Apr 6 1965
From The Space Library
ComSatCorp's 85-lb, EARLY BIRD I, the first commercial communications satellite, was successfully launched from Cape Kennedy with a three-stage Thrust-Augmented Delta (TAD) booster. An hour after launching, flight control center confirmed that the satellite had entered an elliptical transfer orbit with apogee, 22,677 mi. (36,510 km.) ; perigee, 908 mi. (1,463 km.) ; period, 11 hrs. 10 min, and was sending clear radio signals, NASA handled the launching under a contract with ComSatCorp. About 40 hrs, after launching, a kick motor aboard EARLY BIRD I would be fired to adjust the path of the satellite to a synchronous circular orbit at 22,300 mi, altitude above the Atlantic, EARLY BIRD I would become the first link in ComSatCorp's proposed worldwide satellite communications system and would relay radio, television, teletype, and telephone messages between North America and Europe. (Clark, NYT, 4/7/65; AP, Balt, Sun, 4/7/65; ComSatCorp)
Subcommittee Chairman Albert Thomas (D-Tex.) and the House Independent Offices Appropriations Subcommittee were highly critical of Astronaut Virgil Grissom's deviation from flight plan instructions during the GEMINI III flight and eating a sandwich instead of fasting. According to published reports, one Subcommittee member referred to a "$30 million corned beef sandwich," and another asked NASA Administrator James E. Webb how he could control a multi-million dollar budget if he could not control two astronauts. (Av. Wk., 4/12/ 65, 25; Hines, Wash, Eve, Star, 4/15/65)
Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara confirmed that the U.S. had given Great Britain option to purchase F-111 aircraft and spare parts totaling more than $1 billion for its Royal Air Force. Delivery orders for the F-111 were expected to be placed after completion of the British defense review. (DOD Release 210-65)
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