Sep 14 1962
From The Space Library
MARINER II, U.S. Venus probe, continued to transmit signals from interplanetary space to earth on its nineteenth day of flight, thus surpassing record of U.S.S.R. Venus probe which stopped transmitting on its eighteenth day of flight in February 1961. At 8:00 PM EDT the spacecraft was estimated to be 3,067,471 mi. from earth and traveling at a speed of 6,463 mph relative to the earth. JPL scientists said the probe appeared to be continuing "right on course." In meeting of U.N. Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, U.S. offered to U.S.S.R. a 14-lb. metal chunk, believed to be part of SPUTNIK IV, that had landed in Wisconsin September 5. Soviet delegate to the U.N. Platon D. Morozov rejected the offer, saying "We do not know to whom it belongs." He said it was not necessary to make dramatic gestures to show that falling satellite fragments could do harm, and charged the U.S. with "dramatic staging" to divert the Committee from Soviet proposals on legal principles for use of outer space. Displaying the chunk following the meeting, U.S. delegate Francis T. P. Plimpton said the object weighed 20 lbs. when it fell from the sky, but U.S. scientists of Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory had retained a six-lb. piece for further examination.
House and Senate Conference Committee on FY 1963 appropriations agreed to one half the restoration of NASA funds recommended by Senate, allowing total of $3,671,115,000 for NASA FY 1963 appropriation.
NASA announced that nine new astronauts for Projects Gemini and Apollo would be named at Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, on September 17.
Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, said in published interview: "People talk too much about crash programs and too little about sustained support. These space programs take time. A decision you make today on some engineering or scientific aspects of our space program may take anywhere from four to five years before it takes the form of hardware.
"When you make a wrong decision now, the payoff, good or bad, could come five years later, not sooner than that. We can't work miracles overnight. . . ." In prepared press statement, Astronaut John H. Glenn commented on September 13 televised remarks by Astronaut Walter Schirra, and said: "I will continue to support his flight [Astronaut Schirra's orbital flight MA–S] just as well as I possibly can. . . . I don't want to add any more statements to a situation that has all the aspects of a tempest in a teapot. Scheduling of my time for maximum benefit from a technical and national space program standpoint has been continually reviewed by both Dr. Gilruth and the management of NASA." Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director of NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, stated there was no real controversy over Col. Glenn's position in the space program or on other questions raised by Cdr. Schirra.
AEC announced 50th U.S. nuclear test in current series, an underground low-yield explosion at Nevada test area.
Dr. Leland J. Haworth of AEC led delegation of scientists and Government officials in dedication of $12 million electron accelerator at Cambridge, Mass. To be operated by MIT and Harvard Univ., the facility would be supported by AEC, which financed its construction.
DOD announced International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. (IT&T) had leased to USAF two transportable ground communications stations for operational training of communications personnel. The units would be used in new program to provide data on problems of using satellites for communications support.
Communist China stated the U-2 shot down September 9 was fourth U.S. military-type aircraft China had downed since October 1959.
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