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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 123
would allow time to develop a larger Nova booster than previously
contemplated.
July 16: Douglas Aircraft Co. reached separate agreement with two
labor unions on a three-year contract, thus avoiding threatened
strike of aerospace workers.
In an interview with fourteen American newspa er editors, the text
of which was released, Premier Nikita &us t chev asserted that
showing of documentary film on the Soviet antimissile missile to
the Communist-sponsored Peace Conference last week had been
overruled by those who felt its showing “might have been mis-
understood” as a warlike gesture. “Had the people been shown
this film,” Khrushchev said, “they would have seen what kind
of a machine it is. You can say our rocket can hit a fly in outer
space. ))
July 17: X-15 No. 3 flown to record altitude of 58.7 miles (314,750
feet) by Major Robert White (USAF). Flight was programed for
only 282,000 feet but maximum speed of 3,784 mph was 284 mph
faster than planned. White’s flight made him eligible for astro-
naut wings, reserved for those who have flown over 50 miles
high, previously held only by four Mercury astronauts. Flight
was as0 the first to achieve the original design altitude of the
X-15 of 59 miles.
NASA Ames Research Center reported that a number of beetles had
survived the 25-mile-high balloon flight in which the monkey
and hamster passengers in the bioscience payload perished
because of a failure in the life-support system supplying oxygen
and heat.
In reviewing technical considerations leading to NASA’s selection of
the lunar orbital rendezvous mode (LOR) for Pro’ect Apollo,
D. Brainerd Holmes, Director of Manned Space blight, told
ARS lunar conference in Cleveland:
“The mission I have described has been widely reported in the
newspapers and technical journals, with a liberal use of superlatives
in assessing its magnitude and complexity. In this case,
resort to superlatives is well-advised-this is truly a staggering
undertaking. Entirely new concepts of component and system
reliability must be developed and proven. Extensive tests must
be carefully planned and conducted, and results must be exhaustively
studied. Crew capabilities must be developed and
meshed with proven automatic systems so that the two work
together with Swiss-watch precision.
“It is a challenging task, studded throughout with difficult
decisions which must be soundly based and properly made. . . .
“With the decision as to the method by which we will go to the
moon we think we have taken a giant step forward. Essentially,
we have now ‘lifted off’ and are on our way. . . .”
In Cleveland, Dr. Joseph E’. Shea, NASA’s Deputy Director of
Manned Space Flight for Systems, told ARS conclave that the
manned lunar landing was greatly dependent upon information
acquired by the unmanned Ranger and Surveyor payloads.
The landing zone for Apollo flights (strip 20’ wide along lunar
equator) is about the size of Alaska. Ma s of two-fifths-of-amile
to an inch are required, which must be i ased on photographs
which can identify five-or six-ft. objects for navigational fixes and