I don't really see as much of it from other companies in the unmanned area, but that is for obvious reasons in certain cases. I think that should grow. Whether NASA is the right place to do that is not entirely clear to me. NASA is in the research and development business. They would be forced in the position of almost marketing an airline, for example, with the shuttle and selling space. And it is a little bit more than what basically they are supposed to be doing. For me to think of NASA's marketing agency is not consistent with my views of going back to the old NACA. So I really don't have any immediate solutions to it. I think we ought to sit back and give that some thought as to how we do best communicate in some unified, coherent fashion with the public about space and the progress in space. I don't think we can answer that right now. Mr. ROE. We will have to conclude, gentlemen. I want to thank the witnesses very much. There will be other questions that some of the members would like to direct to you in writing, and we would appreciate your response. Our hearings on this matter will continue tomorrow at 2 o'clock. [Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., the hearings recessed, to reconvene at 2 p.m., Wednesday, January 25, 1978.] FUTURE SPACE PROGRAMS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1978 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 2 p.m., in room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Don Fuqua presiding. Mr. FUQUA. The committee will please be in order. Pursuant to rule E, sub. 1, the committee may permit by majority vote hearings and meetings which are open to the public to be covered in whole or in part by television, radio and still photograph, or by such method of coverage in accordance with clause 3 of rule 11 of the House of Representatives. Without objection, that rule will be waived. Today we are pleased to welcome to the Committee Philip Handler, President of the National Academy of Sciences, Mr. Laurence Adams, president of Martin Marietta Aerospace Division, Mrs. Barbara Hubbard, and Dr. Gerard O'Neill. Our discussion this afternoon will continue examining future opportunities and prospects for a strong space program. We are happy to welcome some other Members of Congress not on this committee to the meeting, and certainly extend to them full participation of the membership. Dr. Handler, we are happy to hear from you at this time and you may proceed. STATEMENT OF PHILIP HANDLER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Dr. HANDLER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is a great privilege to appear before you this afternoon. I have a prepared statement with me which I trust I may submit for the record. Mr. FUQUA. Without objection, it will be made part of the record. [The prepared statement of Philip Handler is as follows:] TESTIMONY by Philip Handler, President National Academy of Sciences Before the Committee on Science and Technology U.S. House of Representatives Hearings on Future Space Programs January 25, 1978 Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to appear before your Committee to discuss the opportunities and some of the decisions that must be made in the next several years so that we may most wisely use our national space capabilities. Your hearings are most timely. At the Academy on Tuesday, January 31, we shall commemorate the historic day when the United States entered the space age. Twenty years ago, on that date, at a late night press conference at the home of the Academy, representatives of our U.S. National Committee for the International Geophysical Year (IGY), of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and of the Redstone Arsenal announced the first successful launch of a U.S. spacecraft, Explorer I, into earth orbit as part of this country's contribution to IGY. That press conference was transformed into an instant celebration. I hope that each of you will be able to join us in this anniversary celebration at the Academy or at the Symposium on Space Science on the following day. Explorer I climaxed a jittery entry of U.S. science into space; but those shaky beginnings have borne spectacular scientific fruit) When those early beginnings are contrasted with present day space technology, we become dramatically aware, as Norman Cousins said to your Committee several years ago, of how the exploration of space has expanded our sense of human purpose. The uniqueness of this enterprise flows, perhaps, from the fact that these ends have been achieved by combining the intangible motiviation of human adventure with an extraordinarily careful mode of systematic, long-term planning. These hearings provide an opportunity for reemphasizing the conclusions, reached in your committee's hearings in 1975 on Future Space Programs, concerning the need to give adequate consideration to the widest possible range of longer term opportunities if we are to assure that the scientific and technological bases will be developed in time to support them. Only recently, the chairman of our Space Science Board pointed out to me that one of the greatest difficulties in optimizing the conduct of new space science initiatives is gathering sufficiently early acceptance and commitment to such initiatives as to assure adequate long-term planning. Now, let me outline for you some of the activities within the National Research Council, since those 1975 hearings, that concern future scientific opportunities in the space program and the application of space technology to other societal needs. These initiatives have taken place under the auspices of the Space Science Board of our Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Space Applications Board of our Assembly of Engineering; their combined efforts represent the National Research Council's contribution to a continuing, evolving strategy for developing priorities in space science and technology. My subsequent remarks are all informed by the deliberations of those two Boards. |