May 29 1962
From The Space Library
M. Scott Carpenter Day in Boulder, Colo. Presented with an engineering degree from the University of Colorado, Astronaut Carpenter said that he hoped the degree, which he missed in 1949 because he failed a course in heat transfer, could be justified by the "unique" education in the subject received during his re-entry in AURORA 7. At a news conference, Carpenter said: "All mankind stands to gain more as a result of these flights—and mark my words, man will be going to the moon and neighboring planets in the near future—than in any previous exploration in the history of the world." Before the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, NASA’s Dr. Homer E. Newell of the U.S. delegation proposed that an international launching site for space research be established near the Equator. Such a launching site would allow study of the equatorial electrojet (electric current in upper atmosphere which follows the geomagnetic Equator) and of the ionosphere without interference from the Van Allen radiation belts.
Joint DOD-NASA Agena D Agreement signed which would authorize the DOD to develop a standardized Agena D stage for joint use with the Atlas and Thor first stages. Agena D is designed to use present flight-proven equipment, to emphasize simplification in vehicle design, to employ production techniques that will allow adaptability to advanced components without basic design change, and to permit lower cost and firm scheduling of space shots. Agreement supplemented basic DOD-NASA agreement effective Feb. 23, 1962, on the National Launch Vehicle Program.
NASA announced that ARIEL I, the U.S.-U.K. ionosphere satellite launched on April 26, was functioning well except for one experiment, the solar ultraviolet detector. Telemetry signals were being received by fifteen ground stations around the world, and the tape recorder, which recorded on each orbit, was being commanded successfully about twelve times a day.
At opening session of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, U.S. delegate, Leonard Meeker, proposed that all members of the U.N. undertake to aid space vehicles or astronauts in distress, and to return to the launching countries any that are forced to land elsewhere.
USAF announced launching of an unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., using a Thor-Agena B booster.
FRIENDSHIP 7 space capsule arrived in Ghana in its global exhibition tour.
Sir Bernard Lovell of England described the high-altitude nuclear tests (Project Fishbowl) as a "black moment for humanity and an affront to the civilized world . . ."
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