Cruise stage tanks 1 and 4 empty. The flight continued to T+25 minutes 20 seconds over a distance of 1,315 km. Booster stage operation and separation were normal, no vibrations were detected. The cruise stage ignited but the Air Sensor System (SVD) operated abnormally. As a result there was a reduction of velocity from that planned.

The commission meets from 16:00 to 18:00 to assess readiness for launch. Korolev says he is ready to launch a man, following the two consecutive successful mannequin flights. Who will be selected to be the first man in space? The commission discusses the issue at some length. Afterwards, Kamanin meets with Ustinov at 18:30 and shows him a picture album of photographs taken from Vostok on the March 9 and 25 test flights. One taken over Turkey clearly shows the city of Alexandretta and the concrete runways of the airfields, demonstrating the military potential of the system. All is ready for the flight. The Central Committee of the Communist Party has issued a decree that the first man be launched into space between 10 and 20 April 1961. Three variant press releases are prepared, for 1) attainment of a successful orbit; 2) after a successful landing; and 3) in the event of an emergency landing with a request for international assistance in recovery and return of the cosmonaut. The consensus is that the APO destruct system used in the unmanned test flights will be deleted for the manned flight. Only Ivashutin is against this. Two successful ejection tests from an Il-28 bomber were reported from LII, finally completing a key milestone required for the flight.

NASA announced that a $5 million contract would be awarded to Republic Aviation Corporation for the construction of two experimental reentry spacecraft. Republic was selected from eight companies that submitted bids on March 12. The contract was part of Project Fire, to develop a spacecraft capable of withstanding reentry into the earth's atmosphere from a lunar mission. Plans called for the spacecraft to be tested during the second half of 1963.

Members of Langley Research Center briefed representatives of the Chance Vought Corporation of Ling- Temco-Vought, Inc., on the lunar orbit rendezvous method of accomplishing the lunar landing mission. The briefing was made in connection with the study contract on spacecraft rendezvous awarded by NASA Headquarters to Chance Vought on March 1.

The possibility of doing more than the previously planned stand-up form of extravehicular activity (EVA) was introduced at an informal meeting in the office of Director Robert R. Gilruth at Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). Present at the meeting, in addition to Gilruth and Deputy Director George M. Low, were Richard S. Johnston of Crew Systems Division (CSD) and Warren J. North of Flight Crew Operations Division. Johnston presented a mock-up of an EVA chestpack, as well as a prototype hand-held maneuvering unit. North expressed his division's confidence that an umbilical EVA could be successfully achieved on the Gemini-Titan 4 mission. Receiving a go-ahead from Gilruth, CSD briefed George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Mannned Space Flight, on April 3 in Washington. He, in turn, briefed the Headquarters Directorates. The relevant MSC divisions were given tentative approval to continue the preparations and training required for the operation. Associate Administrator of NASA, Robert C. Seamans, Jr., visited MSC for further briefing on May 14. The enthusiasm he carried back to Washington regarding flight-readiness soon prompted final Headquarters approval.

MSC requested use of Langley Research Center's Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach (LOLA) Simulator in connection with two technical contracts in progress with Geonautics, Inc., Washington, D.C. One was for pilotage techniques for use in the descent and ascent phases of the LEM profile, while the other specified construction of a binocular viewing device for simplified pilotage monitoring. Langley concurred with the request and suggested that MSC personnel work with Manuel J. Queijo in setting up the program, in making working arrangements between the parties concerned, and in defining the trajectories of interest.

Kamanin notes that it was a bad safety month for the VVS. Ten aircraft were lost, six of those in three midair collisions (two MiG-21's in Egypt, two MiG-17's in Khabarovsk, and two helicopters in Tashkent). There were 29 losses in the first four months of 1971 (compared to 18 in 1970). Kamanin sees this as symptomatic of Kutakhov's poor management.

Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Stationed at 24 deg W in 1984-1985; 80 deg E in 1986 As of 5 September 2001 located at 72.67 deg E drifting at 0.068 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 2 located at 81.39E drifting at 0.003E degrees per day.

Communications satellite. Launch delayed from mid-March. After the Ariane third stage reached geostationary transfer orbit, JCSAT 8 separated, followed by the Mini-Spelda adapter, followed by Astra 3A. Astra 3A was a Boeing BSS-376HP, with a mass of 1495 kg full and about 750 kg empty. It joined Luxembourg-based SES Astra's fleet. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 153.96E drifting at 0.004W degrees per day.

Communications satellite. Launch delayed from mid-March. JCSAT 8 was a Boeing BSS-601 with a launch mass of 2600 kg and a dry mass around 1200 kg. It was to be used by Japan Satellite to replace JCSAT 2. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 24.29E drifting at 0.020W degrees per day.

Per his voluntary 'job jar' task list, after wakeup and before breakfast FE-2 Garrett Reisman completed his second session with the SLEEP (Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure during Spaceflight) experiment software for data logging and filling in questionnaire entries in the experiment's laptop session file on the HRF-1 laptop. Additional Details: here....