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

170 ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1 9 6 2
September 2: In editorial noting addition to FCC of 19 specialists to
plan enforcement of communications satellite bill’s provisions for
public interest protection, New York Times said: “the policy-
making decisions confronting the FCC will become increasingly
complex. How well and how wisely it discharges its duties will
be of crucial importance in shaping the future of this mechanism
[communications satellite] for bettering life through man’s con-
quest of space. . . . The march of science is sure to create many
more situations in which the partnership of private and public
efforts will entail a need for dependable instruments of Govern-
ment regulation. This makes doubly urgent the successful
exercise of the commission’s first test.”
More than 1,600 U.S. military aircraft participated in simulated
attack and defense maneuvers during NORAD’S Operation Sky
Shield 111, with all civilian aircraft grounded during the 5jh-hr.
exercise.
Tenth anniversary of Livermore Branch of Lawrence Radiation
Laboratory, University of California. Established to “help cope
with problems involved in maintaining American superiority in
nuclear deterrence,” the laboratory devoted about half of its
effort to weapons research and the remainder to peaceful uses
of atomic energy.
September 3: MARINER 11 flight-path correction was postponed for
at least 24 hours, because scientists could not determine if the
Venus probe was stabilized on the moon or the earth. JPL
scientists received moon-reference indication from MARINER 11’s
earth-sensing system and earth-reference indication from its
high-gain antenna. If mid-course maneuver were executed with
moon-lock instead of earth-lock, the probe probably would come
within 12,000 mi. of Venus instead of 10,000 mi.
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator, interviewed in
The National Observer, said: “Some people have drawn the con-
clusion that the Russians are ahead of the United States in the
endeavor to land men on the moon and return them safely. This
is based on a misconception that going to the moon is something
like progress down a one-way street, passing successive street-
corners.
“That is far from being the case. The enterprise requires
mobilization of a large task force with many tasks to be done
and brought to fruition simultaneously. In some aspects, it
makes small difference in what order the tasks are performed.
The fact that the Russians have done one part of the work of
going to the moon does not mean that they are ahead in the
entire enterprise. . . . 11
When asked about U.S. participation in international space
programs, Dr. Dryden said: “The United States now has arrange-
ments with more than 55 countries for space activity. . . . We
hope to increase the number of countries with which we are
co-operating. We have been engaged in negotiations with the
Soviet Union toward that end.
“Recently, Academician Anatoli Blagonravov and I concluded
the f3st phase of the negotiations with a joint recommendation
to our governments that they undertake co-operative efforts in
meteorology, communications, and the investigation of the earth’s
magnetic field. . . . 2 7