Goddard realises after three years of unsuccessful tests that the cartridge rocket concept is too complex and that a new approach is needed. Smokeless powder solid fuels were too unstable for rocket use. Therefore Goddard turned to liquid oxygen and gasoline as propellants. On this date he bought his first can of liquid oxygen from Linde Corporation in Worcester. He had to haggle for it; the liquid form was then only a by-product in the process of extracting gaseous oxygen from the atmosphere. Goddard was charged $ 10 per 2 gallon flask, the minimum Linde would sell to him.

American USMC engineer mission specialist astronaut 1980-1992. Known as a religiously conservative astronaut; summed up many astronaut's fears of the shuttle, saying before a flight "I have no plans past MECO". 4 spaceflights, 20.6 days in space. Flew to orbit on STS-51J (1985), STS-26, STS-36, STS-42.

Ukrainian test pilot cosmonaut 1976-1998. Longest wait for a spaceflight after becoming an astronaut - 21 years. Soyuz cosmonaut 1976-1983; Spiral pilot 1983-1987; Buran pilot, 1987-1989, NASA Payload Specialist, 1996. 1 spaceflight, 15.7 days in space. Flew to orbit on STS-87 (1997).

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....

The United States and Spain agreed to the construction and operation of a $1.5 million space tracking and data acquisition station about 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of Madrid, Spain. Linked with the NASA Deep Space Instrumentation Facility, the station included a 26-meter (85-foot)-diameter parabolic antenna and equipment for transmitting, receiving, recording, data handling, and communications with the spacecraft. Additional Details: here....

The first major Saturn V flight component, a 10-m (33-ft) diameter, 27,215 kg (60,000 lb corrugated tail section which would support the booster's 6,672 kilonewtons (1.5-million-lb) thrust engines, arrived at MSFC from NASA's Michoud Operations near New Orleans. The section was one of five major structural units comprising Saturn V's first stage.

Kamanin, Gagarin, Komarov, and other VVS staff attend the first program review held since Korolev's death. Mishin reviews spacecraft build status. Voskhod s/n 5 is to be shipped to Tyuratam on 1 February and launched in the first half of February. This is the spacecraft fitted for the 30-day unmanned biosat mission with dogs. Kamanin had argued with Korolev over the last year that this flight was unnecessary, but Korolev did not want to expose the cosmonauts to the risk of a long-duration spaceflight with a heavily modified spacecraft without an unmanned precursor flight. The manned flight of Voskhod s/n 6 on an 18-day mission can only begin after the landing of s/n 5, e.g. launch in the period 10-20 March.

The Ye-8-5, a version of the Ye-8 to drill a small sample of lunar soil and return it to earth would be accelerated. This could be launched in coordination with the L3S. Although not a manned lunar landing, it would provide a Soviet crew in orbit around the moon, and return of lunar soil to earth, nearly matching the Apollo mission. The last chance to upstage the Americans was a combined launch of the N1-L3S and Ye-8-5 before Apollo 11 in July. (Mishin Diaries 2-187)

An article Kamanin has written on aircraft designer Ilyushin has been published in Pravda. Kamanin is impressed by a new book by Orlov on possible civilian medical applications of technology developed for spaceflight. Negotiations continue with the Military Soviet on the resolution on future manned military space projects.

A Delta booster launched the NATO III-B communications satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean at 135 deg W in 1977-1979 over the Atlantic Ocean 20 deg W in 1979-1982 over the Atlantic Ocean 18 deg W in 1983-1986 over the Atlantic Ocean60 deg W in 1987-1993 As of 5 September 2001 located at 74.61 deg W drifting at 18.018 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 40.43E drifting at 18.015W degrees per day.

The Spartan series consists of low-cost, Shuttle-launched, short-duration, sounding-rocket-type payloads. The payloads were retrievable and reusable with a turnaround time of 6 to 9 months. Spartan operated as an autonomous sub-satellite, and the data was stored on an internal tape recorder. Pointing and stabilization were achieved by an attitude control system capable of three-axis stabilized pointing to any target within +/- 3 arc-minutes. The main objective of this spacecraft was to obtain UV spectra of the coma and tail of Comet Halley in January 1986 shortly before its perihelion. This spacecraft was lost when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on launch.

During the mission the TRW team monitored a mission telephone com channel real time in Redondo Beach. Participants recall the intense, "nail biting" anxiety as they waited the approximate 30 minutes it took for the RV to reach the nominal intercept point, over the Pacific and closer to Hawaii than to Kwajalein Atoll. Launch of the Minuteman I target from Vandenberg AFB came at 1803:00.3, launch of the ERIS interceptor at 1824:24.2, and kinetic intercept over Pacific at 1832:08.2.

This ship with the crew for the 23d Main Expedition (M.E.) to Mir, Tsibliyev and Lazutkin, and German's Mir'97 astronaut Reinhold Ewald is on schedule for launch from Baykonur on 10.02.1997 at 1408 UTC. The call signs of this crew are Sirius-1, 2 and 3. If all goes according to plan Soyuz-TM25 will dock at Mir on 12.02.1997 at abt 1553 UTC. Ewald will stay on board for 18 days and return to Earth with the relieved crew of the 22d M.E., Korzun and Kaleri. During the Mir'97 mission DLR's GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen will be able to communicate directly with Mir via VHF-channels, but possibly also via the quasi-stationary Cosmos-2054 (Altair-1) over 16 degrees W.L. On 4 and 5.12.1996 GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen tested communications via Altair-1 and meanwhile the intention to use this possibility during Mir'97 and future Euromir missions has been officially confirmed.

Mir-routine: The American astronaut Linenger started with his experimental programs. He is very pleased to be on board Mir and had less problems as his countrymen during previous flights in finding things for his work. Of course he did not found all he needs, but obviously the experience of his predecessors led to improvements in that field. He emphasised

Hij legt by zijn experimenten erg de nadruk op lichamelijke oefeningen, waarbij hij zich behoorlijk inspant. De samenwerking met zijn Russische collega's is uitstekend. Linenger is ook goed ingewerkt door zijn voorganger Blaha. Voor wat betreft zijn werkplanning en de manier, waarop de resultaten van zijn experimenten de geleerden op aarde moeten bereiken, heeft hij aan de Amerikaanse consultatieve groep op het TsUP by Moskou een aantal voorstellen gedaan.

Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.

See Hispasat 36W-1. Spanish Hispasat 36W-1 communications satellite (3220 kg at launch, 1700 kg dry) was the first SmallGEO bus, made by OHB of Bremen, Germany. It was launched to geotransfer orbit by a Soyuz ST-B/Fregat in the first GTO launch by a Soyuz from Kourou.