Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

62 reMeMBerING the SpaCe aGe
to further U.S. foreign policy, a fact exemplifed by his personal championing
of the atoms-for-peace program.
In his December 8, 1953 address to the U.N. General assembly, president
eisenhower called for the establishment of an “international atomic energy
agency” to serve as a stockpile of nuclear materials for peaceful uses around the
world. the proposal was “enunciated by the president almost as a personal hope,”
with few advisors and only one of the fve atomic energy Commissioners,
Lewis Strauss, aware of the proposal ahead of time. 23 the original proposal
was devoid of details but is signifcant in that eisenhower displayed a personal
desire to use science and scientifc prestige as a tool of international diplomacy.
the policy was consciously constructed around the issue of prestige, e.g., the
amount of uranium to be contributed by the United States was set at a high
enough fgure that the Soviet Union would not be able to match the american
contribution. 24 While the implementation of the plan was slow in arriving,
the middle of the decade saw tangible, albeit often inefective, international
cooperation in atomic technology with the U.S. as the international lynchpin
and guarantor of atomic security. Science in the eisenhower administration
was part and parcel of foreign policy.
the tendency to employ science in the service of international prestige
was expressed early on in the discussions concerning a new space agency.
Coincidentally, eisenhower asked James Killian (then president of MIt) to
become his personal science advisor over breakfast on October 24, the purpose
of the meeting being Killian’s briefng of eisenhower in preparation for the
atoms-for-peace award being given to Neils Bohr later that day. 25
In an Ofce of Defense Mobilization (ODM) Memorandum issued in
January for Secretary of health arthur S. Fleming, the analogy to atomic energy
was clearly enunciated: “In addition to the military importance of the scientifc
satellite one should not overlook the benefts of adequate emphasis on peaceful
applications of rocketry just as the atoms-for-peace program has served to divert
world attention from nuclear weapons.” 26 and in a legislative leadership meeting
on February 4, president eisenhower cautioned against pouring “unlimited
funds into these costly projects where there was nothing of early value to the
nation’s security. he recalled the great efort he had made for the atomic peace
23. hewlett and holl, Atoms for Peace and War, pp. 210-213.
24. John Krige,“atoms for peace, Scientifc Internationalism, and Scientifc Intelligence” Osiris 21
(1996): 164.
25. James r. Killian, Jr., Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower, (Cambridge, Ma: the MIt press,
1977), p. 24.
26.executive Ofce of the president ODM Memorandum to arthur S.Fleming,“Scientifc Satellites,”
January 23, 1957, folder 012401, NaSa historical reference Collection, NaSa headquarters,
Washington, DC.