Sep 2 1965
From The Space Library
X-15 No. 2, piloted by John B. McKay (NASA), reached 239,000-ft, altitude and 3,511-mph speed (mach 5,16) in a flight to obtain information on the reaction augmentation system, to check out star-tracking ultra-violet stellar photography experiment, and to gain information on advanced X-15 landing dynamics and pilot altitude buildup. (NASA X-15 Proj. Off,; X-15 Flight Log)
GEMINI V Astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper (L/Col. USAF) and Charles Conrad, Jr. (LCdr. USN) were briefly united with their families at Ellington AFB near Houston. The astronauts had flown to Ellington from Kennedy Space Center, NASA, where they had been undergoing medical debriefing. After a short visit at Manned Spacecraft Center, the astronauts left their families for more debriefing sessions and tests. (UPI, NYT, 9/3/65, 10)
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director, Dr. Wernher von Braun, in Munich for the International Transport Fair, said at a press conference: "The fact is that never to date has a manned American satellite flown over even one square centimeter of Soviet soil," Von Braun denied rumors that he might accept a position with a European aeronautics and space organization, He was presented with the international aviation decoration, Pioneer Chain of the Compass Card with Diamonds, while at the Fair. (Reuters, Balt, Sun, 9/3/65)
Commenting on American contributions to space science, N. M. Sissakian, Soviet biochemist, wrote in Pravda: "Soviet scientists note with satisfaction the considerable contribution of American science to the study and opening up of cosmic space, which specifically manifested itself in a series of flights of cosmonauts in one-seater and two-seater ships. Most essential results were obtained by the American scientists from the flights of the ships Gemini IV and Gemini V... The flight of G. Cooper and C. Conrad was additional proof that the state of weightlessness during the minimum time required for a flight to the moon and back does not cause essential physiological changes in the human organisms and has no noticeable influence on his ability to work, "Of great interest in the cosmic flight of man from the biological viewpoint is the study of such problems as the functional state of the cardiovascular system, the water-salt exchange, and the vestibular apparatus, "Aboard the ship Gemini V a number of physiological experiments ... were performed. The method tested on the Cosmonaut C. Conrad of inflated cuffs around the extremities, which were intended to maintain the necessary functional vigor of the cardiovascular system, merits attention. "The flight of Gemini V is a great success for U.S. scientists. The Soviet scientists sincerely congratulate Cosmonauts G. Cooper and C. Conrad on the successful conclusion of their flight, giving due credit to their courage and endurance. They transmit to the scientists and the entire personnel which prepared and carried out the flight their congratulations and wishes for further successes in the peaceful opening up of the cosmos." (Pravda, 9/2/65)
Astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad, Jr., had demonstrated during their August 21-29 GEMINI V flight that a manned weather satellite could become a valuable part of Weather Bureau forecasting, Howard Simons reported in the Washington Post. U.S. weather forecasters needed information on tropical storm Doreen moving through the Pacific. Cooper and Conrad observed the storm and fixed its position, acquiring the information earlier than TIROS X meteorological satellite and more precisely than a ship 150 mi. from the storm. The San Francisco Weather Bureau Office had been able to combine GEMINI V data with that from TIROS X to prepare an advisory on Doreen. (Simons, Wash. Post, 9/2/65, A3)
ComSatCorp invited 29 manufacturers to submit by September 30 proposals for communications and control equipment to be installed at two ground stations in Hawaii and Washington state-U.S. links in the proposed worldwide communications satellite system. Two sets of ground communications equipment with one control unit would be integrated with two antenna systems in both earth stations. Each station was expected to cost about $6 million. Work was to begin in the fall and to be completed in about a year. (ComSatCorp Release)
Washington Post concluded that it might be embarrassing for the Russians to refuse President Johnson's invitation to send a representative from the Soviet Academy to view the next Gemini launching. An editorial elaborated: "It just so happens that a high-level Russian space delegation will be in New York City in mid-October to attend a meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, "It just so happens, too, that the GEMINI VI launching is scheduled for late October, "And, it just so happens that Mr. Johnson knew the dates of both scheduled happenings. . . "There is no guarantee that the Russians will accept the President's invitation-the first formal invitation of its kind extended to them. Hitherto, the Russians have not accepted informal invitations to witness an American space launching. . . "Experts have suggested that one reason for this Soviet shyness was the tacit implication that if the Russians accept an American invitation to Cape Kennedy, Russia would have to respond with a like invitation." (Wash, Post, 9/2/65, A3)
U.K. should build small supersonic aircraft capable of operating on short runways and huge submarine merchant ships capable of operating beneath polar ice, Dr. Barnes Wallis, head of British Aircraft Corp,'s research dept, told annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Cambridge. He said the supersonic design would be Britain's solution to possible U.S. dominance in the construction of supersonic aircraft. (NYT, 9/3/65, 44M)
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