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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1765.PDF
FL.GHT, 1 December 1961 875 7/ next generation of NASA's bin boosterswill bebuiltatMichaud ordnance plant, 15 miles east of tfw Orleans, which should begin operation next year with the manu- facture of Saturn stages I Nevertheless, Dr Pickering reported, a considerable amount of scientific information had been obtained from the early Pioneer probes and the more recent Ranger 1. Looking beyond the lunar flights to the exploration of the planets Venus and Mars, the launch timss would be critical because of the limited and infrequent periods [during which near-planetary shots would be possible. The first probes launched in the planetary programme would be designed to "fly-by" Venus or Mars and to make en route observations. The spacecraft used would be Mariners, followed by the Saturn-launched Voyagers. f For interplanetary exploration just as much as for, say, com- ; munication satellites, Dr Pickering emphasized, one needed a [spacecraft lifetime measured in years. A large technological effort j must be directed towards ensuring long life. Vanguard 1 was still I transmitting after more than 3£ years, he remarked, which in this [ respect was very good. [Manned Spaceflight Much of the immediate interest in Dr Pickering's unmanned lunar spacecraft stems from their significance in relation to President Kennedy's accelerated programme to place three men on the Moon, and return them to Earth, by 1970 (this re- mains the official date, although individual NASA scientists are hopeful for 1967). The manned lunar mission, expressed simply, iinvolves the following approximate velccities: 17,030 m.p.h. to lachieve Earth orbit, an additional 7,000 m.p.h. to go to the Moon, adecrease of 1,500m.p.h. to go into orbit around the Moon and a \ further decrease of 4,000 m.p.h. to land on the Moon. Repeating these steps in reverse order brings the spacecraft back to Earth. This; does not imply that the manned lunar flight will necessarily be made in these stages; merely that a total velocity change of approximately 25,000 m.p.h. is needed in the vehicle (from Earth orbit back to Earth orbit). A review of the whole area of manned spaceflight was given by Mr Robert R. Gilruth, Director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now located at Langey Field, Virginia, but soon to move to ia new installation at Houston, Texas). This included an appraisal • of the achievements of Project Mercury and the plans and problems ; of Project Apollo; because of its importance and technical interest: this contribution merits extensive reporting here. SA LAND QUISITION •* CANAVERAL. In Project Mercury today, Mr Gilruth said, we were approaching "the end of the beginning." Although modest in comparison with currently planned programmes, Mercury had been a difficult but in- spiring task. In the three years since its inception, the project had passed through the stages of research, development, engineering, de- sign and manufacture, and was now '"deep in the qualification flight- test phase." The challenge in Mercury was, first, to investigate man's capabil- ities in the space environment; and secondly (but concurrently) to develop manned spaceflight technology for use as a basis for th; conduct of much more ambitious unde-takings, including manned exploration of space and the planets. Mr Gilruth went on to list the following major accomplishments: (1) A major management resource had been developed, and was now being expanded, for the conduct of manned spaceflight research activity.(2) The design of the Mercury spacecraft had been selected and veri- fied in flight.(3) A family of launch vehicles—Little Joe. Redstone and Atlas— with which to carry out the flight programme had been selected.(4) Industrial know-how and capacity for the design and manufac- ture of very complex spacecraft and related systems had been developedand expanded. (5) A progressive build-up of flight operations had been drawn upand was now well underway. Included in the flight programme [which at that time, prior to the MA-5 flight reported on page 872, had in-cluded flights by 22 Mercury spacecraft] were flights by "two snull rhesus monkeys, a friendly chimpanzee named Ham, and two friendlyfellows named Shepard and Grissom." (6) An earth-girdling tracking, data collection and flight control net-work had been built. (7) A pool of trained space pilots had been developed. All of this experience and capability is in being now [Mr Gilruth continued]. We as a nation are now confronted with a new and tre- mendously more complex challenge. It is the challenge spelled out by President Kennedy before the Congress on May 25, 1961. It is the national goal which he set of sending man to the Moon, accom- plishing a successful landing on the Moon and return to Earth in this decade . . . The manned segment of the lunar landing programme is known as Project Apollo. I would like to underscore here that Apollo is only the manned segment. It is by no means the only project involved— nor can we accomplish the desirtd end-result alone. . . As a step toward the three-man Apollo mission, we feel at thi> time that considerably more manned spaceflight experience is de- sirable. I am thinking here of an expanded manned orbital flight development programme, probably with Mercury-type spacecraft. Brownsville, Texas Cape Canaveral ChristmasIsland Cumberland Island, Ga Hawaii Mayaguana, BahamasWhite Sands, New Mexico Nat- ional owner-ship US US UN US US GB US EVALUATION OF Launch vehicle impacthazard yes no no no no no yes Over- flight yes no no no no no yes LAUNCH Water trans- yes yes yes yes yes yes no SITES Interrupt intra- coastal way yes no — yes — — — Adjacent Relative to fac- ex sting ilities bilities index no : 1.07 yes : 1.02 no 3.00 no 1.07 no i 1.87 no 2.41 I yes i i .00 w *~, » , A major expansion of NASA launch facilities is planned at Ccpz Canaveral, as indicated on this map, which shows the existing ljuncn-site area in heavy shading. Above, factors influencing the choice of launch site for the space administration's Saturn-class vehicles
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