Mar 14 1962
From The Space Library
NASA's Director of Aeronautical Research, John Stack, testifying before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, spoke of NASA support of DOD missile programs: "Included in this work are such as Pershing, Atlas, Nike, Nike-Zeus, Eagle, GAR-9 and Skybolt. The NASA contributions have been in two areas, one providing critical aerodynamic information for performance determination and control system characteristics and the other in suggesting configuration improvements to improve the over-all characteristics." NASA announced that sea damage to Wallops Station, Va., occurring earlier in the month was not extensive, and that rocket firings would be resumed in a few days. Although launch pads and some tracking gear on the island itself had been damaged by water, the more important tracking and data acquisition facilities on the mainland were undamaged.
EXPLORER IX, launched on February 16, 1961, provided new and refined information on the density of the upper atmosphere, a press conference of NASA and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory scientists reported. They confirmed a figure previously released—that the density of the atmosphere at 420 mi. was 3 x 10 -17 grams per cubic centimeter, or 1/40 million millionth of that at sea level. EXPLORER IX density values were about 10 times lower than those computed in 1959 from earlier satellites. Most of this decrease is attributed to the decrease in solar activity since the peak of the solar cycle in 1958 and 1959. Changes were also clearly related to the 27-day rotational period of the sun and to the occasional violent solar storms that affect the earth's atmosphere. EXPLORER IX, a 12-ft. aluminum-foil sphere painted with white "polka dots," was expected to have an orbital life of two more years. As it spiraled down into denser atmosphere, it was expected to provide much more information on density at altitudes down to 100 mi.
United Nations opened a public register on satellites in orbit. At the time of opening, it contained only the U.S. report submitted on March 5, which reported "72 U.S. space vehicles and associated objects in sustained orbit or space transit" as of February 15, 1962.
NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced the selection of Military Electronics Division of Motorola, Inc., as contractor to manufacture and test radio equipment in the first two phases of a program to augment the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility by providing "S" band capability for stations at Goldstone, Calif.; Woomera, Australia; and Johannesburg, South Africa. With these stations located some 120° apart around the earth, DSIF would have a high-gain, narrow-beam-width, high-frequency system, with very little interference from cosmic noise and would provide much improved telemetering and tracking of satellites as far out as the moon and nearby planets.
Walter C. Scott, Chief of NASA's Space Power Technology Program, testifying before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, said one of the promising developments in solar cells was the possibility of producing thin strips of silicon solar cells on some kind of substrata. If this can be done, the "much lower cost, lower weight and improved mechanical properties will be attractive to the space industry and for that matter to the civilian economy. Thin films of cadmium sulfide have been produced in small areas with conversion efficiencies of 3%. It has been stated that if this efficiency could be increased to 5% and produced in large areas, solar power would be economically competitive with conventional sources at rates of 3 to 4 mils per kilowatt hour." Navy launched solid-propellant Terrier-Asp IV sounding rocket from Point Arguello in successful first flight test.
Theodore Shabad, Moscow correspondent for the New York Times, described the Clubs of Young Cosmonauts in U.S.S.R. The Moscow club was organized in January 1962 under joint sponsorship of Moskovsky Komsomolets, newspaper of the Young Communist League, and the cosmonautics section of the Soviet Federation of Aviation Sports. Its purpose was to interest youngsters in space and also to publicize Soviet achievements m space.
USAF announced it would extend space surveillance to the moon through a system developed by the Space Track Research & Development Facility at Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Mass.
There will be surveillance of orbiting man-made or natural objects beyond the earth's nominal, low-altitude orbital areas out toward the moon.
Six candidates were selected by the USAF for Dyna-Soar, including four Air Force and two NASA test pilots. Dyna-Soar is designed to be boosted into orbit by a Titan III.
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