Word: spacecrafts
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...world. At the same time, ITT's 204,000 employees are pushing into fresh territory. Backed by an annual research-and-development budget of $220 million, ITT scientists are at work on such sophisticated projects as automatic landing systems for aircraft and the use of laser beams for spacecraft docking...
While the hatch problem was being solved, NASA and North American Aviation engineers went to work on combustible materials that had cluttered Apollo's spacecraft before the January fire. Aluminum plumbing which melted at 1080° F. has been replaced by stainless steel. Brazed joints that withstand temperatures approaching 1,600° F. have been substituted for soldered joints that melt at 360° F. Coolant pipelines, which service electronic components and can release flammable glycol when ruptured, have been "armor-plated" at joints with high-strength epoxy. Should the joints come open, the epoxy serves as a back...
...result, parts of Apollo's parachute system had to be enlarged or redesigned for safe landing at greater weight, and redundant systems on board have been eliminated for a weight reduction of 58 Ibs. Low hopes to peel 400 Ibs. more off Apollo by eliminating the spacecraft's lead ballast. So critical is the weight factor that even metal brackets inside Apollo are being examined for possible perforation to save additional ounces. "So far," Low said last week, "the scheme looks promising...
...effect, the modifications have made Apollo a brand new spacecraft that will have to be tested for structural integrity, vibration characteristics during liftoff, and behavior in a vacuum before it can be requalified for flight. Such testing has pushed the initial launch date for the Apollo series to early summer of next year. But this winter the spacecraft will face its baptism by fire in Houston, when NASA engineers try to set a full-scale Apollo ablaze under varied atmospheric conditions...
...other pioneering programs -the record-breaking test series of the X-15 and the XB-70, respectively the fastest and the heaviest supersonic aircraft in the world. Ironically, both planes were built by North American Aviation, Inc., the company that has borne much of the blame for the January spacecraft holocaust...