Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965 - NASA's History Office

Foreword
The year 1965 recounted by this volume was an outstanding one in the
U.S. space program. In his space report to Congress, President Johnson
called it “the most successful year in our history.” It was one filled with
noteworthy milestones deriving from less noticed decisions, actions, and
labors of previous years. In the same way, milestones of the future are to
be seen in their formative stages in this chronology for 1965.
Man received his first close-up view of our neighboring planet Mars
when on July 14, MARINER IV relayed to earth its photographs of lunar-like
craters on the Martian surface. The conclusion of the Ranger program was
witnessed by millions of Americans who watched on live television as the
cameras of RANGER IX approached the moon on March 24. ALOUETTE 11
was orbited by NASA for Canada in November and FR-1 for France in
December.
The orbiting of ten Gemini astronauts in a series of five spectacular flights
during the year ended a 22-month gap since the last Mercury flight, FAITH
7. The man-rated version of the Air Force Titan I1 reliably launched all
Gemini flights, Astronauts Grissom and Young in March, as well as McDivitt
and White in June, the latter marking his “space walk” outside the
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of Astrnmcts Cnoper and
Conrad in GEMINI v demonstrated that trained space pilots were physically
capable of a lunar mission. Orbital rendezvous techniques were thoroughly
demonstrated by the flights of GEMINI VII and VI. Astronauts Borman and
Love11 in GEMINI VII took another long step in astronautics with their four-
teen-day mission in December of 206 revolutions. Throughout the Gemini
operation, the team effort involved closest cooperation of all of NASA and the
military services, contractors, and the scientific community.
Milestones in the lunar-landing Apollo program were not as well publi-
cized as Gemini but marked significant progress. The Project Fire success
in atmospheric entry of a test vehicle at speeds simulating a return from
the moon provided a geometric jump in reentry physics. The first full-
duration test of the gigantic Saturn V first stage of 7.5 million pounds of
thrust on August 5 was a significant milestone in an engine program begun
in 1958. As the Saturn I concluded its operational life with ten straight
successes with the orbiting of Apollo boilerplate capsules and three Pegasus
micrometeoroid satellites, the Saturn IB was being erected on the launch
pad to begin its flight tests in 1966.
Spectacular scientific and manned spaceflight events of 1965 could not
overshadoh the practical utility to man on earth of communications and
meteorological satellites. TIROS x, placed in orbit for the Weather Bu-
reau, maintained service to worldwide needs for weather data, while
TIROS Ix provided the first complete picture of the’ cloud-cover over the
entire earth on February 13. NASA launched EARLY BIRD I for the Com-
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