Jun 4 1964
From The Space Library
The House Republican Conference's task force on space and aeronautics charged that NASA was disregarding the safety of astronauts in its haste to place men on the moon. The report specifically criticized the agency for not developing means of rescuing astronauts stranded in orbit and called for a slowdown in the program until the feasibility of "rescue ships" could be explored The criticisms were directed at the Project Gemini flights. The report suggested that NASA's reluctance to develop a Gemini space rescue system resulted from a fear that it would slow the Apollo project. (Finney, NYT, 6/5/64)
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator of .NASA, said he hoped for cooperation on space flights between the U.S. the U.S.S.R., and other countries at some future time. He asserted that such cooperation was not possible at the current time because of the secrecy that surrounded Soviet space efforts. (N .Y . Her. Trib., 6/5/64)
A $1,313,000 contract was awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers to Carpenter Brothers of Dallas, Texas, for the construction of a test maintenance building at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility. (DOD Release 438-64)
USAF and USN astronomers planned special telescopic observation of the moon on June 4 and 5 in an attempt to identify the mysterious red spots first observed by Sir William Herschel in 1738. The spots, located in the crater Aristarchus, were observed in October 1963 by astronomer J. C. Greenacre from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. They indicate the possibility of volcanos below its barren sur-face. (Ubel, N.Y. Her. Trib., 6/4/64; AP, Balt. Sun, 6/5/64)
Conference on New Technology at Lewis Research Center was opened by LRC Director Dr. Abe Silverstein: "The vehicles and spacecraft launched from Florida are the visible results of our nation's space effort. Less evident is the body of technology that makes these and future flights possible. Almost half of NASA's 30,000 employees are among those creating this technology." Attending the two-day conference were some 350 representatives of industry; area development groups; universities; Federal, state, and local government, labor; banking; and NASA Hq. and Centers. (Lewis News, 6/6/64, 1)
It was announced that the British government was spending $2.8 million to enlarge its space communications facilities at Goonhilly Downs. Future communications satellites would require more powerful receivers because of higher orbits. (AP, Phil. Eve. Bull., 6/4/64)
Soviet scientists disclosed that they were planning to grow fresh vegetables in future Soviet spacecraft. Izvestia reported that scientists had already grown cabbage, beets, tomatoes, and carrots in synthetic soil in simulated spacecraft conditions. (AP, Chic. Trib., 6/5/64)
France and Spain signed an agreement to set up a joint satellite tracking station in the Spanish-owned Canary Islands. (UPI, Wash. Daily News, 6/5/64)
New FAA Statistical Handbook showed substantial increases in aviation activity. Since 1950, domestic and international air passenger traffic had more than tripled. The same was true for air cargo traffic. Domestic flights carried 56 million -passengers in 1962. International and territorial flights carried 6.6 million passengers. Revenue ton miles flown by all U.S. airlines, scheduled and nonscheduled, exceeded 6.6 billion in the same year. Employment within the aeronautical industry increased from 668,500 in 1961 to 707,300 in 1962, an increase of six per cent. (FAA Release 64-57)
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