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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 189
scientists of Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory had retained
a six-lb. piece for further examination.
September 14: House and Senate Conference Committee on FY 1963
appropriations agreed to one half the restoration of NASA funds
recommended by Senate, allowing total of $3,674,115,000 for
NASA FY 1963 appropriation.
0 NASA announced that nine new astronauts for Projects Gemini and
Apollo would be named at Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston,
on September 17.
0 Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center, said in published interview: “People talk too much about
crash programs and too little about sustained support. These
space programs take time. A decision you make today on some
engineering or scientific aspects of our space program may take
anywhere from four to five years before it takes the form of
hardware.
“When you make a wrong decision now, the payoff, good or
bad, could come five years later, not sooner than that. We can’t
work miracles overnight. . . .”
In prepared press statement, Astronaut John H. Glenn commented
on September 13 televised remarks by Astronaut Walter Schirra,
and said: “I will continue to support his flight [Astronaut
Schirra’s orbital flight MA-81 just as well as I possibly can. . . .
I don’t want to add any more statements to a situation that has
all the aspects of a tempest in a teapot. Scheduling of my time
for maximum benefit from a technical and national space program
standpoint has been continually reviewed by both Dr. Gilruth
and the management of NASA.” Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director
of NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, stated there was no real
controversy over Col. Glenn’s position in the space program or
on other questions raised by Cdr. Schirra.
AEC announced 50th U.S. nuclear test in current series, an under-
ground low-yield explosion at Nevada test area..
Dr. Leland 6. Haworth of AEC led delegation of scientists and Gov-
ernment officials in dedication of $12 million electron accelerator
at Cambridge, Mass. To be operated by MIT and Harvard Univ.,
the facility would be supported by AEC, which financed its
construction.
0 DOD announced International Telephone and Telegraph Corp.
(ITB~T) had leased to USAF two transportable ground communica-
tions stations for operational training of communications per-
sonnel. The units mould be used in new program to provide data
on problems of using satellites for communications support.
0 Communist China stated the U-2 shot down September 9 was
fourth U.S. militarg-type aircraft China had downed since
- .-
October 1959.
SeDtember 15.- Signals from ARIEL satellite had been received during
past week bf tracking stations. ARIEL had stopped transmitting
after US. high-altitude nuclear test because of radiation damage
to the satellite’s solar cells. Although resumed transmission
was not continuous, it did demonstrate ARIEL’S regained capa-
bility to return scientific data from space. Transmission ap-
parently occurred whenever the satellite stayed in sunlight long