Northrop Aircraft Co. announced that rocket-powered test vehicles at Muroc Air Base, Calif., had attained a speed of 1,019 mph. References: 17 .

Council of Ministers selects Tyuratam for ICBM test site. The first 30 construction workers arrive at Tyuratam. The town founded at the rail staion is called Zarya (Dawn). The name will be changed to Leninsk in January 1958, but Zarya will remain the call sign of Soviet ground control. References: 89 .

President Eisenhower, answering a December 10, 1957, letter from Soviet Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin regarding a summit conference on disarmament, proposed that Russia and the United States '. . . agree that outer space should be used for peaceful purposes.' This proposal was compared dedicate atomic energy to peaceful uses, an offer which The Soviets rejected. References: 483 .

NACA established a Special Committee on Space Technology to study the problems of space flight. H. Guyford Stever of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was named Chairman. On November 21, 1957, NACA had authorized formation of the Committee. References: 16 .

12 capsules to be built. Other leading contender was Grumman. Original schedule was for manned flights from January - August 1960. References: 26 .

Grumman and Hamilton Standard were exploring various designs for the extravehicular mobility unit. On the basis of some early conclusions, the MSC Crew Systems Division (CSD) recommended that meteoroid and thermal protection be provided by a single garment. Preliminary hypervelocity tests placed the garment's reliability at 0.999. Each would weigh about 7.7 kg (17 lbs), about 2.3 kg (5 lbs) less than the two-garment design. CSD further recommended that the unit be stored either in the LEM's descent stage or in a jettisonable container in the ascent portion. References: 16 .

State Committee for Defence Technology (GKOT) Decree 'On Detailed Work on Ampulized R-36 and R-36-O Missiles--design work on the R-36 and R-36-O missiles' was issued. References: 474 .

Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. References: 1 , 2 , 6 , 93 .

Dale D. Myers' appointment as NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight was announced effective January 12, to succeed Dr. George E. Mueller, who had joined General Dynamics Corp. in New York City as a Vice President. Before this appointment, Myers was Vice President and General Manager of the Space Shuttle Program, North American Rockwell Corp. References: 16 .

High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule; maneuverable. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule; maneuverable. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Military topography satellite; returned film capsule; also performed mapping, geodesy. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Military navigation satellite. Replaced Cosmos 1333. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Manned seven crew. Launched Satcom K1. Payloads: Deploy SATCOM (RCA-Satellite Communi-cations) Ku-1 with Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D II. Materials Science Laboratory, Comet Halley Active Monitoring Experiment (CHAMP), Hitchhiker (HH) Goddard (G)-1, thirteen getaway specials (GAS), student experiment, Initial Blood Storage Equipment (lBSE), Characterization of Space Motion Sickness (SMS). Additional Details: STS-61-C. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 33 .

Stationed at 81 deg W. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 .

Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation; survey of seismically active regions of the country, including the Armenian SSR, in the interests of industrial and non -industrial construction. References: 1 , 2 , 6 .

Civilian navigation satellite. Positioned in plane 11 of constellation. TSIKADA type spacecraft. Determination of the position of ships of the merchant marine and fishing fleet in the world's oceans and seas as part of the Tsikada space navigation system. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 107 .

Geostationary at 43.0W. References: 4 , 6 .

Geostationary at 91.4E. References: 4 , 6 .

After a night launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the Shuttle docked with Mir at 03:55 GMT on January 14. STS-81 transferred 2,715 kg of equipment to and from the Mir, the largest transfer of items to that date. During the docked phase, 640 kg of water, 515 kg of U.S. science equipment, 1,000 kg of Russian logistics, and 120 kg of miscellaneous material were transferred to Mir. Returned to Earth aboard Atlantis were 570 kg of U.S. science material, 405 kg of Russian logistics and 98 kg of miscellaneous material. At 02:16 GMT January 19, Atlantis separated from Mir after picking up John Blaha, who had arrived aboard STS-79 on September 19, 1996, and dropping off Jerry Linenger, who was to stay aboard Mir for over four months. The Shuttle backed off along the -RBAR (i.e. toward the Earth) to a distance of 140 m before beginning a flyaround at 02:31 GMT. Most of the flyaround was at a distance from Mir of 170 m. The first 'orbit' around Mir was complete at 03:15, and the second was completed at 04:02 GMT. Then the Orbiter fired its jets to drift away from the orbit of Mir. NASA's first Shuttle mission of 1997 came to a close with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center at 14:22 GMT on January 22 (after the first opportunity was waved off due to cloud cover at the Cape). Additional Details: STS-81. References: 4 , 7 , 276 .