NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT OF 1958

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1958

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON SPACE AND ASTRONAUTICS,

Washington, D. C. The special committee reconvened, pursuant to recess, at 10 a. m., in room 457, Senate Office Building, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (chairman), presiding.

Present: Senators Lyndon B. Johnson, McClellan, Anderson, Symington, Bridges, Saltonstall, Bricker, and Mundt.

Also present: Edwin L. Weisl, consulting counsel; Eilene Galloway, special consultant; Dr. Glen P. Wilson, technical coordinator; Gerald W. Siegel, Stuart French, and Solis Horwitz, professional staff menbers.

Senator JOHNSON. The committee will come to order.

I want to acknowledge the presence of Senator McClellan and express my deep appreciation for his attendance at the committee yesterday and today in view of the fact that he is chairman of another committee that is holding hearings at the same time. I should like to say, Senator McClellan, I am willing at the conclusion of the Deputy Secretary's statement to yield my time in order that you might ask any questions of the Deputy Secretary, if you care to. Then you will have ample time if you need to go to another meeting. Senator MCCLELLAN. Well, I thank you, Mr. Chairman. I may not want to ask any questions.

Senator JOHNSON. You have that privilege if you want to. Senator MCCLELLAN. This is one issue that I am trying to learn about. I want to know about it, and I am trying to become informed. Senator JOHNSON. We will be mighty glad to hear from you.

Our first witness this morning is the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Donald A. Quarles.

Mr. Quarles, will you please come to the committee table and bring any of your associates that you may desire to have at this meeting with you.

Mr. QUARLES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

STATEMENT OF DONALD A. QUARLES, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE; ACCOMPANIED BY ADM. JOHN E. CLARK, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY; GEN. ROBERT H. WARREN, MILITARY ASSISTANT TO MR. QUARLES; JACK STEMPLER, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Senator JOHNSON. Mr. Secretary, it seems that we have spent a good portion of the last 7 months across the committee table looking at each other. So I guess we don't need any lengthy introduction.

But for the benefit of the record, I ask to be inserted at this point a biographical sketch of the Deputy Secretary, the very able Mr. Donald A. Quarles.

(The biography referred to is as follows:)

BIOGRAPHY OF DONALD A. QUARLES, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Mr. Quarles was born in Van Buren, Ark., on July 30, 1894. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Yale in 1916. He has also received several honorary degrees.

He served 2 years in the Army during World War I attaining the rank of captain. He was employed by the Western Electric Co. (later the Bell Telephone Laboratories) in 1919 and became vice president in 1948. He became president

of the Sandia Corp., a Western Electric subsidiary, in 1952. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense in 1953, Secretary of the Air Force in 1955, and Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1957.

He is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Radio Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Senator JOHNSON. Mr. Quarles, you have a prepared statement, I Will you proceed in your own way to make your statement to the committee.

see.

Mr. QUARLES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

It is a pleasure to appear before your committee to discuss the Department of Defense position in relation to the national program for space exploration. I understand that you are particularly interested in Defense Department views on the establishment of a National Aeronautics and Space Agency as set forth in the proposed bill, S. 3609. In view of the fact that Mr. Roy Johnson and Dr. Herbert York of our Advanced Research Projects Agency will appear before you later, I will limit my statement to organizational aspects. Mr. Johnson and Dr. York will be in a position to present in considerably more detail the plans and programs of ARPA, including their relationship to other Government agencies.

We in Defense recognize that there are national objectives that go beyond the strict requirements of national security and therefore we support the concept that a civilian agency be made responsible for those phases of research in the aeronautical and space sciences that lie beyond the proper military interests.

The relationships between the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the military departments over the years have been most constructive and satisfactory. Fundamentally, this was because each had confidence in the other, each recognized its proper area of activity and neither tried to encroach on the assigned task of the other. Both worked together in many common projects to which each contributed its special talents and special facilities. The X-15 project is a typical example. We think it is very important to preserve this kind of a relationship with the civilian organization responsible for research and exploratory work in the space field. We believe that the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, which this bill would create, would have the latitude to continue this kind of relationship and all of our contacts with the officials of NACA lead us to believe that they would propose to do so.

We believe the bill as drafted makes it possible to preserve the kinds of relationships with the military and civilian agencies that would best serve the national interests. However, to avoid any misunder

standing I would like to state my interpretation of certain provisions of the bill.

In the statement of policy on page 2, line 4, the bill reads as follows: The Congress further declares that such activities should be directed by a civilian agency exercising control over aeronautical and space research sponsored by the United States, except insofar as such activities may be peculiar to or primarily associated with weapons systems or military operations, in which case the agency may act in cooperation with, or on behalf of, the Department of Defense.

It is my interpretation that this language sets forth the proper activities of the civilian agency and that it is not intended to define by exclusion or otherwise the proper activities of the Department of Defense. In other words, I would construe this language as not limiting the clear responsibility of the Department of Defense for programs that are important to the defense mission, including the support of research that is closely related to the defense mission. As in the case of present relationships between NACA and the Department of Defense, it is assumed that the programs of each will be properly coordinated and in final analysis subject to the direction of the President.

The President on April 2 directed the Department of Defense and NACA to review the space program as a whole and recommend to him a proper division of the program between ARPA and NASA. I would like with the committee's permission to have the President's memorandum made a part of the record so that the committee will have before it all relevant data in its consideration of this legislation.

Senator JOHNSON. Without objection the President's memorandum will be made a part of the record at the conclusion of the Secretary's statement. Do you have a copy to submit to the committee? Mr. QUARLES. Yes, I do, and I will turn it over to the committee. Senator JOHNSON. Proceed, Mr. Secretary.

Mr. QUARLES. Thank you.

This review, that is the review required in the memorandum, is well underway and will be covered in greater detail by Mr. Johnson and Dr. York.

Another section of the bill that deserves special attention is section 6 which defines the functions of NASA. It states in part:

The Agency shall *** (1) plan, direct, and conduct scientific studies and investigations *** and (3) develop, test, launch, and operate aeronautic and space vehicles.

There is no doubt that the Agency should have the functions stated. It is my understanding that this in no way implies that the military departments would be precluded from similar activities if they serve a proper military purpose. In this connection, I should like to stress the importance of retaining flexibility of task assignment as between military agencies and NASA, for two reasons: first, this relationship will probably evolve as NASA grows in experience and competence in experimental missilry; and, second, the overall national interest will best be served by allowing the military and civilian agencies to work out between them the most effective use of their resources for carrying out these projects, all of course under the policy direction of the President.

I cite these points not as an argument that the language should be changed but merely to make sure that we are all similarly interpreting the language.

In summary, I would like to say that we already have a strong space program underway; that we do, in fact, enjoy close cooperation with NACA, the National Science Foundation, and the Scientific Community; that we support the establishment of the new National Aeronautics and Space Agency as proposed by S. 3609; and that we believe it will be possible, by continuation of the close cooperation with NACA and best use of available resources and facilities, to preserve the momentum of the present program and progressively to strengthen it to meet our national objectives.

(The President's memorandum of April 2 is as follows:)

Memorandum for

The Secretary of Defense

THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, April 2, 1958.

Chairman, The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

I have today transmitted to the Congress a special message recommending the establishment of a National Aeronautics and Space Agency. A draft of legislation carrying out this proposal is being transmitted to the Congress by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.

The new Agency will be based on the present National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and will continue that Agency's well-established programs of aeronautical research. In addition, the new Agency will be responsible for programs concerned with problems of civil space flight, space science, and space technology. The instructions outlined below are concerned with these new activities.

The ultimate potentialities of space flight cannot now be fully grasped. Since some of these potentialities are clearly of significance from the standpoint of our national security, the Department of Defense will have a continuing interest in the programs to be undertaken and will continue to sponsor programs which may be peculiar to or primarily associated with military weapons systems or military operations as well as certain research and development which may be of a general supporting character. Furthermore, I desire that the skills and experience that have been developed within the Department of Defense be fully utilized in support of civil space programs. However, it is appropriate that a civilian agency of the Government take the lead in those activities related to space which extend beyond the responsibilities customarily considered to be those of a military organization. I consider it especially felicitous that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics will provide the basic organization on which the new Agency will build. Not only does the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics itself already have a firm understanding of the key problem areas involved and a tested method of approaching such problems, but also this organization and the Department of Defense have long enjoyed a highly productive working relationship. This relationship will ease the period of transition that lies ahead and will provide a basis for the close cooperation that will be needed to solve the difficult problems that will be encountered. It is intended that the new Agency continue to perform for the Department services in support of military aeronautics and missiles programs of the type now performed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and also provide similar services with respect to military space programs; the Department, in turn, will provide support essential to the success of the new Agency.

In order that necessary work proceed without loss of momentum pending enactment of the proposed legislation, in order that interim measures may be consistent with the intent of this legislation, and in order that implementation of the legislation, when enacted, may be promptly initiated, I desire that the Department of Defense and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics take the following actions:

1. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics should prepare and present to the appropriate committees of the Congress a full explanation of the proposed legislation and its objectives.