August 1963
From The Space Library
Mockup model of Gemini two-man spacecraft shipped from McDonnell Aircraft Corp. to NASA Launch Operations Center, Cape Canaveral, for tests of ground support equipment at the launch complex. (AP, Wash. Eve. Star, 8/22/63)
NASA Director of Aeronautical Research Programs Charles H. Zimmerman resigned to accept position with Army Material Command's research and development directorate. Since June 1962, Zimmerman directed NASA's aeronautical research programs including X-15, V/STOL research, and supersonic transport study. (Av. Wk., 9/2/63,24)
In first altitude test of AEC's Project. Sand (Sampling Aerospace Nuclear Debris), Honest John-Nike rocket carried nuclear sampler payload to 36-mi. altitude where it was jettisoned and parachuted back to earth. Launch was conducted from Tonopah Test Range, Nev., by Sandia Corp. for AEC. Project Sand was designed to determine amount of nuclear debris m atmosphere 23 to 43 mi. above earth and to develop techniques for predicting its dispersal in this region. (Space Bus. Daily, 8/27/63, 300)
In introduction to U.N. Annual Report, Secretary General U Thant said ". . . the development of cooperation in outer space exploration and use continued in an encouraging manner, especially in the scientific and technical field. "The Scientific and Technological Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, at its second session held in Geneva in May 1963, agreed upon a series of new and revised recommendations concerning the exchange of information; encouragement of international programs, education and training, potentially harmful effects of special experiments and the organization of international sounding rocket facilities. The meeting of the subcommittee provided once more the occasion for the scientists of the two leading space powers to continue their private talks on cooperative space programs. "The World Meteorological Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization continued to participate actively in the field of peaceful exploration and use of outer space. "No agreement was reached on legal problems relating to outer space, but. a valuable exchange of views took place in the Committee and its legal subcommittee . . . " (Text, CR, 8/27/63, 15099-103)
During August: The Atlantic Monthly published an article "Why Land on the Moon?" by Dr. Robert Jastrow, Director, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and Dr. Homer E. Newell, Director, Office of Space Sciences, NASA. "These are the specific values of space exploration: the benefits of basic research, economically valuable applications of satellites, contributions to industrial technology, a general stimulus to education and to the younger generation, and the strengthening of our international position by our acceptance of leadership in a historic human enterprise. The current discussion of these values of the space program has served the United States well in directing its attention to questions of national purpose. But, however we may try to break the program down into its elements and to attempt a detailed balancing of debits and credits, the fact remains that the space effort is greater than the sum of its parts. It is a great adventure and a great enterprise, not only for the United States but for all humanity. We have the power and resources to play a leading role in this effort,. and it is inconceivable that we should stand aside. "Scientific administrators ask ... can we afford the cost of the space program in technical manpower? Their concern is heightened by the fact that federal activities in defense, space, and atomic energy together consume nearly half of the science and engineering talent available in the United States. But is the space agency the major consumer of trained manpower within this federal complex of technical agencies? In actuality, NASA will be using six percent of the national manpower pool in science and engineering through its contracts with private industry, plus an additional one percent in government laboratories. If the space program has substantial value, this is not an overwhelming drain." (Text)
Dr. Simon Ramo, Vice Chairman of Board of Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge, Inc., said in Air Force and Space Digest article "The landing of men on the moon needs to be understood by the American people merely as a specific framework on which is built a broad research program to explore many areas of science. Space is new and special; it is only now that we have the ability to enter a region of the universe previously denied to us, except for viewing from a distance through the insulation of our atmosphere. Nevertheless, without a definite task, a broad space pro- gram of this size would be very inefficient, would wander and me redundant, unwieldy, and confused. We need to agree that what counts most is advancing science on a broad front .... " . . the addition of a human passenger and observer to a total space effort is a necessary ingredient. An ideally laid-out program . . . requires emphasizing broad research aims in all of the sciences .... How can we justify a large national space research program whose true objective is scientific discovery across all the spectrum of science if we are going to leave out the life sciences . . "It is essential then that the public should understand that the program they are buying is not just a man-on-the-moon program. Like an iceberg, the greater part of the program will be unseen. Space exploration will be lengthy and continuing, requiring patient backing as a long-term venture . . . ." (AF & Space Digest, 8/63, 49f)
Peak power output of 50w from pulsed gas laser demonstrated by Orlando Div. of Martin-Marietta Corp. At higher power levels the company predicted application of the laser in optical radar system. (Av. Wk., 8/19/ 63, 34)
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., received 1962 Gold Medal of French Association Pour l'Etude et la Recherche Astronautique. Colonel Glenn accepted the award "on behalf of myself and the thousands of persons here and abroad who have made these space flights possible." (Av. Wk., 8/12/63,109)
COSPAR re-elected M. Maurice Roy, member of French Academy of Sciences and professor at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris as President for 1963-66. (A&AE, 8/63, 116)
S. Fred Singer, Director of National Weather Satellite Center of U.S. Weather Bureau, was awarded first Astronautics Space Research Medal of British Interplanetary Society. (A&AE, 8/63,119)
“Wernher von Braun on Mars” article in Popular Science magazine
- August
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