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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 171
September 3: Congressman George P. Miller, chairman of House
Committee on Science and Astronautics, told the press that
“since the orbiting of the Soviet twin Cosmonauts, the agitation
[among members of the Senate, professional military societies,
and the trade press] borders on panic and constitutes a threat to
am which is not only very important but complex and
caref a pr(3i
y planned. . . . I have been a consistent advocate of a
military capability in space for the United States second to none,
but I see no reason why our military requirements cannot be met
without hamstringing or jeopardizing the civil space program. . . .
There has been so much misinformation and misimpression
generated about our space program, both the civil and military
aspects, that I can no longer remain silent. The record has to
be set straight and I intend to do it.” He said he would deliver
a major speech on the House floor later this week, when he would
place the space program into “balanced perspective.”
0 Report outlining NASA’s manned space flight rojects was published
by Senate Committee on Aeronautical an i Space Sciences, with
cooperation of NASA. Project Gemini two-man flights, planned
for 1964 and aimed at orbital rendezvous, might be as much as a
week long. Three-man Apollo flights would follow, circumlunar
flights to be followed by lunar landing missions. Advance-
design Gemini spacecraft would be first designed specifically by
U.S. to come down on dry land, using Rogallo wing to control
descent.
Preparations for Operation Harp (High Altitude Research Project)
announced by Dr. D. L. Mordell, Facult of Engineering Dean at
Canada’s McGill University. In the GcGill-initiated project,
McGill’s 66-in., 470-lb. Martlet missiles would be fired to approx-
imately 200-mi. altitude from two 16-in., 140-ton guns provided
by U.S. Navy. With the first launching in October from Barba-
dos, B.W.I., McGill would become the first university to con-
duct its own space research rogram. At least 6 firings would be
made before Christmas. AEo involved in Harp were U.S. Army,
which transported naval guns from Hampton Roads, Va., to
Barbados; Florida State University meteorologists; and USN
wea ther-obser va tion aircraft.
0 P-1127 VTOL jet fighter airplane was publicly demonstrated for first
time at Farnsborough, England, Air Show. Developed b
Hawker Siddeley Aviation, the P-1127 uses single Bristol Si$
deley Pe asus jet engine whose thrust is directed vertically for
takeoff, t % en directed backward for horizontal flight at supersonic
speeds.
0 U.S.S.R. conducted atmospheric nuclear test explosion of intermediate-ran
e yield, between 20,000 tons and one megaton. The
firing took p 7 ace near Novaya Zemlya and was the ninth in current
Soviet series to be announced by AEC.
Prof. Alexander A. Mikhailov, chairman of U.S.S.R. Academy of
Sciences Council for Astronomy, was reported by U.S. magazine
as saying that the U.S.S.R. had 36 astronomical observatories in
operation and 6 new facilities under construction.
Prof. Bruce Patton of London’s Institute of Education told British
Association for the Advancement of Science that English should
be adopted as the universal language. He gave aa one reason