Mar 31 1963

From The Space Library

Washington Post reported that the Federal Communica­tions Commission had proposed a compromise between astrono­mers and commercial television interests on channel 37 of the radio spectrum (608 to 614 megacycles). Astronomers wanted chan­nel 37 set aside for science; TV interests wanted it for commerce. FCC proposed, article said, that 600-mile circle around Danville, Ill., would reserve channel 37 for the University of Illinois radiotelescope until January 1, 1968. Any channel 37 as­signed elsewhere, such as in Paterson, N.J., would be off the air between midnight and 7 a.m. local time. (Wash. Post, 3/31/63, A2)

Reported that Boeing Co., North American Aviation, and Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. had won study contracts on the proposed supersonic transport airplane. The (Seattle) Post-Intelligencer quoted Senator Warren G. Magnuson (D.-Wash.) as saying he and Senator Henry M. Jackson (D.-Wash.) had received con­firmation of the awards from FAA Administrator Najeeb Halaby. (AP, Wash. Post, 4/1/63)

During March: Comet Ikeye, discovered by Japanese amateur astron­omer Kaoru Ikeye, was most brightly visible in western horizon for about a week before its brightness began to fade as it drew closer to the sun. (Wash. Daily News, 3/12/63)

Testimony of Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara before House Committee on Armed Services Feb. 2 was released, in which Secretary McNamara said: "A substantial amount of funds [for FY 1964] is requested for DYNA-SOAR. I mention this only to say . . . that technology as it applies to space advances so rapidly that we must expect many changes in programs be­fore they are completed. I personally believe that rather sub­stantial changes lie ahead of us in this DYNA-SOAR. "I say this, in part, because of the GEMINI development. GEMINI is a satellite project carried on up to the resent time by NASA, on which has been spent to date about $300 million, and for which they will request $300 million in 1964, toward a total pro­gram cost of $800 million; it will provide a capsule capable of carrying two men into earth orbit . . . "GEMINI is a competitive development with DYNA-SOAR In the sense that each of them are [sic] designed to provide low earth orbit manned flight with controlled re-entry. DYNA-SOAR does it one way, and with flexibility, and GEMINI another . . . . "[The NASA-DOD Project Gemini joint planning committee] ... insure that the military requirement for near-earth orbit is properly taken account of in the GEMINI project. "We don't have any clear military requirement, or any known military requirement, per se. But I think we do have a require­ment for environmental testing and experimentation in near­earth orbit. "We are very much interested, therefore, in the Gemini project. When we become more familiar with it and understand its po­tential I suspect it will have a great influence on the future of DYNA-SOAR .... "I guess that we will find that GEMINI has a greater military potential for us, even though a rather ill-defined military po­tential, than does DYNA-SOAR, and, moreover, that it will be avail­able much sooner than DYNA-SOAR . . . . "I think the DYNA-SOAR project can work out satisfactorily. The real question is, what do we have when we finish it. It will cost to complete, in total, including funds spent to date, some­thing on the order of $800 million to a billion dollars. The ques­tion is, do we meet a rather ill-defined military requirement better by proceeding down that track, or do we meet it better by modify­ing GEMINI in some joint project with NASA . . . ." (Hearings on H.R. 2440, pp. 465-67)

Apr 1 1963