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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 129
Jdy 23: NASA supplemental appropriation for FY 1962 was approved
by the House and the Senate. It carried $82,500,000 for research
and development and $71,000,000 for construction and facilities
at Cape Canaveral.
0 USIA reported that the U.S.S.R. had been invited to participate in
the TELSTAR broadcasts but had never answered the invitation.
0 Atomic Support Agency’s Project Banshee balloon carried payload
of instruments and 500 lbs. of high explosives to 15-mile dtit,ude
over White Sands, explosion four hours after launch providing
test of high-altitude effects of large explosions; t,he 200-foot-long
string of instruments which parachuted to earth was recovered.
0 In interview with Science Service, Dr. John O’Keefe of NASA said
that pattern of re-entry of pieces of MA-6 booster rocket rein-
forced the theory that tektites originate from the moon. Tektites
are black, glossy rocks scattered on the earth’s surface, and the
wide area covered by MA-6 rocket pieces was a similar pattern.
Report by Dr. James R. Killian, Jr., released by the National Civil
Service League, stated that the U.S. Government is “unusually
desperate” for more and better scientists and engineers. Educa-
tion is not keeping pace “with the growing size of our national
commitments in. science and technology” and Government is
being outbid by industries and even some universities for scarce
talent. Greatest need, said the former scientific adviser to
President Eisenhower and now President of MIT, is for scientists
and engineers “with managerial ability.” ((Already there is a
dangerous weakening of supervising technical leadership.”
0 U.A.R. held three-hour parade in Cairo celebrating the tenth
anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. Twenty of the new
Egyptian rockets were displayed.
July 24: USAF Blue Scout, Jr. space probe launched from Point
Arguello Calif.
0 Senate and House space committee conferences approved com-
promise legislative authorization for NASA in FY 1963 of $3,-
744,115,250. Bill provided $43,160,750 less than NASA requested.
NearIy $1.3 billion was assigned to manned space flight, including
the lunar program.
0 Three major US. TV networks telecast separate five-minute
newscasts via TELSTAR, each featuring their respective Paris news
correspondents.
0 Edward R. Murrow, Director of USIA, quoted on floor of the House
by Con ressman.Ryan as stating that the Voice of America
cannot Lancially afford to use TELSTAR satellite for its overseas
transmissions if the rates charged were the same as rates charged
for use of undersea cables.
AFSC announced that Colonel Charles E. (‘Chuck” Yeager (USAF),
fist man to fly faster than the speed of sound (X-1, October 14,
1947), was named Commandant of USAF Aerospace Research
Pilot School at AFFTC, Edwards AFB, Calif.
July 26: NASA Wallops Station launched Aerobee sounding rocket
with GsFc-University of Colorado 208-lb. payload to an altitude
of 68 miles, experiment orienting an ultraviolet spectrophotom-
eter in the direction of the sun to study wave-length rofile as
a function of attitude and to calibrate instrumentation P or future
satellite Qhts.