of
this satellite we shall make maps of the
brightness of the radio sky and these
will help us find out how our own galaxy
generates and radiates radio waves the
heaviest and most sophisticated
satellite to be launched in 1968 was the
orbiting astronomical observatory oh eh
oh the Earth's atmosphere limits and
distorts the Stars viewed by astronomers
from the ground but oao rises above all
this it's eleven telescopes are viewing
the stars with a clarity never before
possible mapping the skies and providing
a better understanding of the origin of
the solar system and universe
shortly after launch nimbus be an
experimental weather satellite plunged
into the Pacific just off the coast of
California when a gyroscope
malfunctioned divers recovered two
valuable nuclear powered generators
about 300 feet down advanced research
and technology moved ahead on many
fronts in 1968 the wingless HL 10
lifting body made 13 flights including
two with sustained rocket propulsion the
flatiron shaped craft gets its
aerodynamic lift from the wingless body
shape lifting bodies show promise as
reusable spacecraft of the future
spacecraft that can land like
conventional airplanes after nine years
and nearly 200 flights to the edge of
space the rocket-powered x-15 program
was brought to a close with eight final
flights in 1968 the half claimed half
rocket x-15 has been a unique flying
testbed for researching aeronautics and
space problems
the giant xb-70 flying at three times
the speed of sound made 13 research
flights gathering data for use in the
development of large supersonic aircraft
NASA also conducted extensive flight
studies on several types of vertical
takeoff and landing planes feet tall as
they are called our craft that can rise
vertically then fly forward like any
other airplane V tall's may one day be
used as intercity transports improving
short haul air transportation much
aeronautical research is done with
models in this particular test a highly
instrumented model is dropped from a
helicopter then flown by radio control
from the ground this type of study makes
the most rigorous tests possible without
endangering valuable planes
jet aircraft noise is a continuing
national problem nASA has been attacking
the problem in two ways first by
attempting to design a new quieter
engine and second by modifying existing
engine so they make less noise on this
plane engineers at the Lewis Research
Center in Cleveland are trying out
various engine modifications to
determine the effect on the planes
performance it has been found that by
cutting grooves in airport runways
planes landing on rain-soaked surfaces
can land with less chance of skidding
and stop easier these studies were
continued in 1968 some of the braking
tests were made with specially
instrumented cars on the groove runways
the results now appear to have
application to highways as well as
airport landing strips
at the nuclear rocket development
station in Nevada NASA in cooperation
with the Atomic Energy Commission
test-fired a powerful nuclear rocket
reactor the tests are part of an effort
to develop nuclear powered rockets for
future deep space exploration Apollo can
be likened to a finely tuned watch men
and space machines are perfected to the
highest degree possible in most cases
the astronauts who fly the spacecraft
trained separately but concurrent with
the build-up and development of the
space machines themselves when brought
together they must mesh smoothly there
is little room for error Apollo is like
this and the men who fly and the men who
build know it there were four Apollo
flights in 1968 two unmanned two men all
part of the preparation for moon
landings Apollo 5 sent aloft to check
out the lunar module it is in a lunar
module that two astronauts will land and
take off from the moon both the descent
engine used to slow the spacecraft for
the landing and the ascent engine which
will boost the pair off the moon were
successfully tested to further ready the
Saturn five rocket and its many
components the unmanned apollo 6 was
launched into Earth orbit engineering
cameras onboard recorded the first stage
& interstate separations after 10 hours
in space the command module was rammed
back into the Earth's atmosphere
simulating a lunar return another
milestone in preparing for moon missions
the next step check out the spacecraft
with men aboard here astronaut Shara
cunningham and isley move about
weightlessly in their Apollo 7
spacecraft
this was also the first full dress
rehearsal for the manned space flight
tracking network 14 ground stations
located in such places as Bermuda
Australia Spain and Hawaii together with
planes and tracking ships kept a
constant electronic ear tuned to the
Apollo spacecraft after ten days and 163
revolutions Apollo 7 splashed down in
the Pacific paving the way for the first
half million mile journey to the moon
and back from launch complex 39a at
Kennedy Space Center the Saturn five
rocket boosted Apollo 8 astronauts
Borman Lovell and Anders toward their
rendezvous with the moon the first time
the big rocket was flown with men as
passengers while enroute the crew kept
busy checking and double-checking all
systems as they sped toward the moon
many of the things they did will have a
direct bearing on future lunar missions
nearly three days and 230,000 miles
later the crew of Apollo 8 fired their
rocket engine placing them in lunar
orbit
here are some of the views recorded by
the crew as they orbited the moon 10 *
views from afar and close up showing
remarkable detail the kind of detail
needed before men Lander
then the cameras and spacecraft were
turned toward earth and after three days
in the fiery re-entry landed in the
Pacific within sight of the recovery
ship
Apollo 8 final flight of the Year
historic prelude to lunar landings and
to the peaceful exploration of space in
the future this has been an aeronautics
and space report presented by nasa the
national aeronautics and space
administration