Jul 26 1963
From The Space Library
NASA SYNCOM II communications satellite launched into orbit with Thor-Delta launch vehicle from AMR, entering elliptical orbit (140-mi. perigee, 22,548-mi. apogee). Five his, 33 min. after launching, apogee-kick motor onboard fired for 21 sec., placing SYNCOM II in orbital path ranging from 22,300-mi. to 22,548-mi. altitude and adjusting its speed to near-synchronous 6,800 mph. Traveling in slightly lower than synchronous orbit and at less than synchronous speed, satellite began drifting eastward at rate of 7.5° per day. Ground signals would attempt to reverse drifting so that satellite would attain synchronous position over Brazil. Communications tests during SYNCOM II's ascent into orbit were successful, including reception and transmission of "The Star Spangled Banner," a voice message, and a teletype transmission. Once m synchronous position, SYNCOM II would provide telephone, teletype, and photo facsimile communications between Lakehurst, N.J., and Lagos Harbor, Nigeria. (NASA Release 63-152; NYT, 7/27/63; N.Y. Herald Trib., 7/27/63)
In televised speech to the Nation on the nuclear test-ban treaty, President Kennedy said: "The treat initialed yesterday . . . is a limited treaty which permits continued underground testing and prohibits only those tests that we ourselves can police. It requires no control posts, no on-site inspection and no international body. "We should also understand that it has other limits as well. Any nation which signs the treaty will have an opportunity to withdraw if it finds that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of the treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests; and no nation's right to self-defense will in any way be impaired. Nor does this treaty mean an end to the threat of nuclear war. It will not reduce nuclear stockpiles; it will not halt the production of nuclear weapons; it will not restrict their use in time of war. "Nevertheless, this limited treaty will radically reduce the nuclear testing which would otherwise be conducted on both sides; it will prohibit the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and all others who sign it from engaging in the atmospheric tests which have so alarmed mankind; and it offers to all the world a welcome sign of hope . . . ." (Text, NYT, 7/27/63, 2)
U.S. Army announced successful test firing of Nike-Zeus antimissile missile at White Sands Missile Range. (DOD Release 1059-63)
Hanson W. Baldwin reported in New York Times that during latest Soviet nuclear tests "one high-altitude explosion destroyed two incoming missiles. In one American high-altitude test in the Pacific, a fairly small nuclear detonation high above the earth caused fission-an atomic chain reaction-in a nose cone 150 miles above the earth and 800 miles from the explosion. "This phenomenon, called neutron flux, travels great distances in a virtual vacuum. Thus it, may be able to neutralize fissionable material in incoming warheads. This is a technique about which the Russians are believed to know more than American scientists . . . " (Baldwin, NYT, 7/26/63)
FCC released letter to Communications Satellite Corp., indicating ComSatCorp. directors should make definite plans for stock issue. Pointing out that ComSat Act of 1962 required ComSatCorp.'s directors be divided among stock-owning public, communications companies, and presidential nominees, FCC said that "undue delay in the establishment of the corporation may force the present [appointed] Board of Directors to engage in activities and to make decisions which should be left to the representatives of the owners of the corporation." ComSatCorp. Chairman Leo D. Welch told press that there was "no basis for the concern expressed by the Commission," and ComSatCorp. would issue stock "at as early a date as the directors determine to be compatible with the public interest and the carrying out of the purpose and objectives of the Act." (Clayton, Wash., Post,7/26/63; Toth; NYT; 7/27/63)
USAF announced routine training launch of Atlas ICBM from Vandenberg AFB. (DOD Release 1080-63)
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