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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 165
postponed was launching of Canada’s S-27 Alouette satellite,
planned for 625-mi. circular polar orbit. Center of peak electron
intensity in the new belt had shifted from 16,000 mi. above the
earth to 700 mi. Since its creation, the belt had decreased in
intensity by about one half; scientists expected the radiation
would soon be dissipated.
August 27: DOD announced that TELSTAR was being used to syn-
chronize master clocks in England and the U.S. Accuracy of 10
millionths of a second was obtained in first demonstration when
stations at Andover, Maine, and Goonhilly Downs, England,
simultaneously sent time-check signals via TELSTAR, on August 25.
Soviet Cosmonaut Andrian G. Nikolayev, interviewed on Moscow
television, indicated that although he and Cosmonaut Pave1 R.
Popovich had parachuted to earth from VOSTOK 111 and VOSTOK
IV, “if we had been ordered to land in the ship we would have
done this. It is very easy to land in the ship.”
When asked
why they and Cosmonaut Gherman Titov (VOSTOK 11) had all
landed by parachute, Maj. Nikolayev replied that they all were
very fond of parachute jumping.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) announced it was train-
ing Italian scientists and engineers for the launching of Italy’s
first satellite. The 165-lb. satellite would be launched by 1965
from platform in Indian Ocean off eastern coast of Africa.
Reported that DOD was “taking steps toward developing the Nike-
Zeus antimissile missile into an antisatellite weapon capable of
shooting down any hostile space craft.”
USN test-fired Polaris missile in 1,400-mi. flight from Cape Ca-
naveral.
August 28: USAF announced launch of an unidentified satellite with
Thor-Agena D vehicle from Vandenberg AFB.
NASA reported that power output of orbiting satellites ARIEL I,
TRANSIT IV-B, and TRAAC dropped after U.S. high-altitude nu-
clear blast on July 8, the energetic particles created by explosion
damaging the satellites’ solar cells and thereby reducing their
ability to convert sunlight into electricity. Many satellites, in-
cluding TELSTAR, showed no signs of damage from radiation.
TELSTAR’S solar cells survived because they were specially de-
signed to withstand radiation in the Van Allen belts.
Speaking at meeting of American Institute of Biological Sciences in
Corvallis, Ore., James C. Finn, Jr., of North American Aviation,
predicted a permanent moon base would be established before
1990. He said the base would be dug at least 40 ft. underground
to protect crew from bombardment by meteors and radiation and
from temperature extremes between day and night.
August 29: Radio signals from Johannesburg, South Africa, activated
four observation instruments on the MARINER 11 space probe.
Transmitted data would be evaluated by Cal Tech’s Jet Propul-
sion Laboratory (JPL).
X-15 No. 2, piloted by Maj. Robert Rushworth (USAF), reached
3,443 mph (mach 5.21) and 97,000-ft. altitude in 9-min. flight
near Hidden Hills, Calif., to obtain data on heat transfer rates
at moderate airspeeds and high angles of attack