Dec 2 1963
From The Space Library
Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D.-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, announced that revised testimony refuted the earlier contention that 25 per cent of U.S. scientific manpower would be working on space programs by 1970: "I challenged the accuracy of that forecast. The next day the Senate Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee began hearings on NASA'S relations with universities . . . . "The best estimates are that 6 or 7 per cent-at most 10 per cent-might be involved. That is a long way from being an excessive drain on scientific brainpower." (UPI, NYT, 12/3/63, 47)
Rep. George P. Miller (D.-Calif.), Chairman of House Committee on Science and Astronautics, reviewed Centaur development in speech on the House floor : ". . . Centaur began as a low-priority, financially austere feasibility study, in competition with high-priority defense programs. As its importance to the national space effort became more apparent, its terms of reference were changed; and, as time passed, its inherent technical difficulties came to the surface; technical difficulties, I might add, that we have learned to expect in most new programs. "Certainly, the original flight schedule of Centaur was overly optimistic. Hindsight also tells us that the complexity of the program was greatly underestimated . . . ." Referring to press articles charging $100 million was wasted in Centaur program, based on GAO investigative report, Rep. Miller pointed out : "That report was misinterpreted by the press, and a closer look at it will reveal that no such conclusion was drawn by the Comptroller General. The allege $100 million waste included $76 million reportedly lost in the Advent project, the military communications satellite project . . . . "While there can he no doubt. that certain programs incurred losses because of the unavailability of Centaur on schedule, it is incorrect and unfair to attribute the entire unrecoverable loss associated with the Advent program to Centaur, as the press apparently did. Suffice it to say that the Advent project had its own severe management and technical difficulties which led to its cancellation in June 1962." He called the Nov. 27 flight test of AC-2 "a significant advance in the development of a new technology upon which much of America's future space effort depends . . . ." (CR, 12/2/63, 21906 ff.)
Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly opened debate on report by the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Addressing the 111-nation Committee, U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson said President Johnson instructed him to reaffirm the proposal for U.S.-U.S.S.R. cooperation in exploration of the moon that President Kennedy had offered last September. But, Stevenson continued, "If giant steps cannot be taken at once, we hope that shorter ones can. We believe there are areas of work, short of integrating the two national programs, from which all could benefit. We should explore the opportunities for practical cooperation, beginning with small steps and hopefully leading to larger ones." Stressing that U.S. manned lunar program was only one part of the space program and that no more than 10 percent of the total U.S. space expenditure went directly for the lunar flight, he added : "Let me make clear that exploration of the moon is not a stunt, distinct from the outer-space program as a whole; nor is it the exclusive concern of only two nations. "Our policy of engaging in mutually beneficial and mutually supporting cooperation in outer space-with the Soviet Union as with all nations-does not begin or end with a manned moon landing. There is plenty of work yet to come before that-and there will be even more afterward." (Teltsch, NYT, 12/3/63, 1,14; L.A. Times, Wash. Post, 12/3/63, 1)
NASA selected Douglas Aircraft Co. for negotiations leading to follow-on study contract for refinement and evaluation of NASA manned orbital laboratory concept. Awarded on basis of Douglas performance of previous three-month study, the six-to-nine-month follow-on contract called for refining the NASA concept of a manned orbiting laboratory based on cylindrical six-man spacecraft. (NASA Release 63-262)
President Johnson's active leadership in space program since early 1958 was reviewed in Missiles and Rockets by Hal Taylor, who predicted the new President would give the space program even greater support than did President Kennedy. Added support could mean growth of military space projects, Taylor said, possibly including assignment of manned space station development to USAF. But FY 1965 budget estimates would be virtually unchanged. Article in Aviation Week and Space Technology indicated President Johnson was likely to "play a more direct role than his predecessor in the nation's military space and supersonic transport programs after the current transitional period, during which the emphasis is on showing the nation and the world that President Kennedy's commitments will be fulfilled." (M&R, 12/2/63,14-15; Av. Wk., 12/2/63,26-27)
On 21st anniversary of atomic age, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer was presented the Enrico Fermi award, highest honor of the Atomic Energy Commission, by President Johnson in White House ceremony. Citation honored Dr. Oppenheimer for his "contributions to theoretical physics as a teacher and originator of ideas and for leadership of the atomic energy program during critical years." Dr. Oppenheimer headed select group of scientists who m 1942 achieved first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at" Univ. of Chicago; was director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory during World War II; and since 1947 was director of Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, N.J. (Finney, NYT, 12/3/63, 1)
Proposal that mixed-manned NATO forces take over control of 150 Minuteman missile sites in the UPS. was included in report of committee on NATO nuclear force to Assembly of the Western. European Union. The report, which strongly supported U.S. plan for a mixed-manned NATO nuclear fleet, stated that teams made up of mixed NATO forces manning the U.S. Minuteman sites would have "considerable political significance in demonstrating-to Americans as well as to Europeans-full NATO participation in the strategic deterrent based on the American Continent, which hitherto has been a purely American preserve." (Middleton, NYT 12/3/63, 15)
Battelle Memorial Institute predicted total U.S. R&D expenditures would reach $20 billion next year, $1.7 billion more than this year. Predicted breakdown : government, $13.9 billion; industry, $5.6 billion ; academic and nonprofit institutions, $500 million. (M&R, 12/3/63 7)
Indian Defense Ministry spokesman announced Soviet MiG-21 aircraft to be built in India would be equipped with air-to-air guided missiles. (AP, NYT, 12/3/63)
Prague radio disclosed that Czechoslovakia would buy Soviet Tu1-24 jet airliners, new twin-engine craft designed for short-range and medium-range flights. (NIT, 12/3/63)
December 2-4: Fourth NASA Intercenter Conference on Plasma Physics held at NASA Hq., with participants from NASA Hq. and installations as well as from universities and industries. (Program)
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