The 1960s
1961
Yuri Gagarin, first man to fly into space (12 April 1961), the origins of the Apollo program and the UNGA Resolution 1721 (XVI)
Documents
White House Telegram congratulating Khrushchev on manned space flight (12 April 1961)
JFK Presidential Library and Museum.
Correspondence between President J. F. Kennedy and the Vice President L. B. Johnson on the space program (20 April 1961).
Vice President Johnson’s memorandum to the President evaluating the space program (28 April 1961)
Wernher von Braun’s letter to the Vice President (29 April 1961).
Memorandum relaying the conversation between President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev on the possibility to go to the Moon together (3 June 1961)
JFK Presidential Library and Museum
Resolution that elaborated fundamental space law principles and requested the Secretary-General to maintain a public registry of launchings.
General Assembly Resolution 1721 (XVI) of 20 December 1961
Books
C. G. BROOKS, J. M. GRIMWOOD, L. S. SWENSON Jr.
“Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft”
NASA SP-4205, Washington, 1979.
B. K. BYERS
“Destination Moon: A History of the Lunar Orbiter Program”
NASA TM X-3487, Washington, DC, 1977.
W. H. LAMBRIGHT
“Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA”
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1995.
A. S. LEVINE
“Managing NASA in the Apollo Era”
NASA SP-4102, Washington, DC, 1982
J. M. LOGSDON
“The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest”
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA,1970.
C. A. MURRAY, C. BLY COX
“Apollo, the Race to the Moon”
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989.
M. R. SHARPE
“Yuri Gagarin: first man in space”
Strode Publishers, 1969.
Articles
J. M. LOGSDON
“An Apollo Perspective”
Astronautics & Aeronautics, December 1979, pp. 112-17.
Useful links
50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin Fight into Space website
BBC on this day: 12 April 1961
Russian Archives Online
1962
Creation of ELDO and ESRO and the launch of the first commercially funded satellite, Telstar I (10 July)
Documents
ELDO Convention (English/French)
Books
“The History of the European Space Agency”
Proceedings of an International Symposium, London, 11-13 November 1998
ESA SP-436, 1999.
“The Story of ESRO's Sounding Rocket Programme: In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first ESRO Sunding Rocket launch”
ESA BR-60, 1989.
R.-M. BONNET, V. MANNO
“International Cooperation in Space: The Example of the European Space Agency”
Frontiers of Space series, Harvard University Press, 1994.
J. KRIGE, A. RUSSO
“A History of the European Space Agency: 1958-1987. Volume I: The Story of ESRO and ELDO, 1958-1973”
ESA Publication Division, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2000.
Useful links
ESA History website
1963
Valentina Tereshkova, first woman into space (16 June)and the Partial Test Ban Treaty (5 August)
Books
B. H. KEVLES
“Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space”
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006.
M. R. SHARPE
“It is I, Sea gull: Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space” Crowell, 1975.
Articles
J. SYKORA, I. OLCOVA, J. DVORAK, M. POLANKOVA, A. TOMECEK
“Women’s place in space exploration”
Space Policy, Volume 12, Issue 3, August 1996, pp. 161-165.
S. M. NIEBUR
“Women and mission leadership”
Space Policy, Volume 25, Issue 4, November 2009, pp. 257-263.
Useful links
BBC on this day: 16 June 1963
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) website
1964
Establishment of INTELSAT (20 August)
Documents
Agreement Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization “INTELSAT” (1971)
Books
R. R. COLINA
“The INTELSAT Definitive Arrangements: Ushering in a New Era in Satellite Telecommunications”
Monograph No.9, European Broadcasting Union, Geneva, Switzerland, 1973.
J. N. PELTON, J. ALPER (eds)
“The INTELSAT Global Satellite System”
New York, 1986.
Articles
A.C. CLARKE
“Extraterrestrial Relays”
Wireless World, Volume 51, October 1945, pp. 305 308.
Useful links
1965
France becomes the third country to launch a satellite with its own launcher (26 November)
Useful links
CNES Website on the launch
1968
The Astronauts Agreement, the launch of the first ESRO’s satellite (17 May) and the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (14-27 August)
Documents
Astronauts Agreement
Resolution on the conference
General Assembly Resolution 2453 (XXIII) A of 20 December 1968
1969
First men on the Moon (20 July)
Documents
President Nixon daily diary (July 1969)
National Security Study Memorandum 72 (4 September 1969)
Books
M. ACKMANN
“The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight”
Random House, 2003.
Henry S.F. COOPER
“Apollo on the Moon”
Dial Press, New York, 1969.
T. FURNISS
“One Small Step"--The Apollo Missions, the Astronauts, the
Aftermath: A Twenty Year Perspective”
G.T. Foulis & Co., Somerset, England, 1989.
A. SHEPARD, D. SLAYTON
“Moonshot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon”
New York: Turner Books, 1994.
Useful links
BBC on this day: 21 July 1969
The New York Times On This Day
