270 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



underline the urgency of President Kennedy's decision to accelerate 

 our own manned space program. 



Finally, it must be realized that in the long run man cannot, by 

 his very nature, be kept out of space. The same drive tliat led Colum- 

 bus to explore the outer reaches of the known world will induce modern 

 man to explore the deeps of the solar system. 



MANNED SPACE FLIGHT 



The historic flights of American Astronauts Alan Shepard and 

 Virgil Grissom on May 5 and July 21, 1961, respectively, were so 

 completely reported that I shall not repeat the details. As you know, 

 these flights were important steps in Project JMercury, which is the 

 first phase in the United States program for manned spaceflight. 



The spaceflights of Astronauts Shepard and Grissom were made to 

 test the man and the Mercury spacecraft, and to determine the quality 

 of the vehicle and its systems and man's ability to handle them in 

 space. In other words, the flights were made to learn how the astro- 

 naut, his capsule, and his equipment can best function together, as 

 preliminary steps to putting an astronaut in orbit around the earth. 



The value of these preliminary flights is attested by the success 

 of Astronaut John Glenn's orbital flight on February 20, 1962, in 

 which the initial objective of Project Mercury was achieved. Fur- 

 ther three-orbit 4i/2-hour flights are planned in Project Mercury. 

 Then late this year or early in 1963 we will begin flights with a 

 Mercury spacecraft modified so that it has the capability of remaining 

 in orbit up to 24 hours. 



To follow Mercury, we are developing the two-man spacecraft 

 Gemini, in which we will conduct orbital flights up to a week in dura- 

 tion, and test out techniques of maneuvering and joining spacecraft 

 in orbit about the earth. 



The third phase of our manned spaceflight program is called 

 Project Apollo. The Apollo spacecraft will be large enough for liv- 

 ing and working quarters to accommodate three men who will be able 

 to operate in a "shirt-sleeves environment." The Apollo spacecraft 

 will be injected into earth orbit by the Saturn launch vehicle which 

 has an eight-cluster first stage with a thrust of 1,500,000 pounds, 

 compared to the Russian booster with about 750,000 pounds of thrust, 

 the Atlas with 360,000 pounds, and the Redstone with 78,000. The 

 Redstone was used for the Shepard and Grissom flights, and the Atlas 

 will be the booster for Mercury orbital flights. 



The Apollo-Saturn combination will provide a manned earth satel- 

 lite, in which the three-man team can perform a great variety of scien- 

 tific experiments while training for sustained spaceflight. Next will 

 come voyages deeper into space including a three-man voyage around 



