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To insure that the required developmental capabilities will exist when needed, it is necessary to continue an aggressive analysis and experimental development program in anticipation of the requirements for booster and space propulsion. A second important benefit is the minimization of costly "quick fixes" which are inevitable if the required engineering foundations have not been established before development programs are undertaken.

Launch vehicle engines

Among the most promising advances that can be made in this area are those that develop integrated system design concepts. Investigations undertaken in fiscal year 1961 and fiscal year 1962 have shown the desirability of utilizing rigidly mounted engines employing "unconventional" nozzles. These nozzles are conceptually different from those used today and they are amenable to a variety of configurations which can be tailored to result in an improved enginevehicle system. Feasibility work, involving both hot and cold testing at suitable scales, must continue in fiscal year 1963 in order to evaluate definitively the capabilities of these improved designs and to make it possible to bring them to early use.

Another promising technique that is applicable to conventional engines as well as to the new designs is the utilization of higher combustion chamber pressures. This utilization would result in reduced engine size and in increased performance per pound of burned propellant. In fiscal year 1962 investigations were initiated to uncover potential difficulties associated with high-pressure operation. The major problems under consideration for fiscal year 1963 are those associated with transients in the combustion process, high-pressure pumping with rotating-type compressors, and heat transfer in the engine chambers and nozzles.

In fiscal year 1962 work was initiated to resolve some of the major areas of engine operating reliability problems. Among the most pressing problems is that of system leakages. Determination of fault characteristics and the influence of the extreme operating environments, currently underway, is already leading to new design and installation criteria for rocket engines.

Spacecraft engines

The advanced design and development projects of fiscal year 1961 and 1962 provided rapid progress in determining propulsion and operational requirements for various missions and in relating the capabilities of known concepts and technologies to spacecraft engines. Also, refined concepts regarding propellant pressurization systems, positive expulsion devices, pressurized storage, chamber cooling, chamber construction, controllable injectors, large area ratio nozzles, control and shutoff valves, static and dynamic seals, and other components were evolved.

Work is planned in fiscal year 1963 to evaluate and prove the feasibility of these refined approaches. Integration of certain components into subsystems must also be carried out to permit the experimental evaluation of compatibility. The subsystems which will require investigation are those needed for spacecraft engines that will provide trajectory adjustments, rendezvous, and extraterrestrial landing. Similar work must also be undertaken on new concepts for small, highly reliable, long-life propulsion devices that are capable of repeatedly delivering accurate impulses for the attitude control of spacecraft.

Investigations to determine the effects of space environment on the storabiity of propellants, on engine components and on engine operation have been proceeding. These are now pointed at the development of practical insulating materials for the storage of cryogenic materials in space and at the development of suitable micrometeorite protection devices. Work in this area is a continuing effort which is constantly oriented and intensified as new information on space environment becomes available.

82245-62-10

INDEPENDENT OFFICES

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

"CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES

"For an additional amount for 'Construction of facilities,' $71,000,000, to remain available until expended."

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Schedule on supplemental appropriations and revised estimates
[In thousands]

1. Present appropriation or estimate_-

2. Additional amounts available (including $11,140 of anticipated reimbursements not yet apportioned) –

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Deduct amount to be obligated in subsequent years.......

Total amount available (adjusted).

4. Apportionment: For the entire year__.

Add apportionment for anticipated reimbursements---.
Deduct amount to be obligated in subsequent years__

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9.

Estimated supplemental required___.

10. Estimated supplemental included in latest budget-

11. Date needed:

For obligation, Apr. 1, 1962.

For expenditure, May 1, 1962.

12. Estimated expenditures from supplemental:

In current fiscal year

In next fiscal year..
After next fiscal year..

Total___

13. Actual obligations last 3 months:

September_._

October
November..

$245,000

+111, 478

356, 478 -70, 670

285, 808

345, 338

+11, 140

-70, 670

285, 808

42, 707

100, 000

105, 000

109, 101

356, 808

285, 808

71,000 71,000

In budget Revised $4,000 $4,000 67,000 67, 000

71,000 71,000

$15, 736

23, 169 37, 866

Description

ATLANTIC MISSILE RANGE

FISCAL YEAR 1962 SUPPLEMENTAL ESTIMATES

LAND ACQUISITION

This project provides for the purchase of approximately 73,000 acres of land lying to the north and west of the present boundaries of Cape Canaveral. The area will be used for the construction of launch complexes; operational, logistic, and industrial facilities; and to provide a buffer zone between these facilities and surrounding inhabited areas.

The tract involved encompasses all those land and water areas north and west of the present Air Force Missile Test Center, Cape Canaverel; includes the strand for a distance of 72,000 feet north of the present northern boundary; and all of Meritt Island south of the old Haulover Canal to an east-west line slightly north of the Barge Canal, except for a small developed area in the southwest corner of this area. A sketch of the proposed land acquisition is attached. Included in the project are all of the costs required to institute condemnation proceedings where necessary, title searches, appraisals, land surveys and topographical mapping, core borings for subsurface profiles, and the purchase price of the real estate.

The urgency of the approved manned lunar program required the use of the NASA statutory reprograming authority to initiate land acquisition of certain portions of the total land requirements. To this end, the amount of $18,761,000 was transferred from the "Research and development" appropriation for the fiscal year 1962 to the "Construction of facilities" appropriation. The cost for reimbursement of the research and development funds are included in the total cost of this project.

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