May 2 1963
From The Space Library
X-15 No. 3 flown by NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker to 209,400ft. altitude at speeds up to 3,488 mph (mach 4.73), in nine-minute flight from Mud Lake, Nev. Instrumentation mounted on aircraft's tail measured radiation in ultraviolet and infrared spectra. Secondary purpose of flight was evaluation of air flow over X-15's surface conducted at high angles of attack. (FRC Release)
U.S. and Brazil announced signing of memorandum of understanding for cooperation in satellite studies of the ionosphere. Signed by Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator, and Aldo Vieira da Rosa, of Brazilian Commission for Space Activities, agreement provided for establishment of three radio receiving stations straddling geomagnetic equator-at Belem, San Jose dos Campos, and Natal. Initial project would involve readout. of telemetry data from S-66 ionospheric satellite, to be launched by NASA in 1963. Under agreement, Brazil would build, equip, and operate stations with NASA lending scientific equipment. (AP, Wash. Post, 5/3/63)
In meeting of legal subcommittee of U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Soviet delegate, Roland M. Timerbaer declared that it would be "delusion" to report to the Committee that any progress had been made during 28-nation subcommittee's three-week session. Business before subcommittee had been drafting of legal code covering space exploration activities and considering of proposals concerning liability for space vehicle accidents and return of astronauts and spacecraft after emergency landings in foreign territory. (NYT, 5/3/63, 3)
Three-stage solid-fueled West German rocket launched from Cuxhaven, Germany, reached 65-mi. altitude and returned to earth by newly developed parachute technique. Rocket was designed by and launched under direction of Berthold Seliger, who called test "a partial success-I meant the thing to hit 93 miles high." Seliger, who helped develop Germany's V-1 and V-2 rockets, said new rocket was developed from V-2. First major German rocket launched since World War II, it would be used in space research and possibly in development of antimissile missile. (UPI, Wash. Post, 5/3/63)
Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff, NASA Director of Advanced Research and Technology, said at Univ. of Minnesota Engineers' Day Convocation that "all too often" the scientist "gets the credit for the work done by the engineer." In the space program, "the boundary line between science and engineering is often so fine as to be indistinguishable ...... (Text)
NASA Director of Procurement Ernest W. Brackett, testifying before Subcommittee on Applications and Tracking and Data Acquisition of House Committee on Science and Astronautics, said: "During fiscal year 1962, approximately 90% of funds appropriated by the Congress were spent by contracts as compared to 64% in fiscal year 1960. In fiscal year 1964, the percentage of funds going to contractors may increase further . . . ." (Testimony)
Speaking before a dinner of the American Association for Contamination Control in Boston, Mass., Franklyn W. Phillips, director of NASA NEO, spoke of the proposed electronics research center "We have seen nothing to date that would alter our original proposal to place the [electronics] center in the greater Boston area. The reasons we made the choice in the first place are as valid now as they were then. "Greater Boston represents the greatest concentration of electronics know-how in the country and is the logical place for this center." (Boston Herald, 5/3/63)
President of Boeing Co. William M. Allen testified in closed hearings before Senate Investigations Subcommittee that Boeing's bid to build 23 TFX aircraft was $148,000,000 less than that of General Dynamics Corp., "yet we were downgraded by reason of our lower price. It was most disillusioning and discouraging to discover that one of the principal reasons Boeing lost the award was because our fixed-price bid was too low . . . . It has been stated that our cost estimates were unrealistic, demonstrating that we did not appreciate the complexities of developing the TFX . . ." He said Boeing developed its bid on basis of careful calculations and was fully prepared to fulfill contract commitments at quoted price of $482,000,000. (AP, NYT, 5/3/63,1,14)
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