Oct 21 1963
From The Space Library
NASA announced it had selected a fact-finding committee to study various geographic locations for the proposed NASA Electronics Research enter. Once the committee completed its study, the NASA Administrator would make the final decision and report his findings to Congress in conformance with P.L. 88-113. (NASA Release 63-233)
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Aviation, pointed out the long history of NACA-NASA contribution to aircraft development and its continuing research contribution to the supersonic transport. Denying that such a transport would be economically unfeasible Mr. Webb said that further improvements were attainable curing the aircraft's development: "Reduce fuel reserves by 17% ; Increase airplane lift-to-drag ratio by 7%; Reduce engine specific fuel consumption during cruise by 3%; Reduce engine weight by 15%; Reduce airframe structure weight by 5%. If all of these gains can be achieved simultaneously the payload can be increased 34% for a given weight aircraft designed to fly 4,000 statute miles." (Text)
National Academy of Sciences began its centennial series of scientific meetings in Washington. (NYT, 10/22/63, 23)
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D.-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, speaking at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington, said the space age was "one of the great movements in human history .... Our ability to maintain the peace and deter aggression depends on keeping ahead - or at least abreast-of any other nation in space technology." (Wash. Eve. Star, 10/22/63)
NASA spokesman was quoted by Missiles and Rockets as saying that NASA would switch many of its satellite programs from the Delta launch vehicle to the Thrust-Augmented Delta (TAD). TAD would use the Delta second stage with the USAF-developed Thrust Augmented Thor (TAT),which uses three strap-on solid rockets to raise thrust from 170,000 lbs, to 330,000 lbs. and provide 200 lbs. increase in payload in a 300-mi. orbit. Many NASA programs had been pushing the payload limit of the Delta. Those benefiting from the new booster were reported to be Syncom, the Bios satellites, Oso, Tiros, and the Interplanetary Monitoring Probe (Imp). (M&R,10/21/63,15)
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, speaking to the New York section of the AIAA in New York, pointed out that the U.S. manned space program involves technical requirements "about 20 times the complexity of the Minuteman program." For this reason, among others, he said leaders of the space program had recognized from the beginning that leadership could be achieved "only through a sustained, steadily accelerating effort." He quoted Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, speaking on Apr. 26, 1958, when he said that without this big, long-term national commitment "I'd just as soon we didn't start"; Dr. Wernher yon Braun in 1958 telling the House Select Committee studying the Space Act that the biggest problem was "how we can eliminate this lethal and wasteful hot-and-cold blowing that has plagued all our missile projects in the past. I think this lack of steady determination and unwavering support over the years has hurt us more than anything"; and Dr. T. Keith Glennan, NASA's first Administrator, speaking at the first NASA budget hearings before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics: "If our space programs are to be run on an off-again, on-again basis, zigging and zagging with the turn of every new year, then we'd better spend our money buying telescopes to watch the Russian pioneers in space," (Text)
FRC completed first phase of a program to determine how much visibility a pilot needs to fly an aircraft through all phases of flight. The problem is that the present standards of large glassed areas for pilot visibility would be virtually unacceptable in vehicles capable of orbital flight and re-entry. FRC's approach to the problem was to configure a U.S. Army L-19 light aircraft with two wide-angle monocular telescopes mounted with their axis convergent to an angle of 55° toward the pilot. Exposing only four inches of glass, the two telescopes afforded the pilot 140° visual field horizontally, 90° vertically, with a 40° horizontal overlap. Forty flights were made with the system, testing all phases of flight. The second phase of the program would employ a high speed jet aircraft with a similar optical system. (FRC Release 2563)
NASA awarded a $236,520 grant to the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz., to provide a building for processing, storage, and research of lunar and planetary photography. This would assist Lowell Observatory in fulfilling the request of the International Astronomical Union in August 1961 that Lowell establish a Western Hemisphere repository of lunar and planetary research materials corresponding to the Eastern Hemisphere center at Meudon, France. (NASA lease 63-235)
Rep. Joseph E. Karth (D.-Minn.) refuted charges of waste and inefficiency in the space program, reminded members of a time three years before when similar statements were being made about the Mercury program. As evidence, he read into the record an article by James Baar in Missiles and Rockets of Aug. 15, 1960, entitled "Is Mercury Program Headed for Disaster?": "NASA's Mercury manned satellite program appears to be plummeting the United States toward a new humiliating disaster in the East West space race. "This is the stark conclusion that looms in the minds of a growing number of eminent rocket scientists and engineers as the Mercury program continues to slip backward." (CR, 10/21/63, A6547-48)
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