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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 209
9 hrs., 14 min. after blastoff. Within 40 min. after landing he
and his spacecraft were safely aboard aircraft carrier U.S.S.
Kearsarge.
Highly successful MA-8 flight proved the feasibility of (1)
prolonged weightless flight in space and (2) drifting in orbit
without consumption of hydrogen-peroxide attitude control fuel
and without physically endangering the astronaut. Schirra,
who spent a total of 2% hrs. in drifting flight, reported there
were no unusual attitude control problems during drifting.
Various other scientific experiments during MA-8 flight in-
cluded astronaut’s sighting of’ luminous particles in space, also
reported by Astronauts John H. Glenn and M. Scott Carpenter;
and photographing cloud formations with a special hand camera.
SIGMS 7 was sighted by observers on Indian Ocean tracking
ship for five min. as the spacecraft made its third orbit more
than 100 mi. high. The observers said SIGMA 7 appearcd almost
as bright as Venus. This was the first reported visual sighting
of a manned spacecraft during orbital flight.
Only technical difficulty of the entire operation was attaining
proper adjustment of Schirra’s spacesuit coolant supply and fail-
ure of body temperature measurements in first orbit. However,
desired suit temperatures were achieved early in second orbit.
October 3: In press conference following MA-8, D. Brainerd Holmes,
NASA Director of Manned Space Flight, said: “This was a highly
successful flight, magnificently performed. It proved there is no
substitute for sound engineering and thorough training.”
Walter C. Williams, MSC Director of Mercury Operations, said
that “so far as I am concerned, the mission was perfect.” He
added that the next Mercury mission would be a 24-hour flight
in early 1963.
Soviet Foreign Ministry told US. Embassy in Moscow that the
“Soviet Union will not undertake any action that might hinder
the flight of the American spaceman Walter Schirra.” The So-
viets were replying to US. note requesting the U.S.S.R. to refrain
from nuclear tests during the MA-8 flight.
President Kennedy appointed Dr. Frederick Seitz to his Science
Advisory Committee. Dr. Seitz, president of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences, succeeded Dr. Detlev W. Bronk on the com-
mi ttee.
SIGMA 7 (MA-8) launching was relayed to Western Europe via
TELSTAR satellite. European TV network Eurovision broadcast
the launching sequence to 17 countries. Televised launch was
also viewed by millions of Americans.
October 4: Fifth anniversary of the Space Age, inaugurated with the
orbiting of first manmade satellite, SPUTNIK I, by the U.S.S.R.
According to the Godhrd Satellite Situation Report of October 10,
1962, the first half decade of the Space Age saw the orbiting of
134 satellit.es, lunar probes, and space probes. U.S.S.R. orbited
26 (6 still in orbit), the U.S. 108 (48 still in orbit). Of US.
total, NASA orbited 36 (24 still in orbit), DOD 72 (24 still in orbit).
Two of the NASA launches must also be credited to the nations
contributing tbe experiments or the payload-U.K. for ARIEL
and Canada for ALOUETTE. Of the U.S. total, three were manned
orbital spacecraft, as were four of the U.S.S.R.’s. Totals for