Feb 12 1965
From The Space Library
Escape system for the two-man Gemini spacecraft was successfully tested by NASA at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, Calif. Simulating a pad abort condition, the test vehicle was mounted atop a 150-ft. tower equal in height to the Titan II launch vehicle; the side-by-side ejection seats were thrust out and away from the test vehicle to an altitude of about 350 ft. The mannequins landed by parachutes approximately 850 ft. downrange. The Gemini escape system was designed and built for NASA by Weber Aircraft Co. (MSC Roundup, 2/17/65, 2)
After almost 7 years, VANGUARD I appeared to be silenced. Its radio signals had weakened to a point where NASA tracking engineers thought the satellite might never be heard from again, according to NASA announcement. The six-inch, 3.25-lb. sphere was the second U.S. satellite, launched by USN as part of the International Geophysical Year program. For more than six years, it had transmitted radio signals from space with power from only six solar cells. Officially known internationally as 1958 Beta II, VANGUARD I was circling the globe every 134 min. and had an apogee of 2,442 mi. and a perigee of 402 mi. (NASA Release 65-45)
USAF scientists at Hanscom Field, Mass., said they had hit EXPLORER XXII with a ground-based laser gun and had photographed the spot of reflected light and recorded it photoelectrically in relation to surrounding stars. (AP, L.A. Herald-Examiner, 2 /13 /65 )
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