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Petrone, R. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Petrone, R. A..

The Apollo/Soyuz test project

Consideration of the problems involved in the maneuvers executed by the Apollo Command and Service Module in docking with the Soyuz spacecraft. A detailed description is given of the Docking Module, which will serve as a kind of adaptor between the American and Soviet systems. Particular stress is placed on problems connected with the difference in atmosphere of the two vehicles and on the possibility of reducing this difference to the point where prebreathing of pure oxygen is not required when going from the Soviet vehicle with its air atmosphere to the American vehicle with its pure oxygen atmosphere. Also considered are problems connected with the use of different latching systems - an electromechanical attenuation system in the Soviet vehicle, and a hydraulic system in the Apollo Module.

Petrone, R. A.

America's future in space

The accomplishments of space technology are briefly reviewed, giving attention to the revolution in communication produced by relay satellites, advances in meteorology due to weather satellites, the exploration of the moon, and the Skylab Program. A new approach to space exploration will be provided by the Space Shuttle. Spacelab offers a wide variety of mission choices to the international scientific community. The study of plasma physics will provide information useful for the development of fusion reactors. The science of astronomy will be advanced by the High Energy Astronomy Observatory and a large space telescope.

Petrone, R. A.

An overview of Apollo program of lunar exploration.

Five round trip manned landing missions to the moon have returned hundreds of kilograms of samples and millions of bits of information from the scientific stations emplaced there and from the subsatellites left in orbit. Hundreds of man years of scientific effort and thousands of pages of journal space have been devoted to investigation of the samples and other aspects of the lunar problem. Our understanding of the moon has increased proportionately. Definitive conclusions can now be reached: (1) that there is a lunar crust, how thick it is in at least one region, and what kinds of rocks most probably compose it; (2) that we understand the major chronology of lunar events; (3) that the moon was extensively differentiated by igneous processes early in its history; (4) that impact cratering is the dominant surface process on the moon; and (5) that the moon is an ideal place to study extraterrestrial particle fluxes.

Petrone, R. A.

Apollo launch operations.

Ground support equipment and launch installations for Apollo launch operation and testing

GROUND SUPPORT SYSTEM