Aug 4 1962
From The Space Library
Senators Joseph S. Clark of Pennsylvania and Wayne Morse of Oregon, leaders of the Senate opposition to pending communications satellite bill, stated on radio and television interview that they still insisted the communications satellite system must be owned and controlled by the Government. However, they added that they were not committed to Government operation, and that they were "perfectly willing to consider working out a lease or a license" with AT&T, RCA, or any other communications company.
NASA General Counsel John A. Johnson, speaking before the American Bar Association's Section on International and Comparative Law in San Francisco, stated: "It appears that the existing state of the law is that we have an area of space extending upward from the surface of the earth for an indefinite distance which is exclusively controlled by the underlying State, and above that, beginning at some undefined point, lies the 'free' realm of outer space. Whether there is or should be an intermediate third realm to which the exclusive power of the underlying State does not extend, but in which the full freedom of outer space may not be enjoyed, is an interesting item for speculation. . . ." The problem is of practical significance, "because all spacecraft, before injection into orbit, must be launched through the air space. Likewise, all space missions involving re-entry and landing require that the spacecraft move back through the air space on their return to earth. . . .
"It now appears that the manned vehicles which will be developed over the next five to ten years will enter the atmosphere rather steeply, level out, and glide at altitudes ranging from about 25 to 60 miles for distances perhaps as great as 7,000 to 10,000 miles before landing. Inevitably, it will become necessary to know in advance whether any portion of the re-entry phase of a manned space flight violates the territorial air space of another State because of the altitude at which its land or territorial waters may be overflown. . . .
"It would be most unwise to attempt to reach a solution to the so-called 'boundary' problem on the basis of the difference between the regimes of aerial flight and space flight. But even if it were possible to define a boundary between those regimes on scientific and technical grounds, it would bear no necessary relationship to the national interests which the principle of territorial sovereignty is designed to serve.
"I think it is evident that if this problem is to be solved it will be done on the basis of an accommodation of the political interests of the States concerned, and not on the basis of scientific or technological criteria."
James A. Martin, NASA X-15 Program Manager, in letter to the Washington Evening Star clarified the method of computing mach number in high-speed flight. "Mach number is a direct function of atmospheric temperature at the altitude at which the vehicle is flying. This temperature varies from day to day for the same altitude. Because of this, it is possible that the same number of feet per second at the same altitude can be more or less than a given Mach number." He pointed out that on November 9, 1961, Major Robert M. White flew the X-15 to speed of 6,005 feet per second; on June 27, 1962, Joseph Walker flew to 6,020 feet per second, at about the same altitude as Major White. However, because of differences in atmospheric temperatures for the two days, Major White attained higher mach number (M 6.04) than Walker (M 5.94).
August 4-5: Thousands of teen-agers toured NASA Lewis Research Center and witnessed special lecture-demonstrations during "Youth Days," co-sponsored by LeRC and the Cleveland Press.
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