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Creation of NASA 67197-ADPS-50’s-CH05_195-268.qxd 10/14/2003 10:43 AM Page 259 Creation of NASA continued to develop with Project Vanguard. While he Creation of NASA attempted to allay the fears of the American public, se- cret intelligence reports discussed in the days after the launching acknowledged that the Soviets were planning U.S. Objectives in Space Exploration to launch either a satellite or an intercontinental ballistic and Science missile. Report Like many common Americans, government offi- cials worried that the rocket thrust and precision neces- By: S. Everett Gleason sary to launch Sputnik posed the very real problem of Date: March 7, 1958 defense against a Soviet missile attack. These worries in- Source: Gleason, S. Everett. Discussion, 357th Meeting of creased the following month when the Soviets launched the National Security Council Concerning “U.S. Objectives in Space Exploration and Science.” March 6, 1958. Avail- another successful satellite, Sputnik II, which carried a able online at http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/dl/Sputnik dog, Laika, into orbit. While Sputnik weighed less than /Sputnikdocuments.html; website home page: http://www two hundred pounds, the hefty sequel weighed more than .eisenhower.utexas.edu (accessed June 18, 2003). one thousand pounds. American scientists raced to About the Author: S. Everett Gleason served as deputy ex- counter these high-profile Soviet triumphs, and the ecutive secretary of the National Security Council. Together United States sent its first orbiter into space in January with William L. Langer, Gleason wrote the book The Chal- 1958. lenge of Isolation: The World Crisis of 1937–1940 and Amer- ican Foreign Policy (New York: Harper Brothers, 1952). Significance In a National Security Council (NSC) meeting in National Aeronautics and Space Act March 1958, presidential science advisor James R. Killian of 1958 outlined the central motives behind American space ex- ploration, which were a combination of “human curios- Law ity,” “military considerations,” and “scientific observation By: U.S. Congress and experiment.” Date: July 29, 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 re- Source: National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Avail- flected the duties set forth in the NSC March 1958 meet- able online at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History ing, while emphasizing the civilian organization of the /spaceact.html; website home page: http://www.hq.nasa.gov. new space agency. Seeking to distinguish NASA from (accessed June 18, 2003). I the Soviet space program, which operated under direct military oversight, the act presented again and again Introduction NASA’s objectives as “peaceful.” Although the minutes The Cold War conflict between the United States and of the earlier NSC meeting stressed the military objec- the Soviet Union impacted both nations militarily, cul- tives girding space research, the act underlined NASA’s turally, economically, and, with the space race especially, status as a civilian-controlled agency, with specific guide- scientifically. From the launch of Sputnik in 1957 until lines for interaction between it and the armed services. the successful Moon landing of Apollo 11 in 1969, the NASA started operations on October 1, 1958, and its superpowers competed with one another for the su- fortunes grew as the space race escalated in the coming premacy of space. years. Eisenhower’s successor, John F. Kennedy (served With the threat of global nuclear warfare heighten- 1961–1963), called for massive increases in expenditures ing yearly during the 1950s, the launch of Sputnik in Oc- for space exploration. The Soviet Union achieved another tober 1957 created hysteria for many Americans. milestone when Yuri Gagarin successfully orbited Earth Although the tiny craft orbited Earth for only two months, in April 1961. U.S. astronaut Alan B. Shepard reached it made clear the Soviet Union’s power in space. To space in May 1961, three weeks after Gagarin, but did many, the launch of Sputnik meant that the Soviet Union not complete an orbit. John Glenn became the first Amer- could just as easily send a barrage of atomic weapons to- ican to orbit the planet in space flight in February 1962. ward the United States. In this context, the Eisenhower The Apollo 11 mission to the Moon marked NASA’s pin- administration immediately sought to counter the Soviet nacle achievement in July 1969. Despite a series of in- Union and strengthen American resolve. terplanetary research missions and numerous scientific In a nationwide address on October 9, 1957, Eisen- innovations since the Moon landing, NASA’s stature has hower congratulated the Soviet Union for its success diminished, in part, due to a détènte with the Soviet Union and comforted the American public by emphasizing and the ultimate end of the Cold War. Throughout its his- that the United States’ commitment to space exploration tory, NASA has maintained a tenuous existence, which American Decades Primary Sources, 1950–1959 Government and Politics I 259 67197-ADPS-50’s-CH05_195-268.qxd 10/14/2003 10:43 AM Page 260 Creation of NASA reports and would not contain specific recommen- dations. Next, Dr. Killian undertook to explain the main motives behind the development of space technology and space exploration. There he listed as, first, natural human curiosity about the nature of the universe; secondly, military considerations; third, U.S. prestige vis-a-vis the Soviet Union and other countries; and fourth, scientific observation and experiment. Space travel, thought Dr. Killian, may or may not have material and practical values, but the space programs that would be discussed at this time must, all of them, be based on the above- mentioned four motivating factors. Dr. Killian then indicated that various programs of differing size, shape and cost would be presented to the Council in order to provide the basis for a sub- sequent choice of a U.S. national outer space pro- gram. Dr. Killian, in this context, pointed out the need for a balanced outer space program—one which would take into due account the other great national security programs, inasmuch as any affective outer space program was bound to prove very costly. Thereafter Dr. Killian called on Dr. Purcell, who discussed with the Council his views on space sci- Model of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1, on display at an exhibition in ence and the objectives of space science. At the Prague, Czechoslovakia, three days after the launch of the original. end of his discussion, these objectives were sum- AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION. marized on a chart which was divided into three time- periods: Early (first years), Later (two to five years), many attribute to its complex assortment of objectives and Still Later (five to fifteen years). Dr. Purcell con- framed by the Cold War. This conflict provided many of cluded his remarks with comments on the military the core objectives behind the agency, and once the Cold application of space exploration. He listed on a chart War ended, so, too, did a great deal of support for space (1) communications; (2) reconnaissance (optical, ra- exploration. dio, infrared); (3) early warning; (4) meteorological. At the conclusion of Dr. Purcell’s remarks, the President inquired whether Dr. Purcell thought it Primary Source would be a good idea if there could be more public U.S. Objectives in Space Exploration and education with respect to the matters in his report. Science The general view seemed to be in the affirmative. SYNOPSIS: On February 4, 1958, President Eisen- The President then inquired of Dr. Purcell hower requested that Killian research the best means of developing a national space program. Two whether the distant planets of which he had spoken days later, the U.S. Senate established a Special rotated on their own axis as did our earth. Dr. Pur- Committee on Space and Astronautics to form a per- cell replied that most of them did, but that there manent space agency. The 357th Meeting of the were some we could hardly see and could not de- National Security Council occurred one month later, termine whether they rotated or not. providing Killian the opportunity to present his analy- sis of American space objectives that would ulti- Dr. Killian next introduced Dr. York, who, he in- mately set many of the guidelines for the creation dicated, would discuss various illustrative space sci- of a government agency devoted to space technol- ence programs designed to achieve the objectives ogy and exploration. of space science which had just been outlined by Dr. Purcell. General Cutler introduced Dr. Killian, who stated Dr. York spoke first, using a chart, of the vehi- initially that the reports to be given by himself, Dr. cles which would be used in the exploration of outer Purcell and Dr. York were in the nature of informal space. The first usable vehicles would be the 260 I Government and Politics American Decades Primary Sources, 1950–1959 67197-ADPS-50’s-CH05_195-268.qxd 10/14/2003 10:43 AM Page 261 Creation of NASA IRBMs—Jupiter and THOR—with added stages. Such The National Security Council: vehicles would be available late in 1958 or early in a. Noted and discussed a report by the Spe- 1959. They would eventually be able to carry a pay- cial Assistant to the President for Science load (instrumentation, etc.) weighting 500 pounds. and Technology, assisted by Drs. Edward Later on in the process, Dr. York indicated that Purcell and Herbert York of the President’s ICBM vehicles would become available for space ex- Science Advisory Committee, prepared pur- ploration. Either TITAN or ATLAS could be used, per- suant to NSC Action No. 1859-b, on U.S. haps in 1961, with a third stage added to them.
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