May 6 1964
From The Space Library
SC conducted roughwater egress test of Gemini spacecraft using boilerplate version of the spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico. In waves running from six to eight feet high, Astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., and Gordon Harvey of MSC Flight Crew Support Div., practiced egress maneuvers with the boilerplate spacecraft, which was loosely tethered to NASA Motor Vessel Retriever. (MSC Roundup, 5/13/64, 1)
AFSC announced experimental arc-jet engine for space use had completed a 500-hour endurance test at Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The 10-lb. regeneratively cooled, hydro-gen-propelled engine had specific impulse greater than 1,000 sec. and efficiency of 55 per cent. (AFSC Release 43-94 48)
At American Astronautical Society meeting in New York, MSC's Dr. Charles A. Berry said Apollo astronauts would be kept in isolation longer than earlier space crews, to prevent infection and disease. Families of crewmen would be given intensive medical care to ensure the good health of the astronauts. If one member of the three-man crew becomes ill, the entire crew would be replaced, he said. (Houston Chron., 5/6/64)
ComSatCorp filed registration statement with Securities and Exchange Commission seeking registration of 10 million shares of common stock, one half to be offered to communications common carriers authorized by FCC and the other half to the general public, with 11 managing under-writers of the public offering. (ComSatCorp Release 64-5-4; Prospectus)
NASA announced selection of RCA Missile and Surface Radar Div. for ne-gotiations to procure C-band radars for support of Project Apollo. These radars would be part of instrumentation on the tracking ships being designed and built as joint DOD-NASA effort. (NASA Release 64-107)
Westinghouse engineer Harry L. Thurman, Deputy Director of laser pro-gram in Westinghouse's Defense and Space Center in Baltimore, told AIAA meeting in Los Angeles that laser may someday be used to cook meals in microseconds. Citing many present and future applications of laser, Thurman said industry spent $1,000,000 on laser research in 1960 and estimated Government laser contracts alone in 1964 would amount to $27,000,000. (Roberts, Balt. Sun, 5/7/64)
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