Dec 6 1963
From The Space Library
NASA Administrator James E. Webb, addressing the National Association of Manufacturers' 68th Annual Congress of American Industry, in New York City, said : "Although our decision to launch a vigorous effort in space was, in part, a response to a threat to our security, it also stemmed from recognition of the changing requirements for industrial and economic growth, and the fact that to maintain leadership in the new age of science and technology, our resources must be organized on a national scale. Thus the technological advances which it produces will come not as the mere by-product of an effort launched to satisfy other needs, but as the fruit of an effort deliberately undertaken to stimulate advances in the forces that make for economic growth, and meet the demands of a nation immersed in a new flood of scientific discovery and technical progress. "Throughout history, and even in the early years of the present century, man has been slow in the application of basic discoveries to practical use. In the past,. the utilization of new technology has rarely depended so much on the worth of the discovery as on what one economist has called the mentality of the times.' The willingness of people to accept and appreciate change, the belated appreciation of a previously undetected need, an imaginative leadership able to foresee the potential applications and benefits of new ideas, coupled with the wisdom and determination to insure that new knowledge is put to practical use, have always been key elements in the march of human progress. "Today, confronted with an unprecedented explosion of knowledge, and an ever shortening time lag between discovery or invention and practical use, the search for new knowledge and its application cannot proceed at a leisurely pace-certainly not if the nation and its industries are to compete successfully with rapidly expanding foreign industrial capability in the world economic competition which exists today. Languor is a luxury which an open society can ill afford in an age when the fruits of discovery, secretly obtained, may be applied against it before their existence is even known . . . ." (Text)
Senate passed joint resolution (S.J.Res. 124) designating December 17 of each year as "Wright Brothers Day," commemorating first successful flights of heavier-than-air, mechanically-propelled aircraft by Orville and Wilbur Wright on Dec. 17, 1903. (CR, 12/6/63, 22573)
AEC announced second U.S. satellite wholly powered by nuclear energy was launched into orbit recently by a Thor-Able-Star booster from Vandenberg AFB, and signals from the satellite were being transmitted successfully with electricity from the Snap-9A isotopic power generator. Designed to provide 25 watts of direct electrical current, the Snap-9A was the same type of generator as that providing power for a satellite launched from Vandenberg earlier this year. The two Snap-9A's are designed for operating lifetime of five years. However, they are in orbits of at least 900 years so that by the time they re-enter earth's atmosphere they will be almost completely decayed. At that time they are designed to burn into minute particles which will be widely dispersed in the atmosphere, thus increasing radioactivity in the atmosphere negligibly. (AEC Release F-250)
AT&T informed ComSatCorp that it would prefer to rely on satellites rather than additional undersea cables to meet transatlantic communications needs in the near future. In letter from James E. Dingman, AT&T Executive Vice President, made public Dec. 10 by ComSatCorp, AT&T's basic position was reiterated: need exists for both cable and satellite circuits; however, AT&T would prefer to use satellite circuits across the Atlantic until there are approximately as many satellite channels as cable circuits. ( ComSatCorp Release w/ltr)
USAF announced that Cape Kennedy would be open to the general public for three hours every Sunday beginning on December 15th, to allow for "public drive-through." Only on Armed Forces Day in 1961 had the general public previously been allowed within the rocket and space launching complex. (UPI, NYT, 12/8/63, A4)
In White House ceremony, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded 31 Presidential Medals of Freedom, then added additional awards to the late President John F. Kennedy and the late Pope John XXIII. Among those receiving this new award, created by President Kennedy, were Dr. Alan T. Waterman, Robert A. Lovett, Edwin H. Land, and Mark S. Watson. (Wash. Post, 12/7/63, A8)
Lt. Gen. Leslie R. Groves (USA, Ret.), speaking at panel meeting ("Satellite Sanity-Lunar Lunacy") of National Association of Manufacturers' 68th Congress, criticized Project Apollo as a wasted effort, value of which would be only prestige. He charged the lunar landing program was too expensive and, if continued, would bankrupt the nation. NASA Administrator James E. Webb, attending the meeting, was invited by presiding officer Paul Bachman to the platform to answer General Groves. Mr. Webb defended values and costs of the national space program. In his remarks, Mr. Webb pointed out that the national debt ($300 billion) is only half of the annual GNP ($600 billion), so he didn't think the country was bankrupt. He defended the use of manned instead of instrumented spacecraft and remarked, "I for one don't think there is any doubt that man and his brain is superior to a machine." Supporting Mr. Webb's defense were panel members Dr. Robert Jastrow, Director of Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and Walter L. Lingle, Jr., NASA Deputy Associate Administrator. (Halley, NYT, 12/7/63)
Addison M. Rothrock, Director of NASA Policy Planning Div., addressing Mid-Winter Conference on Science. Teaching at Jekyll Island, Ga., discussed "the need for close relation between our studies in science and technology and our studies in the humanities" : "In space we are presented with the foremost challenge in science and technology that man has known. As a nation we face other challenges, challenges presented to us in the humanities-challenges calling for a mass assemblage of knowledge and intellect equal to that supplied by the 40,000 engineers and scientists that will by next year be working on our project to land men on the moon. And we have here a problem to which we have not found the answer : how to mount a mass attack by men with the kind of training acquired in the physical sciences to work on these problems in the humanities in which detailed, repeatable, and controlled experiments cannot be made. This, I think, is a great need, if not the greatest need of our time. If the space program shows us how to assemble-and use well-efforts of this magnitude and shows us the betterment for man that can result from doing it well, we will truly have made a great and lasting contribution to our nation and to our civilization." . . we as a nation must understand more of science and its implications . . . . "And though all children will not and should not attempt science as a calling, I think there should be an attempt as far as feasible to teach all children what science means and to teach them the importance of experimentation as a means of increasing our knowledge and understanding . And for those who do not major in science this need to experiment---to learn from experience-should be heavily emphasized . . . . "So please educate our youth well, teach them of the power that comes with knowledge of our universe and the people who inhabit it. Teach them sciences so that they can achieve triumphs in technology. Teach them the humanities so that they will use these triumphs for man's betterment. And above all help our children to grow in tolerance, help them to develop their wisdom, help them achieve self discipline. And 'Holding fast to basic concepts while discarding outmoded practices, - let us work together, make every effort and meet every challenge to build this nation's most fundamental resource: the human mind." " (Text)
Editorial in Indianapolis. News stated : "The national interest, as well as the furtherance of Indiana's economic well-being, would be served by the location in this State of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's projected electronics research center. ". . . Indiana can offer transportation advantages, availability of trained young scientists, a favorable labor climate, coordination with established private industry, good living conditions and ample space for expansion. "Purdue and Notre Dame provide outstanding examples of what should be a top-priority site for installation of the $50 million facility proposed by NASA . . . ." (Ind. News, in CR, 12/10/63, A7511)
Exercise Top Rung II, consisting of a number of simulated bomber attacks on areas in North Central U.S., was conducted by NORAD/ SAC. (DOD Release 1524-63)
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