10 YEARS AGO — 2002
Move those chips: An IBM integrated-circuitprocessing line recently got a facelift. A complete new automated handling system designed and built by Tinsley Design and Fabricating, Moscow, Pa., now sits in the company’s New York facility. The project included transfer stations, accumulating zones, a storage and retrieval module, pick-and-place stations, a scissor lift and turntable, and a variety of robotic, pneumatic, and electronic controls.
The stationary retrieval design replaces a previous rotary system, eliminating rotational-load problems on bearings, bushings, and related components.
30 YEARS AGO — 1982
Cruise ballistic missile tested: Engine inlet testing has been completed on scale models of the Boeing-built cruise ballistic missile, reports the Air Force. In the 4-ft transonic wind tunnel at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, the jet-engine air-inlet performance was evaluated and found satisfactory under simulated takeoff and cruise conditions. A typical mission includes a vertical launch from a silo, followed by wing and tail-surface deployment, engine start, and subsonic cruise at an altitude range of 25,000 to 30,000 ft. At the end of the cruise phase, the warhead separates from the cruise missile, ignites its own engine, and flies independently to the target.
50 YEARS AGO — 1962
It’s only a Plexiglas moon, but it and a moon segment of the same material will be used, with a camera system, to train astronauts for lunar landings. The Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach Simulator, being built by Radio Corp. of America for installation at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.,consists of two intricately detailed moon models (a 20-ft-diameter globe and a 90-ft-diameter segment) which will be photographed by a camera moving on a track, to produce the illusion of landing. Using closed-circuit television, the astronaut will be able to control his attitude while in orbit and his approach and let-down with a real-time system.