Arthur C. Clarke's The Exploration of Space was first published in England in 1951, and became a US Book of the Month Club selection the following year. The book included an alternative to the direct ascent technique: assembling or refueling the space vehicle in earth orbit before injection into translunar trajectory, to be followed, possibly, by rendezvous in lunar orbit with fuel tanker rockets launched from the earth.

At the second annual congress of the International Astronautical Federation in London, H. H. Koelle described 'Die Aussenstation' as part of a paper on 'Der Einfluss der Konstruktiven Gestaltung der Aussenstation auf die Gesamtkosten des Projektes (The Influence of the Layout of the Satellite on the Overall Cost of the Project).' Koelle's paper represented the most realistic appraisal so far of the problems of design and construction of a space station. He dealt with problems of payload limitation, orbital assembly, limitations on the crew in the space environment, and national and economic factors behind space station growth. In Koelle's view, such a station might be used for scientific investigations of Earth's upper atmosphere, weather observation, astrophysical research, and human and chemical research in a zero-gravity environment. Also, such a station might serve as a communications and navigation link with the ground and as a station for launching more distant space missions. He suggested a large circular structure consisting of 36 separate 5-m spheres arranged around a central hub, the whole structure rotating to provide an artificial gravity environment to offset physiological effects of prolonged weightlessness on the crew. One of the unique elements in Koelle's scheme was assembly of various parts of the station launched via separate rockets, with each segment being a complete structure. In this way the station could be made operational before fabrication was completed, and subsequent expansion of the structure could take place whenever desired. Total personnel complement of the station would range from 50 to 65 people. Koelle even estimated the cost of such a project: $518 million for construction and $620 million over an operational lifetime of six months.

The Nonweiler Waverider was a caret wing hypersonic waverider concept developed by Professor Terence R.F. Nonweiler, of Queen`s University, Belfast.

Air Force established Project MX-1593 (Project Atlas), study phase for an intercontinental missile. Contract was given to Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft on January 23. This was the follow-on to Project MX-774 terminated in 1947. Several test vehicles had been fired using residual funds in 1948 and 1949, after which the Convair MX-774 (Atlas) missile project had been shelved. The company, however, had continued to fund a research program. References: 17 , 278 .

Launched 13:14 local time. Reached 1.6 km. Carried cosmic and solar radiation experiments for Naval Research Lab.

Composition research. Launched at 1555 local time. Reached 88.5 km.

Solar radiation research. Launched at 0800 local time. Reached 90.1 km.

First launch in winter test series. Carried dogs. References: 283 , 344 .

Last launch in winter test series. References: 283 , 344 .

Photography research. Launched at 1020 local time. Reached 98.2 km.

Launched 20:16 local time. Reached 3.1 km. Carried composition, air glow, sky brightness, ionosphere experiments for Air Research and Development Command.

First Germans sent back to Germany. Were not used to generate new designs after the G-4 References: 86 .

Myasishchev was tasked with building an intercontinental jet-powered bomber, something veteran aircraft designer Tupolev said was impossible. Myasishchev managed to complete the first prototype 103M (called M-4 Bear in the West) bomber ten months after go-ahead. Myasishchev would later play a key role in Soviet spaceplane development.

Airglow research. Launched at 1614 local time. Reached 68 km.