Jan 18 1963
From The Space Library
James E. Webb, NASA Administrator, said in address to Charlotte (N.C.) Chamber of Commerce: “The most important of the major reasons for undertaking a broad national program of space research and development-the one which promises the greatest rewards for mankind-is the least understood and the most difficult to explain. It is the certainty that the basic scientific knowledge gained, and the technological applications which will flow from it, will offer the greatest return on our space investment over many years ahead . . . . “The road to pre-eminence in space may be a low one. It certainly will not end on the moon, regardless of which nation lands the first explorers there . . . . “Much of what we need for pre-eminence in space will be acquired on the way to the moon. That is why we have chosen the lunar exploration as an immediate national goal of prime importance. “When will we clearly achieve the pre-eminence we seek? This is not an easy question. The answer depends not only on the sustained effort and investment we make, but on what the Russians do. Their system lends itself to concentration of resources on specific tasks, but their system like any other is faced with conflicting demands for priority. At the present time we simply cannot know what level of investment they expect to make on a long-range space program. We do know we must not be trapped into a narrow one-purpose program such as one limited to a lunar landing. . . . “Unless the Russians unveil a new rocket on the order of Advanced Saturn in the next few years, our chances for being first to explore the moon remain good . . . .” (Text)
NASA Flight Research Center announced award of contract to Bell Aerosystems Co. for design and construction of two manned lunar-landing research vehicles to be used in conjunction with Project Apollo. Free-flight test vehicles would be capable of taking off and landing under their own power, of attaining about 4,000-ft. altitude, of hovering, and of horizontal flight. Vehicles would be used in investigation of problems that may be encountered in landing manned vehicles on the moon; results of these studies would assist in preparation of flight-crew training devices. (FRC Release)
NASA Administrator, James E. Webb, addressed North Carolina Press Association in Chapel Hill : “Our goal is to be first in every aspect of space research, development, and exploration. To achieve it we must develop the same sort of capability in the space environment that we have achieved on land, on and under the sea, and in the air, and be in a position second to none." "I believe the challenge that faces us is to turn the scientific and technological revolution . . . into more of an evolution, into an orderly advance into a better world of tomorrow . . . .” (Text)
DOD announced new antimissile missile program, Nike X, to employ the Spring missile. (Space Log, Index supplement to Space Bus. Daily)
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