NARRATOR: Late in October 1961 the first Saturn vehicle was
successfully launched at Cape Canaveral. Three days later the Office of Manned
Space Flight was formed. This film will show the steady progress
that has occurred in manned space flight in the months that have followed.
Within a few weeks Chrysler prepared to produce Saturn S One stages
at Michoud, Louisiana. Actual production was to start
as soon as the research and development phase was completed
at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Midway through November '61, the RL10 liquid hydrogen liquid oxygen engine
successfully performed in a preliminary flight rating test.
Nine days later NASA selected North American Aviation to design and build
two units: The command and service modules of the
Apollo spacecraft that will be employed in the first exploration of the Moon.
At the close of that month a spacecraft carrying a chimpanzee named Enos
made two orbits around the Earth. Early in December NASA put its final
approval on project Gemini, a two-man spacecraft program
specifically designed to provide experience in long-term weightlessness
and rendezvous procedures.
Then on December 15th, the Boeing industrial team was chosen to produce
the giant first stage of the Saturn Five at Michoud.
Within days engineers from Douglas Aircraft began work on modification of
the Saturn S Four stage for use in the third stage of Saturn Five.
At this time the second stage was already under contract
and the configuration of the Saturn Five launch vehicle was firmly established.
The first stage was five F-1s, the second stage was five J-2s,
and the third stage was one J-2. On December 21 the Office of Manned
Space Flight held the first meeting of a management council established to assure
thorough coordination of all manned space flight activities.
January of 1962 saw Aerojet General start development work on the M One.
This liquid hydrogen, a liquid oxygen engine, will be capable of developing a
million two hundred thousand pounds of thrust.
Early in February NASA selected General Electric to supply equipment at
Merritt Island, Florida for integrated space vehicle checkout
and to support NASA in its reliability assessment
and integration analysis. On February 20th
astronaut John Glenn went into orbit to circle the Earth three times.
Two days later Belcom Incorporated was signed to provide
overall systems engineering support for the manned space flight program.
To improve interagency communications, the Air Force established a liaison
office with the Office of Manned Space Flight
through the appointment of a deputy commander, Major General Ritland.
Before the end of the month, a mock-up of the Gemini capsule was completed at the
McDonnell plant in St. Louis.
Also in March, the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center moved from Langley Field, Virginia
to Houston, Texas. On the 25th of April, the second Saturn
was successfully launched. This included an experimental test
explosion of water-filled tanks at high altitude at the end of the flight.
Early in May, the separate contracts to produce the major components of the
Apollo guidance system were awarded to three companies:
AC Spark Plug, Raytheon, and Kollsman Instrument
will work with MIT in charge of systems development.
About the same time, Convair was chosen to design and manufacture Little Joe Two,
a launch vehicle for Apollo spacecraft sub-orbital test flights.
May was also the month when astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpenter
successfully made his three-orbit flight around the Earth.
Before the end of May, the F One engine was fired at full-thrust for the first time.
It happened at Edwards, California.
Moving into June, the Greenhut Construction Company
contracted to modify the Saturn test stand
at the Marshall Center. The modification provided two test positions.
Shortly afterwards, a computer center to
service the Michoud operation was established at Slidell, Louisiana.
On July 11th, space administrator James E. Webb
announced the decision to base the planning,
research, development, and procurement of its space program
on a lunar orbit rendezvous mode of flight to the Moon.
The vehicle was informally named "the bug." With this planning decision for lunar
orbital rendezvous, NASA authorized an improved
launch vehicle, the Saturn One B, and instituted studies of a nova vehicle
larger than previously contemplated.
A few days later it was announced that the new control center located at the
Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas
would be the primary Earth station for the control of
manned space flight missions.
Shortly after, IBM was awarded a contract to develop
and supply the computer facility for the mission control center.
On July 21st, the design of the Saturn Five launch complex was selected to include a
vertical assembly building and an earth crawler to carry the
350 foot vehicle to the launch pad in an erect position.
Off the California coast, the first full-scale model of Apollo
spacecraft underwent a successful preliminary floatation test
in August.
September 17, 1962. The selection of nine new astronaut candidates
was announced in Houston.
NASA approved plans for static and flight testing of the Apollo spacecraft
propulsion and abort systems at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Late in September, plans were approved for the development of a test facility
in Mississippi, which will be used for firing the large
launch vehicle stages produced at the Michoud plant
in New Orleans.
On October 3rd, Walter Schirra successfully orbited the Earth six times.
He made his landing in the Pacific Ocean.
A few days later the Saturn S Four stage successfully completed its first full
duration static firing test, a seven minute run at Sacramento.
At this time teams from Hamilton Standard and International Latex were
contracted for work on the development of space suits
for Apollo spacemen.
Within the week, the J Two engine underwent a full duration
four-minute static firing test at Rocketdyne.
Toward the end of the month, a NASA test pilot
flew a paraglider over Edwards, California.
It was a successful development test for the Gemini recovery system.
At that same location, three separate contractors
began work on a complex of three stands
for testing the big F One rocket engine.
By the 7th of November, Grumman was selected for development work on the
lunar excursion module of the Apollo spacecraft.
NASA announced its confirmation of lunar orbit rendezvous
as the selected mission mode for Apollo.
On November 9th, the S One first stage of the Saturn was test fired
at a full-thrust of one and a half million pounds.
Previous firings have all been 1.3 million pounds,
but this was in preparation for the first two-stage flight
to be launched in 1963.
On November 14th, astronaut Gordon Cooper was selected for a one-day orbital flight
to take place this spring.
Alan B. Shepard will be his backup.
Within a few days the third test flight of Saturn succeeded.
This included a second high water explosion.
At the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Saturn Four stage arrived
for dynamic tests.
It had completed a 23-day voyage from the West Coast,
coming by way of the Panama Canal, the Mississippi,
Ohio, and Tennessee rivers.
Late in the month, the first successful firing of a development engine for the
Apollo spacecraft service module took place at the Aerojet General plant.
In December, NASA contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers to study the
problems involved in constructing a base on the Moon.
At the end of 1962, North American Aviation
completed the fabrication of an Apollo command module.
It was delivered to Northrop for installation of the parachute landing system,
and will be used in the first unmanned flight test.
With this background of accomplishment in the manned space flight program,
NASA looks forward to 1963 as another period of continuing progress.