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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0844.PDF
856 FLIGHT, 22 June 1961 Missiles and Space flight. . . US Space Programme Detailed THE new American goals in space, announced by President Kennedy on May 25, involve major changes of emphasis and increased spending in the programmes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These changes are detailed in this statement by NASA Administrator James E. Webb, supplementing our first report on June 1.I N the words of President Kennedy's new message [says MrWebb] as they relate to space: "Now it is time to act, to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achieve- ment. ... I believe that the nation should commit itself to achiev-ing the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." This major new national goal set by the President requires avery large launch vehicle, for which development of alternative liquid and solid-fuel boosters will be carried forward; and a lunarspacecraft together with the requisite supporting research and development, facilities, and preparatory and exploratory missions. Other national goals established by the President are (1) anaccelerated development of the Rover nuclear rocket; (2) early use of Earth satellites for worldwide communications; and (3) earlyrealization of a satellite system of worldwide weather observation. In perspective, this means that the original FY 1962 authoriza-tion request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion submitted by the previous administration in the amount of$1,109,630,000 is now increased to $1,784,300,000, or by 61 per cent. The first request of President Kennedy for an increase inthe NASA budget on March 28, 1961, was for $125,670,000. His second request submitted on May 25 is for a further increase of$549m. On the expenditure side, it was estimated that the NASA pro-gramme submitted by the previous administration would result in expenditures of $965m for fiscal year 1962. As a result of the twoincreases submitted by this administration, expenditures are now estimated at II,380m, or an increase of 35 per cent. On March 28 I advised that the earlier decision would result notonly in increased expenditures in the fiscal year 1962, but also a higher level of expenditures in future years. An understanding ofthe long-term effects of the President's recommended increases is important. Future-year expenditures will increase much morerapidly and reach much higher levels than we as a nation have previously committed ourselves to invest in the exploration ofspace. Lunar Projects You will recall that the first augmentation by President Kennedywas primarily for the purpose of speeding-up the booster and pro- pulsion components whose development must precede an expandedprogramme of manned and unmanned exploration of space. Further increases in this area, aggregating some $144.5m, areincluded in the requests made by the President today. Included is the initiation of a Nova vehicle of very large thrust, with sufficientpower to land men on the Moon and return them to Earth. The increased request also provides an additional $ 130.5m for Apollo,which will lead both to a three-manned Earth-orbiting laboratory and a manned lunar landing spacecraft. A sum of $66m is requestedfor an accelerated effort in research and exploration of the environ- ment around the Earth, around the Moon, and in the space between.Funds are provided for a study of the problems of return to Earth from nights around the Moon at re-entry speeds up to 25,000m.p.h., which will generate extreme heat. Thorough studies of radiation problems will be conducted, including an analysis ofsolar activity over the past 50 years in order to predict, if possible, the periods of extreme radiation which man must avoid. In the original budget revision requested by the President, $10mwas included to take full advantage of the potentialities of an opera- tional communications satellite for both industry and government.This addition postponed the necessity for industry financing of research and development until a firmer base of government policycould be laid. Negotiations are now being conducted with the American Telephone and Telegraph Co for co-operation with thatcompany in the most rapid possible development of its plans for experimental and development flights of satellites built at its ownexpense. Also, the Radio Corporation of America has been selected for the negotiation of a contract to build for NASA an experimentalcommunications satellite, known as Project Relay, to study radia- tion effects on solar cells, transistors, and other components and todemonstrate trans-Atlantic television. Concurrently, the Federal Communications Commission has been taking steps to establishthe necessary regulatory and licensing policies for an operating entity for a commercial system. In President Kennedy's new Seen in the Saturn dynamic test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, is a three- stage version (with dummy second and third stages) of the Saturn C-l. This stand will permit the check- out of mechanical mating features; de- termination of natural bending characteris- tics, and effects of low temperatures and vi- bration; and it will hasten crew-training request, there is an additional item of §50m to expedite this develop-ment and to bring into being the kind of system needed to meet governmental as well as commercial requirements. In the area of meteorological satellites, there is an increase ofS22m to expand the Tiros flight programme, and, in addition, the President has requested $53m for the Department of Commerce toenable the Weather Bureau to proceed without delay toward the development of a worldwide meteorological satellite system basedon the Nimbus satellite now under development by NASA as a follow-on to the Tiros series. In connection with NASA's programme of speeded-up researchand development of liquid-propellant engines, an additional $15m is provided to accelerate the 1,500,0001b-thrust F-l engine pro-gramme, and $58m is provided for long lead-time propulsion- development facilities, such as static test stands for single andclustered engines; facilities for testing booster stages powered with clustered engines; and design of new launch facilities for the muchlarger flignt vehicles to come in support of the manned lunar effort. The largest booster vehicle which is funded in this programme isthe Nova; $48.5m is provided to start work on a liquid-fueled Nova flight vehicle. The Department of Defense, through its Minuteman and Polarisdevelopments, has great capability in the field of large solid-propel- lant rockets. Therefore, solid-propellant booster stages for theNova vehicle will be developed by the Department of Defense in parallel with NASA's liquid-fueled stages. The Department ofDefense budget will include $62m to begin work in fiscal year 1962. This means that both of the liquid- and solid-propellant technolo-gies will be driven forward at the rapid rate needed to assure the earliest availability of a Nova vehicle. As soon as the technicalpromise of each approach can be adequately assessed, one will be selected for final development and utilization in the manned spaceprogramme. The Department of Defense budget will also include $15m for a back-up launch vehicle based on Titan II. An important item in the new requests is that of $12m for launch-vehicle technology, which includes $8m more for orbital rendez- vous or docking experiments with Atlas-Agena vehicles. Included in the requests is S23m additional for the Rover pro-gramme for NASA's share in the co-operative NASA-AEC project looking toward a nuclear rocket engine. This includes $15m forengine-test facilities which should be started now in order to achieve the earliest feasible flight date. From the above it is clear that the President's requests, taken asa whole, established a pattern of effort that adds up to a vigorcus, well-rounded national space programme. There is wide participa-tion by many departments and agencies. This programme, in order to be successful, will require a sustained and highly paced nationaleffort over a number of years. The President's action today not only steps up the programme for the first year but also contem-plates an increased tempo for future years. A research and develop- ment programme of this nature will require quite large appropria-tions for construction of facilities in the early years. Of the S143m included in the President's requests for additionalfacilities, I have already mentioned the $58m for the Nova test and launch facilities, and the $15m for the nuclear-rocket develop-ment facilities. We have also included S60m for expansion of manned spaceflight facilities and $5m for another tracking st:;:ionto extend our world-wide network. At previous conferences oil the 1962 budget, we covered the substantial facility requirements forother parts of the NASA programme, such as those of the Marxian Space Flight Center and the Atlantic Missile Range.
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