The order was received in Peenemuende to begin serious development of Pruefstand XII, the project to launch V-2's from submerged capsules towed by submarine to launch positions off the US coast. Preliminary work was to be completed by the end of Marc. However there is no confirmed evidence that the prototype of the launch capsule was ever completed before Peenemuende was evacuated.

A meeting was held at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, to discuss the formation of an organization that would devote its efforts to the study of stability and maneuverability of high-speed weapons (guided missiles). From the outset, work was pointed toward supersonic flight testing. In early 1945, Congress was asked for a supplemental appropriation to fund the activation of such a unit, and in the spring of that year the Auxiliary Flight Research Station (AFRS - later known as the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division) was opened on Wallops Island, Virginia, with Robert R. Gilruth as its director. On July 4, 1945, the AFRS launched its first test vehicle, a small two-stage, solid-fuel rocket to check out the installation's instrumentation.

The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board Ad Hoc Committee on Space Technology recommended acceleration of specific military projects and a vigorous space program with the immediate goal of landings on the moon because "Sputnik and the Russian ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capability have created a national emergency."

The basic elements of the proposal included a Titan rocket to boost a manned satellite into a 110 nautical mile earth orbit. The satellite would be a spherical capsule containing instrumentation and a life support system capable of sustaining one man for three or four days. A novel feature of the system would be development of a stainless steel cloth parachute which would lower the capsule safely through re-entry deceleration. As the air pressure increased the parachute would automatically expand to its full size and land the capsule at a survival, if bone jarring, rate of 35 feet per second. AVCO asked $500,000 for a three month study and mockup of the capsule device and estimated, as a rough guess", a total development cost of $100 million. The ballistic missile division, however, was not convinced that this was the best approach to the manned reentry problem. The division' s position was that when the Air Force identified its space goals and established specific technical requirements it would then be wiser to "ask for bids and put it (development) on an open competitive basis. " (Memo, Col L. D. Ely, to Col C. H. Terhune, 17 Dec 57, subj: AVCO Proposal for Manned Satellite.)

An aeromedical selection team composed of Major Stanley C. White, Air Force; Lt. Robert B. Voas, Navy; and Captain William Augerson, Army, drafted a tentative astronaut selection procedure. According to the plan, representatives from the services and industry would nominate 150 men by January 21, 1959; 36 of these would be selected for further testing which would reduce the group to 12; and in a 9-month training period, a hard core of 6 men would remain. At the end of December 1958, this plan was rejected.

The Mission Control Center at Houston was used passively and in parallel with the Mission Control Center at the Cape in the Gemini-Titan 2 launch attempt, primarily to validate the computer launch programs. In addition, considerable use was made of the telemetry processing program and related television display formats. The Houston control center received, processed, and displayed live and simulated Gemini launch vehicle and spacecraft data. Test results were considered very successful.

Gemini-Titan (GT) 2 launch countdown began at 4:00 a.m., e.s.t., and proceeded normally, with minor holds, until about one second after engine ignition. At that point a shutdown signal from the master operations control set (MOCS) terminated the launch attempt. Loss of hydraulic pressure in the primary guidance and control system of stage I of the launch vehicle caused an automatic switchover to the secondary guidance and control system. During the 3.2-second holddown following ignition command, switchover was instrumented as a shutdown command. Accordingly, the MOCS killed the launch attempt. Subsequent investigation disclosed that loss of hydraulic pressure had been caused by failure of the primary servo-valve in one of the four tandem actuators which control movement of the stage I thrust chambers. All four stage I tandem actuators were replaced with redesigned actuators.

Suborbital test of small scale spaceplane model to test structural concepts for the X-20 Dynasoar. Aero-environmental test vehicle (AEV) to test aerodynamic properties of flexing outer skin with corrugated columbium panel. Reached 4,000 m/s at 53.2 km altitude before being released from launch vehicle. Telemetry received for 900 seconds until spaceplane had reached Mach 2 1200 km downrange. It then became unstable and crashed into the Atlantic. Recovery was not planned.

The 15-day trial of the oxygen regeneration system for the long-duration Voskhod flights began at IMBP on 3 December. On 8 December Korolev ordered the test run extended to 20 days. The system has to maintain cabin temperature at 21 deg C, within a maximum range of 10 to 35 deg C. It produced 18 litres of oxygen per crew member per hour. In tests Volynov was found to consume 16.5 litres per hour, and Gorbatko 15.5 litres. But during intense activity these values can increase 5 to 6 times. Kamanin is particularly worried that in abort / high-G situations the system may prove inadequate.

"What'd I Say" by Trini Lopez from"Trini Lopez at P.J.s" sent to crew, a favorite of Jim Lovell's. Later "I Saw Mommie Kissing Santa Claus" relayed from Tananarive station for Jim Lovell."A request from his daughter, Barbara, age 12 who hopes the song will bring her daddy home for Christmas, a little early"

Kamanin reviews 1970. It has been a good year. The Soviet Union set a duration record with the Soyuz 9 flight, Luna-16 and Lunokhod-1 conducted successful robot missions to the moon, dozens of Kosmos satellites were successfully launched. In the next year cosmonaut training will concentrate on DOS-7K, Almaz, and Soyuz 7KT. The five-year plan for the centre includes construction of 5000 square metres of new laboratories, improved simulators, completion of a water tank for EVA training, and installation of the IF-20 centrifuge. However all of this will cost 11 million roubles, and only 2 to 3 million are likely to be allocated...

Ocean surveillance; aka White Cloud type spacecraft; Navy Ocean Surveillance Satellite; PARCAE. Other sources give the payload designation ABSAD. The failure was caused by a loss of lubricating oil to one of the booster engines, causing the engine to fail approx 200 milliseconds before it was to have shut down on guidance command. The asymmetric thrust pivoted the booster around approximately 180 degrees, where it stabilized in a retrofire attitude with the sustainer engine still firing. It descended back toward earth through its own exhaust flame and exploded a couple of minutes later.

The International Space Station's first two components are in good shape with only minor issues facing the flight control teams in Houston and Moscow - none of which affect the operation of the complex. Since raising the altitude of the Station last week, controllers continue to manage electrical power generated by the Zarya module. Additional Details: here....

"It's A Grand Ol' Flag" performed by the Fire Department of New York Emerald Society Pipes & Drums. A New York firefighter presented Pilot Mark Kelly with today's wakeup music when Kelly visited the World Trade Center site with former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin shortly after the September 11 attacks.

16-tonne Japanese HTV-6 (Kounotori-6) cargo ship. The pressurized module contains 600 kg of water and 2152 kg of dry cargo. This included two JAXA J-SSOD and one Nanoracks NRCSD-10 cubesat deployers; these were to be transferred to the Kibo module. The HTV also has an Exposed Pallet, which on this mission (using the enhanced capacity EP6B+) carried a set of replacement batteries for the ISS truss, with a total cargo mass of 1367 kg. The S4, S6, P4 and P6 truss segments each contain an Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA), with 12 Ni-H2 batteries apiece in separate ORUs (Orbital Replacement Units). On this mission the S4 batteries are to be replaced. Six new 197 kg Li-ion battery ORUs were to be installed and six of the 166 kg Ni-H2 battery ORUs were to be transferred to the HTV EP for disposal on reentry. The remaining six Ni-H2 ORUs remained on S4, but they were taken off line and new 29 kg Adapter Plate ORUs were to be installed between them and the truss. On Dec 14 the Exposed Pallet was grappled by the Canadarm-2, pulled out of HTV-6 and attached to the Mobile Base System on the ISS truss. On Dec 15-16 the J-SSOD #5 was moved to the Kibo module's airlock. On Dec 19 the Japanese RMS arm took the MPEP platform, with J-SSOD attached, out of the airlock and the STARS-C cubesat was ejected from it at 0855 UTC. On Dec 27 J-SSOD #6 was installed in the airlock with its sats to be deployed in January. Japan's HTV 6 cargo ship separated from ISS on Jan 27 at 1546 UTC. However, its KITE tether experiment failed to deploy when commanded to do so on Jan 28. HTV 6 was deorbited on Feb 5 at 1442 UTC and entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific at 1506 UTC.