Jan 10 1964

From The Space Library

Static-test firing of Titan II rocket for first Project Gemini flight was postponed at Cape Kennedy until Jan. 14 because of possible mal­function of first-stage propellant valve during countdown. (UPI, Wash. Post,1/11/64; AP, Wash. Eve. Star, 1/11/64)

Preliminary design for re-entry spacecraft for manned Mars missions dur­ing 1971-75 period was submitted to NASA Manned Spacecraft Center after six-month study by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., an­nounced. The earth re-entry module would travel to Mars and back at­tached to 4- to 6-man Mars spacecraft, then would be detached and used for last eight hours. It is designed to withstand re-entry heating of about 35,000° F. at speeds up to 44,000 mph, protecting crew with abla­tive heat shield about 31/2 in. thick. (MSC Release 64-6; Roundup, 1/22/64, 1, 3)

USAF Office of Aerospace Research announced Dr. Sanford Freedman of Tufts Univ. and Dr. Richard Held, Prof. of Experimental Psychology at MIT, had been conducting experiments of human performance in space and had expressed less optimism toward man's adaptability in space than previously had been felt. The experimenters studied human performance under conditions of reduced and abnormal visual and audial inputs related to restriction of body movements. They found that the subject was able to adapt only when he was allowed free movement of his body or appropriate limb. Besides supporting the view that accuracy of performance was degraded under prolonged exposure to conditions not permitting a correlated motor-sensory feedback, the experimenters concluded that stimulus changes accompanying body movements were an important source of order in human adaptation. This order was dependent upon relative constancy of environmental factors, such as gravity. Where one or more of these factors was absent-such as in space-body coordinations depending upon their regularizing influence may in time be lost. (GaR Release 1-64-1)

Contradictory speculation among scientists about nature of red spots observed recently on the moon, William J. Perkinson of Baltimore Sun said, should force NASA "to step up its badly lagging Ranger and Surveyor programs for unmanned exploration of the moon, and also force NASA to reconsider the standards that at this time bar any trained scientist from becoming an astronaut." (Balt. Sun, 1/10/64)

More than 20 Martlet rockets were launched from Barbados site during first year of the high-altitude research project conducted by Canada's McGill Univ., New York Times reported. Fired from 16-in. naval can­non, Martlet has motor that ignites once the rocket is in flight, sending rocket to altitudes between 60 and 100 mi. It lands about 100 mi. southeast of Barbados in the Atlantic. 200 shots, financed by U.S., were planned for 1964. (AP, NYT, 1/11/64) DOD announced award of $15,599,775 contract to Boeing Co. for Project Hibex (Hi-G Booster Experiment), an ARPA research experiment in­vestigating high performance missile boosters. (DOD Release 38-64)

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