Nov 6 1963
From The Space Library
Premier Nikita Khrushchev told a group of visiting U.S. businessmen that U.S.S.R. was continuing its manned lunar landing program. Clarifying his remarks of Oct. 26, he said that "when we have the technical possibilities of doing this, and when we have complete confidence that whoever is sent to the moon can safely be sent back, then it is quite feasible, quite possible." He said that POLET I had made space rendezvous possible but that "no definite date" had been set for such an experiment. On the supersonic transport aircraft, he said : "I can say that we are designing and building a supersonic plane. I can't give you the details because I don't remember the technical data on that plane." (NYT, 11/7/63, 1; AP, Wash. Post, 11/7/63)
Utmost care would be taken in the assembly and checkout of the Mariner B spacecraft intended for a landing on Mars in 1966 so that the Mars lander would be completely free of earth microbes that might contaminate the Martian environment. Workers with even minor colds would be barred from the assembly area. The final assembly would be subjected to a dry heat at 275°F for 24 hours, then sealed into its special can and placed aboard the booster for launching. The special can would not open until the spacecraft was some 350 mi. from earth, considered to be the limit of earth microbes. (Wash. Post, 11/7/63)
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D.-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, told the Senate that it was unwarranted to assume from Premier Khrushchev's Oct. 26 remarks that the Soviets had pulled out of the space race. "The competition in space between the United States and the Soviet Union is still intense. It would be foolish indeed if this country were to attempt to reorient its vast space program each time the Soviet Union made some pronouncement about its goals. We should take cognizance of Russian statements but we should not let ourselves be diverted from sound objectives on the ground that competition no longer exists." (CR, 11/6/63, 20140)
By the beginning of 1964 the U.S. would have 475 ICBM's as against U.S.S.R.'s 100, according to a study released by the Institute of Strategic Studies in London. U.S. was also estimated to have 1,300 strategic bombers and 10 Polaris submarines with 16 missiles each. U.S.S.R. was said to have 1,200 bombers-1,000 of which were medium bombers of only 3,500 mi. range-and no Polaris-type submarines but 90 400-mi. missiles capable of being fired from a surfaced submarine. (AP, NYT, 11/6/63, 3)
MSFC awarded Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation an $8,441,956 contract to extend the duration run of the J-2 liquid-hydrogen rocket engine from 250 sec. to 500 sec. (Space Bus. Daily, 11/7/63, 218)
Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, speaking before the Washington chapter of AIAA, said that funds for the space program thus far in this decade had (1) created a team of trained people; (2) developed basic technology; (3) constructed facilities; and (4) been used up in consumption of consumable items. Consumables, he said, represented the cost of launches and costs of the recovery forces. This category amounted to less than eight per cent of the total. "The remaining 92 per cent of the funds are used for creating permanent capital . . . ." (Text)
Ford Foundation announced a grant of $300,000 to take young engineering professors from the university campus into industry for one year to give them experience in "manufacturing, marketing, financing, and other considerations that influence engineering decisions in practice." The program would cover three years and would involve some 60 faculty members. Program would be directed by Clarence E. Watson, former vice president of Columbia Broadcasting System Laboratories. Another $200,000 grant was made to the Univ. of Tenn. to take outstanding scientists and engineers into part time teaching. (NYT , 11/7/63, 41)
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