Marshall Highlights for 1962

(Source Note: The following information is presented here as published in a news release issued in late 1962 by the Marshall Center Public Affairs Office.)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - - The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, while building for the future on the ground, had a banner year in space during 1962.

Eight MSFC space vehicles were launched, including two perfect Saturn tests.

On Jan. 26 an Atlas Agena-B lifted a Ranger 3 payload and April 23, another Atlas Agena-B combine lifted Ranger 4 which hit the moon. The second Saturn made a perfect flight April 25. A Centaur was launched May 8 but failed 5; seconds after liftoff.

The Mariner I Venus probe was launched July 22 on the Atlas Agena-B, but it was destroyed by the range safety officer 290 seconds after liftoff. The now-famous Mariner 2 spacecraft which passed Venus was sent aloft by the same rocket system August 27. Ranger 5, launched Oct. l8. missed the moon and went into orbit around the sun.

Another Saturn was successfully launched Nov. 16. Meanwhile, back on earth during 1962, several contracts were awarded for facilities at the Michoud Operations in New Orleans. It was chosen by MSFC as a site for manufacture and assembly of Saturn boosters.

A management team of about 60 MSFC personnel moved to the new facility to begin preparing the plant for operation, scheduled to start in the summer of 1963.

Preliminary engineering work for establishment of a centralized site for static testing of the Saturn S-1 and S-IC stages to be produced at Michoud was going forward at the 13,500 acre Mississippi Test Facility nearby. This work was about 40 percent complete as of June 30.

Easements were being secured for a buffer zone of 128,400 acres.

Progress was recorded on construction of the new static test facility at MSFC, designed for test firing of the Saturn C-5 booster. Foundation work was nearing completion. The facility was scheduled for use by January, 196l. Astrionics, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Propulsion and Vehicle Engineering Divisions, and other organizations added new facilities .

Work on the new $4 million Central Laboratory and Office building at MSFC was expected to be nearly completed in January. It is a nine story structure located on Rideout Road. A six story Engineering and Administrative building is to be erected adjacent to the Central Laboratory and Office facility. Preliminary drawings for the $2, 500,000 building have been completed by an architectural engineer.

Last January, Dr. Wernher von Braun, MSFC director, and Dr. E. F. M. Rees, deputy director for Research and Development, were named to the Management Council of the Office of Manned Space Flight by D. Brainerd Holmes, OMSF director. The Council was organized to speed development of spacecraft, boosters, and support equipment necessary for the success of the manned space flight programs.

MSFC's Launch Operations Directorate was dissolved during this period and Launch Operations Center, a new field installation of NASA, was established. The Launch Vehicle Operations Division was created at Huntsville and assigned responsibility for MSFC Launch Operations at LOC.

Another administrative revision was establishment in February of the MSFC Central Planning Office, with the mission of assisting the Director's office in planning, program coordination, and reporting activities. Consolidated in Central Planning Office were the Operations Analysis, Technical Program Coordination, and Lunar Program Planning Office.

Concurrent with the establishment of the Central Planning Office, the Technical Services Office was abolished and two new offices were created: the Facilities Engineering Office and the Support Services Office.

In June, legal activities of MSFC were consolidated in the Chief Counsel's office. The office of Patent Counsel was discontinued and the office of Associate Chief Counsel for Patent Matters was established.

A total of 80 boards, committees, and working groups administered MSFC's varied programs during the period.

An important event occurring during February was MSFC's receipt of an Award of Honor from the National Safety Council for having logged nearly four million working hours without a disabling injury or fatality.

An H- 1 rocket engine was fired in February for the third time after being dunked four hours in salt water at Cape Canaveral. The test was a phase of an engine recovery program to determine the effects of salt water on components. A cluster of eight H-1 engines make up the Saturn booster.

A contract for $8,910,962 was signed in March with the Boeing Company of Seattle calling for early work on first stage development of the advanced Saturn launch vehicle. Other funds have been added to this contract during intervening months. Ultimately the contract will be worth more than $300 million.

In April, a pre-proposal conference was held at the Marshall Center after NASA issued a request for proposals from industry for a detailed systems definition and preliminary design of the Nova launch vehicle.

MSFC, in the spring, issued nine major study awards on future efforts. They included such studies as "Early Manned Planetary Missions" and "Advanced Lunar Transportation System."

Also in May, the Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., of Sunnyvale, Calif., was selected by NASA for negotiation of a contract for the design, development, fabrication and test of the Reactor In Flight Test (RIFT) vehicle, It is estimated that the total cost of the RIFT stage development will be about $180 million.

A major Saturn award was made during August to the Chrysler Corp. Space Division in New Orleans to produce 21 Saturn C-l boosters for $215, 502, 744. Chrysler had begun work under an interim contract signed in February.

The same month NASA signed an award with Douglas Aircraft Company for the design, development, fabrication and test of the Saturn S-IVB launch vehicle stage. Estimated cost of the contract, extending through 1966, is $141,100,000.

President John F. Kennedy and key members of government visited Marshall Center Sept. 11 for a first hand look at the space effort.

During October, NASA, announced completion of preliminary plans for the development of the Mississippi Test Facility which will be built to test the huge rocket stages and engines required to launch Apollo lunar missions. It is located 35 miles from the Michoud large rocket manufacturing complex where final assembly of the rocket stages will take place. William C. Fortune was named manager of the NASA Marshall Center Mississippi Test Facility.

In other action NASA assigned project management of the liquid hydrogen fueled Centaur launch vehicle to NASA's Lewis Research Center during October, along with management responsibility for the M-l hydrogen engine.

NASA's Saturn S-IV rocket stage was fired during October for a full flight duration test of all six engines. This propulsion test vehicle ran seven minutes at the Douglas Aircraft Sacramento, Calif., test facility. Another S-IV stage was transferred to MSFC and mated with other C-1 components at the dynamic test stand.

NASA's J-2 engine, which will power upper stages of Saturn space vehicles was also given its first long duration test during October at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana facility in California.

Marshall Center employees shattered United Givers Fund donation records in November by giving nearly $100,000 to the Huntsville-Madison County UGF.

Twelve astronauts, including nine who were recently selected, visited the Marshall Center at the end of November to get acquainted with MSFC and its space vehicle development work. D. Brainerd Holmes. director of the Office of Manned Space Flight, and several members of his staff joined in the talks with Dr. von Braun and members of his staff.

NASA announced Dec. 12 that MSFC's Agena program would be transferred to the Lewis Center to allow Marshall to concentrate all of its efforts on the vital Saturn vehicle development for the manned lunar landing program.

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