Oct 25 1958

The Stever Committee, which had been set up on January 12, submitted its report on the civilian space program to NASA. Among the recommendations:

A vigorous, coordinated attack should be made upon the problems of maintaining the performance capabilities of man in the space environment as a prerequisite to sophisticated space exploration.
Sustained support should be given to a comprehensive instrumentation development program, establishment of versatile dynamic flight simulators, and provision of a coordinated series of vehicles for testing components and subsystems.
Serious study should be made of an equatorial launch capability.
Lifting reentry vehicles should be developed.
Both the clustered- and single-engine boosters of million-pound thrust should be developed.
Research on high-energy propellant systems for launch vehicle upper stages should receive full support.
The performance capabilities of various combinations of existing boosters and upper stages should be evaluated, and intensive development concentrated on those promising greatest usefulness in different categories of payload.

NASA Special Committee on Space Technology, "Recommendations Regarding a National Civil Space Program," October 28, 1958, pp. 1-2.