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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 231
the earth’s gravity. But when entry speeds exceed this range,
&s they probably will on return to the earth from tri s to other
planets, radiation heating drives you away from very b P unt bodies,
such as the Mercury capsule, to bodies with conical noses. . . .
Our concepts of aerodynamic flow, in short, must change as the
9,
velocities with which we are dealin increase. . . .
November 6: Rep. Charles S. Gubser ?Calif.) announced NASA and
USN had agreed to convert an old dirigible hangar at Moffett
Field, Calif., for production of Rift nuclear vehicle stage. Hangar
was located about two mi. from prime Rift contractor, Lockheed
Missiles and Space Co., and adjacent to NASA Ames Research
Center.
Douglas-built S-IVB stage, originally conceived only as third stage
of Saturn C-5 (“Advanced Saturn”), would be modified for use
as upper stage of Saturn C-lB, it was reported. “Minor design
changes” would be made under initial funding of $2.25 million
by NASA.
Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. (USMC) was awarded the Alfred A. Cunningham
Trophy for being selected as the Marine Aviator of the
Year. Mercury Astronaut Glenn orbited the earth three times
in first U.S. manned orbital flight MA-6, February 20, 1962.
November 3: MARINER 11 interplanetary probe reported data showing
that interplanetary space was free of cosmic dust and debris found
in vicinity of earth, Dr. William H. Pickering, director of Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, told press interviewers. “On this basis,
one has to think of the earth as moving in its own cloud of dust,”
Dr. Pickering added.
AEC announced 31st nuclear explosion by U.S.S.R. in current test
series, an atmospheric detonation of intermediate-range yield.
Four “hot spots” on the moon were reported discovered by Bruce
Murray and Robert Wildey of Cal Tech, using new telescope
with heat-sensitive, gold-plated mirror to detect infrared radiation.
The two space scientists speculated that hot spots could
indicate large areas of bare rock exposed on the lunar surface.
Spots were discovered during survey of the moon which also
revealed the lunar surface gets colder at night than previously
believed, -270OF compared to -243OF recorded by earlier
heat-measuring devices. Murray said the new evidence could
mean there are prominences of heat-retaining rock protruding
through thick dust layer on lunar surface.
NASA announced Col. George M. Knauf (USAF), Deputy Director of
Space Medicine in NASA Office of Manned Space Flight, has
retired from USAF and accepted appointment to same position as
a civilian. Dr. Enauf was res onsible for much of development
and organization of Project 2 ercury medical recovery support
operation.
November 4: Soviet news agency Tass reported MARS I probe was
606,000 mi. from earth (at 4:OO PM EST) and was increasing that
distance by 215,000 mi. a day. Soviet observatories photo-
gra hed the Mars probe and its carrier rocket on Nov. 3; director
of kimean Astrophysical Observatory said this was the first
time moving artificial interplanetary bodies had been photo-
graphed from earth.
Soviet press agency Tass reported the planet Mars has “experienced
the effects of meteorites to a much greater degree than the earth.”