December 1962
From The Space Library
NASA awarded contract to Ford Motor Co. Aeronutronic Div. for development of camera system to be hard-landed on the moon. To relay photographs of lunar surface back to earth, camera would be used in future Ranger lunar spacecraft and would replace seismometers carried in RANGERS III IV, and V.
Hibernation of space crewmen was proposed for long-term space travel, by USAF surgeons Capt. T. K. Cockett and Capt. Cecil C. Beehler of SAM, Brooks AFB, Texas. Under their plan, one astronaut would work while the other would ride in state of suspended animation, with life processes slowed to the minimum. During simulated hibernation the body withstands stresses that would be harmful under normal body conditions, the surgeons said.
Subcommittee of House Committee on Science and Astronautics issued report on solid-propellant rocket motors for Nova-class vehicles: "If the cancellation of this development program [solids for Nova] is based on the cost factor alone, then the committee feels that NASA should review the events of the past. For it was this approach in the development of our ICBM that gave the U.S.S.R. their superbooster and the resultant lead in space exploration which the U.S. is still struggling to overcome. The United States cannot afford a second setback of this magnitude. . . .
"The committee is struck by the large amount of manpower and time that both the DOD and NASA have devoted to coordination in trying to reach an agreement and the extended delay in starting even the most basic development program." Committee recommended giving NASA the funding responsibility for continuation of solid-propelled motor effort, since there exists no direct military requirement for the large boosters.
Modulation from ARIEL I satellite appeared on the carrier approximately 10 days out of the 31. Data received indicated the x-ray experiment had failed.
Dr. C. Stark Draper, director of MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, named 1962 recipient of Louis W. Hill Space Transportation Award by IAS, Dr. Draper was cited "for his leadership in the development of inertial guidance and automatic control equipment. and techniques vital to the success of space flights." Vice Adm. William F. Raborn (USN) wrote in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings that ability to control weather might bring about greater changes in warfare than did explosion of first nuclear bomb, adding: "The capability to change the direction of destructive storms and guide them toward enemy concentration may exist in the future arsenal of the Navy tactical commander. . . . We already have taken our first steps toward developing an environmental warfare capability. We are using satellite weather from TIROS II for current tactical operations and more accurate long-range weather predictions. . . . Some experiments in fog dissipation have shown promise, and some exploratory research has been conducted on ways to change the heading of major storms. . . ." Admiral Raborn said USN was planning 10-year study of the atmosphere ("ATMOS") which would be coordinated with separate research on oceans.
Soviet Prof. V. Nikiforov, in article entitled "Chemistry in the Cosmos and on the Moon" which appeared in Soviet journal Aviation and Cosmonautics, suggested use of a chemical foam envelope on the moon to protect cosmonauts from great temperature changes, solar radiation, and materials on the lunar surface.
Sir Bernard Lovell of Jodrell Bank in an interview with London Daily Telegraph: ". . . Although the Russians may have [space] superiority purely in the sense of rocketry, the Americans have tremendous superiority over the Russians in their ability to instrument their space vehicles and in the extraction of space information.
"If you made an assessment of the scientific information we have obtained about the earth's environment from space vehicles, you could find that this was very heavily biased in favour of the Americans. They have mounted more sophisticated experiments in their satellites and space probes and they have made them work much better." During 1962: Dr. Louis Smullni of MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories succeeded in detecting a laser reflection from the moon, although at too low a signal level and too long a pulse length for quantitative measurements. This was considered a first step in use of laser reflection for scientific research.
White Sands Missile Range, N.M., was busiest missile test center, recording 2,615 "hot" tests.
Man's conquest of space accelerated on a broad front. The U.S. achieved manned orbital flight three times, provided man with his first close-up of another planet with MARINER II's fly-by of Venus, brought global communications a step closer with the orbiting of the first active repeater communications satellite TELSTAR I, and saw the X-15 exceed its design speed and altitude (4,104 mph and 58.7 mi.). U.S.S.R. achieved first dual manned space flight in an effort that racked up an impressive total of 112 orbits, and launched a space probe toward Mars.
During the year the U.S. successfully launched a total of 61 satellites, deep-space probes, and probes, the U.S.S.R. 17, accord-according to the U.N. Public Registry. Of the U.S. total, 20 were launched by NASA, 41 by DOD.
- December
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