Sep 22 1962
From The Space Library
Four-stage Journeyman rocket carried 145-lb. payload to 1,058-mi. from NASA Wallops Station. Primary experiment was measurement of the intensity of RF energy at medium frequencies; secondary experiment was measurement of electron densities in the upper ionosphere and investigation of possibility of using ionosphere as a focusing medium in future radio astronomy mapping experiments. Payload landed about 1,323 mi. from launch site in the Atlantic Ocean.
NASA launched three-stage, solid-fuel Ram-B (Radio Attenuation Measurement) rocket from Wallops Station, Va., all contact with the vehicle lost 11 sec. after second-stage ignition. Project Ram was designed to provide information on communications blackout during space vehicle re-entry.
Aerobee 150A launched from NASA Wallops Station, the rocket reaching 117-mi. altitude in experiment to measure absolute intensity of the spectrum of stars with 50 angstrom resolution and to measure ultraviolet fluxes. No usable data were received because rocket failed to despin as planned.
Faulty valve in MA-8 spacecraft was replaced by technicians, a repair which required removal of Mercury capsule from the Atlas booster. Astronaut Walter M. Schirra's orbital space flight was planned for October 3.
NASA announced it would launch Canadian spacecraft Alouette (S-27) from Point Arguello, Calif., no earlier than September 26. Named for high-flying songbird of Canada, Alouette was first satellite to be both designed and built by a nation other than U.S. or U.S.S.R. The launching would mark NASA’s first orbiting attempt from Point Arguello and its first use of a Thor-Agena B launch vehicle.
Unnamed NASA official said that a four-stage rocket probe would be launched in October or November to check the strength of the radiation belt created by U.S. high-altitude nuclear explosion over the Pacific on July 9, 1962.
NASA announced award of facilities grants to five universities, first such grants awarded by NASA. Worth a total of $6,410,000, the grants were to provide research facilities for activities in space- related sciences and technology to universities making "substantial contributions" to the U.S. space program: University of California, Berkeley; University of Chicago ; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; State University of Iowa; and Stanford University.
According to the Washington Post, USAF second attempt to orbit belt of copper filaments in Project West Ford experiment was apparently inadvertently revealed by Eugene C. Fubini, Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering, testifying before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. The attempted orbiting was inferred to have been made sometime this summer, failed because of launch vehicle malfunction (first failure and only attempt publicized had been made on Oct. 21, 1961). Of this report, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Arthur Sylvester, said to the press: "The facts are that only one attempt has been made [to orbit tiny metal filaments] and the U.S. Air Force will coordinate with the National Academy of Sciences on any future attempt." Confusion had arisen when the Washington Post had reported that the USAF had made an unsuccessful attempt to orbit such a payload during the summer.
Review in Red Star by General Pavel Kurochkin, commenting on new Soviet textbook on strategy, stated: "The Soviet people are engaged in the peaceful conquest of space. But it is perfectly clear that if the imperialists continue to conduct research for means of using cosmic space for military goals, then the interests of guaranteeing the security of the Soviet state demand definite measures from our side." Doctrinal textbook was written by several of Russia's top military leaders under the direction of Marshal V. D. Sokolovsky, and was said to be the first serious work on military strategy published in Russia since 1926.
Israel Finance Minister, Levi Eshkol, speaking in Washington, D.C., said that the "missile race has entered the Middle East" and Israel must be prepared to defend itself "no matter what the cost." He said: "When Colonel Nasser stands by Egyptian rocket launchers and boasts they are trained in our direction, we dare not mistake this for an idle propaganda boast."
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