Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

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an appropriate and timely action by NASA is expected to be welcomed and supported.
I believe it would also strengthen NASA’s “mainstream” plans and programs.
4. There is a reservoir of potential support among NASA people, based on response to
challenge and social sensitivity and altruism. An overt organizational step toward
social application of technology, no matter how restricted and cautious, would generate
considerable enthusiasm. There would also be opposition based on resistance to
change, administrative obstacles, and dislike of unfamiliar, difficult and frustrating
problems.
5. I find no difficulty in extending NASA’s technology charter to include direct participation
in civil problems of national scope. NASA does study, penetrate and exploit
unconventional and hostile environments for man, such as zero gravity, underseas,
radiation, aeronautical flight conditions, closed life cycle, extreme temperatures, vacuum,
etc. Since hostile environments can be natural or social, we can also include
crowding, malnourishment, air and water pollution, noise pollution, violence and
insecurity, fear, economic dislocation, resource depletion, earthquakes, destructive
storms, and one can go on as far as one wishes to include most of the social ills of our
time.
6. There should be no doubt that NASA’s primary job is space exploration and space
operations as well as aeronautical R&D. I believe that the Apollo achievement provides
an appropriate time to propose that technology transfer to serve public and
social purposes is now a major concern of the Agency, that it will be pursued with the
same mission-oriented concentration that characterized the space program. This new
policy does not preclude a careful approach to unfamiliar application environments.
We have to try to structure as favorable an environment as possible in order that our
technology contributions have a maximum impact.
[3] 7. NASA needs a strong and visible focus for people and activities involved in new
arrangements, new technology and new applications to civil and social problems.
Recommendations
SPACE AS AN INVESTMENT IN ECONOMIC GROWTH
1. I recommend the formation of a new Program Office (Office of Civil Systems
Technology) to assume responsibility for all of NASA’s technology activities for public
programs, with the exception of those directly tied to aeronautics, space exploration
and space operations. The basic components of the Program Office are:
a) An Advisory Council for policy guidance, composed of people from industry,
from other NASA Program Offices, the Administrator’s office, Office of DOD and
Interagency Affairs, Office of Policy, [National Science Foundation, President’s
Science Advisory Committee, Office of Science and Technology], Bureau of the
Budget, and possibly other agencies.
b) Technology Utilization. I believe that this activity would be more effective in a line
technical organization directly related to its function, rather than in an administrative
staff organization.
c) Market Research and Requirements Analysis Division to provide initial technical
and feasibility analysis of proposed problems, evaluation of NASA capabilities,
projection of evolving technical needs in public problem areas, interaction with
NAE, [National Academy of Sciences] and other agencies and industry, state-ofthe-art
studies, and exploratory technology studies to provide a basis for NASA
decisions.
d) A program management organization that will coordinate projects in being, initiate
new efforts, channel information from projects to management and other
agencies, and act as “customer representatives” or “account executives” for outside
agencies concerned with NASA work under the Program Office.