Mar 8 1962
From The Space Library
John L. Sloop, NASA's Director of Propulsion and Power Generation, testifying before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, said: ". . some of the new solid propellants promise an increase in performance of over 18 percent. . . If applied to our new Surveyor spacecraft designed to land instruments on the moon, this 18 percent increase in solid propellant specific impulse could make possible an increase in the weight of instruments aboard by more than 50 percent." Tracking network that operated during Glenn orbital flight would for the most part be sufficient to handle the 18-orbit flights to follow, according to Edmond C. Buckley, NASA's Director of Tracking and Data Acquisition, in testimony before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. For the Glenn flight, the ground stations had to provide five minutes of contact and communication for every 15 minutes of flight during the 4½-hour mission. For 18 orbits the current requirement was one contact per orbit. This would require repositioning of the two ship stations and adding more telemetry-receiving equipment and command systems to some of the existing sites.
Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., NASA Associate Administrator, speaking before the IAS National Propulsion Meeting in Cleveland, said: "As we move on toward the moon, with Saturn, Advanced Saturn, and Nova as our launch vehicles, the reliability problem takes on a new dimension.
"These big space vehicles will be the first developed especially for manned space exploration. The unit cost will be high. Only a few of each version will be produced. The systems and the missions are extremely complex, involving long periods of operation in space and a return launch from the moon without the help, needless to say, of a lunar Cape Canaveral." Army launched a 3-stage Nike-Zeus anti-ICBM missile in its first full-missile test from Point Mugu, but the missile was destroyed in midair when it seemed to be going off its planned trajectory.
USAF Minuteman ICBM fired from a silo at Cape Canaveral and flew more than 3,000 mi. down the Atlantic Missile Range, the sixth straight success in the underground launchings.
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