Dec 12 1963
From The Space Library
Revision as of 19:37, 15 April 2009
NASA announced postponement of Saturn SA-5 launching from mid-December to mid-January because of technical difficulties. First flight test of two-stage Saturn I, SA-5 would place in orbit the heaviest payload to date 38,000 lbs. (including S-IV upper stage) and would flight-test performance of RL-10 liquid hydrogen engines of S-IV stage. (UPI, Wash. Post, 12/13/63)
Rep. Edward J. Gurney (R.-Fla.) announced renaming of Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy "will not be official unless it is acted on by the Florida Legislature." Gurney quoted Arthur Baker, Chairman of Board of Geographic Names, as saying name change will apply only to federal maps and documents, is not compulsory for the people of Florida. (AP, Kansas City Times, 12/13/63)
Japan launched Lambda-2 sounding rocket with instrumented payload to 376-mi. altitude in experiment designed to gather data on the upper atmosphere for IQSY. Rocket was built by Tokyo Univ. Industrial Engineering Research Center and fired from Kagoshima Space Center in southern Japan. (AMR, 12/23/63, 10; Space Bus. Daily, 12/19/63, 428)
At news conference on the phenomena of pneumatic tire hydroplaning, at NASA Hq., Walter B. Home and Robert C. Dreher of NASA Langley Research Center described results of experiments conducted with automobiles traveling on wet roads. On highway curve where maximum safe speed is posted as 45 mph, automobile with tire pressure of 25 psi did not reach hydroplaning speed until about 52 mph ; automobile with tire pressure of 16 psi attained hydroplaning speed at 40 mph and swung out of control. Mr. Horne said : "In this country, most automobiles use tire inflation pressures between 16 and 30 pounds per square inch. This is a hydroplaning speed between 42 miles an hour and 55 miles an hour. "This hydroplaning speed range is well within the higher legal speed limits on roads in this country. Therefore, automobiles are real susceptible to hydroplaning." He exploded the popular notion that reducing tire pressure makes driving on wet roads safer. "About the only place where it does any good to reduce the tire pressure is when you are driving on sand and you want to get higher flotation." (AP, Wash. Eve. Star, 12/17/63; NASA Fact Sheet; NASA News Conf. Transcript; NASA TN D-2056)
Titan II missile launched from AFMTC in successful flight test down the Atlantic Missile Range. (UPI, Wash. Post, 12/13/63)
NASA awarded Douglas Aircraft Co. two Saturn contract modifications : $48,064,658 contract for delivery of four S-IVB flight stages and support equipment and modification of S-IVB dynamic test stages; and $1,090,000 contract for modifications to S-IV stage. (Space Bus. Daily, 12/13/63, 397)
AEC announced low-yield nuclear device was exploded underground at Nevada test site, 22nd underground nuclear test announced by AEC this year and 103rd explosion since U.S. resumed testing Sept. 15, 1961. (AP, N .Y . Herald Trib., 12/13/63)
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara initiated action to discontinue or substantially reduce activities at 33 defense installations-26 in U.S. and 7 overseas-no longer required by the armed forces. Action, when completed, would produce more than $100 million per year savings. (DOD Release 1562-63)
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