 Early in October 1961, the first Saturn vehicle was successfully launched at Cape Canaveral. Three days later, the office of manned spaceflight was formed. This film will show the steady progress that has occurred in manned spaceflight in the months that have followed. Within a few weeks, Chrysler prepared to produce Saturn S1 stages at Michoud, Louisiana. Actual production was to start as soon as the research and development phase was completed at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Midway through November 61, the RL-10 liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen engine successfully performed in a preliminary flight rating test. Nine days later, NASA selected North American aviation to design and build two units, the command and service modules of the Apollo spacecraft that will be employed in the first exploration of the moon. At the close of that month, a spacecraft carrying a chimpanzee named Enos made two orbits around the earth. Early in December, NASA put its final approval on Project Gemini, a two-man spacecraft program specifically designed to provide experience in long-term weightlessness and rendezvous procedures. Then on December 15th, the Boeing industrial team was chosen to produce the giant first stage of the Saturn V at Michoud. Within days, engineers from Douglas Aircraft began work on modification of the Saturn S4 stage for use in the third stage of Saturn V. At this time, the second stage was already under contract, and the configuration of the Saturn V launch vehicle was firmly established. The first stage was 5F1s, the second stage was 5J2s, and the third stage was 1J2. On December 21, the Office of Man-Space Flight held the first meeting of a management council established to assure thorough coordination of all man-space flight activities. January of 1962 saw Aeroget General start development work on the M1. This liquid hydrogen, a liquid oxygen engine, will be capable of developing a million, 200,000 pounds of thrust. Early in February, NASA selected General Electric to supply equipment at Merritt Island, Florida for integrated space vehicle checkout and to support NASA in its reliability assessment and integration analysis. On February 20th, astronaut John Glenn went into orbit to circle the Earth three times. Two days later, Bellcom, Incorporated, was signed to provide overall systems engineering support for the man-space flight program. To improve interagency communications, the Air Force established a liaison office with the Office of Man-Space Flight through the appointment of a deputy commander, Major General Ritland. Before the end of the month, a mock-up of the Gemini capsule was completed at the McDonnell Plant in St. Louis. Also in March, the NASA Man-Spacecraft Center moved from Langley Field, Virginia, to Houston, Texas. On the 25th of April, the second Saturn was successfully launched. This included an experimental test explosion of water-filled tanks at high altitude at the end of the flight. Early in May, the separate contracts to produce the major components of the Apollo guidance system were awarded to three companies. AC Spark Plug, Raytheon, and Cozman Instrument will work with MIT in charge of systems development. About the same time, Convair was chosen to design and manufacture Little Joe 2, a launch vehicle for Apollo spacecraft suborbital test flights. May was also the month when astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpenter successfully made his three-orbit flight around the Earth. Before the end of May, the F-1 engine was fired at full thrust for the first time. It happened at Edwards, California. Moving into June, the Greenhut Construction Company contracted to modify the Saturn test stand at the Marshall Center. The modification provided two test positions. Shortly afterwards, a computer center to service the MSHU operation was established at Slidell, Louisiana. On July 11th, Space Administrator James E. Webb announced the decision to base the planning, research, development, and procurement of its space program on a lunar orbit rendezvous mode of flight to the moon. The vehicle was informally named the bug. With this planning decision for lunar orbital rendezvous, NASA authorized an improved launch vehicle, the Saturn 1B, at instituted studies of a nova vehicle larger than previously contemplated. A few days later, it was announced that the new control center located at the manned spacecraft center in Houston, Texas would be the primary Earth station for the control of manned space flight missions. Shortly after, IBM was awarded a contract to develop and supply the computer facility for the mission control center. On July 21st, the design of the Saturn 5 launch complex was selected to include a vertical assembly building and an Earth crawler to carry the 350-foot vehicle to the launch pad in an erect position. Off the California coast, the first full-scale model of Apollo spacecraft underwent a successful preliminary flotation test in August. September 17, 1962, the selection of nine new astronaut candidates was announced in Houston. NASA approved plans for static and flight testing of the Apollo spacecraft propulsion and abort systems at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Late in September, plans were approved for the development of a test facility in Mississippi, which will be used for firing the large launch vehicle stages produced at the Mishu plant in New Orleans. On October 3rd, Walter Chirot successfully orbited the Earth six times. He made his landing in the Pacific Ocean. A few days later, the Saturn S-4 stage successfully completed its first full-duration static firing test, a seven-minute run at Sacramento. At this time, teams from Hamilton Standard and International Latex were contracted for work on the development of spacesuits for Apollo Spaceman. Within the week, the J-2 engine underwent a full-duration four-minute static firing test at Rocketdyne. Toward the end of the month, a NASA test pilot flew a paraglider over Edwards, California. It was a successful development test for the Gemini recovery system. At that same location, three separate contractors began work on a complex of three stands for testing the big F-1 rocket engine. By the 7th of November, Grumman was selected for development work on the lunar excursion module of the Apollo spacecraft. NASA announced its confirmation of lunar orbit rendezvous as the selected mission mode for Apollo. On November 9th, the S-1 first stage of the Saturn was test-fired at a full thrust of one and a half million pounds. Space fireings have all been 1.3 million pounds, but this was in preparation for the first two-stage flight to be launched in 1963. On November 14th, astronaut Gordon Cooper was selected for a one-day orbital flight to take place this spring. Alan B. Shepard will be his backup. Within a few days, the third test flight of Saturn succeeded. This included a second high-water explosion. At the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Saturn IV stage arrived for dynamic tests. It had completed a 23-day voyage from the west coast, coming by way of the Panama Canal, the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers. Late in the month, the first successful firing of a development engine for the Apollo spacecraft service module took place at the Aerojet General Plant. In December, NASA contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers to study the problems involved in constructing a base on the moon. At the end of 1962, North American aviation completed the fabrication of an Apollo command module. It was delivered to Northrop for installation of the parachute landing system and will be used in the first unmanned flight test. In this background of accomplishment in the manned space flight program, NASA looks forward to 1963 as another period of continuing progress.