SPACE EXPLORATION

The United States space program benefits man in many ways: through new knowledge, improved weather forecasting, better global communications and new products, processes, and techniques applicable to industry, medicine and education, among others.

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, supervises the efforts that have, so far, placed America's astronauts "out of this world." Its principal facilities are described below:

NASA Headquarters, Washington, D. C. formulates policy and coordinates the activities of the space flight centers, research centers, and other installations which comprise the Nateional Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California is concerned with laboratory and flight research in space missions and in aeronautics. The fields of space interest include atmosphere entry research, fundamental physics, materials, guidance and control, chemistry and life sciences. Ames aeronautical research includes the areas of supersonic flight, V/STOL aircraft and operational problems. The space flight projects involve management of scientific probes and satellites, and payloads for flight experiments.

Flight Research Center, Edwards, California is concerned with manned flight within and outside the atmosphere, including low-speed, supersonic, hypersonic and reentry flight, and aircraft operations and safety problems. Examples of its studies are lifting bodies (wingless vehicles whose bodies provide lift in the atmosphere) and man-machine integration.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, named for the rocket pioneer, Dr. Robert H. Goddard, is responsible for the development and management of a broad variety of unmanned Earth-orbiting satellite and sounding rockets projects. Among its major projects are Orbiting Observatories, Explorers, Nimbus, Applications Technology Satellites, and Earth Resources Technology Satellites. Goddard is also the nerve center for the worldwide tracking and communications network for both manned and unmanned satellites.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California is operated for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by the California Institute of Technology. The Laboratory's primary role is the investigation of the planets, using automated scientific spacecraft. Jet Propulsion Laboratory is also responsible to NASA for supporting research and advanced development related to flight projects and the design and operation of the Deep Space Network, which tracks, communicates with, and commands spacecraft on lunar, interplanetary, and planetary missions.

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, the Nation's first spaceport, makes preflight tests, prepares, and launches manned and unmanned space vehicles for NASA. Manned Apollo missions, unmanned planetary, and interplanetary missions, and scientific meteorological, and communications satellites are launched by Kennedy Space Center. Some launches are from the Pacific Coast; these are conducted by the KSC Western Test Range Operations Division at Lompoc, California.

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia is the oldest of the NASA Centers. Langley has the task of providing technology for manned and unmanned exploration of space and for improvement and extension of performance, utility and safety of aircraft. The major technical areas of Langley are theoretical and experimental dynamics of flight through the entire speed range, flight mechanics, materials and structures, space mechanics, instrumentation, solid rocket technology, and advanced huper sonic engine research. The Center conceives, develops and operates simulators for aircraft and for lunar landing projects, and conducts V/STOL flight research. The Center is charged with overall project management for Viking, the proposed flight to Mars.

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, has as its major missions aircraft and rocket propulsion and space power generation. Related fields of investigation include materials and metallurgy and problems concerned with materials at extremely high and low temperatures. The Center is active in combustion and direct energy conversion; chemical, nuclear and electric rocket propulsion

systems; advanced turbojet power plants; fuels and lubricants; and plasmas and magnetodydrodynamics.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas has the responsibility for the design, development, and testing of manned spacecraft and associated systems; the selection and training of astronauts; and operation of manned space flights. Mission control for manned space flights is at this space center.

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama. Launch vehicles essential to Apollo and other major missions are designed and developed by the scientists and engineers of the Center, and it is concerned with launch vehicles of the Saturn class, as well as payloads, related research and studies of advanced space transportation systems. The center was responsible for development of Skylab components.

Wallops Flight Center, Wallops Island, Virginia, located on Virginia's eastern shore, is one of the oldest and busiest ranges in the world. Some 300 experiments are sent aloft each year on vehicles which vary in size from small meteorological rockets to the four-stage Scout with orbital capability. The launches increase knowledge of the upper atmosphere and the space environment. A sizeable portion of Wallops' effort is devoted to aeronautical research and development and in exporting this Nation's space technology to the international community. Wallops' geographical location makes it a valuable center for aircraft sensing of the Earth's environment.

The Department of Defense has a substantial interest in space operations and technology. The following summary is excerpted from testimony by Dr. Malcolm R. Currie, Director of Defense Research and Engineering, before the House Armed Services Committee on February 21, 1975.

"Space Systems are playing an ever increasing role in supporting our forces in their global operations. Although most of our space systems are now designed and used for strategic applications, we expect their importance to our tactical forces to grow and become paramount in the next decade. For the time being. however, space systems are most important to our strategic forces....

"Space systems perform vital defense functions. They are superb for early warning of Soviet and Chinese rocket launches. They provide us with highly reliable and relatively inexpensive worldwide communications, meteorology, geodesy, navigation,

and surveillance. In many cases space systems are so much more effective and so much less expensive than surface-based systems, which have classically performed similar functions, that we are abandoning or dismantling our backup ground-based systems completely. This fact has led us to conclude that we must renew our efforts to protect our space assets, to make them less vulnerable to physical and electronic attack....

"1. Space Shuttle

The Department of Defense is committed to support and utilize NASA's Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle holds great promise for reducing the cost of our military space operations while at the same time introducing a new capability which could make our space operations even more effective. We see our role as that of a major user once the development is complete....

"'To assure uninterrupted military space operations, to minimize changes to our costly payloads and to make possible early DoD use of the shuttle with its low projected launch costs, DoD has initiated a program to modify an existing upper stage for Shuttle use. In FY 1975 we are studying a number of upper stage approaches. During FY 1976 we plan to select the minimum RDT&E cost Interim Upper Stage (IUS) which can most effectively meet our needs over the early years of Shuttle use until NASA is able to provide a sophisticated stage capable of meeting the needs of all But this NASA stage may not come into being before the late 1980's. Also in FY 1976, we plan to proceed with the IUS validation phase, which will be the next step in acquiring the stage for Shuttle use.

users.

"Today the majority of our space launches are conducted from Vandenberg. Because Vandenberg is located on the West Coast, we can achieve high inclination orbits which cannot be achieved safely from Kennedy Space Center. To assure a continuation of this polar orbit capability, during this calendar year we are defining the minimum cost modifications to Vandenberg necessary to provide a Shuttle launch and landing capability. In FY 1976 we will begin the development of detailed design criteria necessary to support future construction of this facility. Once our essential needs are met, this facility will be available for Shuttle launch of civil payloads.

"Our program transition planning will be conducted in much greater detail during the coming year. A special Defense Science Board Task Force has been established to study the use of the Space Shuttle in future DoD missions. Specifically, the Task Force will suggest innovative spacecraft designs and entirely new space system operating concepts which may be practical and desirable with the Shuttle. The Shuttle provides new capabilities such as payload recovery and reuse, on-orbit check out and servicing of payloads, and increased payload volume and weight lifting capability, all of which can lead to more effective, flexible, and economical military space operations. This emphasis on new payload design and mission concepts will be an integral part of our transition planning. Our planning now calls for launch of our high priority military payloads on the Shuttle beginning in 1980 from Kennedy Space Center using the IUS and from Vandenberg starting in December 1982. During the period of early Shuttle use we would plan to phase out from inventory our current costly expendable launch vehicles and supporting launch complexes.

"We have high confidence in NASA's ability to manage the development of the Shuttle and to achieve their program milestones. Our own effort is carefully coordinated with the NASA development program....

11 2.

NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS)

"In my view, the NAVSTAR program is one of the most far reaching in its impact and one of the most forward looking within the Department of Defense. It can have a revolutionary effect on both strategic and tactical warfare. Unprecedented measurement precision of platform position and velocity in three dimensions will be possible for any elements of our forces equipped with NAVSTAR receivers. This factor opens up vast new opportunities for multiplying force effectiveness. Ultimately, we may be able to use NAVSTAR to complement our accurate inertial guidance systems. As a fall-out benefit, we will be able to use NAVSTAR's nanosecond clock accuracies to synchronize our jam-resistant battlefield communications systems for more rapid message acquisition and anti-jam effectiveness.