Aug 6 1962
From The Space Library
Testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee on communications satellite bill, Secretary of State Dean Rusk stated: "Most of the discussion of the foreign policy provisions of the bill has centered on whether they delegate to the corporation a part of the President's authority to engage in international negotiations on behalf of the United States Government. Let me state most emphatically that they do not. . . .
"I can assure the committee that we in the State Department are fully aware of the broad range of questions involving foreign policy interests that may arise in connection with this satellite communications system." Edward R. Murrow, Director of USIA, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "Having contributed to developing the [communications satellite] system, Government should not be on a parity of payment with other commercial users. We strongly believe that affordable rates for our agency's use is an appropriate partial repayment for that national investment." He replied, in answer to question, that he would endorse the bill as it was.
NASA announced signing of $215,502,744 contract with Chrysler Corp. for production of Saturn S-I stages. Chrysler would deliver the 21 units (instead of 20 as originally planned) between early 1964 and late 1966, beginning with the S-I for Saturn SA-9. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, with development responsibility for Saturn, would fabricate boosters for first eight vehicles. Chrysler would build the S–I stages at NASA Michoud Operations plant near New Orleans.
Announced that Boeing had received $15,954,096 supplementary contract from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for work leading to design, development, fabrication, and test of Saturn C-5 first stage (S-IC).
Col. Daniel McKee, Project Gemini director in NASA’s Office of Manned Space Flight, reported as saying that two-man Gemini spacecraft might be used for the next four or five years, and describing it as "a reliable and flexible spacecraft which has a lot of potential for scientific investigations of space. If additional applications develop, it would be used for various purposes." At present, primary goal of Project Gemini is one-week-long, two-man mission with testing of orbital rendezvous operation.
Secretary of the Air Force Eugene M. Zuckert, writing in the General Electric Forum, said that there were unique military problems in space that a civilian space program never could solve. "The Air Force will make orbital flights much sooner than previously planned," he wrote.
Reported by Aviation Week that NASA was considering use of area near Corpus Christi, Texas, for landing two-man Gemini spacecraft after its re-entry from first orbital flight, in 1963. Landing mode for the spacecraft would include Rogallo wing and skids.
MIT ordered a Honeywell 1800 electronic computer from Honeywell Electronic Data Processing, for work on Project Apollo navigation system. After installation in 1963, the computer would aid in circuitry design of Apollo spacecraft's guidance computer and also would simulate full operation of spaceborne computer during ground tests.
Sweden launched U.S. Nike-Cajun sounding. rocket, first of series of U.S.-Swedish cooperative program for peaceful exploration of the upper atmosphere, the, rocket reaching 63-mi. altitude after launch from Kronogard range in northern Sweden. Fifteen minutes after launch, canister containing sample cloud particles was recovered; particles would be analyzed to provide information on composition and origin of noctilucent clouds.
Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF), addressing the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, declared development of the laser may prove more important to the world than "development of the ballistic missile, the discovery of the transistor, or the reality of TELSTAR. As a new method for transmission of energy, the Laser has almost infinite potential. The Laser can direct a concentrated beam of light across great distances with extreme precision. It is therefore ideally suited for application in space. In addition, it appears to have many practical applications in research, industry, medicine and communications. . . .
"In the Air Force, our current funding for Laser technology is about six million dollars. Our efforts range from instrumentation development to the search for means of using Laser beams in support of our military space objectives. Our budget for Fiscal Year 1964 should include an increase for Laser research and development.
"The Laser is a striking example of the potential to be found in today's advanced technology. We must make full use of its possibilities for national security purposes. . . ." Senator John L. McClellan recommended establishment of a Senate commission on science and technology to study Government's growing scientific programs, including the desirability of a Cabinet post for science and technology.
Dr. Melvin Calvin, 1961 Nobel Prize winner for his biochemical research on photosynthesis, said in interview that he was investigating effects of ultraviolet light on chemical elements basic to living organisms, in effort to discover the chemical evolution of life from lifeless matter. lie stated that results of his experiments with those of Dr. Stanley Miller (whose earlier research produced simulated amino acids) implied that "any planet with an appropriate temperature and an atmosphere similar to that of the primitive earth will, in time, develop the very things which we now recognize as the essential molecules of living organisms. . . ." He further indicated that, considering the numerous planets within our galaxy that have existed much longer than the earth, it was logical to conclude that some forms of intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy are more advanced scientifically and technologically than man.
First task of ONR’s 85-ft. radiotelescope at Hat Creek, Calif., would be mapping the visible galaxy, with emphasis upon studies of gaseous galactic nucleus, according to Missiles and Rockets.
NAA Rocketdyne's Propulsion Field Laboratory, near Los Angeles, completed its 150,000th test in 12 years of engine development.
Reported that Sikorsky helicopters of Okanagan Helicopters, Ltd., had been used in British Columbia, Canada, to replant telephone poles for the British Columbia Telephone Company.
During early August: USAF awarded one-year study contract to Aeronutronic Division of Ford Motor Co. to isolate, identify, define, and code tasks and skills required of members of future aerospace crews. Study would be conducted at Behavioral Science Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB.
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