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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 109
June 26: Dr. Frank E. Bothwell, Chief Scientist of the Center of
Naval Analysis, Franklin Institute, received the Navy’s highest
civilian award, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, for his
work on design and development of the Polaris ballistic missile.
June 27: X-15 No. 1 flown to unprogramed but record speed of
4,159 mph (mach 6.09) by NASA’s Joseph A. Walker at Edwards,
Calif. Record speed was achieved at 96,000 ft. on climb to an
altitude of 120,000 ft. In test of X-15 re-entry stability, Walker
glided in at 23-degree angle of attack, highest angle flown to
date, and placed X-15 into 80-degree bank.
NASA announced that flight of X-15 No. 3 on June 21 by Major
Robert White (USAF) reached an altitude of 247,000 feet (46.8 mi.)
instead of the 250,000 feet as first announced.
Thor-Agena D booster launched USAF satellite from Vandenberg
AFB, Calif.
NASA Director of Manned Space Flight, D. Brainerd Holmea,
announced that Mercury-Atlas 8 manned flight would be pro-
gramed for as many as six orbits late this summer. Astronaut
Walter M. Schirra (Cdr. USN) was announced as prime pilot,
with Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper (Major USAF) as backup pilot.
Capsule No. 16 was scheduled as the mission spacecraft.
Holmea said : “We believe that another three-orbit mission will
increase considerably our growing knowledge of space light.
An thing more than three orbits should be considered a bonus.”
A gur-orbit mission would bring the spacecraft down about 2QO
miles east of Midway Island in the Pacific, whde a five or s1x
orbit fight would cause it to land 300 miles northeast of Midway.
“DOD-NASA Guide: PERT Cost System Design,” a joint set of man-
agement principles for common use by NASA and DOD contractors,
was issued. The basic PERT (program evaluation and review
technique) was first introduced for governmentindustry use m 1958
and has been applied largely to evaluation of schedules and time-
related problems with wide success. Since NASA and DOD use
virtually the same industrial base, adoption of a sin le approach
as contained in the NASA-DOD Guide will minimize 2 ifferences in
application of PERT techniques to cost applications.
NASA named Charles H. Zimmerman as Director of Aeronautical
Research in the Office of Advanced Research and Technology.
Zimmerman, who had joined NACA in 1929 and served as associate
head of the Aerospace Mechanics Division of Langley Research
Center since August 1959, succeeded John Stack who
retired last month. Zimmerman would be responsible for the
expanding NASA aeronautical program, which supports and conducts
research for national goals in milit?ry and commercial aircraft,
including V/STOL aircraft, supersonlc transports, long-range
flight at hypersonic speeds, technical support of the USAF X-20
(Dyna Soar) and full responsibility for the X-15 research airplane
program.
Dr. Eu ene B. Konecci appointed NASA’s Director of Biotechnology
and a uman Research in the Office of Advanced Research and
Technology. Dr. Konecci will be responsible for directing re-
search and development of future life support systems, advanced
systems to protect man in the space enmonment, and research
to assure man’s performance capability in space.
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