Aerojet project to evaluate the use of inflatable Rogallo wings for emergency return from orbit. The system would be stowed in a cylindrical package, docked to the external surface of a space station. In an emergency the escaping crew member would enter the coffin-sized cylinder, seal the back hatch, and be blown free of the station. The paraglider would then inflate and deploy. The crew member would use a gas stabilisation and control system to orient the spacecraft for retro-fire, and then to keep the glider at the correct attitude for re-entry.

The study called for a two-crew waverider spacecraft powered by a second stage atop a British Blue Streak rocket. The group leaders of this project were H R Watson of Armstrong Whitworth, and Dr W F Hilton of Hawker Siddeley. The spacecraft design was by T R F Nonweiler.

Specifications for equipment and systems to be used for the training of the remote-site flight controllers and Mercury control center operations personnel were forwarded to the Western Electric team. The remote-site training was divided into two stages: off-range and on-range. The off-range portion consisted of practice runs on a typical set of controllers' consoles tied into an astronaut procedures trainer. The on-range part was planned at two stations within the United States and from here, controllers would be assigned to tracking sites for full range rehearsals and a mission.

AFBMD awarded contracts for development of first and second stage Titan engines that would use non-cryogenic (storable) pro-pellants. Aerozine 50 (50 per cent UDMH and 50 per cent hydrazine) was the fuel selected to be used with nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer.

Aerojet-General Corporation completed development of the Ablestar second stage for use with Atlas, Titan, or Thor boosters. Primary improvements over the previous Able vehicles were increased propellant capacity, multiple restart capability, and full-time attitude control.

Executive management responsibility for the Thor IRBM (redesignated from WS 315A to WS 115A) was transferred from AFBMD to Air Materiel Command's San Bernardino Air Materiel Area (SBAMA). This marked the successful conclusion of the Thor research and development program after only four years.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower directed NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan "to make a study, to be completed at the earliest date practicable, of the possible need for additional funds for the balance of FY 1960 and for FY 1961 to accelerate the super booster program for which your agency recently was given technical and management responsibility."

Little Joe 1-B (LJ-1B) was launched from Wallops Island with a rhesus monkey, 'Miss Sam,' aboard. Test objectives for this flight were the same as those for Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) in which the escape tower launched 31 minutes before the planned launch, and Little Joe 1-A (LJ-1A), wherein the dynamic buildup in the abort maneuver was too low. A physiological study of the primate, particularly in areas applying to the effects of the rapid onset of reverse acceleration during abort at maximum dynamic pressure, was also made. In addition, the Mercury helicopter recovery system was exercised. During the mission, all sequences operated as planned; the spacecraft attained a peak altitude of 9.3 statute miles, a range of 11.7 statute miles, and a maximum speed of 2,021.6 miles per hour. Thirty minutes from launch time, a Marine recovery helicopter deposited the spacecraft and its occupant at Wallops Station. 'Miss Sam' was in good condition, and all test objectives were successfully fulfilled.

Fired from AMR at 1948 hours EST to a prescribed range of: 1,299.4 nm. The nose cone impacted 0.04 nm over and 3.27 nm to the left. All missions were successfully accomplished despite elevated temperatures in the tail section. The primary mission of this flight was to test the two-way deflector launch section and to analyse elevated temperatures in the tail

In testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Richard E. Horner, Associate Administrator of NASA, presented NASA's ten-year plan for 1960-1970. The essential elements had been recommended by the Research Steering Committee on Manned Space Flight. NASA's Office of Program Planning and Evaluation, headed by Homer J. Stewart, formalized the ten-year plan.

On February 19, NASA officials again presented the ten-year timetable to the House Committee. A lunar soft landing with a mobile vehicle had been added for 1965. On March 28, NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan described the plan to the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. He estimated the cost of the program to be more than $1 billion in Fiscal Year 1962 and at least $1.5 billion annually over the next five years, for a total cost of $12 to $15 billion. Additional Details: here....

At a luncheon in Washington, Abe Silverstein, Director of the Office of Space Flight Programs, suggested the name "Apollo" for the manned space flight program that was to follow Mercury. Others at the luncheon were Don R. Ostrander from NASA Headquarters and Robert R. Gilruth, Maxime A. Faget, and Charles J. Donlan from STG.

The Chance Vought Corporation completed a company-funded, independent, classified study on manned lunar landing and return (MALLAR), under the supervision of Thomas E. Dolan. Booster limitations indicated that earth orbit rendezvous would be necessary. A variety of lunar missions were described, including a two-man, 14-day lunar landing and return. This mission called for an entry vehicle of 6,600 pounds, a mission module of 9,000 pounds, and a lunar landing module of 27,000 pounds. It incorporated the idea of lunar orbit rendezvous though not specifically by name.

The Army Ballistic Missile Agency submitted to NASA the study entitled "A Lunar Exploration Program Based Upon Saturn-Boosted Systems." In addition to the subjects specified in the preliminary report of October 1, 1959, it included manned lunar landings.

As part of their training program, the astronauts received 2 days of instruction in star recognition and celestial navigation presented by Dr. James Balten at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of this training was to assist the astronaut in correcting spacecraft yaw drifts. Practical experience was gained in this task by using a motorized trainer that simulated the view of the celestial sphere through the spacecraft observation window.

Titan test missile B7A completed a 2,200-mile flight, achieving successful staging and ignition of the second stage engine at high altitude. The Stage II engine, XLR-91-AJ-1, performed as planned, and the missile impacted almost exactly on target. This was the first successful Titan launch and flight since 4 May 1959.

Decree 138-48 'On termination of work on the La-350 Burya at OKB-301' was issued. Project finally cancelled based on availability and invulnerability of R-7, R-9, and R-16 ICBM's. Flight test for technology purposes of already-built missiles was allowed to the end of the year.

The first meeting of the NASA Space Exploration Council was held at NASA Headquarters. The objective of the Council was "to provide a mechanism for the timely and direct resolution of technical and managerial problems . . . common to all NASA Centers engaged in the space flight program." Additional Details: here....

Training was inaugurated by a series of Space Task Group lectures that covered facilities, network systems, operations, and other details. In addition, a program was established for familiarization, orientation, and specialized instruction of the Department of Defense group of aeromedical staff personnel designated as members of flight controller teams.

The Shanghai design institute completed the first subscale experimental model of the T-7 sounding rocket. This would use a solid booster and liquid propellant sustainer stage. The rocket was fuelled using a bicycle pump. Launched from Laogang, on the coast, the missile reached 8 km altitude.

Titan flight test missile G-4 was launched from Cape Canaveral and completed all test objectives in the first successful long-range flight, with the reentry vehicle impacting 4,335-NM downrange. This flight was the longest to date by a Titan and demonstrated the integrity of all basic design parameters as well as Bell Telephone Laboratories radio-inertial guidance systems.

The group was selected to provide pilot astronauts for the Vostok manned spaceflight program.. Qualifications: Military jet aircraft pilots under 30 years of age; under 170 cm tall; under 70 kg in weight.. While the Americans sought mature test pilots for their first spaceflights, the Soviets recruited young pilots with the intent of training them for a career as spacemen. There were 3,000 applicants following interviews with medical doctor teams that toured Soviet air bases beginning in August 1959. 102 were called for physical and psychological tests. 8 of these were selected, but then Chief Designer Korolev said he wanted a pool three times larger than the American Mercury cadre. Of the 20 selected, 12 would fly in space. Of the 8 that did not, 1 died in a ground fire in training; 3 were dismissed for disciplinary reasons; and 4 left following injuries in training.

The Air Force MIDAS I satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in the first successful launch of the Atlas D/Agena A booster-upper stage combination. MIDAS I, however, failed to achieve orbit because an accident at the Atlas-Agena staging damaged the Agena. The entire vehicle reentered and burned up about 2,500 miles downrange. Missile Defense Alarm System.

Eleven companies submitted contract proposals for the Saturn second stage (S-IV): Bell Aircraft Corporation; The Boeing Airplane Company; Chrysler Corporation; General Dynamics Corporation, Convair Astronautics Division; Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc.; Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation; Lockheed Aircraft Corporation; The Martin Company; McDonnell Aircraft Corporation; North American Aviation, Inc.; and United Aircraft Corporation.

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) issued an interim directive cancelling the three-phase development program for a military communication satellite system. Pending a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and OSD review, Projects Steer, Tackle, and Decree were replaced by a single synchronous communications satellite system subsequently designated Project Advent. AFBMD was directed to conduct a single integrated research and development program for a 24-hour synchronous equatorial global communication satellite system. The Army was to develop the communications equipment while AFBMD handled the booster and spacecraft.

The Mercury-Atlas working panels were reorganized into four groups: coordination, flight test, trajectory analysis, and change control. Each panel was composed of at least one representative from NASA (Space Task Group), McDonnell, Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, Space Technology Laboratory, and Convair-Astronautics.

At a NASA staff conference at Monterey, Calif., officials discussed the advanced manned space flight program, the elements of which had been presented to Congress in January. The Goddard Space Flight Center was asked to define the basic assumptions to be used by all groups in the continuing study of the lunar mission. Some problems already raised were: the type of heatshield needed for reentry and tests required to qualify it, the kind of research and development firings, and conditions that would be encountered in cislunar flight. Additional Details: here....

Korolev believed it would be truly possible with backing from the very top to have a large rocket in the USSR in a very short span of time. Unfortunately at the meeting Korolev made a slip of the tongue he would always regret, admitting that his plan had not been agreed among all of the Chief Designers. This resulted in Khrushchev throwing the matter back for a consensus plan.

Pioneer V, launched as a probe of the space between Earth and Venus, began to provide invaluable information on solar flare effects, particle energies and distributions and magnetic phenomena. Pioneer V continued to transmit such data until on June 26, 1960, when at a distance of 22.5 million miles from Earth, it established a new communications record.

An Air Force Thor/Able IV booster launched the NASA Pioneer V spacecraft on its journey to Venus. The satellite measured radiation and magnetic fields between Earth and Venus. The last scientific measurements were transmitted back to Earth on 26 June, three and one-half months after launch, from almost 22.5 million miles in space. Pioneer V was by far the most successful space probe yet launched. AFBMD and Space Technology Laboratories managed the Pioneer V satellite, payload, and booster for NASA and provided launch services at Cape Canaveral. Solar research. Solar Orbit (Heliocentric). Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

The Army Ballistic Missile Agency's Development Operations Division and the Saturn program were transferred to NASA after the expiration of the 60-day limit for congressional action on the President's proposal of January 14. (The President's decision had been made on October 21, 1959.) By Executive Order, the President named the facilities the "George C. Marshall Space Flight Center." Formal transfer took place on July 1.

Planned to fly complete course from Vladimirovka to Cape Ozerniy. Launch mass of the booster stage was 97,215 kg, and that of the crusie stage 34,680 kg. The second stage ignited at Mach 2.85. The booster stage engines cut-off at Mach 3.2. Stage separation occurred normally at T+101.3 seconds. The cruise stage astronavigation system acquired its guide stars at T+114 seconds. The cruise stage began level flight at 18 km altitude. The vehicle flew along its assigned 6,500 km route for 2 hours 4 minutes at an altitude of 18-24.5 km at Mach 3.2-3.15. At T+118 minutes, with the fuel completely exhausted, the ramjet flamed out. At T+121 minutes power was transferred to the emergency batteries and the vehicle was issued a destruct command, but the rudders did not work. Flight with a steady loss of altitude continued to T+124 minutes.

Between March 28,1960 and April 1, 1960, the astronauts received their first open-water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, in cooperation with the Navy's School of Aviation Medicine. The training was conducted in conditions of up to 10-foot swells, and no problems were experienced. The average egress time was about 4 minutes from a completely restrained condition in the spacecraft to being in the life raft.

Chelomei visits Khrushchev in the Crimea and presents his ambitious plan for an Organic Space System - a space infrastructure serviced by an integrated family of launch vehicles and spacecraft. The system would include orbiting stations, space factories, winged rockets, and nuclear weapons stored in space with plenty of decoys to defeat any enemy counter-measures. UR-200 rockets would fulfil all roles in servicing this array of weapons. Dementiev supported Chelomei's proposals, but the chief designer would need a factory to support fabrication of the rockets and spacecraft. Myasishchev's bureau and its associated Khrunichev factory were an obvious choice, since the decision had been taken not to put the M-50 bomber or Buran cruise missile into production and the factory would soon be idle.

It was clear that many technical problems had to be cleared incrementally before an operational vehicle could be fielded. Myasishchev's team went 'back to the drawing board', the result being two alternative single-crew orbital spaceplanes (VKA-23 Design 1 and VKA-23 Design 2).

The group was selected to provide pilots for X-20A Dyna-Soar spaceplane flights.. Qualifications: Assigned from pool of active USAF and NASA Test Pilots.. Ten test pilots (7 USAF, 3 NASA) underwent physical examinations in August 1959. Seven were secretly selected in April 1960.

A Thor/Able II booster placed NASA's Television and Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) weather satellite into the most accurate orbit yet achieved by any U.S. satellite. TIROS I opened a new era in meteorology by transmitting nearly 23,000 pictures of global cloud cover from 450 miles in space and providing the first glimpse of global cloud structure data. TIROS I completed 1,302 orbits before its operational life ceased on 29 June 1960. TV and Infrared Observation Satellite; returned 22952 cloud cover photos. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

As usual, Herbert York, McNamara's Director of Defense, Research, and Engineering, was hostile to the concept. It was approved only on the condition that Gerneral Schriever, Commander of the Air Research and Development Command, fund it from the existing budget by cutting back other programmes.

Preliminary specifications to modify the Mercury capsule by adding a reentry control navigation system. Preliminary specifications were issued by Space Task Group (STG) to modify the Mercury capsule by adding a reentry control navigation system. The modified capsule would obtain a small lifting capability (lift-over-drag ratio would equal approximately 0.26). The self-contained capsule navigation system would consist of a stable platform, a digital computer, a possible star tracker, and the necessary associated electronic equipment. Dispersion from the predicted impact point would be less than 10 miles. The prospective development called for a prototype to be delivered to NASA for testing in February 1961; and first qualified system, or Modification I, to be delivered by August 1961; and the final qualified system, or Modification II, to be delivered by January 1962. STG anticipated that four navigational systems (not including prototype or qualification units) would be required.

John C. Houbolt of the Langley Research Center presented a paper at the National Aeronautical Meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers in New York City in which the problems of rendezvous in space with the minimum expenditure of fuel were considered. Additional Details: here....

Detailed lunar charts, consisting of 230 photographic sheets, were published by the Air Force and the University of Chicago Press. The atlas, in preparation under Air Force contract since April 1958, was assembled by Gerard P. Kuiper of the Yerkes Observatory.

The first Thor/Ablestar launched from Cape Canaveral placed the Navy's Transit IB navigation satellite into orbit. This was the first navigation satellite to be placed in orbit. The Ablestar upper stage demonstrated the first engine restart in space. The Able-Star second stage demonstrated the first engine restart in space and the feasibility of using satellites as navigational aids. The first experimental Transit satellite to achieve orbit operated for 89 days. It transmitted on two frequency pairs to test the technique for refraction correction and to determine if the transmitted frequencies should be close together or far apart. It also tested a magnetic torque device for spacecraft attitude control - the first satellite to do so.

Russian engineer cosmonaut, 1998-2017. Graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute, 1987 Worked as an engineer at KBOM, then transferred to RKKE. Cosmonaut training completed November 19, 1999. 516 cumulative days in space. 2 spaceflights, 516.4 days in space. Flew to orbit on Soyuz TMA-18 (2010), Soyuz TMA-16M.

The Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, NASA, and the RAND Corporation sponsored a Manned Space Stations Symposium featuring leading aeronautical and aerospace scientists and engineers from across the country. They examined the entire subject from present planning and future steps through engineering feasibility, operational techniques, designs, costs, and utilitarian considerations. This conference marked one of the focal points in American space station thinking up to that time.

Various gamma ray detectors were carried aboard Explorer XI on its orbital flight. These detectors found a directional flux of gamma radiation in space and thereby provided serious evidence against one formulation of the 'steady state' cosmological theory.

Construction was proceeding on schedule at Cape Canaveral, Bermuda, Grand Canary Islands, the Woomera and Muchea Australian sites, and at the demonstration site on Wallops Island, Virginia. The survey of Guaymas in Western Mexico completed that phase of the program, but the construction was yet to be accomplished.

A study report was issued by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory on guidance and control design for a variety of space missions. This report, approved by C. Stark Draper, Director of the Laboratory, showed that a vehicle, manned or unmanned, could have significant onboard navigation and guidance capability.

The astronauts and medical personnel who had tested the developmental suits received in November 1959 recommended a number of changes to increase the physical mobility of the astronaut before the production effort began. Evaluation of the test suits with the suggested modifications indicated that the mobility and suit-spacecraft compatibility had been greatly enhanced. The stretching which once had been a problem area had been significantly decreased.

Members of STG presented the proposed advanced manned spacecraft program to Wernher von Braun and 25 of his staff at Marshall Space Flight Center. During the ensuing discussion, the merits of a completely automatic circumlunar mission were compared with those of a manually operated mission. Further discussions were scheduled.

STG members presented the proposed advanced manned spacecraft program to the Lewis Research Center staff. Work at the Center applicable to the program included: analysis and preliminary development of the onboard propulsion system, trajectory analysis, and development of small rockets for midcourse and attitude control propulsion.

Clifford I. Cummings, Jet Propulsion Laboratory spacecraft program director, announced at a meeting of the Aviation Writers Association in Los Angeles, Calif., that the spacecraft which would carry television and a detachable instrumented capsule to be crash-landed on the moon would be called "Ranger."

Robcrt R. Gilruth, Paul E. Purser, James A. Chamberlin, Maxime A. Faget, and H. Kurt Strass of STG met with a group from the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation to discuss advanced spacecraft programs. Grumman had been working on guidance requirements for circumlunar flights under the sponsorship of the Navy and presented Strass with a report of this work.

First production model of Project Mercury spacecraft was successfully launched from NASA Wallops Station to test escape, landing, and recovery systems. Known as the "beach abort" shot, the Mercury capsule reached 775 m before parachute landing and pickup by Marine helicopter returned it to Wallops' hangar 17 minutes after launch.

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On approval of work on the Elektron scientific satellite' was issued. The two spacecraft were designed to be deployed in a single launch of a Vostok booster. The spacecraft had the specific task of mapping the Van Alen radiation belts at higher inclinations than that achieved by US satellites of the time (60 degrees vs 30 degrees latitude). Design work began in July 1960.

McDonnell's first production spacecraft, with its escape rocket serving as the propulsion force, was launched from Wallops Island. Designated the beach-abort test, the objectives were a performance evaluation of the escape system, the parachute and landing system, and recovery operations in an off-the-pad abort situation. The test was successful.

The first three-stage, NASA-developed Thor/Delta space booster was launched from Cape Canaveral, but the Echo passive communications satellite failed to achieve orbit due to a second stage malfunction. This booster was for NASA programs and used the basic Thor first stage with a modified Vanguard second stage as its upper stage configuration.

The Soviet Union launched a Vostok 1KP prototype manned spacecraft (without heat shield; not recoverable) into near-earth orbit. Called Sputnik IV by the Western press. On May 19, at 15:52 Moscow time, the spacecraft was commanded to retrofire. However the guidance system had oriented the spacecraft incorrectly and the TDU engine instead put the spacecraft into a higher orbit. Soviet scientists said that conditions in the cabin, which had separated from the remainder of the spacecraft, were normal.
Officially: Development and checking of the main systems of the space ship satellite, which ensure its safe flight and control in flight, return to Earth and conditions needed for a man in flight.

The consensus of the meeting was that the rendezvous technique would be essential in the foreseeable future and that experiments should be made to establish feasibility and develop the technique. There was as yet no funding for my rendezvous flight test program. Additional Details: here....

Atlas 56D carried a 3,000-pound payload 7,859 nautical miles (9,040 statute miles) from Cape Canaveral to the target area in the Indian Ocean. This was the longest U.S. missile flight to date. Payload was an operational weight nose cone plus instrumentation. Missile attained an apogee of about 1,000 miles.

Missile Defense Alarm System. Test launch with W-17 sensor. The last Atlas D/Agena A booster to be used by the Air Force placed into orbit the MIDAS II infrared scanning satellite designed to detect and give early warning of missile launchings. Although intended to function for 40 months, the satellite's telemetry system failed on 26 May. MIDAS II was the first early warning satellite system placed in orbit.

The United States Weather Bureau estimated that it would require $50,000 during fiscal year 1961 in support of Project Mercury. Bureau responsibilities included weather forecasting for Mercury launching and recovery activities, climatological studies along the area of the Mercury ground track, and environmental studies of specified areas. With reference to the last item, a study was completed in early August 1960 of annual conditions along the Atlantic Missile Range including wind velocity, visibility and cloud coverage.

The Air Force (AFBMD) placed a production contract with the Martin Company for the Titan II (SM-68B) ICBM. This was designed to use storable, non-cryogenic fuels, an all-inertial guidance system, in-silo launch facilities, and to have greater range and payload capabilities than the Titan I (SM-68).

Robert O. Piland, Head of the STG Advanced Vehicle Team, and Stanley C. White of STG attended a meeting in Washington, D. C., sponsored by the NASA Office of Life Sciences Programs, to discuss radiation and its effect on manned space flight. Their research showed that it would be impracticable to shield against the inner Van Allen belt radiation but possible to shield against the outer belt with a moderate amount of protection. Additional Details: here....

H. Kurt Strass of STG and John H. Disher of NASA Headquarters proposed that boilerplate Apollo spacecraft be used in some of the forthcoming Saturn C-1 hunches. (Boilerplates are research and development vehicles which simulate production spacecraft in size, shape, structure, mass, and center of gravity.) These flight tests would provide needed experience with Apollo systems and utilize the Saturn boosters effectively. Four or five such tests were projected. On October 5, agreement was reached between members of Marshall Space Flight Center and STG on tentative Saturn vehicle assignments and flight plans.

A Thor/Ablestar booster placed a U.S. Navy Transit IIA research and development navigation satellite into orbit using the Ablestar second stage with a restart engine. A smaller parasitic radiation-measuring satellite, the Galactic Radiation Experiment Background (GREB), was also placed into orbit. This was the first time two satellites had been carried in "piggyback" alignment on a single booster. Also returned geodetic data. Similar to Transit 1B, it transmitted until 26 October 1962. A planned Transit 2B was considered redundant and never built.

ELINT satellite, retransmitting to US ground stations signals from Soviet radar stations. Classified at time; official purpose and secondary payload collected solar radiation data. Officially: Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

Decree 715-296 'On the Production of Various Launch Vehicles, Satellites, Spacecraft for the Military Space Forces in 1960-1967' authorised design of a range of spacecraft and launch vehicles by Korolev, Yangel, and Chelomei. The decree included the N1 (development of launch vehicles of up to 2,000 tonnes liftoff mass and 80 tonne payload, using conventional chemical propellants) and nuclear reactors for space power and propulsion.

Korolev wrote to the Ministry of Defence, trying to obtain support for a military orbital station (OS). The station would have a crew of 3 to 5, orbited at 350 to 400 km altitude. The station would conduct military reconnaissance, control other spacecraft in orbit, and undertake basic space research. The N-I version of the station would have a mass of 25 to 30 tonnes and the N-II version 60 to 70 tonnes. Korolev pointed out that his design bureau had already completed a draft project, in which 14 work brigades had participated.

As a complement to the Mercury spacecraft reliability program, a decision was made that one production spacecraft would be withdrawn from the operational program for extensive testing. The test environment would involve vacuum, heat, and vibration conditions. This test series was later designated 'Project Orbit.'

The House Committee on Science and Astronautics declared: "A high priority program should be undertaken to place a manned expedition on the moon in this decade. A firm plan with this goal in view should be drawn up and submitted to the Congress by NASA. Such a plan, however, should be completely integrated with other goals, to minimize total costs. The modular concept deserves close study. Particular attention should be paid immediately to long lead-time phases of such a program." The Committee also recommended that development of the F-1 engine be expedited in expectation of the Nova launch vehicle, that there be more research on nuclear engines and less conventional engines before freezing the Nova concept, and that the Orion project be turned over to NASA. It was the view of the Committee that "NASA's 10-year program is a good program, as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Furthermore the space program is not being pushed with sufficient energy."

After reviewing proposals by 37 companies, NASA awarded contracts to the Hughes Aircraft Company, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, North American Aviation, Inc., and Space Technology Laboratories, Inc., for preliminary competitive design studies of an instrumented soft-landing lunar spacecraft, the Surveyor. The companies were scheduled to submit their reports in December.

Headquarters USAF assigned responsibility for management of all ballistic missile operational site activation work to Air Materiel Command. ARDC retained responsibility for activation of Atlas D squadrons - the 564th and 565th Strategic Missile Squadrons at F.E. Warren and the 566th at Offutt AFB - and for first-of-a-kind installations at Vandenberg AFB. Under these arrangements, AMC was to have responsibility for contractor direction and performance while AFBMD retained control of site installation design and some facets of technical engineering and configuration control.

The astronauts underwent a five and one half day course in 'desert survival' training at the Air Training Command Survival School, Stead Air Force Base, Nevada. The possibility of an arid-area landing was remote but did exist. So this training was accomplished to supply the astronaut with the confidence and ability to survive desert conditions until recovery. The course consisted of one and one half days of academics, one day of field demonstrations, and three days of isolated remote-site training. Survival equipment normally installed in the Mercury spacecraft was used to provide the most realistic conditions.

The third meeting of the Space Exploration Program Council was held at NASA Headquarters. The question of a speedup of Saturn C-2 production and the possibility of using nuclear upper stages with the Saturn booster were discussed. The Office of Launch Vehicle Programs would plan a study on the merits of using nuclear propulsion for some of NASA's more sophisticated missions. If the study substantiated such a need, the amount of in-house basic research could then be determined.

NASA Director of Space Flight Programs Abe Silverstein notified Harry J. Goett, Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, that NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan had approved the name "Apollo" for the advanced manned space flight program. The program would be so designated at the forthcoming NASA-Industry Program Plans Conference.

The first NASA-Industry Program Plans Conference was held in Washington, D.C. The purpose was to give industrial management an overall picture of the NASA program and to establish a basis for subsequent conferences to be held at various NASA Centers. The current status of NASA programs was outlined, including long-range planning, launch vehicles, structures and materials research, manned space flight, and life sciences.

NASA Deputy Administrator Hugh L. Dryden announced that the advanced manned space flight program had been named "Apollo." George M. Low, NASA Chief of Manned Space Flight, stated that circumlunar flight and earth orbit missions would be carried out before 1970. This program would lead eventually to a manned lunar landing and a permanent manned space station. Additional Details: here....

The first Mercury-Atlas -D (MA-1) was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral to test the Mercury capsule and Atlas D booster for future use in NASA's Project Mercury manned orbital flight program. Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range in a test of spacecraft structural integrity under maximum heating conditions. After 58.5 seconds of flight, MA-1 exploded and the spacecraft was destroyed upon impact off-shore. None of the primary capsule test objectives were met. The mission objectives were to check the integrity of the spacecraft structure and afterbody shingles for a reentry associated with a critical abort and to evaluate the open-loop performance of the Atlas abort-sensing instrumentation system. The spacecraft contained no escape system and no test subject. Standard posigrade rockets were used to separate the spacecraft from the Atlas, but the retrorockets were dummies. The flight was terminated because of a launch vehicle and adapter structural failure. The spacecraft was destroyed upon impact with the water because the recovery system was not designed to actuate under the imposed flight conditions. Later most of the spacecraft, the booster engines, and the liquid oxygen vent valve were recovered from the ocean floor. Since none of the primary flight objectives was achieved, Mercury-Atlas 2 (MA-2) was planned to fulfill the mission.

The Air Force Ballistic Missile Committee supported Ballistic Missile Division's recommendation to accept reduced range, reliability, and warhead specifications for the first 150 Minuteman missiles. Instead development of an improved Minuteman with better performance for subsequent deployment would be undertaken (LGM-30B).

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Rocket-Carrier 63S1 Based on the R-12 Missile, and the Development and Launch of Small Artificial Satellite--start of work on launcher and satellites at OKB-586'

A Thor/Agena A launched from Vandenberg AFB placed Discoverer XIII in orbit. On 11 August, the data capsule was ejected during the 17th pass and recovered Pacific Ocean near Hawaii by a Navy helicopter that was part of the 6593d Test Squadron's task force. Although the planned mid-air recovery was not made, the return of Discoverer XIII1s data capsule marked the first successful recovery of a man-made object ejected from an orbiting satellite. KH-1 prototype; designed to test capsule recovery system; did not carry camera; capsule successfully recovered from ocean.

The first successful launch and flight of an operational prototype Titan I occurred on 10 August 1960. After two previous failures, Titan missile J-7 was the first operational prototype to be launched and complete a successful flight test down the Atlantic Missile Range. Titan 1 J (Mk 4 RV)

In the preceding months relations between the Soviet advisors and Chinese engineers had been strained by increasing Soviet secrecy. The Russians catch Chinese students at the Moscow Aviation Institute stealing restricted missile data. Finally Khrushchev declared the suspension of military assistance to China. All 1,343 Soviet specialists are withdrawn from the Fifth Academy in Beijing and return to Russia. They leave behind 343 uncompleted contracts. A total of 257 technical development projects were cancelled as a result.

A Thor/Delta was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying NASA's Echo I, the first passive communications satellite to be placed into orbit. Balloon; passively relayed TV and voice transmissions. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

Maximum Speed - 2851 kph. Maximum Altitude - 41605 m. Established a new altitude record for a manned vehicle of 136,500 feet. This topped Captain Kincheloe's record altitude of 126,200 feet attained on September 7, 1956, in the X-2 rocket research aircraft. Air dropped in Silver Lake DZ.

The Soviet Union launched its second unmanned test of the Vostok spacecraft, the Korabl Sputnik II, or Sputnik V. The spacecraft carried two dogs, Strelka and Belka, in addition to a gray rabbit, rats, mice, flies, plants, fungi, microscopic water plants, and seeds. Electrodes attached to the dogs and linked with the spacecraft communications system, which included a television camera, enabled Soviet scientists to check the animals' hearts, blood pressure, breathing, and actions during the trip. After the spacecraft reentered and landed safely the next day, the animals and biological specimens were reported to be in good condition.
Officially: Development of systems ensuring man's life functions and safety in flight and his return to Earth.

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation proposed a one-man space station comprising a Mercury capsule plus a cylindrical space laboratory capable of supporting one astronaut in a shirtsleeve environment for 14 days in orbit. Gross weight of the combined vehicle at launch would be 7259 pounds (Mercury, as of October 25, 1960, was 4011 pounds), which would provide an 1100-pound, laboratory-test payload in a 150-nautical-mile orbit, boosted by an Atlas-Agena B. The result would be a 'minimum cost manned space station.'

The Goddard Space Flight Center GSFC conducted its industry conference in Washington, D.C., presenting details of GSFC projects, current and future. The objectives of the proposed six-month feasibility contracts for an advanced manned spacecraft were announced. Additional Details: here....

The transfer of the three-missile Complex 564B, the first operational Atlas D (CGM-16D) squadron at Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming. With this the 564th Strategic Missile Squadron, was turned over to the Strategic Air Command's 706th Strategic Missile Wing.

Following the very critical review of the first M-48 spaceplane design by the expert commission, Myasishchev went back to the drawing board. In March to September 1960 this work resulted in definition of two alternative configurations. The first alternative was an unconventional faceted shock-wave riding design (see VKA-23 Design 1). The second Myasishchev VKA-23 design was an elegant-looking, porpoise-fuselaged winged vehicle.

In an organizational change within STG, Maxime A. Faget was appointed Chief of the Flight Systems Division and Robert O. Piland was named Assistant Chief for Advanced Projects. The Apollo Project Office was formed with Piland as Head of the Office; members included John B. Lee, J. Thomas Markley, William W. Petynia,and H. Kurt Strass.

NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan directed that an accelerated joint planning effort be made by persons at NASA Headquarters who were most familiar with the Saturn, Apollo, manned orbital laboratory, and unmanned lunar and planetary programs. They were to determine whether the Saturn and Saturn-use programs were effectively integrated and whether sufficient design study and program development work had been done to support decisions on projected Saturn configurations. Additional Details: here....

A formal agreement was signed by the United States and South Africa providing for the construction of a new deep-space tracking facility at Krugersdorp, near Johannesburg. It would be one of three stations equipped to maintain constant contact with lunar and planetary spacecraft.

In a memorandum to NASA Associate Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Robert L. King, Executive Secretary, described the action taken on certain items discussed at the July 14-15 meeting of the Space Exploration Program Council. Among these actions was the awarding of a contract to The RAND Corporation to evaluate missions for which nuclear propulsion would be desirable. Included in the study would be the determination of availability dates, cost of development, operational costs, the safety aspects of the missions, and an evaluation of research requirements.