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

276 ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962
decoys was launched from Vandenberg AFB toward Kwajalein
Island in the Pacific, from which two Nike-Zeus were launched;
one of the antimissile missiles had to be destroyed after launch-
ing, but the other successfully completed the mission.
December 25: NASA announced $240,000 grant to Smithsonian Astro-
physical Observatory for setting up 16-station (‘prairie network”
with automatic cameras to photograph bright meteors over seven
midwestern states and to enable prompt recovery of meteorites.
Project would enable scientists to study chemical and organic
structures of meteorites before contamination on the surface of
the earth.
Pope John XXIII, addressing diplomats gathered in Consistorial
Hall of the Vatican, called upon men of all nations to join in
cooperative and peaceful exploration of outer space. “The
church applauds man’s growing mastery over the forces of
nature. Thanks to those men who harbor thoughts of peace,
mankind could dedicate itself, in noble rivalry, not only to the
great economic and social tasks which confront it but to the
continuing exploration of space and to the bold achievements of
modern technology . . .”
December 24: Edgar M. Cortright, NASA Deputy Director of Space
Sciences, said in press interview that stringent rules on steriliza-
tion of spacecraft components constituted one of the greatest
problems in Project Ranger. NASA policy to prevent contamina-
tion of the moon by terrestrial germs did not require sterilization
(‘to the point of jeopardizing reliability,” Cortright said, but
rejection rate on many spacecraft components became much
higher as result of the policy; some components would not operate
properly after being subjected to sterilization processes (including
alcohol, ethylene oxide, ultraviolet rays, and heat). Relaxation
of strict sterilization rules for Ranger spacecraft was one of the
changes being considered in “re-orientation” of Project Ranger,
Cortright indicated.
Japanese Meteorological Observatory reported abnormal atmos-
pheric pressures from a Soviet nuclear blast, apparent1 one of
two recorded also by Uppsala University in Sweden. ir apanese
agency estimated the strength of the blast at 20 megatons. It
said the abnormal pressure lasted from 40 to 100 minutes. Two
blasts registered at the seismological institute in Sweden were
listed at 19 megatons and 8 megatons. The geodetic institution
of the Technological High School at Stockholm, Sweden, registered
another gravitational disturbance which may have been a third
Russian nuclear test, one which had a force of about 10 megatons.
During the past 10 days, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
had announced that the Russians have conducted at least four
nuclear tests.
December 26: At AAAS convention in Philadelphia, Dr. P. J. Coleman,
UCLA scientist, reported on the findings of MARINER 11 in the
vicinity of the planet Venus. Coleman reported on the mag-
netometer experiment which showed no rise in the average value
of the magnetic field above the “interplanetary value” during the
fly-by of Venus: ‘(The sensitivity, or lower limit, of the field’s
change that could be observed on the magnetometer was five
gamma . . . During the encounter, no changes were observed