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

66 reMeMBerING the SpaCe aGe
the National aeronautics and Space act established the following criterion by
which specifc projects could be judged to be NaSa- or Defense-centric:
the Congress declares that the general welfare and security
of the United States require that adequate provision be made
for aeronautical and space activities. the Congress further
declares that such activities shall be the responsibility of, and
shall be directed by, a civilian agency exercising control over
aeronautical and space activities sponsored by the United
States, except that activities peculiar or primarily associated with the
development of weapons systems, military operations, or the defense
of the United States . . . shall be the responsibility of, and shall be
directed by, the Department of Defense . . . 33
the act also established a National aeronautics and Space Council
headed by the president and including the Secretary of State, Secretary of
Defense, NaSa administrator, and the Chairman of the aeC. the inclusion
of the aeC chairman here is quite curious. In addition, any disputes between
departments and agencies over jurisdictional matters were to be settled by the
president under advisement of the council.
the original Bureau of the Budget draft bill was quite diferent from
the arrangement in the aeC, which embodied communication with the
Department of Defense in its Military Liaison Committee. In his ofcial
commentary sent to the Bureau of the Budget on the original bill, Strauss
suggested “the act provide for inter-agency liaison similar to that which has
operated so satisfactorily in the case of the Military Liaison Committee in the
atomic energy program.” 34 the house bill included such a liaison committee
and, in addition, another for the aeC. the administration had favored informal
cooperation in the form of uniformed seats on the advisory in the same style
as the NaCa had traditionally pursued. the Senate kept the administration’s
arrangement. In the fnal compromise bill, the military liaison committee was
added, while the aeC liaison was dropped.
an internal Bureau of the Budget memo in May snidely remarked on the
house bill that “among the trappings of the atomic energy act inserted in this
bill are sections establishing and prescribing the functions of a Military Liaison
Committee and an atomic energy Liaison Committee. Both Committees are to
be headed by chairmen appointed by the president . . . the Department of Defense
as well as NaCa has opposed this creation of statutory liaison committees, and
33. National aeronautics and Space act of 1958, public Law 95-568, http://history.nasa.gov/spaceact.
html. emphasis and ellipses added.
34. Lewis Strauss to Maurice Stans, Director of the Bureau of the Budget, March 31, 1958, folder
012405, (NaSa historical reference Collection, NaSa headquarters,Washington, DC).