Jun 1 1964
From The Space Library
In an interview with U.S. News & World Report, Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, defended the U.S. program to land a man on the moon by 1970 and stated that it was his belief that at the present time the chances were "better than 50%" that the project would be successful by the target date. In commenting on reports that the Russians had forsaken a race to the moon, von Braun ventured that it was possible that the Russians had "picked another focusing point besides the moon for their manned spaceflight program" such as the development of a large manned space station orbiting earth. In addition, he commented: "I don't think the Russians have ever said they aren't going to the moon. But, even if we are going alone, this would not hurt one bit. The purpose is not so much to race the Russians-or, for that matter, even to land on the moon-but to design a hard-hitting program to develop an American space-flying capability." (U.S. News, 6/1/64)
Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, NASA, asserted that "we learned we had more work to do" in commenting on the fact that one engine in the Saturn I booster (SA-6) had shut down prematurely. Because the Saturn I booster was designed to operate successfully with one engine out, no damage was done by the early shutoff and the test was successful. (Houston Post, 6/2/64)
NASA awarded a $1.2 million contract for the design, development, and construction of a new simulator system for installation in a subsonic jet transport to Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories, Buffalo, N.Y. The new system, called the General Purpose Airborne Simulator (GPAS), was to provide airborne simulation of advanced aircraft with particular emphasis on the proposed supersonic transport. The system should allow inflight evaluation of specific configurations for a wide variety of flight conditions of speed, altitude, and attitude. (FRC Release 13-64)
Missiles and Rockets reported that NASA planned two Mariner-type flights to Mars in 1969 and a Voyager mission to Mars in 1971. M&R reported that D. P. Hearth, of the office of Advanced Lunar and Planetary Programs in the NASA Office of Space Sciences, said that he expected both new projects to be funded in the FY '66 budget. According to Hearth, neither project had won program approval by top NASA officials, but the chances for both appeared good. Both 1969 and 1971 would offer attractive launch windows because propulsion requirements to complete the missions would be the smallest of any period in the next 15 years. (M&R, 6/1/64, 15)
NASA contributed $177,000 to the Univ. of Houston to support 10 pre-doctoral students studying space-related sciences and technology. The fellowships were for a three-year period and brought the total to 20 in the NASA-sponsored study program. With this grant, the space agency raised its total contribution to $354,000 in fellowship grants to the university. (Houston Post, 6/1/64)
New York Times reported that AEC and SAF were jointly supporting work on a relatively simple nuclear rocket engine (Project Poodle) that was likely to be flyable in the next five years. The rocket would be clustered to propel an upper rocket stage, and it was reported that the newly designed device might save more than $300 million on space missions which had already been planned and for which conventional upper stages had been contemplated. The novelty of the new engine stemmed from the fact that its power would be derived not from a controlled nuclear reaction but from the decay of radioactive polonium 210. Propulsion would be provided in gentle acceleration of about 1/4 lb. thrust sustained for periods of weeks. (Witkin, NYT, 6/1/64)
In a letter to Aviation Week, S.B. Kramer suggested that, on the basis of his computations, the U.S.S.R.'s ZOND I probe was on a trajectory that would bring it on the sunlit side of Venus around July 24, 1964. His calculations were based on bulletins on ZOND I issued by Tass, and he asserted that they led him to two conclusions: first, that ZOND I was on a trajectory that would lead it to approach Venus closely; second, that the trajectory was such that the probe could return to the vicinity of earth during the latter half of March 1965. (Av. Wk., 6/1/64, 102)
The policy committee of the Cornell Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center of New York urged the Government to begin immediately to develop procedures for the selection and training of crews for the supersonic transports now in the design stage. The group urged the initiation of intensive studies of the "operating environment" of supersonic aircraft now in use by the military, and the development of joint management-union programs for selection of crews based upon physical and technical competence rather than upon the seniority principle. (AP, NYT, 6/2/64, 63)
Marilyn Link, Executive Secretary of the Link Foundation of New York, was named winner of the national Frank G. Brewer Trophy for 1963. The trophy, awarded by the National Aeronautic Association, honors "distinguished and outstanding meritorious service to the Air Youth of America in Aero Space Education." (NAA Release)
Miss Jacqueline Cochran flew the Edwards AFB 100-km. circular course at 1,302 mph to recapture the international woman's record held by Jacqueline Auriol. Miss Auriol had averaged 1,266 mph on June 4, 1963, to capture the 100-km. record from Miss Cochran. (AP, Wash. Post, 6/5/64)
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