the hydrogen and the oxygen levels are
staying in their replenish boat this was
the matter of their amazing a space
shuttle it was also the year of a
picture-taking unmanned Voyager to
Saturn and in aeronautics it was the
year to begin major flight tests of
research aircraft
as astronauts John Young and Robert
Crippen headed for the launch pad they
represented more than being the pilots
of this country's first space shuttle
flight they represented years of hard
work by thousands of people and
businesses both large and small what's
the Columbia's maiden flight was brief
cost fifty four and a half hours
thirty-six orbits we return to Earth but
it signaled the beginning of a reusable
space transportation system
astronauts Joanne go and get food clue
columbia into space again while an
imaging radar system mapped the stamp
earth the crew made a critical test of a
canadian developed mechanical arm giving
you list to post payloads into and out
of orbit on future flights even though
the second mission is shortened from
five days to two days because of a fuel
cell problem the crew managed to carry
out nearly all major tests
as Columbia landed the second time the
circle was complete a new generation of
space travel had begun looking ahead to
1983 and beyond NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center began training space lab
crews when placed inside the cargo bay
of the shuttle orbiter Space Lab
converts the shuttle into a research
center that will be used by scientists
from around the world planned our
experiments in communications and
weather forecasting crop surveys
manufacturing astronomy and life
sciences a mobile workstation a concept
developed by NASA's Langley Research
Center was tested underwater at
marshalls neutral buoyancy facility the
mobile workstation may be used by future
astronauts to construct large platforms
or antennas in Earth orbit it allows a
pair of pressure suited astronauts to
move horizontally and vertically and
build systems that are too large or
complex to fold up and transport aboard
the shuttle as Columbia took its place
in the history books a small unmanned
spacecraft voyager 2 made its mark a
billion miles from Earth voyager 2
approached and passed by the planet
Saturn and its 17 fascinating moans
taking thousands of pictures and making
detailed scientific measurements as it
went
those music like sounds occurred as tiny
particles hit and bounced off Voyager
tues plasma wave detector antenna
Saturn's vast ring system is made up of
many small particles that orbit the huge
planet in wave-like patterns one
instrument on board Voyager 2 actually
measured the thickness of Saturn's rings
and found that the edge of the main ring
system is remarkably thin less than 500
feet thick its atmosphere is dominated
by a strong equatorial jet stream that
blows eastward at 1,200 miles per hour
those storm systems are something like
hurricanes here on earth and other means
by which the internal heat energy of
Saturn may feed the high-speed jet
streams themselves as Voyager swept by
it detected hot gases surrounding Saturn
that are 600 million 2 1,000,000,000
degrees Fahrenheit the hottest gases
ever observed in the solar system for
the Voyager team's years of analysis lie
ahead in the meantime the small
spacecraft will be watched and guided
toward its rendezvous with the planet
Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989
preparations continued at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and in the
Netherlands to make ready iris the
infrared astronomy satella now scheduled
for launch in 1982 iris will make a
comprehensive survey of the entire sky
mapping possibly a million
for rent sources many previously unknown
the results are important because most
infrared light from the stars and other
cosmic sources is blocked out by the
Earth's atmosphere scientists have been
studying the planet Venus for years and
a large number of them recently met in
an international conference to compare
their new findings apparently there are
two major volcanic regions on the thick
crusted Venus that serve as escape
valves for the planets seething internal
heat Venus clouds are upside down and
are made up of a smog layer and a layer
of sulfuric acid droplets that produce
drizzle but seldom hard rain during its
early history Venus may have been
earth-like with cooler temperatures and
an ocean when the Space Telescope is
launched and begins operating in 1985 it
will send electronic data to a newly
established Space Telescope Science
Institute at Johns Hopkins University
the Space Telescope will provide
astronomers with 24-hour views of the
sky of unprecedented clarity this
specially outfitted c-141 the kuiper
airborne observatory is operated by
NASA's Ames Research Center in
California the kuiper Observatory
routinely takes astronomers and their
instruments to altitudes above most of
the Earth's distorting atmosphere from
there they can examine distant galaxies
and study their vast energy some of
NASA's high-flying picture takers look
down rather than up down at the earth
that is
the high-altitude u2 aircraft is a good
example in addition to aerial mapping
cameras these planes carry air sampling
devices to study the protective ozone
layer in our atmosphere they are also
helping to locate new water sources
assess flood damage and fight forest
fires to Landsat satellites continue to
orbit the Earth 14 times a day from
their 570 mile high vantage point they
return images like these taken over rich
California farmlands telltale red images
indicate vigorous vegetation growth the
state of California is using Landsat
imagery to inventory and map its
irrigated cropland not all of NASA's
research has application to airplanes or
spacecraft sometimes that situation is
reversed on a little-used runway within
sight of where the space shuttle
Columbia already landed twice engineers
are studying how to make tractor
trailers and weekend motorhomes more
fuel efficient using known aerodynamic
techniques the corners and underbody of
this van were rounded result seventy
percent lower drag with a 30-percent
fuel savings just by reducing the air
resistance as the van traveled along
these encouraging results may help
change the shape of many vehicles in the
future this car can be driven thousands
of miles without ever moving only the
wheels spin to simulate driving it is
part of a program that the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory has been involved
in for the Department of Energy since
the late 1970s the research is aimed at
making electric powered cars competitive
with those we now use for our regular
shopping or commuting around town
much of the activity this past year
focused on finding batteries that will
last longer and have an operating range
of 75 to 100 miles per day since May
residents of the Pacific Northwest have
been receiving some of their electricity
from an old power source gathered here
at good no Hills Washington by the
largest wind turbines in the world 350
feet tall with blades the length of a
football field the three
computer-controlled turbines represent
the first wind farm a cluster of wind
generators working together to act as a
single power source built as part of the
Department of Energy's federal wind
energy program the trio of wind turbines
are managed by the Lewis Research Center
and provides seven and a half million
watts of electricity to the Bonneville
Power Administration enough to power
nearly 2,000 of the area's homes NASA
launch satellites for a variety of users
including a new comstar communication
satellite for the COMSAT general
corporation also launched was the second
in a series of improved weather
satellites those five for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
in aeronautics the NASA Army xB 15
children an experimental vertical
takeoff and landing aircraft completed
proof-of-concept flight tests at the
Ames Research Center a pair of 25-foot
propellers mounted on engines at each
wingtip enabled the tiltrotor to take
off and land like a helicopter once in
the air the engines are rotated forward
and the XV 15 becomes an airplane
capable of flying at speeds up to 350
miles per hour
a tilt rotor speed and comfort would
make it an ideal intercity transport it
could also be the most economical way to
serve as oil rigs more than a hundred
miles from shore and because of its
speed and endurance the tiltrotor could
be used to carry out long-range rescue
operations searching for three and a
half hours then flying survivors to a
hospital 200 miles away another plane
the quiet short-haul research aircraft
or q s ra performs exceptionally well in
short takeoff and landing operations by
directing its own exhaust over the
plains upper wing the q sra is able to
improve its short takeoff and landing
performance the cue sras simple but
versatile systems permit a wide variety
of flight investigations that are
providing important data to the american
aerospace industry following a hard
landing from 12 feet it was decided not
to repair the x 14 be vertical takeoff
and landing airplane the X 14 B is
really a very sophisticated electronic
flying simulator and has been used as a
research tool it aims for the past 20
years the largest wind tunnel in the
world with a test section of 40 x 80
feet is being made even larger six new
twenty two thousand five hundred horse
powered drive motors are shown here
being installed in the Ames facility
when complete the improvements will add
an 80 x 120 foot Test section capable of
handling full-scale aircraft with
engines running it will also increase
the air flow in the existing 40 x 80
foot test section by 115 miles per hour
this busy wind tunnel has been operating
two shifts a day for the last 30 years
although this prototype propeller will
never help pull an airplane through the
air it may very well be the forerunner
of ones that may attend bladed high
speed turboprop was tested in a wind
tunnel at the Lewis Research Center in
the quiet fuel-efficient propellers were
also flight tested at the Dryden
facility in California from the
successful missions of the space shuttle
to the flyby of the planet Saturn 1981
was a busy and productive year for NASA
in both aeronautics and space
this special report brought to you by
nasa the national aeronautics and space
administration