just as we ever to region we learned
more about two of our planetary
neighbors this year Jupiter and Saturn
scientists launched rockets to improve
methods of studying ozone and the
Earth's upper atmosphere parts of the
new space transportation system were
assembled and rolled out to the launch
pad in a major test and the tiltrotor
research aircraft began making
transition flights one of a number of
aeronautics programs underway
Jupiter largest of the sun's nine
planets was photographed close up by the
voyagers 1 and 2 spacecraft what their
camera eyes recorded as they passed by
the giant planets churning clouds were
ribbon like streaks of red and brown and
yellow the wealth of data and
photographs left behind by the voyagers
are providing scientists a valuable
source of raw material to be studied
from Jupiter's newly discovered ring to
the active volcanoes of aisle one of its
14 surrounding moans the Voyager
discoveries have surprised and delighted
NASA scientists information that may one
day help us better understand our own
earth and the voyagers mission did not
end a Jupiter the two spacecraft are now
speeding toward a rendezvous with Saturn
in 1980 and 1981 acting as Pathfinder
for the voyagers pioneer 11 the 570
pound spacecraft climaxed six and a half
years and a 2 billion mile voyage in
deep space as it swept by Saturn at 70
1,200 miles per hour scientists watched
anxiously as pioneer made its to our
passage of Saturn's rings four times the
spacecraft was hit by small pieces of
debris but emerged safely despite the
collisions pioneer had a closer look at
Saturn that all the observations that
have been made in the last 400 years
photographs show what appeared to be jet
streams swirling around Saturn at 300
miles an hour a new ring circling the
planet's equator and radiation belts
that are more like Earth's in their
intensity and energy levels the pioneer
11 spacecraft dwarfed by the objects it
was sent to observe is speeding out of
the solar system in an endless journey
this is he 03 high-energy astronomy
observatory the last of a series of
spacecraft designed to study deep
regions of the universe where enormous
amounts of energy are
launched from Cape Canaveral he 03 is
now scanning the galaxies for gamma and
cosmic rays in an effort to find clues
about radiation from exploding stars and
black holes high-energy astronomy is
helping us better understand the
universe around us a new tool for the
80s will be the Space Telescope weighing
five tons and measuring 43 feet long by
14 feet in diameter the Space Telescope
will give astronomers unprecedented
views of space unobstructed by the veil
of the Earth's atmosphere the 94 inch
primary mirror largest astronomical
instrument ever to be placed in space is
shown here undergoing initial grinding
and polishing operations at the
PerkinElmer corporation in Danbury
Connecticut about 300 pounds of glass
will be removed during the lengthy
grinding and polishing process the new
telescope Observatory is scheduled to be
placed in orbit by the Space Shuttle in
the 1980s and will circle the Earth at
an altitude of 310 miles this is what
NASA's Space Shuttle will look like
prior to launch shown here during a test
rollout is the Shuttle Orbiter
enterprise sitting on top of its large
external fuel tank and between two solid
rocket boosters the two solid rockets
will be parachuted back to an ocean
landing where they'll be picked up and
made ready for another mission
preparations for the first shuttle
launch continued this year including a
water deluge test 300,000 gallons of
water will be dumped on the spacecraft's
mobile platform at the time of launch to
counteract damaging noise vibrations of
the engines at liftoff the 16 seconds of
waterfall has a sound deadening effect
as the engines fire
the three main engines that will power
the space shuttle Columbia into orbit
were tested at the National Space
Technology Laboratory in Bay st. Louis
Mississippi the main engines are
designed to produce up to four hundred
seventy thousand pounds of thrust loping
a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen
problems in testing the shuttle engines
continue to cause delays one of the two
solid rocket boosters that will burn for
two minutes with the shuttles main
engines during launch is shown laid out
horizontally in preparation for a test
firing the place is the vehicle
corporation near Brigham City Utah each
of the solid rocket boosters produces
2,650,000 pounds of thrust small rocket
engines called thrusters that make it
possible to maneuver the shuttle once in
space were also successfully fired at
NASA's white sands test facility in New
Mexico the hundred fifty four foot
external propellant tank that will hold
1 million five hundred fifty thousand
pounds of fuel for the shuttles three
main engines was rolled out and shipped
to the Kennedy Space Center Florida the
external tank was manufactured at NASA's
Michoud assembly facility by the Martin
Marietta company this is space shuttle
orbiter 102 christened Columbia it was
named for the sea goin Columbia out of
Boston that entered and explored the
mouth of the Columbia River in 1792
Captain Robert gray named the river
after his ship it will be the space
shuttle Columbia that makes the first
trip into orbit around the earth the 122
foot long spaceship which looks like and
lands like an airplane is being molded
into existence by a government industry
team of engineers and technicians 31,000
specially made silica tiles are being
mounted on the surface of Columbia
making it possible for the shuttle to
withstand repeated heating and cooling
good for 100 or more round trips into
space without replacement problems
encountered in installing the protective
tiles have contributed to pushing back
the first shuttle launch by several
months
astronauts john young and bob crippen
will pilot columbia on its maiden voyage
into space they are ready and despite
some troublesome delays along the way
all the parts and pieces of the new
space transportation system are coming
together and approaching launch
readiness there were several major
events that occurred during the year
including adding 35 men and women to the
astronaut roster the 35 completed a 12
month training program and will be the
pilots and mission specialists as the
Space Shuttle becomes operational ten
years ago three American astronauts
lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida two of those men astronauts
neil armstrong and buzz aldrin became
the first humans to set foot on another
planet much attention was given during
the year to the re-entry of Skylab
launched in May 1973 Skylab was manned
by three different three-man crews for
periods of 2859 and 84 days during which
many scientific experiments were
conducted since early nineteen
seventy-four the uninhabited Skylab had
been slowly descending early in the year
it became apparent that the 77 ton space
station would re-enter the atmosphere in
the summer skillful manipulation of
skylabs small amount of maneuvering
capability combined with good fortune
resulted in debris reaching the surface
in the Indian Ocean and in sparsely
populated areas of Australia causing no
damage or injuries in space applications
remote sensing from satellites like
Landsat are being considered more as
operational tools by the departments of
agriculture and interior remote sensing
makes it possible to inventory and
predict world food crops for instance
consider these pictures taken by Landsat
as it tracked the Mexican Gulf oil spill
large area views like this have been
very useful to the US Geological Survey
and the Mexican government
using computers and the goes one weather
satellite NASA is working with the
University of Florida and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
to develop a system to warn citrus
growers when freezing temperatures are
about to occur this type information
alerts growers when they should fire up
their oil heaters to save their crops
from freezing NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center has taken technology
needed to design highly efficient pumps
for rocket engines to develop new
lightweight firefighting water cannons
for the Coast Guard these portable units
can easily be transported where they're
needed and can draw water from anywhere
including the sea with a pumping rate of
1,000 gallons per minute to study the
ozone layer and effects of aerosols on
that region a stratospheric aerosol and
gas experiment satellite called sage was
launched from NASA's Wallops Flight
Center off Virginia's Eastern Shore to
compare the information received from
satellites like sage scientists and
engineers from five countries also
launched 20 small rocket born
experiments from Wallops Island changes
in aerosol concentration may cause
changes in climate with important
implications for agriculture energy
related research is continuing to be
part of NASA's overall effort a wind
energy program supporting the Department
of Energy is just one example the third
in a series of two hundred thousand watt
wind generators began operating on Block
Island Rhode Island it can Electrify up
to 250 homes there during the winter
that's half the permanent residence on
the island a much larger wind turbine
able to produce two million watts of
electricity began operating atop a
mountain in boone north carolina
residents in the papago indian village
of stu Cilic arizona are enjoying
electrical power provided by solar
energy the 3500 wat photovoltaic village
power project was funded by the
Department of Energy the papago tribe
Public Health Service and the four
corners Regional Commission it is
managed by NASA's Lewis Research Center
in Cleveland NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena took delivery of
a new electric test vehicle developed by
General Electric and Chrysler for the
Department of Energy the sleek electric
car is scheduled to undergo extensive
testing etv one can range from between
75 on 120 miles before recharging and
has a top speed of 65 miles per hour at
an estimated operating cost of 18 cents
a mile the car uses 18 lead-acid
batteries good for 30,000 to 50,000
miles and can be recharged by plugging
into an ordinary household outlet for
eight hours a large part of NASA's
efforts are directed toward producing
the advanced technology for future
aircraft case in point the xB 15
tiltrotor the tiltrotor combines the
vertical take-off capability of the
helicopter with the speed range and fuel
economy of a turbo prop airplane rotor
aircraft technology like this could add
new dimensions to air transportation
within the next 20 years the XP 15
research aircraft was developed for NASA
and the army by Bell Helicopter and
recently completed its first in flight
conversion from helicopter to the
airplane flight mode it's called heimat
highly maneuverable aircraft technology
the place is nasa's dryden flight
research center near the Mojave Desert
hi matt is a supersonic research
aircraft that's remotely piloted from
the ground I matt has about twice the
turning capability of the most
maneuverable plane flying today data
from these flight test programs are fed
into a simulator to assess their
application to full scale aircraft
engineers at NASA's Langley Research
Center are
budding aircraft structural design
including improved seat and restraint
systems that could increase the
probability of passenger survival and
also reduce injuries when a general
aviation airplane crashes they do this
by intentionally crashing planes into
the ground at varying angles and speeds
this rocket-assisted crash allowed the
researchers to impact the plane at 90
miles per hour onboard cameras and
instruments give precise information
that can be used to improve the crash
worthiness of future aircraft space
science and applications space
transportation wind and solar energy and
Aeronautics all are a part of the NASA
story this past year
this special report brought to you by
nasa the national aeronautics and space
administration