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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0182.PDF
Four scenes from the Soviet film "Stellar Brothers,"featuring cosmonauts Nikolayev and Popovich and reviewed in last week's issue: (clockwise, from upper left) a centrifuge session begins during training for the Vostok 3/Vostok 4 flight; Nikolayev during an isolation chamber test which continued for at least two weeks; Popovich during a familiarization period in the Vostok cabin; the "electronic globe" (on which the path of the craft was traced by a stylus) and associated equipment Missiles and Spaceflight Huntsville. This S-4 is undergoing a series of dynamic tests while mated vertically with other portions of the Satum space Vehicle. Douglas concurrently is conducting static test firings of the full six-engine cluster of the S-4 at the company's Sacramento, Calif, installation (Flight International, July 5 last). During two recent static tests, the RL10 engines, built by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, were fired for seven minutes, the full duration of their actual oper ating time in space. FIVE YEARS' TRACKING The fifth anniversary of spacecraft tracking by the international network of ground stations established by the USA occurs today, January 31. This occasion was being celebrated at a special official function at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Mary land, attended by Vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and NASA Administrator James E. Webb. It is in fact the fifth anniversary of the launch of the first US satellite, Explorer 1, that is being celebrated. The network began operations by tracking this satellite on January 31, 1958. At present the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has 27 tracking stations outside the USA, located in 16 countries. These comprise eight Minitrack stations used in connection with unmanned scientific Earth satellites; two Deep Space Instrumenta tion Facilities used for long-distance space probes; eight stations in the manned spaceflight network; and nine stations using Baker- Nunn cameras as part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observa tory's optical tracking network. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center serves as the tracking, communications and computing hub of the Minitrack and manned spaceflight networks, while the Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates the DSIF network. At the Goddard ceremony, scrolls of appreciation were to be presented by Vice-president Johnson to the ambassadors of countries which have co-operated with the USA in establishing the various overseas ground stations. These countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Equador, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Holland, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and Spain. GEMINI ROLE FOR USAF The US Defense Department is to participate in the development, pilot training, pre-fiight check-out, launch operations and flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra tion's Gemini programme. This decision is included in the terms of a joint NASA/DoD agreement designed to ensure the "most effective utilization of the programme in the national interest" which was announced on January 22. Among the main objectives of the Gemini programme, which will act as a link between the Mercury and Apollo projects, are the development of rendezvous and docking techniques in Earth orbit and the study of weightlessness for periods up to two weeks. The agreement establishes a Gemini Program Planning Board, to report jointly to the NASA Administrator and the Secretary of Defense and having the Associate Administrator of NASA and the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development as co-chairmen. The function of the Board is "to assure that the Gemini pro gramme is planned, executed and utilized in the overall national interest, in accordance with policy direction from the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of NASA, so as to avoid duplica tion of effort in the field of manned spaceflight and to ensure maximum attainment of objectives of value to both the NASA and the DoD." Any major new programmes "in the field of manned spaceflight aimed chiefly at the attainment of experimental or other capabilities in near-Earth orbit," the agreement adds, will be initiated in future only by mutual agreement between the two agencies.
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