The project of the century which probably appeals most universally to the sense of adventure is that of placing a man on the moon. Even news of steps taken in the formidable preliminaries involved in this gigantic undertaking impress the imagination. A first step has been taken by NASA in the assignment it issued recently: “Design an earth-bound facility with a gravitational force equal to that on the moon and a wingless, rotorless test vehicle which can be flown and landed by the thrust from its Focket motors alone.” Jackson & Moreland, Inc., consulting engineers, are working on the assignment, and the Lunar Landing Research Facility will be built at Langley Air Force Base, Va., where research engineers and test pilots may study the control of landings for future astronauts to the moon's surface.
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