Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

Document II-20
Document title: Edgar M. Cortright for George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for
Manned Space Flight, Memorandum to Assistant Administrator for Policy, “Earth
Resources Survey Program,” November 17, 1967.
Source: NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA History Office, NASA
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
More so than most other programs, NASA’s Earth Resources Survey (ERS) program was an interagency
endeavor. The Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, and State all had active stakes in Earth
resource surveys. With the possibility for turf disputes in mind, NASA approached program development
with a mixture of confidence and caution. Responding to an assessment of ERS issues by
Assistant Administrator for Policy General Jacob E. Smart, Associate Administrator for Manned
Space Flight George E. Mueller suggested that NASA should take a firm leadership position. Given
Mueller’s position as head of the portion of NASA in charge of humans in space, it is not surprising
that Mueller seems to assume that NASA’s remote-sensing activities would be conducted aboard occupied
platforms.
[1] UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Memorandum
To: E/Assistant Administrator DATE: NOV 17 1967
for Policy
FROM: M/Associate Administrator
for Manned Space Flight
SUBJECT: Earth Resources Survey Program
REFERENCE: Your memorandum of October 3, l967, same subject
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on your draft memorandum regarding an
Earth Resources Survey Program. The draft states the issues and brings them into focus
quite well. I therefore have a limited number of comments which are applicable to the
draft as such.
Accepting your invitation for assistance I have extended my remarks in several areas
to propose some solutions for consideration. Alternatively, I have suggested some factors
which I feel must necessarily be accounted for in any approach to resolution of several
questions raised in your memorandum. These suggestions are based on three years of
study activity conducted by the Advanced Manned Missions Program Office, study in
which participation of potential users has been encouraged. This work, which is continuing,
has sharpened our intuition and provided some knowledgeability which I am pleased
to share with you.
Scope of the Memorandum
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 253
Although the term “resources” is being used by some NASA spokesmen in a broad
sense to include cultural resources as well as natural resources, I suggest that the scope of