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I am pleased to rcpor-t that the NASA/DOD interlace is aliv,i and healthy. 

The NASA/DOD relationship is a long s!·,mding one "With its roots back in 

the early days of the NACA (Nationc1l Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 

In 1958, Congres·s passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, whicl1 

replaced the NACA with the new NASA organization. This act established 

roles and responsibilities for the NASA and the DOD with respect to bot!, 

aeronautics and space. To provide a formal forum for top level review 

and coordination, the NASA/DOD Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating 

Board (AACB), co-chaired by the NASA Deputy Administrator and the Undersecretary 

of Defense for REsearch and Engi11eering, was forme<l in September 1960. 

Since NASA's inception, there has been a continuing extensive NASA/USAF 

relationship in the area of expendabh, space launch vehicles (ELV' s). 

Since the early ELV' s were direct dP.scendents of the ballistic missiles, 

the expertise and management resided with the Air Force. Consequently, 

NASA's early space launch needs were provided by the Air Force. As 

space activities increased and thE, ELV's evolved into improved and modified 

versions, NASA assumed more responsibililies, leading to today's posture 

where NASA is responsible for the SCOUT, De1ra, ;md Atlas/Centaur vehicles, 

and the Air Force is responsible for the> TITAN family and 1:h(• ATLAS 

E/F/H vehi.cl<~s. Hnw,"vEr, there is crosr,-utilizntiou and each agency 

supports the othe.r in procurement, launch operations, and cc,rt,,in development 

tasks. Rnni:;e support continues to be :1 major USAF responsibility. 

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The manned space programs--Mcrcury, Gemini., and Apollo--managed by NASA, 

received extensive DOI) support. During this era, the assignment of 

military detailees to NASA reached its peak, with over 200 DOD personnel 

asDigned to NASA during the period 1963-1970, and over 300 during 1967-

1968. 

The birth of ro<lay's NASA/DOD Space Transportation System interrclRtionship 

~ook place in 1969 when Lhe President established the multi-agency Space: 

Task Croup (STG) to coPsider 111'? nation'<: futur<' sp11ce goals and ob.Jec!'.i.vc·!S 

for the post-Apollo period. During the STG activity, the NASA o.nd the 

DOD worked together to evolve concepts and requirements for a new national 

Space Transportation Sy8tem (STS). The Air ForcL: was dcsignatcd by DOD 

as the, Executive Agent for all STS matters, and i.n February l970, NASA 

and the USAF establ isheJ by j(lint agrccmeut the- NASA/USAF Space Transportati cm 

System Committee to provide an instrumentality for joint review and 

recommendations concerning development and evolution of the STS. In 

October 1970 the AACB Manned Space Flight Panel and Launch Vehicle Panel 

were merged to more effectively coordinate the transition from expendable 

space launch vehicles to the Space Shuttle.. 

With the approval of the Space Shuttte development program in January 

1972, the structured arrangement of NASA/DOD reRponsibilities and management 

interfaces continued to evolve. The Air Force was a key parricipant 1n 

the Source Evaluation Board activities for the Space Transportation 

System, In April 1977 the DOD concurred i.n thE: selection of KSC and 

Vandenberg AFB as STS launch and landing sites and agref'd to provide the 

general purpu:;e Spac(: Shuttle facilities [or all user:, at VAFJL Ln 

November .1912., the Deputy Secret.:iry of DP-fen1:,c i:;sued direcLion and 

guidance to expand DOD's efforts on the Spnce Sh11ttle, with added emphasis 

on evaluating the Shuttle's new and unique capabilities, and completion 

()f planning efforts on VAFU Shuttle facilities and upper stage rcquirenwnts 

He also direct<>d rhP form,1tion of the non Space Shuttle Users Committee, 

chaired by the Air Force, with NASA rPpresentatives as official ohservers. 

This commi.ttc,_,, cnmpris,':d of represE•nt<1tivc!:s 1·rom the Air Force, Army, 

N;ivy, QSi\F, and OUSD/R&E. revi.Pws ,rnd va1id:1U•i; DOD's firm and projectc>d 

rPqu1n'm,,nts for uti I iz:1tion of the STS and sub1;1its these dat<i Lo NASA 

for incorporation into thP national STS mission model 

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To 1'orm11lize lhe NASA/DOD relationships, a NASA/DOD Memorondum of Understanding 

on marrng(~ment and operation of the STS was signed on .J,rnuary 14, 1977, 

by the Secretary of Defense and the Administri.ltor of NASA. This agreement 

was revised and approved on March 27, 1980. This agreement states that 

DOD will use the STS and particip.:ite as a partnC'r in specified development, 

acquisition and operationi; activitiei;. These activi ries include the 

elev(• I opment of th€' lnr,rtial Upper Stage (IUS), initiated in 1976 and 

sch~duled for a firsl l"light on the Space Shuttle in January 1983 and 

the acquis1 tion, activation and operation of the VAFB Space Shuttle 

facility, scheduled for an initial launch capabi Lity in October 1985. 

Also, a Memorandum of Agreement on Banic Principles for NASA/DOD Launch 

RRimbursement was sizned on March 7, 1977, by the Acting Director of 

Defense Resenrch and Engineering nnd the Deputy Administrator o[ NASA. 

The agreement is currently under revision and several issues remain to 

lw reso I vcd 

Now I woul<l likr to talk about today's environment and th<'- very active 

interfaces at a11 working levels. First, our forum for discusi,ing top 

leve 1 policies i:JJH.l issues is il bi-weekly luncheon meeting when· Dr. Mark 

and l meet with Pere Aldridge and other DOD representatives. Thes~ 

meRtings art> particularly valuable !'or coordinat.iug our views and positions 

prior to 0MB r-.:v i.c~ws and Congres~ iuna] me,! t i_ngs or hearing,:. Second, 

the transition ft"om the deve Lopment phase to the: operat i.onal phase has 

expandeJ the i11terrc1ce c1rcas and prompted Lt. GPn Henry c1nd I to fonn a 

USAF Space Division/NASA STS Steering Group "to facilitate achievement 

0f the joint goals of the USAF Space Division and NASA regarding the STS 

program." We bad ou1: first meeting in March and our second meeting in 

August whPn' WP worked current issues and established functional working 

group-" "Ln mc1jor areas of interface activity. Careful attention was paid 

to insure coordination and compatibility with existing STS working groups. 

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There arc currently about 90 military detai lees in NASA, with the majority 

at JSC, including the military astronauts. Others working on STS are 

located at Headquarters, KSC, and HSFC. Conversely, NASA has personnel 

located ar the Spnce Division and at Vandenberg AFB. Additionally, the 

Air Force has co--located groups at JSC and KSC. The Manned Space Flight 

Support Group under the Spact~ Division's Deputy Commander for Space 

Operl'ltions is locat,~d at .TSC and supports STS flight operations while 

training personnel for eventual assignment to the Air Force's CSOC. The 

Air Force Support Offi ,e, STS D"ivisj on of the 6555 th Aerospace Test 

Group at Patrick AFB is located with the KSC Shuttle Program Office and 

coordinates and supports eround anrl launch operations. Throughout the 

STS community, niembers of each agency serve on t:he other agency's committees, 

bo:,rds, and panels and extensive formal and informal day-to-day inLerfacc 

nctivities are underway in a great many areas. 

To better understand the breadth of the NASA/DOD interface activities 

let me cite some specific areas of joint endeavor 

extensive payload integration--dedicated payloads, mixed cargo 

payloads, pallet experiments, cabin experiments, small s~lf 

contained payloads 

uppc•r stage devi>.lopment/operation---SSllS-D for CPS, HIS, Centaur 

KSC/VAFU coordination--common equipment procurement, operational 

procedures, facility desjgn, model testing, KSC processing for 

VAFB early flights 

sec11rity throughout the STS environment 

ADCOM/SPADOC support of STS operations 

JSC/SCF flight operation activiti~s 

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STS flight assignments and traffic models 

STS logiRtics 

Safety and Reliability 

STS Costs aml Reimbursements 

Payload speciaJistH 

Space station planning 

Space policy fonnulation--ex. Space Launch Policy Working 

Group 

It is evident from this partial list that the NASA/DOD interface pervades 

every aspect of the STS environment. Again, let me reiterate that, 

despite this complexity, the interface is not only functioning very 

well, but improving as we gain STS flight experience. 

In summary, we are confident that the STS development is progressing 

satisfactor-ily and will meet our joint objectives. We are work i.ng hard 

to provide a level ot mission reliability and fleet size to support the 

assured launch capabil it:y required by high priority nationc1l security 

m1sstons. Finally, we both recognize the importance of evaluating and 

demonstrating new and unique uses of the STS to gain more effective and 

flexible military space operations. 

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