Post by michelvan on Mar 16, 2022 19:51:14 GMT
23 - Higlights of 1972
China
One of the biggest surprises was their first manned space flight, only 3 years after first Satellite Dong Fang Hong 1 (Red East One).
But looking in detail it was not so surprising at all, the spacecraft was merely a modified Warhead Reentry Vehicle,
with the nuclear warhead replaced by Man with Live support and a landing system !
That explained the short time that Directive 690 Hòng Xing (Red Star) needed until it's success.
On October 18 1972 a Dong Feng 5 ICBM brought Hóng Xing 1 with Dong Xiao Hai on board,
The first "Hang tian yuan" (space navigating personnel)
After one orbit he landed safe in south China, becoming a national hero of the People Republic of China.
USA
In October, the Washington Post published an article by Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein,
revealing that Vice President Spiro Agnew was accepting bribes as Gouverneur of Maryland !
On October 10, Spiro Agnew resigned from office, despite his claims to be not guilty and that it was merely "unreported Income“.
Do to the 25th Amendment the House Minority Leader had the option to become new Vice President,
President Nixon sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement,
The advice was unanimous: the House Minority Leader, the republican Gerald Ford.
Ford was confirmed as Vice President by Capitol hill ( Senate 92 vs 3 and Congress 387 vs 35 votes)
Gerald Ford took over the Legacy of Agnew, the Odyssey Program and keep it running,
This remained the only scandal in Nixon administration.
Do the successful manned Chinese space flight push Capitol Hill to full support NASA Odyssey program.
In December Richard Nixon made his historic visit to China.
A diplomatic success for Nixon, defusing the "Chinese Nightmare“ situation between the two Nations.
The Chinese Forces redrew from position at North Vietnam border.
Which led to Pro Nationalist forces dealing with the Pro China Fraction in the North Vietnamese Communist party.
In 1973 the North Vietnamese power struggle was finally won by the Pro Nationalists,
60 day later after the Peace Agreement ist signed in Paris. The last US soldier left South Vietnam
Henry Kissinger estimated how long South Vietnam would survive his answer: Around two, three years, not more…
Cambodia
The biggest loser of this conflict was the Maoist Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
After they lost their allied China in 1967, then North Vietnam in 1968, there were attacks by those Pro Nationalist forces,
Then by Vietnam Pro China Fractions, the South Vietnamese Army, Laos Military and United States Forces.
As their leader "Brother number 1“ was killed during attacks in 1972, the remaining Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand,
We're the Organisation was no more than group of Bandits hunted down over the years by Thailand's military.
Skylab 1
In October 1972 Kennedy Space Center gave a spectacular show: Two Saturn Vs rolled out VAB toward Launch Pad 39
One was Apollo 17, scheduled to launch on December 7th.
The Other was Skylab, America's (and the world's) first space station scheduled for Launch on November 23rd.
Skylab began in 1965 as the Apollo Application Program in MSFC under George E. Mueller
The first goal was launch a 3 man Space Station build from S-IVB stage called "The Orbital Workshop“ or OWS.
In 1968 with the termination of MOL program at the USAF, part of their Astronauts were transferred to NASA,
Several were assigned to the Skylab program.
Also the name was changed from "the Orbital Workshop“ into Skylab.
In 1970 McDonnell Douglas started to build in California, two space stations, Skylab A and B (B for backup).
Finally, in 1972 Skylab A arrived in late August at KSC for preparation to Launch.
While in Johnson Space center the second Mission Control Center was activated for Skylab,
So the Apollo 17 Mission could go synchronous.
On November 23 the Skylab-1 took off from Pad 39-B, but 63 seconds later the Micrometeoroid shield detach and was ripped off the station
Skylab arrived in orbit and deployed the Apollo Telescope Mount and its Solar arrays, but not it main solar arrays !
While the rise of temperature in Station released toxic fumes from material in the station.
This was a new Disaster for NASA, what to do ?
George E. Mueller was clear that the future of NASA was at stake, so he made a decision: The first Skylab crew must repair the station!
This delayed the launch for 10 days to prepare the Repair procedure.
In the mean time ground control had vented the Atmosphere of the station, purging it with pure Nitrogen four time, before restore the Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere.
Skylab 2
So on December 2, Skylab-2 was launch from Pad 34 on Board: Charles "Pete“ Conrad, Jr., Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz.
As they arrived 6 hours later at Skylab they saw the full scale of the problem,
The Micrometeoroid shield had also ripped off a solar cell of the station, the other was jammed by the debris of the shield.
The first EVA attempted to deblock the Solar Cells ending in failure as Skylab lost of most RCS fuel.
After docking the crew enter the station in spacesuits despite the high temperatures and being underpowered, Skylab was fine.
They used the Science Airlock to deploye a parasol, working as sunshade, with temperatures successfully dropping to an acceptable level.
On December 7th, Apollo 17 was launched and for the first time there were 6 American astronauts were in space .
with the second EVA Conrad and Kerwin, on December 17th, managed to Open the solar wing on Skylab, providing electrical power for next two missions.
On December 24th, The Crew celebrated Christmas in Orbit, the first time since Apollo 8's historic mission that an Astronaut had spent Christmas in Space.
Then on December 30th, the Crew left Skylab and returned safely to Earth after a mission of 28 days.
Meanwhile Skylab was put into Hibernation for next Crew arriving in February.
Apollo 17
On December 7, a Saturn V manned with Eugene Cerman, Ronald Evans and Joe Engle, blasted off from pad 39-A.
500,000 people watching the spectacle of a Saturn V night launch, from over 200 km you could see the light of the five F-1 engine gleaming in the Sky.
During the transfer to moon the crew experienced light flashes in the spacecraft, cosmic radiation from Sun hitting the eyes of the astronauts.
Also reported by Cerman was a blinking object that follow the CSM/LM on large distance, later it was revealed to by radar, one of adapter panels was drifting parallel to CSM/LM
The LM Challenger touched down in Taurus-Littrow right on target on December 11.
During the first EVA Cerman took panorama pictures of the landing side from the top of the LM hatch.
After a good night of rest the Crew started the Second EVA , Cerman's first words on moon were:
They offloading the rover and they deployed the ALSEP package and put US flags on the lunar surface.
A problem Cerman and Engle had on all EVAs was the moon dust, it stuck on suit, on the rover,
Even got inside there LM which Cerman and Engle described as the smell of spent gunpowder.
But they had their fun, during the EVA Engle and Cerman even start singing during this EVA.
On the third EVA Cerman and Engle collected 66 kilograms of Lunar samples.
The fourth EVA Engle made a big discovery near a bolder, a small unusual rock "The Genesis rock““
it came from lower crust of moon, being one of the oldest stones found on moon and showed traces of original lunar magnetic field !
On end of the EVA they parked the Lunar rover at a safe distance to film the accent of LM .
With the surface stay of 3 days and 3 hours it was a new record not to mention the EVA of seven hours 15 minute and the 110.4 kg of lunar samples.
During the time in lunar orbit, the CSM America scanned the Surface with spectrographs for the geological Lunar Map.
After dedocking the LM, the Crew released the PFS-2 subsatellite, this time the PFS-2 remain stable in it's orbit.
On return to earth, Ronald Evans made an EVA to collect the films from the SIM bay.
Apollo 17's crew manage to take a picture of the whole earth, "The Blue Marble" that become the most iconic picture of the 20 century.
Then the CM America splashed down save near USS Ticondergoa in pacific ocean on December 19th.
Aftermath:
Skylab 2 and Apollo 17 were successes for NASA, not only did they beat the Soviets in the space race with,
dual mission of 6 astronauts, the biggest space station with 70 tons, it’s repair and a record 28 day stay of astronaut in space,
Apollo 17 again broke records on the Moon while Skylab-2 brought home 392 hours of experimental data on medicine, solar and Earth science.
While the Soviets had "The Empty handed Mission“ of Soyuz 17, Tragedy of Soyuz 18 and delays in their Salyut projects.
This impress Capitol Hill, finally NASA had done it's job and had secured America's in the lead in Space Race for the moment...
China
One of the biggest surprises was their first manned space flight, only 3 years after first Satellite Dong Fang Hong 1 (Red East One).
But looking in detail it was not so surprising at all, the spacecraft was merely a modified Warhead Reentry Vehicle,
with the nuclear warhead replaced by Man with Live support and a landing system !
That explained the short time that Directive 690 Hòng Xing (Red Star) needed until it's success.
On October 18 1972 a Dong Feng 5 ICBM brought Hóng Xing 1 with Dong Xiao Hai on board,
The first "Hang tian yuan" (space navigating personnel)
After one orbit he landed safe in south China, becoming a national hero of the People Republic of China.
USA
In October, the Washington Post published an article by Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein,
revealing that Vice President Spiro Agnew was accepting bribes as Gouverneur of Maryland !
On October 10, Spiro Agnew resigned from office, despite his claims to be not guilty and that it was merely "unreported Income“.
Do to the 25th Amendment the House Minority Leader had the option to become new Vice President,
President Nixon sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement,
The advice was unanimous: the House Minority Leader, the republican Gerald Ford.
Ford was confirmed as Vice President by Capitol hill ( Senate 92 vs 3 and Congress 387 vs 35 votes)
Gerald Ford took over the Legacy of Agnew, the Odyssey Program and keep it running,
This remained the only scandal in Nixon administration.
Do the successful manned Chinese space flight push Capitol Hill to full support NASA Odyssey program.
In December Richard Nixon made his historic visit to China.
A diplomatic success for Nixon, defusing the "Chinese Nightmare“ situation between the two Nations.
The Chinese Forces redrew from position at North Vietnam border.
Which led to Pro Nationalist forces dealing with the Pro China Fraction in the North Vietnamese Communist party.
In 1973 the North Vietnamese power struggle was finally won by the Pro Nationalists,
60 day later after the Peace Agreement ist signed in Paris. The last US soldier left South Vietnam
Henry Kissinger estimated how long South Vietnam would survive his answer: Around two, three years, not more…
Cambodia
The biggest loser of this conflict was the Maoist Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
After they lost their allied China in 1967, then North Vietnam in 1968, there were attacks by those Pro Nationalist forces,
Then by Vietnam Pro China Fractions, the South Vietnamese Army, Laos Military and United States Forces.
As their leader "Brother number 1“ was killed during attacks in 1972, the remaining Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand,
We're the Organisation was no more than group of Bandits hunted down over the years by Thailand's military.
Skylab 1
In October 1972 Kennedy Space Center gave a spectacular show: Two Saturn Vs rolled out VAB toward Launch Pad 39
One was Apollo 17, scheduled to launch on December 7th.
The Other was Skylab, America's (and the world's) first space station scheduled for Launch on November 23rd.
Skylab began in 1965 as the Apollo Application Program in MSFC under George E. Mueller
The first goal was launch a 3 man Space Station build from S-IVB stage called "The Orbital Workshop“ or OWS.
In 1968 with the termination of MOL program at the USAF, part of their Astronauts were transferred to NASA,
Several were assigned to the Skylab program.
Also the name was changed from "the Orbital Workshop“ into Skylab.
In 1970 McDonnell Douglas started to build in California, two space stations, Skylab A and B (B for backup).
Finally, in 1972 Skylab A arrived in late August at KSC for preparation to Launch.
While in Johnson Space center the second Mission Control Center was activated for Skylab,
So the Apollo 17 Mission could go synchronous.
On November 23 the Skylab-1 took off from Pad 39-B, but 63 seconds later the Micrometeoroid shield detach and was ripped off the station
Skylab arrived in orbit and deployed the Apollo Telescope Mount and its Solar arrays, but not it main solar arrays !
While the rise of temperature in Station released toxic fumes from material in the station.
This was a new Disaster for NASA, what to do ?
George E. Mueller was clear that the future of NASA was at stake, so he made a decision: The first Skylab crew must repair the station!
This delayed the launch for 10 days to prepare the Repair procedure.
In the mean time ground control had vented the Atmosphere of the station, purging it with pure Nitrogen four time, before restore the Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere.
Skylab 2
So on December 2, Skylab-2 was launch from Pad 34 on Board: Charles "Pete“ Conrad, Jr., Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz.
As they arrived 6 hours later at Skylab they saw the full scale of the problem,
The Micrometeoroid shield had also ripped off a solar cell of the station, the other was jammed by the debris of the shield.
The first EVA attempted to deblock the Solar Cells ending in failure as Skylab lost of most RCS fuel.
After docking the crew enter the station in spacesuits despite the high temperatures and being underpowered, Skylab was fine.
They used the Science Airlock to deploye a parasol, working as sunshade, with temperatures successfully dropping to an acceptable level.
On December 7th, Apollo 17 was launched and for the first time there were 6 American astronauts were in space .
with the second EVA Conrad and Kerwin, on December 17th, managed to Open the solar wing on Skylab, providing electrical power for next two missions.
On December 24th, The Crew celebrated Christmas in Orbit, the first time since Apollo 8's historic mission that an Astronaut had spent Christmas in Space.
Then on December 30th, the Crew left Skylab and returned safely to Earth after a mission of 28 days.
Meanwhile Skylab was put into Hibernation for next Crew arriving in February.
Apollo 17
On December 7, a Saturn V manned with Eugene Cerman, Ronald Evans and Joe Engle, blasted off from pad 39-A.
500,000 people watching the spectacle of a Saturn V night launch, from over 200 km you could see the light of the five F-1 engine gleaming in the Sky.
During the transfer to moon the crew experienced light flashes in the spacecraft, cosmic radiation from Sun hitting the eyes of the astronauts.
Also reported by Cerman was a blinking object that follow the CSM/LM on large distance, later it was revealed to by radar, one of adapter panels was drifting parallel to CSM/LM
The LM Challenger touched down in Taurus-Littrow right on target on December 11.
During the first EVA Cerman took panorama pictures of the landing side from the top of the LM hatch.
After a good night of rest the Crew started the Second EVA , Cerman's first words on moon were:
Joe [Engle] I'm out here oh my Golly! Unbelievable! Unbelievable; but is it bright in the Sun.
They offloading the rover and they deployed the ALSEP package and put US flags on the lunar surface.
A problem Cerman and Engle had on all EVAs was the moon dust, it stuck on suit, on the rover,
Even got inside there LM which Cerman and Engle described as the smell of spent gunpowder.
But they had their fun, during the EVA Engle and Cerman even start singing during this EVA.
On the third EVA Cerman and Engle collected 66 kilograms of Lunar samples.
The fourth EVA Engle made a big discovery near a bolder, a small unusual rock "The Genesis rock““
it came from lower crust of moon, being one of the oldest stones found on moon and showed traces of original lunar magnetic field !
On end of the EVA they parked the Lunar rover at a safe distance to film the accent of LM .
With the surface stay of 3 days and 3 hours it was a new record not to mention the EVA of seven hours 15 minute and the 110.4 kg of lunar samples.
During the time in lunar orbit, the CSM America scanned the Surface with spectrographs for the geological Lunar Map.
After dedocking the LM, the Crew released the PFS-2 subsatellite, this time the PFS-2 remain stable in it's orbit.
On return to earth, Ronald Evans made an EVA to collect the films from the SIM bay.
Apollo 17's crew manage to take a picture of the whole earth, "The Blue Marble" that become the most iconic picture of the 20 century.
Then the CM America splashed down save near USS Ticondergoa in pacific ocean on December 19th.
Aftermath:
Skylab 2 and Apollo 17 were successes for NASA, not only did they beat the Soviets in the space race with,
dual mission of 6 astronauts, the biggest space station with 70 tons, it’s repair and a record 28 day stay of astronaut in space,
Apollo 17 again broke records on the Moon while Skylab-2 brought home 392 hours of experimental data on medicine, solar and Earth science.
While the Soviets had "The Empty handed Mission“ of Soyuz 17, Tragedy of Soyuz 18 and delays in their Salyut projects.
This impress Capitol Hill, finally NASA had done it's job and had secured America's in the lead in Space Race for the moment...
