First Semiannual Report to the Congress, October 1, 1958 - March 31, 1959

8/7/2019 First Semiannual Report to the Congress, October 1, 1958 - March 31, 1959

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T-HE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS

AYD

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

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ELe Nat iona l ,4e1 onau t ics and Space A d m i n i s t r a t i o n- --- -- - - - - I - - _ I _ _ I ___I_I ___I-_.1 $28 -H -s r -&+ ./N--&


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICSAND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

WAS~HWOTOW25, D.C.

Office of the Administrator June 16, 1959

The PresidentThe White House

Dear Mr. President:

This, the First Semiannual Report of the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration, covering the periodOctober 1, 1958, through March 31, 1959, is submitted toyou for transmittal to the Congress in accordance with theNational Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, Section 206 (a).

The achievements of the civilian-oriented aeronauticalan d space program of the United States during the first s ixmonths of NASA's existence have been numerous and substantial.

Three space probes transmitted invaluable informationabout the nature of the upper atmosphere and of space itself.One, Pioneer N , assed within a few thousand miles of theMoon, and went on into orbit around the Sun.

The Vanguard satellite -- equipped to record andtransmit data on the Earth's cloud cover -- was sent into or-bi t last February. The payload developed an erratic spin butthe experiment demonstrated the feasibility of such satellitesbeing used to survey world-wide weather patterns.

There were a number of other significant developmentsduring NASA's first half-year of operation. Following an ex-tremely careful selection process, seven Project Mercuryastronauts were chosen for training to pilot the first UnitedStates manned satellite; tests were made of full-scale modelsof the Mercury space capsule; and a contract was awarded todevelop and construct operational capsules.

The X-15, the rocket-powered research airplane, under-went prefinal tests, including "captive" flights under thewing of a B-52 carrier airplane, with the test pilot in thecockpit.

To provide greatly increased payloads, range and relia-bility for future space experiments, a new family of rocket


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engines i s being developed.f o r a single chamber engine of 1.5 mill ion pounds thrust .Other contracts have been l e t f o r t h e Scout, Vega, Centaur,and Nova pr oj ec ts . These advanced ge ne ra l purpose ve hi cl eswill se rve a wide v a r i e t y o f needs, and w i l l be th e bas i cpower systems f o r NASA probes and s a t e l l i t e s i n t h e next fewyears .

This program includes a con t r ac t

H i g h l i g h t s of the foregoing programs and pro jec t s , andof o t h e r s i g n i f i c a n t NASA a c t i v i t i e s are recounted i n thea t t ached r epor t . J u s t as s i g n i f i c a n t as the under tak ingsm a k i n g headlines today are some of t h e q u a l i t a t i v e a s p ec t s ofN A S A ' s f i r s t months.

I n t h i s r e spec t , one of the foremost accomplishmentsl i e s i n th e prog ress made toward coord ina t ing our Nat iona lSpace Program. S c ie n t i f ic a n d engineering s k i l l s , previous lyscattered among m a n y Government projects and private group-ings, are being drawn together into a more effective whole,d e d ic a te d t o p e a c e m l u s e s of ae ronau t i c s and space. Evenwhile t h i s e f f o r t i s being completed, NASA i s concent ra t ingon organiz ing the s c i e n t i f i c and e-ngineering resources a va i l -ab le t o conduct a more effective program.

and Space Act i s :ena i n t he a tnosphe re an d space."f o r p a r ti c fp a t io n by the s c i e n t i f i c community i n planningsc ie nt i f ic : measzrements and observa t ions to be made throughuse o f ae-wnautical and space vehicles, and conduct or arrange

The f i r s t objec t ive g iven i n the Nat ional Aeronautics"t he expansion of human knowledge of phenom-

NASA i s en jo ined t o "a rr znge

f o r t he conduc t of such measurements and observa t ions . I1

Inplementation of the space science program has been pro-ceeding well . NASA has sought the advice and counsel of th eSpace Science Board of th e National Academy of Sciences, andth e Board has been s tudying the s c i e n t i f i c mer i t s and p r i o r -i t i e s of t he t ypes of measurements t o be made i n space. TheBoard has a l s o sugges ted q ua l i f i e d g roups t o a t t a ck va r iousae ronau t i ca l and space problems .

NASA i s formulat ing i t s research and development programson the b a s i s of t h i s and other advice from i t s fou r t een ad-visory committees whose memberships include leading scientists


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and engineers from the universities, industry, the armedforces, and other Government agencies. In addition, NASAhas negotiated with several private and Government groupsto develop data-gathering instrumentation and later, toanalyze the information obtained.

Our experiments, failures as well as successes, haveclearly demonstrated that space is accessible to man. Wehave entered one of those pivotal stages of history when agreat change in perspective is experienced. As we orientourselves toward space, we should not lose sight of thefact that the goals can be attained only with greatand continued expenditures of effort, skill, and time,expenditures that will certainly bring large benefits intheir train to men everywhere.

Sincerely,

Administrator


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C O N T E N T S

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I . I N T R O D U C T I O NP R E S I D E N T R EC OM MEN DS C I V I L I A NAGENCY............O...o. 1

C O N G R E S S A C T S......................................... 9P O L I C YSET F O R A E R O N A U T I C S AND S P A C E.................. 2TERMS D E F I N E D B YACT.. . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .^^. 2

P R E S I D E N T ' S RO ...................................... 2N AT I O N A L A E R O N A U T I C S AND S PA C E C O U N C I L................ 3C I V I L I A N - M I L I TA R Y L I A I S O N COM TJIITTEE................... 3T O P NA SA A D M I N I S T R AT O R S A P P O I N T E D..................... 4N A S A A B S O R B S N A C A A N DI T S F U N C T I O N S................... kPA R AM O U N T G O A L O F N A SA ................................ 4

I1 . NA SA HIGHLIGHTS.. OC TO BER1. 1958 THROUGH MARCH31. 1959 5I l lo THE N A S A PROGRAM

P R O J E C T M E R C U RY. ...................................... 8M a n n e d S a t e l l i t e P r o j e c t O r g a n i z e d................ 8M e r c u r y D e v e l o p m e n tP r o g r a m s...................... 8I n i t i a l A c c o m p l i s h m e n t G o a l s...................... 10M e r c u r yP i l o t S e l e c t i o n . . ......................... 10

THE x-15 .. ESEARCH AIRPLA. ......................... 1F i r s t X-15 A i r p l a n e R o l l s O u t..................... 11S t a t u s of X.15 .................................... 1%N e w F a c i l i t i e s t o M o n i t o rX-15 .................... 13


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DYNA-SOAR RESEARCH GLIDER...........................F oll ow -o n t o t h e X-15 ...........................

N A S A SPACE PROBES ...................................F o u r Miss ions i n Six Months .....................P i o n e e r I .. F i r s t S p a c e P r o b e ..................P i o n e e r I1 F a i l s ................................P i o n e e r I11 I s Q u a l i f i e d S uc ce ss ................P i o n e e r I V Succeeds .............................

N A S A SATELLITES

Vanguard I1 .. C l o u d C o v e r S a t e l l i t e ............I n f l a t a b l e S a t e l l i t e s ...........................

Twelve-foot Diameter Spher es ...............Hundred-foot Diameter Sph ere s ..............Tab le 1 NASA S a t e l l i t e s . Lunar Probes.and Space Probes. Octob er I. 1958 t o

March 31. 1959 ...........................T R A C K I N GRESOURCES ENLARGED.........................

I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s p e c t s ...........................NASA-DOD T r a c k i n g Agreemen t .....................NASA Programu ...................................

NATIOITAL SPACE VEHICLE PROGRAMF i v e Ve h i c l e s I n v o l v e d ..........................P r o j e c t S c o u t ...................................Vega Program ....................................Centaur Program .................................1 .5 Mill ion-pound-Th rust Single-Chamber Rocket

Engine ......................................

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RESEARCH PRIMARILY FOR SPACE ACTIVITIES ............. 28I n v e s t i g a t i o n s o f S pace En vi ro nm en t ............. 28N u c le a r E ne rg y A p p l i c a t i o n s f o r S p ac e ...........

RESEARCH SUPPORTING AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACTIVITIES

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A i r c r a f t a s W e l l as S p a c e P r o j e c t s .............. 30S ho r t er Take-Offs. Landings ..................... 30S u p e r s o n i c a nd H y pe rs on ic A i r c r a f t .............. 31Aerodynamic Heat Studies ........................ 31S t a b i l i t y and C o n tr ol S t u d i e s ................... 31H e l i c o p t e r s ..................................... 32Powerplant Research ............................. 32F l i g h t S i m u l a t o r s ............................... 32The "Sidearm Contro l le r" ........................ 33NASA Plum Brook Reactor ......................... 33O t h e r Areas o f I n v e s t i g a t i o n .................... 33

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS PROGR ........................ 34RESEARCH ADVISORY COPJIIVIITTEES ........................ 34INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ........................... 34

M u l t i l a t e r a l C o o p e r a t i o n ........................ 34R e g i o n a l C o o p e r a t i o n ............................ 35B i l a t e r a l A g r e e m e n t s ............................ 35


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I V . NASA .. T S O R G A N I Z AT I O NAND FUNCTIONSNASA FOUNDED O N G O I N GRESEARCH O R G A N I Z AT I O NAND

PROGRAMS .......................................O T H E RPROGRAMS A N D FACILITIES SHIFTED TO NASA .......ORGANIZATIONALSTRUCTURE............................

PERSONNEL ...........................................NASA RELATIONS W I T H OTHER GOVERNMENTORGANIZATIONS .FIGURE 1 Or ga n i za t i on a l Chart.. Na t io na l

A e r o n a u t i c s a n d S p a c e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n .....NASA RESEARCH CENTERS AND FIELD STATIONS ............

Lang ley Resea rch Cen te r ........................P i l o t l e s s A i r c r a f t R es ea rc h S t a t i o n ............Lewis Research Center ..........................A m e s R e s e a r c h C e n t e r ...........................High Sp ee d F l i g h t S t a t i o n ......................J e t P r o p u l s i o n L a b o r a t o r y ......................B e l t s v i l l e Space F l i g h t C e nt e r .................

V. OTHER ACTIVITIESINFO.TION .........................................

D i s s e m i n a t i o n P o l i c y ...........................Te c h n i c a l I n f o r m a t i o n ..........................P u b l i c I n f o r m a t i o n .............................

PROCUREMENT .........................................N A S A U t i l i z e s t h e Armed S e r v i c e s P r oc ur em en t

Ac t .......................................S m a l l B u s i n e s s P a r t i c i p a t i o n ...................

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Te ch n i ca l E r e c t i o n and S u p er v is i on by NASA.... 4.8

Cont rac t Nego t i a t ion . . . . . . . .................... 48

Proeedzres and Regulat ions. . . . . . . . . ............ 4.8Ac qu is i t io n of Rig hts i n Inventions. .. .. .. .. .. . 48

Pr op er ty Ri gh ts Clause Circula ted . . .. . , . .. . . . .. 49

Wai-rer of U. S . R ig h ts i n I n v e n t i o n s . .......... 4.9Hear ings Scheduled on Waive r Regu la t ions ....... 49NASA Review of Patent Appl ica t ions . . . . . . . ...... 4.9

.............o Pa te n t Requests by NASA t o Date 49COPJTRACTS.......,........................a.......... 50

C c n t r a c t s with Ot he r Government Agenc ies. ...... 50CorZz-acts ~ 9 t h r i v a t e R e s e a rc h O rg a n i z a t i o n s . . 59

TABLE 2 , FINANCIAL STATENENT ( a s of March 31, 1 959 )FISCAL YEAR i959 APPROPRIATIONS ANDT R A N S F E R S . . o . . . o . . . . o o o o o o o o o o o . o o o o o o o o o o 51

APPE1DIX F.~..............a..~.....a................ 69

APPENDIX C.................. ........................ 70


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I . INTRODUCTION

The F i r s t S em ia nn ua l R ep or t o f t h e N a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a ndSpace A dm in is tr at io n (NASA) i s s u b m it t e d t o C on gre ss p u r s u a n t t oS e c t i o n 2 0 6 ( a ) o f t h e N a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a n d Sp a ce A ct o f 1958( P u b l i c Law 85-568) t o p ro vi de f o r r e s e a r c h i n t o pro ble ms o ff l i g h t w i t h i n and o u t s i d e t h e E ar t h 's a tm os ph ere , which s t a t e s :

The A d m i n i s t r a ti o n s h a l l s u bm it t o t h e P r e s i d e n tf o r t r a n s m i t t a l t o C ongress , s em ia nn ua ll y and a ts u c h o t h e r t imes a s i t d e e m s d e s i r a b l e , a r e p o r ton i t s a c t i v i t i e s a nd a cc om pl is hm en ts .

PRESIDENT RECOMMENDS C I V I L I A N A G E N C Y

On A p r i l 2, 1958, t h e P r e s i d e n t s u b m i tt e d t o C on gr es s aS p e c i a l Message c a l l i n g f o r t h e c r e a t i o n o f a c i v i l i a n s pa cea ge nc y t o c on du ct F e d e r a l a e r o n a u t i c a l a nd s p a c e s c i e n c e a c t i v -i t i e s , " ex ce pt f o r t h o s e p r o j e c t s p r i m a r i l y a s s o c i a t e d wi t hm i l i t a r y r eq ui re m en ts The new agency, t h e Pr es id en t ' s Messages t a t e d , s h ou l d have t h e power t o c on du ct r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t s i ni t s own f a c i l i t i e s o r by c o n t ra c t w i th o t h e r q u a l i f i e d o rg an iz a-t i o n s . The a g en c y w ould t h u s b e f r e e " t o e n l i s t t h e s k i l l s andr e s o u r c e s r e q u i r e d f o r t h e s p a c e p ro gr am w h er e ve r t h e y may bef o u nd , a n d t o do s o u n de r t h e a rr an ge me nt s m os t s a t i s f a c t o r y t oa l l concerned .*'

CONGRESS ACTS

Afte r e x t e nd e d h e a r i n g s d u r i n g w hi ch t h e v i ew s o f l e a d i n gspokesmen f o r b o t h t h e s c i e n t i f i c c om mun itie s and t h e m i l i t a r ys e r v i c e s h ad b ee n ob t a in e d , C ong res s t o o k f i n a l a c t i o n on t h eN a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a n d S p a c e A c t o f 1958 o n J u l y 16. ( F u l lt e x t o f Act a p p e a r s i n Appendix A ) .

I n J u l y a l s o t h e House a nd S e n a te e s t a b l i s h e d new s t a n d i n gcommit tee s t o gu id e t h e a c t i v i t i e s of NASA. The House Committeeo n S c i e n c e a n d A s t r o n a u t i c s was e s t a b l i s h e d on J u l y 2 1 and t h eSenate Committee on A e r o n a u t i c a l a nd S p a ce S c i e n c e s was e s t a b -l i s h e d on J u l y 24 (M em be rs hip s a r e l i s t e d i n A ppe nd ix B ) .


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POLICY SET FOR AERONAUTICS A N D SPACE

P o li c y f o r t h e n a t i o n a l e f f o r t was e n u nc i at e d i n S e c t i o n1 0 2 ( b ) of t h e Act i n t h e s e t e r m s :

The Co n gr e ss d e c l a r e s t h a t t,he g e n e r a l welfare ands e c u r i t y o f t h e U ni te d S t a t e s r e q u i r e t h a t ade-quate p r o v i s i o n s b e made f o r a e r o n a u t i c a l a ndspace a c t i v i t i e s . Such a c t i v i t i e s s h a l l be t h er e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f , and s h a l l be d i r e c t e d by, ac i v i l i a n a ge ncy e x e r c i s i n g c o n t r o l o v er a e ro -n a u t i c a l and sp a ce a c t i v i t i e s s po ns or ed by t h eUni ted S t a t e s , e xc ep t t h a t a c t i v i t i e s p e c u l i a rt o o r p r i m a r i l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e d ev elo pm entof weapons s ys t em s , m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s , o r t h ed ef en se o f t h e Un it ed S t a t e s ( i n c l u d i n g t h e r e -s e a r c h an d d ev el op me nt n e c e s s a r y t o make e f f e c -t i v e p r o v i s i o n f o r t h e d ef en se o f t h e U ni t edS t a t e s ) s h a l l be t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f , and s h a l lbe d i r e c te d by, t h e Department o f Defense ; andt h a t d e t e r m i n a t i o n a s t o which such agency hasr e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r and d i r e c t i o n o f a ny su cha c t i v i t y s h a l l be made by t h e P r e s i d e n t * **

TERMS DEFINED BY ACT

The A c t d e f i n e s t h e t e rm l l a e r o n a u t i c a l and s pa ce a c t i v i t i e s "i n e f f e c t , a s : ( a ) r e s e a r c h i n t o , and s o l u t i o n o f , roblems off l i g h t w i t h i n and o u t s i d e t h e e a r t h ' s a t mo s ph e re ; ( b P d ev el op me nt ,c o n s t r u c t i o n , t e s t i n g , and o p e r a t i o n f o r r e s e a r c h p u rp os es o fa e r o n a u t i c a l and s pa ce v e h i c l e s ; and ( c ) s uc h o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s a smay be r e q u i r e d f o r t h e e x p l o r a t i o n o f s p a c e .

The Act f u r t h e r e x p l a i n s t h e t e r m " a e r o n a u t i c a l and s p a c ev e h i c le s " a s a i r c r a f t , miss i l e s , s a t e l l i t e s , and o t h e r s pa ce ve-h i c l e s , manned and unmanned , l in k e d wi th r e l a t e d equ ipment, de-v ic e s , component s, and p a r t s . No a t t em pt was made by Con gre ss t od e f in e space a c t i v i t i e s s e p a r a t e l y ; it was r e c o g n i z e d t h a t noe x a c t l i n e c a n be drawn be tw ee n a i r s p a c e a nd o u t e r s p a c e. .. ..b etw een a e r o n a u t i c s and a s t r o n a u t i c s . . the one merging imper-c e p t i b l y i n t o t h e o t h e r .PRESIDENT'S ROLE

S i n c e d i s t i n c t i o n be tw ee n n o n - m i l i t a r y a e r o n a u t i c s and s p a c e

Adm in i s t ra t i on o r t h e Department o f Defense -- s h a l l ha ve r e s p on -s i b i l i t y f o r , a n d d i r e c t i o n o f , a p a r t i c u l a r a c t i v i t y . S ec t i on

a c t i v i t i e s on t h e one hand, and m i l i t a r y a c t i v i t i e s on t h e o t h e r ,a l s o c annot be p r e c i s e , t h e Act s p e c i f i e s t h a t t h e P r e s i d e nt s h a l ldetermine which agency -- t h e N a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a nd Sp ac e


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201 ( e ) of t h e Act s t a t e s t h e d u t i e s of t h e P r e s i d en t a s f o l l o w s :

(1) u rv ey a l l s i g n i f i c a n t a e r o n a u t i c a l and s pa cea c t i v i t i e s , i n c lu d i ng t h e p o l i c i e s , p l an s , programs,

and accomplishments of a l l a g e n c i es o f t h e U n it e dS t a t e s engaged i n such a c t i v i t i e s ;

( 2 ) deve lop a comprehens ive p rogram of ae ronau t i ca la nd s p a c e a c t i v i t i e s t o be c on du ct ed by a g e n c i e s o f t h eU n i t e d S t a t e s ;

( 3 ) d e s i g n a t e a n d f i x r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e d i re c -t i o n o f m aj or a e r o n a u t i c a l and sp ac e a c t i v i t i e s ;

( 4 ) p r ov i d e f o r e f f e c t i v e c o o p e r a ti o n be tw ee n t h eN a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a n d S p a c e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d t h eDepartment of Defense i n a l l s uch a c t i v i t i e s , and sp ec -i f y w hi ch of s uc h a c t i v i t i e s may be c a r r i e d on co nc ur -r e n t l y by b o th s u c h a g e n c i e s n o t wi t hs t a nd i n g t h e a s s i g n -ment o f p ri ma ry r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t h e r e f o r t o o ne o r t h eo t h e r of s u c h a g e n c i e s ; and

( 5 ) r e s o l v e d i f f e re n c e s a r i s i n g among d e p a r t m e n t sa n d a g e n c i e s of t h e U ni te d S t a t e s w it h r e s p e c t t oa e r o n a u t i c a l and s pa ce a c t i v i t i e s under t h i s Act , i n -c l u d i n g d i f f e r e n c e s a s t o w he th er a p a r t i c u l a r p r o j e c ti s a n a e r o n a u t i c a l and sp ac e a c t i v i t y .

N AT I O N A LAERONAUTICS AND SPACE C O U N C I L

I n d i s c h ar g in g h i s d u t i e s , t h e P r e s id e n t i s a s s i s t e d by t h eN a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s a nd Sp ac e C ou nc il , e s t a b l i s h e d by t h e A c t.The Council i s composed o f t h e Pres iden t (who i s Cha i rman) , t heS e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e , t h e S e c re t a ry of D ef en se , t h e A d m i n i s t r a t o r oft h e N a t i o n a l A e r o n a ut i c s a n d S p ac e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , t h e C h ai rm anof t h e Atomic Energy Commission, one a d d i t i o n a l member appo in tedby t h e P r e s i d e n t f r o m t h e E x e c u t i v e B r an ch o f t h e G ov er nm en t, andn o t m ore t h a n t h r e e o t h e r members a p p oi n t e d by t h e P r e s i d e n t f r omp r i v a t e l i f e . (Membership i s l i s t e d i n A pp en di x C ) .

C I V I L I A N - M I L I TA RY LIAISON COMMITTEE

On a d i f f e r e n t l e v e l , t h e Act e s t a b l i s h e d a C i v i l i a n - M i l i t a r yLia i son Commi t t ee to : 1) f a c i l i t a t e c om mu ni ca ti on b et we en t h eDepar tmen t o f Defense and t h e Na t iona l Aeron au t i c s and SpaceA d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a n d 2 ) p r o v i d e a means o f c o n s u l t a t i o n f o r t h o s et wo a g e n c i e s . The P r e s i d e n t a p p o i n te d a s C h a i r m a n o f t h e C i v i l i a n -M i l i t a r y L i a i s o n C o m m i t t e e , W i l l i a mM. Holaday of t h e O f fi c e o ft h e S e c r e t a r y o f D e fe n se . The Com mittee a l s o i n c l u d e s o ne r e p r e -s e n t a t i v e f r o m t h e D e p a r t m e n t of Defense, o n e f r o m e a c h o f t h eDe pa rt me nt s of t h e Army, Navy, and A i r F o rc e , a nd f o u r fr om t h eNa t i on a l Aeron au t i c s and Space Admi n i s t r a t ion . (Membersh ip i sl i s t e d i n A pp en di x D.)


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* '

TOP NASA ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED

On August 8 , t h e P r e s i d e n t a pp o i n te d T. Kei th Glennan ,p r e s i d e n t - o n - l e a v e o f Case I n s t i t u t e of Tec hn ol og y, C l e v el a n d,Ohio, as t h e f i r s t A d m i n i s t r a t o r of NASA. Hugh L. Dryden, Direc-t o r f a - nin e ye ar s of NASA's pr ed ec es so r -- t h e N a t i o n a l A d v i s o r yC om mittee f o r A e r o n a u t i c s ( N A C A ) -- was appointed Deputy Adminis-t r a t o r , The Seza2e conf i rmed the appo in tmen t s on Augus t 1 4 , 1958.

NASA ABSORBS N A C A AND ITS FUNCTIONS

D r , Glennan, f u l f i l l i n g t h e re q u ir e m en t s o f t h e N a t i o n a lAer on aut ics and Space Ac2, pro cla ime d on September 30 t h a t t h eA d m i n i s t r a t i o n ha d b ee n o rg a n i z e d a n d was now p r e p a r e d t o e x e r c i s ethe powers conferred upon i t by t h e A ct . ( F o r t e x t o f P ro cl am aG io ns e e Appendix E ) . N A C A t h e r e u p o n ce a s ed t o e x i s t . A l l i t s f u n c -t l o n s , poweT-s, d u t i e s , proper';y, and p e r s o n n e l were t r a n s f e r r e d t o5 h e new a g e i c y. NASA i n h e r i t e d fr om NACA a s t a f f o f 7,956 s k i l l e ds s i e n t i s t s , e n g i n e e r s , t e c h r i c i a n s a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p e r s o n i e lr e q u i r e d t o c a r r y o u t i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . I t a l s o a c q u f r e d fr omN A C A t h e L a ng le y A e r o n a u t i c a l L a b o r a t o r y, L an g le y F i e l d , Va. ;A m e s k r o r a , . S l c a l L a b or a to r y, M o ff et t F i e l d , n e a r 3 a n F r a n c i s c oC a l S f . ; Lew is F l i g h t P r o p u l s i o n L a b o r a t o r y, C l e v e l a n d , OhFo, ; t h eHigh Speed: Flight Stat ion, Edwards AFB, C a l i f . ; a n d t h e P i l o t l e s sA i r e r a f r R e s e a r c h S t a t i o n , Wa l l o p s I s l a n d , Va. T h e s e f a c i l i t i e s~ r i g i ~ i l l y o s t a b o u t $350 m i l l i o n .

S-LTTE! cs e s t a b l is h m e n t i n 1915 , N A C A had worked c l o s e l y wi th-!-e s m ~ ~ des::ices i n r e s e a r c h n e c e s s a r y t o p r o v i d e t h e mo st e f f e c -tLve t y p e s o f m i l i t a r y a i r c r a f t a nd m i s s i l e s . T h i s r e l a t i o n s h i pC G I I ~ X U ~ Sw i t h PJPSA. Thus NASA, a l t h o u g h i t i s a c i v i l i a n ag en cy ,p l a y a z n i m p o r t a i l t r o l e i n s u p p o r t of n a t i o n a l d e f e n s e t h r o u g he o n t i c v a t i o n o f r e s e a r c h and e x p e r i m e n t a ti o n o f t y p e s t h a t N A C Anarrfed on f o r t h e p a s t f o u r d e ca d es .

PA.RAMOUNTG O A L OF NASA

When t h e new NASA o f f i c i a l l y came i n t o b e i n g , O c to b er 1, 1958,fts o r g a n i z a t i o n -- b a s ed u pon t h e e x p e r i e n c e d n u c l e u s o f N A C As c i e n t i s t s and e n g i n e e r s -- was r e a d y t o move w i t ho u t d e l a y i n t ob r o ad e r , more u r g e n t a c t i v i t i e s . F or t h e s e a c t L v i t i e s , S e c t i o n1 0 2 (a3 of t b . ~ ct had provided a beacon i n t h e d e c l a r a t i o n t h a tU ni te d S t a t e s T f a c t i v i t i e s n s p ac e s h ou ld b e d e v ot ed t o p e a ce f u lp u r p o s e s f o r t h e b e n ef i t o f a l l mankind.I1


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I I . * N A S A HIGHLIGHTS - - OCTOBER 1, 1958 -- MARCH 31, 1959

1 9 5 8

O c t o 1

Octo5

O c t o 10

o c t . 1 5

Oct. 23

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE A D M I N I S T R AT I O N(NASA)b eg an o p e r a t i n g o f f i c i a l l y. A bs or be d 4 3- ye ar -o ldNa t ion a l Adv iso ry Committee f o r Ae ronau t i c s ( N A C A ) ,i n c l u d i n g N A C A s t a f f o f s c i e n t i s t s , e n g in e e rs , t e c h ni -c a l an d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p e r so n n el ; N A C A * sWashington,D . C , , Headqua r t e r s ; and i t s 5 l a b o r a t o r i e s and f i e l ds t a t i o n s .

A NUMBER OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPACE PROJECTS weret r a n s f e r r e d t o NASA on t h i s d a t e by Ex ecu tive Order.From Navy -- Pr o j ec t Vangua rd , w i t h 158 s c i e n t i s t sa n d t e c h n o l o g i s t s f r o m t h e Nava l Resea rch Labora to ry,i n c l u d i n g 25 s c i e n t i s t s f rom o t h e r INRL d i v i s i o n s , F r o mthe Advanced Research Pro jec ts Agency ( A R PA ) and fromt h e A i r Force 5 space probed , 3 s a t e l l i t e p r o j e c t s , a n ds e v e r a l e n g i n e r e s e a r c h pr og ra ms , i n c l u d i n g d e ve lo pm en to f n u c l e a r e n gi n e s, f l u o r i n e e n g i n e s, and a 1 .5 -mi l l i on -pound- th rus t , s i ng l e- chamber ro ck e t eng in e .

MERCURY--

M A N N E DSATELLITE PROJECT

--O R G A N I Z E Dunde r

NASA management and d i r e c t i o n , wi th a dv ic e and a s s i s t -ance o f ARPA. Sp ac e Ta s k Group formed a t LangleyR e se a rc h C e n t er t o d i r e c t P r o j e c t M e rc ur y.

PIONEER I -- FIRST SPACE PROBE -- l a u n c h e d f r o m A t l a n t i cMissile Range ( A M R ) Cape Cana vera l , F la . , by A i r Forceunde r NASA d i r e c t io n , f e l l s ho r t of Moon o b j ec t i ve b u td i d t r a v e l a bou t 70,700 m i l e s i n t o s p a ce .

X-15 ROCKET-POWERED EXPERIMENTAL AIRPLANE -- e a r l y s t e pt ow ar d sp a ce f l i g h t -- was r o l l e d o u t a t North AmericanAv i a t io n , I n c . , p l a n t , Los Angeles, C a l i f ,

TWELVE-FOOT DIAMETER INFLATABLE S-4TELLITE was l aunchedfrom A M R by Army unde r NASA d i r e c t io n . The ro ck e t f a i l e dd u r i n g b o o s t p h a s e .

* D e t a i l s a p p ea r i n l a t e r s e c t i o n s .


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Nov. 7

Nov. 8

Dec. 3

Dec. 6

Dec. 1 6

J a n . 1 2

J a n . 19

J a n . 10

J a n , 2 1

Jan . 23

INDUSTRY INVITED TO SUBMIT MERCURYSPACE CAPSULE DESIGNPROPOSALS a t Langley R ese arc h Ce nt er b i d d e r 3 co nf er en ce ,a t t e n d e d b y 39 m i s s i l e and a i r c r a f t m a n u fa c t u re r s.

PIONEER I1 SPACE PROBE -- l aunched f rom AMR by A i r F o r c eun der NASA d i r e c t i o n -- f a i l e d when t h i r d s t age d i d n o ti g n i t eJET PROPULSION LABORATORY ( J P L ) TRANSFERRED TO NASA fromArmy by E x e c u t iv e Or d er w hi ch a l s o s h i f t e d DOD f u n d s t oNASA t o c o n t i n u e a c t i v e J P L p r o j e c t s - i n - b e i n g .

NASA ENTERED AGREEMENT W I T H A R M Yon t h i s d a t e f o r s e r v i c e sfrom A r m y B a l l i s t i c M i s s i l e s Agency, Hun t sv i l l e , Ala., t owork on v a r i o u s ph as es of NASA p r o j e c t s .

PIONEER I11 SPACE PROBE -- l a u n c h e d f r o m AMR by Army underNASA d i r e c t i o n -- t r a v e l e d 63,580 miles i n t o space andp ro du ce d v a l u a b l e d a t a o n d o ub l e- b an d G r e a t R a d i a t i o nB e l t , b e f o r e f a l l i n g e a r t h w ar d and b u r n i ng i n at mo sp he re .

INVENTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS BOARDESTABLISHED by NASA t oe v a lu a t e s c i e n t i f i c o r t e c h n i c a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o NASAand recommend monetary awards.

1 9 5 9

MERCURYCAPSULE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONSTRUCTIONC O N T R A C Tawarded by NASA t o McDonnell A i r c r a f t Corp., S t .Louis , M o o

HIGH-THRUST ROCKET ENGINE C O N T R A C Tawarded by NASA t oRocke tdyne Di v i s i on o f Nor th Amer ican Av ia t ion , Inc . ,Canoga Park, C a l i f . C o n t r a c t f o r t h i s 1 .5 -m il li on -p ou ndt h r u s t , s in gl e- ch am b er r o c k e t e n gi n e was f o r $102 m i l l i o nGVE'C" 4 - t o 6 - y e a r p e r i o d .

AGREEMENT FOR A N AT I O N A LPROGRAM t o Meet S a t e l l i t e andSpace Ve h i c l e Tr a c k i n g a nd S u r v e i l l a n c e R eq u ir e me n ts f o rFY-1959 an d FY-1960 s i g n e d by NASA an d D O D ,

SCREENING RECORDS OF PROSPECTIVE MERCURYASTRONAUTS b yNASA began; a l l c a n d i d a t e s g r a d u a t e s o f AF o r Navy t e s tp i l o t s c h o o l s .

C H A I R M E NOF 1 3 NASA RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEES named byAdmin i s t r a to r G lennan .


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Jan . 28

Feb, 2

Feb. 7

Feb, 10

Feb. 14

Feb. 1 7

March 3

March 10

March 11

March 24

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A G R E E ME N TTO TRANSFER C H I N C O T E A G U E(Va.) NAVAL A I RSTATION t o NASA, J u l y 1, 1959, upon i t s d i s e s t a b l i s h m e n tf o r Navy uses , w a s r eached by Se c r e t a r y o f t h e NavyThomas S. Gates , J r. , and NASA Ad mi nis tr at or Glennan.

TWELVE-FOOT DIAMETER INFLATABLE SATELLITE TEST FIRED SUC-c e s s f u l l y fr om Wall op s I s l a n d , Va., r e a c h i n g a l t i t u d e o f75 m i l e s a n d i n f l a t i n g .

INTERVIEWS AND TESTING BEGANFOR POTENTIAL MERCURYASTRONAUTS -- 63 were s e l e c t ed i n i n i t i a l t e s t s -- 80 p e r -c e nt v o l un te e re d f o r f u r t h e r c o n s i d e r a t io n .

ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES BEGAN RIGOROUS PHYSICALS a t LovelaceCl in i c , A lbuque rque , N. M. -- 32 w er e s e n t i n g r ou p s of6 each .

MERCURY W I N D TUNNEL TESTS, w it h McDonnell Spa ce Cap su le ,b eg an i n h y p e r s o n i c w ind t u n n e l a t L a ng le y R e se a r ch C e n t e r.

ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES STARTED STRESS TESTS a t AF Wrigh t A i rDevelopment Center, Dayton, 0. -- 32 were s e n t i n g r o up sof 5 each .

VANGUARDI1 -- C L O U DCOVERSATELLITE -- was s u c c e s s f u l l yla unc he d by NASA from AMR, and went i n t o o r b i t . A lt ho ug hpay loa d deve lop ed wobble, Vanguard I1 p r o v e d f e a s i b i l i t yof c lo ud c ov er s a t e l l i t e s .PIONEER I V SPACE PROBE -- l aunched f r o m AM R u n d e r NASAd i r e c t i o n -- a c h i e v e d Earth-Moon t r a j e c t o r y .w i t h i n 3 7 , 3 0 0 m i l e s o f Moon, p robe p rov i ded s i g n i f i c a n tr a d i a t i o n d a t a a nd went on t o o r b i t Sun.

P a s s i n g

FIRST X - 1 5 C A P T I V EFLIGHT (suspended from wing of B-521,wi t h p i l o t i n co ck pi t , made f rom Edwards AFB. Test w a sg e n e r a l ly s a t i s f a c t o r y de s p i t e f a i l u r e of one X - 1 5 gen-e r a t o r which c u r t a i l e d f l i g h t t i m e .

PROJECT SCOUT DETAILS announced by NASA.

VEGA VEHICLE C O N T R A C T-- $5 MILLION -- awarded t o G e n e r a lE l e c t r i c t o d e v el op se co nd s t a g e e n g in e .


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111 . THE N A S A P R O G R A M

PROJECT M E R C U RY

M A N N E DSATELLITE PROJECT O R G A N I Z E D

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r Program -- NASA h a s management a nd t e c h -n i c a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r P r o j e c t Mercury -- t h e U . S. manneds a t e l l i t e - p r o g r a m - 2 w i th t h e a d v i ce and a s s i s t a n c e o f t h eAdvanced Resea rch P ro je c t s Agency of t h e Depar tmen t of Defense .

S pa ce Ta sk Group S p e c i f i c a t i o n s -- On O ct ob er 5, 1958,NASA fo rm al ly or ga ni ze d Pr o je c t Mercury t o : 1) p l a c e a manneds pa ce c a p su le i n o r b i t a l f l i g h t a rou nd t h e E a r t h ; 2 ) i n v e s t i g a t eman's r e a c t i o n s t o and c a p a b i l i t i e s i n t h i s e nv ir on me nt ; a nd3 ) r e c o v e r c a p s u l e a n d p i l o t s a f e l y . A NASA S pace Task Group( or ga ni ze d t o d i r e c t t h e p r o j e c t ) a t L a n g le y R e s e a rc h C e n t e rdrew up s p e c i f i c a t i o n s f o r t h e M ercu ry c a p su l e , b a se d on s t u d i e sby N A C A d u r i n g t h e p r e c e d i n g 1 2 m on th s, a nd o n d i s c u s s i o n s w i t ht h e A i r F or ce wh ic h had b e en c o n d u c t i n g r e l a t e d s t u d i e s .

Des ign -- Development -- R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f 39 p r o s p e c t i v eb i d d e r s a t t e n d e d a c o n f e re n c e a t Langley, November 7. ByDecember 11, t w e l v e f i r m s had made d e t a i l e d t e c h n i c a l , c o s t ,and management p r o p o s a l s . NASA annou nced J a n ua ry 1 2 , 1959, t h a tM cD onnell A i r c r a f t C orp . had b ee n s e l e c t e d t o d e s i g n , d e v e l o p ,and b u i l d t h e c a p s u l e .

B o o s t e r s P r o c u r e d -- D urin g t h i s r e p o r t p e r i o d ( O ct o be r 1,1958 -- March 31, 1959) NASA made ar ra ng em en ts t o pr oc ur e r o c k e tm oto rs f o r f l i g h t t e s t s and f o r e v e n t ua i o r b i t a l f i i g h t s .t e s t p r o p u l s i o n v e h i c l e , c o mp r is i ng a c l u s t e r o f f o u r l a r g es o l i d - p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t m ot or s, was d e s i g n e d a n d a c o n t r a c t o r ,Nor th Amer ican Av ia t io n , Inc . , was s e l e c t e d . O r d e r s were a l s op l a c e d f o r Re ds ton e and J u p i t e r b o o s t e r s t o b e u se d i n t h ef l i g h t - t e s t program, a nd f o r Atlas b o o s t e r s t o be u t i l i z e d b o t hi n f l i g h t t e s t s and i n o r b i t a l f l i g h t s .

A

E s t i m a t e d O v e r a l l C o s t -- To t a l c o s t o f P r o j e c t Me rcu ryd u r i n g F i s c a l Years 1959 and 1960 i s e s t i m a t e d a t $ 1 2 8 m i l l i o n .

m R C U RY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

F l i g h t Te s t s and S u p p o r t i n g P r o j e c t s -- Development rogramsi n whi ch t h e NASA S pace Tas k Group i s e n a g e d i n c l u d e :Drop Te s t s ; 2 ) Escape-Sys tems S tud ies ; 37 Fr ee -F l i gh t and Wind-T u n n e l I n v e s t i g a t i o n s ; 4 ) I m p a c t Te s t s ; 5 ) P a r a c h u t e Te s t s ; and6 ) Te s t s o f t h e L i f e - s u p p o r t S ys te m.

17 A i r -


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P r el i mi n ar y t e s t s of t h e r e c o v e r y p a r a c h u t e a nd m ea su re me ntof im pact fo,-ces were made i n t h e d r o p a r e a o f F t . Bragg, N. C . ,and o v e r trh e a i r f i e l d a t West P o i n t , Va. The recovery sys t em i snow b e i n g t e s t e d a t N A S A 9 s Wallo ps I s l a n d S t a t i o n by d ro p p in g

f u l l - s c a l e model c a p s u l e s f ro m v e r y h i g h a l t i t u d e s . From exam-i n a t , i o n o f t h e r e t r i e v e d c a p s ul e s and o f f i l m s t a k e n f r o m j e ta i r c r a f t , t h e b eh av io r of t h e c a ps u le s du r i ng r e co v er y a r e b e i ngs t u d i e d i n d e t a i l a t Lang ley Resea rch Cen te r.

The manned Mercury capsule w i l l be t o p p e d w i t h a r o c k e t s y s -t e m t o f r e e i t f r o m t h e b o o s t e r i f t r o u b l e d e v e l o p s a t a ny t i m ef r o m l a u n c h i n g t h r o u g h b u r n o u t of a ny s t a g e o f t h e p r op u l s i o nsys tem. A t p r e s en t , s c i e n t i s t s a re u s i n g f u l l - s c a l e models t od e t e r m i n e t h e p r o p e r a l i gn m e n t of e s c a p e - r o c k e t n o z z l e s and o ft h e f o r c e s t h a t t h e T o c k et s e x e r t o n t h e c a p s u l e .

F r e e F l i g h t and Wind Tunnel Tests of Models -- A t WallopsI s l a n d , r e s e a r c h r o c k e t s a r e b ei ng employed t o b oo s t c a p s u l emodels t o h i g h a l t i t u d e s , where th e y a r e s u b j e c t e d t o v e l o c i t . i e sa p pr o ac h in g t h o s e o f s a t e l l i t e s . The p ur po se i s t o i n v e s 3 i g a t es t a b i l i t y , r e - e n t r y d yn am ic s, and a f t e r b o d y h e a t i n g . Wind t u n -n e l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s w i l l be made t o d e t e r m i n e t h e b e s t a e r o d y n a m i cs h ap e a nd t o d e t e rm i n e l i f t , d ra g, s t a b i l i t y , and p r e s s u r e d i s -t r i b u t i o n , f l u t f e r , h e a t t r a n s f e r , and o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s oft h e c a p s u l e i n v e l o c i t y r an ge s from Mach .5 t o Mach 20 -- o r upt o some 13,000 mi le s p e r h o u r .

Water and Land Impacts S tudied -- The r e c o ve r y p l a n f o r t h emanned capsule i s based on a w a t e r l a n d i n g . L an di ng t e s t s i nt a n k s a t L an gl ey i n d i c a t e t h a t p r e l i m i n a r y d e s i g n s o f t h e Mercuryca.psule car, come t . 0 r e s t s a f e l y a f t e r s t r i k i n g w at e r a t a v e l o c i t yof 30 f e e t p e r secccd. To wi ths t an d more se - re re shock i n th ee v e n t of g r ou nd I s r d i n g , a v a r i e t y o f m a t e r i a l s a r e b e l n g s t u d i e d :f o r example, f i t j m c s zel lu lose and honeycomb ar rangements of cor-r u g a te d p l a s t i c and a lm i n w n .

Recovery Pa rachu te -- The Mercury capsule w i l l b e winglessTo br ing i t s a f e l y and s t a b l y t o Ea r t h , two p a r a c h u te s w i l l bee mpl oye d, w i t h a n o t h e r two i n r e s e r v e f o r e me rg en cy u s e . Thef i r s t ( o r d r o gu e ) i s a s m a l l r i b b o n p a r a c h u t e t h a t w i l l open at

a n a l t i t u d e o f ab ou t 70,000 f e e t . T h i s d r o g u e w i l l t r a i l t h ec a p s u l e a n d p r e v e n r, t - m b l i n g , a n d a t a b o u t 1G,000 f e e t w i l l d r a go u t t h e s ec on d ( o r r e c o v e r y ) p a r ac h u t e. The r e c o v e r y ? c h u t e , 62f e e t in d i a m e t e r , w i l l l o we r t h e c a p s u l e t o h a t e r o r ground. Ift h e p r i m a r y p a r a c h u t e s f a i l t o be e j e c t e d , a p i l o t Vchute an da n o t h e r f u l l - s c a l e r e c o ve r y 'c hu te w i l l be r e l e as ed . Bo%h au to -ma t i e and manua l r e l ease mechan i sms a re p r o v i d e d . I n v e s t i g a t i o n sa r e being made t . 0 t e s t s n a t c h and s h oc k f o r c e s i n v o l v e d i n p a ra -c h u t e r e l e a s e s a t h i g h a l t i t u d e s . M o t i o n p i c t u r e s a n d t e l e m e t r yr e c o r d p e rf or m an c e d a t a . I n f o r m a t i o n d e r i v e d f ro m t h i s work w i l lb e v a l u a b l e i l z d e ve l op i ng p a r ac h u te s f o r h i g h - a l t i t u d e m i s s i o n so f a l l t y p e s .


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I N I T I A L ACCOMPLISHMENT GOALS

B a l l i s t i c , S u b- o rb i ta l , and O r b i t a l F l i g h t s -- B e f o r e o r b i -t a l f l i g h t . i s a t t e m p t e d , t h e M er cu ry c a p s u l e w i l l be l aunch ed onb a l l i s t i c p a t h s o f i n c r e a s i n g r an ge . The f i r s t s h o r t - r a n g e b a l -listic f l i g h t s w i l l be made a t Wa l l o p s I s l a n d .f l i g h t s w i l l be made f r o m t h e A t l a n t i c M i s s i l e R a n g e .ba1l i :L ic an d s u b - o r b i z a l f l i g h t s p r o ve t h e s y s te m sound w i l lo r b i t a l f l i g h t s be a t te mp te d.

manned c r b i t a l f l i g h t s w i l l n o t b e u n de r ta k e n u n t i l r e p e a t e d u n-manned miss ions have been success fu l .

Longer rangeOnly a f t e r

Manned Fl ights -- Some s u b - o r b i t a l f l i g h t s may be manned, b u t

Mercs ry Orb i t -- The manned Mercury capsule w i l l b e p l a c e di n o r b i t h i g h efiough t o p e r m i t i t a 24-hour l i f e t i m e . I n i t i a lf l i g h t s , h o w e v e r , w i l l be l i m i t e d t o t h r e e o r b i t s , o r t o a bo utf o u r and one- ha l f hours . Descen t w i l l be s t a r t e d by f i r i n gr e t r o - r o c k e t s

I r i s t r u m e n t a t i o n -- I n s t r u m e n t s w i l l be i n c or p o r at e d t o e v a l -u a t e t h e pi lo t t s r e a c t i o n t o s p a ce f l i g h t and t o measure andn ;c ni t. cr ; .o n di tF o ns i n s i d e a n d o u t s i d e t h e c a p s u l e . T h e re w i l l bea sys tem f o r two-way communicat ion between p i l o t and ground s t a --t--ons where t e l e m e t e r e d d a t a w i l l a l s o b e r e c o r d e d . O t h er g r ou n d' m x r u m e n t a t i o n w i l l t r a c k t h e Mercury s a t e l l i t e i n o r b i t , t r i g g e rt h e d e s c e n t s y st em , a nd p r e d i c t where t h e c a p s u l e w i l l l a n d .

--EFCUR'S- PlLOT SELECTION

gpecial Ads-fscFy Committee on L i f e S c i e n c e s E s t a b l i s h e sCricer-=? -- As important, a s d e v e l o p i n g a s p ac e- w or th y c a p s u l e a r eThe s e l e c t i o n an d t r a l n i n g o f t h e c a p s u l e ' s human o c c u p a n t . OnO z t o b e - 2'7, 1958, NASA e s t a b l i s h e d a S p e c i a l Advisory Committee :EL i f e S c : ; e r Te s , 'co " a c t i n c o n s u i t i n g c a p a c i t y i n a s s i s t i n g NASA i nc a r r y i n g o u t i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o c onduct a manned s pa ce ve hi -c le program." D r . W. Randolph Lovelace 11, o f t h e L o v e l a c eFounda5 ion f o r Medica l Educa t io n and Resea rch , Albuquerque , N. M e ,was designated Chairman o f the Committee.in Appendix F.?

(Membership i s l i s t e d

Q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and a t t r i b u t e s r e q u i r ed o f t h e p i o n e e r U . S.a s t r c n a u t were e s t a b l i s h e d by NASATs S p ec ia l Committee on L i f eS c i e n c e s l a t e i n 1958. To q u a l i f y, a c a n d i d a t e h a d t o : 1) havea d eg re e, o r t h e e q u iv a l en t , i n p h y s ic a l s c i e n c e o r e n g i n e er i n g;2 ) be a g r a d u a t e o f a m i l i t a r y t e s t - p i l o t s ch o o l ; 3 ) h av e a tl e a s t l , j O O h o ur s f l y i n g ti m e i n c l u d i n g a s u b s t a n t i a l amount i nh f g h - p e r f o r m a n c e j e t s ; 4) be younger than 40; 5 ) be no t a l l e rt h a n 5 9 13"; 6 ) be i n s u p er b p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n ; and 7 ) p o s s e s sp s yc h ol o gi ca l a t t r i b u t e s s p e c i f i e d by t h e L i f e Sciences Commit tee .


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- 11 -

The c o mm i tt ee a l s o g av e a d v i c e o n o t h e r human a s p e c t s o fP r o j e c t M ercury, i n c l u di n g t r a i n i n g c r i t e r i a . S e v er a l m e m b e r smade su gg es t i on s on human engi ne er in g and equipment des ig n whi let h e mock-up f o r t h e c a p s u l e was be ing cons t ruc ted by McDonne l lA i r c r a f t .

A i r F o r c e , Navy, Marine Test P i l o t s S c r e e n e d -- E a r l y i nJ a n u a r y, 1959, NASA s cr ee ne d t h e r e c o r d s of 473 A i r Force, Navy,a n d M a r i n e C o r p s o f f i c e r s , a l l g r a d u a t e s o f A i r Force o r Navyt e s t - p i l o t s c h o o l s . One h un dr ed a nd t e n were s e l e c t e d as poten-t i a l c a n d i d a t e s , t o be broug ht t o NASA Washington Hea dqu art ersi n t h r e e g ro up s f o r p re l i mi n a ry b r i e f i n g and p e r s o na l i n t er v ie w s .

63 men m e t a l l b a s i c r e q u i r e m e n t s .of c o n t i n u i n g t h r o u gh more r i g o r o u s t e s t i n g t h a t w ould n ar ro wt h e f i e l d t o t h e men who would a c t u a l l y be t r a i n e d f o r t h eMercury program.p l a n s t o i n t er v i ew a nd t e s t t h e t h i r d g roup were c a n c e l l e d a sunne ce s s a r y .

O f t h e t wo g r o u p s i n t e r v i e w e d o n F e b r u a r y 2 and Februa ry 9,These were g i v e n t h e c h o i c e

When 80 p e r c e n t o f t h e 63 men volunteered,

F u r t h e r Te s t s Narrow Field -- On t h e b a s i s of t e c h n i c a li n t e r v i e w s , p s y c h i a t r i c i n t e r v i e w s , and p s y c h o l o gi c a l a nd a p t i -t u d e t e s t s , t h e number o f c and ida te s was r educed t o 32. BetweenF e b r u a r y 7 and March 28, t hese men were g i v e n i n t e n s i v e , week-l o n g p h y s i c a l e x a m i n a t i o n s a t th e Lovelace Foundat ion , Albuquerque ,N. M. T h i r t y -t w o c a n d i d a t e s w ere s e n t t o t h e AF Wr ig h t A i rDevelopment Center, Dayton, O., f o r s t r e s s , h e a t , c ol d, a l t i t u d ea n d o t h e r t e s t s .

F i n a l S e v e n S e l e c t e d i n A p r i l -- R e c o r d s o f c a n d i d a t e s weree v a l u a t e d by t h e Space Task Group and seven p i l o t s were s e l e c t e d .

T r a i n i n g -- The p i l o t s c h os en f o r t h e P r o j e c t M e rc ur y s a t e l -l i t e c a p s u l e w i l l be based w i t h th e Langley Space Task Group andw i l l u nd erg o e x t e n s i v e t e c h n i c a l t r a i n i n g a nd c o n d i t i o n i n g a to t h e r r e s e a r c h c e n t e r s a nd a t Navy and A i r F o r c e b a s e s b e f o r es u b - o r b i t a l a n d o r b i t a l f l i g h t s a r e made.

THE x-15 -- RESEARCHAIRPLANE

FIRST X-15 AIRPLANE ROLLS OUT

E a r l y S t e p Toward Manned Space F l i g h t -- on Oc tobe r 1 5 , 1958,t h e f i r s t o f t h r e e X-15 r oc ke t-p ow er ed r e s e a r c h a i r c r a f t was r o l l e do u t a t t h e Los A n g e l e s p l a n t of North American Av ia t ion , In c .The X-15 i s n o t i n t e n d e d a s a t r u e s p a ce v e h i c l e , a nd i t w i l l n o tbe l a un ch ed i n t o a n E a r t h o r b i t . I t i s , i n s t e a d , a "near-space"v e h ic l e t h a t w i l l r e a ch a l t i t u d e s o f a b ou t 100 mil es , p e r m i t t i n gs t u d y o f f l i g h t p ro bl em s o u t s i d e t h e a tm os ph er e.


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- 1 2 -

Exper imen ta l Data t o Be Gathered -- A f t e r b e i n g c a r r i e da l o f t by a B-52 m o t h er s h i p , t h e X-15 w i l l b e l a u n c h e d f o r man-ned f l i g h t a t t h e p e r i p h e r y of t h e a tm os ph er e.which w i l l o p e r a t e a t much h i g h e r s p e e d s t h a n a n y a c h i e v e d i np r e v i o u s m a n n e d f l i g h t s , w i l l g iv e much new op e r a t i o n a l expe-r i e n c e a n d d a t a f r o m t h e f o l l o w i n g : l ) F u l l - s c a l e i n - f l i g h t

measurements w i l l b e made o f s k i n t e m p e r a t u r e s a t v a r i o u s l o c a-t i o n s th ro ug ho ut t h e pl a n e un de r t h e s e v e r e h e a t i n g c o n d i t i o n so f t h e t e s t ; 2 ) F i r s t a c t u a l ex p er i e n ce w i l l be o b t a i n e d i nd et er mi nin g t h e a b i l i t y o f t h e p i l o t t o c o n t r o l t h e p l an e u nd ert h e g r e a t a c c e l e r a t i o n s and h ig h g - lo a ds o f n ea r- s pa ce f l i g h t ;3 ) Two s e p a r a t e s e t s o f c o n t r o l s -- aerodynamic and space( r o c k e t ) -- w i l l b e t e s t e d ; 4 ) A e ro m ed ic al i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h ep i l o t a n d h i s a b i l i t y t o c o n t r o l t h e p l a ne d u r in g c o n d i t i o ns o fp r o l o n g e d w e i g h t l e s s n e s s w i l l b e o b t a i n e d .

T h i s p l a n e ,

STATUS OF x-15

J o i n t NASA-Air Force-Navy Pr o. jec t -- A j o i n t NASA-Air Fo rc e-Navy p ro je c t , begun i n 1954, t h e X-15 was d e l i v e r e d t o EdwardsA i r F o r c e B a s e s h o r t l y a f t e r r o l l - o u t , where f o r s e v e r a l weeksi t underwent e x t en s i ve ground t e s t i n g by t h e Government and byNorth American. Mo di f i ca t i on s were fo un d t o be n e c e s s ar y ; t h e s ei n c l u d i n g r e r o u t i n g some e l e c t r i c a l w i r i n g f ro m a r e a s w here h i g ht e m p e r a t u r e i s e xp ec te d and i n s t a l l i n g a d d i t i o n a l i n s p e c t i o nh a t c h e s e

"C aptiv e" F l i g h t Te st f o r S t a b i l i t y -- The B-52 m o t h e r s h i pwas m od if ie d t o i n c o r p o r a t e a p y l o n u n d e r t h e r i g h t w i n g f r o mw h i c h t h e X - 1 5 i s su sp en de d. On March 10 , 1959, a t Edwards AFB,t h e X - 1 5 was t a ke n a l o f t f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e w i t h t h e t e s t p i l o ti n t h e c o c kp i t . Major o b j e c t i v e was t o d e t e r m i n e t h e s t a b i l i t yo f t h e m other s h i p and t h e X-15 i n f l i g h t , b ut t e s t s were a l s omade o f some o f t h e X - 1 5 9 ~ n s t r u m e n t a t i o n . T h e B-52 c i r c l e d a ta speed of Mach 0.8 a t 38,000 f e e t ; s t a b i l i t y was f ou nd t o bee x c e l l e n t ; t h e r e was no a p p r ec i ab l e f l u t t e r o f t h e X-15 o n t h ep y l o n .

G e n e r a t o r F a i l u r e S h o r t e n s Te s t F l i g h t -- The t e s t p e r i o d ,i n t e n d e d t o l a s t two h o ur s, was c u r t a i l e d a f t e r a n ho ur and e i g h tm i n u t e s o f f l i g h t , when a g e n e r a t o r i n t h e X-15 f a i l e d and smokeen te re d th e co ck p i t . The coup led p l an es were b rough t down wi th -o u t f u r t h e r i n c i d e n t .

F u r t h e r C a p t ' i v e a n d G l i d e F l i g h t s t o be Made -- I n some l a t e rr u n s , t h e emergency f u e l j e t t i s o n s y s t e m w i l l be t e s t e d ; i n o t h e rf l i g h t s t he p l a ne w i l l g l i d e t o t h e ground w it ho ut power t o t e s ti t s c o n t r o l s and l a n d i n g g e a r .

Powered F l i g h t T es t s P lanned -- F l i g h t s w i th a n in t e r i me n g i n e s h o u l d t a k e p l a c e l a t e r t h i s y ea r . On t h e s e f l i g h t s , t h eX-15 w i l l no t ac hi ev e maximum performance becau se t h e i n t e r i m


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eng ipe -'- c a l l e d t h e LR-11 -- h a s o n l y a b o u t o n e - f o u rt h t h epower ex pec ted f rom th e f i r , a l e n g i n e , t h e XLR-99. T h e f i n a le n g i n e i s i n a dvan ce d s t a g e s o f d e v e l o p m e n t a l t e s t i n g a t t h eN o r t h American p l a n t ; del 'I .t re ry i s e x p e c t e d l a t e i n 1959 o r e a r l yi n 3 9 6 0 ,

NEW FACILITIES TO MONITOR X-15

Tracking Range Ready -- The X-lj t r a c k i n g ne tw cr k ( P r o j e c tHigh Range) was b t r i l t b y t h e Air F o rc e , w i t h t h e E l e c t r o n i cE n g i n e e r i n g C o . , San%a Ana, CalTf., a s d e s i g n an d c c n s f r u c 3 i o nc o n t r a c t o r , The n et w or k w i l l f a c i l i t a t e t r a c k i n g t h e X-lj c ni t s firs% f r e e f l i g h t s l a t e r this y e a r.s a f e t y ar,d a i r c r a f t c o n d 3 + , l o n s w i l l be t r a n s m i t t e d t o t h e g ro un dby a c o m b i n a t i c n zf s a d a r, t e l e r n e t e r i n g , a n d r a d i o equipm en t,,

The range w f 1 3 Ce opera ted and ma in ta ined by.NASA pe r snnml dur-i f ig t h e X-15 f l i g h t p r o g r a m ,

E l e c t r o n i c d a t a on p i l o t

T h r e e G r o u n d S t a t i o n s -- The network extends 485 miles f romWendover AFB, Ut ah , t o Edwards AFB, C a l i f . ; t h -e e g r cu nd s t a t i o n sw i l l r e m a i n i n c om mu ni ca ti on w i t h e a c h o t h e r a n d with t h e a i r c r a f tp i l o t a t a l l t i m e s v i a u l t r a - h i g h f r e qu e n cy r a d i o t r m s r n i t t e r sand g round lines,t w o u p r a n g e s t a z i o n s aye a t B ea tt y and EPy, Nevada,

I E s t r m e n t a t i o n ~ -- I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n p r o v i d e s a c o n t i n u a u sf l e w 3 rzfoi-maticn DP, t e m p e - a t u r e s , s t r a i n s , p s ' e s s r e s , e t c . , a tf i m e r G u cheek p o i r , t s ir. .c, tde a n d o u t s i d e the X - L ~ , l u s p h y s f o l -o g i c a l d a t a on t h e p i l o t e

T h e mas te r c o n t r o l s t a t i o n i s a t Edwal-ds AFB;

DYNA-SOAR R,ESEARCH G L:DER,-__--I--OLLOW-ON TO THE X s

J o i n t A i r Force-NASA Project -- A h j -pe r son ic , r o c k e t - b o c s t e dvei?ic;e w i t h s we pt -b ac k d e i t a w in gs c a p a b l e o f g l i d e - s p e e d s inGxcess o f 12,OOC -Feet* p e r s e c o n d , D y n a - S o a r :DS-P) 5 s a i c i n tNASA-Air Fo rc e un de -t ek in g. P r e l i m i n a r y s t c d l e s began i n 1956.T h e p u r p s e o f t h e g l i d e r , which w i l be manned, i s f o p m T F i d er e s e a r c n informstion x r e advan-.eci %an ~ n a ~b t a i n a b L e f r o m t h eX-15 a nd t o i n d i c a c e w h e t h e r s u c h a v ? h ? ? l t . . ':as rn i1 , i t a ry n c s s i -D i P i t i e s

a .

P r o z e r t R e s p o r s i b i l i t y arid S t a t u s -- O v e r - a l l t e c h n i c a l e o n -crol o f t h e p s c j ec L IS t h e r e s p c n s i b i l f t y of t h e A i r Force , a c t i n gw i t h t h e a d v i ce and a s s i s t a n c e of NASA, which i s a l s o r e s po n s ib l ef o r t h e r e s e a r c h i n s t r u m e n t a t i o p . I n a d d i t i o n , NASA is p r o v i d i n gc o n t r a c t c r s w i t h c e c h n i c a l i n f c r m a c i o n O R t h e i r p r o po s a l s t hr ou ghw i r ~ d ,unr,e l a nd a n a l y t i c a l r e s e a m h o n t h e Dyna-Soar p r o j e c t .


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N A S A SPACE PROBES

FOUR MISSIr3MS I N SIX MONTHS-

Three Out o f Four A t t a i n I m p o r t a n t , G o a l s -- I n O c to b er ,NoTrember, and December 1958, and i n M arch 1959 , f o u r s p a c e p r o b e swere aL5empted undcr NASA management.s e r l e s The2- - pay loads were va r ious ly in s t3 rumen ted t o r e p o r tr a d i a t i o n , m a gn eti sm , m ic ro me te or i m p a c t s , a nd o t h e r s c i e n t i f i cd a t a . T h r e e of .-,he missions s uc ce ed ed i n a t t . a i n i n g i m p o r t a nto b j e c t i v e s . One f a i l e d c om pl e t el y .

A l l were o f t h e - P i o n e e r

PIONEER I y - 7 FIRST SPACE PROBE

C h a Ta c t e r l s t i z s arid- M.Lssio11 -- Launched f r o n t h e A t l a n t i cM i s s i l e Range (AMR!, Cape Canaveyd. , ? l a . , o n 0 z t . o b e r 1 0 , 1958-- w i t h t h e Air F o r c e a 3 e x e c u t i v e a g e n t -- P i o n e e r I employed aThor-Able -1 boos te r w i t h a Dayload 29 i n c h es i n d i a m e te r . 3 0-i n c h e s l o n g , weigh ing 79 p ;> in&s .a c h i e v e a f l i g h t . ?atn Lhar, would c lose ly approach che Moon .

I - G ~p- imary miss ion was t o

FLLgh:, ga t J ; L a u i c h i n g was a t 3:42 a o m , p 13 s e c o n d s a f t e rs c h e d u l e d lif";o_[f, The f i r s t and second s t a g e s per fo rmed w e l l ,b u t a t t h i r d - s a g e b w no u t t h e -aeLoz'Lcy was a b o u t 500 f e e t p e rsecond l e s s t h a n t h a ; r e q u i r e d t o e s c a p e E a x h V s g ra v ;t y. I nsedi t ion , t h e . t h i r d s t a g e ha d y;laed a b o u t L60, and had p i t c h e dup r i ea r ly 1 5 % Eir attemp! WE^:^ m a ? e t o eor::rert t h e pa yl oa d of '-i,he prob e i n t o a kgh.-c7: ; -Lrude r , a t ; e l l f t e b y f i i r l n g t h e four t ;hs t a g e . T h e t e m p e r a t u r e i:L.-fr!e t ~ er o b e , h3weire?t, was L O O l o wfor the n;e:*cury t s a t d t ~ ~ i ~ e : .c . 'unction; t h e i - " o ~ r t ~ I - ~t a g e cou!_d n o tb e j -gr, i t ed The p a y l a a d t r s \ . e l ec? a p p r o x i m a s e l y 70 700 s t a t u t em i l e s above t h e E a r t h v s s u r f a c e d u r i n g i t s L 3 - b . ~ ~ rl i g h t b e f o r er e - e n t e r i n g tix ri3mosphere acd bu l -nhg .

Performance -- A n a l y s i s b y NASA, t h e A i r F o r r ~ , nd SpaceTechno logy LabGra t o r i e s . In: d i s c l c s e d :;hat$ b:rm-en g a s f l o wd u r i n g s e p a r e t f - o n rom t h e secc;r.d s tage was p r o b a b l y < he c a u s eo f d i s o r i e l % a t F o c i n t h e t i 7 L r - d s t a g e . A c c o r d i n g l y, b o o s t e rm x ! i f i c a t i o r L s w e x rr.ade and s e c o r d - s t a ge r e t r o - r c c k e t s i n s t a l l e dfo r P i o n e e r s h o t s t o come t,o e l i n i i n a t e t h f s t r o u b l e c O t h e r p e r -formar,ce d a t a f rom t h e P i o n e e r I fiighrl c c l u d e d :

1 . The magnet ,omcter, micrometeor d e c e c t o r , andt h e 2c;xnand r e c e i v e r and t r a n s p o n d e r f u n c t i o n e dsat, i fa :t. r y

2 . The i o n i z a t i o n c ham ber m e s s u ri n ? r a d i a t i o ni n t e n s i t % y e ve lo pe d a l e a k , mak ing in fo rma t ion_from i t d i f f j - c u l t t o i n t e r p r e t . Howeve-, d a t ai j c r i f y i r g t k e ex!-stencs of t h e new-found Grea t


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c

R a d i a t i o n B e l ? 9 between 2,000 and 13,000 mileswere o b t a i n e d .

3. Because t h e p ro b e d i d no t g e t c l o s e e nou gh

t o t h e Moon, a s ca nn er i n t h e p ay lo ad d i d no to p e r a t e . I t s t r i gge r ing mechar r i sms were d e -s i gn e d t o be s e t o f f b y p h o t o e l e c t r i c c e l l sa c t i v a t e d by t h e l i g h t o f t h e Moon i f t h e p r o b ehad approached c lo s e l y enough.

PIONEER I1 FAILS

Mission Same a s That of P ione er I -- The s econd NASA sp a c e

A f t e r l a un c h in g a t 2 : 3 O a.m., t h e

p r o b e -- a g a i n w it h t h e A i r Force a s e x e c u z i v e a g e n t -- waslaunched, November 8 , 1958, from AMR. I t was s i m i l a r i n a l lb a s i c r e s p e c t s t o P io ne er 1 ,f i r s t a nd s ec on d s t a g e s of t h e T ho r- Ab le -I b o o s t e r f i r e d ons c h e du l e . The t h i r d s t a g e s e p a ra t e d c l e a n l y, b u t f a i l e d t oi g n i t e . The u n s e pa r a te d t h i r d and f o u r t h s t a g e s r e a c h e d a n a l t i -t u d e o f 963 m i l e s a n d t r a v e l e d s o m e 7,500 m i l e s b e f o r e b u r n i n go u t .

Cause o f Fa i lu re Under Study -- A l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e a numbero f p o s s i b l e c au se s f o r t h i r d -s t ag e i g n i t i o n f a i l u r e , t h e s p e c i f i cc a u s e h a s y e t t o b e d e t er m in e d. A r ev ie w of t h e p o s s i b i l F t i e swas begun i n November 1958, t o a s c e r t a i n p o ss i b l e c o r r e c t i v ea c t i o n .

PIONEER 111 I S QIJALIFIED SUCCESS

C h a r a z t e r i s c l 2s and Missior. -- The t h i r d NASA-direc ted sp aceprobe -- with the Army a s e x e c u t i v e a g e n t -- was l aunched f romAMR a t 12:45 a.m., December 6, 1958, by a Juno I1 r o c k e t . T h ep ro b e c o n s i s t e d of E 12.95-pound , go l d -p la t ed , i n s t rume n ted pack-age boos ted by a modi f ied Army J u p i t e r rocket as t h e f i r s t s t a g e ;c l u s t e r e d , s ca led -down, CPL-developed Se rge an t ro ck e t s a s t h es e c o n d a n d t h i r d s t a g e s ; ar,d a s i n g l e s c al ed -d ow n S e rg e a n t r o c k e ta s f o u r t h s t a g e .

t h e s c i e n t i f i c p a y lo a d i n $he v i c i n i t y o f t h e Moon, was n o taccompl i shed .The p r imary miss fon o f P i one e r 111, t o p l ac e

F l i g h t Data; R a d i a t i o n -- However, t h e probe produced e xc el -l e n t r a d i a t i o n da t a on bo th upward and downward l e g s o f i t sf l i g h t , s l i c i n g th ro ug h t h e r a d i a t i o n r e g i o n o n i t s 63,580-milej o u r n e y. P i o n e e r I11 e s t a b l i s h e d t h e e x i s t e n c e of tw o b a nd s ofr a d i a t i o n :m i l e s , and a n o u t e r b e l t h a vi ng a peak a t a b o u t 10,000 m i l e s fromt h e E a r t h . Beyond 10 ,000 mi les , t h e r a d i a t i o n d i mi n is h es s t e a d -i l y ; P io ne er I11 i n d i c a t e d it beccmes very weak beyond 40,000m i l e s .

a n i n n e r b e l t having p eak i n t e n s i t y a t a b ou t 2,000


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S l i P h t l y E a r l y C u t - of f P r e v e n t s E s ca p e -- T h e f i r s t - s t a g eJ u p i t e r c u t of f s e v e r a l s ec on ds t o o e a r l y , p r e v en t i n g t h e v e h i c l ef ro m a t t a i n i n g e s ca pe v e l o c i t y . E x a c t c au s e of t h e e a r l y c u t - o f fi s unknown, bu t i n d i c a t i o n s a r e t h a t t h e f u e l d e p l e t i o n sw i tc hm a l f u n c t i o n e d .d u r i n g a 38.6-hour f l i g h t b e f o r e i t r e - e n t e r e d t h e a tm o sp h er e an dburned over A f r i c a .

The v e h i c l e t r a v e l e d 63,580 m i l e s i n t o s p a ce

Performance --. P r e l i m i n a r y e v a l u a t i o n of d a t a g a t h e r e d f ro mP i o n e e r I11 i n d i c a t e s :

1. C l u s t e r s p in - u p , l i f t o f f , and i n i t i a l f l i g h tp h a s e u p t o a p p r o x i m a t e l y 176 sec on ds were normal .

2. A t 176.2 s ec on ds , t h e c u t - o f f s i g n a l was g i v e nt o t h e power p l a n t by t h e f u e l d e p l e t i o n s w i tc h ,3.7 s e c o n d s t o o e a r l y .

3 . These e a r l y e v a l u a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d two m a j o rd e v i a t i o n s o f t h e P i o n e e r p ro be f ro m t h e p r e d i c t e df l i g h t p a th : a ) The e a r l y c u t or f ' of t h e b o o s t e rdue t o m a l f un c t io n o f t h e d e p l e t i o n s w i t ch c f r -c u i t r y r e s u l t e d i n a v e l o c i t y d e f i c i t of 3 8 2 m i l e sp e r h o u r a n d lo (down) p i t c h v e l o c i t y a n g l e d e vi -a t i o n a t i g n i t i o n o f S ta ge 2 ; b ) F u r t h e r an g u l a rd e v i a t i o n s d e v e l o p e d d u r i n g b u r n i n g of S t a g e s 3and 4 , r e s u l t i n g i n a n a d d i t i o n a l v e l o c i t y l o s so f 88 m i l e s p e r s e c o n d , a p i t c h d e v i a t i o n o f 1.1'down and a yaw d ev ia t i o n o f 4 . 6 O t o t h e r i g h t .

4. The pay load inc l ud ed two Ge ige r-Mue l l e r t u ber a d i a t i o n d e t e c t o r s , a p h o t o -c e l l s w i t ch i n g u n i tan d a "de -sp in" mechan ism, The r a d i a t i o n de t e c -t o r s a nd t h e a s s o c i a t e d t e l e m e t e r i n g equipm entperformed s a t i s f a c t o r i l y d u ri ng t h e f l i g h t , g i v in ga d d i t i o n a l d a t a o n t h e Great R a d i a . t i o n B e l t .

5. T h e p h o t o - c e l l s w i t c h was i nz ec de d t o t r i g g e ra s t h e Moon was a p p r oa c h ed . The d e s i r e d t r a j e c t o r ywas n o t r e a l i z e d , and t h i s d e v ic e d i d n o t o p e r a t e .

P i o n e e r I11 S u c c e s s e s - - The f i r s t f l i g h t t e s t o f t h e fo ur -s t a g e Juno I1 v e h i c l e u se d f o r P i on e er I11 was deemed a qua l i f i eds u c c e s s ( o t h e r t h a n f o r e a r l y c u t , o f f ! b ec au se t h e main powerp h a s e , f i r s t s e p a r a t i o n , r e t r o - r o c k e t o p e r a t i o n , c o a s t i n g p ha se ,s p a t i a l a t t i t u d e c o n t r o l , sh r o u d e j e c t i o n , l a t e r a l ro c k e t f i r i n g ,s ec on d s e p a r a t i o n , an d se co nd s t a g e i g n i t i o n a l l p r o c e e d e d s a t i s -f a c t o r i l y. The g u id a nc e s ys te m p er fo rm ed w e l l , The f l i g h t t e s to f t h e h e a t - p r o t ec t i n g s hr ou d f o r t h e u pp e r s t a g e s was a l s o suc -c e s s f u l , a s w er e t h e r a d i a t i o n m eas ur em en t e x p e r i m e n t , an d o p e r -a t i o n o f t h e t e l e m e t e r i n g s y s t e m a n d . o f t h e t r a c k i n g equipm ent a tPuer to Rico and a t G o l d s t o n e , C a l i f ,


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.. L

- 17 -

PIONEER I V SUCCEEDS

C h a r a c t e r i s c i c s and M i ss io n -- On March 3 , 1959, a t 12:11The probe

Its i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n i n c l u d e d a b a t t e r y -

a . m . , t h e f o u r t h NASA s p a c e probe -- w i t h t h e Army a s e x e c u t i v eagent . -- was l aunched by a Juno I1 r o c k e t f r o m AMR.c o n s i s t e d o f a c o n i c a l i n s t r u m e n t p ac ka ge o f g o ld -w as he d f i b e r -g l a s s . I t was 20 inches l o n g , n i n e i n c h e s i n d i a m e t e r , andweighed 13.40 pounds.p ow er ed r a d i o d e s i g n e d L O t r a ns m i t, a t 180 m i l l i w a t t s f o r 90 hourson a f r e q u e n c y o f 960.05 megacyc le s ; two Ge ige r-Mue l l e r t u b es t om e a s u r e r a d i a t i o n ; and a p h o t o e l e c t r i c s e n so r t o be t r i g g e r e d byl i g h t f r o m t h e Moon.

Ach ieves P r imary Misslor, -- P i o n e e r I V ach ieved i t s p r i m a r ym i s s i o n , a n Earth-Moon t r a j e c t o y y, y i e l d e d e x c e l l e n t r a d i a t i o nd a t a , and p r cv i d ed a v a l u a b l e t z a c k i n g e x e r c i s e . I t i s now or-b i t i n g t h e S u n .

Too Di s t an t from Moon f o r I n s t r u m e n t s -- W h i l e t h e p r o b er e a c h e d t h e v i c i n i t y o f t h e M oon ,it d i d n o t come c l o s e e nou gh( t h e r e q u ir e m e nt : a b ou t 20,000 m i l e s ) t o t r i g g e r t h e s e n s o r o rt o sample the Mocnps r ad i a r ; f on . The p robe pas s ed w i t h i n 37,300mi l e s o f t h e Moon a t 5:24 p.m. on March 4, 1959 -- 41 hours and1 3 m i n u t e s a f t e r l i f t o f f .g r e e s e a s t a n d 5.7 deg ree s sou th o f t h e Moon and was t r a v e l l i n ga t 4 ,490 mph.

A t t h a t t i m e , t h e pr ob e was 7.2 de-

P i o n e e r I V Q s SUP OTbj-: -- P i o n e e r I V reached I+,s p e r i h e l i o n( n e a r e s t p o i n t t o tke sur,T-- 91.7 m i l l i o n m i le s -- a t 9 p.m.,

March 17 , 1959; i t i z expe@te< o r e a c h i t s a p h e l i o n ( g r e a t e s td i s t a r ' c e f rom che SIX! -- 106.1 m i l l l o n miles -- a t 6 a.m.,O c t o b e r 1, 1959.

Fli h t D a t a -- F i r a l f l i g h t d a t a f o r P i o n e e r I V w i l l t a k es e v e r a ie mom s e-.ral.l;a?.e e E a rl y i n fo r m at io n i n d i c a t e s t h a t :

1, The f i r s t - s z a g e J u p i t e r p e r f o r m e d as sched-u l e d b u t t h e upper s t ag es , each programmed t oburr- z in e secon ds , burned 10 s e c o n d s .

2. The t h i r d s t. age p l t ch ed down 3 O and yawed10 t o % h e l e f t and t h e f o u r t h s t a g e p i tc h e ddowfi 1 4 O and yawed Lo t o r;he r i g h t .

3 . The combiaat ion of t h e s e f a c t o r s r e s u l t e di n a n i n j e c t i o n v e l o c i t y o f 24,790 mph -- 188mph below pla cn ed v e l o c i t y . A t i n j e c t i o n , t h eprobe was 4.510 down i n e l e v a t i o n a nd 1.350 t ot h e F i g h t of f h e p la n ne d a n g l e . E x ac t c a u s e so f t h e p i t c h i ng , yawing, and wha t app ea r s t ohave been over-burning o f t h e s t a g e s , a r e n o tyet known a


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Performance -- P r e l im i na r y e v a l u a t i o n a l s o i n d i c a t e s :1. A h y d r a u l i c t i m e r, s ch ed ul ed t o a c t i v a t e t h ep h o t o e l e c t r i c s en s o r , f u n ct i o ne d s u c c e s s f u l l y18 h o u r s a f t e r l i f t o f f , when t h e p ro be was moret h a n 100,000 m i l e s f ro m E a r t h .2. A m ec hanis m t o s l o w s p i n r a t e of t h e p r o b ef a r o u t i n s pa ce was a l s o a s u c c e s s . T h i s d e v i ce ,c o n s i s t i n g o f t wo s m a l l w e i g ht s a t t h e e n d o f60-in ch w i r e s , s lo we d t h e s p i n r a t e f ro m 700 rpmt o 1 2 rpm, s o t h a t t h e s e n s o r c o ul d have " se en"t h e moon had i t come close enough.

3 . The probe was t r a c k e d f o r a t o t a l of 82 h o u r sand f o u r m i n u te s t o 407,000 m i l e s , t h e g r e a t e s td i s t an ce a man-made ob je c t ha s eve r_ ,been t r ac ke d ,

some 32,000 m i l e s f a r t h e r t h a n t h e R u s si an s s t a t e dt h e y had t r a c k e d M ec hta ( L u n i k ) . Long-range track-i n g was a c c o mp l i sh e d by t h e 1 0 - f o o t d i a m e t e r d i s ha n te n na i n P ue rt o- Ri co , t h e 8 5 -f oo t d i s h a n te n n aa t G old st one t r a c k i n g s t a t i o n i n C a l i f o r n i a ( b o tho p e r a t e d by J P L ) and t h e 2 50 -f oo t r a d i o t e l e s c o p ea t J o d r e l l Bank, ne a r Manches te r, England . A l -t h o u g h t h e P u e r t o R i c o a n t e n n a was d e si g ne d f o r a50,OOO-mile t r a c k i n g range , i t h e l d t h e p ro be t o103,000 m i l e s .

E a r l y d a t a f r o m P i o n e e r I V c o n f i r m e d t h e e x i s t -

ence o f two r a d i a t i o n ba nd s ar ou n d t h e E a r t h .However, t h i s d a t a i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e o u t e rr a d i a t i o n zone r e g i s t e r e d on t h e i n s t r u m e n t sup t o 56,000 m i l e s , some 16,000 m i l e s f a r t h e rt h a n P i o n e e r I11 h a d r e p o r t e d . C n March 3 ,l au nc hi ng day, t o t a l r a d i a t i o n t r a p p e d w i t h i nt h e E a rt h ' s m ag ne ti c f i e l d was more t h a n doub let h a t r e p o r t e d o n D e c e m b e r 6, 1958, b y P i o n e e r 111.I t i s b e l i e v e d t h a t s o l a r d i s t u r b a n c e s ac co un te df o r t h e i nc re as e i n t o t a l r a d i a t i o n .

NASA SATELLITES

VANGUARDI1 -- CLOUD COVER SATELLITEC h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a n d M i s s i o n -- A t 10:55 a.m., on Februa ry 17,

1959, N A S A launched a 2 0- i nc h d i a m e t e r , 21.74-pound s a t e l l i t e f r o mAMR. Ca l l ed Vanguard 11, i t s m i s s i o n was t o me a su re c l o u d c o v e rd u r i n g t h e d a y l ig h t p o r t i o n of t h e s p h er e 's e q u a t o r i a l o r b i t f o ra two-week p e r i o d , t o p e r m i t c o r r e l a t i o n of c l o u d c o v er w i t h t h eo v e r - a l l m ete orol og y o f t h e E a r t h. I n g e n e r a l , t h e s a t e l l i t e and


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- 19 -

i t s i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n -- i n a c o n t a i n e r 59 i n c h e s i n d i a m e te r a nd1 2 i n c h e s l o n g -- f u n c t i o n e d as p l an n ed . However, i n t e r p r e t a t i o nof t h e d a t a t r a n s m i t t e d h a s been d i f f i c u l t , because t h e s a t e l l i t ed e v el o pe d a p r e c e s s i n g ( w o b b li n g) m ot io n. S c i e n t i s t s a r e s t i l l

i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e d a t a and t r y i n g t o a s c e r t a i n t h e cause o f t h ewobbl ing mot ion and means o f co r r ec t i ng i t .

How Cloud Cover S a t e l l i t e Works -- Here, i n b r i e f , i s howt h e c l o ud c o v e r s a t e l l i t e works: Clouds, sea a n d l a n d masses haved i f f e r e n t q u a l i t i e s of r e f l e c t i o n which can be t r a n s l a t e d i n t oe l e c t r i c a l i m p u l s e s . T he s a t e l l i t e c o n t a in s two p h o to c e l lsm ounted b e h in d c i r c u l a r , g r i d d e d windows t h a t p r o j e c t f r om o p p o s i t es i d e s o f t h e s a t e l l i t e . The in fo rmat ion i s t r a n s m i t t e d t o E a r thw h e r e t h e d a t a i s r e c o r d e d , r e d u c e d , a n d i n t e r p r e t e d .

by Vanguard Launching Vehic le 4 , t h e t a l l (72 f e e t ) , s l i m (45i n c h es i n d ia me te r a t b a s e ) t h r e e - s ta g e r o c k e t d e ve lo pe d f o r t h eVanguard I G Y program. The ro ck e t ' s f i r s t tw o s t a g e s u se d a liq-u i d p r o p e l l a n t , t h e t h i r d s t ag e a s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t . The l a un c h-i n g ve h i c l e approached maximum ach iev ab le pe r fo rmance .p r o p u l s i o n s t a g e s of t h e v e h i c l e , and t h e g u id a nc e , r e t r o , a nds p i n r o c k e t s f u n ct io n e d a s planned. The s a t e l l i t e a c h i e v e d a no r b i t w it h a p e r i g e e o f 347 s t a t u t e mi les and an apogee of 2 ,064m i l e s w i th a n o r b i t a l p e r i o d o f 125.85 m i n u t e s .

f u l l y e v a l ua t e d , shows t h a t :

F l i g h t Data -- The c l o u d cover s a t e l l i t e wa sf ir ed i n t o o r b i t

All t h r e e

Performance -- Data ga the red f rom Vanguard 11, y e t t o be

1. The b a t t e r i e s p ow erin g t h e w ea t he r d a t a t r a n s -m i t t e r l a s t e d 23 day s -- f o u r d ag s l o n g e r t h a ne xp ec te d; t h e t r a c k i n g b a t t e r i e s l a s t e d 2 7 d ay s.

2. A s o f 9 : 3 0 p.m., March 7, when t h e s a t e l l i t ec ea se d t r a n s m i t t i n g d a t a, i t h a d b e e n i n t e r r o g a t e ds u c c e s s f u l l y 1 5 2 t i m e s . Data were s e n t b y t w ot r a n s m i t t e r s , o n e s e n d i n g c l o u d c o v e r i n f o r m a t i o n ,t h e o t h e r t h e t e m p e r a t u r e w i t h i n t h e s c i e n t i f i cp a y l o a d a s m eas ure d b y a s e n s i t i v e c r y s t a l .

3. The s a t e l l i t e m ai nt ai ne d w i t h i n 10 i t s de-s i g n ed i n t e r n a l t e m p er a tu r e o f llOo F. d u r i n gi t s p as sa ge o v er t h e s u n l i t p o r t i o n o f t h e E a r t h .S o l a r c e l l s , b eh in d g ri d d e d windows, a c t i v a t e d as w i t c h o p e r a t i n g a m a g n e t i c r e c o r d e r c o n t a i n i n ga 7 5 -f o ot l o o p of q u a r t e r - i n c h e r a s a b l e t a p e whent h e p h o t o c e l l s were s c a n n i n g t h e s u n l i t s i d e o ft h e E a r t h . Tap e m o ti o n was h a l t e d when t h e s a t e l -l i t e w a s i n t h e shadow o f t h e E a r t h t o co ns er veb a t t e r y p o w e r.


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4. When t h e s a t e l l i t e p a ss e d o v e r t h e a p p r o p r i a t et r a c k i n g s t a t i o n , i t was i n t e r r o g a t e d from t h eg r ou n d, an d t r a n s m i t t e d i t s 50 m in u te s o f d a t a i none 60-second burs t . The d a t a a l r e a d y t e l em e t e r e dt o t h e g roun d were e r a s e d fr om t h e t a p e ; a t r i g g e rr e s e t t h e s ys te m t o b e g i n r e c o rd i n g a g a in .

INFLATABLE SATELLITES

TWELVE-FOOT DIAMETER SPHERES

F i r s t A t t e m p t F a i l s -- On O c to b er 23, 1958, NASA -- w i th t h eArmy a s e x e c u t i v e a g e n t -- a t t e mp t ed t o l au n ch a 1 2 - f o o t d i a m e t e ri n f l a t a b l e s a t e l l i t e ("Beacon") o f m i c r o - t h i n p l a s t i c c o v e re d w i t hh i g h l y r e f l e c t i v e a lu min um f o i l .

Juno I , a m o d i f i e d R e d s to n e . The s h o t f a i l e d when t h e p a y l oa da nd t h e f o u Pt h s t a g e were t hr ow n c l e a r d u r i n g t h e b o o s t p h a s e.

a tmosphere , an d 2 ) F l i g h t t e s t t h e ' " k i c k i n t h e apogee" t e c h-n i q u e -- u se o f a d d i t i o n a l t h r u s t when t h e s a t e l l i t e f i r s tr e a c h e s a po ge e, c a u s i n g i t t o a t t a i n b o t h h i g h er apogee andp e r ig e e a l t i t u d e s f o r t h e f i n a l o r b i t .

I t was f i r e d f ro m AMR by a

The purpo ses were t o : 1 ) M easure t h e d e n s i t y o f t h e u p p e r

Te s t I n f l a t i o n S u c ce s sf u l -- L a t e r t h e p ac ka ge was t e s t f i r e df ro m Wallops I s l a n d t o a n a l t i t u d e of a b o u t 75 m i l e s , where t h es p h e r e was e j e c t e d arid i n f l a t e d . I n a d d i t i o n , c a p a b i l i t i e s cf

t h e new NASA Wa ll op s I s l a n d r a d a r a n d of t h e new M a s s a c h u s e t t sI n s t i t u t e o f Tec hn ol og y r a d a r , M i l l s t o n e H i l l , V t . , were exp lo redb y t r a c k i n g t h e i n f l a t e d s p h er e and t h e f i n a l - s t . a g e r o c k e t ,

A s ec on d 1 2 - f o o t i n f l a t a b l e s p h e r e may be l a u n c h e d l a t e r i n19590

HUNDRED-FOOT DIAMETER SPHERES

Goal I s Te le r ad i o R e f l ec t o r S a t e l l i t e s -- D u r i n g t h e f a l land e a r l y w i n t e r o f 1958 , NASA c o n t in u e d d e s i g n work on a 100-f o o t i n f l a t a b l e s a t . e l l i t e a t Langley. Much en g in ee r i ng andt e s t i n g rem ains b e f o r e t h i s s a t e l l i t e w i l l b e r e a d y f o r l a un ch -i n g . C o n s t ru c t ed of a l u m i n i z e d M y la r p l a s t i c , t h e p a yl o ad w i l lweigh about 150 pounds . I t i s i n te n de d t o be p l ac ed i n a n o r b i tof between 700 and 3,000 m i l es above t h e E a r t h f s s u r f a c e a s as t e p t o w ar d d e ve lo p m en t o f p a s s i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s a t e l l i t e s --i o e b p a t e l l i t e s t h a t s im pl y r e f l e c t r a d i o and t e l e v i s i o n beamsb ac k t o b ro ad a r e a s o f t h e E ar th Os s u r f a c e .


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r a n g e s : o ne a t Hawaii t o d ete rm in e t h e r e t r o r o c k e t f i r i n g p o i n tf o r r e - en t r y ; one i n Texas t o c lo se a gap which i s n o t f i l l e d bye x i s t i n g m i s s i l e r a n g e s s o t h a t c on ti nu ou s t r a c k i n g d u r i ng t h ec r i t i c a l r e - e n t r y p h as e may be m a in t a in e d ; a nd o ne l o c a t i o n , n o tf i n a l l y d ec id ed , t o d et er mi ne wh eth er t h e c a p su l e i s i n t h e p ro p e rt r a j e c t o r y i mm edia te ly a f t e r i n s e r t i o n i n t o o r b i t from CapeC a n a ve r al . I n a d d i t i o n , e qu ip men t w i l l be p r o v i d e d a t s e v e r a le x i s t i n g s t a t i o n s and f o r a few s hip bo ar d i n s t a l l a t i o n s t o p r ov id ec o m m u n i c a t i o n s w i t h t h e c a p s u l e d u r i n g i t s f l i g h t .

N AT I O N A LSPACE V E H I C L EPROGRAM

FIVE VEHICLES INVOLVED

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y a n d O b j e c t i v e s -- The Nat i on al Space Ve hic leProgram comprises a s e r i e s o f v e h i c l e s -- Scout, Vega, Centaur,Saturn, and Nova -- e a ch c a p a bl e o f c a r r y i n g a l a r g e r pay load andper fo rming a more complex m i s s i o n t h a n i t s p r e d e c e s s o r s . T h eprogram i s a s t u d i e d a t te m pt t o g e t maximum c a p a b i l i t y w i t h m in i-mum development work. Each v eh ic le ty p e of t h e s e r i e s w i l l beused i n numerous t e s t s t o ach iev e h ig h r e l i a b i l i t y , and w i l l makeu s e o f e n g i n e s a n d h a r d w a r e p r e v i o u s l y f l i g h t - t e s t e d .

Genera l -Purpose Ve hic les Planned -- P l a ns f o r S c ou t, Vega,and Cen taur a r e f a r en oug h alo ne: f o r s o m e - d e t a i l s t o b e r e r > o r t e d .The f o u r t h g e n er a l- p u r po s e v e h i z l e i s S a t u r n , w h i c h i s u n d b de-

ve lopment by t h e Army B a l l i s t i c Miss i l e Agency. The f i f t h v e h i c l eo f t h e s e r i e s i s Nova, which w i l l be based upon use o f the 1 . 5m i ll io n -p o un d -t hr u st e ng in e r e c e n t l y i n i t i a t e d b y NASA.

PROJECT SCOUT

W i l l Serve Wide Range of Research Needs -- S c o u t i s a r o c k e td es ig ne d t o e x p l o i t t h e p r o p e r t i e s o f s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t s a nd t op r o v i d e a r e l a t i v e l y s im ple v e h i c l e s u i t a b l e f o r a wide range o fs p a c e r e s e a r c h n e e d s . A f o u r - s t a g e r o c k e t , i t w i l l employ eng inesof advanced des ign .

A i r Force Use -- The A i r F or ce a l s o h a s use f o r a t e s t v e h i c l ew i t h c a p a b i l i t i e s s i m i l a r t o t h o s e of S c o u t. NASA h a s p r o v i d e dt h e A i r F o r c e w i t h c o p i e s o f i t s s p e c i f i c a t i o n s . An A i r Force con-t r a c t o r w i l l d e s i g n m o d i fi c at i o ns r e q u i r e d f o r AF exper imen t s .j o i n t team has been s e t up t o c o o r d i n a t e t h i s a s p e c t of t h e p r o j e c t .

A

E a s y H a n d l i n g a n d Tr a n s p o r t a b i l i t y -- Scout w i l l have a r a n g eo f a p p l i c a t i o n s , s u c h a s h i g h - a l t i t u d e p r o b es and o r b i t a l e x p e r i -men t s wi th s m a l l paylo ads . Because of i t s s i m p l i c i t y i n o n - s i t eh a n d l i n g a n d i t s t r a n s p o r t a b i l i t y , l au nc hi ng f a c i l i t i e s f o r Scou t

8/7/2019 First Semiannual Repo

First Semiannual Report to the Congress, October 1, 1958 - March 31, 1959

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Transcript of First Semiannual Report to the Congress, October 1, 1958 - March 31, 1959