Apr 8 1959

From The Space Library

Reentry body of USAF Thor-Able recovered at the far end of the Atlantic Missile Range: first recovery after an ICBM range flight by AFMTC task force.

Testifying before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Francis B. Smith, Chief of Tracking Programs for NASA, described the network of stations necessary for tracking a deep-space probe on a 24-hour basis. The stations should be located about 120 degrees apart in longitude. In addition to the Goldstone, Calif., site, two other locations had been selected: South Africa and Woomera, Australia.

1960 NASA Authorization, Hearings on H.R. 6512, p. 295.