Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962 - NASA's History Office

96 ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 19 6 2
engine and for the 1.2-million-pound-thrust M-1 engine under
development by Aerojet-General. Linde would build a plant at
Sacramento, Calif.
June 6: U.S. patent (No. 3,008,154) was granted to Dr. Vladimir K.
Zworykin for a rocket to be used in detecting strength and polarity
of electric fields in clouds. Such data could then be used in control
of cloud movements and in effecting weather changes. Patent
was first applied for in 1948 but until now was kept secret at,
request of DOD. Dr. Zworykin is a consultant to the Princeton
Laboratories of RCA and honorary vice president of RCA.
June 7’: X-15 No. 1 flown to 3,716 mph by NASA pilot Joseph Walker
and put through a series of high-speed sharp-angle maneuvers
involving banks and testing at three angles of attack. Skin tem-
peratures may have reached l,OOOo; the rocket engine developed
some roughness in the course of the flight.
Nike-Cajun vehicle with an experiment to measure winds and
temperatures in the upper atmosphere was launched from NASA’s
Wallops Station. In the ni ht flight, 12 special explosive charges
were ejected and detonate c?i at intervals from about 25 st. mi.
altitude up to about 58 st. mi.
Pakistan made its first space experiment, the launching of a Rehbar
I sounding rocket from a site near Karachi. Part of a cooperative
program between NASA and the Pakistan Upper Atmosphere
and Space Research Committee, the Rehbar I was a Nike-
Cajun rocket supplied by the U.S., carrying a sodium vapor payload
to an altitude of about 80 miles to measure upper-altitude
winds. Several more such launches are programed for the next
few months. Prior to the launches, Pakistani scientists and
technicians were given training in NASA research and launch
centers.
NASA announced selection of Bendix Corp.’s Radio Division, Towson,
Md., for contract to operate five of NASA’s worldwide Project
Mercury tracking and communications stations. Two-year, $10
million contract also called for engineering and operations serv-
ices for all Mercury stations, beginning January 1, 1963. Under
incentive contract, Bendix would have opportunity to earn bonus
payments above its fixed fee by demonstrating superior per-
formance; this contract probably first awarded by any agency to
provide monetary incentive for outstanding performance in
service-type work.
USAF Titan I1 ICBM launthed from AMR on a planned 5,000-mi. test
flight, the missile falling short of its target but achieving most
of its test objectives).
USAF B-52H claimed a world record for nonstop, non-refueled
distance flight over n closed circuit, having flown 11,400 miles
in 22 hours, 38 minutes, 41.8 seconds, with an average speed of
510 mph. The closed-circuit course ran from Seymour Johnston
AFB, N.C. , to Bermuda; Sondres trom, Greenland ; Anchorage,
Alaska; Los Angeles, Calif.; Key West, Fla.; and back to Sey-
mour Johnson. Yilot was Capt. William M. Stevenson (USAF);
copilot was Capt. Floyd J. Schoendiest (USAF). Present record
is held by Lt. Col. J. R. Grissom (USAF), who on December 14,
1960, flew a B-52G a distance of 10,078.84 miles.
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