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Armchair Theatre: Dumb Martian
British broadcaster ABC airs an episode of the play anthology series Armchair Theatre, Dumb Martian, adapted by Clive Exton from a story by John Wyndham. Originally intended to be the pilot of an all-science-fiction anthology called Out Of This World, this episode is aired as an episode of Armchair Theatre by a decision from producer (and future Doctor Who creator) Sydney Newman, whose protege, Irene Shubik, will be the new anthology’s story editor. Out Of The World begins its short run on ABC a week later. This episode no longer exists in the archives.
More about Out Of This World and Out Of The Unknown in the LogBook
The first episode of the British science fiction series The Andromeda Breakthrough, created and written by John Elliot and astronomer Fred Hoyle as a follow-up to 1961’s A For Andromeda, is broadcast on the BBC, starring Peter Halliday, Susan Hampshire, John Hollis (The Empire Strikes Back), and Mary Morris. Unlike A For Andromeda, this series exists in the BBC archives in its entirety.
The United States launches the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear weapons test, detonating a 1.4 megaton warhead at an altitude of 250 miles, the largest space-based nuclear test to date. The flash of the detonation creates a brief “false sunrise” over much of the Pacific Ocean, as well as an unusual auroral display resulting from the sudden release of charged particles trapped within Earth’s magnetic field. An electromagnetic pulse is also observed, more powerful than expected, causing some damage to the Hawaiian power grid. The radiation released in low Earth orbit also interferes with some satellites, including shortening their operational life spans (this includes the 
The first Telstar communications satellite is launched, the first attempt to forge a permanent trans-Atlantic telecommunications link with an satellite that both receives and actively retransmits signals. A multinational venture between communications companies and government agencies in America, England and France, Telstar relays the first live trans-Atlantic television broadcast, bringing together the three major American networks of the time and the BBC for a one-of-a-kind joint news broadcast. Live intercontinental telephone calls and other TV broadcasts are also handled by Telstar. Though it’s an experimental satellite, Tesltar is expected to remain in service for some time, but its operational life is reduced to less than a year by, among other things, the effects of high-altitude nuclear weapons tests. Telstar shuts down in February 1963, but remains in orbit to this day.
NASA launches the JPL-built unmanned space probe Mariner 1, the first of two identical spacecraft intended to study the planet Venus. Mariner 1’s mission, however, is cut short before it even leaves Earth’s atmosphere: a communication loss between its Atlas-Agena booster rocket and ground-based control systems sends the rocket off course. Fearing that it might tumble into the Atlantic Ocean’s heavily traveled shipping lanes, NASA orders the vehicle to self-destruct in mid-air. Many later accounts lay the blame at an error in the code loaded into the rocket’s on-board guidance computer. Mariner 1’s mission objectives are transferred to its identical twin, Mariner 2, due to be launched in just over a month.
Andrian Nikolayev becomes the third Soviet cosmonaut to reach orbit. Aboard Vostok 3, Nikolayev remains in orbit for almost four days, long enough to become the first space traveler from Earth to have company while in orbit.
The Soviet Union launches Vostok 4 with Pavel Popovich aboard, while Andrian Nikolayev orbits overhead in Vostok 3. The two vehicles pass within four miles of one another, but with no precision maneuvering, rendezvous or docking equipment, there’s little practical engineering value in the tandem space flight, other than to prove that ground controllers can handle two simultaneous flights. Popovich returns to Earth after nearly three days.
NASA launches its first interplanetary spacecraft, the unmanned space probe Mariner 2, en route to Venus. During its three-month trip from Earth to Venus, Mariner 2 takes measurements of solar wind, charged particles, and an experiment is included to measure the amount of dust and micrometeoroids between the two planets. The probe briefly loses attitude control several times in flight, but regains proper orientation in each instance.
NASA and the United States Weather Bureau launch the sixth experimental TIROS weather satellite, TIROS-6. Launched specifically to allow for better detection of storms during the 1962 Atlantic hurricane season, TIROS-6 has a full workload within days of launch as Hurricane Daisy forms in the Caribbean Sea and makes its way to New England. TIROS-6 finally provides a successful test for NASA’s attempts to keep a weather satellite in service for long-duration missions, lasting over a year in orbit.
The 27th episode of Sydney Newman’s spy series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee, airs on UK broadcaster ABC, opening the show’s second season. Honor Blackman joins the cast as Cathy Gale.
Astronaut Wally Schirra is the third American to orbit Earth, aboard the Mercury 8 capsule (nicknamed Sigma 7). He remains in orbit for just over nine hours in the cramped quarters of the Mercury spacecraft before splashing down.