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

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 233
November 6: Decision on whether NASA or USAF would be assigned
development of orbital space stations was reported in process
within the National Aeronautics and Space Council.
Advanced Polaris missile (A-3) exploded 30 seconds after launch
from Cape Canaveral.
No Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded for 1962, Norwegian Par-
liament committee announced.
William L. Gill, Chief of Crew Systems Div. Radiation Branch,
NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, said walls of Apollo spacecraft
would provide most of radiation shielding required for crew.
Astronauts would have special shielding devices only for their
eyes.
November 6-8: Fourth Annual Liquid Propulsion Symposium held in
San Francisco, with more than 500 representatives of Govern-
ment and industry. Conference was sponsored by NASA, ARPA,
and JANAB, with series of restricted sessions not open to public.
November 6: U.S.S.R. reported its interplanetary probe MARS I would
pass within 162,000 mi. of Mars on its present course. Press
agency Tass added a “precise system of star orientation and
special engines” would be used to correct the trajectory so that
MARS I would pass within 600 to 6,800 mi. of the planet.
US. transferred to Dominican Republic its rocket tracking station
at Sabana, D.R. Formerly used to track missiles launched from
Cape Canaveral toward Ascension Island, the facility would be
used as a training center.
First ground-controlled flashes from ANNA geodetic satellite were
delayed because delivery of command equipment to Johns Hopkins
Applied Physics Laboratory had been delayed.
Thomas Dixon, Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA, told
Liquid Propulsion Symposium in San Francisco that NASA was
studying large liquid-propellant rocket engines, beyond the 1.5
million-1b.-thrust F-1 engine, that would be necessary for manned
planetary flight. Pointing out the unacceptability of simply scal-
ing up the F-1 engine to produce the required 20 to 30 million-lb.
thrust, since it would then measure about 60 ft. high and 45 ft.
nozzle diameter, Dixon cited need for “new and imaginative
approaches for propulsion in the future . . . . NASA will empha-
size advanced research that could culminate in the development
of these giant engines for the future.” He added that current
NASA research projects in advanced propulsion were makin
progress. “These studies will assess current work on advance
propulsion concepts and point out areas where new concepts need
to be investigated.”
NASA and the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperative testing
of NASA-launched communications satellites. Japanese Ministry
would make available a ground station for communication via
artificial satellites; NASA would arrange for use of experimental
communications satellites locally by Japan as well as jointly by
US.-Japan.
President Kennedy announced International Association of Machinists
(IAM) and Boeing Co. had agreed to extend negotiations for
two months so that National Labor Relations Board could poll
employees on question of union shop.
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