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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 97
June 7: NASA announced the a pointment of Dr. Richard B. Morrison
as Director of Launch Vebcles and Pro ulsion Programs, Office
of Space Sciences, in NASA Hq., succee d? mg Col. Donald Heaton
(USAF). Dr. Morrison was previously professor of aeronautical
engineering and supervisor of the Aircraft Propulsion Laboratory
at the University of Michigan.
0 ONR’S 85-ft.) steerable radiotelescope dedicated at Hat Creek Radio
Astronomy Facility, Hat Creek, Calif. Designed for extensive
mapping of the galax -and particularly the hydrogen-gas clouds
of the galactic nuceus-the I? Philco-built telescope would be
operated by University of California.
U.S. Embassy in Warsaw announced withdrawal of U.S. offer to
display the FRIENDSHIP 7 capsule in Poland during its inter-
national goodwill tour. Reason given was that the “Polish
authorities are unable to give a positive reply to our offer.”
June 8: Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator of NASA,
announced jointly with Soviet representative Anatoly Blagan-
ravov in Geneva that a U.S.-U.S.S.R. agreement had been
reached to coordinate launchin s of weather satellites to provide
information for the “world weat % er watch” of the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO). Also announced was a eement on a
joint effort to map the earth’s magnetic field; ta Y. ks were continuing
on joint cooperation in the field of communications
satellites. Announcement was made after two weeks of talks on
U.S.-U.S.S.R. space cooperation in Geneva, which grew out of
the exchange of letters between President Kennedy and Premier
Khrushchev in March.
White House Reorganization Plan No. 2 became effective, establishing
the Office of Science and Technology in the Executive
Office of the President. Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner was appointed
Director, retaining duties of the special assistant to the President
for science and technology and receiving certain functions
transferred from the National Science Foundation.
0 Chimpanzee “Zena” ejected in capsule from USAF B-58 flying at
1,060 mph. at 45,000 feet in escape capsule test, over Edwards
AFB, Calif. W/O E. J. Murray (USAF) had been first man ejected
in the capsule on February 28, at speed of 565 mph.
0 DOD announced that it was consolidating all military basic research
overseas. The first step would be the openin of a Defense
Research Office in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on 5 uly 1, 1962, to
coordinate the military basic research program throughout Latin
America. NSF and NIH would open offices in the same building
for their independent programs, with all efforts coordinated by
the State Department.
USAF fired a Minuteman ICBM from a silo at AMR and sent it 3,000
miles downrange. In an associated test, a single-stage Nike was
fired to trail the Minuteman up to 12 miles to chart wind patterns.
In address at Ohio State University, General Curtis E. LeMay
(USAF) said: “It is in the fields of science and technology that the
greatest explosion of problems is occurring. We are in the midst
of an age of technological change that will make the industrial
revolution seem dull indeed. The problems associated with
technical chan e are producing opportunities in greater abundance
than ever be f: ore. Opportunity is not only knocking at the
door, it is beating gongs all around the house. . . .