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

IMaGINING aN aerOSpaCe aGeNCY IN the atOMIC aGe
facing the drafters of the atomic energy act of 1946 (informally known as the
McMahon act) would be fruitful. to Galloway, the similarities were obvious:
atomic energy and outer space are alike in opening new
frontiers which are indissolubly linked with the question
of war and peace. they combine the possibility of peaceful
uses for the beneft of man and of military uses which can
destroy civilization. Both are national and international in
their scope. they involve the relation of science and government,
the issue of civilian or military control, and problems
of organization for the executive branch and the Congress.
If only their similarities are considered, the legislative task
would appear to be the easy one of following the pattern of
our present atomic energy legislation. 32
according to Galloway, the dissimilarities between the two are centered
around the problem of delineating military and civilian aspects of aerospace
technology. While the boundaries are reasonably clear in the atomic case
(bombs versus reactors), nearly every aspect of aerospace technology overlaps the
two sides of the military-civilian divide. this is perhaps an oversimplifcation
in that much efort had gone into the atomic energy act of 1954 to allow
the development of a civilian atomic energy industry and the civilian-military
divide in practice was quite problematic. Still, it remains true that, in the case
of atomic energy, a relatively clear boundary between civilian and military
applications could be established through strict regulation of nuclear materials.
In the case of NaSa this was not true, yet still a formal divide was automatically
assumed to be of paramount importance. In part this was due to concerns of
needless duplication of efort and bureaucratic infghting over jurisdictional
matters. however, previous experience with the aeC weighed heavily on
lawmakers, particularly in the house of representatives, who now saw science
as intimately tied up with national security and felt a need for such a relationship
to be codifed in law. the administration favored a more informal relationship,
as had been the case with the NaCa. Both sides weighed heavily on precedent
to reinforce their arguments.
the debate surrounding the obligations of the new space agency to the
Department of Defense and vice versa has long been the center-point of the
history of the National aeronautics and Space act of 1958. this is for the
reason that the delineation of the role of military and civilian agencies has
obvious current political implications, but it remains true that much of the
contemporary debate also surrounded the issue. the wording of §102(b) of
32. eilene Galloway, The Problems of Congress in Formulating Outer-space Legislation, (Washington, DC:
U.S. Government printing Ofce, March 1958).
65