Apr 7 1959

From The Space Library

AEC Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory announced development of plasma thermocouple for direct conversion of energy from a nuclear reactor into electricity, offering potential auxiliary power source for space applications.

First operational flight of USAF Snark to target on AMR.

NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan requested $3 million for research into rendezvous techniques as part of the NASA budget for Fiscal Year 1960. In subsequent hearings, DeMarquis D. Wyatt, Assistant to the NASA Director of Space Flight Development, explained that these funds would be used to resolve certain key problems in making space rendezvous practical. Among these were the establishment of referencing methods for fixing the relative positions of two vehicles in space; the development of accurate, lightweight target-acquisition equipment to enable the supply craft to locate the space station; the development of very accurate guidance and control systems to permit precisely determined flight paths; and the development of sources of controlled power.

U.S. Congress, Senate, NASA Authorization Subcommittee of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1960, Hearings on S. 1582, 86th Congress, 1st Session (1959), p. 7; U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1960 NASA Authorization, Hearings on H.R. 6512, 86th Congress, 1st Session (1959), pp. 97, 170, 267-268.