METHODS FOR TRAJECTORY COMPUTATION. May 10, 1961. No. 3-61. Internal Note. Aeroballistics Division. George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. For Internal Use Only.

[2], i-x, 1-2, [2], 3-219 pages. plus covers. Large staple-bound paperback: H 26.75cm x L 20.25cm. White paper covers mildly toned and soiled, three ink scribblings at front cover's fore-edge margin area with two staple holes at top edge. Impressions from removed paper clips on first two leaves and pages 6-7. Interior pages are otherwise clean. Binding is firm. Contents summarized upon [page 1] "The report established a comprehensive set of equations suited for a large variety of rigid body dynamics and trajectory problems of guided missile flights . . ." Feature a total of twelve chapters divided among two sections titled as "Basic Concepts and Theoretical Development of One Generalized Approach to Treating Trajectory Determination Problems" and "Accumulation of Detailed Systems of Equations Associated with Various Typical Problems of Flight Trajectory Calculations" plus three appendices. A good+ copy. As evidenced by the front cover date of May 10, 1961, this publication shows that NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center was researching the applied mathematics of orbital trajectory mechanics before President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 speech declaring the United States's goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him to Earth by the end of the decade. Page 218 indicates that Ernest D. Geissler was the Director of the Aeroballistics Division at the time of the Note's release although a Google search turns up a citation that William E. Miner eventually served as chief of the Astrodynamics and Guidance Theory Division at the Huntsville facility.…