from Kitty Hawk to Cape Kennedy NASA the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration presents Aeronautics and
Space report
1966 a year in which aeronautics and
space in the news achievements which are
expanding man's knowledge here is a
report on some of those accomplishments
this animation shows how surveyor one
looked as it came in for a soft landing
on the moon the date June 2nd as
evidenced by these photos a spacecraft
can land on the lunar surface and
probably a man can walk on it some of
the terrain is very similar to our soil
a man would leave footprints as he would
in sand many rocks dot the moon scape
future flights will photograph other
possible manned landing areas and carry
instruments to measure surface hardness
information needed before men land
they're charting actual landing sites
for the astronauts is the job of lunar
orbiter two of the 850-pound satellites
have orbited the moon photographing and
mapping wide areas sometimes sweeping as
low as 25 miles above the surface here
are some of the pictures pictures
helping to determine the height and
slope of lunar mountains and the depth
of craters these remarkable views show
the crater Copernicus pictures too of
the backside of the moon and the view of
Earth from 240,000 miles in space the
surveyor lunar orbiter combination has
returned a valuable scientific data
about the moon helping pave the way for
the first lunar explorers
American weather satellites are a good
example of technological potential put
to work not only for our own well-being
but that of other nations the
high-flying picture takers have given
advance warnings on everything from
hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to
great sand storms in North Africa and
Arabia three satellites making up the
Tyros operational system were launched
for the weather bureau in 1966 and are
returning daily meteorological
information around the world
Nimbus an advanced NASA research weather
satellite was also launched Nimbus took
both day and infrared nighttime pictures
over the United States and of the entire
Earth predecessor to long-range weather
forecasting systems
one of more than a dozen scientific
satellites launched by NASA in 1966 was
orbiting geophysical Observatory
nicknamed ogo it studies space phenomena
such as radiation belts solar plasma
magnetic fields their effects on each
other and the earth another satellite is
greatly refining our mapmaking ability
appearing as a bright new star it is
called patos badgeos carries no
instruments by reflecting sunlight from
its 100-foot shiny surface it provides
an orbiting point source of light
serving as a beacon in the sky the
satellite is simultaneously photographed
by widely separated ground stations
throughout the world with the help of
paggio sand using the principles of
geometry the Earth's surface can now be
mapped with greatly increased accuracy
to pioneer spacecraft were launched into
orbit around the Sun pioneers six and
seven between now and 1970 an entire
series of these Sun Watchers will be put
into orbit around the Sun investigating
reporting future pioneers will venture
even closer to the Sun observing the
solar atmosphere close up and warning of
solar storms sending back useful data
about the sun-earth relationship more
than 300 sounding rockets were launched
from various locations around the world
these small rockets play an important
role as they scientifically probed the
atmosphere and ionosphere testing out
equipment and experiments to be flown on
future satellites and helping us better
understand weather and communications
sounding Rockets so reliable and
flexible they can be launched during
sub-zero weather or from on board a ship
at sea to take measurements during a
solar eclipse
total eclipses happen only once every
two years
November 12 1966 was the date of one of
these occurrences the place South
America certain celestial phenomena can
be recorded only when a total eclipse
blots out the sun's direct light 300
scientists from the US and other
countries complete with equipment
gathered in South America to witness and
record the event some flew on high-speed
jets which intercepted the moon shadow
and then raced along with it out over
the Atlantic others used sounding
rockets to record changes in winds and
temperatures and make x-ray measurements
as the moon's shadow swept from coast to
coast across South America
scientists had an opportunity to acquire
a history of a complete solar event in a
cooperative international program this
is the hypersonic research vehicle x-15
a rocket and spacecraft in one
in the atmosphere it flies like an
airplane at the edge of space it is
controlled by Gemini type reaction Jets
on November 18th
the x-15 rocketed to a world record
speed for winged aircraft four thousand
one hundred fifty nine miles per hour
the sleek black plane has also reached
altitudes of more than 67 miles but the
x-15 is more than all this it is a
flying research laboratory making
contributions that range from bio
astronautics to future leadership in
high-speed high-altitude supersonic and
hypersonic flight there may be a need
someday to shuttle men and equipment
between orbiting space stations and
earth it is for this reason that NASA
has been studying lifting bodies this
prototype called the m2 f2 is one of the
lifting bodies currently undergoing
tests wingless lifting bodies are being
developed to operate in space then
returned through the Earth's atmosphere
landing like a conventional airplane
research continued in developing systems
that might power future space missions
yet undefined present-day Rockets are
for the most part liquid fuel now under
study our solid propellant rockets of
equal or greater thrust the Florida
Everglades was the site of the second
test firing of a powerful solid fuel
rocket motor the eight story tall motor
spewed out a pillar of white-hot flame
from its exhaust nozzle the so called
large solid burned eight hundred forty
tons of rubber like fuel at a rate of
six tons per second also in the research
stage nuclear propulsion engines a
series of tests are being jointly
conducted by NASA and the Atomic Energy
Commission the rocket would use a
nuclear reactor to produce thrust small
less fuel consuming nuclear engines
being tested now may someday enable
scientists to plan long missions to
distant points in space and carry
greater payloads
project Gemini this country's second man
venture into space falls between the
experimental mercury program of the
early 60s and operational Apollo flights
we've gained much experience from
Germany nearly 2,000 man-hours in space
experience which has direct application
to the Apollo program there were five
Gemini flights during the year rounding
out a series of 1210 manned to unmanned
Gemini operated in a building block
fashion experience learned from one
mission was applied to the next
this included both the successes and
failures
Germany's major requirements rendezvous
and docking long-duration missions
learning to work in space and the
ability to bring a spacecraft down to
earth close to a desired landing point
by the end of 1965 we had satisfied the
long-duration mission requirement during
March 1966 Gemini 8 astronauts Armstrong
in Scott carried out the first
rendezvous and docking with an orbiting
Aegina but all did not go well a
malfunction caused the spacecraft to
roll erratically the crew was forced to
undock and make an early landing in the
Pacific proving the ability to evolve
alternate plans to learn from the
unexpected Gemini 9 had a double problem
the Agena could not be put into orbit
and as you can see here the shroud
surrounding a substitute target did not
come completely off even so Stafford and
Cernan rendezvous three separate times
with what they called the angry
alligator and Cernan spent more than one
orbit outside the spacecraft
then Germany ten when astronauts Jung
and Collins met with and latched on to
an orbiting a Gina the docked craft then
powered up to rendezvous with the Agena
vehicle left in space from the Gemini 8
mission in addition Mike Collins became
the third American to practice extra
vehicular activity although trouble with
his oxygen systems shortened the
spacewalk Gemini 11 was also a
successful flight a new altitude record
of 860 miles was established with the
docked Gemini Aegina combination as in
the two previous missions a VA was cut
short this time because of fatigue but
Germany 12 showed how man could work
more productively outside his spaceship
astronaut edwin aldrin using special
hand holds tethers and foot restraints
to counteract the effects of
weightlessness spent more than five
hours outside the craft completing all
his evie a tasks a 100 foot line was
attached between a Gina and Gemini
conserving valuable fuel and even
creating a small amount of artificial
gravity during all the Gemini missions
many important scientific and
engineering experiments were carried out
and hundreds of photographs like these
are giving us a better understanding of
our earth of special significance to has
been the ability gained to control a
spacecraft during the all-important
reentry an ability which has allowed
Germany to land within full view of the
recovery forces Germany has prepared as
well for all future manned missions into
space
1966 was a year of development and
testing for Apollo Saturn escape systems
fuel cells spacecraft all the major
components are being worked up to a
state of readiness three uprated Saturn
one Rockets were sent aloft from Cape
Kennedy to check out the performance of
the launch vehicle and unmanned
spacecraft all went well including
recovery in the South Atlantic this a
prelude to manned Apollo missions at the
Kennedy Space Center a full-scale
engineering model of Apollo and the
Saturn 5 rocket were put together inside
the newly built Vehicle Assembly
Building from there a giant crawler
transported the rocket and craft to the
launch pad three miles away
1966 a year of exploration and
investigation with a building toward
faster more efficient planes of the
future developing space hardware at
industrial plants throughout the United
States or performing basic research at
University and government laboratories
1966 was a year of progress in both
aeronautics and this country's
continuing peaceful exploration of space
this has been an Aeronautics and Space
report presented by NASA the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration