Science: Birds of the Future

Vanguard II was the first big success for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Encouraged and confident, NASA outlined to Congress its ambitious program for peaceful space navigation. Some of its projects: ¶ An Atlas with a single upper stage to put a 3,000-lb. satellite in orbit (available soon).

¶Vega and Centaur, both based on Atlas, but with two additional stages. Vega has a section of the Vanguard for its second stage. Centaur’s second stage will burn hydrogen, whose high energy, according to NASA’s Dr. Abe Silverstein, “will greatly increase our capability to send a mission to Mars and Venus.” ¶ Most advanced project in the works: a five-stage job with a 6,000,000-lb. thrust first stage, which will be capable of carrying a man to the moon and bringing him back. In combination with a nuclear-powered upper-stage rocket, it should take 55,000 Ibs. to Mars.

The 1960 cost of this program, said NASA Director Glennan, will be $485.3 million, and he warned Congress that future bills would be higher. “The cost of our space programs,” he said, “will increase year by year. We expect that satellites will be widely used in meteorology—witness the Vanguard II cloud cover experiment—and in worldwide communications. The value of such advances will be counted in the billions of dollars.”