In March 1961 Singer and another University of Maryland physicist, E. J. Opik, were given a $ 97, 000 grant by NASA to conduct a three-year study of interplanetary gas and dust.

In early 1961, Lovelock was engaged by NASA to develop sensitive instruments for the analysis of extraterrestrial atmospheres and planetary surfaces.

* 1961 – NASA launches the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn-Apollo 1.

* The First Man In Space – NASA / JPL translation of Soviet Radio and Newspaper Reports – May 1, 1961

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. ( November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998 ) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, NASA astronaut, and businessman, who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.

* Corps began construction support for NASA leading to major activities at the Manned Spacecraft Center and John F. Kennedy Space Center, 1961

Syncom ( for " synchronous communication satellite ") started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by Hughes Space and Communications.

IBM 7090 operator's console at the NASA Ames Research Center in 1961, with two banks of IBM 729 magnetic tape drives.

In 1961 the AOMC space related missions and most of its employees, facilities and equipment were transferred to NASA.

On September 19, 1961, NASA Administrator James E. Webb announced the conversion of the Space Task Group into the new Manned Spacecraft Center ( MSC ) to be located at the Houston site.

William Cameron " Willie " McCool ( September 23, 1961 – February 1, 2003 ) was a United States Navy Commander, NASA astronaut and the pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107.

Laurel Blair Salton Clark ( March 10, 1961 – February 1, 2003 ) was a medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle mission specialist who was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

After the Soviets placed the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961, President John F. Kennedy pushed for ways in which NASA could catch up, famously urging action a manned mission to the Moon: " I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.

On August 10th of 1961 NASA Awarded MIT a contract for preliminary design study of a guidance and navigation system for Apollo.

In 1961, NASA originally planned to have the Gemini spacecraft land on a firm, solid ground runway with a Rogallo wing airfoil, rather than as a splashdown with parachute.

* Charles O. Hobaugh ( born 1961 ), NASA astronaut with the call-sign " Scorch "

Pamela Anne Melroy ( born 17 September 1961 ) is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut.

Air Force Astronaut Wings ; NASA Space Flight Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster ; NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal ; Fédération Aéronautique Internationale-Komarov Diploma ; Defense Superior Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal ; French Legion of Honor, Saudi Arabian King Abdul Aziz Medal ; Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters ; Air Force Commendation Medal ; Washington State University Sloan Engineering Award ( 1961 ); Air Training Command Academic Training Award ( 1966 ); Squadron Officer School Commandant's Trophy ( 1968 ); Squadron Officer School Chief of Staff Award ( 1968 ); Washington State University Distinguished Alumnus Award ( 1983 ); University of Washington Distinguished Alumnus Award, Aeronautics and Astronautics, ( 1984 ); Washington State Service to Humanity Award ( 1983 ); Distinguished Alumnus Award ( 1985 ); Medallion of Merit ( 1987 ); Phi Sigma Kappa ; Leonov Medal ( Association of Space Explorers )( 1992 ); Magnuson Puget Sound Legacy Award ( People for Puget Sound )( 2010 ).

Upon leaving NASA in January 1961, Glennan returned to the Case Institute of Technology, where he continued to serve as president until 1966.

It was proposed to NASA in 1961, and they supported the project with funds in 1964.

Charles Owen " Scorch " Hobaugh ( born November 5, 1961, in Bar Harbor, Maine ) is a NASA astronaut and a retired U. S. Marine Corps officer.

He became the founding director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in 1961, and served until his retirement from NASA in 1981.

( born July 28, 1961 in Little Rock, Arkansas ) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut.

Frederick Wilford " Rick " Sturckow ( born August 11, 1961 ) is a United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut.

* 1961 – Kalpana Chawla, Indian-American astronaut ( d. 2003 )

* 1961 – Laurel Clark, American physician and astronaut ( d. 2003 )

* 1961 – Christopher Ferguson, American astronaut

* 1961 – Willie McCool, American astronaut ( d. 2003 )

The second manned spacecraft was named Freedom 7, and it performed a sub-orbital spaceflight in 1961 carrying American astronaut Alan Shepard to an altitude of just over.

* July 1 – Alan G. Poindexter, American astronaut ( b. 1961 )

* Daniel C. Burbank ( b. 1961 ), American astronaut.

Originally scheduled to take place in October 1960, this was postponed several time and on May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard made America's first sub-orbital spaceflight.

* The Mercury spacecraft that astronaut Gus Grissom flew on July 21, 1961, was dubbed Liberty Bell 7.

* Frank De Winne, astronaut, born in Ghent in 1961, but residing in Sint-Truiden since 1986.

Kalpana Chawla ( July 1, 1961 – February 1, 2003 ) was an Indian-American astronaut who, was a mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia.

The first manned space flights were made in early 1961, first by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and then by American astronaut Alan Shepard.

* Yuri Gagarin ( March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968 ) – Soviet astronaut who on April 12, 1961 became the first man in space and the first human to orbit Earth.

Several major American space exploration " firsts " were launched from CCAFS, including the first U. S. earth satellite ( 1958 ), first U. S. astronaut ( 1961 ), first U. S. astronaut in orbit ( 1962 ), first two-man U. S. spacecraft ( 1965 ), first U. S. unmanned lunar landing ( 1966 ), and first three-man U. S. spacecraft ( 1968 ).

Daniel Christopher Burbank ( born July 27, 1961 ) is an American astronaut and a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions.

Frank, Viscount De Winne ( born 25 April 1961 in Ledeberg, Belgium ) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut.

* October 9 – Wally Brown, American actor and comedian ( d. 1961 )

From 1959 to 1960 series Loopy De Loop and The Flintstones, softly orchestrated themes, some of them almost sounding concrete music and some played only by accordion, were used in other H-B cartons between 1961 and 1963 – like Top Cat, Snagglepuss, Touché Turtle, Wally Gator and the Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound 1961 seasons and all of its segments – and eventually between 1964 and 1967, and rarely then until the eighties.

Ama Dablam was first climbed on 13 March 1961 by Mike Gill ( NZ ), Barry Bishop ( USA ), Mike Ward ( UK ) and Wally Romanes ( NZ ) via the Southwest Ridge.

* 1961 Southwest Ridge ( VI 5. 9 60deg 1500m ) FA by Mike Gill ( NZ ), Barry Bishop ( USA ), Mike Ward ( UK ) and Wally Romanes ( NZ ).

* 1961 Wally Lines

In 1961 and 1962, Wally Roker was the promotion man for Scepter Records who promoted all the Shirelles hit records.

Carney appeared with Wally Brown in Walt Disney's " Absent Minded Professor " in 1961, but they never appeared in the same scenes together.

Wallace E. " Wally " Wingert ( born May 6, 1961 ) is an American actor and voice actor.

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* Wally Wingert, ( born 1961 Wallace E. Wingert ), American Voice Actor