Jan 3 1962
From The Space Library
NASA announced that Mercury Mark II spacecraft would be named "Gemini," after the third constellation of the zodiac featuring the twin stars Castor and Pollux. Gemini would be a two-man spacecraft used in development of the rendezvous technique, would be 50% larger than the Mercury capsule, and launched into orbit by a Titan II booster.
Mercury capsule installed on top of Atlas booster preparatory for MA-6 manned flight; it was also reported from Cape Canaveral that first American orbital manned flight was now unofficially scheduled for January 23.
Vice President Johnson sent a congratulatory telegram to members of the OSCAR amateur radio satellite team: "For me this project is symbolic of the type of freedom for which this country stands—freedom of enterprise and freedom of participation on the part of individuals throughout the world." OSCAR I was launched with DISCOVERER XXXVI on December 12, 1961.
Dartmouth College announced new graduate program leading to a doctorate in the field of molecular biology.
January 3-10: Soviet cosmonaut, Major Gherman S. Titov, visited Indonesia at the personal invitation of President Sukarno, was then scheduled to go to Burma.
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