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

AUGUST 1962
August 1: Senate voted NASA FY 1963 authorization of $3,744,115,250,
representing $5,400,000 less than the amount originally agreed
to by the Senate and about $2 billion above the amount authorized
for NASA in FY 1962. The bill (H.R. 11737) was sent to the
White House for the President’s signature.
House passed Independent Offices Appropriation Bill for 1963
(H.R. 12711) containing an amendment providing for 25% indi-
rect costs on research grants made by the 26 executive agencies of
the bill, including NASA. Appropriation for NASA was
$3,644,115,000, representing $143,161,000 less than budget esti-
mates.
USAF launched unidentified satellite with Thor-Agena booster from
Vandenberg AFB.
Five-day filibuster in Senate against Administration-supported
communications satellite bill was shelved under compromise
agreement between bill’s supporters and opponents. Bill was
referred to Foreign Relations Committee, which was ordered to
report it back to the Senate not later than August 10.
Rocketdyne Division o€ NAA announced plans to expand its Canoga
Park, Calif., facilities to manufacture 5’-1 and 5-2 rocket engines
for NASA’s Advanced Saturn launch vehicle.
Four American scientists led by Dr. William A. Cassidy, research
scientist at Lamont Geological Observatory of Columbia
University, left New York on three-month expedition to Argentina,
where they hoped to find and unearth a 13j6-ton meteorite.
Supported by National Science Foundation grant, the expedition
would seek the huge meteorite which was reported in late
1700’s by Indians of north central Argentina.
Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, AFSC Commander, told House Military
Operations subcommittee that the Midas early warning satellite
would “take longer to develop than initially forecast.” He said
that USAF and DOD had been overly optimistic about the reliability
that could be expected from components and about
technical features of the system.
USAF Atlas E” ICBM was launched from a silo at Vandenberg A 4
in successful 5,000-mi. flight to vicinity of the Marshall Islands
in the Pacific, the first Atlas F launch from an underground silo.
AEC-DOD jointly announced that repair work on launch facilities at
Johnston Island mould delay further high-altitude nuclear tests
for some weeks. Damage occurred July 25 when Thor rocket
and its nuclear warhead were deliberately destroyed on the pad.
Recent Soviet article discussed various methods the U.S.S.R. has
been studying for sending a man to the moon in the current
decade. The earth-orbital rendezvous method was reported as
considered the most reliable, but consideration also has been
given to the direct ascenb method, using the “Mastodon” rocket.
No decision has been made public.
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