German Army Ordnance Office, after reviewing work of Goddard and others, decided to establish rocket program and to equip artillery proving ground at Kummersdorff to develop military missiles. References: 17 .

Lift 496 lb for 14 sec; weight liquid oxygen 31 lb; weight gasoline 24 lb; jet velocity, greater than 4470 ft/sec. References: 482 .

Rocket-Sonde Research Branch constituted in Naval Research Laboratory to conduct scientific exploration of the upper atmosphere. References: 17 .

Launched 22:18 local time. Reached 183.9 km. Carried cosmic radiation, meteorites; biological (National Institute of Health) experiments for Applied Physics Lab, John Hopkins University.

NACA flight 2. Familiarization. Mach 0.8. References: 49 , 97 .

Council of Soviet Ministers (SM) Decree 'On the Creation of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile R-16(8k64) with Start of LKI in June 1961--start of work on the R-16 ICBM' was issued. References: 474 .

Navy Special Projects Office authorized Lockheed to proceed with Polaris development, having withdrawn from the Jupiter program earlier. References: 17 .

First successful test firing of USAF Atlas ICBM, the missile landing in the target area after a flight of 600 miles. References: 17 , 278 .

The H-1 engine successfully completed its first full-power firing at NAA's Rocketdyne facility in Canoga Park, Calif. References: 16 .

Representatives of Advanced Research Projects Agency, the military services, and NASA met to consider the development of future launch vehicle systems. Agreement was reached on the principle of developing a small number of versatile launch vehicle systems of different thrust capabilities, the reliability of which could be expected to be improved through use by both the military services and NASA. References: 16 .

NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan announced that the manned satellite program would be called "Project Mercury." References: 16 .

NASA awarded contract to Rocketdyne of North American to build single-chamber 1.5-million-pound-thrust rocket engine. References: 17 , 27 .

Council of Soviet Ministers (SM) Decree 1384-615 / TsK Decree 254 'On the Establishment of the Post of Commander-in-Chief of Missile Forces in the Armed Forces of the USSR--creation of the Strategic Missile Forces' are issued. References: 474 .

Missile Defense Alarm System. Carried ERS-3, ERS-4 subsatellites. References: 5 , 126 , 278 .

Suborbital. References: 5 .

Probable weather satellite. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

A LM test failed in the Grumman ascent stage manufacturing plant December 17. A window in LM-5 shattered during its initial cabin pressurization test, designed to pressurize the cabin to 3.9 newtons per square centimeter (5.65 pounds per square inch). Both inner and outer windows and the plexiglass cover of the right-hand window shattered when the pressure reached 3.5 newtons per sq cm (5.1 psi). An MSC LM engineer and Corning Glass Co. engineers were investigating the damage and cause of failure. References: 16 .

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 99 .

Deep space retrieval of film cartridges from Service Module. References: 66 .

Military topography satellite; returned film capsule; separated science capsule. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Maximum Speed - 1667 kph. Maximum Altitude - 20960 m. Flight Time - 420 sec. References: 49 , 97 .

Acquisition of meteorological information needed for use by the weather service. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international coope ration scheme). References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule; maneuverable. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Military navigation satellite. Replaced Cosmos 1704, Cosmos 1598. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Topographic mapping for the Army General Staff. References: 1 , 2 , 6 , 101 , 102 .

Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Stationed at 12 deg E. Declared purpose: 'Investigation of outer space and of processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. Prognoz series'. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 107 , 274 .