Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN 293
operational uses will not be unacceptably downgraded.
c. Need for a comprehensive plan. Given acceptance of the fact of a continuing U.S.
involvement in civil remote sensing, the consultants conclude that a high priority
should be given to the development, approval, and periodic updating of a comprehensive
plan to guide U.S. Government activities in civil remote sensing.
Preparation of an initial version of the comprehensive plan should be the first
order of business once there has been (a) policy acceptance of continuing U.S.
involvement in civil remote sensing and (b) a lead agency has been designated
(see next section). In the consultants’ view these two actions can and must be
taken prior to the development of an initial comprehensive plan, because a meaningful
plan cannot be developed without a decision on the U.S.’s basic policy attitude
toward civil remote sensing, as previously discussed, or without a lead agency
with the necessary authority and competence, as will be discussed below and in
Chapter III. Essential characteristics of the comprehensive plan should include
the following:
(1) The plan should cover programmatic, technical, and procedural plans for the
collection and dissemination of civil remote sensing data and for providing
assistance and other services to users. It should cover R&D and experimental
activities as well as the provision of services on an operational basis.
(2) The plan should also cover institutional plans for the conduct and appropriate
evolution of Federal activities related to civil remote sensing, including provision
for effective participation by all federal agencies concerned and other user
[14] interests (State, local, private, and international) in the decision process
on the technical and other characteristics of the data services to be provided.
(3) The plan must be as realistic as possible, both in technical expectations and
projected schedules.
(4) The plan should reflect a phased approach to future decisions and commitments,
i.e., it should avoid predetermining matters that can be left to future
decision and should indicate as clearly as possible the timing, extent, and
implications of the commitments required.
d. Need for designation of a lead agency. Acceptance of the policy that there will be
a continuing U.S. involvement in civil remote sensing underscores the urgent
need—one that has been evident for some time—for the designation at the earliest
possible date of a lead agency for U.S. civil remote sensing activities. Chapter
III below is devoted to a discussion of the needs for a lead agency, the functions
it should perform, the criteria and options for its selection, and the consultants’
conclusions on the agency that should be designated. Chapter V includes some
further discussion of proposed lead agency activities.
e. The need for attention to international involvement. A continuing future U.S.
involvement in civil remote sensing will clearly require attention to international
interactions that are (1) necessary because of the global nature of remote sensing,
existing U.S. international commitments, and actions that have been or may
be taken by other countries, the U.N., ESA, etc., or (2) desirable for U.S. interests
or for general international interests as seen by the U.S. Alternatives for international
institutional arrangements are discussed in Chapter IV. The proposed concept
for a U.S. national system presented in Chapter V provides for international
involvement under several scenarios.
f. The need for a U.S. system concept. Finally, there is a need to develop a viable
conceptual framework for the continuing future involvement of the U.S. in civil
remote sensing. Chapter V presents a proposed concept of a U.S. national system
that is consistent with the policy conclusions of the preceding chapters, discusses
some policy issues involved, and outlines alternative scenarios for implementing
such a system.