In two hours of key discussions the General Staff were briefed on the future uses of satellites - communications, reconnaissance, navigation, meteorology, geodesy. The fantastic vistas presented resulted in considerable scepticism.

NACA flight 3. Mach 0.85 at 9150 m. Damping characteristics good; number 1 cylinder failed to fire. References: 49 , 97 .

Rocket performance, satellite instrumentation test. Launched at 0931 local time. Reached 204 km.

Sodium cloud, ionization research. Launched at 1005 local time. Reached 106.2 km.

The first Redstone missile battalion, the 217th Field Artillery Missile Battalion, was formally activated at Redstone Arsenal.

Army informed the OSD that a Jupiter missile could be fired in an effort to orbit a small satellite in January 1957. References: 17 .

3d powered flight, mach 1.4 at 15250 m. References: 49 , 97 .

Rocket performance flight test. Launched at 0810 local time. Reached 289 km.

NACA flight 4. Turbopump did not start; no engine operation. References: 49 , 97 .

Rocket performance test. Launched at 1505 local time. Reached 4 km.

Fourth powered flight, mach 1.683 at 16,378 m. References: 49 , 97 .

The Air Force disclosed that a $41 million guided missile production facility would be built at Sorrento, California, for the Atlas launch vehicle. Convair was announced as the prime contractor. References: 483 .

Solar radiation research. Launched at 0754 local time. Reached 143.3 km.

NACA flight 5. Wind-up turns to Clmas from mach 0.69 to 0.84; also control pulses. References: 49 , 97 .

Fifth powered flight, mach 1.8 at 18,300 m. References: 49 , 97 .

Payload, instruments, left and right animal containers all recovered. Smoke container functioned. Carried dogs. References: 283 , 344 .

RS-19 was launched at 2322 hours EST from AMR. The flight was successful. The actual range was 169.4 nm; 13 nm over the intended impact point. Cut-off wee given by the alcohol depletion switch that sensed alcohol injector pressure drop-off. Takeoff occurred 0.156 seconds after firing. The missile followed the correct trajectory with no obvious deviation. Missile cut-off occurred later than predicted and caused the missile to impact approximately 6.5 nm long, During descent the warhead turned left, causing impact to be several miles to the left of the aiming azimuth line. The primary test objectives were to test the angle-of-attack meter hardware (Jupiter control). Missed aimpoint by 25,100 m. References: 439 .

Rocket test, 86 kg payload. Insufficient fin-cuff protection caused aerodynamic instability. Launched at 0840 local time. Reached 169 km.

Sixth powered flight, mach 2.53 at 17.803 m. References: 49 , 97 .

Seventh powered flight; pilot checkout, mach 1+. References: 49 , 97 .

Fifth Academy founded for development of ballistic missiles References: 87 .

The RAND Corporation issued the first of a series of reports on the feasibility of a lunar instrument carrier, based on the use of an Atlas booster. A braking rocket would decelerate the vehicle before lunar landing, and a penetration spike on the forward point of the instrument package would help to absorb the 500 feet per second impact velocity. Instruments would then transmit information on the lunar surface to earth. References: 16 .

Payload, instruments, left and right animal containers all recovered. Smoke container failed. Carried dogs. References: 283 , 344 .

Beginning of construction of rail lines to Jiuquan missile test site References: 87 .

First studies by Korolev and Feoktistov of manned spacecraft. The first stage would be suborbital ballistic flights (like the US Mercury-Redstone flights) from Kapustin Yar using IRBM's. First flights not planned until 1964 - 1967. References: 85 .

Design was original concept of Zenit reconnaisance spacecraft. The effort would later be included in the Vostok program under the name of Zenit. References: 85 .

Sunfollower spectrograph. Launched at 0713 local time. Reached 58 km.

Payload, instruments, left and right animal containers all recovered. Smoke container functioned. Carried dogs. References: 283 , 344 .

NACA flight 6. Mach 1.55 at 13725 m. Longitudinal and lateral trim changes in transonic region found annoying to pilot. References: 49 , 97 .

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1351 local time. Reached 137.8 km.

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1342 local time. Reached 130.8 km.

NACA flight 7. Mach 1.74 at 18300 m. Damaged on landing. References: 49 , 97 .

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1120 local time. Reached 111.1 km.

First Cajun research rocket successfully launched at NACA Wallops Island, Va. References: 17 .

Decree 'MOP On production of the R-5A and R-2A scientific missiles at Plant No. 586' was issued. References: 474 .

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1148 local time. Reached 146.5 km.

First captive Atlas first test firing. The 'battleship' missile was installed at test stand 1-4, Edwards Air Force Base. The test was a failure due to inadvertant closure of the fuel prevalve, leading to duct collapse, and a turbine overspeed cutoff. No damage was sustained and the first successful firing came the next day. Atlas, First successful captive test firing, June 22, 1956, Edwards Rocket Base, duration - 4 seconds. Successful. References: 498 .

Decree 'On adoption of the R-5M into armaments' was issued. Deployment of the missile began in 1956 in brigades of six launchers. Initially it took 30 hours to prepare the rocket for launch, but this was reduced to 5 to 6 hours after several years of service. References: 474 .

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1242 local time. Reached 5 km.

First successful captive test firing of the Atlas ICBM at Edwards Air Force Base, duration - 4 seconds. References: 498 .

Ionosphere research. Launched at 1200 local time. Reached 261 km.

USAF X-17 flight test program started at Cape Canaveral to study reentry problems by simulating reentry velocities and conditions with three-stage solid-fuel Lockheed X-17. A total of 26 X-17 flights were conducted until March 1957. References: 17 .