Aug 20 1963
From The Space Library
Asked in press conference about U.S.-U.S.S.R. collaboration in manned lunar flight program, President Kennedy said "Well, we haven't had any success in reaching any agreement. The kind of agreement, to be really meaningful, would require a good deal of inspection on both sides, and there's no evidence as yet that the Soviet Union is prepared to accept that. All we've gotten was an agreement to exchange weather information. We haven't anything more substantial." (Transcript, NYT, 8/21/63)
Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric said in testimony before Senate Committee on Appropriations' Subcommittee on DOD Appropriations: "Our goal is to establish, at an early date, a developmental communications satellite system consisting of a minimum number of simple, reliable satellites together with a minimum number of widely spaced ground stations, which can be tested and evaluated as a `package' within the framework of the established military communications network. This program would demonstrate the technical and operational characteristics of such a system as well as its compatibility with the existing communications complex. The ability to transmit signals between a satellite and two ground stations has already been demonstrated. But the ability of a `system,' comprising a number of satellites and ground stations, to provide a reliable means of military communication has yet to be explored . . . " (Testimony) )
Dr. Eugene G. Fubini, Assistant to DOD Director of Defense and Engineering, said in address to National Rocket Club in Washington that DOD viewed X-20 (Dyna Soar) and Gemini projects as "insurance" against uncertainties of future military manned space missions. Dr. Fubini expressed ho that DOD-NASA cooperation in Gemini and X-20 would provide some answers to help clarify man's possible role in military space missions. (M&R, 8/26/63, 12, 14)
Army Corps of Engineers announced start of construction of world's largest structure, the Vertical Assembly Building for Saturn V launch vehicle. VAB is being built on Merritt Island, adjacent to Cape Canaveral, Fla. As design and construction agent for NASA's manned space flight facilities, Corps was managing construction contracts in Merritt Island for NASA Launch Operations Center. (DOD Release 1141-63)
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson, Chairman of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, inserted in Congressional Record an article from Missiles and Rockets, which said: "The United States has gained more knowledge of outer space than the Russians because we've done a better overall job with our unmanned satellite program. We are using unmanned vehicles to help predict weather around the world, to improve navigation, to make possible international television and other communications, and to keep track of what the enemy is doing to establish missiles and other weapon systems aimed at us. "Not only have we learned more about the planet Mars through unmanned space research, but we've gained much knowledge of the vast reaches of space in between and beyond. . . . . We've pursued unmanned space research down far more streets and alleys than have the Soviets. "For the most part, our unmanned satellites are yielding knowledge that will assure success with manned flights into space in the future. For that reason, if no other, it is easy for the unmanned satellite program to be overlooked, its significance lost in the international competition of manned flights. This is a pity, for what we do in unmanned space exploration today is the very foundation on which we will build future manned space exploration. "In saying this we are not being partisan to the claim so often heard these days that we ought to forget about the manned program and explore space only with unmanned vehicles. We regard the controversy as a mere tempest in a teapot that will prove meaningless in time . . . " (CR, 8/20/63)
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