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ff 853 July 65

AN ADMINISTRATIVE

HISTORY OF NASA

_1958,1963 .............
NASA SP-4101

AN ADMINISTRATIVE

HISTORY OF NASA,

1958-1963

ROBERT L. ROSHOLT

Prepared under the auspices of the

NASA Historical Staff

Scientific and Techni_d Information D_visi_u 1 9 6 6

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

lVasl_ington, D.C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Price $4.00

I_'brary of Con&r_rs Catalo& JVmber

20402
FOREWORD

This adminlstm_e historyof NASA fortheyears1958-1963 was _pax_

by Dr. Robert Rosholtunder a contractto the Universityof Minnesota. This

is the first of a series of NASA histories and is based, to a considerable cxt_t, on

documcn ry

Even the most careful study of documents cannot give the full flavor of the

very difficult period covered by this history. NASA (a) was being organized

from components of govcrnrnent agencies already in cx_ncc, (b) was instituting

large new programs to increase our national capability in both aeronautics and

spaceand atthe same time was carryingforward thoscthathad been startedin

constituentunits,and (c) was undertakingthe largcbuildup of thisNation's

manned space-flightcapabilitycalledforby PresidentKennedy's mcssage to the

Congressin May 1961. Dr. Rosholtrccognizedthisand conducted interviews

with many participants,which added grcatvalue to hisrcvicw of documents.

Hc has faithfullyrccordedhisfindingsfrom both documents and intcrvicwsand

hiswork willundoubtedlyconstitutea milcstonein NASA's effortto provide

adequate historical materials for future assessment.

Dr. Rosholt'swork isof high qualityand speaks for itself.However, a

personalword astothe administrativeclimateof thattirnc,the objcctivcssought

and actionsjointlytakenby thclateDr. Hugh L. Dryden,Dr. Robert C. Scamaus,

and me may hclp in givingperspectiveand thatisthe purposcof thisforeword.

When I joinedthcNationalAeronauticsand Space AdministrationasAdministratorin February of 1961,I found thatthe firstAdministrator,Dr. T. Kdth

Glcnnan, had Idt a thorough and completerecordof mattersimportantto my

proper dischargeof the responsibilitiesof the office,and a number of valuable

studieswhich he had preparedforguidance asthe program of thc agency developed. Dr. Scamans had joinedtheagencyas AssociateAdminisu_or in September of 1960,but the dcctionof PresidentKennedy two months laterhad lefthis

statusin a stateofconsiderableunccrtainty.Dr. Dryden, who had servedsince

the organizationof the agency as Deputy Administrator,was servingas Acting

Administratorbut had rccdvcdno notificationf hisappointment from the new

administration.A report,quitecriticalof the program and ccrtainaspectsof

the organizationof the agency,had bccn filedwith PrcsidcntKennedy by a

pand establishedpriorto hisinauguration. Scriousqucstionswcrc beingraised,

iii
iv ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

particularly by groups of scientists, as to the merit of manned space flight and of

continuing the Mercury program.

At the time I took the oath of office on February 14, 1961, I stated to the

assembled officials that Dr. Dryden would remain as Deputy, and that Dr. Seamans

would remain as Associate Administrator, with strong support to implement fully

his organizational position as general manager of operations. I stated that my

purpose would be to work toward creating an environment within which NASA

could be as innovative in the management of its programs as it was in aeronautics

and space science.

Dr. Dryden, Dr. Seamans, and 1 immediately set to work to end uncertainty,

to make unmistakably clear our support for the manned space flight program,

to define necessary additions to the budget for Fiscal Year 1962 that had already

been sent to Congress by the outgoing administration, and to establish personal

and official relationships conducive to effective leadership. The three of us

decided together that the basis of our rdationship should be an understanding

that we would hammer out the hard decisions together and that each would

undertake those segments of responsibility for which he was best qualified. In

effect, we formed an informal partnership within which all major policies and

programs became our joint responsibility, but with the execution of each policy

and program undertaken by just one of us. This meant that everyone in and

out of the agency knew all three of us would be involved in all major decisions;

that with policy established, the orders for its execution could be issued by any

one of us; and that, while NASA had an Administrator as a single point of final

decifion, to the fullest extent possible we would act together. From my point

of view, and I believe also from that of Dr. Dryden and Dr. Seamans, this was a

most happy and productive relationship. In every major matter, we worked

intimately together to establish a sound foundation for our policies and actions.

Each of us helped to bring capable and valued associates into positions of responsibility. When one of us found the burden of his work too heavy, the others

stepped forward to share it.

It seems to me that there are several areas where the application of this

method of administrative leadership and the basis for and effects of the decisions

we made are not fully dear, either from the documentation in this history or

Dr. Rosholt's comments. I hope this foreword will suggest to interested scholars

that the importance of understanding our pattern of thought and action may

well justify further analysis and study to trace the development of NASA's

present competence in administration.

The first area to which I wish to call attention was our decision, after the

May 1961 expansion of space activity, to lay out our plan of organization and

administration for the initial period so as to enable Dr. Seamans to maintain a

dose control of the agency's resources and so thatxmajor personal contacts between

Headquarters and our center directors would run directly to his office. At that

time, it was important that his central position as general manager be dearly
lrOi_gWOgD V

understood and his effectiveness in that position assured. Since he, Dr. Dryden,

and I were in constant contact, the three of us viewed this arrangement as the

best way to provide a single focal point. This way we could take all actions

necessary to make sure that basic research and the resource base of the agency.

would keep step with the expanding development programs. This way the three

of us could participate directly (without an intervening layer of management)

to ensure a continuing evaluation of the performance and growth potential of

our senior personneL

An additional purpose was to create the kind of flexible organizational and

administrative framework within which the procedures used and the reslxamibilities, even of quite senior officials, could be readjusted without embarrassment or

great difficulty. We wanted to begin our expansion in an enviroment within

which people would not be frozen into rigid assignments, and through which the

three of us could take action m foster an atmosphere at senior management levels

of readiness to accept change in organization and duties. Our initial purpose

was to maintain this status until we could form our judgments as to the capability

of the men on whom the major respomibilities would rest and had stabilized a

pattern that would enable us to make a proper division of the workload. We

wanted enough time, in a fluid state, to make a more permanent match of the

men with the work assignments.

Dr. Rosholt seems to fed that the immediate establishment of a pattern of

organization having a narrower span of control would have been better. In my

view, a deeper and more penetrating analysis will show the wisdom of the method

chosen. In any event, by November 1963 we were in a poakion to narrow the

span of control and fix a pattern that has proven effective and has steadily gained

 engt 

A second major area in which the reasons for our decisions and the results

of them are not fully reported relates to our determination to build a management

system that would emphasize the importance of first-dam performance and individual competence at each level of organization. We attached high imlxa, tance

to the development of competence in all phases of administration as well as in

the scientific and engineering disciplines, and other specialties. Our poEcy was

to u_ze and emphasize the importance we attached to patterns of administration

that would foster a pervasive development of careful judgment as an almost

instinctive approach to important problems by all key personnel.

An illustration of this is in the field of procurement. Here, Dr. Dryden,

Dr. Seamans, and I determined that we would personally examine, in detail, the

results of the work of all source evaluation boards on competitively negotiated

contracts that amounted to 5 million dollars or more. We expected these boards

to appear before us personally in a formal setting and make a full and complete

presentation of ( 1 ) the method chosen to break down for evaluation the contractor

proposals, (2) the results achieved in the application of this method, and (3 ) the

judgment of the board on each of the categories of the breakdown. The effect
vi ADMI/qISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

of this systematic approach to a continuous emphasis on the judgment/actor has

been that for five years, on innumerable occasions and for extended periods, the

three senior officials of NASA have sat side by side and personally examined in

detail, and tested by question and answer, the quality of the individual and

collective contributions of these boards to major decisions affecting the area where

ninety percent of our resources are expended. We thus formed our own personal

judgments, based on a great deal of personal involvement, as to the validity of

board findings. We deeply immersed ourselves on a daily basis in very complete

analyses of the main factors, within NASA and at the plants of our contractors,

on which our projects depend for success, and the views, approaches, and analytical

judgment of our senior personnel. In this process we were able to observe and

evaluate how rapidly the organization and its contractors were developing their

capabilities, and how effective our effort to get nine-tenths of NASA's work done

by contractors was proving. We believe this constant and visible personal contact

among NASA's three senior officials and the other responsible personnd involved

in the hard problems and decisions in procurement provided a great deal of

stimulation, motivation, and innovation throughout the organization.

The fact that the three senior officers of the agency would take the time to

conduct what amounted to a thorough hearing and question-and-answer period

on each contractor selection action enabled all levels of management, in Headquarters and in our Centers, to get their questions out on the table before all

three of us for debate and clarification. Another important result was that when

the presentation to the three of us was over, everyone involved had a dear understanding of the dements basic to a proper decision and everyone in NASA concerned with the matter was aware of this. The burden then passed to Dryden,

Seamans, and me to make the final decision, and the personnel of the boards

were in position to form their own judgments as to whether the three of us did

in fact arrive at the best decision as indicated by the facts and analysis. Further,

an important dement of a NASA-wide and pervasive self-policing system was

thereby established. This has had an important effect on maintaining high

standards throughout the agency.

One additional area of requirement for effective administrative leadership

that I would like to touch upon is the lack of recognition given in this history

to the difficulty we had in bringing high-level executive people in from various

backgrounds and fitting them into our organization, letting each serve in such a

way as to derive satisfaction while serving the organization, and then either

remaining or departing depending on performance. There is inadequate recognition, I believe, of the consequences of our decision, at the time Dr. George E.

Mueller joined us, to create in our Office of Manned Space Flight a group of

men not only dedicated to NASA'g program, but also who could have the full

confidence of the Departrrfent of Defense and the Air Force. There is aLso little

of the flavor of the creation, in this period, of the managerial competence that
voazwo_ vii

put into effect the extremely difficult and complex an-up systems test concept

that is now showing its value in the successful flight program.

The management structure in NASA is still evolving and for a long time

will remain anything but static. The fact that contracts arc administered on a

decentralized basis from widely dispcrscd Civil Service contract administrative

organiamtions has introduced the req_ent that contract officers, supported by

profem/onal staffs of attorneys, accountants, auditors, and inspectors, must also

work with large numbers of scientific, engineering, and other technical specialists

not under their direct administrative controL Further, the necessity of operating

a wide variety of complex programs as a coherent whole with internal balance

in each has meant the establishment of thorough-going management systems for

financial, technical, and schedule reporting with critical-path analysis and configuration controL These systems cover work being done by some 20,000 prime

and first- and second-tier subcontractors. The magnitude of this undertaking

and the significance of the methods by which the administrative problems have

been solved needs, it seems to me, to be more dearly spelled out than is done in

this administrative history.

Dr. Rosholt was able to obtain from his interviews and the documents much

that should underlie valid historical conclusions, but certainly not an. In fact,

many facets of the NASA administrative system are still so new that adequate

documentation was not available when Dr. Rosholt completed his contract, and

in some cases is still in a draft or experimental stage.

All d us in NASA genuinely appreciate the work of the University of

Minnesota and of Dr. Rosholt, which has produced this most important contribution to the beginning of NASA's historical series. We will endeavor to deepen

and broaden this important beginning of a base for a fun and complete history

of NASA by cooperation with other interested institutions and scholar_

Febr_ 3, 1966.

JAMEs E. WnB.
FR ACE

This study focuses on NASA administrative matters, not on the specific

content of NASA's programs and policies. It has an historical framewvrk rather

than a topical one. The first five chapters cover the antecedents and fnst years

of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminiso_on. The remaining four chapters deal with the change in political administrations and the acceleration of the

space program in 1961 and the organizational consequences through 1963.

Five administrative themes are emphasized: (1) organizational structure,

inducting intra-agency relationships; (2) administrative procedures, with emph_

on intra-agency coordination; (3) pe_onnd axtministrxtion; (4) finance administration; (5) procurement administration,especially contracting.Other topics

such as NASA-DOD relationsand nationalspacepolicyhave ncccssasilybeen

woven infrom time totime. Brid periodicmmmarics of NASA's program have

been includedto helprem£n thecontextwithinwhich administrativeactionswere

taken. For a synopsm ofthe study'sscopeand content,the readerisreferx_to

the highly detailed Table of Contents; the Index will _ specific queries.

Description and documentationratherthan interpretation have been emphasized.

Research has been based primarily on public documents, internal NASA

documents, and interviews with most of the key people. Inasmuch as certain

documents are more accessible than others and some individuals are more available for interviews, there may be unevenness. Critique of an earlier comment

edition by NASA officiM_ eliminated some of the unevenness and dosed some of

the inevitable gaps.

The study was prepared in accordance with NASA research contract NASr148 between the University of Minnesota and NASA. The author was a research

associate in the university's Public Administration Center. In preparing the study

he worked closely with the NASA Historical Staff. Documents collected and

collated in this research project have been incorporated in the NASA Historical

Archives.

The study was conceived during 1961 when the author was a rammer employee in NASA's newly created Office of Programs. Theaccelerated space program, including the manned lunar landing, had just been announced. The

author became convinced that NASA's administrative response to the lunar landing challenge would make an important study in public administration. Employmerit o.n the NASA Historical Staff during the summer of 1962 opened up vistas

ix
X ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

of NASA's early years. The project emerged in its present form in the fall of

1962; the first complete draft was completed in July 1964; some 90 select participants were asked to comment on this draft and their comments were assimilated

into the final manuscript by March 1965.

I am deeply indebted to two organizations, NASA and the University of

Minnesota, and scores of individuals.

Two University of Minnesota professors have been involved in the project

from its beginning. Prof. Lloyd Short of the Department of Political Science has

given advice on method and content and has read the en_fi_ first_,dr_aStof the

manuscript. Prof. George Warp, director of the Public Administration Center,

has handled the project's administrative details as well as rendering other

assistance.

The cooperation of NASA has been gratifying, and research freedom has

been complete. The NASA Historical Staff has served as a base of operations

and the Historical Archives has been the most important single source of data.

Dr. Eugene Emme, NASA Historian, and Dr. Frank Anderson, Deputy NASA

Historian, have given assistance in all phases of the project. The pitfalls they

have saved me from have been numerous. The help of Helen Walls and Sally

Holman of the NASA Historical Staff has been greatly appreciated.

It is impossible to name all the NASA offidals who made inputs into the

study. The list of interviews in the Bibliography reveals many of them. Don

Cadle, formerly of NASA and my supervisor during the summer of 1961, is

responsible for arousing my interest in NASA. Albert Siepert and John Young

gave me valuable data at a crudal time in my research and greatly contributed

toward whatever depth there might be in the study.

I mention these individuals only to acknowledge my debt to them. They

should not be thought of as sharing any blame for the study's defects. I take full

responsibility for those.

ROBERT L. ROSHOLT.

March 1965.

POSTSCRIPT

It is with personal as well as professional interest that I have read the Foreword by Mr. Webb, commenting on his portion of the period studied. His addition is invaluable for the light it casts on many decisions taken and for the underlying rationale. As indicated in the introduction to Chapter 8, my documentation, levd of detail, and perspective dwindled steadily as I moved into the more

recent, very dynamic period after 1961. I believe that scholars will find special

value in having both text and a management commentary on it between the

same set of covers.

R. L. g.

February 15, 1966
CONTENTS

PA_tT I: 1958-1960

Clmlm_ On_.. Badqprom_ of F..mLbmk,,,,-,, of NAsA

Pm_

L Spuzm'k.--Tl_ llama fro'NASA's _ ............................... S

a_ U.S. Sp_ _, _ d_e "r'med S_z_ .................................. 4

XGYS,_nz_ smgm_ _ ......................................... s

NACA Spsc_Rdamd Actlvhles ......................................... $

B. Ink_ U.S. _ m Sl.m_ ........................................... 6

it- The _'s Ptm ................................................... 8

A. Proviak_ of the Much 5 Memorudum ................................... t

B. _ ¢g dae A_lzrU2 DoeumenD ...................................... 10

C. _m of the Aln_ 2 _ ......................................... 11

HI. The _m:mm_ _ dze Sim:e a_ ..............................................

I_ d Na_mmdPolicy ....................................... 15

smmwy _ _ ................................................... _

Ghmpter Two: NASA's 0rgamlmz_nmd Predeeemor, NACA

L A Beief _mma.y d NACA ..................................................... 19

IT_ NACA Orr_ in 1.9_dJ.................................................. _1

A. _ _1l Sub,,,,--..,,_-_ ............................................

B. Alpm.-'yt..,._..._h,_ .... 28

C,. ASez_ _ ......................................................

D. H_._qzmx_ Orguism:ion and l_umukm...................................

E. Iutr_NAC, A _pe ................................................. 32

HL NACA'$ Reaction to Spmz_ .................................................. 34

Chal_.er Three: The _ of NASA

L _ Prim"to NASA's7mmal ]kmidkbme_ ........................... _17

,u The Oenem o_NAS_'.Sp._ r_,_ _ erosrsm ..................

B. NACA-DOD _ ..................................................

C. Planning NASA's _ Organization ...................................... _9

D. N_ aud _ of _ msd Drydeu ....................... 4o

E. Glennan'. Ausmt and September Aulmm.................................. 42

Initial Decisions msOs'smdzation and Staff'ms........................... 42

Tai_ Resumed widz DOD ............................................. 43

Documemm Emmblbh_ NASA. ......................................... 45

zi
x]i ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Page

IIo NASA's First 4 Months ...................................................... 44

A. The Nature and Importance of the Transfers From DOD to NASA ............ 44

The Transfer of Project Vanguard ..................................... 44

ARPA and Air Force Transfers ......................................... 45

Transfer of JPL and the Attempted Transfer of ABMA ................... 45

Other Transfers ...................................................... 47

B. The Evolution Toward NASA's Initial Organizational Structure ............... 48

C. The McKinsey Report on Organizing Headquarters Functions ............... 50

A Brief Evaluation of the McKinsey Report ............................. 55

D. Personnel ............................................................... 56

_o • o .. o -- _umenca_ _ro'smm Summary ...........................................

Appointments to Excepted Positions .................................... 56

E. 1finance ................................................................. 58

Yunding lqealbmtT .................................................... 59

Finance Administration ................................................ 60

The Role of Congress ................................................. 60

Preparing for Fiscal Year 1960 ......................................... 60

I_. Procurement/Contractlng ................................................. 61

Policies Governing NASA Contracting ................................... 61

NASA'. Contracting Machinery ........................................ 62

S_]ps in the Contracting or Procurement Process ......................... 65

G. Miscellaneous Administrative Developments ................................ 65

Weekly Stall" Meeting ................................................. 65

Assignment of Responsibility to Dryden ................................. 65

Utiliantion of Ad Hoc Advisory Committees in Nontechnical Areas ......... 65

H. External Relationships .................................................... 66

L Early Program Developments ............................................. 69

Chapter ]Pour: 1959---Internal Consolidation, External Di_culties

L NASA's 1959 Space Program ................................................. 72

A. The Overall Program ..................................................... 72

B. Launch Vehicle Development Program Changes ............................ 72

C. Mmlned Space Flight .................................................... 76

D. Other 1959 ]Program Developments ........................................ 77

II. Internal Organizational and Ad_;_;-trative Developments ............. ........... 78

A. Organizational Changes .................................................. 78

A Comparison of Organization Charts .................................. 78

Changes Not Shown on Organization Charts ............................. 79

The F.Mtablichment of the Goddard Space ]Flight Center .................. 79

B. Administrative ]Procedures F._tablbhed ..................................... 81

Ia_ ne_g .................................................... 81

The Establishment of a Management Manual ........................... 81

The Monthly ]Flight Schedule .......................................... 85

C. Personnel ............................................................... 85

D. Finance ................................................................. 85

Requests for a I_iscal Year 1959 Supplemental end Irsseal Year 1960 Regular. 85

Authorization and Appropriation ....................................... 86

The Preparation of the Fiscal Year 1961 Budget ......................... 88

NASA's Budget Request Modified as a Result of Saturn Trandes" .......... 90

E. Procurement/Contrscting " ... 91

]F. M_cellaneons Organizational and Administrative Matters .................... 95

McKinsey & Co.'s JPL and WCO Studies ............................... 95

1959 Actlv/t T in the ]Life Science Area ................................... 96

Deci_on-maklng ...................................................... 97
CONTZNTS XLII

PIMle

IlL NASA',, EstzrnaJ _ ............................................... 97

A. Relafiom W'sdsGemSrm .................................................. 97

The "Privileged l_foram6on" Cmsu_versy .............................. 9S

The "l'_odu,c6on of Documa_' _ ........................... 99

B. ]r_latiom l¥ith the Department of Defea_ ................................. 1(_

NASA-DOD Com'diaatiou lM[ach_ery ................................... 103

1959 NASA-DOD _ ......................................... 10S

IV. Policy Probleam ............................................................ 106

V. 1959 T_ mad Rebtted Hadqum'ms', Reorpnlzatioa ...................... 107

A. Gimasias _ 1958 to October 1959 ..................... 10a

IS. The Deahlou To T_ to NASA ........................................ 109

C. T_ Gem Underway Immediately ..................................... 110

Baa_ NASA.-II_D rand NASA-Anay Agreememm ........................ 110

The _ _ Pbus ............................................ 111

The ltoleof M_ &Co ........................................... 112

D. The Interhn Suttw of the Saturn Prosz'=m .................................. 114

L The Deeember Reorglmimtion of NASA Headquart:esm ...................... 115

C_pter Fsve: 19t_--Orderly Progress

L Orp.alsa_m_ Oh,roSes ..................................................... 1_7

A. The Huntsvsl]z Tramt_ Coammma.ted .................................... 117

T_ Plan SubmiZmd m Consrem ................................... 118

C,onfpresmmal Rzactiem to the Trans_ Plan ............................ 1111

Tra_ Beamses F..Xect/ve ............................................ 119

NASA F.az_i_b_ Hunme_ Fza'F_ ................................... 120

H_ Yaa'_ay C,iven a Name ...................................... 120

e,r the Ju_ ++J_, True+ ............................... +.SO

IL Otlke_Field _ CJbmzgza .......................................... 19._

LOD Emrb)i]bed ..................................................... 19.3

jelm NA_-AEC Or=e Em_ed .................................... 1.24

_.,+= T.,,k C,m,m Semm_ L.dee_de_ ............................... 1_4

Goddard Institute fmr Space Studies Esmbfished ......................... 12+

C. The F.JtabFmhment of the O_ke of Life Science PmSrams .................... 124

Tlm Beport of thz _ce Advlm_ _ ....................... 194

r_. L,m,._,-*_ of due Report .......................................... 126

D. Other Orpsdzatioa_ Change, in NASA Hesdquarters ...................... 127

OJake of Teclmical Informatiou aud Eduattkmal Prolpmms Eamblished ......

for the U_d Nations' _ce EmmbHshed .................... 19'7

_ of Re,arch _am= aud Cammu_ Rem'sanlzed .................... 128

_c-.ek_azz_ me_us u_ d_e Om_ oettse _ _ .......... t_

ii. T,ntes, ml Admlnlstr_ve _ ........................................ 129

A. Long-Range Planning .................................................... 1.50

The Pr_ of NASA'. F=st Lon_-Rauze l_n ...................... 1_0

The Plan Unvesled ................................................... 130

The Plann_g Procem ................................................. 151

B; Irmmsce ................................................................ 132

Bmdc Problems Yac_ng NASA .......................................... 132

Key _manc/al Management Po_/ons _ ............................. I$3

The Huntsv_e Project ................................................ 133

in Bud.'t/rig ............................................. IS4

Innovations in Acamsst_ssg ............................................. 134

Innovstlons in Finsnchd Repor_g ..................................... 134

F_:al Year 1961 Budge_ Enacted ....................................... 136

FiscalYear 1962 Budget Prepared ...................................... 138
XIV ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

_age

C. Personnel ............................................................... 139

Growth in the Number of NASA Employees ............................. 139

Personnel Complement Ceiling Problems ................................ 139

"Excepted Position" Developments .................................... 140

New NASA Civil Service l_.1=m;,,-t;on ................................... 141

Training ............................................................. 144

Other Personnel Developments ........................................ 146

D. Procurement/Contractlng ................................................ 146

Contracts for Services ................................................. 146

Procurement Activity Trends .......................................... 147

E. Program Integration. " 148

Problems Relating to the Office of the _ Administrator ............ 148

Organizational Changes ............................................... 149

Procedural Developments ............................................. 150

Biweekly Project Statm Review ........................................ 151

The Staff Conference ................................................. 152

The Space Exploration Program Counci] ................................ 152

Formal Project Authorization .......................................... 153

IlL Organisational and Administrative Self-Evaluation ............................. 154

A. Background for the Self-Evaluation Studies ................................. 154

B. The McKinsey Study of NASA Contracting ................................. 154

Objectives ........................................................... 154

Method .............................................................. 155

l_indings ............................................................. 155

C. The Study of NASA_ Organization (The Kimpton Report) ................... 161

Method ............................................................. 161

Committee Selected, McKinmey & Co. Chmen to Assist ................... 161

Glenuan's March 18, 1960, Memo to the Committee ...................... 161

The Work of the K.impton Committee ................................... 162

Findings and Recommendations ........................................ 164

NASA's Reaction to the Kimpton Report ................................ 167

An Evaluation of the Khnpton Report .................................. 168

IV. External Relations ........................................................... 169

A. 1960 Relatiom With Congress ............................................. 169

The President's January 1960 Legislative Request ....................... 169

NASA Submits Draft Amendments ...................................... 170

Congreslienal Reaction ................................................ 170

The Annual Authorization Problem .................................... 171

House Astronautics Committee Very Active .............................. 171

B. 1960 Relations With DOD ................................................. 172

AACB Established ..................................................... 172

Other 1960 NASA-DOD Agreements .................................... 173

C. Other External Relationships .............................................. 174

NAsA-Industry Conferences ........................................... 174

V. The Glennan Era--Summary and Conclusions ................................. 175

A. Space Program Accomplishments During the Glennan Era ................... 175

B. Administrative and Organizational Changes ................................ 176

C. The Giennan Legacy ..................................................... 178
CONTENTS XV

PART II: Lq61-19_

Chapter Sis: Tnndtlon From F.isenhower to Kennedy Paze

Tim l_zdd, m6al Elea/ou C-mUlmlSu .......................................... 1|$

Usscmeudn_ Follow/us Kennedy'. _mm_m ..................................... IS4

The Wimuer Report ......................................................... tSS

Selecting the N_.w NASA .__ ........................... - ............ lift

NASA. _ To Review Its Pmlpram ......................................... 111

DOD a_q_ukm Us Spice Pmsr_ ......................................... tm

Sp,_ Ad _ .........................................................

Tim Mm_ m_p_ _dm_ ..............................................

Xmp_ d _e _ mlsh_ ................................................. _

The President's May 25 Mimmlu ............................................. 1.92

Loq..l_q_ _ of the Predde_s _ .......................... 1_

ei the _ ud May Budg_ Am_dmmmB ............................ 1_

(_pter Seven: Reorganization for Program Acceleration

L Webb's Irss'_ Look st NASA Or_ Problems ........................... IN

A. Summary of NASA', 1960 Admiaimnm_e Se.lf-EvaJuatioa ..................... 191

a. The rebs'am_ "Summary Look" .......................................... IH

C. _ to the Mar_ Pt_grmm Acceleration ............................... 201

11. StreaSthening General _ent .......................................... 202

A. The April 14, l_l, Study on Genex-al Management ......................... 20S

]_oammmendatlon8 of the April 14 Study ................................. 204

B. Im.p_ of the Recommendations ot"April 14 ......................... M}_

HI. Overall _.em-sanisa_oa Ramdled ............................................ MIS

A. The Juae 12 Staff Study .................................................. 20t

i:_um_ in Ta_ ......................................................

x'_pmm _m]ismu_ m_.m,_v ....................................... 20e

The H, nulq_eld Center Relsfimmblp Probh.,,- .................... 200

One d Fo_ _ Prdm'red ..................................... 210

B. The Silv_uteln Akermzlive ................................................ 211

IV. Progx_un l_.velopmenm Followin| the May Decision ............................. 211

A. Plam_g Studies ......................................................... 212

The _.emm I Report ................................................. _2

The Getovm Study .................................................... 21S

IL Fsa_iW Problems AUm:ked ................................................ 215

Manned _ Center Fa,mblbhed................................. _S

I..auclzin_ Site Selected ............................................... 214

Vehlde Fabrication and Te_ Site Selected ............................... 215

C. MaWr Manned Lumu_ Landi_ I Conuau_ _ ......................... _16

V. The Now..-bm. I, 1_1, ]t_r_ ........................................ _17

A. The Aul, z_ 7 Staff Stady ................................................ 218

SIz'm:lzmJ _ _ ...................................... _19

Way_ and Mealm of Expedltia s the Lunar Landing Program ............. _19

Narrowing the Choices ................................................ _119

]_.lafionshlpsW'sthlnthe Structure ..................................... 220

Fun,_ional Management ............................................... 220

B. Details of the November I, 1961, Reorganization ............................ 221

NASA Leadership, November 1, 1961 ...................................

Headquarters Realigned ............................................... 224

Headqua_er,-Field Relationships ....................................... 224

C. Unfin_hed Buslnm ......................................................
XVi ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Pale

VI. Other 1961 Developments .................................................... 227

A. Program Management and Related Procedures ............................. 228

The Project Planning and Implementation System ....................... 228

Flexibility for Top Management Sought ................................. 229

Reprogramin8 ........................................................ 231

Project Progress Reporting--PERT ................ . .................... 231

It. Finance ................................................................. 233

Congress Ratifies the Lunar Landing Dec/slon ........................... 233

Bud_let Preparation and Execution .......................... 2._

C. Personnel ................................................................ 234

D. Procurement/Contractlng ................................................. 235

The Draper Report ................................................... 235

The October Conference .............................................. 255

Procurement Training ................................................ 2S8

Heaquarters Procurement Branch Establ;-hed ........................... 236

IXI E. Other Nona,_m;n;-trative Happeninp ...................................... 237

External Relations .................................................... 257

Program Highlights as Indicated by Major Launchinp ................... 258

Other Program Activity ............................................... 2S8

Kennedy Enunciates Communications Policy ............................ 259

Chapter Eight: Rapid Growth/OrganizationalReadjustments

I. C, rms Measurements of NASA's Rapid Growth, 1962-1963 ....................... 241

A. Growth of NASA Budgets and Spending .................................... 242

It. Growth in Total Permnnel ................................................ 242

C. Changes in Procurement Parterre .......................................... 244

IT. Program Developments, 1962-1963 ............................................ 245

A. Manned Space Flight ..................................................... 246

It. Space Sciences ........................................................... 248

C. Applications ...... . ........................... _ .......................... 249

D. Advanced Research and Technology ....................................... 249

E. Tracking and Data Acquisition ............................................ 250

ITI. Organizational Developments, 1962-1963 ...................................... 251

A. Field Installation Changes ................................................. 251

Cape Canaveral Facility Given Full Field Center Status .................. 251

Northeastern Operations Office Established .............................. 252

Electronics Research Center Proposed .................................. 252

Contract Administration Office EstabliJhed at Downey .................... 253

The Organization of NASA's Nuclear Activities .......................... 254

It. Headquarters Changes ................................................... 255

Director of MSF Named Deputy Associate Administrator .................. 255

Deputy Auodate Administrat6r for Defense Affairs ..... :. ............... 257

Deputy Asmciate Administrator for Industry Affairs ...................... 257

Other Headquarters Changes .......................................... 258
__s xvii

Pslle

IV'..4_ImlnistrmiveDevelopments, 1962-196.5...................................... 259

A. Finance ................................................................. 260

Sources of Funds ...................................................... 2_

of rund_ ........................................................ 260

Destination of Funds .................................................. 262

B. Personnd ............................................................... 2&t

Unique _ for EIdD _ Pm_o_ .................... 266

The Impectlan of N&SA by the _ Sm'vlce Gammimdon ................. 268

P_el _ Ev_on Syttem .............................. 2fa

mi,cenneom Permmnea _ ................................. 20

C. Procuremem_ ................................................ 270

Special Procurem_at Study ............................................ 270

GeoSraphic Dim_utlon of NASA Contra_ ............................. 272

Cat _ .......................................................... 275

D. Program =rid _ _ ......................................... 274

The ManAgement _ ............................................. 274

_ent _ C_---_._ Estab_ed ........................... 275

Contractors Hired for Technical Coordination ............................ 275

L Other Admini,ttt_e Devtlolmmnts ....................................... 276

O_--OMSi' Com'dimti_ .............................................. 276

ADP Devziopmena ................................................... 277

rroja:t _t, tmmd _.. 277

Pttmtt tt_guhtlmm Revised ............................................ 278

v. Mimdimmom t._2-t,_$ De_lotmmnm ........................................

A. Nots-NASA Space De,relopmeu_ L962-19_ ................................. 279

B. _eom Eztern_ _.]l_m_* ....................................... 279

C. Uaresearched Areas ...................................................... 2110

Chapter N'me: Reorganizat/on for Program Operations

L Tim Chlmffe in _ 1963 v_-a,-v_ 1961 .................................... 2112

.4,. The _ Over NASA's Mimkm ......................................... 2112

B. The Clumgin s Pattern of _tttrmd Suppm't ................................. 2113-

C. The Lmrelmg Off of NASA's Program ...................................... 284

NASA's ]fiscal Year 19_ Budget Affect_ by lru,cal Yea_ 19_ A_tlmm ...... 2114

NASA'm Iqscsl Year 1964 Budget Submitted to Congress ................... 285

The _--_-_* dNASA's lrual Year 1964 Budget .......................

IL The November 1963 Rem_pm_sa_m .......................................... 289

A. Evems LmKIm s to the Reorgsmhm_u ...................................... 290

B. _d__ ........................................... 292

Hmulqum-tm_eRi ]hlm_n_hi_ ....................................... 292

Chsmges in Headquarters .............................................. 295

C. An Ev_iumlon of the Reorganization ....................................... 296

D. NASA Le_ership, Novmber 1965 ......................................... 297

HI. Webb's Irn_t 35 Months--Summary and Conclusions ............................ 298

A. NASA's Program ......................................................... 298

B. Organizational and A_-;-trative Changes ................................. 299

General Management Powers Clarified .................................. 300

NASA's _ Redefined ............................................... 300

NASA's Expanding Program Organized and Managed ...................

Some Stability and Conl_u_ Maintained ............................... 301

C. NASA in Transition ...................................................... _0'2

215-892 0---66------2
.o°

xvl// ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Page

Appendix A--Natlonal Aeronautics and Space Act, as Amended ........... 304

Appendix B--NASA Organization Charts ................................... 328

Appendix C---Growth of NASA Personnel, 1958-1963 ....................... 347

Appendix D---NASA Finances, 1958-1963 ................................... 349

Appendix E--Trends in NASA Procurement ................................ 350

Appendix F--F_,xcerpts From "Administration and the Conquest of Space". 351

uassllied Bibliography of Sources Cited ..................................... 355

Index ......................................................................... 371

Table

3.1

4-1

3.1

6-1

7-1

Figure

2-1

2-2

2-3

2--4

3-1

3-2

3-3

7-1

7-2

7-5

9-1

9-2

TABLES

$ourceJ of NACA/NASA Funds, Fiscal Year 1959 ............................ 59

Planned Dispodtlon of Fiscal Year 1959 and Fiscal Year 1960 Funds ........... 74

Action on NASA'8 Fiscal Year 1961 Budget ................................. 137

Summary, NASA's Fiscal Year 1962 Budget ................................. 195

Requests, Authorization, and Appropriations, Fiscal Year 1962 ................ 255

FIGURES

NACA Organization Chart, March 3, 1958 ................................... 25

NACA Organization Chart, March 3, 1958 .................................. 26

NACA Organization Chart (Headquarters), July 8, 1955 ..................... 27

NACA Organization Chart (Headquarters), September 30, 1958 ............... 31

NASA Organization Chart, August 11, 1958 ................................. 48

NASA Organization Chart, October 24, 1958 ................................ 48

NASA Organization Chart, January 29, 1959 ................................ 48

NASA Orsuizstiou _ Jan_ 17, 1961 ................................ 22S

NASA Organization Chart, June I, 1961 .................................... 223

NASA Organisation Chart, November 1, 1961 .............................. 223

NASA Organization Chart, Prior to November 1, 1963 ....................... 293

NASA Organization Chart, Effective November 1, 1963 ...................... 294
PART ONE

1958-1960
NASA TOP MANAGEMENT, 1958-1960 

T. Keith Glennan, Administrator (center) ; Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator 

(left) ; and Richard E. Homer, Associate Administrator (right). 

2 
Chapter One

BACKGROUND OF ESTABUSHMENT OF NASA

The official establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a legal and functioning organizational entity occurred on October 1,

1958. The basic White House decis'on leading to the establishment of a civilian

space agency was made 7 months earlieron March 5, 1958. The March 5

decision,in turn,was the resultof severalmonths of study on bow the United

Statescould bestreslxmdtothe challengeimposed by Russia'successfulorbiting

of the world'sfirstartificialearthsatellite, Sputnik I,on October 4, 1957.

An administrativehistoryof NASA must begin much earlier.NASA was

not a completdy new creation,but was insteada transformedor reincarnated

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), a civilian agency of the

U.S. Government founded in 1915. NASA also inherited projects, programs,

people, and imu_tions which had their origin in the military services.

This chapter and the next one cover these "beginnings," focusing on the

evenls which brought NASA into being, with emphasis on the administration's

legislative proposal and the reaction of Ccngress to it. Chapter 2 focuses on

NACA, NASA's organizational predecessor and the nucleus around which

NASA grew.

I. SPUTNIK_THE PRINCIPAL REASON FOR NASA'S ESTABUSHMENT

The orbiting of Sputnik I was a dramatic technical achievement which

brought immediate repercussions.It revealed Russia's competence in rocket

technology as much greater than generally believed. This, in turn, suggested

that R-_;a's general competence in science and technology was substantial, and

bore out the contentions of those who claimed that the U.S.S.R.'s educational

system was producing scientists and technicians at a rate greatly in excess of that

of the United States.- It confirmed Russia's claim of August 1957 that it had an

intercontinental ballistic missile capability, and thus Soviet rocket technology was

a much more immediate threat to U.S. national security than had generally

been thought. The prestige which Russia gained from its spectacular Sputnik

success helped magnify its worldwide image. The fact that Russia was first in

space tarnished the world image of the United States as a technological leader.

3
4

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

A. U.S. Space Activity at the Time of Sputnik

At the time of Sputnik, the United States did not have an integrated national

space programmprobably one of the principal reasons why the U.S.S.R. was first

in orbiting an artificial earth satellite. The evolutionary development of the

somewhat unintegrated space activities of the United States is a complex story

and beyond the scope of this chapter. The following highlights provide minimal

historical perspective on post-sputnik events. 1

Military Misslb Activity. In 1957, most of the rocket-related activities

........ L_u o.-tca were centered around the urgent development of ICBM's

and IRBM's. These activities were being carded out by the three military

services and their respective industrial contractors. Five missile systems accounted for most of this activity. The Air Force was developing the Arias and

Titan ICBM's and the Thor IRBM, the Army, the Jupiter IRBM, and the Navy,

the Polaris IRBM. Big money did not start flowing into missile programs until

1955. By November of that year, the Atlas, Thor, and Jupiter programs, shared

the highest national priority.

The feasibility of the large liquid-furl ballistic missile for carrying warheads

had been demonstrated during World War II by Germany during its 1944 V-2

campaign against England and the Lowlands. The United States "acquired"

many of the Gemmn V-2 scientists and engineers together with rocket plans and

hardware (Project Paperclip). These "acquisitions" constituted the base for

test and upper atmosphere experimentation activities carried out by the Army

and Navy with civilian scientists at the White Sands Proving Grounds, N.Mex.,

in the late forties. Until the early fifties the Air Force was largely preoccupied

with the manned jet bomber as a global nuclear-weapon delivery system and

the development of air-breathing missiles (i.e., pilotless aircraft).

At the time the first Sputnik was orbited, the United S.tates had had two

unsuccessful test flights of the Atlas, four unsuccessful test flights out of five of

the Thor, and two unsuccessful test flights out of four of the Jupiter? The only

operational missile of any size at all was the Army's 200-mile tactical Redstone

missile. In addition to these better known missile programs, the military services

were also engaged in other space-related research and development, some of which

was of an advanced nature. NACA had also been brought into the picture.

Three sources were especially helpful in preparing this summary: U.S. Congress, House,

Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration, Astronautics and Space Exploration,

Hearings on H.R. 11881, 85th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1958) (hereafter cited as

House Hearings, Astronautics and Space Exploration) ; David S. Akens, Historical Origins o/

the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, MSFC Historical Monograph No. 1 (Huntsville,

AlL: NASA, 1960) (hereafter cited as Akens, Historical Origins o/ the George C. Marshall

Space Flight Center); Eugene M. Emme (ed.), History o/Rocket Technology, special issue of

Technology and Culture, Fall 1963, revised and augmented book with same title (Detroit:

Wayne State Univ. Press, 1964) (hereafter cited as Emme, History o/Rocket Technology).

s U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, A Chronology o/Missile

and Astronautic Euents, H. Rept. 67, 87th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1961), pp.

161-167.
BACKGROUND OF ESTABLISHMENT OF NASA 5

Since the Air Force and Navy did most of their work by contract, many private

corporations were engaged in space-related activity.

ICY $cientifw Satemte Ac6vity. The International Geophysical Year

(IGY) (July 1, 1957, through December 31, 1958) was a scientific undertaking

sponsored by an international organization of scientists and designed to promote

a broad worldwide invesxigation of the earth and its environment. The participation of the United States was primarily under the jurisdiction of the National

Academy of Sciences, with most of the financial support coming from the

National Science Foundation. The idea of including the orbiting of a small

earth satellite as part of the U.S. contribution to the IGY stemmed from various

proposals, including a 1953 proposal of the American Rocket Society. The high

cost of such an undertaking necessitated substantial governmental support. On

Juty 29, 1955, President Eisenhower announced that the United States would

undertake the satellite project as a contribution to the IGY. It was to be done

with minimal interference with the military missile programs.

This project, designed to place a 20-pound sphere in a 300-mile orbit

around the earth, was to be mainly a civilian scientific effort. However, most

of the national competence in the all-important launch vehicle field was centered

in the military services and their contractors, and thus the military had to be

brought into the picture. With the help of a committee of civilha scientists,

the DOD Committee on Special Capabilities was to work out the details for the

satellite project. The Committee canvassed the three military services for prolXmk After what would seem to have been adequate investigation and review,

the decision was made to use most of the elements of the Naval Research Laboratory

propmal, which was based on the Navy's Viking/Aerobee-Hi launch vehicle

_hnology? Thus, Project Vanguard, as it was named., became for all practical

pm]xases a Navy-civilian project under the Navy's Office of Naval Research. Its

scientific aspects were under the purview of the U.S. IGY Committee of the

National Academy of Sciences.

Subsequent events have revealed that Project Vanguard suffered from the

derisions which gave it a "shoestring" status in terms of national priorities and

resources.' As it turned out, the orbiting of the first manmade satellite became a

very potent "weapon" in the cold war. This was not fully understood until after

the great propaganda mecess of Sputa/k L

In comparimn with Sputnik, Project Vanguard came to be viewed as some-

* I-Iindaigh.t has revealed that'an earlier interservicJe (but primarily Army) project, Project

Orbiter, might well have yielded a better payoff had it been adopted, as it would have made better

use of research and development already completed. Recapitulations of the Orbiter-Vanguard

controversy can be found in several places. For example, see House Hearings, Astronautics and

Space Exploratiom, pp. 155-157; IL Cargill Hall, "Early U.S. Satellite Propmah," in Emme,

History ofRocket Technology, pp. 67-106.

• U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Armed Services, Preparedness Investigat_ Subcommittee, Inquiry Into Satellite and Missile Programs, Hearings, Part I, 85th Cong. (Washington: GPO, 1958), pp. 142-191 (hereafter cited as Senate Hearings, lnquiry Into Satellite

and MissilePrograms).
ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 9 5 8--1 9 6 3

thing too little and too late. 5 As a result it has been easy to overlook its long-run

technological and scientific contributions. One very fundamental thing revealed

by Project Vanguard was that a successful space program would have to be built

on a foundation of well-formulated basic policy and planning, be effectively

organized, be firmly supported with resources, and given high priorities.

NACA Space.Related Activities.. The space-related activities of NACA at

the time of Sputnik were a natural outgrowth of its basic aeronautical research

and its structures and propulsion work in support of DOD missile projects. Most

_.F _I'A/'_A ' ........ 1-_--1 " "

........... v,_-,_,,,_u acuvitie_ were of an advanced research and advanced

technical development nature rather than related to a hardware-using flight

program. An important exception was the NACA-Air Force-Navy "edge of

space" X-15 rocket airplane development project initiated in 1954. NACA

claimed that at the time of Sputnik, almost 50 percent of its overall effort could

be labeled "space related." Even so, the actual dollar amount was relatively

small--under $35 million annually. NACA's program will be described in

greater detail in Chapter 2.

B. Initial U.S. Reactions to Sputnik

The period immediately following Russia's successful orbiting of Sputnik I

on October 4, 1957, was characterized by messages of congratulations to the

U.S.S.R., claims that the United States could have been first if certain mistakes

had not been made, and a fairly widespread concern about the country's miti.'tary

preparedness and a possible missile gap. It was also pointed out that the U.S.S.R.'s

large rockets were necessitated by their large and heavy (i.e., less advanced)

nuclear warheads.

Before any significant actions were made public, the Russians orbited Sputnik

H (November 5, 1957) weighing over 1,iO0 pounds (six times the weight of

Sputnik I) and carrying a dog. Public concern soared higher than ever. To

allay public fears, President Eisenhower made a major speech on November 7 in

which he declared U.S. defenses sound, and revealed that the United States had

made a space "breakthrough" by perfecting a nose cone capable of surviving entry

into the earth's atmosphere at ICBM speeds? He announced that the position

of Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology had been created

and that James R. Kilii.'an, the renowned president of the Massachusetts Institute

of Technology, had been appointed to fill it. He also announced that the President's Scientific Advisory Committee had been reconstituted. Killian and the

President's Scientific Advisory Committee were to play an important role in the

establishment of NASA. Bringing the voice of science into the White House was

itself of historical significance.

s After two successful test shots out-of four, the first Vanguard satellite was orbited on

Mar. 17, 1958, 51⁄2 months after Sputnik I and 11⁄2 months after Explorer I, the first successful

U.S. satellite launched by the Army on" Jan. 31, 1958. Subsequently two more Vanguard

satellites were orbited out of eight attempts.

s For text, see The Washington Post & Times Herald, Nov. 8, 1957, p. A14.
BACKGROUND OF ESTABLISHMENT OF NASA

Developments during the remainder of 1957 and early 1958 fall roughly

into two areas. First, the status of existing space-related activities was reexamined

and measures taken to assure that progress was what it should be.' Second, the

nature, scope, and organization of the Nation's long-range space program were

debatecLS The principal issue was not whether there should be an accelerated and

organized space program but rather the extent to which the space program should

be civilian in orientation and organization.

Important congn_onal hearings, conducted by the Military Preparedness

Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Armed Services during November and

December 1957, and January 1958, devdoped the distinctions between the

militarily significant ballistic _ and the more scientifically significant earth

satefiite?

' On Nov. 8, 1957, Secretary of Defense McElmy directed the Army to attempt two satellite

launchings in March 1958. The Army's Jupiter C hunch vehicle was to be used. On Nov. 15,

DOD announced that W'dliam Holaday, McElroy's Special Assistant for Guided MiBile_ had

been named Director of Guided Missiles and given greater power to ride herd on DOD mi_e

projects. Overtime restrictiom on the Atlas ICBM program, an economy measure dating from

July 1, 1957, were lifted by DOD on Dec. 2. On Dec. 5, DOD ammunced that a major DOD

reorganization would be made in early 1958 when the Advanced Research Projects Agency

(ARPA) would be established. In January President Eisenhower announced that all DOD

anti-_ and space satellite activity would be put under ARPA. ARPA was created by an

order of the Secretary of Defense on Feb. 7 and Roy Johnson of General Electric was named

Director. Congrem paved the way for this action by authorizing the Secretary of Defeme to

engage in "advanced reseasch projectL" (Public Law 85-325, signed Feb. 12, 1958.) ARPA

was to be an operating agency and several space projects of the military services were tr-anderred

to it. Actmdly the military m_,ices served as "contracton" for ARPA. DOD's establhhment

of an operating agency apart from the three services wag a radical departure from standard DOD

practice and may have muddied the picture rather than clarified it. It should be pointed out,

of com_ that ARPA was initially regarded as a 1-year agency. On March 27, 1958, ARPA

received Presidential approval of a rather ambitious space program including plans for several

lunar probes.

•The debate is almost impossible to summarize. Scientists, Congressmen, and throe involved

in national defense did most of the talking. On Nov. 21, 1957, the prestigious Rocket and

Satellite Research Panel of the National Academy of Sciences, James Van Allen, Chairman,

propmed the establishment of a scientifically oriented National Space Establishment to conduct

space research and exploration. On Dec. 4, it was revealed that the American Rocket Society

had made a similar proposal on Oct. 14. The two groups made a joint proposal on Jan. 4, 1958.

(For text, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Special Committee on Space and Astronautics, Compilatioa

of Mat_ads on Space and Astro_utics, No. 1, Committee Print, 85th Cong., 2d sere. (Waahington: GPO, 1958), pp. 17-19 (hereafter cited as Senate Print, Compilation .... No. 1). On

Jan. 14 NACA releamd a staff study entitled "A National Research Program for Space Technolo_ which recommended an interagency space program embracing NACA, DOD, the

National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences. (This will be covered in

greater detail in Ch. 2.) Most public attention was focused on the congressional inquiry

conducted during November, December, and January.

' The Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Armed Services

began an "Inquiry Into Satellite and Missile Programs" on Nov. 25, 1957. Lyndon Johnson

was subcommittee chairman. Hearings were held on 20 different days between Nov. 25 and

Jan. 23, 1958. Most of the 70 witnemes were from the Department of Defense. The printed

hearings total 2,300 pages. Johnson quickly became the chief national spokesman on space

matters. On Feb. 23, Apr. 3, and July 24, 1958, the Secretary of Defense appeared before the

subcommittee and reported on DOD accomplishments in implementing the subcommittee's Jan.

23 recommendations. For full citations on the entire series of hearings, see the Bibliography.
ADMEVISTRATIVEHISTORYOF NASA, 1958--1963

The administration took action in regard to existing space-related activities

but showed little progress in resolving the broader long-range issues. Congress

forced the administration's hand, however. In January 1958 numerous b'fl_swere

introduced in Congress, each providing a particular solution to the problems which

Sputnik raised, a° One bill, introduced by Senator Clinton Anderson on behalf of

the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, amended the Atomic Energy Act by giving

the Atomic Energy Commission a major portion of the Nation's space program.

The administration decided to oppose this bill, but at the same time felt compelled

to present an alternative. On Febraaty 4, i958, President Eisenhower announced

hhat hc had assigned Dr. James R. Killian the job of coming up with a definitive

solution. I_ KiIlian turned to the Space Sciences Panel of the President's Scientific

Advisory Committee (PSAC) for assistance. _

II. "THE ADMINISTRATION'S PLAN

On March 5, 1958, President Eisenhower approved the recommendations of

his Advisory Committee on Government Organization that the "leadership of the

civil space effort be lodged in a strengthened and redesignated National Advisory

Committee for Aeronautics," and that legislation be enacted "to give NACA the

authority and flexibility" to carry out its expanded responsibilities. _s

President Eisenhower's advisers (primarily Killian, PSAC, and the Bureau

of the Budget) had been moving in this direction for some time. It is very

difficult to pinpoint precisely when NACA moved out in front in the competition

for jurisdiction over the space program. NACA had begun to sell itself in

January by proposing an interagency space program embracing NACA, DO]),

NSF, and NAS. t* NACA's leaders, such as Hugh L. Dryden, had many friends on

the President's Scientific Advisory Committee, including PSAC's Chairman, Dr.

Killian. James Doolittle, NACA's titular head, was a member of the PSAC.

Apparently NACA was already the front runner in early February when the

administration decided to come up with a specific proposal. _

Eisenhower's March 5 decision was based on a memorandum dated the

same day and signed by Nelson Rockefeller, Chairman of the President's Advisory

Committee on Government Organization; Percival Brundage, Director of the

Bureau of the Budget; and James Killian, Special Assistant for Science and TechI* For a complete listing and text of all such bills, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Special Committee on Space and Astronautics, Compilation o] Materials on Space and Astronautics, No. 2,

Committee Print, 85th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1958), pp. 308-354 (hereafter cited

as Senate Print, Compilation .... No. 2).

u New York Times, Feb. 5, 1958, p. 1.

•t Letter, Killian to the author, Aug. 14, 1963.

u Memorandum for the President from the President's Advisory Committee on Government

Organization, Mar. 5, 1958. Subject: Organization for Civil Svace Programs.

u NACA's January propotal is discuued in greater detail in Ch. 2.

"_One researcher claims that by Feb. 4 "... the Executive Offices had already agreed

that the new civilian space agency would be built upon NACA." See p. 12 of Enid Bok's "The

Establishment of NASA: The Political Role of Advisory Scientists," a paper delivered at the

Dec. 27, 1962, meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
I_GROUNDOFESTABLIgHMENT OF NASA 9

nology. 16 Dr. Killian calls the President's March 5 action "the conclusive act

with respect to building a civilian space agency upon the NACA structure." i_

The contentsofthememo warrantsummarization.

A. Provisions of theMarch 5 Memorandum

The memorandum opened by declaring that the U.S. civil space program will

"entail increased expenditures and the employment of important numbers of

scientists, engineers, and technicians," that "an aggressive space program will

produce important civilian gains in general scientific knowledge and the protection

of the international prestige of the United States," and that the "long-term organization for federal space programs . . . should be under civilian controL"

The memorandum recommended that the "leadersMp of the civil space effort

be lodged in a strengthened and redesignaxed National Advisory Committee for

Aeronautics." The factors favoring this approach were these: ( 1 ) NACA was a

going research agency with a Large technical staff and sizable research facilities;

(2) NACA had progressively moved into space research; ( 3 ) if NACA would not

be allowed to move further into the space field, its whole future would be in doubt;

(4) NACA had a long history of close cooperation with IX)D; (5) NACA was a

civilian agency in spite of its dose cooperation with IX)D; and (6) NACA's

liabilities could be easily overcome.

The memo then went on to list these liabilities: ( 1 ) NACA does not have

an across-the-board space comt_ence nor has it had much experience in the

administration of large-scale de_elopmental contracts; (2) most of the Nation's

spaccwork has been done by or forDOD, and NACA would have to tap

competence withoutimpairingthe militaryspace program; (3) "NACA is not

in a position to push ahead with the immediate demonstration projects which

may be necessary to protect the Nation's world prestige"; (4) NACA is limited

by the somewhat inflexible hiring and pay provisions of civil service regulations;

and (5) NACA's organization and procedures are geared to a much lower level

of expenditure than will be the case after its expansion.

The memo recommended that these liabilities be overcome or mitigated by

enacting appropriate legislation. Four specific recommendations were made.

Fhst, NACA should be renamed the National Aeronautical and Space Agency

(NASA). Second, NASA should be permitted to establish pay rates in excess

of those of the Classification Act of 1949. Third, the agency head should be

appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. (NACA's

Director was sdected by NACA's 17-member governing committee.) Fourth,

the composition of the 17-member governing committee should be changed.

The memo dosed by listing the immediate steps that would have to be taken

if the basic recommendations were accepted. First of all, legislation would have

t, The President's Advhory Committee on Government Organization was brought into the

picture only as a matter of form. Killian made the presentation to the President.

:' Letter, Killian to the author, Aug. 14, 1963. (Cited in footnote 13.)
10 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

to be drafted immediately if Congress was to act during the current session.

Supplemental appropriations would have to be requested. Relationships between

NASA and DOD would have to be worked out. The memo implied that certain

projects would eventually be transferred from other agencies to NASA. The

memo also clearly implied that NASA would have to do much of its work by

contract. Finally, the memo suggested that NACA be advised that it was being

charged with "the responsibility for developing and arranging for the execution

of the civil space program."

In an attachment to the memo_ the prr_......._-'_ cons ot. ,,.,_,,,,,,,u,,__l..... :..- orgaa-fizafiunal

arrangements were set forth. DOD was not recommended because of the desire

for civilian scientific emphasis and DOD's deep involvement in the missile program.

The Atomic Energy Commission was not recommended because its program was

not closely enough related to the technology of the space program. Also, an

agency with a single head was deemed best for the space program. Putting the

civil space program under the often-proposed Department of Science and Technology was not recommended because of the great delays in getting started and

the fact that the administration was not in favor of the creation of such a

department.

B. Preparation of the April 2 Documents

On April 2, 1958, draft legislation establishing NASA was sent to Congress

and a directive was issued to NACA and DOD instructing them to take certain

actions pending congressional action on the draft legislation. The April 2 documents were three in number: President Eisenhower's message to Congress,

draft legislation sent to Congress by the Bureau of the Budget, and President

Eisenhower's directive to NACA and DOD concerning interim actions, as

The documents were drafted by the Bureau of the Budget with assistance

from NACA and KiUian's office? _ Chief participants were Finan, Dean, and

McClure of BOB's Office of Management and Organization; Shapley and

Gathwright of BOB's Military Division; Dembling of NACA; and Johnston of

Killian's office. The Department of Defense was not brought into the picture

until the end of March when the draft bill was sent to Various agencies for

comment. _°

_s All three documents have been reprinted in House Hearings, Astronautics and Space

Exploration, pp. 3-5, 11-15, 967-969.

u Drafting was done under pressure as President Eisenhower wanted to send the draft

legislation to Congress before it recessed for Easter.

m The lack of DOD participation in the preparation of the Apr. 2 documents was discussed

on several occasions during the hearings on the space act. See the May 7 testimony of Donald

Quarles and Roy Johnson and the May 13 testimony of Maurice Stans in U.S. Congress,

Senate, Special Committee on Space and Astronautics, National Aeronautics and Space Act,

Hearings on S. 3609, Parts 1 and 2, 85th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1958) (hereafter

cited as Senate Hearings, National Aeronautics and Space Act). See also the May 12 testimony

of Roy Johnson and Herbert York in House Hearings, Astronautics and Space Exploration.
BACKGROUND OF ESTABLISHMENT OF NASA. II

In comparing the April 2 documents with the March 5 memorandum, two

significant devdopments stand out. First of all, the draft legislation was much

more comprehensive than what had been suggested in the March 5 memo? I

The second change involved the use of a board for high-levd Policymaking

purposes. The BOB position in favor of single-headed agendes reporting directly

to the President won out over the NACA Positioa that a research agency needs

some kind of a buffer at the top to shield it from the external forces such as

politics. = As a gesture to NACA, the board was retained but with few substantive powers. =

C. Contents of the April 2 Documents

The Administration's plan can be divided into three categories: ( 1 ) Recommendations on a national space policy; (2) specific propomLs concerning a new

space agency; and (3) interim measures to move ahead under

arrangements.

The message and the Declaration of Policy of the draft legislation (Sec. 2)

set forth the general national space policy recommended bv the administration.

The President declared that a space program was essential to the general welfare

and security of the Nation and recommended that Congress promote or further

the national space program by the enactment of appropriate legislation. The

space program should be given high priority and be soundly organized. In

terms of civilian orientation, the President said, "I recommend that aeronautical

and space science activities sponsored by the United States be conducted under

the direction of a _ agency, except for tho_e projects primarily a._cx:iated

with military requirements." The civilian agency _onld be a new one and

include aeronautical activities as wall.

The specific details concerning the creation of a new space agency were set

forth in the draft legislation and summarized in the message. It was recommended that the new agency be called the National Aeronautics and Space

Agency. Headed by a Director appointed by the President and confirmed by

the Senate, the functions of the new agency would be to take over the aeronautical activities of NACA and develop and execute a dvilian space program.

A special effort was made to give the new agency adequate power to accomplish its objectives. The authorized powers as enumerated, in addition to the

usual ones of rulemaking, acquiring and disposing of property, enter/ng into contracts, etc., included liberal provisions for hiring and paying certain scientific and

technical spe.cialists, and the power to transfer (for a period of 3 years) unto

= The Mar. 5 memo talked about amending NACA's basic law and strengthening NACA.

The draft legislation stressed that NASA would be a new agency and few references were made

to NACA. Paul Dembling recalls that in his first draft he attempted to "write around" every

pouible restriction that NACA had been facing. (Interview, Dec. 5, 1962.)

"Interview with Willis Shapley, Bureau of the Budget, May 7, 1964.

= Interview with Paul Dembling, Dec. 5, 1962.
12 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

itself the functions of other agencies, providing the agency and the President

consented.

The draft legislation also provided for the establishment of a National Aeronautics and Space Board, not to exceed 17 members, to meet at least quarterly

and to serve without compensation, and to serve in a general advisory capacity

to both the President and the NASA Director. In addition, the Board was to

make recommendations to NASA on general policies, programs, appropriations,

and major appointments. In effect, the Board would function similarly to t_he

Main Committee of NACA but wkh fewer substantitive powers.

The April 2 document not yet discussed, was the President's letter to DOD

and NACA instructing the two agencies as to what actions they should be taking

pending final congressional action on the proposed legislation. These actions

were based on the assumption that Congress would eventually act along the fines

recommended. NACA was instructed to prepare a full explanation of the proposed legislation for presentation at the congressional hearings. NACA was also

to make plans to reorient its "programs, internal organizations, and management

structure to carry out the functions to be assigned to the National Aeronautics

and Space Agency" and to lay the groundwork for whatever expansion might

be necessary to implement the legislation when enacted. DOD and NACA were

to jointly review current DOD space programs to determine which ones should

be transferred to NASA and to what extent facilities should be transferred with

them. Unnecessary facility duplication was to be avoided. NACA was to discuss with the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation,

and other similar organizations the best ways and means of securing the participation of the scientific community in the national space program. Finally, DOD

was to "identify those programs" needed in support of "well-defined military

requirements." Any problems arising from these instructions were to be discussed with either Dr. Killian's office or the Bureau of the Budget.

IlL THE ENACTMENT OF THE SPACE ACT

The Democratically controlled Congress was well prepared to receive the

draft legislation. Both the House and Senate had formed ad hoc committees to

deal with matters concerning space. On February 6, 1958, the Senate created the

Special Committee on Space and Astronautics. Lyndon B. Johnson, the Senate

majority leader, was named its chairman. On March 5, the House created the

Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration. To match the action

of the Senate, John W. McCormack, House majority leader, was picked as

chairman.

Hearings got underway in the House on April 15. Three months later

Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. _ It was signed

k See Appendix A: National Aeronautics and Space Act, as amended, through the 87th

Cong., Oct. 13, 1962.
BACKGIOUND OF ESTABL/SKHENT OF NASA 13

by President Eisenhower on July 29, 1958. 25 The Space Act's legislative history

has already been published and will not be recounted here. 26

The most significant differences between the Space Act and the administ_o

tion's draft legislation stemmed from congressional concern over the relationship

between space and national defense. As indicated earlier, the administration's

propmah had an overwhdmingly civilian emphasis, whereas congressional concern

following Sputnik was largely in the area of military security. Congress wrestled

manfully in its attempt to bring about a satisfactory solution to this basic dichotomy. In the brief sumraary and analysis of the Space Act which follows, parenthetical comparisons axe made with the provisions of the draft legislation described

earlier in this chapter.

Tit/_ 1--8_ of Naaou/Po/_. The emphasis of the statement of

national policy was that the U.S. space program was to be of benefit to the security

and general welfare of the United States and to all mankind. Peaceful objectives

were to be pursued, human scientific knowledge in aeronautical and space-related

matters be expanded, international cooperation in space be promoted, public and

private efforts in space coordinated, U.S. leadership in space preserved, and the

long-range effects of a space program studied. Furthermore, the space p_

was to be the responsibility of a civilian agency, except that activities "associated

with the development of weapons systems, military, operations or the defense of

the United States" were to be the responsibility of IX)D, with the President determining jurisdiction in borderline cases. (The only significant change made in the

draft legislation was a general "tightening" of the language concerning the space

role of DOD.)

Tids II.--C_ of Aeroaamtg_ and $_a¢_ Aalvlt_. Whereas

the draft legislation provided for a Space Board advising the NASA Director, the

Space Act provided for a Space Council advising the President (So:. 201 ). The

two bear almost no resembhnce to each other.

The Council, composed of the President, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of

State, NASA Administrator, AEC Chairman, and up to one other public member

and up to three private members, was to advise the President in his planning,

developing, and coordinating a comprehensive national space program. NASADOD coordination was mentioned specifically. The Council was given the power

to hire its own staff to be headed by a civilian executive secretary, appointed by

the President and confirmed by the Senate. The idea of a Space Council was

generally associated with Senator Lyndon Johnson and his efforts to keep both

the military and civilian emphasis strong and to guarantee that nothing vital to

"Public Law 85-568; 72"Smt. 426; 42 U.S.C. 2451. Text can be found in severalplaces,

includingNASA'$ firsttwo semiannual reports. NASA General Management Instruction1-2-I

includesallsubsequent amendmenm as well and has been reproduced in App. A.

" For a detailed legislative history of the Space Act, see Alison Gri/fith, The National

Aeronautics and Space Act: A Study of the Development of Public Policy (Washington: Public

Affairs Press, 1962). Covering much the same ground is the unpublished seminar paper of

Mary Stone Ambrose, "The National Space Program, Phase I: Passage of the 'National

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958' " (The American University, 1960 ).
14 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

the Nation's interests would get lost or overlooked by having responsibilities

shuffled between NASA and DOD.

Section 202 of the Act established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (rather than Agency) to be headed by an Administrator (rather

than Director) and a Deputy Administrator, both appointed by the President and

confirmed by the Senate. (The draft legislation made no provision for a Deputy

Director. )

The functions of NASA as enumerated in section 203 were only three in

number: (1) to "plan, direct, and conduct aeronautical and space activiti_";

(2) to arrange for the participation of the scientific community in these activities;

and (3) to widely disseminate information about these activities. (The last point

was not explicitly included in the draft legislation. )

The powers of NASA as authorized in Section 203 were almost identical

with those included in the draft legislation; e.g., make rules, hire employees,

acquire property, accept gifts, enter into contracts, enter into agreements with

other agencies, utilize the services of advisory committees, hire consultants, coordinate with other public and private organizations, etc. Perhaps the most important

grant of power, one which will be referred to quite often in later chapters, was the

one giving the NASA Administrator authority to hire up to 260 persons at rates

of pay up to $19,000 ($21,000 for 10 positions) without regard to the Classification

Act of 1949. These excepted positions gave the Administrator great flexibility in

staffing top positions. The Administrator was also authorized to hire new scientists

and engineers at two grades above those provided for by the General Schedule of

the Classification Act of 1949. This provision was intended to ease NASA's

problem in recruiting newly graduated scientists and engineers.

The problems of military-civilian coordination were dealt with in Section 204,

which established the Civilian-Military Liaison Committee. A Presidentially

appointed chairman, together with at least one representative from DOD and

each of the three services, matched by an equal number from NASA, would serve

as a means by which NASA and DOD could "advise and consult with each other

on all matters within their respective jurisdictions relating to aeronautical and

space activities . . ." and keep each other fully and currently informed with

respect to such activities. If DOD or NASA could not come to an agreement

on some matter, either agency head was explicitly authorized to refer the matter

to the President for a final decision. (No provision for such a liaison committee

was included in the draft legislation and the push for it came largely from the

House of Representatives.)

Two other sections under Title II warrant mentioning. Section 205 gave

legislative recognition to the need for NASA to cooperate with other nations,

providing it is done within the framework of U.S. foreign policy, and Section 206

provided for an annual Presidential report to Congress on the Nation's space

program and a semiannual NASA report to the President and Congress on

NASA space activities.
BACKGROUND OF ESTABLISIKMEMT OF NASA 15

Title lll--Miscella_om. Section 304 put NASA under the general

internal security provisions of public law.

Section 305, the most lengthy section in the Act, dealt with the ._anewhat

specialized subject of patents. Included was a provision for the establishment,

within NASA, of an Inventiom and Contributions Board which was to consider

waivers to the general agency policy that inventions made using NASA resources

(in-house or contract) became U.S. property, as do the patents based on the

inventions. This has been a very controversial area and will be discussed again

in hter

Section 306 gave the NASA Administrator the power to make monetary

awards for valuable scientific and technical contributions to NASA. Awards

were to be based on the recommendations of the Inventions and Contributions

Board mentioned above. (The draft legislation did not include provisiom similar

to Sees. 305 and 306.)"

Two transitory sections are significant. Section 302 gave the President a

4-year grant of power to transfer to NASA space-related functions of other

agencies. If the transfer was made before January 1, 1959, Congress only had

to be informed of the fact. Any subsequent transfers, however, would be subject

to a 60-day congressional veto period, a provision identical to a basic feature

of the Reorganization Act of 1949. (The draft legislation provided for a less

restrictive S-year transfer period, but placed more emphasis on bilateral agreements between NASA and the affected agency.) The important use of this

tramfer power will be covered in Ompte, 3.

Section 301 provided for the transition trom NACA to NASA to take place

90 days after the Act became law, or earlier if properly proclaimed by the NASA

Administrator.

The Act was signed into law on July 29, 1958. On August 8, President

Eisenhower nominated Dr. T. Keith Glennan, president of the Case Institute of

Technology to be NASA Administrator, and Dr. Hugh Dryden, Director of

NACA, to be Deputy Administrator. The nominations were confirmed by the

Senate on August 15 and the two individuals were sworn in on August 19. On

September 25, Administrator Glennan issued a proclamation that NASA was

ready to commence operations? s Its publication in the Federal Register on

September 30 fulfilled the procedural requirement and on October 1, NASA

was in business, almost exactly 1 year after Russia's Sputnik had kicked off the

whole chain of event_

"Patent matters were not discussed in the hearings on the space bill. In fact, the patent

provisiom were expanded and rewritten while the bill was in conference. See Paul Dembling's

"National Coordination for Space Exploration," The lAG Journal, February 1959.

"The proclamation read in part: "By virtue of the authority vested in me by the National

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 . . . I hereby proclaim that as of the close of business

September 30, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been organized

and is prepared to discharge the duties and exercise the powers conferred upon it ....

"In accordance with the proyisions of the Act, all functions, powers, duties, and obligations,

and all . . . property, personnel . .., funds, and records of the National Advisory Committee

21{_89_ 0--.-66-----3
16 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The events during the 12 months following Sputnik I may be subject to

various interpretations. To some they indicated the inability of a democracy

to move ahead quickly when faced by novel and difficult problems. To others

they indicated the ability of a democracy to choose the best long-term alternatives

through the deliberate and systematic working of the democratic process. To

some they revealed the failures of a Democratic administration between 1945 and

1953; to others, the shortcomings of a Republican administration from 1953 to

18f.0 C^--- ..... _,v,,,_ .r-l..]--_ L_J ,_ ..,_. ,,_u the mmtary bccn -1.. gi ven a free rein, progress would

have been much faster, while others held that intcrscrvicc rivalry had already done

enough damage and would probabaly get worse.

The delays in getting started do not appear as significant today as they

probably did at the time. As basic legislation, the Space Act has stood up rather

well. Amendments have been few and of relatively minor irnportancc.

Congress showed more aggressiveness than the administration in getting the

Nation moving forward in space. A bipartisan approach to the problem was

taken and congressional leaders themselves took an active interest in working out

the best possible solution. Congress made a very determined effort to achieve

an optimum relationship between military and civilian efforts, but in doing so

included organizational details in the Spacc Act which have not stood up too

well as initially implemented. Congress indicated great willingness to accept the

Russian challenge and probably would have supported a crash program had one

been proposed. Its plans for continued interest in space matters was evidenced

by the conversion of the ad hoc space committees into standing committees.

The administration has been given credit for stressing the need for a primarily

civilian program. The widespread support for its April 2 proposal indicates a

careful formulation of its plans. However, it seems safe to say that the administration may have failed to see the full implications of what the U.S.S.R. had

achieved, especially its international psychological impact. On the other hand,

Congress probably underestimated the actual difficulties of meeting the Russian

challenge, especially in terms of the time required to overcome a late _ycart in

certain areas of technology.

The main dements of the Nation's space policy, as determined during the

period just discussed, can be summarized as follows:

(1) The national space program was to be under the jurisdiction of several

agencies, with military activities centered in DOD and civilian activities in NASA.

Effective coordination among all involved organizations was to be maintained

at all times.

for Aeronautics are hereby transferred to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ....

"Existing policies, . . . and .procedural instructions governing the activities of the National

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, . . shall be continued in effect until superseded or

revoked .... "

The proclamation was dated Sept. 25, 1958, and signed by T. Keith Glennan, NASA

Administrator. It appeared in the Federal Register on Sept. 30, 1958 (23 F.R. 7579).
BACKGROUNDOFESTABLISHMENTOYNASA 17

(2) Overall policy direction was to come from a high-level council chaired

by the President himself.

(3) Congressional oversight was to be carried on by two newly created

standing committees.

(4) The urgency of action and the long-range objectives sought would be

largely determined (unofl_cia/ly) by the Russian challenge. Unfortunately this

last dement was not a clear-cut guide to action.

The implementation of the Space Act, examined from the administrative

point of view, is the central theme of this study. Emphasis will be placed on the

role of NASA. But before this story gets underway in Chapter 3, it is necessary

to take a look at NASA's organizatidnal predecessor, NACA. This is done in

the next chapter.
Che_ Two

-NASA'S ORGANIZATIONAL PREDECESSOR, NACA

On March 5, 1958, ertsident Eisenbower approved the propo_ which

emmtially lodged the Nation's civilian space program in a strengthened and

redesignated National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). On September 30, 1958, a notice appeared in the Federal Register that as of the close

of business that day, NACA would cease to exist, and that a new agency would

come alive on October 1 as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Legal transition from NACA to NASA took place overnight_ The actual transformation of NACA into NASA, however, took much longer and was accompanied

by additions of people and programs from the outside. To understand NASA's

early administrative history, a knowledge of NACA's organizational structure and

historical development is essential

I. A BRIEF HISTORY OF NACA 1

Although the United States had pioneered in many of the early developments in aviation after the first demorLqrations of the Wright brothers in 1903,

technological progress in the next few years, especially in the use of the airplane

in both civilian and military affairs, lagged behind that of Europe. _ This lag

did not go unnoticed and several Americans, such as Alexander Graham Bell,

urged the Federal Government to do something about it. Great Britain supplied

a pattern for action by establishing an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in

1 No history of NACA has been published. The two most readily available partial accounts

are Jerome Humaker, "Forty Years of Aeronautical Research," Smithsoniaa Repo_ [or 1955,

pp. 241-271 (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1956), and George W. Gray, Froatiers o[

Flight: The Story o[ NACA Research (New York: A. Knopf, 1948). Arthur L. Levine's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, entitled "United States Aeronautical Research Policy, 1915-1958"

(Columbia University, 1963), is very helpful. The files of the NASA Historical Otiice contain

random portions of two historical drafts, one apparently prepared by John F. Victory, the other

by Ruth Walrad.

s Hunsaker reported in 1914 that the United States had only 23 military airplanes as compared with over 3,500 in France, Germany, Russia, and Great Britain. (p. 243 of "Forty Years

of Aeronautical Research.")

19
2O ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

1910, but several abortive tries were made and World Wax I actually began

before the United States was able to establish a similar committee in 1915. 8

The U.S. committee, also called the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

(the Committee itself inserted the word "National" at its first meeting), consisted

of 12 members, appointed by the President, who served without compensation. _

The Committee's duty was to "scapervise and direct the scientific study of the

problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution, and to determine the

problems which should be .experimentally attacked, and to discuss their solution

and their application to practical questions." Further, "in the event of a laboratory, or laboratories, either in whole or in part, being placed under the direction

of the committee,the committee may directand conductresearchin aeronautics

in such laboratoryor laboratories.... ,,s

Sinceonly $5,000 was appropriatedforitsfirstyear,the Committee could

do littlemore than hold occasionalmeetings,sponsoror encourage a few universityresearchprojects,and hireone clerk._ As war approached fortheUnited

States,the Committee'spolicyrolegrew in importance. The growth of NACA,

subsequentto thismodest beginning,isshown in the followingtable.7

TABLE 2-1

Year

1915 ........

1920 ........

1925 ........

1930 .......

1935 .......

Numbei _ of

permanent

personnel

(approximate)

1

20

130

240

3O0

Total

appropriatiom

$5, O00

175, 000

470, 000

1,508,000

747, 830

Year

1940 ........

1945 ........

1950 ........

1955 ........

1958 ........

Number of

permanent

personnel

(approximate)

65O

6,8OO

7, 150

7, 600

8, O00

Total

appropriations

$_ 374,544

40,492,33(

53, O00,00(

56,860,00(

117,276,20_,

sPublic Law 271, 63d Cong., Mar. 3, 1915. This was the Naval Appropriation Act of

1915 and the provisionfor an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a rider. Charles D.

Walcott of the Smithsonian Institutionand members of the National Academy of Sciences led

the battlefor expanded aeronauticalresearch.

•Two each from the War and Navy Departments; one each from the Smithsonian Institution,Weather Bureau, NationalBureau of Standards ;plusfiveothers.

s38 Slat.930. A helpfulsource for the originalwording and allsubsequent amendments

is"LegislationPertainingto the National Advisory Committee forAeronautics as of April 1958,"

prepared in Officeof Legal Adviser,NACA (mimeographed).

sThat clerkwas John F. Victory,who was stillwith NACA when itwent out of existence

in 1958 and who had risen to the positionof Executive Secretary,the second highest career

positioninthe agency.

Appropriation figuresare for fmcal years and are taken from NACA's annual reports.

Personnelfigurescame from a varietyof sources. In 1950 NACA also receivedan appropriation

of $75 millionunder the authorizationof the Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act of 1949. For

a year-by-yearaccount of NACA requests,BOB approvals, and congressionalappropriations,

se_ Arthur Levine, "United States Aeronautical Research Policy, 1915-1958" (unpublished

Ph.D. dissertation,Columbia University,1963) (hereaftercited as Levine, "United States

AeronauticalResearch Policy,1915-1958" ).
NASA'S ORGANIZATIONALPRF._I_C_SSOR,NACA 21

NACA began to conduct in-house research in 1917 when its first field installation went into operation. Located at Langley Field near Hampton, Va., the

Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory was the locus of NACA's research activities for the next 24 years. In 1939, as war clouds gathered, Congress authorized

a second laboratory, and in early 1941 the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory began

operations at Moffctt Field in the San Francisco area. In 1940 a flight prop-l_on

was authorized, and in 1942 this facility, later named the Lewis Flight

Propulsion Laboratory, began operations adjacent to Cleveland's Municipal Airport. Both the Ames and Lewis facilities were planned and staffed by Langley

personnel

The opening of these two new laboratories, together with an increased level

of effort at Langley demanded by World War II, meant rapid growth for NACA

between 1940 and 1945. NACA's contribution to the air successes of the ARies

during World War II was substantial. Many of these contributions came from

basic research done during the 1930% however, and most of NACA's World War

II work involved perfecting or improving existing aircra/t on the hasis of existing

knowledge. With the end of World War II, NACA was free once again to move

ahead to the frontiers of aeronautical research. At this point the rexat_es of the

agency, both personnel and facilities, were 10 times what they had been before

the war. Postwar work focused on more speed, higher altitudes, and new and

better power plants, including both jet and rocket engines. To aid research work

in these areas, a Pilotless Aircraft Research Station for launching rockets was

established in 1945 at Wallops Island, Va., as an adjunct to Langley Laboratory,

and in 1947 a somewhat more autonomous High Speed Flight Station was set up

at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.

NACA's specific research accomplishments are difficult to summarize both

because of their technical nature and because no authoritative history of these

accomplishments exists. There is no doubt that scores of aircraft improvements

should be credited to NACA research. NACA is usually given credit for the overall superiority of conventional Allied fighter planes in World War II, a factor

viewed by some as the principal reason why the Allies won control of the air in

Europe, which, in turn, made possible the land victory, s In the postwar era, the

contn'butions of NACA to transonic and supersonic flight were substantial, culminating in the well-known flights of the X-I and later the X-15 rocket research

alrphne_

So far attention has been focused primarily on quantifies: numbers of personnet, numbers of laboratories, amounts of appropriations. But quantitative terms

alone do not explain NACA's role. The following qualitative factors were probably the most important reasons why NACA was chosen to play such a prominent

part in the Nation's expanding space program:

' In comments on this sentence, Eugene Emme, NASA Historian, pointed out that Nazi

Germany had emulated NACA before World War II and that this contributed to the rapid

increaae in the power of the Laftwaffe between 1933--39 and the appearance of jet aircraft in

1943.
22 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--I 963

1. Competent Personnel. NACA had good success in attracting and retaining competent young scientists and engineers initially entering the job market.

Research freedom and an overall esprit de corps were important factors in this.

In addition, NACA was willing to do battle with the Civil Service Commission

and others in looking out for the interests of its employees.

2. Good Research Facilities. In 1958 NACA research facilities were valued

at $300 million and, qualitatively, some were the best in the world. NACA's

ability to get much from its construction and equipment appropriation was probably due to the fact that NACA _personnel often played key roles in design lng the

research facilities and improving research equipment. For example, the wind

tunnel was NACA's most important aerodynamic research tool and breakthroughs

in wind tunnel design were often the product of NACA employees?

3. Overall In-House Capability.. Almost all of NACA's money was spent

by its own personnel conducting research in its own laboratories. As a result,

NACA's research competence extended over a broad front, and few organizations

could match it. By 1958 much of this competence was in space-related.areas.

4. Good Working Relationships With Other Organizations. Much of

NACA's work was directed toward solving the problems of other organizations,

particularly aircraft manufacturers, and, most important, the Department of Defense. Through its university research program, NACA maintained close relationships with a large segment of the scientific community. NACA's elaborate

committee and subcommittee structure, described later in this chapter, promoted

these extra-agency relationships.

5. Congressional Respect, NACA was respected by Congress, especially its

Appropriations Committees, for its fiscal integrity and tightfisted fiscal

management.

While the factors listed above meant that NACA would not be ignored in

consideration of a reorganized and expanded national space program, there were

also reasons why NACA might not be called upon to spearhead such an effort.

When Sputnik I forced the United States to reexamine its space program, the

future role of NACA could not be predicted with certainty.

One of the general factors working against NACA was its known administrative conservatism. As good scientists and engineers do, NACA moved ahead

in an orderly step-by-step process, facing new problems as old ones were solved.

The agency had a reputation for cautious spending and prided itself in turning

back to the Treasury a small portion of each year's appropriation. Although

these characteristics are usually desirable, many national leaders felt that the

Russian space challenge required a bold response, perhaps even a crash program,

and this raised doubt concerning the role NACA would play.

Another factor working against NACA was that its reputation was built

almost entirely on in-house research capability. NACA had little experience in

tA good example of this was Langley Laboratory's 1950 "slotted throat" transonic wind

tunnel, associated with the name of NACA employee John Stack.
NASA'SORGANIZATK)NAL PREDECESSOR, NACA 23

conceiving, planning, and executing large-scale projects requiring the teamwork

of many people and organizations, and expenditure of large amounts of money,

much of it through contracts. 1° NACA's contracting experience was relatively

narrow in scope and its contracting staff was small in terms of numbers. In addition, much of NACMs work was in response to requirements of other organizations, whereas the agency charged with the new space program would have to

take the lead in initiating requirements.

Perhaps the most important argument working against NACA was the claim

by the military that because the Russian challenge was a threat to the Nation's

security, the military services would have to play the prime role in meeting it.

In view of the uncertain status of the U.S. missile program, this argument had

much support, especially in Congress, As it turned out, the civilian orientation

espoused by President Eisenhower, Dr. Kinian, and the President's Sdentific

Advisory Committee prevailed. To what extent the Department of Defense

voluntarily acquiesced to this is difficult to determine. NACA's reserve of good

will with IX)D, earned over many years, was probably a factor in the administration's winning DOD support for its proposals. DOD may well have expected

a continuation of the same working relationship with NASA as it had had with

NACA. What changed the relationship was that NASA's devation into the

"big league" automaticany made it a competitor rather than a valuable support

agency.

II. NACA ORGANIZATION IN 1958

NACA's organization was unique in comparison with most Government

agencies. The name was misleading in that it referred to both a 17-member

committee and an 8,000-employee agency, and neither was purely advisory.

A-more descriptive name would have been "National Aeronautical Research

Agency."

NACA's official organization charts (figs. 2-I, 2-2, and 2-3) identify organizational dements mentioned below. The first (fig. 2-1 ) outlinescommittee and

subcommittee structure, agency headquarters organization, and agency field

installations. The second (fig. 2-2) amplifies the subcommittee organization,

and the third (fig. 2-3) further details NACA Headquarters.

A. Committees and Subcommittees

NACA's basic legislation gave plenary power to a presidentially appointed

committee, the basic functions of which were stated at the beginning of this

chapter. Subject to presidential approval, the committee was empowered to

1, Project Vanguard, not considered a large project, cost $110 million. This was greater

than NACA's entire annual appropriation.
24 ADMII_STRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

formulate "rules and regulations" for the conduct of its work. 11 This power gave

the committee organizational flexibility necessary to adjust to changing conditions.

To distinguish it from the rest of the agency, the presidentially appointed cornmittee will be referred to as the "Main Committee."

In 1958 the Main Committee consisted of 17 members. 1_ The statutory

formula provided for a minimum of 10 Government members (5 from DOD)

and up to 7 members from outside government. An annual meeting was held

in October, a semiannual meeting in April, and about eight additional meetings

each year. Members were paid experL_--s only. The Main Co_m__m_j.-__f,mctioned as a "board of directors." It formulated basic general policy governing

the work of the agency and approved such items as major program changes,

major fat-;llty changes, and the annual budget. For certain actions it resolved

itself into an "Executive Committee." is

Early in its history the Main Committee realized that additional committees

and subcommittees would be necessary if nationwide coordination of aeronautical

research was to be achieved. Therefore it was decided that membership on

subordinate committees should not be confined to Main Committee members.

In this way a large number of people with varying backgrounds and affiliations

were brought into the picture. In 1958, about 450 individuals, drawn from

interested Government agencies, private corporations, and key universities, served

on the 5 technical committees and their 23 subcommittees. 1'

The technical committees and subcommittees did not share in the decisionmaking power of the Main Committee. Their purpose was to promote the

exchange of information on aeronautical research problems, to ascertain in what

areas research effort was needed, and to make appropriate recommendations.

Their influence in technical programs and related policy matters was substantial.

Meetings were held about two or three times a year? _ A NACA career employee

u The last edition of these rules and regulations was dated May 3, 1949, and was only four

pages long. All quotations are from "Rules and Regulations for the Conduct of the Work of the

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics with Amendments Approved by the President to

May 3, 1949" NACA (mimeographed) (hereafter cited as "Rules and Regulations for the

Conduct of the Work of NACA, 1949").

a Membership was 12 from 1915 to 1929, 15 from 1929 to 1948, and 17 after 1948.

u The rules also provided for an executive committee to give month-by-month attention

to the details of the research and business affairs of the agency. Since the executive committe_

was to consist of seven members elected from and by the Main Committee, plus those Main

Committee members from the Washington area, it was possible to make the executive committee

identical with the Main Committee, a practice that prevailed after World War II. Thus

meetings of the executive committee were really special meetings of the Main Committee. The

effect was that the operating freedom of the agency was limited in that the Main Committee

had the authority and opportunity to inaugurate a system of closer supervision if it felt it

necessary.

a For the 1958 membership of these committees (and the organizations represented), see

Forty-Fourth Annual Report o/ the National Advisory Committee [or Aeronautics, 1958 (Final

Report) (Washington: GPO, 1959), pp. 83-93 (hereafter cited as Forty-Fourth Annual Report

o the NACA, 1958).

""For a summary of meeting places and frequency of meetings, see U.S. Congress, Home,

Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Independent Offices, Independent O_ices

Appropriations [or 1959, Hearings, p. 2, 85th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1958),

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served as part-time secretary to each committee and subcommittee, giving continuity to the work.

B. Agency Leadership

Article II of the regulations of the Main Committee provided for the

selection of five "officers." A Chairman and Vice Chairman were to be elected

by the Main Committee from its membership; a Director, Executive Secretary,

and Associate Director for Research (hereafter referred to as the "Top Three")

were to be appointed by the Chairman with the approval of the Main Committee

reconstituted as the Executive Committee. a" Although not specified in the regulations, the Top Three were Civil Service employees.

The regulations stated the powers and duties of the Top Three as follows:

The Director shall execute the policies and direct the activities of the Committee,

and shall be the head of the agency in all matters except those which by law or regulation require action by the [Main Committee] Chairman. He shall prepare programs for the allocation and coordination of scientific research in aeronautics, and

shall direct the prosecution of investigations conducted at the Committee's laboratories

and of special investigations financed by the Committee. He shall be ex officio a

member of each standing technical subcommittee.

The Executive Secretary shall be the assistant head of the agency and shall

supervise and direct its administrative work.

The Associate Director for Research shall supervise and direct the scientific and

technical activities of the agency. 1T

Although NACA regulations stated that the Director was "head of the

agency," the fact that the Main Committee Chairman appointed all of the Top

Three suggests that they may have constituted a type of triumvirate, with the

Director being only a "first among equals." Each could daim his authority

stemmed from the Main Committee.

NACA did have a splibleadership problem during part of its history, but it

was not a three-way split. Rather, it was a two-way split between the Executive

Secretary, John Victory, who had been with NACA from its beginning, and the

Director, Hugh L. Dryden, who came to NACA from the outside (the National

Bureau of Standards) in 1947. It took Dryden several years to become agency

head. This was accomplished only with the assistance of several high NACA

officials who wanted the leadership question firmly resolved? s

_s The s_tus of the executive committee is explained in footnote 13.

17 "Rules and Regulations for the Conduct of the Work of NACA, 1949." The Executive

Secretary also served as secretary for the Main Committee and could be authorized by the

Director to exercise the powers of Deputy Director.

_s Interview with Robert Lacklen, NASA Personnel Director, who was also NACA Personnel

Director, Apr. 17, 1963.
NASA'S ORGANIZATIONAL PREDECESSOI_ NACA 29

C. Agency k_slall_lkms

In 1958 the Top Three directed the activitiesof an agency consistingof

8,000 civil service employees with an annual budget of $100 milh'on and with

facilities costing $30Omillion. Each installation is described briefly. _

Headquarters. From John F. Vicmry's appointment as clerk in 1915, a

Hcadquart_mganizafi_cxistedin Washington, D.C. Headquartcmcmploycm

numbered 170 in 1958, and organizational arrangements were largely as depicted

on the latest chart, dated 1955 (fig. 2-3). (The organization and function of

Headquarters will be covered in greater detail later.)

La_/_ Aer_ Labormro_, NACA's oldest and largest laboratory

employed 3,200 people in 1958 in f_es costing $126 million. Langley's

researchprogram includedacrodynamic,structural,and opcra6ng problcms of

aircraft and spacecr-Mt at all speed ranges. According to NACA's own

calculations, 40 percent of its research activities could be classified as "space

rdatedo"

P_ A/rera/t _h Sta_ba. Located about 75 milesnortheastof

Langley and under Langley's jurisdiction, this station employed 80 persom in

1958 in facilities costing $3,500,000. Free flight research on aircraft and spacecraft was conducted by launching rockets and telemetering their flights. Ninety.

percent of this research was classified as space related.

Am_ Am'emu6ad Labonue_ In 1958 this Laboratory employed 1,450

persom in facilities costing $87 million. Like Langley, Ames consisted of mult/-

purpose reseaxr.h facilities, but Ames placed less emphasis on strucmr_ research

and more emphasis on high-speed aexodynamics. Twenty-nine percent of its

research was classified as space related.

Leu_ Fl/ght Propu&/om Laboratory. In 1958 this laboratory employed

2,700 persons in facih'ties costing $120 million. As the name implies, Lewis'

research program was centered around propulsion systcam and powerplants for

aircraft and spacecraft. Thirty-six percent of its research was class_ed as space

related.

H/gh-@/m_d F/_ht StaNom. In 1958, 300 persons were employed at this

station in facilities costing$16,500,000. Rcscarchwas conductedon the actual

flight of manned, high-speed aircraft. Forty-two tmrcent of this research was

classified as space related.

In addition to the major installations, tisted above, NACA maintained small

liaison offices in Dayton, Ohio (Wright-Patterson AFB), and Los Angeles, Calif.

(WesternCoordination Office).

D. Headquarters Organization and Function

A more detailed examination of Headquarters organization and function

will facilitate a later discussion of relationships among NACA's organizational

components.

_SBased on chart facing p. 404 of House Hearings, Astronautics and Space Exploration.

No basis was given for how "space relatedness" was determined.

-2
30 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Figure 2-4 helps give a picture of Headquarters as it operated in 1958. This

organization chart, based on a position complement report of September 30,

1958 (NACA's last day of business), shows the size of each organizational unit

and the composition of each in terms of professionals (GS-11 and above) and

nonprofessionals (below GS--11 ) ._0

The Top Three. The functions of the Tup Three were described earlier

in this section. The Director, a typical agency head, was involved in the gamut

of internal and external agency activity. Though he might personally be a

zation began with the Executive Secretary and the Associate Director for Research.

The Offwes. This term applies to those organizational elements which gave

direct assistance to the Top Three and which in some cases constituted the link

between the Top Three and the agency's principal operating divisions. In the

administrative area, the Executive Secretary was assisted by the Office of the

Executive Officers, the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Public Relations, and the Security Office (called the Security Division). The Executive

Officer supervised the work of seven divisions, in which the bulk of the administrative work was done.

Assisting in the research area were several special assistants to the Director and

three assistant director offices, each office supervising a technical subject-matter

area..

The D/tr/.dom. _1 Seven administrative divisions operated under the Executive Officer. The one-man Safety Division recommended regulations and made

periodic inspections. Staffwork on the preparation of the annual budget and

the allocation of agency funds among organizational units was accomplished by

the three-man Budget Division. Personnel functions for Headquarters--recruitment, placement, training, position classification, etc.--and preparation and monitoring of agencywide personnel policies were performed by the Personnel Division.

The two-man Management Improvement Division conducted special administrative studies. The Fiscal Division, largest of the seven, kept the agency's accounts

and conducted preaudits. The purchase of goods and services for research operations and the administrative work on the construction and maintenance of research

facilities was done by the Procurement and Supply Division. The Administrative

Services Division handled mail and reproduction work.

Six other Headquarters divisions were associated with NACA research work.

Four were under the jurisdiction of the Assistant Directors for Research, while

the other two were attached directly to the Top Three. The names and functions

of these six divisions are discussed in the next few paragraphs.

The Research Information Division directed and controlled the reproduction

ss The position complement report was a regular report of the NACA personnel division.

It was carried over into the NASA era-and is an excellent source .for organizational details.

It was discontinued about the end of 1962.

•t This subsection is based primarily on a Functional Statement Chart for NACA Headquartersfor July 1954 prepared by Howard Braithwalte of NACA's Personnel Division.
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32 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

and distribution of NACA research reports. It also maintained a technical reference service and a library containing a large collection of aeronautical literature.

The Research Administration Division served as control center for the systematic review of all NACA-originated research reports. Prior to publication or

presentation at technical meetings, such reports had to be approved by this Division. The security classification of published reports was also reviewed periodically. The NACA patent adviser was attached to this Division.

Two of the three branches of the Research Coordination Division were resoonsible for condlmting NACA'_ ey.te,._. _1 t,-,_,,t,-o,-,_ ..... t, .... ,r't,;_

involved reviewing proposals submitted to NACA and recommending action on

them, and, if a contract resulted, maintaining liaison and controlling reports

submitted? s

The Operating Problems Branch of the Research Coordinating Division

and the three remaining divisions---Aerodynamics, Aircraft Propulsion, and

Aircraft Loads and Structures (see fig. 2-4)--had the function of keeping abreast

of their subject-matter areas so they could make recommendations concerning

aeronautical research. Technical specialists in each division made detailed studies

of proposals for in-house research, maintained familiarity with research conducted

in NACA research laboratories, and kept up with problems encountered in industry and the military services. 2s Working from this base, the divisions studied research reports and approved them for publication, prepared detailed evaluations

of research proposals, and made recommendations on research needs and problems.

E. Intra-NACA Relationships

NACA has been described primarily in terms of its organizational elements

and their functions---a policymaking Main Committee, several standing technical

committees, over 20 technical subcommittees, an agency headquarters, 3 field

laboratories, 2 field stations, and several smaller units. How these elements fit

together is only partially explained by an organization chart. In this section,

this picture can be broadened by focusing on two basic relationships--that between

the various committees and the rest of the agency, and that between headquarters

and the field installations.

Commlttee-Agency Relationships, While it is probably true that the

immediate effect of the committees on the rest of the agency was small, there was

a long-run cumulative contribution made by the committee system. It was considered one of the major factors contributing to the excellence of the agency, r'

a These two branches formed the nucleus of NASA's Office of Research Grants and

Contracts.

as Most of these technical specialists also served as secretaries for the standing technical

committees and subcommittees.

_' Arthur Levine concludes that NACA had a distinguished record of accomplishment and

that the committee system contributed to the establishment of the type of insulated environment

which scientists like so well. However, he goes on to claim that the NACA system was dysfunctional in the areas of coordination and innovation because it militated against disputes. Greater
NASA'S ORGANIZATIONAL PREDECESSOR, NACA 33

As mentioned earlier, the meetings of the technical committees and subcommittees served as forums for the exchange of information, problems, and

findings on specific matters. None of the technical committees or subcommittees

had decision-making authority over the affairs of the agency; rather, they influenced agency behavior through their advisory capacity.. It should be noted that the

use of technical committees and subcommittees continued after the establishment

of NASA--an indication of their value and usefulness.

The relationship between the Main Committee and the agency was somewhat different in that the Main Committee had substantive control over

and resources. The Main Committee neither led nor followed the agency.

There was genuine give and take on the part of both- *_ The chief influence

of the Main Committee came through its Chairman. He was usually the only.

noneareer person to testify before Congress, he took ceremonial precedence over

the Director, and he often served as public spokesman for the agencT.

The workability of the arrangement just discussed depended on maintenance

of cooperative relationships. The Main Committee, by exercising self-restraint,

was able to create an environment in which the Director could manage the

agency along traditional line_ The Director, in turn, acknowledged the role

that the Main Committee was designed to play and accepted it. The impetus

for reducing the power of the Main Committee, as provided in the draft legislation for the new space agency came primarily from the Bureau of the Budget.

/t_demrt_n-F'=gd Rdat/on_'tn. The relationship between NACA

Headquarters and NACA field instafiations appears to have been relatively happy.

The field cente_ were generally free to manage their own day-to-day affairs,

Headquarters direction coming primarily in the area of administrative policy and

overall program scope and direction. Informal communication channels prevailed and worked quite well. This informality stemmed from several sources:

the smanness of the agency; the homogeneity of its program and employees; and

an effort to keep paperwork at a minimum.

The i0rec/se degree of Headquarters control was not revealed by the research

done for this chapter; however, several things can be surmised. In 1958, Headquarters personnd numbered only 170, a ratio of 1 person for every 30 in the

field. Since only 30 of the 170 were aeronautical professionals, it can be assumed

that H_adquart_ did not have the manpower to get involved in day-to-day

review of field operatiom.

On the other hand, Headquarters was closely knit and could well speak with

one voice which would be readily heard in the field. NACA's Top Three, by

maintaining, dose and informal contact with all Headquarters personneJ, were

coordinating efforts would have led to disputes with the aircraft industry and the military services

and greater innovating efforts would have led to disputes with BOB and Congress. For his

complete argument, see Levine, "United States Aeronautical Research Policy, 1915-1958," Ch. 6.

= The give and take between the Chairman and the Director in the area of policy was

not dysfunctional in the way that the Director-Executive Secretary relationship had been in

the area of operations.
34 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

able to utilize Headquarters as one large staff office in controlling the agency's

activities. Apparently the Top Three, aided by Headquarters personnel and

backed by the prestige of the Main Committee, constituted the unifying essence

which kept the several field installations moving along in a reasonably coordinated

manner.

There were numerous formal procedures, of course, covering such activities

as authorization and alteration of research projects, fiscal reporting, and accountability for property. Nor did the field centers acquiesce in everything HeadQuarters. wanted:__ _m__O__n_y timp_ _trre_t effo_ .....,,.,.. ,,.,t,,,_,.,_ to L,ULaUA z._cs_ _c._.cz

agreement. During the 1950's there was an effort to overhaul certain practices

to achieve tighter control over agency work and to facilitate a better flow of

information for making decisions. _s

Ill. NACA'S REACTION TO SPUTNIK

As indicated earlier, NACA was involved in space-related research, which

by 1957 had reached an estimated 40 to 50 percent of its total effort." NACA

had made inputs into the Vanguard project, theDOD missile program (especially

nose cones), and was largely responsible for the "edge of space" X-15 project.

There was some tension in the agency on the degree of NACA involvement in

space research apart from that associated with aeronautics. This dispute proceeded at a relatively leisurely pace until Sputnik caused extensive reexamination

of the Nation's space efforts in late 1957 and early 1958. The position of the

space enthusiasts in NACA was greatly strengthened by Sputnik, and the agency's

leadership realized that the issue would have to be resolved sooner than had

been anticipated."

Dryden came to realize that the future of the agency was possibly at stake.

If NACA concentrated solely on aeronautical research, it would lose many of its

best employees to whatever agency would emerge with the Nation's space program;

on the other hand, if NACA were to take on the Nation's space program it would

face radical changes. To make sure that his actions were broadl.y based, Dryden

attempted to appraise the sentiments of younger employees, including those in the

field centers. An example of this is what has come to be called the "Doolittle

Dinner," held at the Hotel Statler in Washington, D.C., on December 18, 1957,

to which Dryden and Doolittle invited "third echelon" NACA employees who

would be the future managers of the agency. (The "second echelon" was actually

excluded from the dinner to permit greater freedom of discussion. ) At this dinner

Dryden pointed out the implications of various alternative courses of action and

asked for the opinion of those assembled. The sentiment was overwhelmingly in

favor of NACA moving into the space field.

"Based primarily on interview with.Clotaire Wood, Apr. 23, 1963.

"See footnote 19.

"The material in this paragraph and the next one has been fitted together from statements

made by Paul Dembling, Robert Lacklen, Clotaire Wood, and Addison R.othrock ih interviews

with them.
NASA_S ORGANIZATIONAL PRF=_ECZSSOR_ NACA 35

After thus exposing himself to a large sample of agency opinion, Dryden led

the preparation of a serie, of documents and proposals which were made public

in January 1958. On January 12, Chairman Doolittle announced the fortnadon

of a Special Committee on Space Technology. On January 14, the "Dryden

Plan," entitled "A NationaJ Research Program for Space Technology," was

revealed. _ The plan was an ingenious attempt by Dryden to steer a calculated

but difficult course which would preserve the best of the old while permitting

transition into the new.

The Dryden Plan did not call for establishment of a new agency. Instead

it proposed a space effort based on intercooperation of existing organizatiom.

NACA would expand its space research program by enlarging its staff, building

a new space research laboratory, and increasing its contract research program; it

would also step up its flight program, while limiting it to basic research. Largescale flights associated with military requirements would be under DOD with

appropriate NACA inputs. The National Academy of Sciences and the National

Science Foundation would assume resl_nsibility for the nature and planning of

experiments to be conducted, mosdy by the private scientific community.

On January 16 the NACA Main Committee passed a resolution calling for

a joint program along the lines of the Dryden proposal, *° and on February 10 the

agency issued an internal document outlining details of the contemplated NACA

expansion, n This latter document calted for an increase in NACA staff from

8,000 to 17,000 over a 3-year period, with a corrtslxmding increase in budget from

$80 million to $180 million. The cost of the proposed new laboratory was estimated at $380 million over a 5-year period, while existing facilities were to be

expanded at the rate of $55 million per year for 5 years.

The March 5 memo to President Eisenhower which recommended that

NACA be given jurisdiction over the civilian space program cited the Dryden

proposal, the Main Committee's resolution, and NACA's February I0 expansion

plan, as indicatiom of NACA being prepared to move forward in space, s* However, the idea of total authority and responsibility in one agency under one man

was considered by the administration as the best solution to a problem requiring

urgent action. The administration's April 2 proposals incorIxa'ated few of

Dryden's original organizadonal suggestiom, u

"The four-page multilithed text it footnoted "A staff study of the NACA, January 14,

1958." I have assumed that it was released to the public on the 14th and that it incm]mmtes

Dryden's thinking. There it little doubt that other people made inputs, and I am sure Dryden

would call it the "NACA Plan."

" For text, see Senate Print, Compilation . .., No. 2, pp. 293-294.

It "A Program for Expansion of NACA Re,arch in Space Flight Technology With Estlmates of the Staff and Facilities Required," prepared by the NACA staff and dated Feb. 10, 1958.

The Mar 5 memo was discussed at length in Ch 1 (Sec II.A).

Arthur Levine, in his doctoral dhsertation, "United States Aeronautical Research Policy,

1915-1958," indicates that several NACA leaders strongly opposed the Administration's space

agency propmal: "NACA leaders, on the other hand, were firmly convinced that the committeetype-executive pattern under which NACA had operated for over 40 years was superior to the

single executive in running a science agency which had extensive relationships with the military,
36 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

The merits of the Dryden proposal lay in its recognition that the breadth

of the Nation's space program was greater than the program of any single agency

and in the probability that it provided the best means of integrating DOD into

the Nation's space efforts. Congress showed great concern for these problems as

it converted the administration's proposals into law.

The transformation of NACA into NASA began in March 1958. This is

where the next chapter will begin.

universities, industry and other groups. Disturbed by the way the administration bill was

.3 .... 1_.*_ "l_'r A rs A 1__ J_ . 1 r * ,*

,_,.,,_,,.q.,,,,_s, ,',_,..,_ jc,tuc_ rcttucstcu xnenuly L,ongressmen to introduce measures which would

give NACA the space role, while preserving the traditional NACA organizational pattern"

(p. 155). The footnote for this statement is: "Interviews with J. C. Hunsaker, J. H. Doolittle,

J. F. Victory. Review of NACA Minutes 1957-58" (p. 241 ).
Chapter ThM

THE LAUNCHING OF NASA

This chapter spans events from March 1958, when the transformation from

NACA to NASA got underway, to January 1959, when initial organizational

efforts had been largely completed. October 1, 1958, the date of NASA's formal

establishment, was merely one point in time along this 11-month continuum.

During the 7-month "gestation period" prior to October 1, effo_s were made to

get NASA off to a running start. Another 4 months passed before the preparatory

efforts were to be completed.

I. DEVELOPMENTS PRIOR TO NASA'S FORMAL ESTABLISHMENT

The administration'sMarch 5 dccisiontobu_d NASA around NACA gave

NACA the greenlighttostarthying plansforthe expansionof itsprogram into

the space-flightdevdopment area. PresidentEisenhowcr'sApril 2 directiveto

NACA and DOD steppedup preparatoryactivityeven furtherby opening up two

additionalazeas---NACA-DOD divisionof effortand organizationalplanning

forthenew spaceagency. The nominationof Glcnnan as NASA Administrator

in earlyAugust slowed thepace somewhat pending hisapperancc on the scene.

Glcnnan began todevotefulltime toNASA beginningin earlySclxember, after

which events moved rapidly toward the October 1 establishment.

A. The Genesis of NASA's Space Flight Development Program

The March 5 decision permitted NACA to think seriously about the implementation of some of the program proposals that it had been making during the

previous 2 months. NACA's February 10 staff study had delineated some of the

important program problems that would face _ new space agency.: Since NACA

possessed substantial competence in space-related research, the study focused on

technical development, especially the design and building of space hardware.

Dryden understood the difficulties that would occur in this area and the importance of attacking them vigorously and early. Dryden felt that aggressive

leadership was especially important, so he selected Abe Silverstein, Associate Di1See Ch. 2 (Sec. III). See also general discussion in Historical Sketch of NASA

( Washington: NASA, EP-29, 1965 ).

37

J
38 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

rector of NACA's Lewis Propulsion Laboratory, to come to Washington and

organize a space-flight development program. 2 This turned out to be rather an

important decision in NASA's early administrative history. Silverstein is a good

example of the importance of personality in administration. 8 He was to play a

key role in Headquarters for over 3 years. As an administrator he kept very close

tabs on program details and participated in small decisions as well as large ones.

Yet he did not seem to stifle the initiative of his subordinates and he was surprisingly succe._ful in developing and training good managers.

defining the dimensions, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of the new space

agency's flight development program? Also involved was early planning for a

new space-flight development field center. Putting price tags on new projects and

new facilities was part of the process in order to permit the preparation of a supplemental request for appropriations. As time went by it became increasingly important to integrate into NACA's planning the projects that were earmarked for

transfer from DOD.

B. NACA-DOD Discussions

On April 2, the same day that the draft legislation establishing NASA was

sent to Congress, President Eisenhower directed NACA and DOD to "jointly

review the pertinent [space] programs currently under way within or planned by

the Department [of Defense, and to recommend] . . . which of these programs

should be placed under the direction of the new Agency." In addition, the two

agencies were to make arrangements either for the transfer of pertinent DOD

facilities to the new agency or for the cooperative utiliTation of the facilities. The

President's Special Assistant for Science and Technology, Dr. James Killian, and

the Bureau of the Budget were to help in settling any problems that might arise

between NACA and DOD. _

The talks got underway immediately and were under the general cognizance

of NACA Director Dryden and Deputy Secretary of Defense Quarles. The initial

effort was directed toward the identification of what DOD projects should be considered for transfer?

"Interview with Hugh L. Dryden, Apr. 9, 1963.

Silverstein was born in 1908 and educated in engineering at Rme Polytechnic Institute in

his native Terre Haute, Ind. He joined NACA's Langley Laboratory in 1929 and did windtunnel design and research. In 1943 he was transferred to NACA's new propulsion laboratory

at Cleveland, Ohio, where he directed the work in several of the lab's major facilities. He was

appointed Associate Director in 1952. He served on many NACA committees and interagency

advisory boards. In 1958 he received an honorary doctorate from Cleveland's Case Institute

of Technology.

• Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.

a See Ch. I, See. II.C.

• See Dryden's letter to ARPA Director Roy Johnson, Apr. 15, 1958. In addition to

requesting descriptions of ARPA space projects, Dryden indicates that he had selected Crowley,

Abbott, and Gilruth to represent NACA in talks with ARPA's Johnson and York who had been

appointed by Quarles.
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 39

There was ready agreement that the Advanced Research Projects Agency's

space science program (Project Vanguard, lunar probes, etc.) should be transferred because it was essentially civilian in nature. The reconnaissance satellite

project was left with DOD because of its military significance. There were

numerous projects in a gray area between military and civilian including the very

important man-in-space area. NACA and DOD initially attempted one solution

to this problem by making a joint project out of the man-in-space program.T

BOB frowned on jointly managed projects, however, and that approach to the first

manned satellite program was dropped by early May?

Discussions on gray-area projects continued, but no decisions were made

pending the passage of the Space Act.S

C. Planning NASA's Initial Organization

NACA, in response to President Eisenhower's April 2 instructions that it

should "formulate such detailed plans as may be required to reorient its present

programs, internal organization, and management structure to carry out the

functions to be assigned . . ." to NASA, established an Ad Hoc Committee on

NASA Organization, chaired by Ira Abbott, NACA Assistant Director for Aerodynamic Research. 1°

On the basis of existing NACA organization, provisions of the draft legislation submitted to Congress, informal talks with NACA officials, several earlier

staff studies, and personal experience, the Abbott Committee came up with a

preliminary report in May?: The report included organization charts for NASA

and functional statements for each Headquarters office. The May draft was

circulated for information and comment prior to a series of formal internal

discussions of specific details? _

As a result of the internal discussions, several minor revisions of the report

were made.:' The final report was dated August 12, 1958. It proposed a

'See transcript of Dryden's remarks on the Apr. 27, 1958, CBS broadcast of "Face the

Nation," reprinted in House Hearings, Astronautics and Space Exploration, pp. 950-956.

"Intm.view with Willis Shapley, Bureau of the Budget, May 7, 1964. See aim "Statement

Regarding Negotiations Between . . . NACA and . . . ARPA . . . May 9, 1958/' Hmae

Hearings, Astronautics a_d Sp_r# Exploration, pp. 949-950. See forthcoming This New Oc#a=:

A History of Proj¢¢t MGrcury (Wuhlngton: NASA SP-4007, 1966).

• Documents related to NACA-DOD discumiom during the _mmer of 1958 have not been

located by _ researcher.

" Other members were Ralph Cushman, Procurement Officer; Paul Dembling, General

Counsel; Robert Lacklen, Permnnel Officer; Ralph Ulmer, Budget Officer; and Clotaire Wood,

Special Anhtant to the Director. Dryden appointed the Committee, Apr. 14, 1958. A memo

from Lacklen to Victory recommending committee membership is dated Apr. 4, 1958.

a The report is identified by the covering memo dated May 21, 1958: "Memorandum for

the Director, NACA. Subject: Report of Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization." All

six members signed the memorandum.

_See Abbott memo to Chamberlin et aL, May 23, 1958. Subject: Organization and

Staffing of NASA Headquaxtert

Two interim reports, dated June 2, 1958, and July 25, 1958, were made prior to the

final report of Aug. 12, 1958. The July and August versions incorporated the provisions of
40 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

continuation of the existing NACA organization with one important modification

and three important additions. The financial management function of NACA

was modified by raising it several echelons and placing it under a comptroller

who was directly under the agency head. The additions consisted of two new

program areas (space-flight development, which Silverstein was already pulling

together, and space sciences), and a new space-flight development field center.

The final report was not made until after it had become known that Glennan,

an outsider, would become NASA's Administrator rather than Dryden. The

_b_aa_ _v vv aaa_aA _&_ • _t,s• _. •A&c.&t.._l_, OkLA Jt&AJL_.,0_%at* A_t•t,_ ,k lt_ Lt_./_ & t3 Jt2tJtRli.A4_L I.J'Jk _I.JtJLJtL,4_I.J_%JJLJtI_.A

structure is discussed later in this chapter.

D. Nomination and Confirmation of Glennon and Dryden

From April through July it had been generally assumed that NACA Director

Hugh Dryden would probably head NASA. Born in 1898, graduated from

John Hopkins with a Ph.D. in physics in 1919, he was named head of the

National Bureau of Standards Areodynamic Section in 1920, and in 1946 he

became the Bureau's Associate Director?' A year later he left the Bureau to

become NACA's Director of Research. He not only established a fine reputation

as a research scientist but also served on numerous national and international

committees, was awarded numerous honors, and was a member of many societies.

His list of publications is long. His reputation as an administrator of research

was good. He was quietly efficient, firm but not a desk pounder, and rational.

He proceeded on the basis of facts and reality and hesitated in taking chances

without weighing carefully all possible consequences. He was highly respected

by his subordinates, though sometimes considered too cautious by more aggressive younger dements.

It is difficult to ascertain why Dryden did not receive the official nomination

as NASA Administrator. The public record indicates that he was "vetoed" by

the members of the House Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration largely because of his candid testimony at an August 1, 1958, hearing in

which he declared himself unwilling to spend large sums of money on a crash

program in which the payoff would be highly uncertain. _s He thought there

the Space Act dealing with the National Aeronautics and Space Council, the Civilian-Military

Liaison Committee, and the Inventions and Contributions Board.

_' For a more detailed biography, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Special Committee on Space

and Astronautics, Nominations, Hearing on the Nomination of T. Keith Glennan . . . and Hugh

L. Dryden, Aug. 14, 1958, 85th Cong., 2d sen. (Washington: GPO, 1958), pp. 21-26, hereafter cited as Senate Hearing, Nominations (Glennan and Dryden).

U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration, Authorizing Construction for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hearings on H.R.

13619, 85th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1958), pp. 9, 12 (hereafter cited as House

Hearings, Authorizing Construction for th_ National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

For the newspaper account, see the New York Times, Aug. 6, 1958, p. 10. For an editorial

defending Dryden's candor and realism on what could and could not be done, see the New York

Times, Aug. 7, 1958, p. 24.
LAT/NCII]NG OF NASA 41

was a limit to the amount of money that NASA could effectively utilize, and

that ff the agency found that more could be used, it should be asked for at that

time. Many Congressmen thought a bolder approach was necessary if the

Russians were to be leapfrogged, x6 It should also be pointed out that the

Eisenhower administration made a practice of appointing Republicans to high

positiom. Dryden was a career civil servant and a nominal Democrat. 1T

The responsibility for finding the person to head NASA was given to Ki]limaY 8

The extent of the search that was conducted has not been made public. On

August 7, 1958, KiIHan, with Eisenhower's approval, telephoned Glenn,an and

asked him to come to Washington to discuss the position, x" President Eisenhower

offered Glennan the job and he accepted.

Thomas Keith Glennan had been president of Cleveland's Case Institute

of Technology since 19477 ° During his tenure Case had been transformed into

one of the top engineering schools in the Nation. Born in 1905, he received a

bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Yale and spent most of his pre.

World War II career in the motion picture industry, specializing in sound systems.

His move toward public service started during World War II when he headed

the Navy's Underwater Sound Laboratories. From 1950 to 1952 he served as a

member of the Atomic Energy Commission, an experience which greatly influenced many of his actions as NASA Administrator. He had received five

honorary doctorates. He was a member of numerous boards (NSF, IDA, AEC

General Advisory Committee, Standard Oil of Ohio, etc.) from which he resigned

upon becondng NASA Administrator.

At the time of his nomination little was known about his abilities as an

administrator. It turned out that he was not unlike Dryden in solid deliberateness and unwilfingncss to make promises without knowing that he could deliver

the goods. He, too, proceeded rationally. One of his great frustrations stemmed

from the absence of a dear national space policy and the guidelines for action that

would flow from it.

The nominations were sent to the Senate on August 9. The August 14 public

hearing conducted by the Senate Special Committee on Space and Astronautics

t, For a statement of the House committee's "leapfrog" concept, see U.S. Congre_ House,

Select Committee on Attronautiea and Space Exploration, Fdtabli_mdmt of the National Space

Prohvram, FL Rept. 1770 on H.R. 12575, 85th Cong., 2d sets. (Washingum: GPO, 1958), p. 4.

= The timetable of events suggests that this factor ma T have been more important in the

failure of Dryden to get the nomination as Administrator. The Space Act was signed July 29.

Dryden gave his frank testimony to the House committee Aug. I. However, the conmfittee

members' dimuldaction was not picked up by the news services until Aug. 5. CAennan was

contacted on Aug. 7. In the meanl_ne severn] persons had been asked to serve as Adml-i_tratm.

and had declined. A further complicating factor was that James Doolittle, NACA Chairman,

was offered the job, declined it, and then later reconsidered, only to decline it once again All

this suggests that finding someone to serve in what was regarded as a di_cult position was not

easy and may have taken some time.

la Letter, Killian to the author, Sept. 3, 1963.

Interview with T. Kehh Glennan, Jan. 18, 1964.

"For a more detailed biography, see Senate Hearing, Nomi,a:ions (Glennan and Dryden),

pp. 2-3.
42 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

was relatively friendly and the nominations were unanimously approved. 21 Full

Senate confirmation came on August 15, and Glennan and Dryden were sworn in

at the White House on August 197 _

E. Glennan's August and September Actions

Had Dryden been named NASA Administrator, NACA's preparatory work

paving the way for NASA would have constituted a basis for action with little

modification. The appointment of Glennan meant the views of an outsider must

be incorporated. This began the day Glennan and Dryden were sworn in.

Initial Decisions on Organization and StaBing. Glennan met with NACA

officials on August 19 to review the proposals of the Abbott Committee and to

determine the initial organizational structure for the agency. _8

Even though an interim structure was agreed upon, Glennan recognized that

the problems of the agency's long-run organization required more careful study.

As Administrator he wanted greater opportunity to mold the new agency along

lines of his own choosing, and he felt the need for an outside evaluation of plans

and proposals formulated by NACA. He sought the advice of several "outsiders,"

including John Corson, manager of the Washington office of McKinsey & Co., a

management consulting firm?' By the end of September, McKinsey & Co. had

been hired to make an organizational study of NASA which was to serve as the

basis for the long-run structure of the agency? s In addition, Corson voluntarily

supplied Glennan with the names of several individuals, a few of whom Glennan

later appointed to important NASA positions. _s

m Senate Hearing_, Nominations (Glennan and Dryden).

a Glennan began devoting his full time to NASA Sept. 9. Before that he divided his time

between NASA and Cue Institute.

"The details of this meeting and what was decided are presented later in this chapter.

Glennan became acquainted with Cormn when McKinsey & (20. had done a study in 1955

on atomic energy (The McKimey Report on Peaceful Uses).

"On the ba_ of a Sept. 14 meeting with Glennan, Corson wrote a Memorandum for

Discussion (Sept. 16) outlining a plan for the study of NASA's organization. Glennan agreed

to the plans and a contract was entered into (NASw 1, Oct. 10, 1958). The details of this

study are presented later in this chapter. Corson's Sept. 16 memo also reveals some of Glennan's

thinking on the scope of the task before him. Five areas are identified as requiring Glennan's

personal attention: formulation of NASA's program; establishment of effective external relationships; decisions on the transfers of programs and facilities to NASA; plans for sathfying the

demand for information on NASA; and structuring and staffing the organization. Two paragraphs reflect Glennan's determination to stay on top of the organization rather than become

engulfed in it: "Obviously, you cannot personally find time to handle each of these several

essential activities. And equally obviously, you will want to have a major part in the formulation

of NASA's program, and you cannot be relieved of the necessity of establishing personal

relationships with leghlative and executive leaders and (eventually--and soon) of meeting the

demands of the press, the radio, television, and many groups for persona/statements and personal

appearances.

"You will want to have the determining role in most decisions as to the organizational

structure to be established, its administrative policies, and the key personnel to be recruited.

On these tasks, this Firm can be of some assistance."

Since McKinsey & Co. did not engage in executive search activity, help in this area was

given on an informal, volunteer basis. Corson prepared three lists of names: one list for the
LAUNdErING OF NASA 43

Talks Re.mme.d Witk DOD. Although talks between NACA and DOD

during April and May had identified the DOD projects susceptible of transfer,

no formal decisions had been made pending the passage of the Space Act and the

appointment of the individuals who could legally act for the new agency. With

Glenna:u and Dryden sworn in, talks with DOD were resumed. On August 20

they met with DOD officials to determine where matters stood. 2T Earlier effom

paid off and there was general agreement on the projects to be transferred. No

agreements were reached, however, on the transfer of facilities. DOD expressed

some concern over the Bureau of the Budget's effort to get as much u-anderred

as Possible.

It was agreed that details of the transfer of Project Vanguard (the IGY earth

satellite project and the most complicated project transfer contemplated) could

be worked out by direct negotiatiom between the Naval Research Laboratory

(NRL), its manager, and a NACA/NASA designee named by, Glennan. An

October 1 target date was agreed upon for all project transfers, but it was

acknowledged that facility transfers would have to proceed more slowly.

The facility transfer problem partially stemmed from a lack of detailed

knowledge of various alternatives. It was agreed that teams of NAGA officials,

accompanied by an ARPA representative, should visit various DOD imtallatiom

and make appropriate recommendations." A September 9 deadline was established for completing this operation. As it turned out, no transfers took place

until December 1958.

The transfer efforts ran into a legal snarl in that the Space Act provided

explicitly for the transfer of functions and facilities but said nothing about the

tramfer of projects, except by. implication. This made drafting the tran_er

documents a more difficult task than originally contemplated."

Docmmmts gstabliski_ NASA, The Space Act provided for the NACAto-NASA tran_er to take place 90 days after the date of enactment, or earlier

if the NASA Adminim_tor announced in the Federal Register that NASA had

been organized and was ready to begin work. _ October 1 was a convenient

date from a reporting point of view because it was both a monthly and quarterly

dividing point. The announcement, or proclamation as it was called, was read

at an emotion-charged meeting of NACA Headquarters personnd on September

petition of Admiaittrative Aatkta_t to the AdministratOr, another for the pmitima of Ditecttr

of Business Adminim-_on, and the third for the podtion of General Counsel The three

individuah appointed, Wesley Hjomev/k, Albert Siepert, and John Johnson, we_ all on

Corson's lists. (Interview with John Comon, Apr. 26, 1963.) Johnson's appointment wag

not related to this, however. (Interview with T. Keith Glennan, Jan. 18, 1964.)

=See "Notes of Convermtion" (Glennan, Quarles, et al.), Aug. 20, 1958 , and "Notes of

Discu_don With Rear Admiral Rawson Bennett," Aug. 20, 1958.

"Only a few records concerning the work of these teams have been located. Two teams

were used, one covered the West, the other the East.

= Interview with Willis Shapley, Bureau of the Budget, May 7, 1964.

**Sec. 301e.
44 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

25, 1958. 81 It appeared in the Federal Register September 30, and persons who

left work Tuesday as NACA employees came back the next morning, October 1,

as NASA employees.

The proclamation was not the only significant document at this time. On

October 1, President Eisenhower isued an executive order transferring several'

space projects and over $100 rnilfion in appropriations from DOD to NASA. s2

The details of these transfers are discussed in the next section.

As mentioned earlier, NASA's formal establishment was only one discrete

event on a long continuum. NASA on October ] was virtually identical with

NACA on September 30. Even the transfers from DOD were largely paper--

their impact did not come until months later. Legally and psychologically, however, October 1 is significant. It symbolized the readiness of the United States

to move forward in space.

II. NASA'S FIRST 4 MONTHS

A. The Nature and Importance of the Transfers From DOD to NASA

The transfer of DOD projects and facilities to NASA had administrative

and technical facets not measurable in quantitative terms. Mere transfer is one

thing; true integration is something else. One of the most difficult administrative problems that NASA has had to face has been creating a truly integrated

and smoothly functioning organization out of the various groups and programs

that were pulled together. This theme will emerge again and again in later

chapters.

The Transter of Project Vanguard. The transfer to NASA of the U.S.

Scientific Satellite Project was fully expected and agreed to by all parties involved.

The October 1 Executive Order made the legal transfer. To keep the project

going while details were worked out, NASA immediately delegated back to NRL

the authority to run the project. Details worked out in the course of NASA

and NRL/DOD negotiations were finalized in an agreement signed by Glennan

and Deputy Secretary of Defense Quarles on November 20, 1958."

Under the provisions of this agreement almost all the civilian personnel

complement of NRL's Vanguard Division was to be transferred en masse, without

For a partial text, see footnote 28 of Ch. I.

Executive Order 10783, 23 F.R. 7643. In addition, numerous news releases, fact sheets,

and similar documents were also issued. For examples, see NACA Release, "NASA To Take

Over NACA September 30," Sept. 26, 1958; NACA Announcement, "Notice of Change of

Address," Sept. 30, 1958; NASA Release, "Fact Sheet on the Transfer of Certain Functions

from Department of Defense . . .," Oct. 1, 1958; NASA Release, "Glennan Announces First

Details of New Space Agency Organization," Oct. 5, 1958; NASA Release, "... brief biographies of the top officers . . .," Oct. 5, 1958.

" "Agreement Between Department of Defeme and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Regarding Transfer of Records, Property, Facilities, and Civilian Personnel of Project

Vanguard." Cover Letter, Quarles to Glennan, Nov. 20, 1958 (31 pages with enclosures).
LAUNCHING OF NASA 45

change of title, grade, or salary, as of November 16, 1958. Also to be transferred

were items (property, equipment, supplies, etc. ) purchased with Vanguard money,

as wen as unexpended Vanguard funds (about $25 million _. To keep the Vanguard project going smoothly, the team was to continue to use NRL facilities

in southeast Washington, D.C., until January I, 1960, when a physical move to

NASA's new Beltsville space research laboratory was expected. NRL would

continue to give the same support as in the past (for which it would be reimbursed by NASA), except for those areas in which NASA might wish to provide

its own support. NRL would continue to handle all contractual matters until

completion of existing contracts. Certain supply items and a small contingent

of personnd at Cape Canaveral and the IGY passive tracking network (Minitrack) with personnd scattered through several Latin American countries were

also included in the trander package.

The mass personnd move did not take place until November 30, when 148

were transferred, x John Hagen, Vanguard Director, had been tramferred on an individual basis on November 5.

ARPA aml Air Force Tram[or#. = In addition to Vanguard, jurisdiction

over several other projects without specific names, personnel, facilities, etc., was

transferred to NASA, together with related funds. Jurisdiction over two lunar

probes being executed by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division (AFBMD) was

tran_erred from ARPA to NASA. In effect, the Air Force became a type of

_r or executive agent for NASA rather than for ARPA. Two lunar

probes and three satellite projects (including two inflatable sphere projects ) being

executed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) were also transferred

from ARPA to NASA. Money that ARPA was to have paid to the Air Force

and the Army was transferred to NASA so that NASA could pay it out. The

amount involved was $59.2 million. _

Several engine development projects were transferred directly from the Air

Force, inducting the important million-pound-thrust, single-chamber engine (the

F-1 ) for which the Air Force had a study contract with North American Aviatiom

Money tramferred with these projects amounted to $57.8 million.

Trader of ]PL and the Attonpted Tranrler of ABMA. That part of

the Army's space program transferred to NASA consisted of two lunar probes and

three satellite projects. On the basis of the reports of its facilities fact-finding

teams, NASA decided to seek the transfer of the facilities related to these projects.

"Some accounm put the figure at 157. See "Report to the House Committee on Science

and Astronautics (Requested in Hearings before the Committee on March 9, 1959)," Mar. 17,

1959 (prepared by NASA Personnel Division, mimeographed) (hereafter cited as "Report to

the House Committee on Science and Astronautlcs," Mar. 17, 1959).

m Account based on Executive Order 10783, 23 F.R. 7643, and NASA Release, "Fact Sheet

on the Transfer of Certain Functiom From Department of Defense . . .," Oct. 1, 1958.

m Lest there be created the impression that ARPA had been stripped of all its projects,

it should be noted that anKmluile misfiles; solid propellants; warning, navigation, communication, and meteorological satellites; and large boosters were left with ARPA, involving FY 1959

funds of $420 million.
46 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

On October 14 Glennan made a formal request for transfer, citing the transfer

provision of the Space Act. a: In view of the fact that the same Army organizational elements were involved in a similar request a year later, it is well to clarify

exactly what those elements were? 8

In early 1958 the Army had consolidated its missile development program in

the Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) with headquarters at the Redstone Arsenal (RA) adjacent to Huntsville, Ala. Under AOMC were three

subordinate commands: the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), the Army

Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), and the White Sands (N. Mex.)

Missile Range (WSMR). The Army-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),

staffed and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) under

a contractual arrangement with the Army, was responsive to AOMC. Three wellknown personalities were associated with these organizations: Maj. Gen. John

Medatis, head of AOMC; William Picketing of JPL; and Wernher von Braun

of ABMA's principal operating element, the Development Operations Division.

The Army, true to the Army Ordnance Corps' "arsenal concept," had concentrated in AOMC complete capability to design, manufacture, and launch large,

multistage vehicles; with JPL help, the payload could be included as well. ABMA

and JPL together formed the Army team responsible for Explorer I, the U.S. first

satellite, launched late in January 1958.

This capability was exactly what NASA needed. Without it NASA would

have had to depend almost completely on contractors or follow the slow process

of developing its own capabilities. Accordingly, NASA requested transfer of

JPL and about half of ABMA's Development Operations Division.

It would appear that NASA's request was supported by top DOD officials.

The Army, however, strongly opposed it, claiming that the ABMA Development

Operations Division (the von Braun team) could not be broken up without dire

consequences, s° Statistics were offered to show that the overwhelming portion

of ABMA's effort was directly related to battlefield needs and thus essential to

national defense? ° The Army had been very proud and protective of its Redstone

and intermediate ballistic missile program. Its strong opposition to a transfer that

would have dealt the program a death blow was a natural reaction. In fighting

the proposed transfer, the Army marshaled its friends in Congress and among the

public by going outside of official channels and leaking the story to the Baltimore

Sun. 41

aNew York Times, Oct. 15, 1958, p. 1.

,a For greater detail, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space

Sciences, Subcommittee on Governmental Organization for Space Activities, Investigation o]

Governmental Organization ]or Space Activities, Hearings, 86th Cong., 1st seu. (Washington:

GPO, 1959), pp. 220-245 (hereafter cited as Senate Hearings, Investigation o] Governm#ntal

Organization Jot Space Activities).

m New York Times, Oct. 16, 1958, p. 13t; Oct. 19, p. 16 ; Oct. 23, p. l.

,o See testimony of General Medaris, U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on AeronauticaJ

and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization Subcommittee, Transfer o/Von Braun Team to NASA,

Hearing on H.J. Res. 567, 86th Cong., 2d seas. (Washington: GPO, 1960), p. 36 (hereafter

cited as Senate Hearing, Trans]er o] Von Braun Team to NASA).

Medaris, Maj. Gen. J. B., Countdown ]or Decision, G. P. Putnam's Sore, 1960, Ch. 19.
LAUMCHINO OF NASA 47

The subsequent uproar forced DOD to modify its position and the issue was

taken to the National Aeronautics and Space Council, where a compromise solution was arranged. JPL would be transferred to NASA, and ABMA would be

kept intact under the Army, with the proviso that it would be responsive to

NASA's needs. Thisdecision gave rise to three significant documents.

A December 3, 1958, Executive Order transferred to NASA all JPL's nonmilitary functions and related Government property, including appropriations of

$4,078,250. .2 The detailed agreement, worked out by NASA and DOD and also

dated December 3, provided for organic transfer on December 31. "s JPL was to

be transferred in its entirety, except that the Army was to maintain contractual

relationships with JPL/Cal Tech in several specific areas (most notably the

Sergeant program) through 1959, by which time most Army activities would be

phased ont. Thus NASA and JPL were to be responsive to Army requirements.

In another document, also dated December 3, the Army agreed to make the

resources of ABMA and other AOMC units responsive to NASA requirements,

although Army military requirements would have first priority.** In effect, this

agreement permitted NASA to bypass the Pentagon and deal directly with General Medaris.

OOtsr Trander$. In addition, numerous individuals transferred to NASA

from many Federal agencies. For example, NASA's Beltsville Space Center, later

the Ooddard Space Flight Center, was to be populated almost entirely by transfere_ Its Vanguard Division was composed of persons transferred from the

Naval Research Lalmratory with the wander of Project Vanguard described

earlier. *s John W. Townsend, Jr., head of Beltsville's Space ,Science Division,

transferred from NRL's Upper Atmosphere Sounding Rocket group on October

20 and brought with him 46 NRL scientists who officially transferred to NASA

December 28. Robert Jastrow, head of the Theoretical Division, transferred

from NRL November 10, and Thomas Jenkins followed suit December 15 to

become administrative officer for the new NASA center. NRL also supplied

several high NASA Headquarters officials--Homer NewelL John Clark, and

Milton Rosen--all of whom transferred to NASA October 20. Although NRL

accounted for a large number of transferees, many other agencies were also

involved. _

Sammary. By the time NASA's blanket transfer authority expired December 31, 1958, it had acquired Project Vanguard with about 150 people and

over $25 million, JPL and the Cal Tech contract to staff and operate it, and

control over several DOD projects and $100 million in appropriations related

"tExecutive Order 10793, 23 F-]I. 9405.

a For the text of the agreement, see First Semiannual Report to Congress oJ the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (Oct. 1, 1958 through Mar. 31, 1959) (Washington:

GPO, 1959), pp. 81-84 (hereafter cited as NASA, First Semiannual Report).

"For the text of the agreement, see NASA, First Semiannual Report, pp. 85-87.

All data on NRL tramfers are taken from "Report to the House Committee on Science

and Astronautics," Mar. 17, 1959.

a New York Times, Nov. 17, 1958, pp. 1, 7. Also see ALfred Rosenthal, Early Years of the

Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Md.: GSFC, 1963).

215-892 0--66-----6
48 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

thereto. In addition to the Vanguard personnel, about 50 scientists and technicians had transferred from NRL. An additional 200 individuals had been

added from other sources. With the approximately 8,000 NACA transferees,

NASA's roster as of December 31, 1958, stood at 8,420. The next large transfer

of personnel did not take place for a year and a half.

B. The Evolution Toward NASA's initial Organizational Structure

NAt_A's first official organization chart was dated January 29, 1959, and

depicted an organizational structure that was to prevail without major change

for almost 12 months. The January 1959 chart evolved over a period of several

months during which numerous "proposed" and "tentative" charts were prepared

and discussed. Tracing out the changes from one chart to the next reveals how

the January 1959 structure emerged. The pertinent charts, eight in number,

can be found in Appendix B. The three most important ones have also been

reproduced in this chapter.

Comparing the charts can be facilitated by dividing NASA's organization

into five segments---top management (the Administrator, Deputy Administrator,

and Associate Administrator or general manager); external and legal relations

(the hard-to-classify offices reporting directly to the Administrator); administration (personnel, financial management, etc.) ; research (the NACA program

core); development (the new program area). These segments appear most

clearly on the January 1959 chart (fig. 3-3). The following is a comparison

of the charts themselves---the underlying substance is discussed in the next section

where the reports of a management consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., are

examined in detail.

The first attempt to meld the NACA nucleus, Sitverstein's space flight development plans, the provisions of the Space Act, and certain additional innovations,

was made by the Abbott Committee and has already been briefly discussed.*'

The organizational proposals of this committee, depicted by its August 11, 1958,

chart (fig. 3-1) included several significant changes in the then-existing NACA

organization. The space-flight development activity was given a coequal but

separate status vis-a-vis research activity. This was in accordance with Dryden's

position that these two activities must be kept divorced from each other as much as

possible? s The Abbott Committee also proposed a separate status for space

sciences and an upgrading of the financial management and facility coordination

functions. The proposed space-flight development center was given jurisdiction

over NACA's existing Wallops Pilotless Aircraft Station. An Assistant for International. Activities was added to the "external relations" segment, and the security

and publications functions were shifted to the "administration" segment.

*' See Sec. I.C of this chapter.

a Interview with Hugh L. Dryden, Apr. 9, 1963.
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LAUNCHING OF NASA 49

The chart dated August 21 represented initial decisions by Glennan and

Dryden concerning the Abbott Committee Report. "° The space science program

area was eliminated, and an Office of Program Planning and Evaluation added, s°

Thus Glennan accepted, initially, most of the Abbott Committee proposals.

The October 24 chart (fig. 3-2) represented second thoughts on several

important items. The space science function was given a home in the "development" segment. The university contracting program was detached from the

"research" segment and added to the "development" segmentNa paper move

that never materialized. The most fundamental change concerned the Comptroller and Facility Coordinator: both were shifted from the "top management"

segment to the "administration" segment, where they had been under NACA.

This devdopment is explained in detail in the next section. The November 14

chart contained no substantive changes.

In December, McKinsey & Co. made its report, inducting a structural chart

depicting its recommendations for NASA's organization. This chart included an

exceedingly important feature not appearing previously---the position of Associate

Administrator, to be a kind of general manager. Lesser changes included the

reappearance of an Office of International Activities, addition of an audit office to

the "administration" segment, and the return of the university contracting office

to its old home in the "research" segment. Not all these changes can be attributed

solely to McKinsey & Co.; this will be discussed in the next section.

The official chart signed by Glennan on January 29, 1959 (fig. 3-3), was

almost identical to the December chart prepared by McKinsey & Co. s_ An

Assistant Administ_tm-/or Congressional A_airs was added. The newly acquired

Jet Propulsion Laboratory was added to the "development" segment. Akhough

an Inventions and Contributions Board was established December 16, 1958, and

t

"On AuK. 19, 1958, the day Glennan and Dryden were sworn in, there was a meeting

of Glennan, Dryden, Crowley, Gilruth, and the six members of the Abbott Committee, at which

the Comm/ttee's final report was discussed. In addition to the changes described in the above

paragraph, the position of Executive Assistant to the Administrator was scratched and the tides

of Amociate Administrator and Assistant Administrator were changed to Director and Amistant

Director. (Information based on Clotaire Wood's marked-up AuK. 12 organization chart.)

The AuK. 21 chart was exhibited and explained by Glennan at the final meeting of the NACA

Committee held that day. He emphasized the importance of the O4_.e of Program

planning and Evaluation (Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the NACA, I958, p. 95).

"The Office of Program P_ning and Evaluation was to serve as a long-range planning

office and Glennan put much personal effort into staffing it. The program evaluation aspect

was never fully clarified. The international activities function stemmed from Sec. 205 of the

Space Act--"The Administration . . . may engage in a program of international cooperation

in work clone pursuant to this Act .... "

m When the chart was distributed, there was attached a memo signed by Glennan (dated

Jan. 30, 1959), in which he called it the "organizational structure . . . approved for the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration at this time." He went on to say that it

"establishes . . . the lines of authority and responsibility to be observed by NASA employees."

He stated that it was based on the McKinsey recommendations after "extensive review by NASA

staff _
5O ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 9 5 8-- 1 9 6 3

new research advisory committees January 1, 1959, these elements did not appear

on an organization chart until March 31, 195972

Except for Wallops Station, the former NACA laboratories were continuously viewed during this period as part of the "research" segment. The

only change was that the individual to whom the laboratory directors reported

(Crowley) was now one step farther down the NASA hierarchy.

The significant organizational decisions made through January 1959 were

establishment of the position of Associate Administrator, establishment of the

space-flight development program, establishment of a space-flight development

field center, acquisition of J FL, rejection ol the comptrollership concept, and

rejection of a separate space science program. Another decision, the establishment of the Office of Program Planning and Evaluation, did not prove to be as

significant as originally intended.

C. The McKinsey Report on Organizing Headquarters Functions

Glennan did not wish to ratify what he had inherited without getting an

expert, outside point of view. Therefore he hired McKinsey & Co., a highly

respected management consulting firm, to make a study of NASA's organization

that would aid him in establishing the best possible base for the long-run growth

of the agency? s

The $33,000 McKinsey contract was dated October 10, 1958. s_ Through

analysis of the Abbott Report, discussions with NASA Headquarters personnel and

BOB officials, and visits to at least two field installations, McKinsey & Co. was to

make recommendations on the best organization for NASA Headquarters, the

proper function of each Headquarters office, and how potential transfers to NASA

could best be accommodated." NASA was to cooperate by making records and

office space available.

m The Inventions and Contributions Board was authorized by Sec. 305 of the Space Act

(see Ch. I, See. III). James Hootman was named full-time secretary to the five-member board,

composed of Robert Littell, Paul Dembling, Allen Crocker, Elliott Mitchell, and C. Guy Ferguson.

(See NASA Release, Dec. 16, 1958.) The proposal to reconstitute the 28 NACA technical

committees and subcommittees into 13 NASA Research Advisory Committees was made by

J. W. Crowley's memorandum for the Administrator, Oct. 28, 1958. Subject: ]Kecommendation for Establishment of NASA Research Advisory Committee. Glennan approved the proposal.

(See Glennan's letter to NACA committee chairmen, Nov. 10, 1958.) The NACA committees

went out of existence Dec. 31, 1958. For a more detailed description, see NASA Release,

Nov. 21, 1958; "Functions and Responsibilities of Research Advisory Committees of the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration," Jan. 1, 1959; and NASA General Directive No. 10,

Feb. 10, 1959.

See Sec. I.E above, especially footnote 25.

It was Headquarter's tint contract, NASw-1. Corson's initial proposal was dated Sept. 16.

A more detailed proposal followed on Sept. 26 and the letter contract, drawn up by NASA,

followed Corson's proposal quite closely.

asThe last objective was not fulfilled in the December report, but instead gave rise to

a contract amendment which will be discussed in the next chapter.
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 51

The study began October 15 and stayed on schedule. 5e A brief interim report

was made November 17, 5_a preliminary oral report was presented December 2,

and the 150-page final report was dated December 31. _' The final report was

divided into two parts: the first summarized the reasoning behind the proposed

organizational plan and presented findings and recommendations in specific problem areas; the second contained statements of functions, responsibilities, and

interrelationships of 22 major Headquarters oflice_ There seems little doubt

that the report was designed to arrive at the best possible objective solution to

agency problems, as well as to justify decisions already made (i.e., to rationalize

Glennan's intuitive ideas). Two examples of the latter dement are worth noting.

Fk,_t, Glennan insisted on establishing the position of general manager.in

the face of almost unanimous opposition, s' Internal opposition stemmed from

the fact that such a move would add an imvaxant layer between the two political

appointees and the rest of the agency. Corson initially opposed the idea on the

basis that NASA was too small to require a general manager, but Glennan was

adamant and was able to bring Corson to his point of view."

The second more complicated example involves financial management and

facility coordination. The Abbott Committee had recommended establishment

of a comptroller and facilities coordinator directly under the Administrator.

Glennan initially agreed with this proposal; however, the person he sought for

the position of Director of Business Administration, Albert Siepert of NIH, believed

that financial management was an integral part of a broader, comprehensive administrative function and felt that his experience would not be particularly useful

to NASA if the financial function were separated from other administrative suppor_. 61 Glennan subsequently concurred in Sin's point of view, and the matter

could have been considered dosed. Still, the McKinsey study went through a

process of rationalizing this decision, made 2 months earlier. This suggests a

fingering concern over the correctness of the deei6on. This problem is discussed

in greater detail later in this section.

In spite of the tendency toward rationalization indicated by these two

examples, the McKinsey Report is worth systematic examination. In the account

which follows, an attempt has been made to present the report's major recommendations in rough order of importance. (All parenthetical page references

pertain to Part I of the report unless otherwise indicated.)

"Principal investigators were to be John Corson, one-third time, and John D. Young, full

time. Young, who worked on several subsequent M_ contracts with NASA, eventually

transferred to NASA and is now DepuW Associate Administrator for Administration.

sr The interim report is sign_icant only in that it indicated Glennan's chief areas of concern,

which were: the need for a general manager, comptroller, and facilities coordinator; organization of the contracting and space-flight development functions; and the role of the Office of

Program Planning and Evaluation.

_"McKinsey & Co., Inc., Organizing Headquarters Functions, National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, December 1958. Cover letter to Glennan is dated Dec. 31, 1958.

mGIennan was familiar with the concept from his AEC experience.

'_ Interview with John Corson, Apr. 26, 1963.

Interview with Albert Siepert, Apr. 9, 1963.
52 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Overall Organization (1-1 to 1-13). The organizational structure recommended by the report was briefly described earlier in this chapter. _ Since the

idea of an associate administrator was Glennan's, it can be said that no major

structural innovations resulted from the McKinsey study.

The Position of General Manager (2-18 to 2-23). The report posed the

question: "Is there need for establishing an additional position to supplement the

Administrator and Deputy Administrator?" Evidence was found to support a

"yes" answer. During a 60-day test period in October, November, and December,

it was found that the Administrator and Deputy Administrator spent over 60

percent of their time in meetin_ an.d dj_n.,t_inns with o;__t_de r____rso_ns apd grnn_.

When Congre_ reconvened in January, the percentage would probably rise even

higher. This did not leave the two top leaders enough time for internal relationships. Though the newly appointed Directors could be expected to increase their

effectiveness and though the staff of assistants to top management could be expanded, there was still need for someone to assume full responsibility for implementing operating decisions and solving jurisdictional problems. The effectiveness

of the Administrator and Deputy Administrator would be enhanced if they could

be relieved of this load.

The importance of Glennan's decision on an Associate Administrator cannot

be overestimated. Each subsequent reorganization revolved around this position.

There now seems to be consensus that subsequent developments have fully vindicated Glennan's action and Corson's supporting reasons.

Financial Management (2-13 to 2-17). The McKinsey Report recognized that the job facing NASA in this area would be considerably more complex

than the one that had faced NACA. The pros and cons of two alternative

approaches were presented. The "comptrollership approach"--in which auditing, accounting, and budgeting would be under one person reporting directly to

the top man--put the financial management function at a very high level in the

hierarchy and assured that financial matters would receive adequate consideration. The other alternative---the "integrated business services approach"--

placed auditing, accounting, and budgeting under an individual who would report

directly to the top man but who would also be in charge of other management

functions such as personnel and procurement. This alternative promoted the

coordination of all management functions and reduced the agency bead's span

of control. It would permit many management problems to be solved at a level

below the agency head.

The McKinsey Report declared both alernatives workable if run properly.

Since the decision had already been made to use the second approach, the report

recommended it on the basis of the "span of control" argument. Under this

approach it was recommended that accounting and budgeting be kept together

in the same division within the Office of Business Administration so that a closely

integrated working relationship between the two subfunctions would develop.

e_ See the December 1958 chart in App. B.
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 53

It was recommended that auditing be placed in a separate division to keep that

function somewhat independent from other divisions and offices. This recognized that valid arguments exist for placing the audit function at a high level,

well insulated from organizational units to be audited.

A good case can be made that financial management has been a "soft spot"

in NASA, and part of the difficulty may have stemmed from the lack of a solid

position on financial management during this early period. Siepert argued

cogently against the comptrollership approach for NASA on the grounds that it

was an outmoded concept for a research and development agency, s and if the

Abbott Committee, in recommending this approach, had based its position solely

on the reasoning that comptrollerships were "in vogue," Siepert would have won

the argument. The Abbott Committee, however, had additional specific reasons

to back up its recommendation--reasons that were no doubt not fully known to

Glennan, Siepert, or anyone else outside NACA. The Abbott Committee knew

that NACA's financial management system had become inadequate with the rise

of agency expenditures after 1950, largely because of the independence of.NACA

field installations. Expecting even greater expenditures under NASA, the Abbott

Committee realized that a sharp break with the NACA pattern was needed, u

This break, according to the Abbott Committee, should involve moving the financial management function to a very high level in order to get more leverage over

the independent field centers. This, to them, meant installation of the comptrollership concept. In view of NACA's financial management experiences, it

is possible that more attention to this area by NASA at this time might well have

lessened subsequent problems?"

Fa¢'_ Coo'r_ (2-7 to 2-21). The discussion of this area dosdy

parallels that of financial management, except that NACA facility coordination

difficulties (e.g., failure to coordinate facility proposals, lack of Headquarters

follow-through) were presented to support the argument that NASA's problem

would be even greater. The Abbott Committee's recommendation in this area

was the same as for the comptroller. The McKinsey Report, rd.ving on the same

arguments used for finandal management, recommended that this function be

handled by an Assistant to the Director of Business Administration.

The report admitted that the magnitude of the NASA facility problem (e.g.,

site selection, new construction, need to integrate old and new facilities, complex

facility utiliTation scheduling, and leadtime problems) required the attention of

all parts of the agency and that the staff assistant for facility coordination would

Siepert was not opposed m the comptrollership concept for all organizations, but felt

that in an R&D agency, the important variables entering into management decisions are financial

only in part, and that too great a reliance on financial tools for control purposes can actually

inhibit agency progress. Interview, Apr. 9, 1963.

'*This interpretation was suggested by Clotaire Wood, Committee member. Interview,

Apr. 23, 1963.

m Siepert in reflecting upon the later difficulties in achieving adequate staffing and upon

the subsequent doubling in NASA's budgets for each of the next 4 years, readily agrees with

this conclusion. Interview, Apr. 9, 1963.
54 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--I 963

be an information gatherer and adviser to top management rather than a coordinator. To promote coordination, the report suggested that "NASA may find

it useful to establish a facilities review board" made up of representatives from

all three major Headquarters offices. The staff assistant would serve as an executive secretary to the board. As things turned out, an Assistant for Facilities

Coordination was not established until mid-1959.

Contracting Problems (2-2 to 2-6). The M cKinsey Report acknowledged

the greatly increased importance of contracting in NASA. Two basic organizational questions were asked: To what extent should the responsibility for

contracting be decentralized? and To what extent should NASA utilize the

capabilities of the military services? A policy of decentralization was recommended in answer to the first question. The administration of cost-type contracts

(the kind primarily used in R&D work) involved day-to-day field supervision, ee

and Headquarters responsibility for policy and program formulation and overall

supervision of field activities would suffer if Headquarters became.too involved

with contract details, eT To answer the second question, it was recommended

that the military services be used to supplement NASA efforts, especially in

contract administration and during the interim period prior to the time when

NASA would be fully effective.

Organization o] Aeronautical and Space Research (1-3 to 1-5). The

McKinsey Report agreed with Abbott Committee recommendations that this

area be left much as it was under NACA. It was pointed out that NASA

would have to face the difficult problem of integrating this area into the agency

as a whole while preserving the former working relationships that had functioned

so well.

Organization ot Slszce Flight Development (1-5 to 1-9). The McKiusey

Report recognized the soundness of the Abbott Report recommendation to

separate this activity from research so that research resources would not be

dissipated in solving day-to-day development problems. It recommended that

the newly established Headquarters office formulate programs, define and assign

projects, and review project progress. Field centers would supply information,

prepare contract specifications, supervise the execution of contracts, conduct R&D,

and perform certain ground testing. Thus the recommended system was a

decentralized one, even though this area was new and complicated.

A major problem was recognized. Normal Headquarters-field rdationships

could not exist because the Space Project Centers (Bdtsville, JPL) were not yet

operational in the way eventually planried. This meant that the Headquarters

Space Flight Development Office (under Silverstein) would have to get involved

N The report suggested that in meeting this requirement, NASA might wish to establish

field administration offices in or near contractor plants.

s_ For a recommended distribution of functional responsibility for each step in the contracting process by organizational unit, both at Headquarters and in the field, see Exhibit V at

the end of Part I of the report.
LAUNCHING OF NASA 55

in the short run in operating activities such as contract administration. The

danger lay in this short-run activity permanendy distorting the role of Headquarters

and thereby inhibiting eventual decentralization.

Two other problems were noted. Since Beltsville and JPL had many

similar capabilities, a problem arose in allocating responsibilities between them

to avoid duplication yet fully exploit their capabilities. Another problem stemmed

from the possibility of Space Sciences eventually becoming engulfed by hardware

development problems. If this should come true, the report recommended that

Space Sciences be separated and given some type of coequal status, as recommended by the Abbott Committee. It was also suggested that experience might

reveal the desirability of separating flight operations from flight development.

Locatiam of the ODe of Contract ( Unitwrsity) Research (2-24 to 2-25).

The Abbott Committee had recommended that this function be located within

the Office of Aeronautical and Space Research. Later it was moved (on paper)

to the Office of Space Flight Development, because developmental research

was to be emphasized. At the December 2 oral presentation, McKimey & Co.

recommended that it be given a neutral home under the Associate Administrator.

Subsequent thinking suggested that a technical base would be desirable and that

the Associate Administrator should not be involved. The final McKinsey Report

recommended that the office be placed under Aeronautical and Space Research

because this would distribute the workload more evenly between the research

and development segments. Also a research-oriented environment would be

advantageou_U

Mi__ Matters. Some additional findings and recommendations of

the McKinsey Report are worth noting. The statement was made that it

would be exceedingly dangerous to assume that NASA could get along solely

with existing NACA staff and support services (1-9, 1-12). An audit and

updating of the organizational structure of the research centers (NACA laboratories) was recommended (1-14). An additional recommendation suggested

that interim arrangements to support BeltsviUe staff (NRL transferees) should

be made by Headquarters personnel who were independent of those involved in

the policy formulation for and supervision of the BeltsviUe center (2-5).

A Bri_ Evaluation of the McKin._ Rz0ort. The December 1958

McKimey Report furnishes the only systematic and comprehensive discussion of

the major administrative problems facing the new agency. Although the precise

degree to which it influenced agency behavior is difficult to determine, it is safe

to say that its direct and immediate influence was relatively small It satisfied

the need felt by Glennan for an outside point of view and probably gave NASA

leadership the feeling that organizational problems had been adequately studied.

While it tended to "rubberstamp" what already had been decided, it did go an

important step further and identify certain danger spots. The acumen of the

'_ The arguments must not have been conclusive, however, as the office has been moved

twice since.
'2-

56 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

McKinsey investigators has been borne out by subsequent developments. Many

of the danger spots, "redflagged" in the report, turned into full-fledged problems

later on. Preparing the report educated McKinsey & Co. and enhanced its

usefulness in conducting subsequent studies for NASA.

D. Personnel

Throughout this chapter reference has been made to personnel matters such

as the transfer of persons and the choosing of leaders. Manpower is a basic ele-

._._AA_ xaL aa.tL ,o,a_t.tazx_cJ.Lz_,.nzt, u_.o_t v,ul_ gt L.UIAI_.XIL,ItL, II_IV_, O.llt.t _t_llldi.lL, lJl_llt,gl.tlU/t£.

Numerical Growth Summary. e_ Glennan and Dryden were sworn in

August 19, 1958, and became NASA's first employees. They were followed on

October 1 by 7,966 NACA employees, on November 30 by 148 NRL/Vanguard

employees, and on December 28 by 46 miscellaneous NRL employees. During

the period from October 1 to January 31, 1959, a total of 566 individuals were

hired by NASA and 278 left NASA, for a net gain of 288 and a net total of 8, 450.

Headquarters grew from 180 to 301, a 68-percent increase, and field installations

from 7,786 to 8,149, a 5-percent increase, over half of which were NRL transferees. Thus the dramatic changes occurred in Headquarters, as would be expected. The transfer of the JPL contract to NASA December 31 added about

2,300 contractor employees, 27 percent of total NASA employment.

Appointments to Excepted Positions. The Space Act gave the NASA

Administrator wide discretionary authority in selecting top-level assistants. Section 203 (b) authorized him to appoint 260 scientific, engineering, and administrative personnel without regard to Civil Service appointment and compensation laws.

A $19,000-per-year ceiling was placed on 250 of these positions and a $21,000

ceiling on the remaining 10. In comparison, the highest rate under the Classification Act, GS-18, had a single rate of $17,500. The $21,000 rate was the rate

provided in the Executive Salary Act of 1956 for the Director of Central Intelligence, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Administrator of General

Services, the Administrator of Housing and Home Finance, and the Under Secretaries of all departments other than State and Defense. The authority given the

NASA Administrator permitted him to define the organization of the new agency

and to modify it with a maximum of freedom. In most other agencies, the naming of specific positions and salaries for top-level positions tended to dictate the

formal organization. TM Persons _ppointed under this authority are excepted from

the General Schedule (GS) of the Classification Act of 1949 and fill what have

come to be called "excepted" positions.

NACA had been authorized, under similar legislation (the so-called Public

Law 313 shared by NACA with DOD from 1949 on), to establish 90 similar posi-

** A table showing the number of NASA employees by quarter and by installation has been

included as app. C.

T0Based on memo from Howard Braithwaite to NASA Historical Office, Nov. 10, 1964.
I..AUNr_R_'G OF NASA 57

tions, and the question arose whether the wholesale transfer of NACA's property,

functions, powers, and pet_ormel to NASA included this Public Law 313 power. T_

In response to a September 29, 1958, inquiry from Glennan, the Comptroller

General ruled that the 90 NACA positions were part of, rather than additions to,

NASA's 260 excepted slots, n

The initial excepted position appointments were made October I, I958. Ten

NACA Public Law 313 incumbents were given new positions in NASA TM (6 with

salary increases) and 20 more were given excepted appointments without change

of title or compensation. By October 24, six more had been appointed from

outside NASA. 74

Out of necessity, Glennan made immediate appointments to excepted positions. For the long run, however, he felt that specific guidelines would have to be

developed. The first major assignment given the new Director of Business Administration (Siepert) was to draw up a policy statement on Section 203(b) appointments, aided by the Director of Personnel and others. TM This policy statement was

promulgated October 20, 1958. TM Its main provisions were that authority to make

excepted appointments would be used to attract and retain personnd vital to the

agency, that salaries would be made as competitive with industry, as possible, and

that identical eligibility criteria would be used for existing and for new personnel.

The salary, scale was to extend from $14,500 to $21,000. TT The Deputy Administrator and the Directors of the three large operating offices (Administration, Research, Development) were to make recommendations to the Administrator on

establishment of excepted positions and appointments to fill them. Recommendations on appointments were to be based on careful evaluation of the individual

using objective eligibility criteria, with merit the chief cornerstone..M1 positions

were to be reviewed annually.

On the basis of the above-mentioned policy, the Administrator and an Executive Salary Committee established 79 additional excepted positions October 24,

"tPrior to June 30, 1958, NACA's Public Law 313 authority included only 30 positions.

When the NACA transfer to NASA took place 3 months later, none of the additional 60 positions had been filled because Dr. Dryden felt reluctant to tie the bandit of a future NASA

Administrator. Ibid.

= Letter from Glennan to Joseph Campbell, Comptrone_ General of the United States,

Sept. 29, 1958. Reamning was that Congress had passed the Space Act after in_

NACA's Public Law 313 authority to 90 positions and thus had made a redetermination of the

total special positions the new agency should have.

,sCrowley, $ilverstein, Abbott, Rothrock, Rhode, Sanders, Victory, Reid, DeFrance, and

Sharp.

"Stewart, Johnson, Siepert, NeweU, Hyatt, Nunn.

Interview with Albert 5iepert, Apr. 9, 1963.

'1 Memorandum from the Administrator . . . Subject: Establishment and approval of

excepted positions and salaries under the authority of Sec. 203(b) of the National Aeronautics

and Space Act, Oct. 20, 1958.

'_ Top grade pay for a GS--15 at the time was $13,970.
58 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA> 1958--1963

1958, making a total of 115, and 17 GS-16 employees were appointed to them2 s

A cautious appointment policy was evidenced by the fact that those appointed

totaled one-third of those recommended. There is little doubt that the flexibility

given NASA by this special appointing power has been an important factor in

whatever success the agency has had in attracting and holding high-grade talent.

Miscellaneous. Additional personnel flexibility came through Civil Service

Commission policy to give new agencies a 3-year grace period during which there

is an informal relaxation of civil service rules. This permitted NASA personnel

officials to concentrate to top-priority management requirements, such as the rernmitmet_t _nrl nl_Pemetlt nf 1new nenn|e _t the PYnen_e nf lnno'.nlln cnntrnl _ct_vl-

................ JW.................. l----f°--_ ......... f ........... O .................

ties such as position classification.

E. Finance

NASA's funding pattern for fiscal year 1959 was abnormal and complex.

Fiscal year 1959 (July 1, 1958, through June 30, 1959) was already underway

when NASA was established on October 1, 1958. The funds at NASA's disposal

for obligation during the remainder of fiscal year 1959 came from three source_---

transfers from DOD (50 percent) ; transfers from NACA (25 percent) ; appropriations to NASA (25 percent).

NACA's regular appropriation for fiscal year 1959 was $101,100,000. 7' By

the end of September 1958, $29 million of this amount had been obligated and

thus a little over $72 million was transferred to NASA. s° In a supplemental

appropriation bill, Congress appropriated $80 million directly to NASA. sl Tram-

"The Civil Service Commission ruled that the Sec. 203(b) authority was granted in lieu

of "supergrade" positions (GS-16 to 18 under the General Schedule). According to CSC,

NASA's 20 GS-16 positions could be retained only if the incumbents remained in their positions.

If an incumbent was appointed to a higher salaried excepted position, the vacated GS-16 position

would revert to CSC. NASA, in order to give equal pay for equal work, had to give 17 of

the GS--16 incumbents excepted appointments at higher salaries. For additional information on

the subject of excepted positions, see: "Attachment 'B'--Duties and Responsibilities of Certain

Basic Types of Positions" appended to NASA's reports to Congress for fiscal years 1962, 1963,

and 1964 covering excepted positions made during those years.

"The administration's January 1958 budget for fiscal year 1959 included a request of

$106,700,000 for NACA ($80,480,000 for S&E and $26,220,000 for C&E). Public Law 85-617,

Aug. 8, 1958 ("Authorizing funds for construction of aeronautical research facilities by the

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics") authorized $29,933,000 for C&E. Public Law

85-844, Aug. 28, 1958 ("Independent offices appropriation for fiscal year 1959") appropriated

$101,100,000 to NACA, $23 million of which was for CAKE. The Senate had wanted to

appropriate more, but agreed to the House figure in the light of pending NASA legislation. As

it turned out, the NASA appropriation was enacted first and was much lower than earlier

anticipated by the Senate.

soAmount obligated by NACA during July, August, and September includes small amounts

actually associated with NASA. Data supplied by NASA Financial Management Division.

s, On July 30, 1958, the administration requested $125 million for NASA ($7 million for

S&E, $70,200,000 for K&D, and $47,800,000 for C&E; S. Doe. 112, 85th Cong., 2d sess.). The

amount requested for C&E was authorized in full (Public Law 85-657, Aug. 14, 1958).

Supplementary appropriation action was initiated in the Senate and on Aug. 13 the Senate
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 59

fers from DOD totaled almost $155 million. 82 This is broken down into salaries

and expenses (S&E), research and development (R&D), construction and equipment (C&E) in the following table: "

TABLE3-1.:-Sourc_ofNACA/NASA Funds,FiscalYear 1959

Source S &E R &D C &E Total

rACA Regular (Public Law 85-844)...

rASA Supplemental (Public Law 85-

766).............................

;ASA Supplemental (Public Law 86-

30)** ............................

• _PA Tramaeera (F.,_cutiw Order

10783) ...........................

dr Force T_ (F._mcutive Order

10783)....... .... .... _'avy (NRL) Tramf_ _

Order 10783) ......................

(JPL) Tr_a_ (RtecutiveOrder

10793)........................................

Toted .........................

$78, 100, 000

5, OOO,OOO

3, 186,3OO

............ i

$50,000,000

$23, 000, 000

25, 000, 000

............ | ............

67,200,000 ............

57,800,000 ............

25,541,282 ............

4,078,250 .............

i I

$101, 100, 000

80, 000, 000

3, 186, 300

67, 200, 000

57, 800, 000

25, 541, 282

4, 078, 25o

By the end of fiscal year 1959, NASA had succeeded in obligating 89 percent

of the funds available. _ The remainder was carried over into fiscal year 1960.

Fmu//_ FIeMb/f/_. Carryover was possible because section 307 of the

Space Act pruvided that R&D and C&E funds "shall remain available until

expended." These "no-year" appropriations greatly contributed to NASA's

funding flexibility.

Another factor in NASA's funding flexibility was the small number of appropriation accounts. Initially three were used: Salaries and Expenses (S&E),

Research and Development (R&D), and Construction and Equipment (C&E).

Approp_dom Committee reported a $75 million NASA appropriation ($5 million for S&E,

$$5 million each for PJkD and C&E) with the statemenet, "In the event additional fun& are

needed after the first oi the year, the Committee will be glad to confider such requem" and

"... the committee feels that planning for the Space projects center can be deferred until a

later decidon" ($. Rept. 2550, p. 14). Lyndon Johmon led a Senate floor acdon which on

Aug. 15, 1958, restored everything cut by the committee. In conference, however, an $80 million

figure wal agreed to ($5 million for S&E, $50 million for R&D, and $25 million for CAKE).

became Public Law85-766 ("Fiscal 1959 supplemental appropriation") signed on Aug. 27,

1958. In early 1959 a _econd supplemental appropriation for pay increases (Public Law 86--30,

May 20, 1959) included $3,186,300 for NASA's S&E account.

u Project transfers related to this money were described earlier. See Sec. II.A of this chapter.

U.S. budget for fiscal year 1961 shows an actual figure of $59,200,000 for the ARPA

traILqfers.

" Of the $309,900,000 available, $275,600,000 was obligated. All of the S&E, 90 percent

of the R&D, and 75 percent of the C&E were obligated.
6O ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

C&E was later modified slightly and became Construction and Facilities (CoF).

During fiscal year 1963, S&E and R&D were combined into one account: Research,

Development, and Operations (RD&O). This proved to be temporary, however, and during fiscal year 1964 RD&O was split by Congress into R&D and

Administrative Operations (AO). NACA had used only two accounts, S&E

and C&E.

Finance Administration. No uniform and coherent financial management

system could be devised because of the constant "firefighting" that had to be

carried on during most of fiscal year 1959. Accounting for the transfer of funds

_nrl tholr _.h_pn.wnt ni"d_o'_tlnn "_ _ tR,_r,_v j,_R "/_'A_A'c _rr_,,r_tlnc, _vQtwm

geared to S&E and C&E had to be modified to accommodate NASA's R_D

activities.

The Role of Congress. NACA's consmaction budget was authored annually by the armed forces committees of Congress, and appropriations for the

entire NACA budget were handled through the Independent Offices Subcommittees of the Committees on Appropriations. Section 307 of the Space Act gave

blanket authorization for all NASA appropriations except land acquisitions and

construction items over $250,000. This continued the pattern followed by NACA.

NASA's first appropriation act, however, included a rider stating that "No appropriation may be made to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for

any period prior to June 30, 1960, unless previously authorized by legislation

hereafter enacted by Congress." '_ A year later this requirement was extended

indefinitely, se

This so-called "Johnson rider" greatly increased contact between Congress

and NASA. NASA had to appear before both House and Senate Space Committees in support of an annual authorization for its entire budget and then appear

before both House and Senate Independent Offices Appropriations Subcommittees

in support of an annual appropriation act.

Preparing 1or Fiscal Year 1960. NASA was coming into existence about

the time that it fiscal year 1960 budget requests should have been submitted to

the Bureau of the Budget, so the time schedule obviously had to be modified. The

fiscal year 1960 budget totals were determined in late 1958 with a minimum

amount of detailed analysis, s7 A special effort was directed toward sorting out

" Public Law 85-766, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 873. This is the so-called "Johnson rider."

For an account of its passage, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Special Committee on Space and

Astronautics, Final Report, S. Rept. 100 pursuant to S. Res. 256 of the 85th Cong., 86th Cong.,

1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959).

=Public Law 86-45, June 15, 1959, 73 Stat. 75. This was NASA's fiscal year 1960

Authorization Act. For an account of a procedural hassle stemming from this provision, see

U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Apropriations, Supplemental Appropriation Bill/or 1960,

Hearings on H.R. 7978, 86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959), p. 6 (hereafter cited

as Senate Hearings, Supplemental Appropriation Bill/or 1960). See also Mary S. Ambrose,

"The National Space 'Program, Phase II, Implementation of the National Aeronautics and

Space Act of 1958," unpublished (but NASA reproduced) seminar-report for the American

University, 1961, pp. 148-150 (hereafter cited as Ambrose, "The National Space Program,

Phase II").

*' Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 61

the funding for NASA's program from that of DOD's space program." President Eisenhower_s January budget request to Congress included $485,300,000 for

NASA, of which $94,430,000 was for S&E, $333,070,000 for R&D and $57,-

800,000 for C&E. The enactment of this budget is discussed in the next chapter.

F. Procurement/Conlmcting

It was assumed from the beginning that much of NASA's work would be

done by contract, especiaUy in hardware devdopment. It was also recognized

that NASA's mi_on necessitated large-scale contracting that would constitute

NASA's major departure from the NACA way of doing business." Thus

contracting looms large as one of NASA's basic administrative problem areas.

The way NASA wrestled with contracting problems can best be depicted

by systematically reviewing the entire contracting process. It should be remembered that NASA is an R&D agency which requires that most of the goods and

services that it procures by contract axe unique, and not readily available from

commerdal sources. The variety of supplies and services procured by NASA

include: multimillion dollar launch vehicles, small electronic instruments for

particular spacecraft, feasibility studies and investigations, construction of research

facilities, and administrative supplies and equipment.

Poll.s Governing NASA Contrac6_. The Space Act granted NASA

broad powers to develop, construct, test, and operate space vehicles and to make

contra_ for the conduct of its work with individuals, corporations, Govermnent

agencies, and others. It also extended to NASA the procurement anthority

contained in the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947 (ASPA), now codified

as Title 10, Chapter 137, U.S. Code. This lattex act relates to procedures

governing the making of contracts by the Department of Ddense, the Coast

Guard, and NASA (and formerly NACA). Thus NASA and the Department

of Defense are governed by the same procurement statute and deal to a considerable extent with the same segment of industry.

The Armed Services Procurement Act was enacted in February 1948 by

Congress to provide the agendes included in the act sufficient flem'bility to conduct

their procurement programs not only by the traditional method of advertising

for competitive bids and awarding contracts to the lowest responsible bidder

but also by the method d negotiation, a technique developed largely during

World Wax II to meet the needs of the wax effort. In 1949 the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act which established the General Services Administration also extended similar procurement authority to the civilian agencies of

"Interview with Willis Shapley, Bureau of the Budget, May 7, 1964.

m One of the first attempts to take a comprehensive view of NACA-NASA procurement

organization was undertaken during the summer of 1958 and resulted in a document entitled

"Brief Discussion of Procurement Organization and Practices of NACA-NASA," prepared under

the direction of Ralph Cushman, Chief, NACA Procurement Division, August 1958.
62 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

the Government, pursuant to recommendations contained in the First Hoover

Commission Report? °

Section 305 (b) of the Space Act provided that the Armed Services Procurement Act was to apply to NASA. Section 203(b)(5) suggests, however, that

Congress may have wished to grant NASA special procurement authority similar

to that given AEC. 91 Whether or not NASA had a choice between the two

approaches was never clarified. On October 30, 1958, Glennan announced that

NASA contracting would be handled in accordance with ASPA? z The announcement went on to say that NASA's procurement and contracting regulations

now being developed will conform in every practicable way to the Armed Services

Procurement Regulations [ASPR] . . . This decision should be welcomed by potential

NASA contractors since industry has become quite familiar with the ASPR in the past

10 years. They will not be required to learn how to operate under widely divergent

NASA regulations, nor will this change procedures for those contractors now engaged

in projects which have recently been transferred from the Department of Defense to

NASA? 8

NASA soon realized that using ASPA (the act) as a policy guide worked

well enough, but adhering closely to the more detailed ASPR (the regulations)

tended to lessen the agency's long-run procurement flexibility. '*

NASA's Contracting Machinery. NASA's first procurement machinery

was carried over from NACA. Most of the major procurement actions taken

during the time period covered by this chapter, however, were handled on an

individual basis without conformance to an elaborate formalized procedure.

The necessity for expanding NASA's procurement staff was soon recognized.

In January 1959 Glennan appointed Ernest Brackett, an Air Force procurement

specialist, to head NASA's Procurement Division? 5 Since NASA would follow

ASPR, the military services became the primary source from which to recruit

.0 For a fuller discussion, see "Legal Framework of NASA's Procurement Program," by

Walter D. Sohier, Assistant General Counsel, NASA, in NASA-Industry Program Plans Conference, July 28-29, 1960, pp. 105-108.

*_ See Paul G. Demblir.g, "National Coordination for Space Exploration: The National

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958," The ]AG ]ournal, February 1959, p. 19.

B "NASA Announces Contracting Procedures," NASA Release, Oct. 30, 1958.

u Ibid. During the wnt;.rAg of the Space Act, NACA procurement officials favored complete

agency autonomy on procurement matters. An attempt was made to prepare a set of regulations

UlbOn which NASA could operate. This effort fell short, however, and Glennan was not

presented with a complete and comprehensive package. There was also a certain amount of

uncertainty among NACA officials as to what approach would be best. This is suggested by

interviews with Ralph Cushman, who was in charge of NACA's Procurement Division, and

Mary Ambrose, a procurement specialist under both NACA and NASA.

*' For a fuller statement reflecting the views of NASA's procurement profeBionah on the

matter of l_rocurement policy, see NASA Staff Paper, "Recommendations Toward a Sound

Procurement Policy for NASA," Nov. 15, 1958. This paper is attributed to Carl Schreiber,

who had been the No. 2 man in NACA's Procurement Division.

w Ernest Brackett was a Contract Specialist (Negotiation) at Wright-Patterson AFB. He

became Director of Procurement and Contracting for NASA (an "E" position), Jan. 19, 1959.
LAUNCIEtNG OF NASA 63

procurement specialists. NASA's General Counsel, John Johnson, an official

dosdy associated with procurement matters, also came to NASA from the Air

Force.

Early problems in contractadministration,DOD's rolein assistingNASA

with its procurement activities, and the question of procurement centralization

versus decentralization have been mentioned in the discussion of McKinsey & Co.'s

recommendations.N

$t_ m t/_ Coatraet/_ or Proear_ Prae.e_. Although NASA's procurement process was not fully developed during the time frame covered in this

chapter, a bird's-eye view of the nature and problems of that process will fadlitate

the diso_on of procurement in later chapters. The major ste_ in the procurement process are described below."

The Procurement Request: Once a project has been approved and a decision

made as to the degree of external participation, the responsible organizational

unit prepares a procurement request (PR)?' The PR, after approval by the

proper operaKng officials, becomes the basic working document for the procurement specialist. The PR includes a description of what is wanted and additional

information as needed (suggested suppliers, security, classification, etc.).

The Procurement Plan: On the basis of the PR and other available information, the procurement specialist draws up a procurement plan. This plan outlines

in detail each subsequent step to be taken to carry out the procurement action.

It includes a description of the items to be procured, a list of all known sources,

a time schedule for completing each major phase of the action, the recommended

type of contract to be used, and special provisions to be included in the contract.

If the items to be procured can be deafly and completely defined in specifications

and drawings, formal advertising for competitive bids is possible. If the items

cannot be well defined (and most R&D work cannot), the negotiation route must

be taken, whereby negotiations with potential suppliers (called "sources") are

conductedon the basisof competitivetechnical and businessproposals submitted

to NASA. The "formal advertising" route usually results in a fixed-price contract whereas the "negotiation route" usually involves a cost-reimbursement

contract--normally the c0st-plus-a-fixed-fee (CPFF) variety. In NASA, 90

percent of the procurement dollar is spent via the negotiation route. When the

pnxammnent plan has been approved by the proper authorities, the stage is set

for solicitation.

=See Contracting Problems in Sec. II.C above.

"TFor a more complete description, see the following: "Selling to NASA," a 32-page

pamphlet published by NASA, April 1962; NASA Procurrment Manag_ncnt S,mziaar, a much

longer publication, prepared for NASA by Harbridge House, Inc., to serve as k textbook for

training seminars, 1962; Ernest Brackett's presentation at NASA-Industry Program Plato

Con/erences, July 28-29, 1960, and Feb. 11-12, 1963; Ambrose, "The National Space Program,

Phase II," pp. 90-101. Preparation of the description was facilitated by interviews with

Mrs. Ambrose.

ta The project approval proctm is an important topic in itself and is covered in later chapters.

215-892 0--66-------0
64 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Soliciting Proposals: At this stage an attempt is made to keep things as

competitive as possible. When formal advertising is used, the procurement action

is publicized as widely as possible and an "Invitation for Bid" (IFB) is sent to

each interested supplier. The IFB contains all information needed to prepare

a bid. It is the crucial instrument in bringing user and supplier together.

Negotiation is more complicated. An instrument called a "Request for Proposal" (RFP) is used instead of an IFB. Since a proposal is infinitely more

complicated and expensive to prepare than a bid, NASA attempts to limit the

sending of RFP's to parties known to be qualified. This necessitates a screening

........... L:_I. .... k_ .-I_ "_¢_11., *h.._,,a.h ]**ttPv'_ _nr] t6.1eq-_hnne eta]Is or

_.PIt.J_U_, WAUk, AI tJtlcty u_ _xA_ l_tll_At_kt_sv _t,x_** * ............. _t" ........

formally through a "preproposal conference" held with interested parties. On

the basis of the screening, RFP's are sent to firms considered to have the required

experience, facilities, and capabilities. A firm may submit a proposal even if it

does not initially receive an RFP. All larger RFP's are announced in the Department of Commerce's Business Daily and thus a firm can request them.

Bid and Proposal Evaluation: When formal advertising is used, it is necessary

to make sure that the low bidder is responsible and that his bid meets all requirements. When negotiation is used, a much more elaborate evaluation process is

necessary, since cost figures are only one factor to be considered. Proposals are

usually evaluated from three angles---the quality of the proposal (design, cost,

schedules, etc.); the technical competence of the proposer (personnel, facilities,

experience); and the managerial competence of the proposer (reporting system,

accounting system, etc.). The RFP includes the criteria on which the evaluation is made. Administrative and legal personnel, as well as technical personnel,

participate in proposal evaluation.

Source Selection, Contract Negotiation, and Contract Award: In the case

of formal advertising, a standard-type contract is awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. When negotiation is used, a decision is made, based

on the evaluation described above, on the supplier to do the work. After selection, negotiations are begun to iron out the details of the contract. Since a CPFF

contract is used in most cases, thorny problems of clarifying costs and determining

the fee must be solved. When both sides agree, the actual contract award is made.

Contract Administration: The award of a contract is only part of the overall

procurement process. What follows may be even more significant. It is true

that the contractor has primary responsibility for performance and, for routine

procurements, contract administration may only involve taking delivery of the

goods or services. In R&D contracting, however, numerous interim problems

arise in which NASA has a vital interest. In such cases, reviewing and evaluating the contractor's progress is very important and may become a specialty in

itself. Elaborate reporting techniques have been developed which sometimes

reveal the need for NASA to render technical or administrative assistance to the

contractor. NASA may approve certain contractor actions which involve changes

in costs. In certain cases the contract may have to be modified or terminated.
LAUNCHING OF NASA 65

Contract administrationinvolvesNASA operating tcchnicians,procurement

specialists, and peoplefrom such activitiesassafety,reporting,and security.

Thc foregoingdiscussionhas Idt severalquestionsto bc answered in latex

chapters. Somc of therelatedtopicswhich willbc treatedlateraxe:procedural

variations related to the size of the procurement; the role of source evaluation

boards; the role of boards of contract appeals; types of contracts and contract

innovations; patents and the role of the Inventions and Contributions Board;

small business participation in NASA procuremec.t; subcontracting; problems of

cost overruns; NASA's reliability program; NASA's special grant and research

contract program; the role of DOD in NASA procurement; and changes in

NASA's procurement organization structure.

G. Miscellaneous Administrative Developments

Weddy Sta_ Meeting. Soon after NASA's establishment, Glennan inaugurated a program of weekly staff meetings with NASA's top Headquarters officials.**

The purpose of these meetings was to "provide a forum for discussion of problen,a,

an opportunity for the exchange of information, and a means of determining on

action programs following the frank comments of all participant&" 1_ Although

the weekly staff meeting was not a decision-making organ, per se, it provided an

opportunity for top officials tO achieve COl_eaasus which, when agreed to by

Gletman, constituted the agtncy's pos/tion.

of _ to _ The management role that

Dryden would play was uncertain when NASA was establ_ed. Glennan

attempted to clarify this problem in December 1958 when he asked Dryden to "pay

particular attention" to three specific programs: the space science progtmn, which

would involve extensive liaison with the Space Science Board of the National

Academy of Sciences; NASA's man-in-space program (Project Mercury), which

had grown out of cartier NACA efforts and in which Dryden had played a key

role in winning NASA jurisdiction; and NASA's University Research Support

Program, inducting polities to govern it. m How Dryden's respomibiUties in

these programs would mesh with those of Abe Silverstein who had organizational

jurisdiction over them was not determined at this time.

Uh21zaa_ at ad Hec Adt_an_ Cammiu._ ia N_lmlml Areas. On

several occasions, Glennan utilized ad hoc committees to obtain advice on nontechnical matters. (In 1960 one such committee was to play a significant role in

a study of NASA's organization.) In December 1958 Olennan convened a

group of 11 persom, primarily academicians, to discuss the social and political problems of the space age? °2 This meeting was prompted by the Space Act requirem Memorandum, Ghnnan to Hiornevik, Oct. 10, 1958. It is interesting to note that

Glennan suggested that Hjornevik investigate the way AEC conducted its weekly staff meeting--

another example of the influence of Glennan's AEC experience.

_" Ibid.

m Memorandum, Glennan to Dryden, Dec. 24, 1958.

,e, Minutes of the Dec. 18, 1958, meeting were attached to a Feb. 9, 1959, letter from

Glennan to each participant. James A. Perkins served as chairman of the meeting.
66 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORYOFNASA,1958--1963

ment that there be "long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from

the opportunities for, and the problems involved in, the utilization of aeronautical

and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes. ''1°_ The importance of

this meeting lay not in the conclusions reached but in clarification of problems.

An internal NASA committee on long-range studies was established and a

contractor hired to do detailed research and writing. 1°4

H. External Relationships

relationships were newly established by NASA or renewed from NACA days. The

following are a few examples.

DOD: NASA's relationships with DOD were broad and deep. First, there

was a carryover of former NACA-DOD relationships in aeronautical research

and of relationships from the NACA-Navy-Air Force X-15 project? °5

Second, there was a close relationship necessary to carrying out the several

projects transferred from DOD to NASA. Either the Army or the Air Force

served as executive agent for all major space launchings during NASA's first 4

months.

Third, ARPA was given a direct role in "assisting" NASA in its high-priority

Project Mercury man-in-space program. _°e

Fourth, NASA-DOD cooperative agreements were made concerning launch

vehicles and tracking. A National Space Vehicle Program, designed to eliminate

possible duplication in the development of the very expensive vehicles used to

launch payloads into space, was agreed to in December 1958, _°' and on January

10, 1959, agreement was reached on a "National Program To Meet Satellite and

" Sec. 102(c) (5).

The Committee on Long Range Studies under the chairmanship of John Johnson, NASA

General Counsel, was established May 18, 1959. Its major report was prepared by the Brookings

Institution and is entitled Proposed Studies on the Implications o[ Peaceful Space Activities/or

Human Affairs, November 1960. The report has been published as H. Rept. 242, Committee on

Science and Astronautics, 87th Cong., 1st sets. (Washington: GPO, 1961 ).

*eSThe original NACA-Navy-Air Force agreement was signed Dec. 23, 1954. A similar

agreement for a follow-on project--Project Dyna Soar--was entered into by NASA and the

Air Force Nov. 14, 1958. Pertinent memoranda have been reprinted in Senate Hearings,

Investigation o/Governmental Organization for Space Activities, pp. 524-525.

_*SA Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Glennan and ARPA's Roy Johnson

Nov. 20, 1958. ARPA agreed to furnish $8 million of fiscal year 1959 funds; NASA agreed to

have ARPA representatives serve on the working committee. This memorandum is reprinted

in Senate Hearings, Investigation o/ Governmental Organization for Space Activities, pp.

524-525.

'_ Documentation on this program is very elusive. Evidently the program was informally

arrived at in the course of DOD and NASA comparing their budgets for fiscal year 1960. See

Glennan's testimony on p. 77 and York's testimony on p. 608 in Senate Hearings, Investigation

of Governmental Organization for Space Activities. A formal statement was issued on Jan. 27,

1959, entitled "The National Space Vehicle Program." This has been reprinted on pp. 17-24

of the Senate Hearings just mentioned.
LAUNCHINCOFNASA 67

Space Vehicle Tracking and SurveillanceRcquircmcnts for FY 1959 and FY

1960."1°8

Fifth,a Civilian-MilitaryLiaison Committee (CMLC), a NASA-DOD

consultativeorganrequiredby Section204 (a)oftheSpace Act,was formallyestablishedOctober 29, 19587°° The next day PresidentEiscnhowcr appointed

William Holaday, DOD Director of Guided Missiles,to serve as CMLC

chairman.

AEC: In 1955, AEC began Project Rover, designed to develop a nuclear

rocket engine for propulsion purpose_ Respomibility for development of certain

nonnuclearcomponents was transferredfrom theAir Force toNASA on October

I, 1958, and Rover became an AEC--NASA project,u° NASA alsobecame

involved in AEC's attempts to develop a system for converting nuclear energy into

electricity (Project Snap).

Department o[ Commerce: NASA-Bureau of Standards relationships were

a continuation of events begun under NACA. Relationships with the Weather

Bureau developed in anticipation of the transfer of DOD's meteorological program

to NASA. (See Ch. 4.)

National Science Foundation (NSF) : NSF helped to bridge the gap between

NASA and the scientific community, as well as to sponsor research of interest to

NASA.

Smithsonian Institution: NASA received tracking support from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which operated optical tracking stations.

Executive O_ice of thePresident: All agencies have an important and

relationship with the Bureau of the Budget (BOB), and NASA was no exception.

NASA was responsive to the requirements of the Office of Civil and Defense

Mobilization (OCDM) and its plans for national emergency preparedness.

NASA was involved in two new Executive Office organizations established

during 1958--the Federal Council for Science and Technology (FCST) and the

National Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC). Although not formally

established until March 13, 1959, FCST actually began work in December 1958,

with Dr. James R. Killian as chairman, m Its job was to improve the planning

m A copy of the agreement k reprinted in U.S. Congse_ Senate, Committee on Aeronautical

and Space Sciences, NASA Authorizatiol /or Fiscal Year 1960, Hearings on S. 1582, 86th Cong.,

1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959), p. 321 (hereafter cited as Senate Hearings, NASA Attthorizatioa[or Fiscal Year 1960).

as The Oct. 29, 1958, "Terms of Rderence---Civillan-Military Liaison Committee to the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense" have been

reprinted in Senate Hearings, Investigation o[ Governmcntal OrgaaiT.ation [or Space detivitits,

pp. 500-501.

m See Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization [or Fiscal Year 1960, pp. 112-114.

,n For full details, see the Dec. 27, 1958, "Statement by the President" on the "Report of the

President's Science Advisory Committee." Also Executive Order 10807, "Federal Council for

Science and Technology," Mar. 13, 1959. These, and other related documents, have been

reproduced in U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Government Operations, Subcommittee on

Reorganization and International Organizations, Scisnc# Program---86th Congress, S. Rept. 120

of 86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959), pp. 91-109.
68 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

and coordination of Federal programs in science and technology. The NASA

Administrator was an ex officio member.

NASC, created by Section 201 of the Space Act, has been briefly described

in Chapter 1. Composed of the President and the heads of DOD, NASA, AEC,

and the Department of State, NASC was formed September 24, 1958, to formulate

a comprehensive national space program and to advise the President on space

policy and plans212 NASA played a special role in the operation of NASC by

furnishing its Executive Secretary. _13 NASC held three meetings during 1958.

The most controversial topic discussed was the proposed transfer of Army facilities

to NASA, described earlier in this chapter. 1_"

Other Executive Branch Agencies: The Department of State worked with

NASA on international scientific relations, especially in regard to NASA's worldwide tracking system. The Federal Aviation Agency and the Civil Aeronautics

Board were concerned with NASA's aeronautical research program, especially

the areas of supersonic airplane development and flight safety. In addition,

-NASA maintained standard administrative relationships with the Civil Service

Commission, the General Services Administration, the Treasury Department,

and the General Accounting Office (actually an agency of the legislative branch).

Other Organizations: _xs The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), especially its Space Science Board, helped facilitate liaison between NASA and the

scientific community. 11_ AffÉliated with NAS was the Committee on Space

Research (COSPAR) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

COSPAR was established by ICSU in late 1958 to continue international cooperation in the scientific exploration of space along the lines of the expiring

_12In addition to the five designated member_, the President could appoint one other governmental member and not more than three nongovernmental members to the Council. On

Sept. 4, 1958, President Eisenhower made a recess appointment of William Burden to the Council.

In May 1959, Burden and John Rettaliata, the president of the Illinois Institute of Technology,

were nominated to serve as nongovernmental members. The Senate agreed to the nominations.

For biographies, see U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences,

Nominations, May 19, 1959, Hearing on Nominations of William Burden and John Rettaliata,

86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959).

:_ On Dec. 26(?), 1958, Glennan wrote a letter to President Eisenhower suggesting that the

Executive Secretary could be detailed from his [Glennan's] office, and recommended that his

assistant, Frank Phillips, replace incumbent Robert Piland, who wanted to return to NASA's

Langley Research Center. The President approved this plan in a letter to Glennan, Jan. 5,

1959.

11_See see. II.A. Meetings were held Sept. 24, Oct. 29, and Dee. 3. No agreement on the

Army-NASA dispute could he reached at the Oct. 29 meeting (New York Times, Oct. 30, 1958,

p. 14).

ns Relationships between NASA and Congress have been mentioned frequently and will not

be repeated here.

_ls The Aug. 3, 1958, press release of the National Academy of Sciences entitled "National

Academy of Sciences Establishes Space Science Board" has been reprinted in Senate Hearings,

Investigation of Governmental Organization for Space Activities, pp. 734-736.
LAUNCHINGOFNASA 69

International Geophysical Year. In December 1958 the Unked Nations established an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. u7

NASA's technical advisory committee system, described earlier in this chapter,

served as a means for promoting the exchange of ideas and information between

NASA and a large number of private and public organizations.

I. Early Program Developments

A full description of NASA's aerospace program is beyond the scope of this

study. On the other hand, the administration of a program cannot be divorced

from the program itself; because of this, program summaries are induded in

almost every chapter. The next chapter opens with a discussion of NASA's

program for fiscal year 1959, which includes the time frame covered by this

chapter. Several program developments were intimately connected with NASA's

establishment and warrant summarization here.

NASA's "inherited" program has already been alluded to. From NACA

it inherited a program of basic aeronautical and space research. From DOD

it inherited several projects involving the scientific investigation of space using

earth satellites and lunar probes. .Mso from DOD it inherited several engine

development programs.

During the summer of 1958 it had been determined that NASA would have

jurisdiction over the Nation's manned space flight activities? 1s NACA, primarily

through a specially created Space Task Group at Langley Laboratory., had

developed a specific manned space-flight project and one of the first important

decisions of the new space agency was to go ahead with what shortly became

known as Project Mercury? 19 It was NASA's best known project for 5 years.

NASA moved ahead quiddy. 1"° On October 21, 1958, tentative specifications

on the Mercury capsule were sent to prospective contractors. In early November

a preliminary bidders conference was held at Langley Research Center. Requests

for proposals were issued about a week and a half later. Twelve firms submitted

mFor a copy of General A._mably Resolution 134-8(Xlii), see U.S. Congress, Senate,

Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Documents on International Aspects o[ the

Exploration and Use of Outer Space, 1954-1962, Staff Report issued as S. Doc. 18, 88th Cong.,

Ist sess. (Washington: GPO, 1963), pp. 88--89.

uJ The precise timetable by which NASA obtained jurisdiction over manned space flight has

not been made public. For the best account, see James Grimwood, Project Mercury: A Chronology, NASA SP-4001 (Washington: GPO, 1963), pp. 21-23. See forthcoming L. Swemon, C.

Alexander, and J. Grimwood, This New Ocean: A History of Pro_ect Mercury (Washington:

NASA SP-4007, 1966).

u, Ibid., p. 27. The date of the decision is given as Oct. 7, 1958.

1_ For a more detailed account, see U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and

Astronautics, The Production o[ Documents by the National Ae,onautics and S_ace Administration /or the Committee on Science and Astronautics, Hearings, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1960), pp. 112-136 (hereafter cited as House Hearings, The Production of Documents . . .). Organizational arrangements for Project Mercury are diacuued in Ch. 4, Sec. II.A.
7O ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

proposals and in early January the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. of St. Louis was

selected to develop the capsule.

Another major program development moved along on an even earlier time

schedule. By the middle of December, the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc., was selected to develop the 1- to 1y=-million-pound thrust,

single-chamber (F-1) engine, studies for which NASA inherited from the Air

Force? _1

Both the Rocketdyne and McDonnell contracts were large ones. The

Chairman of the Source Selection Committee in both cases was Dr. Abe Silversteiti, the Director of NASA's Space Flight Development Program.

The third major program development in late 1958 was the recognition

that NASA did not have adequately performing launch vehicles to carry out a

satisfactory space exploration program. 1_"

During 1958 the Army and Air Force each attempted two major launchings

on behalf of NASA. Three were scientific lunar probes, one was a scientific

earth satellite. None of them was completely successful? -"s NASA participated

only to the extent of being in on the postmortems to ascertain what went wrong. TM

NASA had to wait until August 1959 for its first completely successful major

launching.

Ibld., pp. 91-111.

This problem is covered in detail in Ch. 4.

See "Chronology of Major NASA Launchings . . ." prepared by the NASA Historical

Office.

Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.
Ompter Four

1959---INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES

Glennan was the NASA Administrator 29 months. His first 5 months, the

period during which NASA got started, were discussed in Chapter 3. The remaining 24 months are covered in this chapter (for 1959) and the next one

(for 1960). This division is not as artificial as it may first appear, because 1959

and 1960 differ in several significant respects. The year 1959 was one of uncertainty and frustration for NASA. Congressional and White House support

seemed ambivalent. NASA's space program was still largely inherited and the

first completely successful launch did not occur until the year was almost twothirds over. Additional project and facility transfers added to the uncertainty.

The efficacy of the Space Act to provide the environment for positive progress

was questioned.

On the other hand, 1960 Was characterized by improvements on all front_

Congre_ional and White House support became firm. All transfers were consummated. Changing circumstances made fundamental policy questions seem

less significant and more emphasis was placed on the pragmatic solving of problems. In general, a more positive atmosphere prevailed.

During early 1959, NASA's top officials had to devote much effort to the

problem of filling out the organizational skeleton set up during 1958. This

emphasis on internal administrative matters gave way to involvement in external

affairs stemming primarily from the authorization and appropriation activities

of Congress and from congressional inquiries into NASA-DOD relations. This

"involvement" climaxed during April, May, and June. Frustrations stemming

primarily from external relations led to a questioning of the fundamental policy

which guided NASA and delineated its role in the Nation's space program.

Concern over basic policy, however, gave way before the major event of 1959--

the October decision to transfer from DOD to NASA the Saturn super booster

program and the Army imtallation closely associated with it.

This interpretation of 1959 events has been used as the basis for presenting

NASA's 1959 administrative history. After an introductory section on NASA's

1959 space program, NASA's internal administrative and organizational develop71
72 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 95 8--1 9 6 3

ments are presented. This is followed by a section on NASA's external relationships, with emphasis on DOD and Congress. The fourth section discusses

problems of basic policy, and the last section details the transfer of the Saturn

program. Reviewing NASA's space program early in the chapter provides a

program-oriented atmosphere for the discussion of administrative and policy

matters.

I. NASA'S 1959 SPACE PROGRAM

Any attempt to summarize NASA's space program runs into several problems.

I:;,_, ,h_.° ;_ ..... , ............ ,,,_,_y to unumy em asize the dramatic and the tan ble .l. .... -_....... ph gi

(e.g., major launching, s) when possibly the most notable achievements were in

laying groundwork for the future. Second, program evaluation is difficult because there are no generally accepted criteria by which an evaluation can be

made. Events which may be classified objectively as failures may nevertheless

be important steps forward. These problems tend to be compounded when the

description and evaluation is highly condensed. With these qualifiers, the following summary of NASA's 1959 space program is presented?

A. The Overall Program

In 1959 NASA's space program was shaken down and rounded out. By

the end of the year the last major project and installation transfers had been

determined. The paucity of "successes" during 1959--against the larger number

of satisfying achievements during 1960--suggests that 1959 was a year of preparation. Developments in two areas, launch vehicle development and manned space

flight, were especially important.

To give perspective to NASA's overall program, the following table (Table

4-1 ) has been constructed showing NASA's funding pattern for fiscal year 1959

and fiscal year 1960. _ The table is based on data revealed by NASA at its

authorization and appropriation hearings held during April and May 1959, and

gives a good picture of how NASA's original spending plan was drastically

modified to accommodate important program changes concerning the development of launch vehicles.

B. Launch Vehicle Development Program Changes

NASA had inherited most of its fiscal year 1959 program. Over half of

the money for R&D was earmarked for the scientific investigation of space using

For a longer summary, lee U.S. Aeronautics and Space Activities, January 1, to December

31, 1959, the second annual report of the President on the Nation's activities in the fields of

aeronautics and space. Published as H. Doc. No. 349, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO,

1960), pp. 6-21.

' The table is based on data found in Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year

1960, pp. 754, 795, 806.
1959--INTERNALCONSOLIDATION_EXTERNALDIFFICULTIES 73

either "jury rigged" DOD hunch vehicles or the newly developed but small

Vanguard vehicle? The RkD budget for fiscal year 1960, formulated during

November and December 1958, was an extension of the same program with

some strengthening in manned space flight, applications (meteorology and communicatiom), and high-energy propulsion technology.

While NASA's initial fiscal year 1960 budget was being formulated, Abe

Silverstein and other NASA officials were conferring with DOD on the problem

of U.S. deficiency in the area of large and reliable launch vehicles.* Existing

vehicles were simply not good enough to permit an economical and successful

space-flight program by NASA or DOD. From these talks an interagency hunch

vehicle development program emerged?

The program called for phasing out the "jury rigged" Thor-Able and Juno II

vehicles and the underpowcred Vanguard vehicle, and for the development of a

family of new vehicles designed to provide a complete range of capability in payload size and mission. The great expense involved in developing such a family

of vehicles precluded either DOD or NASA from attempting it alone. For NASA,

DOD cooperation was absolutely essential, as all new vehicles would be based on

missile groundwork already laid by DOD. The plan, as agreed to in early 1959,

called for certain vehicles to be developed by NASA, others by DOD. The plan

was to be kept tightly coordinated so that duplication would be avoided and a

maximum of information exchanged.

NASA was to have primary responsibility for the development of the small,

inexpensive, all-solid Scout vehicle, the smaU- to medium-sized Thor-Delta (regarded as an interim vehicle), and the medium-sized Atlas-Vega. The somewhat

larger Atlas-Centaur, especially important for space because it used liquid hydrogen for fuel, was to be transferred to NASA at the beginning of fiscal year 1960

(July 1, 1959). DOD was to develop the small- to medium-sized Thor-Hustler,

the medium-sized Atlas-Hustler, and the larger-sized Saturn. A "super-sized"

Nova vehicle would be studied by NASA but not developed.

By the end of 1959, the Thor-Hugler and Atlas-Hustler vehicles had evolved

into the Thor-Agena and Atlas-Agena, and the Arias-Vega had been canceled

altogether because it was too similar in size to the Atlas-Agena and Atlas-Centanr. s

= The term "jury rigged" was uaed by Silverstein in testimony before the Scnate Committee

on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and

Space Sciences, NASA Suppl_nental Authorization [or Fiscal Year 1959, Hearings on S. 1096,

86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959), p. 32. He gave a lucid del_ription of the

various vehicles involved---see especially pp. 32-36.

Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964. See also his July 13, 1959, testimony at

Senate Hearings, Supplemental Appropriation Bill [or 1960, p. 50.

An unclassified version of the program was issued in January: The National Space Vehicle

Program, prepared by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in consultation with

the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, Jan. 27, 1959. This

was reprinted in Senate Hearings, Investigation o[ Government Organization [or Space Activities,

pp. 17-24.

• A $33 million contract with Convair (of General Dynamics) for the development of Vega

was let in March 1959 and canceled in December. Unrecoverable expenditures were estimated

at about $17 million.
74 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

TXeLE 4-1. Planned Disposidon of Fiscal Year 1959

[In mUliom

A. S&E money (in-house):

1. Operating NASA Headquarters .................

2. Operating former NACA field installations .......

3. Operating the BeltsviUe Space Center ............

Subtotal ...................................

B. R&D money (contract):

4. Operating JPL ..............................

5. Manned space-flight program ..................

6. Scientific satellites, probes, and rockets ..........

7. Project Vanguard (scientific satellite program)...

8. Meteorology and communications ..............

9. Scout vehicle development ....................

10. Delta vehicle development ....................

1I. Vega vehicle development .....................

12. Centaur vehicle development ..................

13. Million-pound engine development .............

14. Nuclear engine development ...................

15. Other engine and propulsion activities ..........

16. Tracking and data acquisition .................

17. Miscellaneotm research contracts ................

18. Other R &D ................................

Subtotal ..................................

C. C&E money (contract):

19. Langley Research Center .....................

20. Ames Research Center .......................

21. Lewis Rmearch Center .......................

22. Flight Research Center .......................

23. Wallops Island ..............................

24. Beltsville Space Research Center ...............

25. Other ......................................

Subtotal ..................................

Grand total ................................

Fiscal year 1959

Original Revised Change

4.9 .....................

78._ ......................

2.6

86.3

8.2

37. 7

85. 0

25. 5

8.1

53. 8 --31.2

6.0 --2.1

6.0 +6.0

13.8 +13.8

22.8 +22.8

12.0

8.5

8.5

4.3

5.5

1.3

204.6

11.4

3.7

7.8

10.0 --2.0

4.5 --4.0

3.3 --1.0

3.0 --2.5

1.5 +.2

........ .o, ..........

21.2 .....................

3.9 .....................

.......... ' .......... I ..........

48.0 .....................

338. 9 .....................
19 5 9_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION_

and Fis.eal Year 1960 Fu_Is---NACA /NASA

ofdon_]

EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 75

8&E money (in-hour):

1. Operating NASA Headquarters .................

2. Opera_ former NACA field immdlafiom .......

3. Operamag the BeksvilleSpace Cenm- ...........

Sub_ral ..................................

B. R&I) money (contract):

_. o_:x_ JPL ...............................

5. Manned _ce-fl/ght _ ...................

6. Scien_fic la_Jlites, probes, and rock_ ...........

7. Proj_ Vanguard (leien_fic satellite program) ....

8. Meworology and communications .............

9. Scout vehicle development .....................

I0. Delta vehicle develolxnent.....................

I I. Vega vehicle development .....................

12. C_nmur vehirAe development ..................

13. M//lion-pound engine development .............

14. Nuclear e_4ne development ...................

15. _ en_ne and pr_imlima activities ........

16. Trad_ and dam acquim.l_n .................

17. Mix_llaneous research comracts .................

18. Other R&D ..................................

Subtotal ..................................

C. C&E money (eonu'act):

19. La_ley Re_u-'eb C._m" ....................... I

20. Ames Research Gram- ........................

21. Lewis Research Cemer ........................

22. Flight Research Center .......................

F_ml year 1960

Or_h_ Revved Change

89°9 ....................

14. 7 ....................

III. 0 ......................

8.2 .......... I..........

70. 0 .....................

118.2 46.7 --71.6

28. 0 15. 5 -- 12. 5

.......... 2.0 +2.0

.......... 13.3 +13.3

.......... 42. 8 +42. 8

........... 41.0 +41.0

30.2 ........... _..........

8.0 ....................

26.0 14.0 --12.0

115 ........_ I 8.2 _.........3_, -.

8.0 ..........,..........

516. 4 ....................

4._ . ...................

6.6

2.8

23. Wallops Island ...............................................................

24. Beltsville Space l_e=:_:h Center ............... 14.. 0 23.o_ ...................................... 230 .......... I:.........

Subtotal .................................. 57. 8 ....................

Grand total ................................ 485. 2 ....................
t1 _-

¢

76 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 95 8--19 6 3

In addition, the Saturn had been transferred to NASA, something not planned for

at the beginning of the year. Centaur was transferred to NASA as planned.

When NASA agreed to develop several new launch vehicles, it was faced

with the problem of finding the necessary funds. This was done by drastically

revising its R&D budget for both fiscal year 1959 and fiscal year 1960. Table 4-1

shows this very clearly. NASA substantially cut back on the flight program for

scientific satellites and probes. With unreliable vehicles this made sense because

the chances for a successful flight program were not too great anyway.

All in all, getting the national launch vehicle program largely straightened

out was one of the major space accomplishments of 1959.:

C. Manned Space Flight

Project Mercury, which had gotten off to a fast start in 1958, continued to

progress at a good pace during 1959) In January, NASA contracted with the

McDonnell Aircraft Corp. for the procurement of the Mercury capsule. During

early 1959, NASA and DOD made arrangements for the Army to supply Redstone vehicles for suborbital flights, the Air Force to supply Atlas vehicles for

orbital flights, and the Navy to assist in recovery operations. In April, seven

astronauts were chosen and their training begun? Also in April, Project Mercury

was given a DX priority procurement rating, the highest rating possible, and of

great assistance in tooling and materials crises. In July, Western Electric was

selected to build the Mercury tracking network. During the latter third of 1959,

several tests were made with boilerplate Mercury capsules and ad hoc Little Joe

and Big Joe vehicles. In September, Walter C. Williams, the head of NASA's

Flight Research Center, was named Associate Director fo, Project Mercury

Operations, an indication that the operations phase of the program was about

to begin.

7 Delta proved so successful that its interim status was soon forgotten. Since Centaur

suffered many delays and since the leadtime on Saturn was so long, most of NASA's program

during 1961 through 1963 was carried out using Scouts, Deltas, and Atlas-Agenas. During

1959 and 1960, NASA used Vanguard, Juno II, and Thor-Able vehicles together with some

special-purpose vehicles created for Project Mercury.

s For a much more complete account, see Orirnwood, Project Mercury: A Chronology

(Washington: NASA SP-4001, 1965) and forthcoming This New Ocean: A History of Project

Mercury, by L. Swenson, C. Alexander, and J. Grimwood (Washington: NASA 5P--4201, 1966).

"Establishing the qualifications for and then selecting the astronauts was an unprecedented

job. It was an important recruiting and examination task that has not been discussed in the

"Personnel" sections of this study. Also see Mac M. Link, Space Medicine in Project Mercury

(Washington : NASA SP--4003, 1965 ), pp. 44--47.
1959--INTf.RNALCdONSOLIDATION_ EXTERNAL DIFIelCULT/ES 77

D. Other 1959 Program Developments

Sclentifw Investigation of Space. During 1959, NASA launched eight

scientific earth satellites; and two lunar probes were launched under NASA

auspices. Three of the launches, all scientific satellites, were completely successful. 1° Most of the important discoveries were associated with Van Allen radiation

belt findings. The space science program suffered greatly because of the absence

of reliable vehicles. One of the complete successes was Vanguard III, launched

on September 18, 1959. With it the Vanguard flight program ended? _

Space App//cat/om. NASA's applications program began to take shape

during 1959 with the transfer from DOD to NASA of Project Tiros, a meteorological satellite project. This project is an interesting example of one involving

a large degree of interagency cooperation_in this case among NASA, DOD,

and the Weather Bureau. NASA made progress on its passive communication

project by the suborbital testing of the ejection and inflation of a 100-foot sphere

( Project Echo) .1,

Engine Develoimtem. The largest engine development project was the

1- to l_-million-pound-thrust (F-l) engine being developed for NASA by

North American. Other engines being developed by NASA were of various sizes

and used a variety of liquid and solid fuels, including liquid hydrogen. In conjunction with AEC, nuclear engines were being worked on.u

Other Program Acao/a_. NASA made progress in the constructionof its

three tracking networks----one for scientific earth satellites, another for manned

orbital flights, and the third for deep-space probes. NASA carried on NACA's

aeronautical research program. To what extent it suffered as a result of the

emphasis being placed on space is difficult to measure. The X-15 research airplane made its first powered flight in September 1959.1"

During 1959, the U.S.S.R. made several notable space achievements by

sending a satellite into solar orbit (Lunik [), making a hard landing on the moon

(Lunik//), and taking TV pictures of the "back" of the moon (Lunik Ill). The

Air Force succeeded in orbiting six Discoverer satellites.

_eSee "Chronology of Major NASA Launching, . . ." prepared by the NASA Historical

Office.

ttA full history of Project Vanguard, the first U.S. scientific satellite program, is presently

being _onmred by NASA.

1, C[. John Ashby, "A Preliminary History of the Evolution of the Tiros Weather Satellite

Program" (Unpublished, NASA hiitorical note No. 45, September 1964). See G. g. Thompson,

"I-Iismry of NASA Comsat DewJopment" (Unpublished, NASA historical monograph No. 8,

November 1965).

_'_Cf. E. M. Emme, Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1915-I960 (Washington: NASA, 1961 ),

pp. 106-135; David S. Akens, Historical Origins of Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville,

Ala.: MSFC, 1961).

_'See Wendell H. Stillwell, X-15 Research Results (Washington: NASA SP-60, 1965),

Bibliography, pp. 103-116.
78 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

II. INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

In Chapter 3 it was pointed out that even though NACA had been a going

concern with an established organization and procedures, it served only as a base

or nucleus for NASA. NASA was to be a new agency. This meant that numerous

old practices would have to be changed or discarded and many new ones added.

A new agency head would have to be accommodated, new projects and facilities

integrated, and an almost entirely new (to NACA) method of doing business

established (i.e., R&D contracting). Certain Space Act requirements, not previously part of NACA's mandate, would have to be implemented. Although

progress during 1958 was substantial, it was still only a beginning and it was

readily recognized that much of the detailed work would have to come later.

Until the transfer issue arose during the last quarter of 1959, the year could be

characterized as one of consolidating and filling in the details of 1958 decisions.

A. Organizational Changes

A Comlmrison of Organization Charts. The only major organizational

change occurring during 1959 came at the end of the year and was related to

the most significant event of the yearmthe transfer to NASA of the Saturn program

and the Army installation associated with it. The details of this transfer and

related NASA organizational changes are presented later in this chapter, is

A few minor organizational changes are revealed by comparing the several

official organization charts issued during 1959. (These charts are reproduced in

App. B.) In Chapter 3 the evolution of NASA's first official organization chart

(dated January 29, 1959) was presented? 6 It was noted that the January 29

chart should have included two items which did not show up until the March 23

chart--namely, the Inventions and Contributions Board and the Research Advisory

Committees. Other than the two items just mentioned, the only change indicated

by the March 23 chart was that the Western Coordination Office had been placed

directly under the Associate Administrator. This was done in accordance with

recommendations made in a study prepared for NASA by McKinsey & Co? T

Except for a few name changes, the only development revealed by the May 1

chart was the establishment of the Program Coordination Office in the Office of

Space Flight Development. This Office was to coordinate and review the various

programs of the Office of Space Flight Development so as to maximize the utilization of resources and minimize all types of duplication, is John P. Hagen, who

was heading the Vanguard Project at the time, was named to head the new office.

as See Sec. V of this chapter.

,6 See Ch. 3, See. II.B.

':This iscovered in subsec. F below.

_SNASA News Release 59-123, Apr. 30, 1959.
I 9 5 9_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 79

The September 15 chart is identical to the May I chart except for the

names of some of the individuals filling certain positions. The December 29 chart

depicts the major reorganization associated with the Saturn transfer. It should

also be noted that the Office of Associate Administrator is given a slightly different

position on the December 29 chart to indicate more dearly that the jurisdiction

of the Associate Administrator was primarily over the basic program of the agency.

Changes Not Shown on OTe_ Charts. A change in the name d

an organizational unit often is evidence of a substantive change in scope or function.

Changing the name of the Western Coordination Office to Western Operations

Office (WOO) was part of the August 1959 expansion of that Office. This

expansion is described in more detail later.

In September 1959, an of NASA's high-speed test-flight operations were

consolidated and centralized at the High Speed Flight Station, Edwards, Calif. t_

Its name was changed to Flight Research Center.

Some units shown on organization charts are not operational because they

have not been officially established or have not been staffed. For example, the

position of Facilities Coordinator was recommended by the December 1958

McKinsey Report and appeared on NASA's January 29, 1959 chart, but the

position was not established until May. 2° Another example is the position of

Associate Administrator, which appeared on the January 29 chart but which was

not filled until Richard Homer reported for duty. on June 1.'1

The EJtablisAment of the Goddard Space Fillet Center. = The idea that

a new field installation would have to be established to _upplement existing NACA

installations dates from early 1958. No specific site was considered until mid1958 when the transfer of the Vanguard team was discussed. To facilitate the

transfer it was decided to establish the new center near Washir_gton, D.C., where

Minitrack and the worldwide communications network came to focus, and where

the Vanguard people worked. 2s On August 1, 1958, Senator J. Glenn BeaU of

Maryland was accorded the honor of announcing that the new NASA field center

would be located in Maryland on surplus land which was part of the Department

of Agriculture's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.:'

NASA's fiscal year 1959 authorization included $3,750,000 for a "Space

projects center" to be located in the "vicinity of Washington, D.C." :s However,

_* NASA, Second Semiannual Report, p. 93; NASA "Quarterly Manpower Utilization

Report," Oct. 30, 1959, pp. I, 3.

"_Memo, Siepert to Glennan, May 7, 1959. Glennan's approval came in a memo m Siepert,

May 19, 1959.

The appointment in June of Richard Homer as NASA's first Associate Administrator is

covered later.

= For more detail, see A. Rosenthal, The Early Years, Goddard Space Flight Center,

Historical Origins and Activities Through December 1962 (Greenbelt, Md.: NASA, GSFC,

1963).

=_Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.

--t Release by Senator J. Glenn Beall, Aug. 1, 1958.

= Public Law 85--657, Aug. 14, 1958. House Hearing, Authorizing Construction [or the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was held on Aug. I, 1958.

215-892 0--66-----7
80 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

only $25,000,000 of the $47,800,000 authorized for NASA's overall construction

budget was appropriated, and the Senate Appropriations Committee, in justifying

this cutback, said, "the committee feels that planning for the Space projects center

can be deferred .... ,, 2_

In spite of the Senate Appropriations Committee's suggestion, NASA went

ahead and allotted $3.9 million for the new center. By September 16, 1958, the

initial specifications for the center had been completed. Glennan approved the

engineering master plan in November and construction activity got underway the

following April. 27 Occupancy was planned for early 1960.

Nn ]_[_v 1 1CI_Q NA_,A _nn_,,nt,_rl that th, q'p_tPr ur_lA 1_ _m_rl thp

Goddard Space Flight Center in honor of Robert H. Goddard, American rocket

pioneer2* On the same day Glennan issued a memorandum setting forth the

function and authority of the center. 29

The center was assigned the broad functions of planning and developing

vehicles and payloads for scientific, applications, and manned space-flight programs and conducting flight operations related thereto. 3° The director of the

center was to report to the Director of Space Flight Development (Silverstein)

in NASA Headquarters.

As of May 1 the heads had been selected for four of the Goddard Center's

five principal activity areas. Two were from NACA (Gilruth, head of Project

Mercury, from Langley and Vaccaro from Lewis), one from the Naval Research

Laboratory (Townsend), and one from NRL/Vanguard (Mengel). The fifth

one, named in October, was also from NRL/Vanguard (Winkler). In September, Dr. Harry J. Goett of the NACA/NASA Ames Research Center was appointed

Director of the Goddard Center.

It should be kept in mind that during most of 1959 the Beltsville/Goddard

Center was without a director or a central location. It was more like an umbrella

under which certain activities were grouped. The person "holding" the umbrella

was the Director of Space Flight Development in NASA Headquarters (Silverstein), sl The various organizational segments of the Goddard Center were

physically located at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia (the Space

Task Group), and at the Naval Research Laboratory, the Anacostia Naval

Station, and several other places in the Washington, D.C., area. The first

S. Rept. 2350, 86th Cong. The Appropriation Act was Public Law 85-766, Aug.

27, 1958.

_See NASA contract NASh-I(w), Dec. 4, 1958; Glennan's Memorandum of Record,

Nov. 19, 1958.

NASA News Release 59-125, May I, 1959.

""Memorandum from the Administrator. Subject: Functions and Authority--Goddard

Space Flight Center (GSFC), May 1, 1959.

Most manned space-flight activities, principally Project Mercury, were carried out by the

Space Task Group, headed by Robert Gilruth and housed at the Langley Research Center where

it had been informally initiated while a part of NACA. The Space Task Group thus maintained

a unique status in NASA's organizational structure. See forthcoming This New Ocean.

3_ Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.
19 5 9_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 81

permanent building at the new site was not occupied until late 1960. During

these early months, Wallops Station, the former NACA Pilotless Aircraft Research

Station off the coast of Virginia, was considered to be under the Beltsville Center,

as were NASA's activities at Cape Canaveral, Fla. 32

6. Administrative Procedures Established

latmad Rarportb_, The need for a systematic method of program reporting, to be used by NASA's top management in directing the agency's affairs, was

discussed at NASA's April 1959 Staff Conference. _ As a result, a committee

was appointed to "plan the format, content, frequency and distribution of a

program reporting system for NASA." s_ The committee came up with a sample

report in May. Glennan found it useful enough to request its further development and its continuation on a permanent basis25 This was the beginning of the

monthly Administrator's Progress Report, a report which continued in existence

for almost 5 years.

The Administrator's Progress Report was established "to keep the Administrator currently informed on the progress of NASA programs and projects." s6

The report was to "identify and highlight current or potential problem areas . . ."

and include "... an outline of steps proposed or being taken to resolve such

problems." A standard format was to be followed, but clarity and brevity

rather than form were to be emphasized. The report was for internal use only

and since some of the information in it was classified, the entire report was

classified."

The long-run contribution of the report is hard to measure. If longevity

is a function of usefulness, the very fact that it was used for almost 5 years is

significant. A usefulness not explicitly recognized at the time of its establishment

was its use by lower level personnel in keeping abreast of agency affairs.

The Establishment ot a Management Manual. The role of a management manual in an agency's administrative history is difficult to ascertain. In

the case of NASA, the manual alwa_ lagged behind practice_usually true of

"A Directorate of NASA Tests was established for NASA by the Air Force on Nov. I I,

1958. Melvin Cough was the Director. This evolved into what came to be called by told-1959

as the NASA Atlantic Missile Range Operations O_ice (AMP,00). See Jarrett, Francis E.,

and Lindemann, Robhrt A., "Historical Origins of NASA's Launch Operations Center to July I,

1962" (Cocoa Beach, Fla.: KMM-I, April 1964).

=See Draft for Discussion Purposes. Subject: Administrator's Report, Apr. 6, 1959.

**Memo, Glenmm to Silverstein, Crowley, and Siepert. Subject: Program Reporting,

Apr. 7, 1959. Committee members apointed were: Hjornevik, Ulmer, Hodgson, Ames, Rhode,

Hagen, and Fuhrman.

= Memorandum from the Administrator. Subject: Establishment of the Administrator's

Progress Report, May 27, 1959.

aeManagement Manual Issuance No. 6-2-I. Subject: Administrator's Progress Report,

July I, 1959. (See also No. 6-2-2, Subject: Preparation of Administrator's Progress Report,

July 1, 1959. )

= This has limited the report's usefulness for general historical research.
82 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

any new agency--and even after several years many important items were not

included in it. Naturally there are always outdated and outmoded entries in a

manual. Thus the NASA manual has not been nor can it be a complete or

entirely accurate reflection of the agency's actual organization and procedures.

On the other hand, the manual has played an indispensable role in codifying

the major regulations governing NASA's internal operations. Many new or

changed policies and procedures became effective only upon their appearance in

the manual. The entry of an item in the manual usually indicated that the item

had gone through a process of formal review and rewriting, and had been

generally a_eed to as an adequate statement of the particular issue. As NASA

became larger, the manual played an increasingly significant role in promoting

agencywide policy, procedural uniformity, and communications. It also became

useful for training new employees.

One of the items NASA inherited from NACA was its management manual,

including its issuance system. Pending the establishment of a new system geared

specifically to NASA, the NACA issuance system was dropped and an interim

procedure adopted, ss The interim system was used until June I, 1959, when

the system now in use was inaugurated, a9

In view of its importance as a communicative, integrating, and legal device,

a brief description of NASA's management manual is warranted. '° "The NASA

Management Manual is a basic source of reference covering NASA organization,

continuing operating policies, regulations, and procedures. It includes any written materials designed to provide official instructions for approved courses of

action." 41

The manual had an open-ended design so that it could be expanded to

accommodate future issuances in a systematic way. Part I was made up of

"General Management Instructions." These were statements of basic policy,

functions, duties, intra- and inter-organizational relationships, sources and limits

of authority, etc. Part II consisted of more detailed "Administrative Regulations

and Procedures" which described the way individual functions (personnel, procurement, auditing, etc.) were to be carried out. Parts III, IV, etc., consisted

of technical regulations and procedures and other miscellaneous instructions, but

they have not been used to any great extent. Items of a temporary, emergency,

NASA General Notice, "Interim procedure for issuing NASA Management Manual Instructions," Oct. 1, 1958.

mThe interim system, as a wJtem, need not be described here. The issuances themselves

span a very crucial 8 months of NASA's history and are of great historical interest. The interim

"manual" consisted of 17 General Directives, 7 General Notices, and 12 Administrative

Memorandums. A complete set of all 36 items can be found in the Management Manual

Inuance Office of NASA's Headquarters. The current manual issuance system was drafted

during March, April, and May, 1959. AI Hodgson and William Shea headed the effort.

'°The system is more fully described in General Management Instruction-Introduction,

Subject: NASA Issuance System (TS 1, June 1, 1959, TS 15, July 22, 1959), and Administrative

Regulations and Procedures--No. 6-1-1, Subject: NASA Issuance Procedures (same dates).

Management Manual Issuance 6-I-1, June 1, 1959.
1959--INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 83

tentative, or experimental nature, which were to have the force and effect of a

regular manual entry, were issued as NASA Circulars and were keyed to the

appropriate manual section.

Also part of the manual system were handbooks, to be used for training and

detailed guidance purposes, and announcements, to be used to transmit items of

a purely informational nature. Except for announcements, a formal clearance

and approval procedure had to be followed for all issuances. The Office of

Business Administration coordinated this effort and "kept" the manual.

The Monthly Flight Schedule. An early indication of the efforts of the

new Associate Administrator, Richard Homer, to integrate or pull together

NASA's program was the establishment of a monthly flight schedule in August

1959. `2 All contemplated space vehicle launchings for the next 2-year period

were to be listed in a composite schedule which was to form the basis for initial

official approval of the launchings. Subsequent additions and changes would be

approved by top management on the basis of a schedule revised each month. _s

Since space launchings constituted the most tangible "output" of the agency, and

were a chief item of inter'agency and international comparison, and since each one

represented the expenditure of millions of dollars, the flight schedule became a

vital element in top management control.

C. Personnel

During 1959, the number of NASA employees increased from 8,420 to 9,567,

an increase of 14 percent.*" The Beltsville Space Center, renamed the Goddard

Space Flight Center on May 1, 1959, grew from 216 to 1,117. Over half of

this increase came about with the transfer of the Space Task Group (STG) (the

Project Mercury team) from the jurisdiction of Langley to that of Beltsville.

(The unique organizational location of STG makes personnd statistics for 1959

difficult to summarize. ) Headquarters increased 65 percent (up 182 employees).

Goddard, apart from the STG transfer, increased almost 200 percent (up about

400 employees). Langley and STG together increased about 13 percent (up

about 450 employees); Ames and Lewis stayed virtually constant (up 55 employees). The Flight Research Center (FRC) increased 18 percent (up 54

employees) as a result of the consolidation mentioned above and the fact that

FRC figures included the Western Operations Office, which was expanding

rapidly toward the end of 1959.

•s Memo, Homer to Silverstein, Abbott, Siepert. Subject: Program Management, Aug. 3,

1959.

,a The schedule is classified "Confidential." A less detailed version appears in the monthly

edition of "Pocket Statistics," a small, compact NASA publication containing basic information

of use to NASA managers.

44For detailed data on numbers of personnel, see App. C.
84 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Seventy percent of NASA's increase in personnel came during the first half

of 1959, one effect of approaching the end of a fiscal year. The NASA Personnel

Division had this to say about filling positions:

Our Spring recruiting efforts (beginning in January-February) enabled us to

fill all but 75 of our authorized vacancies as of June 30th. However, because of

salary limitations, we are still unable to extract men from industry to staff key positions at the top. or to fill intermediate positions under our present leaders .... As

a result, most of our increases in technical staff, above entrance level, have been from

other government agencies? 5

During 1959 the number of excepted positions increased from 122 to 198,

still well within but much closer to the 260 positions authorized by law. Of

the 198 excepted employees at the end of 1959, only about 6 had come to NASA

from private industry? _ The most important excepted position filled during 1959

was the position of Associate Administrator. On April 23, 1959, President

Eisenhower announced that as of June 1, 1959, Richard Homer, the Assistant

Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development, would be NASA's

Associate Administrator, the agency's highest civil service position? 7

The size of the Headquarters Personnel Division (about 20) changed very

little during 1959 and because of the recruitment and placement workload very

little else could get done. (The Headquarters Personnel Division serviced the

agency as a whole and also acted as a personnel office for NASA Headquarters. )

A preliminary study of an executive development program was initiated during

the last quarter of 1959, but the real push on agency training programs did not

come until 1960. _8 Also during 1959, work was begun on updating the NACAdeveloped Aeronautical Research Scientist (ARS) examination to incorporate

NASA's space mission? 9 The end product would be the new Aerospace Technologist (AST) examination. This will be covered in detail in Chapter 5.

_SNASA,s "Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for Quarter Ending June 30, 1959,"

dated July 20, 1959, p. 3. On Sept. 8, 1959, Admiral Bennett of the Office of Naval Research

expressed the hope that the steady transfer of NRL personnel to NASA could be slowed down.

About 70 transfers from NRL had taken place between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 1959, in addition

to the 200 transferring to NASA during 1958. In a Sept. 9, 1959, memo to Homer, Glennan

requested that NASA discourage further transfers from NRL.

•e Information supplied by NASA's Personnel Division.

d: Homer, born in 1917, received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of

Minnesota in 1940 and a master's degree from Princeton in 1947. His entire career had been

with the Air Force, as an officer until 1949 and then as a civilian. NASA Release No. 59-121,

Apr. 23, 1959.

_NASA's "Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for Quarter Ending December 31,

1959," dated Jan. 29, 1960, p. 2. (Action was prompted by Glennan's great concern in this

area. See his memo to Horner, Aug. 28, 1959.)

•°NASA's "Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for Quarter ending June 30, 1959,"

dated July 20, 1959, pp. 4-5. The updating of the examination was primarily the work of

Allen Gamble of NASA's Personnel Division. He was an old NACA employee who returned

to NASA in November 1958 after 3 years with the National Science Foundation. His 1959

efforts will be recounted in Ch. 5.
1 959_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTEI_'AL DIFFICULTIES 85

D. Finance

As mentioned in Chapter 3, 75 percent of NASA's funding for fiscal year 1959

had been "inherited," either from NACA or DOD. It was also mentioned that

the normal budget cycle for fiscal year 1960 funding could not be followed because

the agency was just coming into existence about the time it would normally

submit fiscal year 1960 figures to the Bureau of the Budget. As a result, NASA's

entire fiscal year 1960 cycle was out of phase with the regular U.S. budget for

the year. Oddly enough, the irregular route which NASA followed arrived at

the finish line 2 weeks ahead of the route followed by the regular budget? ° The

irregular route was a complicated one, and the account which follows has been

highly distilled? I

P_ tot a Fiscd Year 1959 Su_al and Fiscal Year 1960

Regu/ar. During the congressional consideration of NASA's 1959 appropriation (the 25 percent not "inherited"), the $125 million asked for by the President

was reduced to $80 million with the invitation that if more was needed it could

be supplied by means of a supplemental when Congress reconvened in January

19597'

The invitation was accepted and in January the Eisenhower administration

revealed that it would ask Congress for the following: s3

Fiscal year 1959 mpplemental, _ and CoF, $45,000, 000

Fiscal year 1959 supplemental, S&E (pay increase) 3, 354, 000

Fiscal year 1960 regular 485, 30o, 00o

Total package ...... $533, 654, 000

The $485,300,000 request for fiscal year 1960 does not represent a very large

increase over fiscal year 1959. In fact, a good case can be made that almost no

increase was intended. If the fiscal year 1959 supplementals ($48 million) are

combined with the amount transferred to NASA (about $225 million) and

NASA's initial appropriation ($80 million), the total amounts to $353 million.

This was for a 9-month period, or about $39 million per month. On a 12-month

basis, this would amount to about $470 million, which is very little less than the

amount requested for fiscal year 1960. It must be remembered, of course, that

80 percent of NASA's appropriation is "no year" money and fiscal-year labels

"NASA Appropriation Act, Public Law 86-213, Sept. 1, 1959. Regular Appropriation

Act, Public Law 86-255, Sept. 14, 1959.

For a more detailed account, see Ambrose, "The National Space Program, Phase II,"

pp. 130-152. See also Senate Hearings, Supplemental Appropriation Bill [or 1960, pp. 1-19.

"Report of the Senate Appropriatiom Committee, S. Rept. 2350, Aug. 13, 1958, p. 14:

"In tim event additional funds are needed after the first of the year, the Committee will be glad

to consider such request."

"The word "revealed" has been used rather than "requested" because the January budget

estimates presented the request for NASA under the special heading, "for later transmission."

The formal requests were not sent to Congress until the authorization acts had been passed in

accordance with the provlsiom of the Johnson rider discussed in the last chapter, which provided

that NASA appropriations had to be preceded by specific congressional authorization.
86 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

are somewhat meaningless. As it turned out, the foibles of the appropriation

process resulted in actual appropriations increasing 55 percent from fiscal year

1959 to fiscal year 1960. Money actually obligated went from a $30 million

average monthly rate during fiscal year 1959 to a $40 million monthly rate during

fiscal year 1960, an increase of about 35 percent24

Authorization and Aplrrolwriation. Since authorization had to precede

appropriation, the administration, on January 19, 1959, submitted to Congress

a draft authorization bill for its funding package. Congress responded very favorably. In the hope of expediting matters, the 1959 supplemental was separated

,,v,,, _,,,. ,J,av ,_._uia_. xuc uu,xl _c_utt_ were Lwo aumorlzauon laws granting

everything the administration had asked for:

S &E R&D CoF Total

Public Law 86--12, fiscal year 1959 t .... $3, 354, 000 $30, 750, 000 $24, 250, 000 $48, 354, 00G

Public Law 86-45, fiscal year 1960 _.... 94, 430, 000 333, 070, 000 51,800, 000 485, 300, 00C

i Fiscal 1959 supplemental authorization for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apr. 22, 1959.

Fiscal 1960 authorization for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. June 15,

1959.

Subsequent appropriation action was a different story, at least in the House

of Representatives. The requests for appropriations were sent to Congress as

soon as the authorization laws had been enacted. The only change in comparison with the January authorization requests was that the $3,3547000 pay raise

supplemental had taken a separate road and was no longer part of what now

had become two separate funding packages---a $45 million supplemental for

fiscal year 1959 and a $485.3 million regular for fiscal year 1960. ss

Smooth sailing ended abruptly in the House Appropriations Committee

where the 1959 funds were cut 8 percent and 1960 funds 9 percent. On the

House floor a point of order killed the fiscal year 1959 supplemental altogether. 5B

The net result of House action was to cut NASA's original request by 13 percent.

The Senate restored all amounts cut by the House, but in conference the differences were compromised. The final result was as follows:

_' Information of NASA obligations furnished by NASA's Financial Management Division.

u For the fiscal year 1959 supplemental request, see H. Doc. 114, 86th Cong., Apr. 20, 1959.

For the fiscal year 1960 regular request, see H. Doc. 173, 86th Cong., June 16, 1959.

B For a full explanation, see Senate Hearings, Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1960, p. 6.
1959----INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, F_.XTEI_N'AL DIFFICULTIES 87

S & E R& D CoF Total

Public Law 86-213, fmcalyear 19601.. Sgl, 400, 000 $335, 350, 000 $73, 825, 000 $500, 575, 000

s Supplemental_ fro"fiscal 1960. Sept. 1, 1959.

Public Law 86-213 was worded in such a way that even though the money

was all fiscal year 1960 money, $38,500,000 of it was based on a fiscal year 1959

authorization (Public Law 86-12) and $4_2,075,000 on a fiscal yc_r 1960

authorization (Public Law 86-45). The beneficial effect of this was that it left

an excess fiscal year 1960 authorization of $23,225,000 which could be, and later

was, used as the basis for a supplemental appropriation. In January 1960, the

adminiswation requested a supplemental appropriation of $23 million, the money

to be earmarked for Project Mercury. 57 Congres_onal approval came in March

1960:

S &E R &D GoF Total

Public Law 86-425, fiscal year 1960s ................ S12, 200, 000 |10, 800, 000 $23, 000, 0_

, Su_ud AppmprimiouAct. Apr. 14, tOm.

The only other changes in the fiscal year 1960 funding picture were certain

transfers made by NASA within the overall appropriation total. A total of $15

minion was transferred to CoF---S550,000 from S&E and $14,450,000 from

R&D? s Thus the actual new obligatlonal authority (NOA) for NASA for fiscal

year 1960 was:

NASA Fhr.al Year 1960 NOA ........ t - $90, 850, 000 3 $99,625, 000 $523, 575, 000

If supplemental appropriations were requested by the administration purely

to offset earlier cuts, the net effect for fiscal year 1959 and fiscal year 1960,

lumped together, was that Congress ended up appropriating everything asked

for except the equivalent of the $3 million pay increase. If the supplemental

requests were based upon an expanded program not previously contemplated

or contingencies not anticipated, gross cuts could be estimated at a maximum of

$78 minion, or about 11 percent of what was requested. There must have been

H. Doc. 301, 86th Cong., Jan. 18, 1960.

u As revealed in the Budget Estimates for 1962.
88 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

dysfunctionaleffectsresultingfrom allthe dclaysand uncertaintiesinvolvedin

NASA's fundingpicturefor1959 and 1960. R&D work cannotbc turnedon and

offlikea faucet. It must bc planned in advancc,givenadequate Icadtimc,and

funded in such a way thatthcrcisassuranccthatitcan move alongsystematically.

The House cutsprompted Glcnnan tosay:

These cuts,ifsustained,would have disastrousconsequences.... The degreeof

successor failureoftheU.S.spaceeffort,vis-a-visthatof theRussians,willbe gravely

influencedby what Congressdecidesin thiscrucialmatter,s9

Glcnnan indicatedthathc couldnot understandhnw (':on_grc_co,aldt._'to force

money on NASA one ycar,and lessthan a yearlatermake "cripplingreductions"

in an "alreadyleanNASA budget."e0

In additionto the authorizationand appropriationofrnoncy,the laws discussedabovc containedotherprovisionsof administrativeimportanceto NASA.

The requirementthatspecificauthorizationhad to precedeappropriation,originallya l-yearriderto NASA's fiscalyear 1959 appropriation(Public Law

85-766 ),was restatedin generaltermsin NASA's fiscalyear 1960 authorization

(Public Law 86--45). The threefiscalactspassedduring 1959 allcontained

provisionspcrmittingNASA to make transfersamong itsthree appropriation

accounts(S&E, R&D, CoF) as long as S&E was not increasedand aslong as no

accountwas changed more than 5 percent. The flexibilityresultingfrom these

provisionswas greatlyapprcciatcdby NASA and usedquiteoften,el

The Preparation ot the Fiscal Year 1961 Budget. In addition to the enactment of the fiscal year 1960 budget during 1959, the preparation of the fiscal year

1961 budget also took place. Obviously the ad hoc procedures used to pull

together the fiscal year 1960 budget would not have to be used for 1961 because

the agency was now a going concern and a more systematic budget preparation

system could be established. Apparently, however, there was some uncertainty

about what system would be best, because the new procedures were not formally

established until May 1959, which was after the normal cycle would have begun

and after an initial BOB deadline had passed?-"

Senate Hearings, Supplemental Appropriation Bill/or 1960, p. 20.

mIbid., pp. 19, 21. It should be noted that the cuts made by the House stemmed from the

Subcommittee on Independent Offices of the Committee on Appropriations, Albert Thomas,

Chairman. It was this committee that had regularly cut NACA's appropriation request. It

should be further noted that the hearing on NASA's 1960 budget held on Apr. 29, 1959, was

NASA's first appearance before this subcommittee (fiscal year 1959 funding was handled by the

Senate Appropriation Committee, with the House Committee participating only in conference)

and there would be a natural tendency for the committee to want to assert itself.

,1 This topic is covered in much greater detail in later chapters.

Budget preparation procedures were discussed at the Staff Conference held during Apr.

2-5, 1959. On Apr. 27, Hjornevik, the Assistant to the Administrator, submitted a memo to

Glennan outlining a plan for a high-level review of NASA's budget. In a Memorandum from

the Administator, dated May 25, 1959, procedures for preparing NASA's budget were established

on a tentative basis. On the same day Glennan wrote a letter to BOB Director Stans acknowl-
19 5 9_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 89

The new procedures encompassed five basic elements: establishing guidelines,

preparing preliminary estimates, reviewing the preliminary estimates, deciding on

final budget content, and preparing the detailed estimates for submission to BOB. _

The guidelines were to be the product of a seven-member Budget Policy

Committee, composed of the highest officials in the agency. The guidelines

were to be ready by March 1 of each year. During 1959 this step took place

during May.*' On the basis of the guidelines, the major Headquarters offices

(working with the field installations) were to prepare preliminary estimates for

all organizational units under their jurisdiction. A June 1 deadline was established for the preliminary estimates. During 1959 this step was completed by

June 8. Preliminary estimates totaled about $835 million.

The preliminary estimates, after being assembled by NASA's budget office,

were to be analyzed by a Budget Analysis Team. This team, appointed by the

Associate Administrator, was to integrate the various estimates submitted, reconcile them with existing intra- and inter-agency policies, and do whatever other

review was necessary to present top management with a comprehensive report on

all matters requiring decisions. This report was to be completed by July 1. The

team for the fiscal year 1961 budget was composed of the Assistant to the Administrator (Hjomevik), the Director of Program Planning and Evaluation (Stewart),

and one individual from each of the three principal program offices (Hagen, Ames,

and Siepert). Siepcrt, the Director of Business Administration, was team chairman. "5 During 1959 this analysis was completed about mid-July. On the basis

of the preliminary estimates and the Budget Analysis Team's report, top management (Glennan, Dryden, and Homer), by July 15, would make the necessary

decisions as to budget totals and program content. During 1959 this step was

completed by July 31. The approved package totaled $782 million.

On the basis of these top-level decisions, the operating units, under the surveillance of the budget office, were to prepare detailed estimates. The agency's

budget, put together in final form by the budget office, would be submitted to

BOB in time to meet the September 30 deadline. On September 21, 1959,

Glennan gave final approval to the budget and a $783,300,000 agency request

was submitted to BOB on schedule.

edging that NASA procedures for fiscal year 1960 had been wholly inadequate, that the fiscal

year 1961 budget could have treed more staffwork, but that the new procedures should guarantee

good work on the ftscal year 1962 budget.

"The description of the new procedure h based on the tentative draft of a Management

Manual Issuance (No. ,I0-1-2) attached to the May 25, 1959, Memorandum from the

Administrator.

*' For a more detailed account of the preparation of the fiscal year 1961 budget (i.e., events

taking place during 1959), see U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space

Sciences, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961, S. Rept. 1300, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1960), pp. 2-4 (hereafter cited a8 Senate Report, NASA Authorization for Fiscal

Year 1961 ).

See Memorandum from the Administrator, May 25, 1959 (cited in footnote 623.
90 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

NASA's Budget Request Modified as a Result oJ Saturn TransJer. The

decision to transfer the Saturn program from DOD to NASA introduced an element into NASA's fiscal year 1961 funding picture not previously counted on. If

Saturn was to be a NASA project, and if NASA was to establish a new field

installation at Huntsville, Ala., built around a nucleus transferred from the Army

(to have jurisdiction over the Saturn project and other large launch vehicles), the

NASA budget for fiscal year 1961 would have to be substantially increased. The

size of the increase was indicated by DOD's having included $140 million in its

fiscal year 1961 budget for the Saturn program.

For reasons not entirely clear, Glennan offered to run Saturn and NASA's

new Huntsville installation for only $67 rail,lion in addition to NASA's regular

request of $783.3 million (for an overall total of about $850 million). In a letter

to President Eisenhower, Glennan stated that the transfer would permit NASA to

consolidate its launch vehicle program and as a result effect savings in the amount

of approximately $75 million? _ This offer was made on October 20, the day

before the announcement of the transfer was made public and right before the

transfer agreement was presented to Eisenhower for his approval. One can only

speculate whether it was done to make the transfer more palatable to Eisenhower

(or possibly Congress), or if it was done out of the honest belief that such savings

could be achieved.

This was only the beginning of NASA's funding difficulties. BOB, after

careful review, did not allow the $850 million. On December 11, 1959, BOB

approved a total of $802 million for NASA to be inctuded in the administration's

January budget? T This figure included $140 million for the Saturn project and

$35,783,000 for other expenses of NASA's new Huntsville installation, very little

of which had been in the $783 million figure earlier submitted to BOB. Thus

for all of its activity during fiscal year 1961, apart from Saturn and the work of its

Huntsville installation, NASA found itself with only about $626 million being

requested from Congress. This was about $157 million, or 20 percent, less than

the amount originally requested from BOB.

In January 1960, the decision was made to accelerate the Saturn project and a

$113 million budget amendment was submitted to Congress by President Eisenhower, making an overall NASA request of $915 million. The House authorized

the full amount, but the Senate went one step further and made an additional

emergency authorization of $55 million. The House appropriated 4 percent less

than what was asked for, but the Senate appropriated 5 percent more than what

was asked for. The net resuk was an appropriation of exactly what was requested.

A year later an additional $49 million was appropriated as a supplemental, making

an overall appropriation for fiscal year 1961 of $964 million. The details of

these 1960 events are presented in the next chapter.

** Letter, Glennan to President Eisenhower, Oct. 20, 1958.

*7 Senate Report, NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1961, pp. 3-4.
1959_INTE_/AL CONSOLIDATION_ EXTEP.I_TAL DIFFICULTIZS 91

Another aspect of NASA's fiscal year 1961 funding picture was NASA's 10-

year plan unveiled before Congress in early 1960. This also will be covered in

the next chapter.

E. Pmcumm.mt/Con_cling _

There were several noteworthy d_elopments in the procurement and contracting area during 1959. One of them, a controversy with Congress on the

disclosure of information on source selection, is covered in this chapter. Since

procurement activity is basically a buyer-seller relationship between NASA and

external organizations, there has been a deliberate effort on NASA's part to give

procurement activities wide publicity. A great deal of attention has been focused

on the legal aspects of procurement and the related procedural arrangements.

One result of this is a plethora of information that defies condensation here. Perhaps the best picture of developments during 1959 can be obtained by using, as

a framework, the items that appeared in the Federal Register.

On December 12, the Federal Register contained a notice of Glennan's

December 4 establishment of NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board?' In

March, the first of a series of entries on NASA's patent poficy appeared. TM

NASA's patent problem was basically this: In the Space Act there is a lengthy

provision (Sec. 305 ) which requires that inventions (and patents related thereto)

made in the performance of contracts for NASA become the property of the U.S.

Government, unless waived (in which case the Government retains a royalty-free

license for the use of the invention). The waiver of U.S. rights to an invention

was made the responsibility of the NASA Administrator, assisted by the Inventions and Contributions Board. Waivers were to be made only to enhance the

public interest.

This statutory policy was similar to the statutory policy guiding AEC, but

very different from the policy which DOD had been allowed to promulgate

administratively. DOD, the Nation's largest buyer of R&D and the agency with

an industrial clientele similar to NASA's, followed a more liberal policy (from the

contractor's point of view) in which the invention remained the property of the

contractor, with the provision that the Government was to have a royalty-free

license for the use of the invention. In other words, NASA had to invoke the

'* For a more detailed account, see Ambrme, "The National Space Program, Phage II," pp.

90-113.

m 23 F.R. 9646, Dec. 12, 1958. See Ch. 3, Sec. II.B.

1124 F.R. 1644, Mar. 5, 1959; 24 F.R. 3574, May 5, 1959; 24 F.R. 6615, Aug. 14, 1959;

24 F.R. 8788, Oct. 29, 1959. On Jan. 29, 1959, Glennan delegated authority on patent matters

to NASA's General Counsel, John A. Johnson (24 F.R. 1816, Mar. 12, 1959; NASA General

Directive No. 9, Jan. 29, 1959). NASA's patent policy has been very controver_al. It

warrants attention in an administrative history because it has been a substantive factor in

NASA's ability to achieve its objectives. In this regard it could be put into the same category

as the power of the Administrator to make excepted appointments, except that NASA's patent

policy is generally regarded as an inhibiting or detrimental factor rather than a beneficial one.
92 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

waiver procedure to grant the same privileges to a contractor that DOD could

grant outright in the contract itself.

The patent provision enacted in the Space Act was written by the conference

committee and was not discussed in the hearings or floor debates. 7_ It was patterned after AEC on the belief that NASA and AEC, as new scientifically oriented

agencies, had much in common in terms of the problems they would have to face.

In reality, of course, NASA had much more in common with the R&D efforts of

DOD, and NASA fought a perennial battle to get the patent section of the Space

Act amended. Although NASA favored Government-wide uniformity on patent

• . •

......... , ..... L_._t_ as a ]'i_ll']im].]l'_, to bu ¢tUlC tu lUllUW a ]JOllCV, slmalar to DUD."

This would further promote the uniformity of contracting policies between NASA

and DOD, as intended when NASA agreed to follow the Armed Services

Procurement Regulations.

In June 1959, a Board of Contract Appeals was established to handle

contract appeals made to the NASA Administrator. At the same time, a Contract

Appeal Procedure was promulgated. In September, a Contract Adjustment

Board was established to act in those areas where special defense requirements

called for a departure from normal procedure. At the same time, Extraordina D,

Contractual Adjustments procedures were promulgated/s

In July, NASA established a small-business program/' NASA declared

that whenever possible it would promote small-business participation in NASA

procurement. The Director of Procurement was to be responsible for NASA's

small-business program and was to designate a senior staff member as a smallbusiness adviser/" Each field installation was to have a small-business specialist

as well. These specialists were to examine NASA's procurement transactions to

determine suitability for small-business participation.

In August, NASA promulgated a formal procedure for selecting the recipients

of very large NASA contracts/6 The procedure provided that the NASA Administrator was to select all contractors when the intended contract exceeded $1

million. Advising him on this decision were ad hoc source selection boards,

primarily composed of technical specialists. In addition to advising the Administrator, the board would also establish the selection criteria for each contract.

The boards were appointed by the Director of Business Administration for Headquarters contracts, and by the Director of each field center for all contracts under

the jurisdiction of the field center.

,1See Ch. I, Sec. III.

'* See items cited in footnote_ 77 and 78 below.

24 F.R. 5178, June 25, 1959, 24 F.R. 5183, June 25, 1959; 24 F.R. 7638, Sept. 23, 1959;

24 F.R. 7639, Sept. 23, 1959. On June 25, Glennan appointed Paul Dembling, Chairman,

Robert Nunn, and Ray Harris, all from NASA's General Counsel Office. NASA News Release

59-167, June 25, 1959.

" 24 F.R. 6086, July 30, 1959.

T_On May 28, 1959, NASA announced the appointment of Jacob Roey as Small Business

Adviser. NASA News Release 59-153, May 28, 1959.

,6 24 F.R. 6907, Aug. 26, 1959. ( 1960 witnessed several revisions of this procedure: 25 F.R.

403, Jan. 19, 1960; 25 F.R. 2100, Mar. 12, 1960.)
1959----INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION_ EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 93

Starting in August, a subcommittee of the House Astronautics Committee

held hearings on the divergent patent policies of U.S. Government agencies. 7r

These hearings were prompted by NASA's patent policy. John Johnson, NASA's

General Counsel, was the opening witness. The report of the subcommittee

recommended that the Space Act be amended to modify Section 305 to give

NASA greater flexibility on patent matters3 s The report declared that NASA

should have discretionary authority in writing patent provisiom into its contracts

as long as the public interest is served and an unrestricted license for the use

of the invention is secured for the Government. By the end of 1959, only two

waiver requests had been submitted to NASA. 79 Both were eventually granted.

Statistical data on NASA procurement are available in a variety of reports,

monthly, quarterly, and annual. These reports are very sketchy for NASA's first

9 months (fiscal year 1959).8° The outstanding characteristic of NASA procurement during fiscal year 1959 was NASA's heavy reliance on procurements from

other Government agencies. This, of course, is directly related to the fact that

the Army and the Air Force carried out most of NASA's operational space

program during this period.

During the first 9 months (October 1, 1958, through June 30, 1959),

NASA procurements totaled, on an obligations basis, $213 million. Of this

total, 46 percent was procured from other Government agencies, 41 percent from

private business firms, 11 percent from JPL, and 3 percent from all other sources,

primarily universities. Of the 27,000 procurement actions, about 93 percent

were with business firms and 6 percent with other Government agencies. Of

the mount awarded to business firms, 17 percent went to small business. The

ratio of the number of contracts awarded by negotiation to those awarded

through formal advertising was approximately 2 to 1. (For the next reporting

period, fiscal year I960, the ratio was 4_ to 1.)

P. Miscellaneous Organizational and Administrative Matters

McKins_ _ Co.'s ]PL and WCO Studies. In December 1958, McKinsey

& Co., the management consulting firm which had just completed a comprehensive

= U.S. Congre_ Home, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Property Rights in Inventions Made Under Federal Space Research Contracts, Hearings, 86th Cong., Ist sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959).

= U.S. Congress, Home, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Proposed Ret_'ions to the

Patent Section, National Aeronautics and Spat# Act o[ 1958, Committee Print of Subcommittee

Report, 86th Cong., 2d se_. (Washington: GPO, 1960). The report summarized the 8 days

of hearings and made specific recommendatiom along the lines advocated by NASA.

NASA, Third Scmiannal Report . .., p. 133.

m The first in the series of annual reports on NASA procurement activity was issued in

September 1960 and covered the period from Oct. 1, 1958 to June 30, 1960. It was broken

down into two sectiom, one on the entire 21-month period and the other on fiscal year 1960,

the latter 12 months of the 21-month period. For some reason data were not broken out for

the last 9 months of fiscal year 1959. The above figures were arrived at by substracting the

12-month figures from the 21-month figures and making some rough approximations.
94 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

study of NASA Headquarters, proposed a similar study of NASA field installations. 81 Instead of a comprehensive study, NASA contracted for a much more

limited study confined to the relationship between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

and NASA, and the future role of the Western Coordination Office (WCO). s"

These studies were conducted during February and the final report submitted

on March 12, 1959. 83

The ]PL Study: The study of JPL was based on an analysis of actual ArmyJPL relationships, the experience of AEC with its contractor-operated laboratories

(Argonne and Brookhaven), and interviews with JPL personnel. The end

product was a 10-page report which identified t_h_ekey factors bo__o':eto sound

working relationships between a Government agency and a contractor-operated

facility. The report related these factors to the NASA-JPL situation in a general

way, but made no detailed recommendations concerning day-to-day affairs between

the two organizations, s"

It was noted that JPL would have to be given a fair measure of operating

freedom, with NASA keeping to a minimum the "number of individual transactions it will approve." On the other hand, JPL must be furnished with policy

guidelines and these should be mutually arrived at. NASA would have to audit

JPL operations periodically to make sure that JPL was adhering to the mutuallyarrived-at policies.

The report went on to say that NASA must recognize that JPL's performance would be directly related to the competence of its staff and the adequacy

= On Dec. 2, 1958, McKinsey & Co. made its oral report to Glennan on Headquarters

organization. The next day the transfer of JPL to NASA was announced. On Dec. 4, Corson

had lunch with Glennan and the possibility of further McKinsey help was discussed. The

immediate outcome was a Dec. 8 memorandum from Corson to Glennan entitled, "Next Steps

in Organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." Corson suggested

four areas, in order of priority, where further organizational analysis would be desirable:

(1) The relationship between NASA and JPL; (2) the organization of the Beltsville Space

Research Center; (3) the need for field offices (including the role of WCO) ; (4) an organizational audit of the former NACA research laboratories. Put together, the studies in these four

areas would form the nucleus of an overall plan for the organization of NASA's field installations.

One sentence from Corson:s memo is worth noting as an interesting comment on organizational behavior. In connection with area (4) he said, "However, [a organizational audit of the

former NACA laboratories] should not be delayed so long that the present propitious climate

for such a study has been dissipated." Corson, who is an old pro in management problems,

recognized that change is difficult to achieve once organizational rigidity sets in. Glennan used

this argument as the basic rationalization behind a comprehensive study of NASA organization

conducted during 1960, one of the main topics of Ch. 5.

Corson's proposal was reviewed by Silverstein, Crowley, Siepert, Stewart, Hjornevik, and

Hodgson on Dec. 11 and a much less elaborate project was agreed to. Corson submitted a

scaled-down proposal on Dec. 18 which formed the basis for the actual contract--an amendment

(Feb. 3, 1959) to the NASw-1 contract of October 1958. The additional cost was set at

$33,250.

= McKinsey & Co., Inc., "NASA-JPL Relationships and the Role of the Western Coordination Office," March 1959.

*_According to John Young of NASA, then with McKinsey & Co, a series of 10 action

reports on JPL-NASA relationships had been prepared.
1959_INTRgNALCONSOLIDATION,F..XTERNALDIFFICULTI]gS 95

of its research facilities. In addition, there must be present the more intangible

factor of JPL considering itself part of the national space effort. This latter

factor could be promoted by giving JPL major responsibility for conceiving,

planning, conducting, and evaluating specific space projects, with final approval

of a project the responsibility of NASA. The report pointed out that the use

of J'PL personnel in the supervision of contracts not related to J'PL projects must

be kept at a minimum so as not to spread JPL's capability too thinly. The principal point of contact between JPL and NASA should be NASA's Office of Space

Flight Development, headed by Abe Silverstein.

The lack of specificity in this report suggests that interorganizational relationships cannot be easily predetermined. The report favored a middle-of-theroad relationship with dements of both JPL freedom and NASA control. The

optimum mixture of the two was recognized as something that could only be

worked out over time. Later events were to confirm that achieving this optimum

mixture is very cLH_culL

The WCO Study: This study had a different flavor than the JPL study in

that k was very detailed and specific in recommending what should be done. ss

In 1939 NAC_ .established the Western Coordination Office in Los Angeles

where a large number of airplane manufacturing companies was concentrated.

Serving as a liaison office between NAC_ and the aircraft companies and as an

information gatherer for NAC_ Headquarters, the office had only two employees

up to 1957 and only six at the time the McKinsey study was made. The workload, even under NAC._, had greatly increased over the years as new companies

were established and NACA's university program expanded. With the establishment of NASA, a new and very important element was added--conUacts with

area firms. These contracts were some of NASA's largest (e.g., the engine

contract with l_ocketdyne of North American Aviation and most nearly unique

(the contract with Cal Tech to run JPL).

The McKinsey report recommended a large increase in WCO staff and

responsibilities. 's The most important enlargement of responsibilities recommended was in contract administration. The JPL contract and contracts where

military assistance was not available would furnish a large enough workload to

warrant a buildup starting immediately. In support of the contract administration function, the Western Office would have to conduct security checks, audits,

accounting, budgeting, public relations, and certain legal services.

Aside from contract administration, a need was indicated for technical specialists to gather information for project managers and give technical advice to

_Whereu a 1-page list of research objectives gave rise to the 10-page JPL report, a

1-sentence statement of research objectives gave rise to the 30-page WCO study.

_' The alternatives of using NASA's Ames Research Center near San Francisco, or the

High Speed Flight Station 80 miles from Los Angeles, to carry out the functions contemplated

for WCO, were rejected because of the importance of having an office right in the Los Angeles

area, and also the fact that Ames and HSFS both emphasized in-house nnearr.h.

216-8@2 0--06----8
96 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

contracting officials. A team of specialists could give technical support to both

project management and contract administration.

The report recommended that the name of the Western Coordination Office

be changed to Western Operations Office (WOO) to reflect the change in function. A staff of 28 by the end of 1959 and 40 by the end of 1960 was suggested.

The Office should be under the direction of a manager who would report directly

to NASA's Associate Administrator. This was because WOO's functions would

cut across the three major program areas in Headquarters.

The McKinsey Report furnished the blueprint for the expansion of WOO

which was announced in AIIgH_t 1QSQ s7 Rv the t, nrl nf 1QKN ....... 1 .....

bered 50. Concern over the size and function of a field office like WCO was

recognition that there is no complete substitute for day-to-day, face-to-face contacts and the conduct of business at close range.

1959 Activity in the Lile Science Area. ss Sputnik I had prompted NACA

to appoint a Special Committee on Space Technology under the chairmanship of

H. Guyford Stever of MIT. One of the subcommittees of the Special Committee

was the Working Group on Human Factors and Training chaired by Dr. W.

Randolph Lovelace II, of the Lov¢lace Foundation. This working group made

a report to NASA dated October 277 1958, which recommended that NASA:

(1) appoint a Director of Life Sciences Research in NASA Headquarters, (2)

establish a Life Science Committee, and (3) establish a Life Science Research

Center. 89

On October 27, 1958, Glennan established a Special Committee on Life

Sciences as an advisory committee to Project Mercury, the project most directly

related to human factors and therefore to the life sciences. 9° Lovelace was appointed Chairman, but only one other member, Brig. Gen. Don Flickinger

(USAF), was carried over from the Working Group.

The basic problem confronting NASA was that there were numerous fife

science programs arid facilities already in existence, including the very, large School

of Aviation Medicine (SAM) of the Air Force. NASA had to make sure that

it would not duplicate existing programs or facilities. This was a matter of lively

concern in both the White House and Congress. To determine what should be

r, The transformation from WCO to WOO was announced on Aug. 25, 1959. Robert

Kamm, of the Arnold Engineering Development Center, was named Director as of Sept. 1, 1959.

NASA News Release 59-206, Aug. 25, 1959.

s, The life science area has presented NASA with many thorny policy and administrative

problems. These problems are discussed in greater detail in the next chapter in connection

with the January 1960 report of the Bioscience Advisory Committee and subsequent establishment of the Otfice of Life Science Programs in NASA Headquarters.

m "Human Factors and Training." (Part of "Recommendations to the NASA Regarding

a National Civil Space Program," prepared by the Special Committee on Space Technology,

Oct. 28, 1958.)

in NASA, First Semiannual Report, p. 10.
1959--INTERNALCONSOLIDATION_ EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIF..S 97

the exact nature and extent of NASA's life science activity, Glennan established

an ad hoc Bioscience Advisory Committee in July 1959. 9t

The Committee was given the mandate to: (1) acquaint itself with existing

space-related life science programs, both public and private; (2) evaluate the programs; (3) determine the extent to which NASA's needs would be met by existing

programs; (4) make specific recommendations on how NASA could best utilize

the Nation's existing capabilities; (5) make recommendations on whether NASA

should have its own life science program, and if so, how large a program and how

organized.

A September 1959 deadline for the Committee's report was originally contemplated but had to be changed as the Committee's membership was not completed until August. Dr. Seymour S. Kety of the Public Health Service was

appointed Chairman. Dr. Clark T. Randt, who had been appointed to the excepted position of Scientist for Space Medical Research in NASA Headquarters

on April 1, 1959, was named executive secretary. _-_

De.ds/on Ma/d_. In September 1959, Glennan expressed to Assodate

Administrator Homer concern for the general tendency of NASA officials to

procrastinate in making decisions affecting external parties. "a In passing this

thought along to his subordinates, Homer pointed out that the dynamics of space

experimentation did not allow as much margin for slowly made decisions as did

the dynamics of basic research with which so many NASA officials were familiar. '_*

He stated that the timeliness of decisions is often more important than their being

perfect decision and that NASA must "demonstrate agility in the decision-making

process" if it was to establish a reputation as an organization capable of managing

large-scale programs.

III. NASA'S EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

The year 1959 was a formative period in the building of effective working

relationships between NASA and the two external organizations most important

to NASA's long-run well-being--Congress and the Department of Defense.

A. Relations With Congress

NASA's relationships with the 1st session of the 86th Congress, which convened in January 1959, were on balance unhappy ones. The ambivalence of

congressional support in funding a civilian space program for fiscal year 1960

See Glennan's Memorandum for Headquarters Staff. Subject: Bioscience Advi_'y Committee, July 7, 1959.

_: Randt later became Director of the Office of Life Science Programs. This is discussed

in the next chapter.

Memo, Glennan to Homer, Sept. 9, 1959.

_' Memorandum for Director, OBS, OASR, OSFD. Subject: Necessity of Timely Decisions,

Sept. 24, 1959.
98 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

has already been discussed. °_ In addition, there were two controversies of significance, both related to the establishment of the exact balance of power between

Eisenhower/NASA, on one hand, and Congress/GAO, on the other. The outcome was a clearer understanding of one another, something upon which a more

solid relationship could be and eventually was built.

The "Privileged lntormation" Controversy With the Senate Space Committee. Several large-scale hearings on space matters were conducted by various

congressional committees early in 1959. Most of them were devoted to the technical aspects of civilian and military space programs. An exception was the hearings of the Senate Space Committee's Subcommittee on Governmental Organization for Space Activities (under the chairmanship of Senator Symington), which

examined the way the executive branch was organized to conduct the Nation's

space program. "e The objective was to eliminate overlap and duplication between

and within agencies and to point out the need for maximum efficiency in the

organizational structure and in the functioning of rapidly expanding space

activities. "_

Glennan was the lead-off witness. Most of the questions asked him dealt

with the problem of interagency coordination and the way the overall space policy

of the Nation was made. When asked whether there had been any "discussions

of a comprehensive national program in the Space Council," Glennan replied

that the deliberations of the Space Council "must be considered to be confidential

in nature as confidential advice given to the President, and I, therefore, cannot

answer that question." _s The subcommittee members made several attempts to

obtain information about the deliberations of the Space Council, but each time

Glennan pleaded executive privilege. The members argued that if Congress was

to legislate in the space field, it must have a comprehensive picture of the Nation's

entire space program, including the role of the Space Council. Glennan agreed

to discuss with the White House the possibility of setting aside executive privilege

on Space Council matters. .9 However, in a letter 2 weeks later, Glerman informed Symington that he had talked with the President and that the President

had "restated his view that in order to provide for the full effectiveness of the

Space Council members in carrying out their advisory responsibilities to him as

set forth in the National Aeronautics and Space Act, it was necessary that the

activities of the Council be considered confidential to the Chief Executive." 10o

In his testimony, Glennan admitted that he had disclosed the type of information now being sought by the subcommittee on two previous appearances

before congressional committees. TM He had done so because of his desire to be

" See See. II.D of this chapter.

•e Senate Hearings, Investigation of Governmental Organization for Space Activities.

r, Ibid., p. 1.

e*lbid, p. 11-12.

" Ibid., p. 33.

:_ Letter, Glennan to Symington, Apr. 7, 1959.

:°_ On Jan. 30, 1959, Glennan listed some of the topics considered by the Space Council.

U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Missile and Space Activi-
1959,--INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DI_CULTI_.S 99

as frank as possible. He indicated that he would not want to commit this error

again and therefore had to stand very firm. Glennan had to bear the brunt of

the subcommittee's efforts to obtain information about the deliberations of the

Space Council, since the one White House official called to testify, Dr. Killian,

did not appear. The subcommittee was not hostile to Glennan and finally

dropped the matter. In its recommendatiom, the subcommittee urged the administration to make a more determined effort to improve the effectiveness of the

Space Council.

The "Product/on at Documents" ControverJy With the House Astronautics

Comm/tte.e. A similar controversy occurred later in 1959, except that it was related to NASA's internal operations and was much more unpleasant. The episode

touched upon several key dements very pertinent to NASA's administrative

operations, such as the role of the Administrator in awarding large contracts, the

relationship between the person who makes a decision and those who advise him,

and the privileges of the executive branch in administering public law. It also

touched upon the investigative role of Congress and its ann, the General Accounting Office. It epitomized Congress' attempt to assert its role in the oversight

of NASA's new programs.

The episode began in May 1959 when a subcommittee of the House Astrc_

nautics Committee (Representative Sisk, chairman) began a general exploratory

investigation of NASA's procedures for awarding contracts. 1°2 The immediate

object of investigation was NASA's $102 million contract with the Rocketdyne

Division of North American Aviation, Inc., for the devdopment of a 1.5-rnillionpound-thrust single-chamber rocket engine, which had been signed in January

1959. To facilitate the subcommittee's investigation, Representative Brooks,

chairman of the House Astronautics Committee, wrote to Glennan and requested

that certain documents pertaining to the contract be turned over to the committee

for examination, l°s In his reply, Glerman indicated that NASA would comply

with the request except for one documentmthe report of the Source Selection

Board? °' Before examining the reasons for this refusal, it would be well to

recount how the document came into existence. 1°e

t/cs, Joint Hearings with Armed Services Subcommittee, 86th Cong., Ist sess. (Washington:

GPO, 1959), p. 159. On Mar. 13, 1959, he related that the President had given NASA certain

duties in formulating a national space program. U.S. Congre_ Home, Committee on Governmerit Operations, Military Operations Subcommittee, Orfanization and Maxaf_mmt o[ Missil,

Programs, Hearings, 86th Cong., 1st seas. (Washington: GPO, 1959), p. 540 (hereafter cited

as House Hearings, Orfm_.ation and Management o[ Missile Programs).

m The basic public document pertaining to this episode is Home Hearings, Th# Production

of Docuntcnts . .., previomdy cited. The hearings were conducted on Jan. 27 and 28, 1960.

The Addenda to the printed hearings contain reprints of all pertinent 1959 documents. All

footnote references to p. 79 and above pertain to the Addenda rather than the public hearings,

per se.

_mLetter, Brooks to Glennan, May 28, 1959 (p. 81 of Addenda).

1,, Letter, Glerman to Brooks, June 15, 1959 (pp. 82-83 of Addenda).

leSSee "NASA Statement of Reasons for Selection of Rocketdyne Proposal" (pp. 106-108

of Addenda).
100 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The Rocketdyne contract was one of NASA's earliest and largest; it was

awarded before formal source-selection procedures were promulgated. Normal

procurement procedures were followed. Events began on October 21, 1958,

when a Preliminary Bidders' Conference was held in NASA Headquarters at

which NASA outlined its large-engine requirement to seven invited firms. No

written record was made of the proceedings at this conference. On October 23,

proposals were solicited from all seven firms and a November 25 deadline was

set for their submission to NASA. Six proposals were received and each one

was evaluated by two teams--a technical assessment team and a management

assessment team. The findings and conclusions of these two teams were presented

orally to a five-member source-selection board on December 9, i0, and i i. The

board reviewed the work of the two teams, evaluated the entire matter, and on

December 12 recommended to Glennan, in writing, that the Rocketdyne proposal be selected as the basis for further negotiations. The culmination was a

January 19, 1959, contract. The written record, up to this point, consisted of

the request for proposal (specifications HS-10), the six proposals, the report of

the Source Selection Board, and the contract.

In his letter to Brooks, Glennan agreed to turn over all documents except

the report of the board. Of this, he said :

This document contains the personal evaluations and recommendations of certain officials of NASA whom i consulted to aid me in reaching my decision on the

selection of a prospective contractor. Since this document discloses the personal

judgments of subordinates made in the course of preparing recommendations to me,

I am sure you will agree with me that it would not serve the interests of efficient and

effective administration of this agency for such a document to be l:eviewed by anyone outside of NASA? °_

This reply prompted Brooks to solicit the aid of GAO in conducting the

investigation. In July, GAO informed Brooks that the investigation was underway and that a report would be forthcoming in early August. In August, GAO

wrote to NASA and claimed that their investigation could not be successfully

completed until the refused document was made available for examination.

Glennan replied that the same conditions applied to GAO as to a congressional

committee and that "the privilege of the executive to withhold documents in

cases such as this has a constitutional rather than a statutory basis." _0, Thus

the requirements of the various laws under which GAO worked would not apply

to this particular situation.

On October 16, 1959, the GAO submitted its report to the House Astronautics

Committee claiming that because of incomplete NASA files, it "could not ascertain

whether the selection of the contractor was in any way related to the evaluations

lu Letter, Glennan to Brooks, June 15, 1959, op. cir.

10_Letter, Glennan to Campbell, Aug. 28, 1959 (pp. 85-86 of Addenda).
1959_INTE_AL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 101

performed by the technical and administrative personnel and consequently _GAO

can] express no opinion on the adequacy of the procedures followed .... ,, _0s

GAO expressed concern that NASA's refusal had occurred in connection with

the first contract it (GAO) had attempted to review. The report went on to say:

We do not contend that the withholding of the report . . . was made for the

purpose of concealing wrong doing .... We do contend, however, that, when an

agency, through its contracting officers, has broad discretion in selecting contractors

and negotiating prices, it has the attendant responsibility of making available for

audi_ all of the documents that evidence good procedure and sound decision. 1_

The only procedure that GAO could evaluate was the one NASA used in "evaluating the cost substantiation submitted by R0cketdyne prior to the negotiation of

the contract .... ,, m GAO found this to be satisfactory.

The GAO-NASA controversy was given a public airing in January 1960

when the House Astronautics Committee conducted hearings at which both GAO

and NASA presented their cases. By now, several other documents had been

withheld from GAO and the committee. In a case involving the January 1959

selection of the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. to build Mercury. spacecraft, NASA

withheld three documents--the written report of the Source Selection Board and

the written reports of the two assessment teams (assements were written in this

case; they had been presented orally in the Rocketdyne case).

At the public hearing, GAO maintained that unlem it was given full access

to all pertinent materials, its function of auditing would be hamstrung and there

would be no effective way of assuring that the public interest would be protected.

Glennan maintained that all pertinent data had been turned over to GAO; if

they had not, he would be glad to dig them out. He declared that the documents

in question were not factual and would not supply additional data to the auditor.

In the interest of administrative effectiveness, he had to keep the adviser-advisee

relatiomhip inviolate. President Eisenhower backed him up as a matter of

Executive privilege, he said, so he would not turn the documents over to GAO

or the committee.

Glennan was subjected to a barrage of questions, many of which were

designed to force him to change his position. It was recalled how NACA had

been all but made part of the House Committee when the Space Act was being

enacted, and that at the time NACA and the committee were completely open

with one another. 1_1 It was also pointed out that the House Astronautics

Committee had been very loyal in its support of NASA's program, but that this

1,, "Review of Procedures Followed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

in Awarding Contract NASw-16 to North American .Aviation, Inc.," Oct. 16, 1958 (pp. 91-105

of Addenda).

2,JIbid., p. 103.

l_eIbid., p. 105.

_ House Hearings, The Production of Documents . .., p. 39.
|02 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

relationship could change very rapidly; Glennan should think twice before

alienating the committee from which so much of NASA's support must come. :12

The administrative headaches coming from a hostile Congress would far exceed

those that might result from Glennan's cooperation on the documents in question.

About the only note of compromise came at the end of the hearing when

Glennan was admonished to "examine his conscience" once again and telephone

"Joe" [Comptroller General Joseph Campbell] to see if they could not come to

an understanding. "3 Presumably the committee would be satisfied if GAO was.

Neither side addressed itself to the problem of defining the basic issue--full

UL'_(JlU_UIC UI _LLt _e i]_11[ IIIIUIIIIdUUII. ._ClLIIC;L U.-'-Ikl,.) IIUL UI[; t.Ull/l/lll.t,_,_ ,_..Aauurated on why the documents in question were essential ingredients for a successful

audit. Nor did Glennan expand on his basic reason why they were not essential.

This is one reason why the committee accused him of evasiveness.

The committee yielded to the temptation always existing in Congress--that

Executive privilege should be attacked at every conceivable point no matter what

the merits of the individual case might be. This position prompted the majority

of the committee members to carry the matter far beyond the point where further

argument was serving a useful purpose. When certain members found that

persuasion was not working, they turned to emotion and coercion.

Fortunately the skirmish did not leave deep scars. The committee claimed

ultimate victory by declaring that NASA complied with a subsequent request "by

furnishing, voluntarily, documents similar to those previously refused the committee." 1" A little over a month later, the House Astronautics Committee

reported out NASA's fiscal year 1961 authorization bill without cutting the

administration request. So at least the committee did not demonstrate hostility

by its actions.

B. Relations With the Department of Defense

One of the topics discussed at NASA's April 1959 biannual Staff Conference

at Williamsburg, Va., was NASA's relationships with DOD. This, coupled with

the hearings being conducted by the Symington subcommittee in the Senate and

the Holifield subcommittee in the House, prompted Glennan and Dryden of

NASA and Secretary of Defense McElroy and Deputy Secretary of Defense

Quarles of DOD to meet together on April 15, 1959. _:_ At this meeting, Glennan

pointed out that almost all NASA-DOD relations fall into one of five channels--

the Space Council, the Civilian-Military Liaison Committee (CMLC), the headm Ibid., p. 66.

m Ibid., p. 73.

"* U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Report on the Activities

of the Committee on Science and Astronautics, H. Rept. 2215, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (WIshington:

GPO, 1960), pp. 6-7.

,r. "Memorandum to record the results of the conversation between Messrs. McElroy, Dryden

and Glennan, who were joined later at lunch by Dr. Quarles," Apr. 15, 1959.
1959--INTERNALCONSOLIDATIONsEXTERNALDIIFFICULTIES 103

of-agency level (McElroy/Quaxles-Glennan/Dryden), the top-operatiom level

(Homer-ARPA Director Roy Johnson), and the group and committee working

level. Glennan stated that the Space Council level had to be reserved for only

the most important items, that the CMLC was not working too well, and that

the head-of-agency level presented the problem that aerospace matters were only

one small concern of DOD whereas they were the entire concern of NASA.

Dryden noted that the relationships which were working reasonably well were

at the operating level involving programs currently underway and that the chief

areas of difficulty were in policy and future planning. Glennan and Dryden

thought more frequent contacts between top operating people (regular luncheon

meetings, etc.) would solve certain policy and planning problems and earmark

others for decision at a higher level. McElroy countered with the suggestion

that the CMLC could be made more effective and that he would be willing to

release its Chairman, William Holaday, to serve full time on the CMLC. It was

agreed that this course of action should be taken.

NASA-DOD relations were a favorite topic of congressional concern during

1959, cropping up in just about every hearing involving space and missile matters.

Congress was concerned whether the provisiom of the Space Act for militarycivilian coordination were working out as planned. The extensive revamping

of the Space Act proposed by the administration in January 1960 indicated that

they were not.

NASA-DOD relationships, .looked at from an administrative point of

view, can be divided into two categories: coordination machinery and specific

agreemenm

NASA-DOD Coordltm6on Macldm,_. The Space Act provided for the

establishment of a Civilian-Military Liaison Committee (CMLC) composed of

NASA and DOD representatives and to serve as an intermediary through which

NASA and DOD "shall advise and consult with each other .... ,, m

Congressional hearings in 1959 revealed that NASA and DOD were making

little use of the CMLC. Its Chairman, William Holaday, suggested that the

CMLC was "nothing more than a post office." 117 Probably as a result of congressional criticism, a new charter was drawn up which increased the authority of

the Committee, empowering it to initiate certain types of action on its own rather

than merely respond to the requests of either agency. 11" A further attempt to

strengthen the CMLC was made by freeing its Chairman from all other DOD

duties to devote full time to the work of the Committee. Neither the revised

m Sec. 204.

m Senate Hearings, Investigation of Governmental Organization/or Space Activities, p. 504.

New York Times, June 30, 1959, p. 3.

_,s Reprinted in U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences,

Governmzntal Organization /or Space Activities, S. Rept. 806, 86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1959), pp. 56--58 (hereafter cited as Senate Report, Governmental Organization/or

Space Activities).
104 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

charter nor a full-time chairman helped matters appreciably. During 1960,

Holadav resigned and the Committee fell into disuse. A replacement organization, the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board, was established, m

1959 NASA-DOD Agreements. The use of a formal written agreement

between two agencies is a common device for establishing new legal relationships,

clarifying jurisdictional problems, arriving at a common understanding on some

matter, or providing for the performance of certain acts. During 1958, NASA

and DOD had entered into agreements on such matters as the transfer of projects,

the transfer of facilities, and DOD support for Project Mercury/. During 1959,

the most important a_eements concerned the transfer from DOD to NASA of

Project Saturn and the Army installation associated with it. This is discussed

later in great detail. The January. 1959 agreements on launch vehicles and

tracking have already been mentioned. The following are examples of some

of the other agreements reached during 1959: In January, NASA and the Navy

entered into an agreement wherebv the Chincoteague Naval Air Station, located

in close proximity to NASA's Wallops Island launching facilities, would be transferred to NASA when deactivated by the Navy on July 1, 1959.12° In April,

President Eisenhower gave his approval to an agreement between NASA and

the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force, providing for the detailing of military, personnel to NASA in accordance with Section 203 (b) (12) of the

Space Act. The agreement was designed to facilitate the detailing of military

personnel to NASA and designated the Civilian-Military Liaison Committee as

the agent to coordinate the activity. 121 In June, NASA and DOD agreed on a

joint Industrial Security Program whereby DOD would, in effect, perform all

securitv services in connection with NASA's contracts with industry.? _ In

August, the Air Force and NASA entered into an a_eement whereby the Air

Force would assist NASA in the administration of NASA contracts, the placement of NASA contracts, and, in some cases, technical assistance in the monitoring

of contractor efforts? 2_ This agreement was especially significant because so

manv of NASA's contractors were also Air Force contractors. In November, an

agreement between NASA and DOD was signed which clarified the manner in

2asThis development is discussed in the next chapter.

no NASA News Release, Jan. 24, 1959.

m "Agreement Between the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force and the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration concerning the Detailing of Military Personnel

for Services with NASA." Approved by the President on Apr. 13, 1959. Attachment A of

NASA General Management Instruction No. 2-3-3, Sept. 1, 1959.

mNASA Announcement No. 2. Subject: Joint DOD-NASA Industrial Security Program;

June 8, 1959.

"Agreement Between the Department of the Air Force and the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration Concerning Air Force Assistance to NASA . . 2' signed by Douglas

and Glennan in October but effective Aug. 15, 1959. Attachment A of NASA General

Management Instruction No. 2-3--4, Nov. 16, 1959.
1959_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 105

which the two agencies would reimburse one another for costs incurred in

exchanging goods and services. 1_"

The subject matter of these agreements is a good indication that the day-today working contacts between NASA and DOD were numerous and comprehemive. In most cases it was DOD that was rendering services to NASA. As

NASA grew in size and devdoped programs of its own, there was a tendency on

NASA's part to want to build in-house capabilities so that less reliance would have

to be placed on DOD.

IV. POLICY PROBLEMS

One of the most fundamental variables in the determination of an organization's administrative behavior is the basic policy which states the organization's

purpose and objectives. This basic policy should serve as a guide to the organization's program and, in the case of public agencies, a legal framework within which

the agency operateg As a guide and as a framewoi, k, the policy, has to be somewhat detailed. Yet to avoid straitjacketing the agency, the policy cannot be too

detailed. Policy can, and probably should, change over time.

The basic policy underlying the Nation's space program and NASA's role

in it is found primarily in the Space Act of 1958 This policy was both too general

and too detailed. It was too general to serve as a guideline for NASA's program,

yet too detailed in establishing the framework for implementing NASA's program,

at least in the area of DOD-NASA coordination. This latter problem was

touched upon earlier in this chapter. The former problem was one with which the

agency wrestled throughout most of 1959.

Not only was NASA concerned about defining its own role in the Nation's

space program but there is evidence that NASA had been given a special role in

formulating thc space program of the Nation as a wholc. In a prepared statement

read at a March hearing of a House subcommittee, Glcnnan said:

A most important duty placed on the President by the Space Act is to develop

a comprehensive progrmn of aeronautical and space activities to be conducted by

agencies of the United States.

Preparation of such a progrmn for ultimate approval by the President has beea"

delegated by him to NASA with the assistance and cooperation of the Department

of Defense.

Very substantial progress has been made in developing national space programs---the national booster program--the national tracking and commtmicatiom

program--the national space sciences programs. 12s

=' "Agreement Between the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and

Space Administratiofi Concerning Principles Governing Reimbursement of Costs," Nov. 12,

1959. Attachment A of General Management Instruction No. 2-3-5, Nov. 17, 1959.

m House Hearings, Organization and Management o[ Missile Programs. Glennan testified

on Friday, Mar. 13, 1959.
106 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Eleven days later, Glennan retracted the statement that the President had "delegated" to him the responsibility for preparing the national space program. Rather,

NASA had been asked to "initiate and bring together, with the assistance of the

Department of Defense, a total program, which would then be submitted to the

President." _26

Even though the President's request can be interpreted in various ways; it

seems clear that NASA, and especially Glennan, felt a very real responsibility for

making sure that its program dovetailed with the broader national, program.

Whether it was given special responsibilities or not, NASA had to concern itself

...:._. ,k. _T._:__, ....... ,, ............ • " " Thi_ meai]t ................. _ ,,,,.,,,,, _va_ p,v_,a,, if it was to opum_e it_ own.

that NASA was concerned with both the division of the overall space program

between NASA and other agencies and the magnitude and direction of the civilian

space program for which it was responsible.

A good statement of this problem was a "think" paper which Glennan wrote

during the early summer of 1959. '_' Glennan pointed out that 18 months of

experience since Sputnik I had revealed that space projects were much more

expensive than had been earlier predicted and that the technical difficulties were

greater than had been anticipated. This meant that both budget levels and time

schedules would have to be changed. Even then, there would remain the difficult

job of choosing among alternative courses of action. Glennan estimated that an

annual NASA budget of $1 billion could be utilized quite easily. He felt that

there was a need to develop a "rationale that will support such a level" of expenditure-one that could serve as the basis for both administration and congressional

support, ass Glennan found that achieving the objectives set forth in his "Rate

and Scale" paper was very difficult. The "rationale" he desired was never

developed. The attempt to develop it, however, did help clarify matters somewhat.

The first attack on the problem was an attempt to establish a general advisory

committee to assist the NASA Administrator in developing a well-balanced

civilian program in determining the rate at which it should be implemented, and in

establishing the rationale undergirding it. '_s The attempt proved abortive? s°

As a result, a less formal approach was attempted in which a panel of thoughtful

Senate Hearings, Investigation of Governmental Organization for Space Avtivities, p. 82.

u_ "Memorandum on Need for Study to Develop Supportable Position on Rate and Scale

in Space Research," June 19, 1959.

US Glennan and NASA were caught in the middle of several cross-currents. President

Eisenhower, and especially BOB Director Stans, favored a fiscal policy which stressed balanced

budgets. Eisenhower emphasized the scientific aspects of the space program, whereas NASA

felt great pressure to achieve propaganda successes as well. Congress stressed the need to

catch up with the Russians, but also had a tendency to support military programs more generously

than civilian programs.

2ffisNASA hired the RAND Corp. to address itself to this basic problem and come up with a

course of action. A plan for an advisory committee was formulated and presented to Glennan

in a report dated Aug. 7, 1959, entitled "Operational Plan for NASA Advisory Committee."

_ In a Sept. 2, 1959, letter to Rettaliata, a member of the Space Council, Glennan indicated that the RAND effort fell short of expectations and that he [Glennan] was having great

difficulty in getting an advisory committee going on his own.
19 5 9--INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION_ EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIRS 107

individualswas broughttogetherto discussparticularproblems,m Conferences

were held inOctober and December.x_' The consensusof theOctober meeting

was thattheRussianspacechallengewas themost importantfactorshapingU.S.

space policy. Neverthdess it was absolutely essential that the American public

realize that space superiority should not be confused with military superiority and

that the U.S. space program should not be construed as the leading edge in the

cold war. NASA must be free to move ahead on a vigorous course of action

without having to worry about its every move being thought of in national

security terms. The President should take the lead in making sure that this was

clearly understood. NASA's program must be a systematic one, making maximum use of existing small vehicles at present, developing larger ones as rapidly

as possible, and concentrating on measurement by instrument until high reliability

would permit achievement of the ultimate goal--manned flight, m

Plans for the October meeting were made before there was any inkling that

the Saturn project would be transferred to NASA. The meeting itself, however,

was held after the transfer decision had been made public. This probably dulled

the meeting's impact and made the December meeting even more anticlimactic.

The net results of Glennan's efforts to clarify basic policy were not very substantiaL The chief benefit was the attainment of a better understanding of policy

problems, which, when coupled with the Saturn transfer, created a positive and

self-assured attitude on NASA's part as it entered 19603 s"

V. 1959 TRANSFERS AND RELATED HEADQUARTERS REORGANIZATION

" The transfer to NASA of the Saturn project and the Army instaUation associated with it was the most significant event in NASA's history between its establishment in October 1958 and the Kennedy announcement of May 1961 to greatly

accelerate NASA's space program.

In October 1958, NASA asked for, but failed to receive, a portion of the

Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA),

m Glennan invited Crawford Greenwah, the president of Du Pont, to chair the panels.

Letter, Glennan to Greenwah, Aug. 14, 1959.

raThe October meeting was held on the 22d and 23d and participants were: Crawford

Greenwalt, Chairman, Frank Stanton, Paul Nitre, James Perkins, Walt Rostow, Merv/n Kelly,

Edward Purcell, Lee DuBridge, Raymond Saulnier, and George Khtiakowsky. The December

meeting_ held on the 10th, included the same people except for Sau[nier and the addition of

Daniel Hickson and C,en. Robert E. Cushman, Jr.

m "Summary of Discussion at Conference on National Space Program held October 22, 23,

1959/' Nov. 2, 1959.

i._ This is evidenced in Glennan's six-page Nov. 16, 1959, letter to President Eisenhower

in which he outlined in a positive manner several recommendations on how the Space Act

should be amended and how President Eisenhower could take the offensive both in clarifying

the muddy policy picture and in enunciating a civilian space program that would command the

support of Congress and the public.
108 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958_1963

Huntsville, Ala. 135 In October 1959, NASA acquired, with the blessings of the

Department of Defense, the entire Division. The story of this change in circumstances is complex. Even more complex, however, were the consequences.

A. Changing Circumstances---October 1958 to October 1959

The 1958 decision to leave ABMA intact was not accepted by NASA as

final. 180 Nevertheless the December 1958 NASA-Army agreement of cooperation

worked out reasonably well and as late as September 7, 1959, Glennan was able

to indicate satisfaction with the arrangement. 13'

During the summer of 1959, the Department of Defense, prodded by congressional criticism, reexamined the organization of its space activities. On September 23, 1959, the main outline of a DOD reorganization was revealed. ARPA

was to be downgraded by stripping it of most of its projects and distributing them

to theindividual services? s8

The trasfer of the Saturn super booster project from the" Army to the Air

Force was also contemplated; this is the crux of the subsequent developments

affecting NASA. The Saturn booster, which generated 11⁄2 million pounds of

thrust by clustering eight engines, was the pride and joy of the yon Braun team

at ABMA. The Redstone and Jupiter missiles had become achievements of the

past; except for the smaller Pershing missile, the future of ABMA was tied to

Saturn. The Army, within its assigned military mission, had no use for this

super booster. If any military service could use it, it would be the Air Force. But

even the Air Force had no immediate military application in mind for it and there

was fear that the Air Force would not give it the priority which its partisans felt

nece_ary. 'as

NASA's program, on the other hand, would eventually require large

boosters? '° Since NASA's own super booster concept, the Nova launch vehicle,

was still very far in the future, NASA would be the logical recipient of the project,

if it had to be moved. This would be the best way to match requirements with

raThe October 1958 controversy was descn'bed in Ch. 3, Sec. II.A.

This is most clearly stated by G|ennan in House Hearings, Organization and Management

o[ Missile Programs, p. 556.

*- Letter, Glennan to Medaris, Sept. 8, 1959.

*'New York Times, Sept. 24, 1959, pp. 1, 1O.

Hanson Baldwin, New York Times, Oct. 13, 1959, pp. 1, 12. The development of Saturn

was authorized by ARPA in August 1958. The program led a somewhat precarious life throughout much of 1959 as DOD was uncertain about the proper level of support. The name "Saturn"

dates from February 1959.

t,Q In the January 1959 National Space Vehicle Program, NASA listed these uses for

Saturn: launching manned laboratory around the earth, ferry vehicle to supply space station,

launching synchronous communications satellite, send mobile robot explorers to the moon,

make soft landings on Venus and Mars. Russia's suceessffil Lunik series demonstrated NASA's

need for a powerful launch vehicle. In January 1959 Lunik I was launched toward the moon

and became the world's first successful deep space probe. Lunik II impacted on the moon on

Sept. 13. On Oct. 4 Lunik IIl was launched. It took pictures of the far side of the moon.

I I
1959----INTE_TAL CONSOLIDATION_ EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 109

capabilities. And if the alternatives were those of either transferring the Saturn

project to the Air Force or to NASA, or leaving it with the Army, the most neutral

move from the point of view of interservice rivalry would be to transfer it to

NASA. m

EL The Decision To Transfer to NASA

• Secretary, of Defense McElroy initially approached Glennan only about

NASA's interest in acquiring ABMA's Development Operations Division.

NASA's response was that it was still interested?" A little later, at McElroy's

and Glennan's direction, a paper was prepared examining the whole problem of

large space boosters such as Saturn. m On October 7, 1959, a high-level meeting

was held at the White House to discuss the entire ABMA and Saturn situation?*'

By October 20, an agreement was worked out whereby NASA fell heir to both

ABMA's Development Operations Division and the Saturn project as well. On

the 21st the plan was presented to President Eisenhower. He approved it and it

was announced to the public. 1_5

Virtually everyone, even the Army to some extent, was relieved that the

decision had been made. The October 21 announcement pointed out that the

transfer was to be accomplished according to the provisions of the Space Act. This

meant the de jure transfer could not take place until a formal transfer plan had

been before Congress for 60 days. Since Congress would not be in .session until

January, 1960, the earliest the legal transfer could take place would be March

1960. The actual timetable turned out to be as follows:

Oct. 21, 1959 ....... Decision made to transfer

Jan. 14, 1960 ....... Transfer plan submitted to Congress

March 15, 1960 ..... Transfer plan takes effect

July 1, 1960 ..... Mass transfer of personnel takes place and transfer regarded

as consummated

la See the testimony of General Medarls on Feb. 18, 1960, Senate Hearings, Transfer o/

Von Braun Team to NASA, pp. 38-39.

za Glennan testimony,/b/d., p. 17.

ua "National Space Vehicle Program," prepared by William Holaday, Chairman of the

CMLC, dated Sept. 30, 1959.

la Glennan memo to Dryden et aL, Oct, 7, 1959.

m New York Times, Oct. 21, 1959, p. 1; Oct. 22, 1959, pp. 1, 10. The Oct. 21 decision

came earlier than originally scheduled and no document was in final form for President Eisenhower's approval The polished document was not ready until Oct. 30, but it was given an

Oct. 21 date. Eisenhower's approval of this document did not come until Nov. 2. The

document was a memorandum for the President from Gates of DOD and Glennan of NASA.

Subject: Responsibility and organization for certain space activities, Oct. 21, 1959. (Reprinted

in Senate Hearings, Transfer of Von Braun Team to NASA.)
II0 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

C. Transfer Gets Underway Immediately

The transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division from the Army

to NASA involved a highly complex series of actions. Great)efforts were made to

make it as smooth as possible and not delay the Nation's space effort one iota.

The elements involved were these: (1) Determining precisely what was to

be detached from the Army: This involved a NASA-DOD agreement on policy

and a NASA-Army agreement on details. (2) Preparing the host to receive the

new group: This involved NASA's efforts to change its own organization and

procedures to accommodate this new addition. A NASA Headquarters reorganization was one aspect of this. (3) Planning the details of the transfer: This involved a detailed NASA-Army agreement. (4) Making the transfer: This

involved detaching and reattaching certain supporting pipelines. (5) Repairing

the gap: This was an Army problem but one in which NASA wo_ld have to

cooperate. (6) Followup efforts to accomplish total integration and iron out difficulties--an activity extending over several years.

Side by side with these primarily administrative matters were two policy

matters concerning the Saturn program: ( 1 ) Determining the precise disposition

of the Saturn program during the 6- to 9-month transfer period: This involved

NASA-DOD agreements on policy and procedures. (2) The future of the

Saturn program in general, its objectives, its level of support, etc. : This involved

a decision at the White House-BOB level.

Most of the material which follows pertains to the administrative details

involved in the transfer of the installation. Saturn program developments are

summarized in a later subsection.

Basic NASA-DOD and NASA-Army Agreements. The October 21, 1959,

NASA-DOD agreement, to which President Eisenhower gave his approval, included the following provisions: 1. (1) NASA should have responsibility for the

Nation's super booster program; (2) the Nation's most advanced super booster,

Project Saturn, should be NASA's responsibility; (3) the organizational unit most

closely related to Project Saturn, ABMA's Development Operations Division,

should be transferred to NASA, together with all Saturn money; (4) NASA should

utilize the Development Operations Division as fully as possible with as few

disruptions as possible, and the new NASA installation built around it should

be the organizational core of NASA's super booster program; (5) NASA need

not reimburse the Army for the tangible assets transferred; (6) the Army's

Redstone Arsenal would support NASA's new installation on a reimbursable

basis; (7 ) NASA would be responsive to DOD's requirements in the super booster

field; (8) NASA would cooperate in the orderly phasing out and/or transfer of

the military activities now being carried out by the Development Operations

Division; (9) further details should be worked out by NASA-DOD (Army)

negotiations.

m Ibid.
195 9_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION_ _X'IT_.RNAL DIFFICULTIES 1 1 1

On October 21, the same day the agreement was announced, Glennan

appointed Albert Siepert, NASA's Director of Business Administration, to be

NASA's principal negotiator, an indication of the administrative nature of the

task. Major General Schomburg, the Army Deputy Chief of Ordnance, was

principal negotiator ft)r the Army. A November 16 supplemental agreement between the Army and NASA provided for the preparation of a detailed tran_er

plan by the principal negotiators and their subordinate negotiation teams. I"T This

plan was to be ready for submission to the President by December 15 and was to

serve as the basis for the President's request to Congress and as a detailed guide

for implementing activities.

The Detailed Trander Pbm. The 41-page transfer plan was completed on

schedule and given a December 11, 1959, date? "8 Its main provisions were as

follows:

I. Timing. The transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division,

and its personnel, was to take place on July 1, the start of the new fiscal

year. The 3ya-month period between the date when the transfer would

be authorized (estimated at mid-March 1960) and July 1 would be

utilized by NASA to build its new Huntsville organization and transfer

certainsupport personnd to it.

2. Funding. Funding for fiscal year 1960 would not be altered, except

that R&D funds/or Saturn project contracts would be transferred to

NASA as of the date the transfe, was legally authorized.

3. Personnel. All 4,000 Devdopment Operatiom Division personnel would

be transferred to NASA, except for a maximum of 350 which the Army

could recruit for its weapon p_ Up to 815 personnel not part of

the Development Operatiom Division could be transferred to NASA from

other units of the Army's Redstone Arsenal.

4. Services. NASA would perform financial, personnel, procurement, office,

security, and maintenance service_ The Arsenal would provide, on a

reimbursable bails, such station wide services as utilities, road maintenance,

railroad service, and fire protection.

5. Land and Buildings. NASA would be granted a long-term use permit

on specified land and buildings, and other fadlities, both at the Arsenal

and at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Certain facilities would be shared for an

intc hn p od.

6. Equipment and inventories would be transferred on a nonreimbursable

basis.

The Nov. 16, 1959, agreement, signed by Glennan and Brucker of the Army, h entitled,

"Agreement Between the Department of the Army and NASA on the Objectives and Guidelines

for the Implementation of the Presidential Decision To Transfer a Portion of ABMA to NASA."

(Reprinted in Senate Hearing, Transfer of Von Braun Team to NASA. )

mArmy-NASA Transfer Plan, Dec. 11, 1959. The plan was approved and signed by

Glennaa, Brucker, and James Douglas, Acting Secretary of Defense.

215-892 0--66-------9
112 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The December 11 plan earmarked certain lands, facilities, equipment, and inventories for transfer. Other items not yet agreed upon would be subject to further

negotiation.

In effect, the December 11 plan provided for the transfer, virtually intact,

of an operating line unit. NASA was to use this as the basic building block for

a new field installation. In the buildup of the new installation as a whole, the

Army would cooperate by supplying certain services and permitting the transfer

of some of its own support personnel. In many ways the job was more difficult

than starting from scratch; it could not be done piecemeal or gradually but had

The Role ot McKinsey g Co. Preparing the December 11 transfer plan

represented only one element in the total problem of developing the organization

and administrative arrangements necessary to effectuate the transfer. For this

broader problem, NASA turned for help to McKinsey & Co., the management

consulting firm whose services NASA had hired twice previously, a49

McKinsey & Co., primarily in the person of John D. Young, was to: xs0

1. Assist in the planning and coordinating of the efforts of NASA functional

specialists in their assembly of data concerning the administrative and

supporting technical services now being provided the Development Operations Division by various elements of the Army.

2. Analyze alternative proposals concerning the administrative and supporting technical services that (a) NASA should assume responsibility for,

and (b ) those that NASA should rely on the Army to provide.

3. Prepare a written time-phased plan for the provision of administrative and

supporting technical services required by the Development Operations

Division, when transferred to NASA.

The work was to be completed by January 15, 1960.

Basically, McKinsey & Co. furnished the service of a management expert,

not to prepare a formal report but to participate in the actual day-to-day transfer

efforts. The finished report, therefore, was only a compilation of some of the

interim planning and action documents prepared along the way. m

The way things unfolded was as follows: Under the chairmanship of Siepert,

the principal NASA negotiator, NASA set up a 24-member Task Group. Young,

'** Selection of McKinsey & Co. for this assignment was made by Siepert, primarily to

obtain the services of John Young who had done much of the work on the two earlier McKinsey

studies. Interview with Albert Siepert, Apr. 9, 1963.

l_°See NASA contract NASw-131. The $15,000 contract was dated Nov. 13, 1959, and

based on Corson's proposals to Glennan, dated Nov. 2, 1959. A comment draft of the Nov. 2

proposal was dated Oct. 29. However, the contract provided for the work to be performed

during the period Oct. 27, 1959, through Jan. 15, 1960. This suggests that Young was on the

job within a week after Siepert had been appointed principal negotiator.

;_ The report is entitled "Providing Supporting Services for the Development Operations

Division," January 1960. The summary report to Siepert is dated Jan. 16, 1960.
1959_INTERNAL CONSOLIDATION, EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES 113

of McKinsey & Co., served as executive officer or secretary.

the Task Group was to:

The initial job of

1. Clarify the role that the Development Operations Division was to play

in NASA's space program;

2. Determine the organizational location of the Development Operations

Division in NASA's organizational structure;

3. Determine the way the Development Operations Division would be funded

after its transfer to NASA;

4. Determine the management and supporting technical services which the

Development Operations Division would require after its severance from

the Army. m

The first three tasks could be done in Washington. The fourth one required

intensive factfinding at the Redstone Arsenal. It involved a description of all

services (legal, administrative, etc. ) now being provided, ascertaining their current

effectiveness, measuring them in some quantitative way, identifying whether the

services were being performed by civil servants, military, personnel, or contractor

personnd, and determining the pros and cons of various alternatives for assuring

that supporting services would be continued. 15s

Each member of the Task Force was selected for factfinding assignments on

the basis of his specialty. Factfinding was to be completed by Nocember 21,

1959. The information gathered was to be analyzed and a memorandum

prepared recommending a particular course of action in each functional area.

From the recommendations for each of 19 management and technical areas,

Young was to prepare an overall plan for the provision of administrative and

other supporting services for NASA's new Huntsville installation. This was to

be completed by December 5. The December 11 agreement incorporated many

of the findings made by the Task Group.

The December 11 agreement cleared the way for Task Group members

to prepare detailed implementation plans. These implementation plans were to

include detail._ on how the particular service would be organized and staffed;

what administrative procedures would be followed; what facilities, equipment,

and supplies would be required, and how they would be obtained; what arrangements would have to be made in order to contract for any support; and what

temporary, staff augmentation would be necessa_ to carry out the implementation

plans. These details were to be submitted by January 8, 1960. TM

t:.:"Study outline for development of an operating plan to provide business and supporting

services to the Development Operations Division upon its transfer to NASA," Nov. 2, 1959.

Exhibit I of the final report.

_:':Ibid. ABMA made great use of contractor personnel to do what might be ordinarily

thought of as in-house work.

ts, Siepert memo of Dec. 10, 1959, Exhibit V of the final report.
114 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

In January 1960, McKinsey & Co. received the draft implementation plans

and found some good and others deficient. TM McKinsey & Co. recommended

that the draft plans be revised in consultation with Army personnel so that

everything would be ready to go by the time congressional intent became known.

Developing an accounting system was viewed as an immediate need because of

the long leadtime involved. The full story of executing the implementation plans,

together with a brief account of the legal promulgation of the transfer, is presented

in the next chapter.

13. The interim Status of the Saturn Program lee

As mentioned earlier, the decision to transfer the Saturn program to NASA

was made in October 1959. Since the transfer would have to await congressional approval several months hence, a method was devised whereby NASA

could be brought into the picture as soon as possible. On November 10 an

agreement was reached with DOD whereby the technical responsibility for Saturn

was transferred from the Advanced Research Projects Agency to NASA as of

November 18. ARPA immediately began routing all orders concerning the

Saturn project through Milton Rosen of NASA's Office of Space Flight Development for his informal approval. This procedure worked so well that it was

continued until July 1, 1960, even though the legal approval of the transfer in

March would have permitted the removal of ARPA from the picture altogether. 1sT

Under the chairmanship of Abe Silverstein, a NASA-ARPA technical

committee was given jurisdiction over the Saturn program. In December 1959,

this committee reached an important decision on the configuration of the upper

stages of the Saturn launch vehicle. DOD had been unable to make a decision

on this matter because of conflicting opinions on the eventual uses of the vehicle.

The decision was approved by Glennan on December 31.

Also in December, yon Braun, Director of ABMA's Development Operations

Division, and Associate Administrator Homer of NASA discussed the optimum

funding level for the Saturn program. 1ss Von Braun claimed that $218 million

for fiscal year 1961 would permit sizable savings in time as compared with the

$140 million level already agreed to by the Bureau of the Budget. During

January 1960, this question was studied intensively; the result was a decision on

the part of the Eisenhower administration to accelerate the Saturn program along

the lines suggested by yon Braun. The Saturn budget was subsequently increased

to $230 million.

lu Memo to Siepert from McKinsey & Co., Jan. 13, 1960, Exhibit VI of the final report.

la, Unless otherwise indicated, this subsection is based on the "Saturn Chronology" prepared

by the Historical Office of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MHR-1).

15TInterview with Milton Rosen, Sept. 4, 1963.

_ Memorandum, Glennan to Horner..Dec. 10, 1959. ._
1959----INTERNALCONSOLIDATION_EXTERNALDIFFICULTIES 115

On March 16, 1960, the transfer of the Saturn program became effective

and NASA took charge of the administrative direction of the program as well as

its technical direction. Since no transfer of funds occurred during fiscal year

1960, most of the administrative details continued to be performed on an interagency basis.

E. The December Reorganization of NASA Headquarters _ss

In December 1959, NASA Headquarters was reorganized. This was done

in anticipation of the transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division and

because of NASA's involvement in the Saturn project. Although generally considered of major significance, the reorganization proved to be an interim one.

To fully understand this reorganization, it must be recalled that NASA's

internal operations were under three Headquarters program offices--one administrative and two technical. The technical offices were the Office of Aeronautical

and Space Research (OASR) under Crowley and the Office of Space Flight

Development (OSFD) under Silverstein. In October 1959, the former office

numbered around 70 and had been carried over almost intact from NACA.

The latter office numbered almost 100 and had grown from almost nothing in

only 1 year. It had jurisdiction over the rapidly expanding space development

program (Project Mercury, scientific satellites, engine development, etc.) and

was spending most of NASA's R&D budget. It had jurisdiction over NASA's

new field installation, Goddard, and contractor-otm, ated facility, JPL.

Logically the Saturn program and NASA's new Huntsville installation would

have been put under the jurisdiction of Silverstein's office. Instead they were

put under a new Headquarters program office, the Office of Launch Vehicle

Programs (OLVP). For OLVP, NASA brought in as director, Air Force Maj.

Gen. Don Ostrander, acting head of ,aALPA. (ARPA had had jurisdiction over

the Saturn program prior to its transfer to NASA.)

The chief reason for doing it this way was to give launch-vchicle development a coordinate status in NASA to make sure that its requirements were given

attention and understanding equal to other NASA program elements, is° Another

factor was that Silverstein's office would have become disproportionately large, ls_

The argument that a military man could better deal with what had been a DOD

project carried out primarily in a military installation was a relatively minor

consideration. _"

m See NASA Announcement No. 58. Subject: Establishment of New Headquarters Staff

Component, Dec. 14, 1959. Also NASA Releases 59-270 (Dec. 8, 1959) and 59-285 (Jan. 1,

1960). Data on numbers of personnel are taken from Position Complement Reports.

lo, Interview with Albert $iepert, Apr. 9, 1963.

_I Interview with Abe Silverstein, Jan. 18, 1964.

]4 NASA Associate Administrator Homer picked Air Force General Ostrander for the

position because Homer had come to NASA from the Air Force and had known Ostrander

quite well.
116 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

In December 1959, the newly formed Office of Launch Vehicle Programs

consisted of its head, Major General Ostrander, and about 25 individuals transferred from Silverstein's Office of Space Flight Development. What had been

one office (OSFD) with four major divisions (Advanced Technology, Space Sciences, Space Flight Operations, and Propulsion) became two separate offices--

the Office of Space Flight Programs (OSFP) with three major divisions

(Advanced Technology, Space Sciences, Space Flight Operations), and the

Office of Launch Vehicle Programs (OLVP) with three major divisions (Vehicles, Propulsion, and Launch Operations). To provide nomenclature uniform-

_.., _1_ ...... C _-L^ it'_4_l::_ _t A ....... .,,-'A^I __-! C .... 13 ...... L ...... L .... ,.1 _.^

_1.._, Lilt*., AJ[i_kllli_ U.IL LJ.J._ U_.lll_qi._ UJ. ..'TkII..IU.IL16ULl_I_L1 O.lllJ. IJi.,IdL._ JL%.E,_E;flIL, IJ. W_I_ I...1.1[OJ.J._r...._..J. LU

Office of Advanced Research Programs (OARP).

It will be noted in later chapters that putting payload and spacecraft responsibility in one office and launch vehicle responsibility in another created a very

basic integration problem. Within a year, there were agitations for another

change. But the next major NASA Headquarters reorganization was not to occur

until November 1961.
Chapter Five

1960--ORDERLY PROGRESS

The year 1960 was one in which NASA attacked organizational and administrative problems over a wide from. Substantial progress was made in solving

many of them. 1

For some time Glennan had planned to leave NASA at the end of President

Eisenhower's term of office and return to the presidency of the Case Institute of

Technology, a position from which he was on leave? He made special efforts

in 1960 to make NASA "tidy" so as to pass on to his successor as sound an organization as possible. This is epitomized by the two self-evaluation studies prepared

during 1960. It was also a factor in the efforts to make the Huntsville transfer

as smooth as possible.

This chapter divides 1960 administrative developments into four major

sections. The first one focuses on structural changes, with emphasis on the

establishment of NASA's new Huntsville installation and the transfer of ABMA's

Development Operations Division to it. This is fonowed by a section on administrative and procedural developments, with special attention paid to NASA's

efforts to bring about both program and organizational integration. The third

section is devoted to the two large self-evaluation studies conducted during 1960.

The last section is on external relations, with emphasis on changes in NASA-DOD

working relationships. The chapter is concluded with a summary of the entire

period during which Glennan was NASA Administrator.

I. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

A. The Huntsville Transfer Consummated

In Chapter 4 the transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division to

NASA was traced from October 1959, when the decision to transfer was made, to

t Early in 1960, the first NASA "Ten-Year Plan" was presented to the Congress,a coherent

outline of future goals basedupon the entire complex of inherited projects, facilities, and responsibilities. See general discussionin Historical Sketch ofNASA (Washington: NASA EP-29,

1965), p. 26. See Sec. II.A of this chapter.

: Glennanclearlyindicated this in lettersasearly as Sept. 29, 1959.

117
118 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

the end of 1959, by which time the basic transfer guidelines had been established

and implementation plans formulated? During 1960 the transfer received congressional approval, the implementation plans were executed, the mass transfer of

personnel took place, operating agreements were entered into, and the transferred

installation was named and dedicated. The new Center became NASA's largest

by a sizable margin and accounted for one third of NASA's total personnel by

the end of the year.

Transter Plan Submitted to Congress. On January 14, 1960, President

Eisenhower submitted a 600-word transfer plan to Congress? The action was

based on the special transfer provision of the Space Act (See. 302). The plan

provided for the transfer to NASA of "those functions . . . relating to the development of space vehicle systems . . . which are being performed by the Army

Ballistic Missile Agency of the Department of the Army . . ." (i.e., the Saturn

program). Accompanying the transfer of the function would be the transfer

from the Army to NASA of funds (the amount of which would be determined by

BOB), personnel (the number of which would be determined jointly by DOD and

NASA), records and property (the specifics of which would be arrived at jointly

by DOD and NASA), and certain special personnel privileges (relating to supergrades and scientists) pertaining to ABMA's Development Operations Division.

The "functions" were to be transferred in 60 days unless Congress, by adopting a concurrent resolution, determined otherwise. The transfer of personnel,

property, etc., would take place thereafter on whatever date NASA and DOD

would agree to. The transfer was to be made under the cognizance of BOB

which would resolve all questions not resolved directly by NASA and DOD.

In his message accompanying the transfer plan, President Eisenhower pointed

out that "in order to carry on a vigorous and effective program for the exploration

of space . . .," NASA would need large boosters. Since there was "at present

no clear Department of Defense requirement" for large boosters, it was logical that

sole responsibility for them be given to NASA (as the administration had done in

October 1959). In view of the October 1959 decision, it was logical to "provide

NASA with an organization capable of and equipped for developing mad operating

large space vehicle boosters .... " This action would not endanger national

security, as NASA would "be fully responsive to specific requirements of the

Department of Defense for the development of very large boosters for future

military missions."

Congressional Reaction to the Transfer Plan. To allow the transfer plan

to go into effect all that Congress had to do was take no action. Congress would

have to take positive action in order to veto the transfer proposal. In this particular transfer situation, Congress came very close to acting positively--not to

veto the transfer but to shorten the 60-day waiting period. On January 21, 1960,

SSee Ch. 4, Sec. V.

H. Doc. No. 297, 86th Cong., 2d sess., Jan. 14, 1960.
1960---,ORDERLY PROGRESS 119

Representative Sisk of the House Astronautics Committee introduced a joint resolution calling for the transfer to take place upon the enactment of the resolution?

The resolution expressed congressional concern for the lag in U.S. space achievements and the desire on the part of Congress to help overcome the lag. The

resolution spedticatly stated that speeding up the transfer might well help keep the

"yon Braun team" intact.

The hearings on the resolution revealed that NASA's July 1, 1960, target

date for the mass transfer of personnel and property would not be altered by the

passage of the resolution? However, both NASA and DOD supported the

resolution, feeling that it would help dispel uncertainties and permit the earlier

performance of certain preparatory step_ There were rumors that yon Braun

would lose many of his top-level assistants to private industry as a result of the

transfer. Those sponsoring the resolution hoped that a gesture of finn

congressional support would help keep the "team" together.

The resolution passed the House of Representatives on February 8, 1960,

but died in the Senate, primarily because the Senate was involved in lengthy

debate on civil rights. 7

Trans]er Becomes E_e.ctive. In the absence of final congressional action

one way or the other, the tmmfer plan automatically went into effect on March

14, 19607 It is difficult to depict precisely what was changed by the plan going

into effect. The only thing which legally happened immediately was that the

hrge booster program, formerly a function of ._BMA, now became a function

of NASA. The men and facilities performing the function remained, legally,

with ABMA for another 31⁄2 months. Even the transfer of Saturn funds called

for by the December 11 transfer plan did not materialize? The fact that the

Saturn project was now the complete responsibility of NASA made little difference

in how the project was being run, although changes could have been made if

the parties involved had believed them desirable. The "gentlemen's agreement"

' H.J. Res. 567, 86th Cong., 2d sess., "Joint Resolution to Effect Immediately the Transfer

of the Development Operations Divis/on of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency to the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration." (For a text, see p. 2 of the following entry. )

• U.S. Congress, House, Comm/ttec on Science and Astronautics, Transfer of th# Dev,lo_.

mcnt Operations Division o[ th# Army Ballistic Missile Agency to the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, Hearing on H.J. Res. 567, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO,

1960). Hearing was held on Feb. 3, 1960. The Senate Hearing, Tranfer of Von Braun Team

to NASA, cited previously, was held on Feb. 18, 1960.

' The Senate Space Committee amended the resolution and reported it out on Feb. 26,

1960.

s There is some uncertainty as to whether or not the first day after the 60-day waiting period

was Mar. 14 or 15. The plan was published in the Federal Register on Mar. 16 (25 FJr.. 2151).

"The detailed work involved in effecting a transfer of funds proved to be too great to be

worth the effort. This was primarily because the financing of the outstanding R&D contracts

was exceedingly complex. It was not until March 1961 that fiscal year 1960 funds were identified accurately enough to permit the transfer from ARPA to NASA of about $2_ million in

unobligated fiscal year 1960 balances. (Information furnished by NASA Office of Financial

Management, September 1963.)
120 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

on the management of the Saturn project, entered into in late 1959 by NASA

and ARPA, the DOD agency funding Saturn, was working so well that it was

decided to let the system operate without change until the end of the fiscal year.

Under this gentlemen's agreement, ARPA issued no orders or funds to

ABMA without consulting NASA. If NASA wanted something changed, ARPA

readily complied. In effect, ARPA continued doing all the paperwork subject

to NASA's approval on all substantive matters. In November and December

1959, most of NASA's inputs were primarily technical. Gradually, however, the

technical blended into the administrative and by March 14, 1960, the management of the Saturn project was already a NASA activity. 1°

NASA Establishes Huntsville Facility. Timed to coincide with the transfer becoming effective was NASA's official establishment on March 14 of the

NASA Huntsville Facility as a NASA field installation. 1_ Mr. Delmar Morris

of AEC was named acting head of the installation. He was to serve in this

capacity until July 1 when Wernher von Braun would become Director of the

installation with Morris serving as Deputy Director for Administration. The

immediate function of the Facility was to help pave the way for the mass transfer

on July 1, 1960.

Huntsville Facility Given a Name. On March 15, 1980, President Eisenhower signed an Executive order which designated the Huntsville Facility as the

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, effective immediatelyY Although often

abbreviated to MSFC, it is probably best to refer to the center as the "Marshall

Center."

Preparations ]or the July 1 Mass Transler. In Chapter 4 it was noted that

the transfer of tangibles from the Army to NASA involved a complicated series

of actions. The basic problem was to transfer an operating line division from

a larger organization which furnished the vital supporting services to a newly

established organization consisting only of supporting elements. The NASA

Task Force, which was given the assignment of solving the NASA aspects of

this problem, had to pursue two main objectives. One was a factfinding operation-to learn the exact amount of effort currently being used to support the

operating line division. The other was to recommend the way that the support

could be furnished the line division after the transfer? s

The factfinding operation revealed that the Army was expending about 1,347

man-years per year in support of the Development Operations Division's 4,200

to Information on NASA-ARPA relationships supplied by Milton Rosen, Sept. 4, 1963.

Rosen, serving under Silverstein in 1959 and Ostrander in 1960, was in charge of ARPA-NASA

clearances.

_t NASA Circular No. 57, Mar. 14, 1960. Subject: Establishment of NASA Huntsville

Facility.

a2Executive Order 10870, 25 F.R. 2197, Mar. 17, 1960.

lSSee Ch. 4, Sec. V.F.
1960--'-ORDERLY PROGRESS 121

technical personnel. _' The following list shows how these 1,347 man-years were

distributed:

Materials and equipment warehousing, 327

Maintenance, utilities,engineering. 270

Procurement 124

Security ..... 131

Motor pooL_._____ 10S

Accounting 90

Personnel 68

Other 234

About half of this support was furnished by ABMA and half by the Redstone

Arsenal, the base housekeeper.

NASA decided that instead of building a support base of 1,347 persons, it

would set a goal (i.e., ceiling) of 1,200 as an adequate level of support, ts The

next step was to "organize" the 1,200 positions into an Office of Procurement,

an Office of Personnel and Management Services, an Office of Technical Services,

an Office of Financial Management, and several much smaller offices? e Next,

the responsibilities of these positions were determined. In some cases the position

was a carbon copy of the position as it existed under the Army. In other cases

the position had to incorporate NASA characteristics. In a few cases a completely

new way of doing business was contemplated, tT

So far everything had been done on paper. The next step, a very crucial

one, was to fill the positions and get incumbents working. This operation could

not be done overnight. Some of it had to be done in advance of the mass transfer

of the operating line people and was the reason why the HuntsviUe Facility was

established in March 1960. Although NASA had to pay for all positions flied

prior to July 1 out of its own fiscal year 1960 funds (something not provided

for in the fiscal year 1960 budget), it went ahead and authorized the filling of

100 positions at the time it established the Huntsville Facility. In April it was

determined that an additional 270 people would be needed to complete the

preparations for the July 1 mass transfer? s This meant that NASA would

exceed its fiscal year 1960 personnel ceiling. BOB approval was obtained to

do so.t0

Filling the positions was facilitated by the NASA-Army agreement which

authorized NASA to recruit up to 815 individuals from Army units. In exchange,

i, For a good account of NASA's preparations for the mass transfer, see "Manpower Utilization Aspects of the Transfer to the NASA of the Former 'Development Operations Division,'

ABMA, Army Ordnance Missile Command," Annex "D" to the Quarterly Manpower Utilization

Report for the Quarter ending Sept. 30, 1960. Prepared by the Management Analysis Staff of

the NASA Office of Business Administration. Oct. 25, 1960. Attachment B.

15Ibid., p. 11.

t, Ibid., Attachment C.

1*Ibid., pp. 7-10.

_sMemorandum for the Administrator, from Aaron Rosenthal and Don Ostrander, Apr. 29,

1960.

1, Ibid.
122 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

the Army was authorized to retain 315 Development Operations Division personnel for its missile program, z°

The actual buildup of personnel to staff the Marshall Center proceeded as

follows: Of the 370 positions authorized to be filled prior to July 1, 26 had been

filled by the end of March, 48 by the end of April, 138 by the end of May, and

all 370 by the end of June. 21 Eighty-one of these had been recruited from

ABMA. 22

On July 1 there was a mass transfer of 311 persons from ABMA's Technical

Materials and Equipment Branch (a warehousing operation) to NASA. In the

mass transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division to NASA, 3,989 of

its 4,179 employees were transferred. Thus on July 1, when yon Braun took

over as Director, NASA's Marshall Center employed 4,670 persons."

Two other mass transfers occurred on July 3, when 41 persons were transferred from ABMA and 178 from the Re&tone Arsenal's Post Engineer Office?'

This brought the Marshall Center's total to about 4,900. It went over 5,000 by

the end of July. By the end of 1960 the total reached 5,367. 25

A fundamental transfer objective was that the work of the Development

Operations Division should continue without interruption. This meant that it

would have to occupy the same facilities after the transfer and that the level of

support would have to remain constant be£ore and after the transfer. Since

Development Operations Division facilities were located in the midst of a large

Army installation, it made economic sense to have the Army supply certain services (of a base housekeeping nature) on a long-term and reimbursable basis,

rather than have NASA duplicate the facilities required to supply such services.

Since support services had to be rendered without interruption and since the

buildup of NASA support personnel was on a gradual basis, it was necessary for

the Army to continue supplying certain services on an interim basis. This meant

that NASA had to enter into both interim and long-run support agreements with

the Army. Also subject to some type of formal agreement or understanding was

the transfer of property, equipment, and inventories.

The agreements and letters of understanding were numerous. Their dates

ranged over all of 19607 c Although more detailed, they conformed quite closely

® See Ch. 4, Sec. V.E.

m Data supplied by NASA Personnel Division.

==Data supplied by MSFC Historical Office on Aug. 21, 1963, letter to NASA Headquarters Historical Office (Jarrell to Wells). Number of personnel recruited from other Army

units is not available.

"Ibid. Other sources give slightly different figures.

s, Ibid.

Information is not available as yet on exactly how many ABMA and other Army support

personnel transferred to NASA by the end of 1960. The figures just presented account for 621.

This is over half of the 1,200 positions authorized for support purposes.

" In Akens, Historical Ori&ins of the Geor&e C. Marshall Space Flight Center, the following

items were given special mention : "Files Transfer Procedures . . .," May 31, 1960; "Procedures
1960---_RDERLY PROGRESS 123

to the basic agreement entered into in December 1959. The major exception was

the decision to transfer to NASA more of the Army's Cape Canaveral facilities

than initially contemplated? T

Unique features of the Huntsville transfer make a comparative evaluation

difficult. It seems safe to say that the transfer went about as smoothly as could

be hoped, even though not all of the original objectives were met. Top officials

probably viewed it as having gone more smoothly than did lower level personnel

who were involved in working out the innumerable details.

Even more difficult to ascertain is NASA's success in truly integrating the

Marshall Center into NASA. n It is not uncommon to hear complaints in NASA

Headquarters, even today, about the independent attitude of the Marshall Center.

The Marshall Center early preferred to do things "in-house," rather than have

them done "out-of-house" by contract, the more prevalent way by which NASA

did developmental work. There is little doubt that the transfer added enormously

to NASA's technical capability. No opinion has been voiced that the transfer

decision was unwise.

B. Other Field Installation Changes

LOD Establldted. One of the subdivisions of ABMA's Devdopment Operations Division was the Missile Firing Laboratory. located at Cape Canaveral.

One of the most thorny transfer problems was to determine how much of the Army's

Cape Canaveral facilities should be transferred to NASA. It was finally decided

that most of the facilities should be transferred. 2" This gave NASA a substantial

launch capability of its own at Cape Canaveral. NASA's Atlantic Missile Range

Operatiom Office (AMROO) llad been little more than a liaison office between

NASA and the Atlantic Missile Range (AMR), basically an Air Force

installation.

On June 13, 1960, NASA announced that all general field responsibilities for

launchings at either the well-established AMR or the newer Pacific Missile Range

(PMR) would be assigned to the Launch Operations Directorate (LOD), a semiautonomous unit of the Marshall Center. s° LOD absorbed both ABMA's Missile

Firing Laboratory and AMROO, with the Laboratory's Director, Dr. Kurt Debus,

for the Trander of Procurement and Contracting Ftmctiom . . .," June 27, 1960; "...

Equipment" agreement, June 30, 1960; "Agreement . . . for Use of Land and Facilities . . .,"

Aug. 15, 1960; and, most important of all, the basic operating agreement, Aug. I6, 1960.

See pp. 77-80.

_The Dec. 11, 1959, transfer plan contemplated the Army retaining control over hunch

complex 26. Instead, it was transferred to NASA to free the Army from the burden of

administering something that would be of marginal value to them. See the June 9, 1960, letter

from AOMC's Barclay to NASA's Ostrander.

:* Some readers might find President Eisenhower's dedication remarks of historical interest.

See D. S. Akem, Historical Origins of MSFC, App. F.

Letter, AOMC's Barclay m NASA's Ostrander, June 9, 1960.

NASA Announcement 156, June 13, 1960. Subject: NASA Organizational Changes at

AMR and PMR.
124 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

serving as LOD Director. In 1962 LOD became an independent field installation,

the Launch Operations Center, which, in turn, was renamed the "John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA," in December 1963.

Effective October 27, 1960, NASA established, under the jurisdiction of

LOD, a Test Support Office at PMR. 3_ This small office was not to launch vehicles, only to serve as a liaison between NASA and the military-operated PMR.

It was planned that all NASA launchings at PMR would be carried out by NASA

contractors.

Ioint NASA-AEC O_ce Established. One of NASA's important longrange projects was the development of a rocket propelled by hydrogen gas heated

by a nuclear reactor (Project Rover). The development of the reactor itself was

the responsibility of AEC. To facilitate this joint effort on a nuclear rocket, a joint

AEC-NASA Nuclear Propulsion Office was established on August 29, 1960. 3"_

The Office was headed by a NASA official and located at AEC Headquarters at

Germantown, Md.

Space Task Group Becomes Independent. On January 3, 1961, the Space

Task Group (STG), an autonomous subdivision of NASA's Goddard Center

but physically located at the Langley Center, was made an independent NASA

field installation responsible for the project management of Project Mercury? _

Goddard Institute Jor Space Studies Established. In December 1960

Glennan gave his approval for the establishment of the Goddard Institute for

Space Studies? 4 Although a subdivision of the Goddard Center, the Institute

was located in New York City on the premise that its function of conducting

theoretical research in the area of space sciences would be greatly facilitated by

its being located in close proximity to the many graduate schools and technical

organizations in the Greater New York area. The Institute was formally estabfished on January 29, 1961. It was staffed by personnel from Goddard's

Theoretical Division.

C. The Establishment of the Office of Ufe Science Programs

The Report o] the Bioscience Advisory Committee. In July 1959 NASA

estabfished an ad hoc Bioscience Advisory Committee to make definitive recommendations on what NASA should be doing in the bioscience or life sciences area. ss

On January 25, 1960, the Advisory Committee made its report, se

,a General Management Instruction 2-2-9.1, Oct. 27, 1960 (T.S. 207, Jan. 19, 1961). See

also NASA News Release 60-300, Nov. 17, 1960.

NASA, Fourth Semiannual Report, pp. 106, 195.

m NASA, Fifth Semiannual Report, p. 153.

Memo, Glennan to Silverstein, Dec. 14, 1960.

"_See Ch. 4, Sec. II.F.

"Report of National Aeronautics and Space Administration Bioscience Advisory Committee," Jan. 25, 1960. The cover letter from the Committee Chairman,.Seymour Kety, to Glennan

was dated Jan. 22, 1960. Abo see Link, op. cit.
19e0----ORDERLY PROGRESS 125

The report pointed out the important role that life sciences were playing,

and would continue to play, in the Nation's space efforts. Current space-related

life science activities were predtminantly in the areas of applied medicine and

applied biology. Important as these activities were, it was crucial that more

effort be devoted to b_isic biology and the medical and behavioral sciences.

Concerning the question of whether or not it was necessary for NASA to

increase its efforts in the life science area, the Committee answered emphatically

that it was. Not only should NASA help fill the gaps in the Nation's present

research efforts but NASA had to have its own program because it was the

organization that had the national responsibility for manned space flights and

for possible contact with extraterrestrial life.

The idea that NASA had to have its own program was stated very bluntly.

Even though NASA-DOD cooperation was working well in Project Mercury,

the fact remains that authority for ensuring the health, safety, and effecti;,,e functioning of the astronauts is not firmly in the hands of the agency responsible for

the success of the project as a whole. The medical personnel were not selected

by NASA but by representatives of the military services which provided them on

a loan basis for this particular task. Their continued presence in the project is

as much a matter of continuing good will as it is a clear contractual agreement,

and the individuals themselves must of necessity feel a primary loyalty to the

services in which they have elected to develop their entire careers, s'

The Committee recommended the establishment of an Office of Life Sciences

in NASA Headquarters with a director coordinate in rank with the existing program directors. The Committee felt that it was essential that "biomedical

interests and skills . . . have adequate representation in important decisions"

and that the life science program receive "strong financial support...." 3s The

Office should be divided into sections on Basic Biology, Medical and Behavioral

Sciences, Applied Medicine and Biology, and Extramural Programs. The extramural program would be based on research grants to or contracts with individual

scientists and o_ganizatiom.

Concerning the controversial question on the scope of NASA's intramural

life science activities, the Committee recommended that in the long run it should

be extensive. This would mean that NASA would have to establish a "central

facility," preferably in the Washington, D.C., area, with specialized laboratories

to conduct both basic and applied research. In addition, NASA would

have to establish a limited number of auxiliary facilities at several of its existing

installations.

The Committee recommended that the development of NASA's intramural

life science program be "deliberate and gradual," with detailed planning left to

the Director of Life Sciences and his staff) 9 In the meantime, while the in-house

Ibid., p. 24.

asIbid., p. 4.

Ibid., p. 24.
126 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 95 8--19 6 3

buildup was taking place, NASA would have to continue to rely on cooperative

arrangements with outside organizations, especially the military services in view

of their current excess capacity in certain aeromedical facilities.

The establishment of an Office of Life Sciences in NASA will greatly improve

its capability for discharging its biomedical responsibilities. Even though the

agency will probably wish to continue to draw on many other sources for help

in solving its biological problems, the presence of at least a small staff of highly

qualified biologists and medical men is essential for the formulation of overall

policy, the direction of research and operations within NASA, and the negotiation nf _ti._faetr}_ wnrking a_ee_m__ents with other Gove__m__ent agencies and

the military services. 4°

Implementation of the Report. On March 1, 1960, NASA established an

Office of Life Science Programs. Dr. Clark Randt, who had come to NASA

the previous April and had been Executive Secretary for the Advisory Committee,

was named Director of the Office. '_ A personnel complement of 32 was planned

for fiscal year 1961 and a program level of $5 million? _

NASA proceeded much more slowly in establishing the research facilities

recommended in the January 25 report. NASA had a much harder time justifying building its own facilities in the light of underutilized military facilities than

in winning approval for a Headquarters office for program planning and coordination. NASA wanted to avoid the cardinal sin of duplicating existing facilities.

Congress asked NASA about this very shortly after the Office of Life Science

Programs had been established. _ NASA answered that it would not duplicate

existing facilities, but rather supplement them by concentrating on problems

unique to NASA's space exploration missions. Congressional fears were satisfied

bv NASA's constant reiteration of this theme, by NASA's extreme caution in

moving ahead with the building of facilities, by a measure of support for NASA's

plans from the military services, and by positive progress by NASA and DOD

in working out a scheme for even better interagency cooperation.'*

,e Ibid., pp. 24-25.

,1 Clark T. Randt, M.D., came to NASA from Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio,

where, since 1956, he had been director of the Division of Neurology in the Department of

Medicine.

_ U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961, Hearings on H.R. 10809, 86th Cong., 2d seu. (Washington: GPO,

1960), p. 38 (hereafter cited as Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961).

a At a Mar. 9, 1960, hearing, Representative Daddario asked Glennan several questions

about NASA's action in establishing the Office of Life Science Programs. U.S. Congress, House,

Committee on Science and Astronautics, To Amend the National Aeronautics and Space Act

of 1958, Hearings on H.R. 9675, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1960), pp. 83--86

(hereafter cited as House Hearings, To Amend the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958).

**At a Mar. 28, 1960, hearing of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences,

Glennan was asked to supply answers for the record to questions concerning NASA's life science

program. For Glennan's Apr. 9, 1960, reply, see Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for

Fiscal Year I961, pp. 36-40. Special hearings were also held in the "House on June 15 and 16,

1960: U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Space Medicine Research,

Hearings, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1960). The report based on these hearings
1960--'--ORDERLYPROGRESS 127

As it turned out, the Headquarters Office was built up much more slowly

than planned--reaching only 16 by the end of fiscal year 1961 instead of the

goal of 32. _ A small research facility at NASA's Ames Research Center was

established in February 1961, but plans for a larger and separate "central facility"

never materialized. Randt resigned from NASA effective April 1, 1961, and the

Office itself was drastically realigned in NASA's November 1, 1961, reorganization.

D. Other Organizational Chemges in NASA Hmxdquarters

O0_ce of Teclmical lrdormation and Educational Programs Established.

In May 1960, NASA Headquarters' five major program offices (four technical

and one administrative) were joined by a sixth one (informational). This new

program office, the Office of Technical Information and Educational Programs

(OTIEP), was established to give better focus to the Space Act requirement that

NASA "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and results thereof." _ OTIEP was formed

initially by consofidating several existing activities under a Director and Deputy

Director brought, in from AEC. 4_

In spite of the seemingly external orientation of the functiom of OTIEP,

it was placed under the jurisdiction of the program-oriented Associate Administrator.'* This incomisten_ was corrected in 1962 with the establishment of the

Office of Public Affai_ directly under the Administrator.

OJ_.e [or ti_ United Na6mu" Co_ce _. InDecember 1959,

the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an international confe.,r.uce on the peaceful uses of outer space. NASA was given the assignment

to prepare for possible U.S. participation in a fall 1961 conference. On January

29, 1960, NASA established an ad hoc Office for the United Nations' Conference

(OUNC) ." John Hagen was named Director, his second change in assignments

in less than 1 year.

was H. Rept. 2227, Life Sciences and Space. On July 15, 1960, the Senate Committee on Aerenautical and Space Sciences i_ued a report, Space Research in the Life Sciences: An Invrntory

o[ Related Programs, Resources, and Facilities, Committee Print, 86th Cong., 2d seas. (Washington: GPO, 1960).

a "Position Complement List" as of June 30, 1961. ActuaRy the Office reached • peak

of 22 in late 1960. Buildup was as follows: 3 as of Mar. 31, 1960; 11 as of June 30; 17 as of

Sept. 30; 22 as of Dec. 31; 19 asof Mar. 31, 1961; and 16 as of June 30.

_' Sec. 203a(3).

,7 The Director, Shelby Thompson, had been the Deputy Director of AEC's-Div/sion of

Information Services. The Deputy Director, Melvin Day, had been Director of Technical

Information Services in AEC. The elements initially consolidated were the Technical Information Division (numbering 28 persons) of the Office of Business Administration, and the Exhibits,

Publications, Audio-Visual, Historical, and Reports activities (totaling 16 persons) of the Office

of Public Information. The Technical Information Division had been one of the largest divisions in NACA Headquarters, and upon NASA's establishment had been placed under the Office

of Business Administration for want of a better home.

General Management Instruction 2-1-13, May 30, 1960. (T.S. 105, June 30, 1960.)

'*General Management Instruction 2-1-2, Jan. 29, 1960.

215--892 0--_6----10
¢

128 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 958--1963

Since the conference would probably be a one-shot affair, NASA wanted

to avoid setting up a permanent office, on the one hand, or completely distorting

the activities of the Office of International Programs, on the other. Instead,

NASA chose to set up a small office on a temporary basis--one that could easily

be disbanded--and then detail to this Office the large number of individuals

required to make U.S. participation a success3 ° Consequently 110 persons were

programed for OUNC, with 15 constituting its permanent complement and 95

detailed in and out as the workload required. The Office was placed directly

under Deputy Administrator Dryden.

When the conference failed to materialize_ the OIINC was disb__nded _

of September 30, 1961.51 Much of its planning work was utilized for subsequent

activities, s2

O_ce o] Research Grants and Contracts Reorganized. Although this

Office was very small at the time and not a very big spender, its 1960 reorganization is worth noting.

The Office of Grants and Research Contracts (its current name) has been

moved as much as any offÉce in Headquarters and is an interesting example of the

administrative problem of finding an optimum organizational home for a function

which does not have a natural home in an agency's hierarchy.

At the time NASA was established, it was felt that NACA's small "research

by contract" program would have to be expanded considerably, with much of

the expansion centered in research contracts with nonprofit organizations, especially

universities. The program area in which much research was needed was in the

space-flight development program headed by Silverstein. A controversy developed as to whether or not the University Research Program Office (as it was

called in 1958 and early 1959) should be put under Silverstein (the area of need)

or under the Office of Aeronautical and Space Research (Crowley) as recommended by the Abbott Committee. A neutral home directly under the Associate

Administrator was considered but finally rejected. Glennan settled the controversy by putting it under the Office of Aeronautical and Space Research. m

The Office had a budget of its own and took care of most of the details of

running a "research by contract" program, except to the extent that it was dependent on the technical program offices for the technical review and evaluation

NASA Circular No. 55, Mar. 7, 1960. Subject: Detail of Personnel to the Office for the

United Nations' Conference.

,t NASA Circular No. 163, Sept. 1, 1961. Subject: Closing of the Office for the United

Nations' Conference.

u See Wilfred J. Smith, "History of Office for United Nations' Conference," NASA Historical Monograph No. 2, September 1961. Work of OUNC proved useful at the various

Geneva conferences on peaceful uses of space. Technical exhibit program was largely incorporated in the space exhibit at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962.

USee Ch. 3, Sec. II.C.
1960-"-'ORDERLY PROGRESS 129

of research proposals and for monitoring research and on the NASA Procurement

Division for assistance in c6ntract negotiation. _

In May 1960 several important changes were made in this cooperative procedure. 5_ The Office of Research Grants and Contracts (its name from April

1959 to October 196 I] was made into more of a coordinator of research conducted

for NASA by nonprofit institutions. The Headquarters program offices were

given the chief decision-making power as to what research should be done and by

whom. Secondly, the Office was given its own contract writing and negotiation

staff so that it was no longer dependent on the Procurement Division. A measure

of decentralization was provided for by giving field installations the power to

negotiate and administer research contracts after their approval at Headquarters

level. Thirdly, the Office of Research Grants and Contracts no longer funded

the research contracts. Instead they were funded by the program office approving

the project.

Since several program offices were involved, it was felt that the coordinating

office, the Office of Research Grants and Contracts, should have a neutral home

in the organizational hierarchy. It was moved from the Office of Advanced

Research Programs to the Office of Business Administration. _

Developmm_ Relating to the O_ce of the Associate Administrator.

During 1960 several significant changes were made in the Office of the Associate

Administrator. ,At the beginning of the year the Office consisted of the Associate

Administrator (Homer) and two Special Assistants (Harris and King). A year

later a much more elaborate arrangement prevailed. Some of the changes were

the work of Homer, others were made by his successor, Robert Seamans. These

changes, important in the overall management of the agency, are discussed in

detail later in this chapter in connection with a discussion of agency management

and program integration, sT

II. INTERNAL ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

During 1960 two "thrusts" can be detected in the internal management of

NASA. One was the "regularization" of certain activities arrived at by trial and

error in 1959. The other was a movement toward more sophisticated management practices. Long-range planning and budget preparation are examples of

the former, program management and budget execution of the latter. NASA

demonstrated the ability to consolidate and innovate simultaneously. This proved

to be good experience for the great challenges of 1961.

Memorandum from the Administrator, Apr. 6, 1959. Subject: Functiom and Authority---Office of Research Grants and Contracts. Its activities were not confined to nonprofit

imtitudons and some contracts with industrial companies were written. Most contracts for

research by industrial concerns were handled directly by the Office of Space Flight Development.

:_NASA Announcement No. 134, May 17, 1960. Subject: Reorganization of the Office

of Research Grants and Contracts.

:_ Accompanying the reorganization was a change in directors from Lloyd Wood to Thomas

Smull.

_ See Sec. II.E later in this chapter.
130 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

A. Long-Range Planning

The Preparation o/ NASA's First Long-Range Plan. One of Glennan's

earliest decisions on organizational matters was to establish an Office of Program

Planning and Evaluation (OPPE) to assist him in the development of long-range

policies and programs. 5s Glennan exerted a considerable amount of personal

effort to staff the Office. Dr. Homer Stewart of the California Institute of Technology was recruited to serve as Office Director. It was Glennan's intention that

the Office be small but highly effective. 59 At the end of 1959 it consisted of eight

persons, four of whom had excepted positions. 6°

Although the OPPE concerned itself with a variety of long-range problems

(e.g., equatorial launch sites, deep space exploration ), one of its principal functions

was the preparation of a comprehensive long-range plan.

Initial thinking on a long-range plan dated from early 1959. 61 The discussion of a comprehensive civilian space program at the March 1959 Symington

subcommittee hearings pointed out the utility of long-range planning. 62 By June,

OPPE had produced a working draft of a plan, with the chief inputs coming from

Silverstein's Office of Space Flight Development. From September through

November, revised drafts were discussed with the President's Science Advisory

Committee, the Space CounciL, various DOD agencies, and various NASA units.

The final product prepared in December, the "NASA Long Range Plan," was

regarded as an internal planning document and classified "secret." A less detailed

version, called the "NASA Ten Year Plan," was classified "confidential."

The Plan Unveiled. Although not volunteered to the House Astronautics

and Senate Space Committees, the "Ten Year Plan" was supplied to them upon

their request. °s Some of the highlights of the plan were presented at an open

hearing of the Senate Space Committee. °*

What was revealed was a fairly broad-based program with emphasis on lunar

exploration. Annual budgets over a 10-year period were estimated to average

between $1.2 and $1.5 billion. The plan was keyed to certain large launch

vehicles becoming operational, giving NASA the capability to launch heavy payB See Ch. 3, See. II.B.

m'Memo, Stewart to Glennan, Nov. 12, 1958.

The excepted employees were: Stewart of Cal Tech; Rothrock of NACA; Clement of

Rand; Scull of Cal Tech/JPL. In addition, there was a GS-14 and three secretaries. See

the Position Complement Report for Dec. 31, 1959.

Later in this chapter the work of the Kimpton Committee is discussed. One of the

workpapers (No. 2) prepared for the Committee's use was entitled: "The Ten Year Plan:

How did it come into being? When? How generally did the Offices and Centers of NASA

participate?" One of the exhibits (A) was entitled, "The Steps by which the Ten Year Program

Came into Existence."

e, These hearings were discussed in Ch. 4, Sec. III.A. Glerman feels that NASA's long-range

plan was a direct result of these hearings. Interview with T. Keith Glennan, Jan. 18, 1964.

Memo, Glennan to Stewart, Feb. 24, 1960. Subject: Distribution of "The Ten Year

Plan," a Confidential Document of NASA.

_*Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal ]'ear 1961, pp. 19-22.
1960----ORDERLY PROGRESS 131

loads. The important taming point on heavy-payload launch capability was

expected to be fiscal year 1963 when the Saturn vehicle would come into use.

NASA felt that its plan was adequate to permit the United States to win, in

the long run, more gold medals in the space Olympics than any other nation. '5

NASA conceded tharother nations would win some gold medals, especially early

in the Olympics.

NASA's long-range plan was basically an attempt to predict what the state

of the arts would permit in the years ahead. Because of _ it was scientifically

and technically oriented, rather than administratively or politicalh/ oriented.

Thus there was a great need to integrate it with intermediate- and short-range

plans. Uncertainties, both technical and nontechnical, demanded that the plan

be constantly revised.

The Plann_ Protein. During 1959 there was a certain amount of built-in

integration between long- and short-range planning by virtue of the fact that

the same people were engaged in both. For example, the Director of OPPE was

also a member of the Budget Analysis Team. During 1960 long-range/shortrange integration was pushed even further. 66 The December 1959 long-range

plan served as one of the important bases for the preparation of budget guidelines

for the fiscal year 1962 budget. The budget preparation and review activity

during the middle of 1960 constituted one of the basic inputs into the fall revision

of the long-range plan. Other inputs into the fall revision came from budget

execution and program management plans (both of which are discussed later in

this chapter).

Revising the long-range plan was the function of OPPE. A criticism leveled

at the 1959 preparation p._ ess was that the NASA field ;.mtallatiom had not been

brought into the process enough:* Steps were taken during 1960 to correct this

deficiency. 6s

If the long-range plan was to be used as an overall blueprint for future

administrative action, it would require a preparation and execution system far

more comprehensive than the one prevailing in NASA at the end of 1960. Starring, budgeting, and organizing factors would have to be added to the listing of

desirable scientific and technical possibilities. "s

t U.S. Congrem, Home, Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1961 NASA Authorization,

Hearings on H.R. 10246, 86th Cong., 2d seu. (Washington: GPO, 1960), pp. 485-486.

"See Workpaper No. 2 cited in foomote 61. Exhibit B consists of a memo from Homer

to the Headquarters Directors, Mar. 22, 1960. Subject: Planning Schedule for the 1960 Long

Phn.

sTThis criticisln was made in the final report of the Advisory Committee on Organization

(pp. 5-7) which is covered in detail later.

,e Memo, Siepert to Glennan, Jan. 13, 1961.

" Perhaps DOD had a more realistic attitude. When a DOD representative (York) was

asked if DOD had a long-range plan similar to NASA's, the response was that it did not.

The reason given was that DOD's space program was tied to the overall defense program and

could not be formulated independently. See Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal

Year 1961, p. 508.
132 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

B. Finance

NASA activity in the area of finance was substantial during 1960. Much

of this activity centered around NASA's efforts to improve its financial management system. The 1959 traumas concerning White House and congressional

funding support were not repeated during 1960. Of course, NASA had to live

with 1959 funding decisions, which made budget execution an especially important

function.

NASA's 1960 financial activities were complex. Three fiscal years were

invol.ved---execufing the fiscal year 1960 budget, defending the fiscal year 1961

budget, and preparing the fiscal year 1962 budget. Important Headquarters

financial management positions were filled. A new financial management system

was developed for NASA's Marshall Center. Numerous innovations were made

in budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting. The following discussion

covers only some of the highlights.

Basic Problems Facing NASA. The basic financial management problem

facing NASA was that its activities and spending were expanding at a faster rate

than its ability to integrate and control them. The system of financial control

inherited from NACA was geared to an annual spending level of under $I00

million, most of which was spent in-house for salaries and the other expenses of

running large research laboratories. This system was inadequate for NASA

with its much larger and more diverse program, most of which was accomplished

out-of-house by means of cost-plus contracts. The problem was compounded by

the fact that the press of everyday business inhibited any drastic overhaul of the

system itself. The temptation was for NASA to meet only the fiscal requirements

imposed from the outside. The role of financial data in the overall planning and

control of internal operations was a relatively impotent one. 7°

The two basic requirements which have to be met by an agency's financial

management system are legal requirements imposed from without and managerial

requirements generated from within. The basic activities designed to meet these

requirements can be divided into three categories--budgeting, accounting, and

financial reporting. All three categories have external and internal aspects and

are closely interrelated.

To meet these requirements successfully and completely, a financial management system must be soundly conceived and expertly maintained. This involves

good procedures, optimum amounts of paperwork, command over detail (which

requires that the system be largely mechanized), and adequate manpower. Such

conditions are not easy to bring about in a new program which is growing

rapidly and which involves uncertainties and unforeseen difficulties.

During 1960 NASA grappled manfully with these problems. Some were

solved during 1960, but many carried over into 1961 and later.

'0 Memorandum, Rosenthal to Siepert, Aug. 16, 1960. Subject: "Statu._ of Financial Management System.
19 6 O---ORDERLY PROGRESS 133

Key Financial Managemem Poslaom Filled. On February 1, 1960, the

financial management activities of NASA were put under the direction of a

person brought in from the outside. The person appointed to the excepted

position of Director of Financial Management, Aaron Rosenthal, had been the

Controller of the Veterans Administration, an agency considerably larger than

NASA."

Prior to Rosenthal's appointment, almost all of the senior officials engaged

in financial activities had been carried over from NACA. T2 Most of the procedures followed had been NACA procedures. As stated earlier, these procedures

were inadequate for the type of R&D activity that NASA was engaged in. There

was a need for extensive modernization, including mechanization.

The Headquarters organization for financial management was modified

during 1960 by adding an Accounting Systems Division staffed with four highgrade professionals. The Budget Division was strengthened by adding three

high-grade budget analysts. The total financial management staff increased

from 23 to 38. n

One of the major efforts to which the attention of the Office of Financial

Management was devoted during the first half of 1960 was the development of

a financial management system for NASA's new field installation at Huntsville, Ala.

The Huntn:i_ Project. The transfer of .M3MA's Development Operations

Division to NASA presented several extremely difficult problems in the area of

financial management. Until this transfer NASA had acquired projects and

people at a slow enough rate so that they could be readily assimilated into the

NACA/NASA way of doing things. The Hun_-v-iUe transfer posed a much more

complicated problem, especially in the light of NASA's already inadequate

financial management system. It was deemed undesirable to install NASA's

existing financial management system at Huntsville, and adopting Huntsville's

existing Army system for all of NASA was unthinkable. The only viable alternative was to install a system at Huntsville which could be easily integrated into

what was hoped to be a new and improved system for all of NASA.

Initially it was hoped that agencywide budgeting, accounting, and reporting

classification codes could be developed for the Marshall Center and the rest of

NASA simultaneously. Time and manpower shortages prevented this. Developing an agencywide coding system was deferred until after the Marshall Center's

system had been imtalled/"

NASA Announcement No. 85, Feb. 2, 1960. At the same time the excepted position of

Director of Audits was filled (Raymond Einhorn). NASA Announcement No. 86, Feb. 2, 1960.

The audit function will be discussed in later chapters.

See Position Complement Lists for NASA Headquarters.

" Ibid.

:' "Summary of Meeting With .Mr. Finney, April 27, 1960." Prepared by gmenthal,

Apr. 28, 1960.
134 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 195 8--I 9 63

The objectives in developing a financial management system for the Marshall

Center were these:

1. The system should be compact, yet all embracing;

2. It should be operated and administered by the Marshall Center's Financial

Management Office as a service to the rest of the Center;

3. It should serve all levels of NASA management from the NASA Administrator down;

4. It should cover all costs, in-house and out-of-house;

5. It should permit total operating and program costs to be budgeted,

..... . .... , _A_ __I.._A _..A Axx r._ XJX_.O*XJtJtJ.I_AtaLA, _._UZil_..eJtl..4.t_,AZ_XV_, 4Xllt.i t..ULZ_L|L l|li_llllU[ ,

6. It should include accrued costs whenever feasible;

7. It should become operational by July 1, 1960, when the mass transfer

was to take place. 75

Using the basis of a preconceived "Time Phase Plan" and written "Project

Assignment Sheets," several "Project Teams," each responsible for a major segment of activity, worked diligently on the complex problems. The new system

was installed by July 1; even though there were deficiencies in the system and

even though considerable "debugging" had to be done, it was operational and

an important factor in the relatively smooth mass transfer. TM

Because so much effort had to be expended on the Huntsville project, the

work on an overall NASA financial management system was slowed. Nevertheless several important things were accomplished.

Innovations in Budgeting. Extensive changes were made in 1960 in

NASA's system of budget execution. The existing system, reflecting NACA

procedures, provided for fairly tight Headquarters control over money appropriated for S&E (Salaries and Expenses) and C&E (Construction and Equipment),

but very loose control over money appropriated for R&D (Research and Development). 'T The chief control mechanism was the quarterly allotment by which

Headquarters set ceilings on what could be spent on particular line items. The

larger the number of line items for which separate allotments were made, the tighter

would be central control.

This system was changed by reducing the number of items for which allotments were made but at the same time requiring more detailed planning on the

part of line units in advance of the time when the allotments were made. In

other words, the line units could plan, within fairly large categories, as to how

they would use the funds appropriated by Congress. When approved by Headquarters, these plans, called Financial Operating Plans (FOP's), became the

basis for making the allotments at the start of the fiscal year. 's

:_ Report, Finney to Rosenthal. Summary Progress Report No. 5. Subject: Development

and Installation of New Financial Management System at MSFC. [As of May 28, 1960.]

Memorandum, Rosenthal to Siepert, Aug. 16, 1960 (cited in .footnote 70).

=' Ibid.

_" In a draft summary of NASA's budget cycle, submitted to Sieport on Jan. 11, 1961, Rosenthai desc/ibed (pp. 7-8) the FOP system. Also see Rosenthars Memorandum for the Administrator. Subject: Fiscal Year 1961 Financial Operating Plans, Aug. 4, 1960. Allotments for
1960--"ORDERLY PROGRESS 135

Once approved, the FOP became a basic guide for operations. Changes

in the plan could be made only by following certain prescribed procedures, some

of which had to receive formal Headquarters approval. FOP's for Salaries and

Expenses were reviewed quarterly, but R&D and C2gE FOP's were reviewed

semiannually. Line emits could reprogram funds within certain limits. Beyond

that, the approval of the Associate Administrator was necessary.

Central control entered the picture only at the time the FOP's were approved

or when.departures from plan exceeded prescribed limits. The smaller number

of items for which allotments were made cut down on red tape and gave operating

line units a large spending latitude.

I_ in Accoanting. Changing an accounting system is very difficult; it is a specialized area involving a large amount of detail The NACA/

NASA system was overly detailed in certain areas (S&E) and insuffidently

detailed in others (R&D). The expanding agency workload kept the bookkeepers constantly behind, especially since almost all work was done manually.

The s)_tem was neither comprehensive nor integrated and could not supply the

detailed and current information that management needed for operational

decision making.

One of the biggest projects undertaken during 1960 (not implemented until

1961 ) was the preparation of an agenc.vwide coding structure. This was a necessary first step in the establishment of a comprehensive and integrated accounting

system as it would provide "a uniform system of accumulating costs for phnnin_,

programming, budgeting, acounting and reporting purposes throughout NASA." TM

The 16-digit coding structure devised for NASA during 1960 provided a

sixfold breakdown for each cost item. For example, a two-digit dement identified the installation (Langley, Goddard, etc.), a four-digit element the program

(each of the four digits representing a different aspect of each program), a threedigit element the project (Echo, Mercury, etc. ), a one-digit dement the fiscal year,

a three-digit dement the funding source and funding document, and a three-digit

dement the cost element (salary, rent, travel, supplies, etc.).80

A cost item is thus categorized several different ways by simply assigning

a 16-digit code to it. Totals for each category (i.e., the total of all cost items

having the same code for a particular category) can be relatively easily obtained

and the information used for whatever purposes desired.

A coding structure must be open ended so that it can be expanded as the

activities of the agency change. This was a very crucial factor for NASA because

its program changed very rapidly. The coding structure has to be soundly conceived to accumulate the right kind of cost data. The data accumulation process

is greatly improved by mechanization, and a coding structure is a necessary part

S&E were on a quarterly basis, for R&D on a semiannual basis, for C&E on a project bails.

Also see General Management Instruction No. 3-5-3, effective date June 14, 1960.

_'Memo from NASA Headquarters (Rosenthal) to Program Directors et al. Subject:

Agency-wide Coding Structure, Nov. 14, 1960.

_"Ibid.
136 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 95 8--I 9 6 3

of a mechanized system. During 1960, mechanization moved ahead in the field

centers because they had computer capability on hand and the experienced people

to assist in programing. Little progress was made in NASA Headquarters

because these elements were lacking? 1

Accounting for in-house activity was a difficult task in itself. Obtaining

meaningful and detailed data on contractor costs was even more difficult. Very

little progress in this direction was made during 1960. The importance of the

problem was recognized, however. 8_

Innovations in Financial Reporting. Reports are the usable end product

of an accounting .system and reflect what the .accounting s_tem is able te do.

The NACA/NASA accounting system was able to supply only _ fraction of the

timely information needed for management purposes. But improvements in the

reporting system had to await the improvement of the accounting system.

As a stopgap measure, the Office of Financial Management prepared a

monthlv Financial Management Highlight Report. 8s This report was first issued

for March 1960, and was usually distributed to top management within 2 or 3

days after the end of the month. It was designed to give top management a

bird's-eye view of NASA finances by comparing the actual with the planned for

such items as S&E obligations for NASA and each installation, R&D obligations

and commitments for NASA and each major program, C&E appropriation

accounts, and the agency's personnel complement?' Early reports were handtooled and based on estimated rather than actual cost figures because the accounting system could not supply actual amounts quickly enough.

Although accomplishments during 1960 in the area of financial management

were substantial, the real payoff to 1960 efforts was to have come in 1961.

Subsequent problems, many of them associated with President Kennedy's 1961

acceleration of NASA's program, put the 1960 efforts to a severe test, and not

everything planned for materialized.

To round out the discussion of 1960 NASA finance, the remainder of this

subsection is devoted to an account of the enactment of NASA's fiscal year 1961

budget and the preparation of the fiscal year 1962 budget.

Fiscal Year 1961 Budget Enacted. For Fiscal Year 1961 Congress appropriated to NASA everything the Eisenhower administration had requested, and

authorized even more. This is summarized in the following table:

'1 See the memo from Rosenthal to Stephen Grillo, Director of Administrative Services.

Subject: Mechanization of Financial Accounting and Reporting, Apr. 10, 196|. Also the

memo from Rosenthal to Siepert. Subject: Mechanization of Fiscal and Reporting Operations,

Apr. 25, 1961.

'e Memorandum, Rosenthal to Siepert, Aug. 16, 1960 (cited in footnote 70).

Ibid.

"The report is still being issued, although both format and content have changed over time.
1 9 60--'--ORDERLY PROGRESS

T_su_ 5--1

[In thousands of dollars]

137

Date

an. 18,1960

Feb. 8,1960

_far. 9, 1960

_pr. 29,1960

une I, 1960

_pr. 2o, 196o

une 22, 1960

ruty 12, 1960

an. 18,1960

Mar. 31, 1961

Action S &E R &D C &E Total

Regular budget ..................... $167, 560

Budget amendment................. 3,2o0

$545, 153 $89, 287 1802, 000

76, 300 33, 500 113, 000

Totalrequet ................. 170, 760 621,453 122, 787 915,000

Howe authm-izatiem ............... 170, 760

Senate authorization ............... i 170,760 Public Law 86-481 ................. 170, 760

House approIa'iation ................. 166, 500

Senate appropriation ................ , 170, 760

Public Law 86-626 .................. 170, 760

Supplemental request .........................

Public Law 87-14 ............................

Total requests ................

Total authodzafiom ........... I

Total appmp_aom ........... i

l

621,453 122, 787 915, (DO

671,453 127, 787 970, 000

671,453 127, 787 970, 000

602, 240 107, 275 876, 015

671, _53 122, 787 965, 000

621,453 122, 787 915, 000

49,606 ......... 40,_

49, 000 ......... 49, OOO

122, 787 964, 606

127, 787 970, 000

122, 787 964, 000

In the last chapter it was pointed out that the regular budget request of $802

million was considerably less than what NASA asked for and far below what

NASA might well have asked for in the light of the impending transfers, s_

The budget amendment of $113 million stemmed from what can be regarded

as a breakthrough in White House support for the civilian space program, together

with the realization on the part of the administration that the development of

large launch vehicles was the Nation's No. 1 space need. In December 1959

Saturn officials claimed that a year could be saved on Saturn's development by

accelerating spending during fiscal year 1961." On January 14, 1960, in a letter

to Glennan, President Eisenhower directed NASA, "... to make a study . . .

of the possible need for additional funds . . . to accelerate the superbooster pro.

gram, . . ." As a result NASA asked for an additional $125 million. BOB

anowed $113 million, of which $90 miIlion was earmarked for Saturn. This

made a total NASA budget request of $915 million.

The action of the Senate in authorizing for appropriation $55 million more

than had been requested stemmed from a feeling on the part of the Senate Space

Committee, especially its chairman, Lvndon Johnson, that NASA had been boxed

in both by BOB and its own miscalculations on how much it would cost to run

the Saturn program. Thus NASA needed some type of contingency, cushion to

m See Ch. 4, $ec. II.D.

= See Senate Hearing_, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961, pp. 22, 228.
138 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

give it operating leeway. ": Senator Johnson's great influence was evidenced by

the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate as a whole following the

Senate Space Committee's recommendations almost exactly. The action of the

Senate in appropriating more than requested offset the cuts made by the House.

The action of Congress in authorizing more than had been asked for greatly

facilitated the passage of a supplemental appropriation 9 months later.

It ks interesting to note that NASA's fiscal year 1961 Appropriation Act

cleared conference by June 30, 1960, which was before the beginning of the new

fiscal year. This feat has not been repeated since.

F_,r.,l Y_trr I0_9 R,,daot P,.o_,r_,,d Th,, _,_P h.,Ag,..* ,,,,._o,.-_e;,,_ _,,,',_ ................. e ......................... 1"* _! 1"

cedure was followed for the 1962 budget as for the 1961 budget, ss This meant

that the substantive budget analysis was done by an ad hoc team rather than a

central budget office. The strengthening of the Headquarters Budget Division

came too late in 1960 to have much effect on the preparation of the fiscal year

1962 budget.

The preparation cycle began in February 1960 when Glennan issued budget

guidelines. He declared that the 1962 estimates would be based "on the program objectives and levels outlined in the 10-year plan .... ,, s9 A budget

ceiling of $1.1 billion was established together with a personnel ceiling of 19,202

employees (which included 2,400 contractor employees for JPL). Glennan also

asked that the operating units include in their preliminary estimates information

on what 10 percent and 25 percent more money could buy, personnel numbers

being kept constant. The OLVP/OSFP interface problem was recognized in

Glennan's admonition to these two principal Headquarters program offices to

make sure that their programs were coordinated.

NASA's 1962 budget was one of the important topics discussed at NASA's

semiannual Staff Conference held in March 1960 at Monterey, Calif. 9° The

ceilings established by the guidelines were explained as being more of a baseline

than an absolute ceiling. 91 The operating units preparing the preliminary estimates were to demonstrate how additional money could improve NASA's program. Glennan pointed out that the emphasis should be put on developing

contractor capabilities rather than in-house capabilities. "_

In May the preliminary budget estimates were received by the Budget Analysis Team. The Bureau of the Budget was informed that the tentative agency

iT U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961, S. Rept. 1300, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington: GPO, 1960), p. 13.

** See Ch. 4, Sec. II.D.

Memo from Glennan to Headquarters Directorates, Feb. 2, 1960. Subject: 1962 Budget

Guidelines.

.e The conference, held Mar. 3-5, was attended by NASA's top officials. Also in attendance

was Wernher yon Braun of the not-yet-transferred Development Operations Division of ABMA.

For a list of attendees, see pp. 62-63 of the Conference Report. One of the purposes of the

conference was to give the Headquarters program directors the opportunity to discuss the budget

guidelines with the field center officials under them.

*_ See p. 37 of the Conference Report.

See p. 56 of the Conference Report.
196 O---ORDERLY PROGRESS 139

estimates totaled $1.376 billion. After additional analysis and review, however,

this amount was revised downward to $1,250 million in NASA's formal request

to BOB. Yet another downward revision in December gave a new total of $ I, 139,-

500,000. In January 1961 NASA was notified that the President's budget would

include a total of $1,1"09,630,000 for NASA, almost precisely equal to the original

"ceiling" established by Glennan's February guidelines. The Bureau had cut

NASA's R&D request by about 5 percent but increased S&E and C.2kE slightly so

that the overall cuts amounted to about 2.6 percent? a

Before NASA's fiscal year 1962 budget was enacted into law, President Eisenhower's January 1961 request was amended upward by over $650 million by the

Kennedy administration. This upward revision was part of Kennedy's accelerated

space program and will be discussed in later chapters.

C. Personnel

Although there was no overhaul of NASA's personnel policies and practices

during 1960 in the same manner that procurement had been overhauled in 1959

or financial management in 1960, there were several devdopments of note.

Growth in tiw Number of NASA Employees. During 1960 the total number of NASA employees increased from 9,567 to 16,042, an increase of 68 percent.

Most of this increase was accounted for by the mass transfer of over 4,000 personnel from the Army to NASA as part of the transfer of ABMA's Development

Operations Division to NASA. NASA Headquarters increased 45 percent (up

204 employees) and Goddard 68 percent (up 764 employees). All other installations taken together increased by only 140 employees. The Marshall Center

accounted for all the rest. Some installations declined in size slightly?"

Personnel Comt_mmt Ceiling Problems. Throughout most of its history,

NASA has operated within an overall personnel complement ceiling. At certain

times this ceiling has been imposed from without, at other times from within. In

some cases the ceiling has been little more than a gentlemen's agreement between

NASA and either Congress or the Bureau of the Budget. The mount of the

appropriation requested for salaries was based on a certain number of employees.

If the request was trimmed by BOB or Congress, the number of employees was

cut back accordingly, even though this was never explicitly written into the appropriation acts. Representative Albert Thomas, chairman of the Independent

Offices Subcommittee of the House Appropriatiom Committee, was especially

interested in personnd totals, and NASA's adherence to the total upon which the

appropriation was based was done primarily in deference to him. Whenever

_A "Chronology of Budget Preparation--Fiscal Year 1962" for NASA can be found on

pp. 170-171 of Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1962.

Wallops Station and the Western Operations Office became independent field installations for reporting purposes on Jan, 1, 1960. Previously the Wallops employees were included

as part of Langley and WOO as part of Flight Research Center. See App. C.

|
140 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

departures from the numbers originally agreed to were contemplated, they were

cleared with him before any action was taken. 95

The Eisenhower administration was also interested in total personnel numbers

and attempted (and at times succeeded) to reduce the overall number of executive

branch employees. NASA, being new and expanding, was never able to meet

the Eisenhower objective of annual personnel reductions of from 2 to 3 percent.

Even though personnel numbers grew while Glennan was Administrator,

there was a fair amount of feeling within NASA that he was too diligent in keeping

the total number down26 This, of course, was in keeping with his deference to the

wishes of President Eisenhower and with the Dryden/NACA tradition which he

inherited.

At the March 1960 Staff Conference, Glennan expressed the idea that there

was a need for some kind of arbitrary limitation on NASA's sizeY By limiting

the number of employees, NASA would limit its in-house capability and thus be

forced to develop the capabilities of contractors in the course of expanding its

space program. °8 Subsequent discussion at the conference revealed that the field

centers were very unhappy with the various limitations imposed upon them in

the personnel area. s° Some of these limitations (e.g., budget controls on salaries

and promotions) had been imposed by the Office of Business Administration in

NASA Headquarters, others were related to the overall personnel ceilings

associated with Glennan, BOB, and Congress. 1°0

The personnel ceiling (excluding JPL) suggested in Glennan's February

1960 budget guidelines for fiscal year 1962 was 16,802. This was only 429, or

less than 3 percent, above the total authorized for fiscal year 19617 °1 The

Kennedy administration's space program acceleration resulted in an actual increase

of 43 percent.

"Excepted Position" Developments. x°2 When NASA was given the authority (in the Space Act) to establish and fill 260 excepted positions at salaries above

the GS-15 rate, the decision to give NASA the jurisdiction over the Nation's superbooster program had not been made. This large addition to its program, and the

transfer of ABMA's Development Operations Division along with it, prompted

ss The information in this paragraph is a synthesis of the views of Robert Lacklen and

Ralph Ulmer in telephone conversations, September 1963.

**This statement is based on the general impression gained from interviews with numerous

NASA ofliicals.

s_[Summary of] NASA Staff Conference, Monterey, Calif., Mar. 3-5, 1960, p. 56.

u Ibid.

s, Memo, Glennan to Siepert, Mar. 7, 1960. Glennan asked Siepert to "clarify, at the

earliest poss_le date, the salary-promotion-complement limitation situation discussed with so

much vigor on the West Coast." Glennan asked that whatever could be done internally should

be done.

The stringent budget controls on promotions, the chief complaint, were discarded in

1960. Letter, Siepert to the author, Dec. 23, 1964.

l_Compare Glennan's 1962 Budget Guidelines with the "Sumn3. ary Financial Plan for

Fiscal Year 1961, NASA" submitted to BOB on Aug. 19, 1960.

_For a more complete summary, see Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal

Year 1961, pp. 371-375.
1960--"--ORDERLYPROGRESS 14.1

NASA to ask for an additional 30 excepted posidorm The need for 30 additional

posidom stemmed primarily from the fact that the ratio of such posidom to the

total number of professional positiom was much lower in the Development Operadons Division than in existing NASA field installations. The Army-NASA

tmn.der plan provided that 18 of the Development Operations Division's 19 highlevel positions would be transferred to NASA. Since top-level Marshall Center

officials would compare themselves with their peers in NASA rather than with

their former cohorts in the Army, it was necessary for morale _ to bring

Marshall in line with the rest of NASA. It was estimated that an additional 36

positions would be necessary to do this. The establishment of the Marshall Center

would also require the establishment of several high-level positiom in NASA Headquarters. NASA decided, however, that its overall requirement could be met

with a total of 290 excepted positions, plus the 18 high-level positions u'an.derred

from the Army. x°s

NASA's March 1, 1960, request for the 30 additional positiom received the

approval of both BOB and the Civil Service Commission. In a March 31, 1960,

letter to the Senate Space Committee, the Chairman of the Commission, Roger

Jones, stated that the Commission preferred a Government-wide solution to the

pay problems of high-level executive and technical positiom, but that the NASA

situation was an emergency one which could not await a general solution. The

Commission felt that NASA's request was "a modest and thoroughly defensible

extension in view of the President's recent decisiom to enlarge substantially the

NASA responsibilities in development of superboosters and m transfer to NASA

the Army space team under Dr. yon Braun." lo4

Congress authorized the additional 30 positiom lo6 and by the end of 1960

all but 27 of the 290 overall total had been established.

New NASA Civil Service Examination. _°s One of the items NASA had

inherited from NACA was its tailormade civil service examination system. NACA

had filled its professional technical positions from a register based on the Aeronautical Research Scientist (ARS) examination, an examination fitted to NACA's

requirements and used rarely by other agencies. The ARS examination was

competitive, unwritten, and unassembled, and was used to fill positions from

GS-5 to GS-15. Ratings were made on the basis of an evaluation of education

and experience, with the goal of selecting precisely the type of person who would

best contribute to NAC_,A's research effort.

xmOf the 30 additional positions requested, 3 were in the "above $19,000" category, raising

the total in this category to 13. In March 1960, nine had been filled, one was eanna_ed for

yon Braun, one for the Director of OLVP in He.adquarters (at that time being filled by an

AF general), and two were left for a reserve.

_"The Mar. 31, 1960, letter is reprinted on pp. 374-375 of Senate Hearings, NdS_/

Authorization for Fiscal Year 1961.

l,a Public Law 86-481, June 1, 1960, NASA's Fiscal Year 1961 Authorization Act.

10, Most of the data on this topic were furnished by Dr. Allen Gamble of NASA's Personnel

Division.
142 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 195 8--1963

NACA's movement into space-related research after 1955 made the ARS

examination obsolescent, and the transition to NASA speeded up the obsolescence

process even further. Updating the ARS examination was an early order of

business for NASA's Personnel Office. The person assigned to the task was

Dr. Allen Gamble, the person who had developed the ARS examination for

NACA, and who had returned to NASA in November 1958 after 3 years with

the National Science Foundation.

By June 1959, Gamble was able to convince the Civil Service Commission

that a complete revision of the ARS examination was necessary, even though it

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vv v_xI.L _X_ _A_.IA _ _Z_, _AA_A Atl'.,.z _L_ _tl_tl_._tJtU.LJtl_ i_,. Jl. JL|_ _ULJLLLIJI.I_LUJLJL _I._A _.t.A.A,

but wanted the revision to be completed as quickly as possible. Several thorny

problems delayed matters. One was the Commission's reluctance to go along

with Gamble's standards for determining entrance grade and salary. (Gamble

wanted to be able to reward graduate students and superior students.)

By December 1959 a reasonably well-polished draft of a revised examination

was ready for distribution to NASA's field installations for comment. 1°8 These

comments were sought before the examination was presented to the Commission

for final approval. The name of the draft examination was "Aero-Space Technologist." Replies were received during December 1959 and January 1960.

During the first half of 1960, the draft was extensively revised to meet both

the requirements of the Commission and the suggestions of the field centers. The

revised draft, dated July 1, 1960, was distributed to the field centers.for further

comment and the Civil Service Commission for approval. 1°9 The wording on

the title page of the revised draft is revealing:

• . . Examination for Professional Positions in Aero-Space Technology . . • for

work in Aero-Space functions of Research, Development, Design, Operations, Administrative Management, Information, for College Graduates with Degrees in appropriate fields of Physical Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or in certain specialties

of Biology, Medicine, Psychology, social science, or other fields if supplemented by

special qualifications ....

Enclosed with the submission to the Commission was a "Justification of

College Education Requirement for Professional Aero-Space Technology Administrative Management and Information Positions in the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration." 2,0 This was the major substantive area to which

the Commission had not already given its prior approval. It proved to be the

item to which the Commission objected most strenuously. NASA's argument

was that a certain number of administrative and information positions in NASA

_ See Gamble's Memo of Record, June 8, 1959.

_u Gamble's cover memo is dated Dec. I 1, 1959.

t** Draft sent to the Civil Service Commission with Gierman's letter to Jones, July 15, 1960.

Draft distributed to NASA field installations on July 19, 1960. Gamble's seven-page cover

memo compares the July 1960 draft with the December 1959 draft.

_s Dated July 1, 1960.
1960-"=ORDERLYPItOGRESS 14.3

required "close working contacts with scientists and engineers," a "working knowledge of scientific and engineering terminology and concepts," and an understanding

of the various problems peculiar to an R&D organization. NASA proposed

that some amount of education in the engineering, physical, or biological sciences

be required for anyone cons/dered for such positions.

The Commission replied that it was not convinced that "specific course-work

in science . . . is an absolute prerequisite to the acquisitions of knowledge of an

agency's sdentific programs which is needed for technical administrative pos/-

tion_" m The Commission felt that the NASA proposal would violate the

Veterans' Preference Act which provides that "No minimum educational requiremerit wiIl be prescribed in any civil service examination except for such scientific,

technical, or professional positions the duties of which the Civil Service Commission decides cannot be performed by a person who does not have such education."

The Commission, emphasizing the importance of work experience and the fact

that educational requirements were primarily screening devices, argued that the

Federal Service Entrance Examination (FSEE) provided a good basis for obtaining highly qualified candidates for "entrance level management pos/tions." The

Commission went on to say: "In the light of the relatively small number of management positions in NASA to be filled and the supply of well-qualified pxanpective

candidates, it would be both unnecessary and undesirable to include administrative

management and information positions in the proposed examination

anIlounce_lellt."

The end result was to leave the administrative area for later negotiation

(discussed in Ch. 8) and proceed in the scientific and engineering fields. On

December 6, 1960, the Commission approved a two-part AeroSpace Technology

examination, m Part A covered work in the physical sdences, engineering, and

mathematics. Part B covered work in the life scicnces and rclated fields. No

written test was required. Applicants submitted to NASA a Standard Application Form 57, a transcript of college coursework, and certain pertinent papers,

all of which were then evaluated by NASA professionals sitting as a Board of

U.S. Civil Service Examiners. (The degree requirement for engineers was unique

to NASA.) The applicant would be given a rating score and placed on the

register of eligibles for the particular spedalty for which the applicant was best

suited. In 1960 these spedalty registers numbered over 40.

The chief benefit that NASA has derived from having its own examination

system is that it gives the agency the hiring flexibility to keep pace with the fastchanging technology upon which its program is based. Espousers of the AST

examination have listed four major features: ( 1 ) It is work centered; (2) it uses

an interdisciplinary approach; (3) it emphasizes demonstrated ability in contrast

""Letter, Jones to GIenmm, Aug. 23, 1960.

"" See USCSC Announcement No. 252B, Parts A and B. Part C, "Research and Development Administration," was approved June 15, 1962, and will be discussed in later chapters.

215--8920---6_,-----11
144 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY O1_ NASA, 1958--1963

with experience only; (4) it is scored by NASA's own professionals who are

experts in the specialties they evaluate. 11s

Training. An agency such as NASA whose program is on the frontiers

of knowledge has to promote the self-development of its employees to be assured

that they stay abreast of the latest scientific, technical, and professional developmerits. On the other hand, the workload of a new agency in getting a large-scale

program going is so great that the use of resources for training, which has primarily

long-range benefits, is greatly inhibited.

Until the end of 1960 almost all of NASA's training activities were related

had been carried over from NACA. An apprentice training program was designed to train, both in the classroom and on the job, the skilled crafunnen such as

machinists, instrument makers, model makers, etc., needed to support the in-house

research effort in the NACA/NASA research laboratories. A co-op students program was designed to support engineering students while they were still in school

with a view to recruiting them for regular employment with NACA/NASA IJpon

graduation. A graduate study program, one of NASA's largest in number of

participants, provided a means by which agency employees were encouraged to

take graduate _:ourses at local universitie._ 1_4 NASA professionals often taught

graduate courses at nearby universities, as well.

It was recognized early that NASA's chief deficiencies in the training area

were in the administrative, managerial, and executive development areas. The

Eisenhower administration was especially concerned _'bout executive development

and Glennan took upon himself the responsibility to push for a NASA executive

development program? :5

In February 1960, NASA's Personnel Division appointed an Employee

Development Officer in its Examination and Standards Branch. ::_ High priority

was given to the formulation of an executive development program. A draft

proposal was completed by NASA's Personnel Division by the middle of July? _

The draft proposal declared that NASA recognized that "the quality of its

executive leadership is a key factor in fulfilling the agency's mission." _18 NASA's

policy was to have "a comprehensive program for the selection, appraisal, and

professional development of its executives to insure maximum utilization of their

"" See "The Utilization of Technical Personnel in the Space Age," an address by Hugh

Dryden at the Engineering Manpower Conference, Denver, Colo., May 8, 1961.

n'See "Annual Training Report" for fiscal years 1960, 1961, and 1962, prepared by the

NASA Personnel Division. At the Apr. 25, 1960, meeting of the Space Exploration Program

Council, Abbott discussed the Apprentice Training Program at Langley and revealed that the

number of potential trainees had declined to the point where the future of the program was

in jeopardy.

" See Annual Training Report for fiscal year 1960, p. 1. Also Glennan's memo to Lacklen,

Aug. 1, 1960.

u, Position Complement List for NASA Headquarters, Mar. 3 I, 1960.

_ "NASA Executive Development Program," July 15, 1960.

_' Ibid., p. 1.
1960-"'-OItDERLY PROGRESS 145

skills and to provide a reasonable reserve of talent qualified to move into positions

of major executive responsibility as future needs of the organization develop." 119

The word "comprehensive" aptly describes the program recommended in the

draft proposaL Basically, there were only two aspects to it. One was to identify

and inventory the pc6itiom and individuals, generally GS-14's and above, that

would profit by executive training. The other was to develop an individual training plan for each lXaXm selected. In tailoring the training plan to the individual,

a wide variety of training devices were listed: Extended residence maiy, short

courses, off-duty study, selected readings, staff conferences, understudying, etc.

The proposal was never implemented. One reason was that it was almost too

idealistic in attempting to tailor individual training plans to such a large number

of individuals. A second reason was that a slight shift in priorities took place.

The shift was away from executive development and toward the development of

project managers. 11°

The project manager was a key person in the successful accomplishment of

NASA's program objectives. In most cases NASA's existing program managers

were excellent technical people but lacked experience in managing large projects.

In view of this condition, Glennan agreed that emphasis should be placed on "a

training program to improve our competence in project maaagem,ra." m The

only way that NASA could do this on a large scale was to do it on the job.

NASA hired a contractor, Harbridge House, Inc., to develop and present

2-week trainingcoursesin projectmanagement, m The courses,beginningin

December 1960, were held at relativelyisolatedlocationssuch as Williamsburg,

Va. They were atteaded by personnel from all NASA installadom. Attendance

was not limited to project management personnel alone, but included general

adnfmistraftve types. Books such as Barnard's The Function o[ the Executive

and Metcalf and Urwick's Dynamic Administration were used to stimulate

thought. The main empha.6s was on a amber of case studies prepared by the

contractor from actual, but camouflaged, R&D problems faced by NASA and

DOD. Top NASA officials addressed the participants as did top mmmge_ from

private industry.

It is generally agreed that the "seminars," as they were called, were quite

successfuL Participants were able to "share each other's operating experiences

and to point up areas of practice where the talents of individuals and capabilities

of the facilities in different Centers could be more fully and- directly utilized as the

role of the project manager is clarified and procedures for tapping these resoutr_

worked out." 1" A certain measure of agencywide uniformity in project manus Ibid.

u'See Glennan's letter of Aug. 5, 1960, to Mr. Ralph Beam, president of Cleveland's

Electric Illuminating Co. This switch in emphasis probably stemmed from findings made in

the course of the evaluation being made of NASA's organization and contracting by the Kimpmn

Committee and McKimey & Co. This evaluation is discussed later in this chapter.

mMemo, Glennan to Sieperg Sept. 1, 1960. This was recommended by McKinsey & Co.

See footnote 165 below.

m Contract NASw-200.

'_""Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report . . . For Quarter Ending December 31, 1960,"

p. 7.
146 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

agement was achieved by the simple fact that the participants, with exceedingly

diverse backgrounds, could meet together and exchange ideas. The seminars,

inasmuch as attendance was not confined to project management personnel only,

also helped to achieve some of the objectives of an executive development program.

Other Personnel Develolnnents. NASA's Personnel Division, prior to

July 5, 1960, performed the function of servicing Headquarters personnel in

addition to its broader functions of giving overall direction to NASA's personnel

program and establishing agencywide policies and procedures. This condition

tended to diffuse the efforts of Division personnel and muddy their priority

pattern. Servicing Headquarters personnel required a slightly different focus

than the generalistic orientation of servicing agencywide activities. The problem

was solved by establishing a Headquarters Personnel Office as an autonomous

branch withinthePersonnelDivision. t_'

In the fallof 1960, NASA's PersonnelDivisionaddresseditselfto the

problernof establishinga system for evaluatingpersonnelmanagement in all

agency installationsand correctingdeficiencieswhen discovered.Such a system

would requirethatperformancestandardsbc clearlystatedand that impcctions

bc conducted to make surethatthe standardswcrc being met.1_s This type of

activitywould become more and more important as the CivilServiceCommission'speriodof gracefornew agenciescame to an end. Ittook about 2 years

forthesysterntobc established.

D. Procurement/Contracting

During 1960 NASA contracted with an outside consulting firm (McKinsey

& Co.) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of its contracting practices and

procedures. This important study is discussed in a separate section later in

this chapter.

Some of the contracting procedures established in 1959 and discussed in

the last chapter were refined during 1960, but no major changes were made?"

Contracts tot Services, The large number of requests in early 1960 for

legaladvice on servicecontractsprompted NASA's General Counsel Officeto

issuea 10-pagememorandum asa firststepinclarifyingNASA's policyconcerning

them? 2. Fuller clarification came in 1963 and the following is intended only

as a brief summary of the problem as NASA encountered it in 1960.

Historically it has been the policy of the Government, as evidenced by many

m NASA Announcement No. 165, June 30, 1960. Subject: Establishment of Headquarters

Personnel Office.

r_ See Oct. 13, 1960, Memorandum by Grove Webster. Subject: Personnel Management

Evaluation for NASA.

a'The major entries in the Federal Register were as follows: 25 F.R. 403, Jan. 19, 1960

(Source Selection Boards, Procurement Advisor Committees); 25 F.R. 2100, Max. 12, 1960

(Source Selection Boards); 25 F.R. 10766, Nov. 11, 1960 (Patents);. 25 F.R. 10763, Nov. 11,

1960 (Contracts).

t_ Memorandum for Director of Business Administration from Paul Dembling, Auistant

General Counsel, Apr. 26, 1960. Subject: Contracts for Services.
1960---'ORDER.LYPROGRESS 147

decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States, that regular employees

of the Government responsible to the Government and subject to Government

supervision shall perform the services nece_z:ry in connection with governmental

activities.

However, it has }x'en recognized in many recent studies and reports, including

the so-called Bell Committee report, that the requirements of pmgrmm in the

field of research, development, test, and engineering have entailed drastic alteration of traditional concepts of conducting Government business. This is especially

true in NASA which has found it increasingly necessary to contract out services

which have been or theoretically could be performed by civil service employees.

The factors which are considered by NASA contracting offices prior to

contracting out of services include the following:

I. The services require special knowledge or skills not readily available

through the Civil Service.

2. Performance of the services requires the furnishing and use of special

equipment not readily available to the Government.

3. The services are temporary or intermittent, thus making impracticable

the full-time employment of Government personneL

4. Contracting for the seawices is more economical than performance by

Government employee_

5. The services are of such a nature that direct supervision by Government

employees is not required.

6. The services are to be pedorrned at the contractor's plant or elsewhere

off the Government installation.

7. Industry norrfl_- contracts out for the services required.

On the basis of these factors, NASA's General Counsel Office felt that most

of the requests made by the field centers at that time (early 1960) would be

allowable if the contracts were carefully written and thoroughly justified.

Procur_mmt Act/v/_ Trends. The data in the following table depict stone

of the im_t trends in NASA's procurement activities: tu

Number_ actiom.

Percentprivate _ ..................

Total value................................

Percent Government .....................

Pta_ent private business ..................

(Percent to small busines) ............

(Pet_mt by m_tion) ..............

Fuw.al year

1959

(9 months)

_/, 000

98

_13, 000, 000

41

(17)[

(68)

Fiscal year

1960

44, 000

95

$S37, 000, 000

32

52

(17)

(82

94, OOO

89

$756,ooo, ooo

29

$6

(15

(91

us Data for Fiscal Year 1959 and Fiscal Year 1960 taken from "NASA Procurement, October

1, 1958, to June 30, 1960" and for Fiscal Year 1961 from "Annual Procurement Report, Fiscal

Year 1961."
148 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

These figures hide the fact that much of the dollar value went to a very

small number of firms in a small number of states. For example, in fiscal year

1961, 50 percent of the value of all awards to business went to seven firms.

Seventy-two percent of the value of "direct action procurements over $25,000"

was placed with prime contractors in California (39 percent), New York (12

percent), Missouri (11 percent), and Alabama (10 percent).

In fiscal year 1961, 34 percent of the total value of all procurement was

procured through the Marshall Center and 21 percent through the Goddard

Center. In fiscal year 1960, before Marshall had been established, Langley,

Headq,__artem_ _.d C.oddard accounted for 9_ rm.rcent nf the total value of all

procurements.

E. Program Integration

NASA was formed primarily by bringing together separate and sometimes

diverse programs, projects, organizational units, ideas, etc. This "bringing together," or consolidation process, kept NASA in a constant state of flux for many

months. The first good opportunity to "amalagamate" or "integrate" NASA's

"brought together" program came in connection.with planning for fiscal year

1961. it* The effort to integrate NASA's program was made on a broad front

and involved a variety of devices, Several devices already discussed were the

long-range plan, the system of financial operating plans, and the personnel complement ceiling. The main thrust in program integration came from the Office

of the Associate Administrator. Committee and conference approaches were

also u_ll,ed.

Problems Relating to the Ogwe of the Associate Administrator..As pointed

out in chapter 3, the Office of the Associate Administrator was established primarily at the insistence of Glennan who wanted a high-level official to have

jurisdiction over all of NASA's internal operations? s° The operations of the

several Headquarters program offices and the several field installations were put

under the day-to-day jurisdiction of an officer just one level below the two political

appointees, the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

Two factors made it difficult, initially, for the Associate Administrator to

control the elements under him. First, the top prograr_ and administrative

directors (Crowley, Silverstein, Siepert) were powerful individuals in their own

right. All were on the scene several months before the position of Associate

Administrator was filled. Second, the former NACA laboratories had had a

history of partial autonomy and built-in resistance to central controk

The tripartite division of programs under the Associate Administrator (Research, Development, Administration) was natural and relatively simple, and

the control and integrating problems were not beyond the capabilities of one man

a'The early planning for fiscal year 1961 had to be drastically revised because of the

decision to transfer the Saturn project to NASA.

See Ch. 3, Sec. II.C.
196G---'_RDERLYPROG_SS 149

and a small staff. As additional field installations and Headquarters program

offices were established, and as the number of programs and projects increased,

control and integrating problems multiplied, probably geometrically. Especially

thorny was the interface problem stemming from the establishment of two separate Headquarters program offices in the developmental area---one for launch

vehicles, the other for spacecraft, m

During 1960 the hand of the Associate _ in controlling NASA's

overall program was greatly mengthened. Part of this strengthening was organizational, part was proceduraL

OTl_ C/ta_. In terms of sheer numbers, the Office of the Assodate Administrator increased from 6 to 25 during 1960. m Most of the increase

was accounted for by the establishment of two new suboffices--the O4tice of

Program Management and the Office of Reliability and Systems Analysis,

The Office of Program Management (sometimes called the Office of Program Analysis and Control) was established during February and March 1960.

This Office, about 12 persons in size, was given the responsib'dity for "integrating,

formalizing, recording, and presenting program plans and reports" under a Program Management System. m (The Program Management System is descnl_i

a little later.)

The Office of Reliability and Systems Analysis was established in March

1960. This Office was given overall responsibility for NASA's reliability program. _' Included in this responsibility was the quantitative evaluation of

NA_A's programs and a definition of the tl,_-hrli_ai _ that had to be

overcome. This Office was attached to the Associate Administrator, so it could

supply him with some of the detailed information needed to evaluate and direct

NASA's program. The Office was staffed almost entirely by mathematicians

and emphasis was placed on the statistical probability approach in determining

tenability.

In addition to the escabiishment of two suboffices, the Office of the Asmciate

Administrator was strengthened by the establishment of several "deputy"- and

"assistant"-type positions. Two special assistants (one excepted, the other military) had been appointed during 1959. In January !960 a Deputy Associate

m See Ch. 4, See_ V.EL

See PositionComplementLists forNASA Headquarten.

m AdministrativeRegulationand Procedure6-2-3, May 5t 1960. Subject: NASA Program

Maliagement System.

"" Pr_paratiom for the mtablishment of a reliability program were begun in 1959. Gieamm

called it "an activity which should be activated juat as seen as poetic" (Memo, Glennan to

Homer, Nov. 16, 1959). The objectives of the program were to quantitatively mearmm

the reliability of existing components, to determine what bad to be done technically to inereale

reliability, and to devise a method for area-lag that what should be done was done. An individually tailored reliability program would be established for specific systems. The several programs _ould be carried out by the field centers and NASA contractors under the guidance of

Reliability Steering Committees. (See Golovin's presentation at March 1960 Staff Conference,

pp. 50-54 of the Conference Report.)
150 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Administrator (a $19,000 excepted position) was appointed to share the fun scope

of the Associate Administrator's functions? ss

Homer's resignation as of July 15, 1960, brought about further changes.

His successor, Robert Seamans, did not report for duty until September 1._se

During this interim Olennan assumed the duties of Associate Administrator? sT

Homer agreed to remm to NASA as a consultant in order to brief Seamans after

his arrival. The Deputy Associate Administrator (Golovin), who had also

resigned (as of August 31 ), agreed to serve as a consultant to shepherd NASA's

fledgling reliability program.

Seamans attempted to give a more formal structure to his Office by establishing, in October, two positions directly under him--an Assistant Administrator

for Pmgi-ams and an Assistant Administrator for Resources. The Assistant

Administrator for Programs was given "staff responsibility for assuring adequate

conception, programming, integration, and execution of NASA research and development projects." m He also supervised the two suboffices and served as acting

Associate Administrator when Seamans was absent.

The Assistant Administrator for Resources was given "staff responsibility

for amaring adequate programming, coordination, and use of resources and services

as required to carry out approved NASA operating plans and programs of all

types. ''m This involved the "allocation and utilization of manpower, funding,

facilities and service support arrangements .... "_

The two positions were filled by detailing relatively high-ranking officials

from other Headquarters offices. Perhaps the chief significance of these positiom

was in their being the first step toward the establishment of an Office of Programs

in 1961man event which gave the Associate Administrator the staff capability to

cope with NASA's mounting integration problems.

Procedural Devdopnumts. In 1960 NASA established what was called a

Program Management System. m This system was basically a reporting system

designed to keep track of what was going on and compare it with what had been

planned for. For each project which the Associate Administrator chose for

mNASA Announcement No. 71, Jan. 18, 1960. Subject: Arrival of New Deputy

date Administrator. The person appointed, Dr. Nicholas Golovin, came to NASA from ARPA.

if'Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., was born in 1918. He received a B.S. from Harvard,

and an M.A. and Ph.D. from MIT. He held various teaching and project management

pmitions at MIT and was director of MIT's flight control laboratory in 1955 when he became

a high-level manager of RCA. He had served on NACA Advimry Committem and was a

member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Air Force when he came to NASA. NASA

Announcement No. 173, July 19, 1960. Subject: Appointment of Associate Administrator.

m NASA Circular No. 93, Aug. $, 1960. Subject: Interim Operating Plant--Office of

the /mociate" Administrator.

as NASA Circular No. 110, Oct. 21, 1960. Subject: Establishment of Positiom of Amistant

Administrator for Programs and Assistant Administrator for Remurces---Oflice of Associate

Administrator.

"" Ibid.

u_ Ibid.

m Administratlve Regulation and Procedure No. 6-2-3, May 5, 1960. Subject: NASA

Program Management System.
1960----ORDERLYPROGRESS 151

inclusion in the system, a master _ Management Plan (PMP) was prepared. This plan stated who does what and when. "Action Milestones" were

identified and used as checkpoints to measure progress.

A reporting cycle was established based on biweekly progress reports. This

"Report of Progress Against Program Requirements" was prepared by the contractor or NASA imtallation doing the work. It included information on all

"milestones" scheduled for completion during the reporting period and any other

data that would alter the original PM_. The progress report was then routed

through the NASA project officer, the Headquarters program office, and ended up

in the Office of Program Analysis and Control On the basis of the report, a

revised PMP was prepared. The progress of a project was tracked in a systematic

way and all levels of management informed accordingly.

Overall monitoring of the system, including the revision of the PMP's, was

the function of the Office of Program Analysis and Control It was also the

responsibility of _ Office to "Provide the Associate Administrator with appraisals

of project and program consistency and progress against plans in respect to schedules, resources, and overallNASA plans and objectives...." m The first project

covered by the system was Tam, followed by Mercury and Saturn. m

The PMP system was supplemented by the more sophisticated PERT system

in 1961.1" In the meantime the PMP system served two very useful purposes.

First, it educated NASA on what a reporting system was like and what it could

do. Second, it was NASA's first disciplined scheduling system and was a sharp

contrast to the NACA "level of effort" environment where deadlines were not as

serious as in a complex flight development system.l"u

Biw_kl_ Pro_-t Status _. The PM'P system generated information

which pinpointed problems. 1"e Identifying problems, however, is only the fnst

step in thdr solution. In August 1960 GIennan inaugurated a system of biweekly

meetings at which specific problems were analyzed and solutions worked out right

on the spot." This "Review for the Administrator" was meshed with the PMP

reporting cycle and was chaired by the Associate Administrator. It was attended

by the top one or two ofliciah from the two major program development offices,

"Ibid.

m See p. 49 of the report o/the Staff Coherence of March 1960.

"" The PERT system is discumed in later chapten,. The PMP system wm dew.loped in.house

by personnel who had come to NASA from various elements of the Department of Defeme. In

addition to the in-house effort, a contract was entered into with Ramo-Wooldridse (NASw--145)

for a study of the problems o/manaSenmat and pr6sram control, gamo-Wooldridge pmlamd

a "NASA Management and Control System" in its final report of Nov. 30, 1960. By then the

PMP system was well underway. Instead of using the gamo-Wooldridge system for the next

generation of systems, NASA chose to adapt the PERT system to NASA.

"Based on telephone conversation with Walter Haase of NASA Headquarters, Sept. 26,

1963.

m According to Walter Haa_ of NASA Headquarters, the PMP system revealed wide

discrepancies (up to 6 months) between the schedules for a spacecraft and the schedules for

the companion hunch vehicle. (Telephone conversation, Sept. 26, 1963.)

_ See Robert King's memo m Ostrander and Silverstein, Aug. 24, 1960. Subject: Initiation

of Review for the Administrator.
152 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

OSFP and OLVP, with lesser officials brought in only when needed. These

biweekly meetings were discontinued after Glennan's departure.

The Stag Conference. Twice a year NASA's top officials met together

to discuss what NASA was doing, where the agency was headed, and what problems were being encountered. Glennan personally initiated the semiannual conference as a device for promoting Headquarters-field communications. Although

the conferences were not decision making institutions, the exchange of information

and views often led to the solution of problems and prevented others from

occurring.

For example_ the repo_ of the .March 1Q_N ,,.,_t ...... L-la -. "at ........

Calif., reveals that several thorny administrative problerns were discussed. The

former NACA laboratories complained that they were being caught in a vise?**

Their workload was increasing, primarily because of the demands placed on

them by NASA Headquarters, but at the same time they were all but being forced

to decrease their total staff. The ovcraU dollar limitation on salary cxpcme,

imposed by Headquarters, was forcing the field center to reduce total numbers

of employees to meet the costs of in-grade pay increases and grade promotions.

Another problem was that NASA's Research Advisory Committee system was" not

working out as planned and required a certain amount of revision. 1.°

The Space Exploration Program Council ($EPC). The contribution of

the semiannual conference toward agency integration was real but somewhat

intangible. The establishment of the SEPC was intended to promote agency

integration still further. The Council was formed in 1960 to "provide a mechanism for the timely and direct resolution of technical and managerial problems

that arc common to all Centers engaged in the space flight program." is0

The Council met quarterly in the Office of the Associate Administrator and

was composed of a small number of very high officiaks--the Directors of Goddard,

Marshall, and JPL (Goett, yon Braun, and Pickering); the Directors of the

Headquarters Program Offices, except for Life Sciences (Abbott, Silvcrstein,

Ostrander, and Siepcrt) ; and, of course, the Associate Administrator and some

of his assistants. Other officials sat in from time to time, including Glennan

and Dryden. Meetings were based on a formal agenda distributed in advance.

The efficacy of the SEPC was based on the concept that high-level officials

can best solve problems, or at least arrange for the solution of problems, by

attacking them around a conference table rather than by an exchange of paper.

The exchange of views and information which meetings afforded prevented other

problems from developing. The subject matter was generally confined to space

exploration problems (i.e., NASA's flight program), as that was where the

timeliness of decisions was especially important. (Needless to say, most problems

faced by the Associate Administrator could not await the convening of a quarterannual conference.)

m See pp. 24-30 of the Conference Report.

_mSee pp. 32-33 of the Conference Report.

[Minutes of &el Space Exploration Program Council Meeting, Feb. 10-11, 1960.
1960--'-ORDEItI.,YPROGILESS 153

Problems dealt with were far ranging. The first meeting in February 1960

discussed the precise allocation of power between the Headquarters Reliability

Office and the project office in the administration of NASA's rdiability pmgranL

Attention was devoted to the problem of having launch pads available in time

for launches. The mgnagement of the Agena B program was discussed. (The

Agena B, an upper stage of a launch vehicle, is a good example of a problem

of coordination. The stage was developed by the Air Force and Lockheed and

used by both the Air Force and NASA with both Thor and Atlas first stages.

NASA used the Agena B stage in several of its programs and "interface" problems

were _tial. The coordination machinery was quite elaborate.)

The April meeting discussed over 15 separate topics ranging from NASA's

Financial Operating Plans to a discussion on when to switch Pioneer V over to its

high-power transmitter, m Subsequent meetings were held in July and September

1960, and January 1961. After Glennan's departure, no more SEPC meeting, s

were held even though several had been planned. The concept of a "supercouncil" was not abandoned; it was used later in connection with the management

of NASA's manned space-flight program.

Formal Project Atu_or/v.at/oL Prior to 1961 NASA had no standard

system for the official authorization of new projec_ The formulation of a

standard authorization procedure was undertaken in November 1960.

In anticipation of the new system, an attempt was made to draw up a list

of all projects authorized in the past.m This attempt revealed a variety of past

approval method_XU Some projects had been approved verbally only, some had

been in the budget but no formal approval action could be found, some were under

contract implying some type of formal approval, some were commitments made

in letters to outside organizations, some had appeared in a variety of places (flight

schedule, PMP's, etc.) and could be presumed to have been approved.

In January, Glennan issued a document listing all projects which had been

authorized for program execution while he had been Administrator. TM The

document was designed to give the new Administrator a base for future project

authorizatiom. At the same time NASA issued instructions for a formal system

of project approvals, m These were two of Glennan's final actions as NASA

Administrator. The January instructions were revised 4 months later. The

details of the original and revised system are presented in Chapter 7.

" Minutes, Space Exploration Program Council Meeting, Apr. 25-26, 1960.

as Memo, Cortright to Silverstein and Ostrander, Nov. 3, 1960.

"See Ostrander's Nov. 14, 1960, memo and Wyatt's Nov. 18, 1960, memo, both to Cortright

in reply to his memo of Nov. 3, 1960.

"" Document is clamfied "Confidential."

mGeneral Management Instruction No. 4-1-1, Jan. 18, 1961. Subject: Planning and

Implementation of NASA Projects.
154 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

III. ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SELF-EVAlUATION

A. Background for the Self-Evaluation Studies

"To help the Administrator assess the effectiveness of NASA philosophies of

operation and internal organization," two studies were undertaken by NASA

during 1960. TM One was a study of NASA's "contracting philosophy and the

relationship that should exist between NASA and industry. ''15' The other was a

study of NASA's overall organization. The former was done entirely by McKinsey

& Co., the management consulting firm hired by NASA on three previous occa-

=auJ.,. Jtuc rotter was aone by an ad hoc advisory committee, assisted by McKinsey

& Co. and a group of NASA personnel. Taken together, these two studies and

the reports that flowed from them give a comprehensive picture of NASA's

organization and management as it had evolved during NASA's first 2_ years.

Early thinking on the studies took place during late 1959 and the early

details were worked out by one of Glennan's dose advisers, John Corson of

McKimey & Co. m Corson and Glennan agreed that the opportunity to make

comprehensive changes in NASA's organization and procedures would not exist

too much longer; i.e., bureaucratic hardening of the arteries would make change

more and more difficult as the agency became older and larger, m

Although the two studies were interrelated and had a common origin and

although McKinsey & Co. was contracted to work on both of them, it is desirable

to discuss them separately. The contracting study is discussed first as it moved

along on a slightly earlier time frame than did the organizational study and the

information generated in the contracting study was used in the organizational

study.

B. The McKinsey Study of NASA Contracting

Obiec_iues. On February 26, 1960, NASA entered into a $65,000 contract with McKinsey & Co. for a "Management study covering the appraisal of

NASA's Contracting Policies and Industrial Relationships. ''is° The objectives of

the study were to obtain answers to several fundamental questions on how NASA

should conduct its operations. The basic question to be answered was what was

the best way for NASA to utiliTe the R&D capabilities of private industry, other

=* See p. 56 of the report of the March 1960 NASA St_ Conference.

a_ Ibid.

m It would appear that external rather than internal influences prompted the studies. The

external influences were: The suggestions of Crawford Greenwalt, president of Du Pont (Letter,

Glennan to Greenwalt, Feb. 10, 1960), and an article by John Corson, "Government and

Business: Partners in the Space Age," Manag, em#nt Review, September 1959 (Letter, Glennan

to Corson, Nov. 18, 1959).

" See Corson's Jan. 26, 1960, letter to Glennan, and Glennan's Mar. 18, 1960, memo to

the members of the Advisory Committee oi_ Organization.

m NASA Contract NASw-144. "-
t 960----OnDZaLY enoc, azss 155

Government agende_ and its own field installation_ More specifically, NASA

wanted to know what the role of its own development centers (Goddard, Marshall,

and JPL) should be in out-of-house contracting; i.e., should the centers, in connection with a specific project, behave like a prime contractor and let contracts with

several firms for the subsystems of the project, Orshould the centers merely monitor

the performance of a contractor who is given almost complete responsibility to

carry out the project? What approaches and techniques should NASA use in

supervising the operation and in evaluating the performance of its contractors?

What innovafiom should be made in the types of contracts used?

All answers were to be within the framework of NASA's 10-year pmgranh

its current in-house R&D resources, and its policy of decentralizing "major

demenls of the contracting job to the Development Centers."

M_$od. To amwer these questions, McKinsey & Co. was to engage in a

fact-finding and analysis operation with three distinct facets. Fast, McKime?

& Co. was to dosdy examine % sample of representative contracts" that NASA

had already entered into. Second, it was to "appraise the experience of other

Govenunent . . . agencies in contracting for research and development project_" such as the Navy's Polaris, the Army's Jupiter, and the Air Force's Aria&

Third, it was to "analyze the contracting approaches and techniques" then being

employed by three different organizations---Langley, a former NACA laboratory;

JPL, a contractor-operated, NASA-owned facility; and ABMA's Develoianent

Operations Division, an Army imtailafion in the process M being tramferrtd to

NASA.

On the basis of the fact-finding and analysis operation, a preliminary report

would be circulated among NASA o_ for comment. Agency comments

would then be incorporated into a final report which in effect would then become

an agreed upon blueprint for action. An original ha,get date of July 31 was

set for the final report, but this was later extended to October 31, 1960. '6t

F_s? _" The final report, almost 100 pages in length, was subnfitted

to NASA in October 1960. m It was entitled "An Evaluation of NASA's

Contracting Policies, Organization, and Performance." The report consisted

of recommendations and included some of the evidence upon which the reccmmendatiom were based. _*' The reccmmendatiom were directed primarily

toward creating a healthy overall environment for NASA's coma-acting ofmrations ,

and detailed directives on what should be changed were kept at a mlnlmnm. To

put it another way, the recommendations were designed to establish a uniform,

agencywide contracting philosophy, rather than to reveal all the little things that

may have been wrong with NASA's existing procurement system.

The lemon for the deadline extension was that the original contract wag amended to

provide for the participation of the McKimey & Co. in the study of NASA's organization.

m The parenthetical page references which follow are intended to serve as a bmide to the

contents of the final report.

" Letter of trammittal was dated Oct. 28, 1960.

1,, It is generally recognized that McKinsey & Co.'s John D. Young was primarily responsible

for the report. Two months later he was hired to head NASA's Management Analysis Division.

W
Q

156 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The recommendations can be divided into four major categories: (1) How

to achieve the optimum balance between in-house and out-of-house efforts; (2)

how best to internally allocate responsibility for NASA projects; (3) how best to

supervise out-of-house efforts; (4) how best to reorganize and strengthen NASA's

contracting machinery.

(1) To achieve the optimum in-house/out-of-house balance, the report set

forth several guidelines. NASA's in-house capability should be concentrated on

two things. One was the capability to "undertake the conceptual and preliminary design dements of development projects in each major program area . . .,"

or at least be able to "effec.tive!y ,-,_ ..... ._.d approve conceptual and preliminary

design elements of projects submitted by contractors" (p. 2-10). This capability was absolutely necessary if NASA was to fulfill its responsibilities in directing

the Nation's civilian space program. The second was the capability to design,

fabricate, assemble, test, and check out the elements of at least one vehicle (or

stage if a large one) and one spacecraft unique to each major program. The

launch vehicle and spacecraft selected for in-house attention should be the ones

which "extend the state of the art . . ." (p. 2-11 ). Being able to do a complete job, even though only a small number of launch vehicles and spacecraft

were involved, would give NASA the necessary capability to formulate realistic

requirements or specifications in soliciting proposals from contractors, to develop

realistic cost and budget items, to supervise contractor efforts, and to plan its

space program realistically.

By and large, all other developmental activity should be done by contract.

NASA's in-house conceptual and preliminary design efforts should be supplemented by the use of study contracts, primarily to educate industry (p. 2-11 ).

The detailed design, fabrication, assembly, test, and checkout of all launch vchicles and spacecraft should be contracted out except for the representative few

done in-house. All "production manufacturing efforts," including relatively

standard parts and components for in-house developmental work, should be done

by contract (p. 2-13). NASA should even go so far as to contract out "total

space vehicles," which in effect would give NASA a completed or finished product

and give industry the overall experience which they would need to support

NASA's large projects of the future. (The thought was that NASA's in-house

"systems engineering" and "systems integration" capabilities could only be spread

so far and would have to be supplemented by U.S. industry.) Finally, NASA

should contract with the scientific community for 70 to 85 percent of all spaceflight experiments, relying heavily upon universities (p. 2-14).

The report implied that if NASA adhered to these guidelines, the departures

from current tendencies would be primarily in magnitude (i.e., stepped-up outof-house effort) rather than in substance. By codifying the best of NASA's

contracting tendencies, a desirable and uniform basis to guide future actions was

established.

(2) In terms of the best internal allocation of responsibilities for NASA's

develoment projects, the report advocated a system that would keep inter-installa-
1960----ORDZRLY PROGR.ESS 157

tion coordination at a minimum. In other words, assign the execution of an

entire project to one _tion. Projects should be assigned on the ba_ of

logic and common sense (i.e., consider the capabilities and specialities of the

installation in relation to the Iximary objectives of the project, assign similar

projects to .the same installation, etc_) (pp. 3-6, 3-7).

By giving overall management responsibility for each project to a particular

field instalhtion, a decentralized system would be estabt_ed which would free

NASA Headquarters from the heavy workload of intra-project coordination and

permit it to concentrate on inter-project coordination. Headquarters would

review and approve projects in the light of the overall objectives, schedules, and

costs of the entire agency (p. 3-8).

If a decentralized system was to work, the report stated, NASA would have

to strengthen the project management capabilities of its field installations. Especially important would be the development of 10 to 20 outstanding project managers (p. 3-11 ). The report stated this in very emphatic terms. The z_msibilities of the projectmanager would be manifold. He should participate in the

initial planning of the project, be its advocate in getting it approved, devbe the

organizational structure for carrying it out, determine who does what and when,

evaluate contractor proposals, coordinate all efforts, and in general see to it that

things moved along satisfactorily (p. 3-12 ).

The report recommended that NASA adopt as its regular project management policy the method used extensively by industry and private laboraxories, Le.,

using an "integrated project management team" headed by a "full-time project

Manager _orting directly to the Director or Deputy Director" of the instaliafion

a_ed the project (p. 3-13).

The team should consist of both technical and managerial personnel, with

the larger projects requiring the full-time membership of specialists in both areas.

The project manager would combine within himself both technical and managerial _k_lh. If NASA were to maintain an adequate number of higMy competent managers, it would have to create a healthy work environment with an optimum balance among responsibility, authority, status, pay, and challenge. The

need was so great and so imminent that NASA should expand its efforts to train

its own project managers (p. 3-15) ?"

(3) The report revealed that NASA's record in managing its contract efforts

was spotty. Difficulties had arisen because NASA neglected certain basic prerequisites to effective contractor supervision, such as adequate statements of work,

sufficient and flexible funding, and properly focused technical responsibility. (A

basic problem in connection with the last-named prerequisite was NASA's tendency to establish two channels of supervision--one from Headquarters, the other

from the field center. )

NASA's supervisory job was difficult in that it could neither use the "trust the

1_ NASA's effort to train project managers was discussed earlier in this chapter, Sec. II.C.

It was this recommendation that prompted Glennan m support the project manager training

progran_
158 ADM_I_STRATIVE I-[ISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

contractor" approach (high reliability was too crucial to be left to the contractor

alone) nor the "tight control" approach (which would "discourage contractor

creativity and initiative") (pp. 4-6, 4-7). Therefore NASA had to follow a

middle course which combined contractor operating freedom with close NASA

guidance. To achieve this balance there must be a constant flow of information

back and forth between NASA and the contractor. This flow could be promoted

by periodic progress review meetings between NASA and the contractor, the placemcnt of a NASA representative in the contractor's plant (to permit continuous

face to face communication), and the use of a progress reporting system (such as

the PMP system previously described ) (p. 4-9 ).

The report devoted several pages to the problem of NASA's controlling contractor's costs (pp. 4--12 through 4-17). NASA's problem in this area was substantial because k relied heavily on cost-plus contracts, encouraged the us= of

subcontracts "as a means of distributing contract dollars to more firms," and relied

on DOD to do much of its contract administration.

It was pointed out that NASA's cost supervisory job would be made much

easierif,beforea contractwas awarded,NASA couldbc assuredthatthecontractor

had a good accountingsystem,a realistic"make or buy" policy,and a good purchasingsystem. Even though a prc-awardevaluationrevealedthatthecontractor

had an adequatecost-managementsystem,therewas stilla nccd for post-award

costcontrols.The reportcommended NASA's effortin developingits"Proposed

System forFinancialReporting by NASA ContractorsHolding Cost-Type Contracts"and urgeditsearlyimplementation.

In dosing thediscussionof contractorsupervision,the reportrecommended

that NASA continuetomake use of the militaryservicesforcontractadministration and other"fieldservicefunctions,"but at the sarnctime increaseitsown

activities in these areas by approving all major subcontracts, by handling "special

situations" directly, and 'by periodically evaluating the job done by the military

services.

(4) The final chapter of the report concerned the deficiencies in NASA's

procurement machinery and what should be done to correct them. The basic

indictment of NASA was that it had neglected the "procurement function" even

though it was basic to NASA's function and should have claimed the attention

of officials at every level in NASA's hierarchy from the Administrator down. "To

date, NASA has not effectively organized to perform the whole contracting function, and the needed procurement leadership has not been developed" (p. 5--4).

The following specific deficiencies were noted (pp. 5-4 through 5-11):

(a) "The headquarters Procurement and Supply Division has not yet been

effectively established and staffed." As a result of this, in turn, "a complete set

of procurement regulations to guide technical and management staffs has not

been developed and issued .... " The Division Director (Brackett) has been

"unable to devote adequate time" to the important affairs external to the Division

because he has bccn too involved in "internal division management .... " This

partly stemmed from the fact that "Statements of responsibility and authority
19 6 O---ORDERLY PItOGRXSg 159

for the principal jobs within the Division have not been agreed to and issued."

One underlying reason for this situation was that "the headquarters procurement

staff has not been given sufficient organizational statm to enable it to carry out

its res_mibilities effectively." (b) "NASA technical staffs have repeatedly

manifesteda lack of understandingof the whole contractingprocess" Some

technical people have dismissed as unimportant the role that the _mmzment

staff can play. As a result, the technical people have frequently gotten themselves into trouble by not allowing sufficient time for procurement planning and

negotiation, by making commitments in advance and then expecting the procurement people to write the contact accordingly, and by neglecting cost anal_ in

evaluating proposals. (c) '_I'he principle of integrating technical supervision

and contract administration has been frequently negatecL" Often the technical

people made changes without informing the contract administration people.

Similarly, the contract adminimation people, especiany when poorly programoriented, failed to anticipate the needs of the technical staffs. The lack of coordination often existed in NASA when the technical staff was amociated with

one installation and the contracting people with another. This situation was

actually promoted by NASA in December 1959 when the Associate Administrator "decentralized procurement activities to the field, but failed to remove

technical supervision of contracts from headquarters."

What should be done about these deficiencies? Several recommendations

were made. Concerning the Headquarters Procurement and Supply Division,

the report recommended that current plans to increase the staff from 36 to 56

be implemented, together with a general internal realignment (p. 5-8) .1. The

t_fition of Assistant Director should be __¢ablished to take over the problems of

day-to-day management of the Division, thus permitting the Director to concentrateon externalworking relationships(p. 5-6).re" The Division'sstatus

withinNASA couldbe improved by increasedsupportfrom the AssociateAdministrator(p. 5-8).

The problem of educating technical people as to the important role that

procurement people can and should play would be difficult to solve. NASA's

top management should take the lead by stressing the necessity of team action

in procurement matters.

On the problm of coordinating technical supervision and contract administration, the main recommendation was that the activity of NASA Headquarters

in technical supervision be reduced, and the task of integrating technical supervision and contract administration be centered in the project manager in the

field (p. 5-12).

rathe report recmnmended that the planned reaaignment be modified by establishing a

separate division within the Office of Business Administration for facility planning and coordination. This is another example of the di_culty NASA had in determining the best way

to handle the problem of facilities coordination.

w' Thia had already been done by ".he time the report was issued.

21_--.892 _12
160 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The above has been a summary of the October 1960 Report on NASA

Contracting prepared by McKinsey & Co. The extent to which it incorporated

comments made by NASA officials on the basis of a draft report circulated 2

months earlier is difficult to ascertain, l_s There is one interesting statement in

a draft that does not appear in the final report. "If these steps [the recommendatiom for strengthening NASA procurement] do not produce stronger procurement

leadership within the next fiscal year, a separate Office of Procurement reporting

directly to the Associate Administrator should be established." t6_ This statement

expresses the belial that the location of an office in an agency's overall hierarchy

makes a substantial difference. It also is prophetic, as the action recommended

in the draft was actually taken in 1963.

The precise manner in which the preparation of the report influenced

subsequent agency behavior is difficult to ascertain. There is some evidence that

the discussiom held between NASA officials and McKinsey officials prior to the

preparation of the draft report actually resulted in certain changes being made,

or at least hurried along changes previously contemplated. 1'° There is also some

evidence that circulating the draft report for comment also produced the implementation of several of the report's recommendations, m Lastly, the final report

itself was circulated for comment? TM There is evidence that this also resulted in

certain recommendatiom being implemented? 's

m Comparing the draft with the final report did not readily reveal significant differences.

It should be noted, however, that some of the comments made by NASA officials took violent

exception to some of the statements made in the draft report. The draft was circulated during

August and comments were returned about Sept. 1. The final report was submitted to NASA

on Oct. 28, which suggests that McKinsey & Co. had sufficient time to analyze agency comments.

The following is a list of the documents uncovered by the author and pertaining to the contracting

study:

Draft of Ch. $ (returned to Young with marginal notes by Cotton, July 27, 1960).

Draft of Chs. 2, $, and 4 (prepared by Young during the first hal/of August, and circulat_

among NASA officials).

Draft of what could he Ch. 1 ; no identifying characteristics, however. 15 pp.

Letter from Sparks of JPL to Young of McKinsey, Sept. 1, 1960. (JPL comments on

draft report.)

Memo, Cortright to Silventein, Aug. 12, 1960. Subject: The management of projects

involving simultaneous participation of JPL, GSFC, and MSFC.

Memo, Sanders to Newel1 et aL, Aug. 15, 1960. (Gomments on draft report.)

Memo, Cortright to Sanders, Aug. 23, 1960. (Comments on draft report.)

Memo, Jenkins to Newell and Silveratein, Aug. 23, 1960. (Comments on draft report.)

Memo, Sanders to Kelly, Aug. 26, 1960. (Comments on draft report.)

See aho: Memo, McKimey & Co. to Glennan, June 3, 1960. Subject: Progress Report

on Study of Contracting Policies; Letter, Glennan to Conmn, June 6, 1960.

m The quotation is the last paragraph on the final page of a 15-page draft of what appears

to be Ch. 1. Tide page is stamped "Draft" and has the same tide met for other drafts and the

final reportw"An Evaluation of NASA's Conu'acting Policies, Organization, and Performance."

_" This is suggested by several passages in the final report.

m See Cortright's memo to Sanders, Aug. 23, 1960. Subject: Some comments on "An

Evaluation of NASA's Contracting Policies, Organization, and Performance" by McKimey & Co.

m Glennan asked for comments on the final report in a Nov. 16_. 1960, memo to principal

NASA officials.

m See Letter, Gorman of MSFC to Hodgmn of Headquarters, Dec. 9,.1960.
1960----.ORDF..RI.YPOGRESS 161

C. The Study of NASA's Oql_imtion ffhe Klmptoe _!

The study of NASA's overall organization ran roughly parallel with the

contracting study just discussed. The organizational study was, of course, much

broader in scope--embracing any organizational or administrative problem which

the study group chose for inclusion. The purpose of the study was to improve

NASA's organka"tional and administrative arrangement while the agency was

still young and flem'ble and smcep6ble to change.

Met/rod. The method by which the evaluation was performed was proposed by McKimey & Co. It involved the creation of an advisory cemmim_

made up of men "experienced in large-scale organization for research and development activities and in government operations." _T, The Committee, after being

thoroughlybriefedon allimportant activities and problems of NASA, would

prepare a report setting forth the Committee's views on NASA's organizational

and administrative arrangements.

Corson (of McKimey & Co.) strongly recommended that the Committee

be provided with a professional staff. This would permit the Committee to

engage in its own fact-finding and not have to rely on information supplied by

the object being studied. This would also permit the busy men serving on the

Committee to concentrate on their fundamental rusk--drawing conclusions based

on their own experience and what they found out about the NASA experience.

Committ_ Selected, McKinu_ _ Co. Cho.um to Assist. With the help of

Corson, Glennan succccdedin liningup a seven-member committee by the midcfie of March 1960. The Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Organizalion

was Lawrence Kimpton, the Chan_.ellor of the University of Chicago---hence the

terms "Kimpton Committee" and "Kimpton Report." _"

NASA hired McKimey & Co. to assist the Kimpton Committee in phn,;,_

the Committee's work, preparing the agenda of its meetings, making all arrangements for its meetings, and engaging in fact-finding and analysis for the Committee? TM A series of working papers were to be _ on a number of

different topics. McKimey & Co. were also to prepare a draft of the Committee's final report (due October 28, 1960). The Committee's work was

further facilitated by NASA arranging to have the Director of its Office of Management Analysis (Hodgmn) assist the Commiuee on a full-time bash.

G/mama's March 18, 1960 M6mo to t/_ Comm/t_. The basic charter

guiding the Committee's work took the form of a 12-page memo from Glennan

m Memo, C,ormn to Glennan, Jan. 26, 1960. Subject: A Plan for Appraising NASA's

Contract/aS Policies and Over.an Organization.

m Kimpton had resigned from the Univeraity of Chicag_ and was on his way to a job with

Standard Oil. Other Committee members were: Elmer IAndseth, president of the Cleveland

Electric Illuminating Co.; Moeehead Patterson, chairman of the board of the American Machine

& Foundry Co.; Nathan Pearmn, vice president of T. Mellon & Sons; J'ames A. Perkins, vice

president of the Carnegie Corporation; Charles Stauffacher, executive vice president of the

Continental Can Co.; Fletcher Waller, vice president of Bell & Howell.

m See Amendment No. 1 of NASw-144, May 20, 1960. This was an $85,000 amendment

to the $65,000 contracting study contract.
I62 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

to the Committee members. 1_7 In addition to presenting a tentative schedule

for the Committee's work and a short briefing on what NASA is and what it

does, the memo presented six basic concepts underlying NASA's present organizational arrangements and a list of the readily apparent organizational problems

facing the agency. Since the memo was a reasonably well-polished document,

it gives a valuable picture of NASA's view of itself.

The six basic concepts underlying NASA's organizational arrangement were

these: (1) NASA is a civilian agency; (2) NASA has to use effectively the

resources of other Government agencies, especially DOD; (3) internally, NASA

separates its research activities from its developmental activities so that the latter

do not consume the former. (It should be remembered that the three research

centers--Langley, Lewis, and Ames--reported to the Office of Advanced

Research Programs in NASA Headquarters, whereas the three development centers---Goddard, JPL, and Marshall--reported to the Offices of Space Flight

Programs and Launch Vehicle Programs); (4) NASA uses in-house technical

personnel to supervise its development contracts. (The transfer of installations

from the Army had resulted in more in-house capability than originally envisioned) ; (5) NASA believes in decentralizing its operations to the field. (The

space-flight development area was centralized in Headquarters initially because

of the absence of any appropriate field installations--it had taken many months

to get Goddard going, JPL had been transferred in December 1958 but was

contractor operated, Marshall was just being established at the time Glennan

issued the memo); (6) NASA has to utilize private industrial and institutional

resources extensivdy to achieve its program objectives.

What problems did NASA want the Committee to study? In addition to

wanting the Committee to appraise the six basic concepts themselves, NASA

wanted answers to four fundamental questions:

1. Is NASA utilizing its field installations in an optimum manner? (This

involved the distribution of jobs among the field centers and between the centers

and outside organizations.)

2. What should be the proper balance between Headquarters activities and

field activities?

3. Is NASA's top management structure suited for the job it has to do?

4. Does NASA's overall organizational arrangement inhibit optimum external relationships?

In effect, the Committee was asked to address itself to just about all problems

except the overall policy undergirding the Nation's space program, on the one

hand, and the minutiae of internal NASA functions and relationships, on the other.

The Wm'k o] the Kimpton Committee. The Committee held a total of

1_ Memorandum for members of the Advisory Committee on Organization, from Glennan,

Mar. 18, 1960. Subject: The Evaluation of NASA's Organization: The Problem, Suggested

Approaches, and the End Objective. The memorandum was written by Cotton and Young of

McKinsey & Co.
1960----ORDERLYP_N3gESS 163

eight 2-day meetings, the first one in April 1960, the last one in September? TM

Five of the meetings were in Washington, one at Marshall, one at Langley, and

one at Cape Canaveral, primarily to watch the launch of the Echo satellite.

The meetings followed a fairly standard format. Each meeting was devoted

to two or three prindpal topics. The topics were discussed on the basis of workpapers (nine in all) prepared by McKimey & Co. and presentations made by

NASA officials. Some of the workpapers were prepared at the request of the

Committee.

After several meetings devoted to the discussion of particulartopics, the Committee began to consider the content of its final report. For this consideration,

McKinsey & Co. prepared workpapers of a summary nature (three in all). The

final product was a 22-page report dated October 12, 1960, and signed by the

Committcc members--the so-calledKimpton Report.

The Kimpton Rclx_ represents only one of several products flowing from

the overallcffortto evaluateNASA's organization.Workpapers I-9, although

basically descriptive, contained suggestions of an evaluative nature, in Workpapers 10-12 pinpointed the principal problem areas and presented alternative

ways of approaching them. These summary workpapers served as a "cafeteria

line" from which the Committee members could choose items for inclusion in the

final report.

The work of McKimey & Co. preparingthe reporton NASA contracting

and giving staff assistance to the Kimpton Committee became so intertwined that

there is a considerable amount of overlap between the Contracting Report and

the Khnpton Report? _

The slimulusof the Committcc'swork ledto thegenerationof severalother

documents worthy of note. The Bureau of the Budget took an interest in what the

Committee was doing and submitteditsviewson some ofNASA's organizational

rathe following is a list of all meetings and the topics disctmmd: (1) Apr. 15-16, primarily

organizational;(2) May 6-7, Manha11, fact-finding,Worklmpen 1-3, NASA'J miafiea, the

10-year plan, the Spare Flight Centers, Stewart, Homer, Hjornevik, Pickering, Goeth yon Braun;

(3) May 26-27, Langtey, fact-finding, Workpapers 4-5, Research Centen, Integration of the

Space Flight Centers; (4) June 23-24, fact-finding, Workpapers 6-8, in-house/out-of-house,

Headquartem/field, NASA/_cientifu: community, Low, Canright, Cortright, Nicks, Dryden,

Newell, Abbott, Slverstein, Om'aader, Siepert; (5) July 7--8, fact-finding, Workpapen 9--10,

top organization, contents of the final report, Frutkin, Bonney, Thompson, Gleamn, Johason,

Siepert, Glennan, Homer; (6) Ju/y 28-29, WorklmIg_ 10-11, Aeronautics, International

Activities, Final Report; (7) August 12(?), Cape Canaveral(?); (8) Sept. 29-30. Between

meetings 4 and 5 there was a meeting of Corson and Young of McKinmy & Co., Hodgwn of

NASA, and Staats,Schaub, Shapley,Becketh Morris,and Byrd ofBOB.

I_ There were two versionsof Workpaper No. 9. The "official"versionwas ratherbland.

The other was much more provocative. It expremed the views of Prof. Donald Stone, whom

McKimey & Co. had hired to help with the study. It reflectedStone'sinterviewwith NASA'$

Director of Financial Management and was quite critical of NASA's past practices in the finance

area, especially bugeting.

_e The original deadine for the Contracting Report was "slipped" several months in order to

permit McKinsey & Co. to assist the Kimpton Committee.
164 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

problems. TM At about the same time (July 1960), General Ostrander of NASA

Headquarters presented his solution to the problems of Headquarters organization. xs2

Findings and Recommendations. To completely analyze and synthesize

all these reports, workpapers, memoranda, etc., would be very difficult. What

follows is a presentation of the principal findings and recommendations flowing

from the Committee's work, with emphasis on the contents of the Kimpton

Report. 1_

( 1 ) Findings and recommendations concerning the "basic concepts" guiding

NASA. The Committee recommended no departures from the basic concepts

which Glennan had stated were guiding NASA.

The Committee favored the idea of keeping development activity separated

from research activity. However, it felt that NASA could be a bit more flexible on

this, with the research centers being permitted to carry on a limited number of

development projects and the development centers a limited amount of basic

research (p. 15 ).

NASA's policy of decentralization was viewed as being a good one. However,

the Committee felt that decision-making should be decentralized as well as research

and development operations (p. 11 ). The Committee felt that NASA had quite

a way to go before it would overcome the habits developed initially when so much

of the space-flight development activity had to be centered in Headquarters.

The Committee felt that as much work as possible should be contracted out

(p. 9 ). Even though NASA's in-house/out-of-house balance was good, the Committee felt that guidelines for determining the balance should be promulgated

(p. 7). The guidelines recommended were those formulated by McKinsey & Co.

in connection with its study of NASA contracting (p. 8 ) .18_

Although NASA was aware of its great dependence on outside organizations,

it had failed to utilize the resources of universities as much as it could and should

(p. 16). NASA should also improve the exchange of research information between itself and outside organizations (p. 16). The Committee recommended

that Glennan's plan to establish a General Advisory Committee (_t la AEC) be

implemented as soon as possible in order to improve communications between

NASA and the external community (p. 10).

(2) NASA's overall organizational structure. The Committee felt that

NASA's organizational structure was "soundly conceived" and that the agency

had built an "effective organization." "We found no crises, no serious deficiencies;

we did find opportunities for further improvements" (p. 1). This attitude is a

definite softening of the views of McKinsey & Co. which called for "significant

m See "Attachment A, Suggested Additional Points for Consideration by NASA Advisory

Committee on Organization" and "Attachment B, Suggested Organizational and Operating

Pattern for NASA." Both are dated July 15, 1960.

m Memo, Ostrander to Glennan, July 27, 1960.

'" "Report of the Advilory Committee on Organization," October 1960. All parenthetical

page references are to this report only.

1,4See Sec. III.B above.
1960-.---.OltDERLYPROGRESS 165

organizational changes" in order to "increase the effectiveness of NASA." _ss The

suggestions made by the Bureau of the Budget indicated that it also favored significant _tional changes. _'_

(3) Intra-agency relationships. The Committee felt that NASA's most

pressing organizational problem lay in the area of Headquarters-field relationships, mpecially distribution of powex and responsibilities between Headquarters

and the field and among field instaJhficms (p. 10 ).

NASA's problems in this area were thorny ones: First of all, inter-insmllafioa

coordination, especially among the space-flight development centers, was absolutely essential because of the very nature of the projects involved. This could

be easily demonstrated by analyzing a completed project and ascertaining the origin of an the inputs going into it and the step-by-step process by which it moved

toward completion? s' The need for inter-installation coordination had promoted

two dysfunctional tendencies--one was that "decision-making had been overcentralized in the headquarters technical staffs" (p. 11 ), and the other was that

the large number of inter-installation technical interface problems had generated

delays, conflicts, and duplicate technical staffs (p. 11 ).

A second thorny problem was that NASA's practice of having its field installations report to three different Headquarters program offices made the management of the imtallations on an agencywide basis very difficult. In other words,

NASA's practice promoted Headquarters control in specific technical matters, but

left central control fuzzy in general agen_e administrative and tec_ical

matters.

Both BOB and McKinsey & Co. suggested that a pmsible solution to these

problems would be _ have all field installations made responsible to the Associate Administrator, with the ter.hnical people in Headquarters serving as a staff

arm of the Associate Administrator. m This would establish the myth of unity

of command. Since the Associate Adminisu-a_ had to avoid becoming a bottleneck, he would tend to permit a dual-channel system to evolve, whereby the

Headquarters staff would supervise their field counterparts in specialked areas

through one channd and the Associate Administrator would exercise command

a thority through another.

The Committee did not buy this suggestion. After indicating that serious

consideration had been given it, the Committee recommended that no structural

change be made in the relationships between Headquarters and the centers

(p. 14). Instead, the Committee recommended only that certain changes be

made within the existing strucmre_ It recommended that complete rmponsib/lity

for a project be assigned to a single field centerand that the effort going into a

project be integrated by means of center-based project management teams. The

Committee also advocated restraint on the part of Headquarters and technical

_" Workpaper No. II, p. 3.

m Attachment B, op. cir.

This was done for the Committee by McKimey & Co. The project was still in p_

the Ranger A project. See App. A of Workpaper No. 12.

m Attachment B and Workpaper No. 12.
166 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

staffs in the dealings with the centers. (These recommendations appeared in

the McKinsey workpapers and also were part of McKinsey's Contracting Report. )

Apart from the need to assign total project responsibility to a single center,

the Committee felt that the general distribution of responsibilities among the

centers was appropriate in view of the facilities and capabilities of the centers.

(Marshall was identified with launch vehicles, Goddard with earth satellites and

sounding rockets, and JPL with lunar and planetary satellites and probes.)

McKinsey & Co. had recommended that the Committee give serious consideration

to the question of whether or not NASA should establish two new centers, one

for life sciences and the other for manned space flight. 18° (Manned space flight

was under the Space Task Group, a part of Goddard but physically located at

Langley--a somewhat unorthodox arrangement.) The Committee report was

silent on this topic.

(4) Headquarters organization. No immediate reorganization of NASA

Headquarters was recommended, but a potential reorganization was delineated

(p. 14). In the long run, the Committee felt, NASA would have to recombine

into an integrated Office of Space Development the activities of the existing

Office of Space Flight Programs and Office of Launch Vehicle Programs

(p. 13). 1'° (This would mean that all three space-flight development centers--

Goddard, Marshall, and JPL--would report to the same Headquarters office.)

The Committee felt that NASA's current setup resulted in conflicts between

OSFP and OLVP, duplication of technical staffs, and undue demands on the

Associate Administrator in resolving "interface" problems.

The Committee recommended a gradual movement toward combining the

two existing offices (p. 14). "The existing . . . structure should not be reorganized immediately." "In the interim [the two offices] should be maintained as

presently constituted." "In the meantime, it can be made to work more effectively." How? By more "understanding" on the part of the Headquarters

staffs and a "greater decentralization of technical decision making."

The long-run recombination recommendation bore a close resemblance to

a recommendation made to Glennan by Ostrander, the head of one of the offices

involved (OLVP)? 9_ Ostrander claimed that solving interface problems between the two offices consumed too much time. "Cumbersome and timeconsuming committee or coordination procedures" had to be resorted to because

the Associate Administrator was just too busy to solve all of them. Instead of

two separate offices, Ostrander recommended one office with three major divisions--payloads, vehicles, and operations.

The workpapers prepared by McKinsey & Co. recognized the problem and

presented a number of alternative solutions. _9_ There was a basic disagreement

m Workpaper No. 11, p. 22.

m For an explanation of how theae two oflicel came into being, see Ch. 4, Sec. V.H.

m Memo, Chtrander to Glennan, July 27, 1960.

m Workpaper_ Nos. 11 and 12.
1960----ORDERLYPROGRESS 167

in the Committee on the alternatives and this probably accounted for the cautious

approach taken. On the other hand, McKinsey & Co. did claim that the existtug system could work if certain reforms were made?'*

The Committee addressed itself to other Headquarters organizational problems, but in most ca._s advocated the contiriuation of the status quo. It was felt

that the Office of Program Planning and Evaluation _ould remain under the

Administrator rather than be put under the Associate Administrator (p. 21 ).

The Office of Public Information should remain under the Administrator and

the Office of Technical Information and Educational Programs under the Assodate Administrator, rather than be combined (p. 21 ). The management analysis function should be expanded and established as a regular division within the

Office of Business Administration. Its professional staff "should be increased

s/gn/ficantly"(p. 22).

(5) Miscellaneous. In regard to NASA's internal management, the Committee made several recommendations not already discussed. The Committee

made frequent references to the important role of the Associate Administrator

in integrating NASA's internal operations. The Committee urged "the strengthening of the means" by which the Associate Adminim'ator "links together . . .

progrmns, budgets, and development plans" (p. 6). It recommended that

NASA's program management system (the PMP's, etc.) be integrated with the

financial management system (the FOP's, etc.) into a single set of operating

reports for top management._s" The Committee made the same recommendatiom concerning the use of project managers and project management teams aa

Om.emadeby Mcginseys Co. in its Con Rep 

The Committee commended NASA's long-range plan, but suggested that

NASA's planning could be improved by broader participation, especially by field

personnel (p. 5). The Committee felt that aeronautics was in danger of being

subverted by space activitie_ It recommended that aeronautical activity be given

a high-level spokesman in Headquaxters (p. 17).

The Committee felt that NASA's training program was inadequate. It

recommended the implementation of NASA's "Proposed Executive Development

Program" (p. 19). m It felt that NASA's plans for training project managers

should be supplemented by an "exchange of on-the-job experience with industrial

counterlmm." The Committee felt that administrative personnel should strive

f_ a better technical orientation, and technical permnnd for a better administrative

orientatm (p. 19).

NASA's Reac6on to the KimOton Report, On November 3, 1960, Glen.

nan sent a memo to prindpal agency officials asking them to study the report and

mWoekpaper No. I1, p. 24. The Committee's disagreement on the alternatives wag revealed by John D. Young in hls notes to the NASA Hitorical Office dated Jan. 1, 1965.

re.For a discussion of FOP's and PMP's, see Sees. ILB and II.E above.

us See Set:. II.C above.
168 ADMIIqISTRATIVEHISTORYOFNASA,1958--1963

comment on it? s6 During November and early December, 23 Headquarten

officials and 6 field center directors submitted comments. TM

The comments were very diverse. On balance, the commenters agreed with

the recommendations of the Kimpton Committee much more often than they

disagreed. In several cases there were statements that certain recommendations

had already been implemented.

There was general agreement with those recommendations which duplicated

the recommendations made in the Contracting Report. An important exception,

however, was the way in which the Kimpton Committee expressed NASA's need

to do as much work out-of-house as possible. Most NASA officials felt that

in-house activity had to be more than the minimum amount necessary to keep tab

on out-of-house efforts.

Another area of disagreement concerned the one substantial structural change

recommended--the long-run recombination of the Offices of Space Flight Programs and Launch Vehicle Programs. The basic criticism of this recommendation

was that it was only a partial solution--that it would only shift the arena of contlict one level farther down in the hierarchy and not remove the sources of conflict.

Many officials expressed the view that Headquarters needed reorganization, but

indicated doubts that the Kimpton Committee's solution was the optimum one.

An Evaluation o] the Kimpton Report. The Kimpton Report has developed the reputation of having been too bland? °. There is no doubt that its

recommendations were cautious and conservative and in most cases advocated

the continuation of the status quo. The Committee may have been cautious in

dderence to Glennan (i.e., recommending sweeping changes could be construed as

a criticism of his performance as an administrator). If so, this was unfortunate.

There is little doubt that Glennan genuinely wanted to pass on to his successor the

most tidy ship possible.

There is some evidence of a basic disagreement between the two top McKinsey

& Co. officials (Corson and Young) on a very fundamental organizational

question--whether the field centers should be responsible to the several Headquarters program offices or to the Associate Administrator. t_ Corson favored

retaining the status quo on the basis that the Associate Administrator's span of

control should not be extended any further. Young, backed by the Bureau of

the Budget, favored having the center directors report directly to the Associate

Administrator. The Committee went along with Corson. '°°

The diversity of comments on the Kimpton Report sugge._ that there may

have been great diversity in the presentations m_de to the Committee by NASA

officials. In the face of diverse and sometimes conflicting information and advice

from NASA itself, the Committee may well have taken a cautious and

noncontroversial course for want of a clear mandate for change.

_* No copy located as yet.

The Office of Bmineu Administration automatized the comments in a January 1961

memo to Glennan. See Siepert's memo to Glennan, Jan. 13, 1961.

"" Based on the comemus of several NASA officiala interviewed during 1963.

_* See Young's memo to Webb, July 24, 1961. Subject: Additional Item on Organization.

no The November 1961 reorganization put field centers under the Associate Administrator.

The November 1963 reorganization put field centers under the program directors.
196O---'_RD_Y PitOGIt_SS 169

Perhaps the most ch_appointing aspect of the Kimpton Report is that it

contained very few, if any, original idea& One of the reasons for assembling a

smallgroup of men experiencedin the ways of large-scaleorganizationswas to

profitfrom theideaswhich theywould generateinthecourseofthcirdclibcratiom.

Perhaps the absenceOf originalideasisa commentary on the complexityand

uniquenem of NASA's job.

Even though the Kimpton Rcport did not come up to everybody'sexpectations,there is little doubt that the overall effort was worthwhile. During 1961

NASA made two major organizational changes. The prcparaticm for these

changes werc part of an unbroken line d activity going back to thc work d the

_ee. The momentum toward change was one of the major inheritances

that Glennan passed on to his successor.

IV. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

A. 1960 Relations With Congress

NASA's somewhat stormy relationship with Congress during 1959 cahned

down considerably during 1960. It has already been pointed out that during

1960, Congress a_ everything asked for and authorized for appropriation even more. The administration's effort to amend the Space Act did not fare

m well, howev_.

T/_ _s ]amamy 1960 Lq/dat_ Rcqaamh On January 14, 1960,

President Eisenhower asked Congress to enact amendments to the Space Act "to

clarify mmmgement responsibilities and to streamlineorganizational arrangemenU;...." 2ex

The President declaxed that the Space Act, as enacted in 1958, attempted

to create the myth that the United States had one spacc program. To assure

that only one program existed, elaborate inter-agency coordination machinery

was _hlt_hed and the President was given a personal responsiffdity for developing a comprehensive space program. To advise him, a high-levd Space

Council was established.

The President went on to declare that there were really two separate areas

of space activity: one civilian, the other military. The military needed no special

mandate to carry on itsspaceactivities; it had a general mandate to provide for

the Nation's security and presumably space would be an area in which the military

would have to operate. The activity which needed a mandate was the civilian

space program, and it was this area with which the Space Act should be concerned. NASA should be given complete responsibility for the civilian space

program. The overall responsibility of the President should flow from his office,

m H. Doc. 296, 86th Cong. (The substance of the President'srequest, of course, had nothing

to do with NASA-Congreu relations and could properly be diacumed in other sectiom of this

chapter. So as not to fragment the overall legislative story, a brief summary of the entire

requastis madehere.)
170 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 19 5 8-- 19 6 3

not from a provision of the Act. This would permit the abolishment of the Space

Council (which had already served its purpose) and also the Civilian-Military

Liaison Committee (which had never really functioned).

Since NASA and DOD would use much of the same hardware in their

respective programs, it would only be natural for the two agencies to want to

coordinate their efforts, as they now were doing. Since launch vehicles constituted

the major hardware item which both agencies would use, the President suggested

that Congress might well want to give him the special responsibility of determining

which agency should develop which vehicles.

NASA Submits Dralt Amendments. NASA was given the responsibility

to submit draft legislation to Congress and defend it.s°2 The draft legislation

embraced the ideas in the President's message and in addition included a complete

revision of the patent section (See. 305 ) of the Space Act. Several other amendmerits also were included, some purely technical in nature, others substantive but

only designed to give NASA certain basic powers that most agencies are given.

The major provisions of the draft legislation were as follows:

1. Section 201 of the Space Act, which provided for the Space Council and

gave the President certain personal responsibilities for the national space program,

was repealed.

2. Section 204, which established the Civilian-Military Liaison Committee,

was also repealed.

3. Section 305, the "Property Rights in Inventions" section, was drastically

revised by giving NASA discretionary authority on patent matters; each contract

could be tailor-made to fit either the DOD practice or the AEC practice, with

the objective "to protect the public interest and the equities of the contractor." s03

4. A new section (numbered 309) was designed to pull together various

provisions on DOD's space efforts and NASA-DOD coordination, some of which

had been part of the sections to be repealed. The new section declared that the

Space Act does not preclude DOD from undertaking space activities vital to

national defense. It asked NASA and DOD to advise and consult with one

another. It provided that the responsibility for developing new launch vehicles

should be assigned to either NASA or DOD on the basis of the "most efficient

utilization of resources." s0, Finally, it declared that the heads of NASA and

DOD should take unresolvable disagreements to the President for decision.

Confress/ona/P_m:t/on. A bill incorporating most of the NASA proposals

was passed by the House. s°s No action was taken by the Senate, primarily

because Lyndon Johnson opposed any changes in the Space Act at the time? °e

"See Glennan's 14-page letter to Speaker of the House, Jan. 14, 1960, in which was

enclosed a draft of the bib and a sectional analysis of it.

-. Ibid., p. 6.

-. Ibid., p. 11 of the sectional analysis.

m H.R. 12049, passed June 9, 1960.

"See Congressional Record (Daily edition), Vol. 106, No. 147, Aug. 31, 1960, p. 17215.

Cited in Ambrose, "The National Space Program, Phase II," p. 256. Johnson felt that the

new administration, which would come along in 5 months, might have entirely different ideas

on amending the Space Act. As it turned out, he was in a position to make sure his prediction

faille true.
1960----.OI_DERLYPROG1_.SS 171

The hearings held by the House Astronautics Committee revealed that DOD

supported the NASA proposals. =f In the course of the hearings it was also

revealed that NASA and DOD had been solving inter-agency problems by means

of working-level coo rdL.mtion groups rather than the formal channel provided for

in the Space Act (i.e., the CMLC), and that the two agencies were prepared

to institutionalize the coordination machinery that had evolved. One result of

this revelation was that the House Astronautics Committee, in the only major

departure made from the NASA _ wrote into its bill provisions for the

establishment of an Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board. (AN

NASA had wanted was a general statement on the necessity for NASA-DOD

cooperatioa. )

Except for a few minor amendments concerning the leasing of office space

and the total number of excepted employees, the Space Act was the same when

Glennan left NASA as it was when he became NASA Administrator 29 months

earlier.

T/_ Aroma/ Am_r/r.a6on Prob/on. _s President Eisenhower, in his

January 1960 budget message, made a general request that Congress turn away

from the "growing tendency to require the annual enactment of authorizing legislation before appropriations may be made." Backed with this statement and

BOB approval, NASA asked Congress to repeal the provision requiring annual

authorization of NASA's appropriation. A bill was introduced but it made no

progress w_tsoever.

Home _ Comm/tt_ Very Act/re. During 1960 the House Astronautics Committee continued the high level of activity begun in 1959. According

to the Committee's own count, the Committee conducted 57 investigations, issued

46 reports, held 265 hearings, and heard 658 witnesses during the 86th Congress

(1959 and 1960). m NASA affairs and NASA officials were involved in much

of this activity. The public record accumulated in the course of this activity

reveals a great deal about NASA's history. _°

The Committee advocated an aggressive space program. In July 1960 it

urged NASA to revise its long-range timetable and undertake a high-priority

program to place a manned expedition on the moon before the end of 1970,

rather than "beyond 1970" as provided for in NASA's long-range plan. =1

President Kennedy made the same propcaal 10 months later.

See House Hearings, To dmmtd tke Natlmm_ A_rmu_ks aml 8_cc Act o[ 1958.

"Information and quomtiom in this paragraph were taken from the final draft of a letter

from Glennan to the Speaker of the House. The actual letter was dated Jan. 12, 1961.

m, U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Report ms the dctiei_s

of the Commits# mt S_'i_¢e a_l Axlceamatira, EL Rept. 2215, 86th C_a_, 2d sere. (Wmhington: GPO, 1960), p. v (hereafter cited as House Report, Report on the detiviti,: of the Commi_. as Scisnce aad ds_r_ ).

m Home Astronautics Committee hearings are not indexed, unfommately. The indeaed

Senate Space Committee pubficafiom are more usable for re_rOa purlma_

"_'House Report, Report on tke Activities of th, Committet oa Scia_e amt Astromlm_ics,

p. 5. See alm New York Tim#s, July 3,1960, p. 2.
172 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

B. 1960 Relations With DOD

During NASA's early days, many of its space-flight projects were carried out

(i.e., executed) by the Army and the Air Force and much of the money NASA

spent went to DOD. By 1960 this particular type of activity had all but disappeared. In the meantime NASA's total program had significantly increased,

which in turn increased the volume of day-to-day contacts between the two

agencies. By 1960, relationships between the two agencies tended to become

regularized. By the end of 1960 a formalized system for top-level coordination

had been established.

Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board Established. In September 1960, NASA and DOD entered into an agreement establishing an Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board (AACB)? '2 The AACB was to be

responsible for facilitating (1) the planning of NASA and DOD activities so as

"to avoid undesirable duplication and.., achieve efficient utilization of available

resources"; (2) "the coordination of activities in areas of common interest";

(3) the "identification" of common problems; (4) the "exchange of information."

The AACB was to have cochairmen, the Deputy Administrator of NASA

(Dryden) and the DOD Director of Defense Research and Engineering (York).

The Board was to be large enough to give proper representation to all major

interests. NASA and DOD were to have an equal number of members. Initial

membership totaled six from each agency. Meetings were to be held at least

once every 2 months. A secretariat was established to facilitate the work of

the Board.

Six sub-board organizations called panels were establishedmMarmed Space

Flight, Unmanned Spacecraft, Launch Vehicles, Space Flight Ground Environment, Supporting Research and Technology, and Aeronautics. Membership

usually numbered from 8 to 10. Panels were to meet at least once every 2

months. Sub-panels also were authorized.

In contrast with the CMLC, the substantive power of the AACB and its

panels was based on the inherent power of the individual members. This was

the basic element of realism in the board-panel system. With top-level officials

serving on the Board and panels, the number of unresolvable problems would

probably be small. If disagreements could not be resolved within the system,

the normal decision-making channels would then have to be resorted to?:s The

chief objective of the system was to arrive at a common position. Implementing

action would be initiated by the same top-level officials upon their return to their

respective top-level positions.

"" "Agreement between the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration Concerning the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board," promulgated

Sept. 13, 1.960. (Attachment A to GMI 2-3--10, Sept. 13, 1960.)

m See Glennan's testimony, Hearings, To Amend the National A#ronau_its and Spat# Act

o! 195a, p. 525.
19 60-"'ORDERLY PROGitZSS 173

The agreemeut officially establishing the AACB would have been promulgated earlier in 1960 except for the fact that NASA and DOD waited to see if the

Space Act would be amended, thereby furnishing a legislative base for what otherwi_ would be purely an administrative action. There is evidence that the AACB,

as a formal system, was conceived to meet the congressional desire for formal

coordination machinery. The administration's proposal to abolish the Space

Counc_ and the CMLC was initially defended by Glennan and Dryden on

March 8, 1960. =` They indicated that effective inter-agency coordination was

currently being acAxieved on an informal basis and would continue to be so_

Six days later the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Jame_ Doug_ suggested that

the informal procedure might well be formalized and an Activities Coordinating

Board established._" By April 4, 1960, the last day of the amendment hearings,

this had become a commltm_t on the part of NASA and DOD. ne The House

Astronautics Committee then incorporated the NASA-DOD plan into its bill

Only after the Home bill died in the Senate did NASA and DOD officials officially

promulgate the agreement which had already begun operation. ='

Perhaps the best evidmce that the AACB system worked was that the respomibility for accomplishing inter-agency planning for the very important national launch vehicle program was enmm_ to the AACB and that this arrangement was ccmfinned by the new NASA-DOD leadembip which came along with

the new Kennedy administrationY"

Og_ 1960 NASA-DOD A_mmnm. During 1960, several new NASADOD agreements were entered into and several old ones revised. Only one was

as fundameatal or important as these prior to 1960. It was with the Army Corps

of Engin_ and greatly benefited NASA. It estaldished procedures by which

the Corps was "to perform design and construction services" for NASA at Huntsville, Cape Canaverat, "and elsewhere."-1, As NASA's _ction activities

expanded, the agreement took on added significance.

" lb/d., p. $$.

m/b/d., p. 133.

" lb/d., p. 525. Thk was presumably worked out at a Mar. 30, 1960, meetlng of Glenmm,

Dryden, and Horam" of NASA with Doug_, York, and othen from DOD. See Glennan's letter

toDo_l_ Mar. 25,1960.

ruBy Sept. 13 the Board had had two meet_gs. See NASA News Relea_ 60-260,

Sept. 13, 1960.

"See the Letter of Undentanding fnxn the Secretary of Defeme to the NASA Adminim_

mr, Feb. 25, 1961. (Reprinted in Senate Hearings, NASA d_horizafion/or Fiscal Y#ar 1962,

p. 151.)

"The agreement is printed as Attachment A to General Management Instruction 2-3-7,

Apr. 7, 1960. For some other 1960 agreements, see GMI 2-3-4, Sept. 15, 1960, and GMI

2-3-11, Mar. 21, 1961. All of these have been reprinted in U.S. Congress, House, Committee

on Government Operations, Systtms Development and Management, Part 5, Hearings, 87th

Cong., 2d seas. (Washington: GPO, 1962), pp. 1905-1913, 1889-1895, and 1950-1952 (hereafter

cited as House Hearings, Syctcmx Dev#lopmeat and Manag#m#nt, P_rt 5).
] 74 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1 9 5 8-- 19 6 3

C. Other External Relationships

During 1960 NASA made a substantial effort to strengthen its relationships

with U.S. industry. The contracting study described earlier in this chapter was

part of that effort. NASA experience on Federal-industry aspects was consolidated in a staff study on "Managing Major New Technologies" by the Assistant

General Counsel (Sohier).,0 Another step in this area was the four NASAindustry conferences held during the latter half of 1960.

NASA-Industry Cwnlerences. The important role that U.S. industry would

have to play in the Nation's space program was recognized even before NASA

,,,o, _,,ot,1;,h, ..... d ,r,k. ,,,_ _:1: ,,_,,_ y ....... - ........ _ va_= ,_u veen highly d d epen ent on vate pri

industry in achieving space-related defense objectives and were primarily responsible for the buildup of the U.S. aerospace industry. NASA wanted to tap the

resources of industry and also .wanted to educate industry on NASA's unique

requirements (e.g., reliability). The need to inform industry about NASA's

program and plans was the basic reason for holding the conferences. 221

Four conferences were held; a general one at NASA Headquarters and

specialized ones at each of the three development centers: Goddard, Marshall,

and JPL. 2" It was planned that all attendees have security clearances. Admission to the conferences was to be by invitation only and the major industrial

aerospace associations were utilized in drawing up a list of invitees: 2s

The first conference was held in Washington, D.C., and was attended by

about 1,300 persons. Almost all of NASA's top Headquarters officials made

presentations) 2. In addition to briefing the invitees about overall space program

and plans, NASA made presentations on its patent policy, procurement policy,

and procurement procedures? 25 NASA distributed a pamphlet, "Sell_." g to

NASA," in the hope of facilitating relationships betwecn NASA and the large

number of new concerns (many of which were relatively small) who were uninitiated in thc ways of Government procurement.

The classified nature of the proceedings drew criticism from the press. This

led to an investigation of the situation by Representative Moss' House Government Operations Subcommittec, the "watchdog" of administration security practices. "e Partly as a result of this the two final conferences were unclassified and

efforts were made to accommodate the wishes of the press.

m Walter T. Sohier, "Managing Major New Technologies," Oct. 1, 1960, 39 pp.

Memo, Golovin to Program Directors, Apr 8, 1960. Subject: NASA Program Presentation to Industry. See also NASA News Release 60-231, July 22, 1960.

"Dates were: Headquarters, July 28-29; Goddard, Aug. 30; Marshall, Sept. 27-28;

JPL, Oct. 26, 1960.

"Memo, Golovin to Homer, Apr. 13, 1960. Subject: Principal Conclusions of the

Meeting of Apr. 13, 1960, NASA-Industry Conference.

m, Attendance figure taken from NASA, Fourth Semi-annual Report, p. 204.

"An unclassified edition of the conference proceedings was published. NASA-Industry

Program Plans Conference, July 28-29, 1960 (Washington: GPO, 1960)_

m Memo, King to Bonney et al., Sept. 16, 1960. Subject: Follow-on Industry Conference.
19 6 O----ORDERLY PI_dDQIHgS S 175

V. THE GLENNAN ERA--SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The end of Glennan's 29-month "reign" as NASA Administrator marks an

excellent place to pause and take a backward look at NASA's history.

A. Space Program Accomplishments During the Glennan Era _._

Space program accomplishments, as measured by NASA's flight program,

were greater d"urh_ 1960 than during 1959 and included some very notable individual successes. During 1959 NASA's major flight accomplishnmnts (as

measured by fully successful orbital missions) were limited to the orbiting of three

scicnKfic earth satellites. During 1960 NASA succeeded in orbiting a passive

communicadous satellite (Echo I), two meteorolo_cal satellites (Tiros I and II),

a scientific solar satdFtte (Pioneer V), and a scientific earth satellite (Explore¢

VIII). In addition, two new launch vehicles, Scout and Thor-Delta, were succesdully used. NASA's manned space flight program, Project Mercury, conducted succesdul suborbital equipment tests during both 1959 and 1960.

On balance, however, NASA's flight program during the Glennan period

was characterized by a very high percentage of unsuccessful launches. This

stemmed from unreliable launch vehicles. As mentioned in Chapter 4, NASA

early recognized its dilemma; NASA's alarm over the situation was the motivating factor behind the establishment of the NASA-DOD nationat hunch vchicle

program and NASA's own reliability program. The detrimental results d launch

vehicle unreliability are revealed by an analysis of NASA's attempts to orbit

satellites either around the earth or around the sun. During 1958, 1959, and

1960, NASA made 25 orbitalattempts. Thelaunch vehicle performed mccesdu_

only eight times and partially successfully only four times. In other words, over

half of the attempts were completely unsuccessful and only one out of three was

completely successfifl. During 1958 and 1959, 15 hunches were attempted, of

which only 3 were completely successful and 4 partially successful. Thus only

one out of five was completely successful. In 1960 out of 10 attempts, 5 were

completely successful, or one out of two. The percentage improved a little during

1961, but it was not until 1962 that a dramatic imtxmamumt in launch vehicle

reliability was demonstrated.

These data apply to the performance of the latmch vehicle only. In a very

few cases the partially umucce_ul performance of the payload meant a less than

completely successful flight mission even though the launch vehicle performed

satidactorily. Average payload size increased significantly in 1960. The five

payloads orbited in 1959 weighed a total of 410 pounds, whereas the five orbited

in 1960 weighed over twice as much--867 pounds. _'

m Unless indicated otherwise, the data on NASA launchings are based on the "Chronology

of Major NASA T_,,neh;n_s, October I, 1958, Through December 31, 1962," prepared by the

NASA Historical OlSce.

" Based on "Chromcle of Earth Satellites and Space Probes, 19$7-1960," App. A of _leronautics and Astronautics, 1915-1960 by Eugene Emme, NASA Historian (Washington: GPO,

1961).

215-892 O---68------13

o
176 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

It should be pointed out again that these data refer only to orbital attempts.

The percentage of successful suborbital flights was fairly high. It should also be

repeated that launches constituted only a portion of NASA's overall program.

Accomplishments in other areas were substantial but not subject to easy measurement. There is no doubt that the scientific knowledge of space increased dramatically during the 1958-60 period.

A comparison of NASA's overall aerospace program between what existed

during NASA's early months and what existed at the end of the Glennan era

reveals several important changes. NASA's initial program emphasized aeronautical and space research, the unmanned scientific explnv_t;n,_ ,_f ..... ,h,.

manned exploration of space near the earth, and rocket engine development. To

this base was added launch vehicle development on a large scale, a program of

applying space technology to areas such as communications and meteorology, research in the life sciences, and the very beginnings of a program for the eventual

(i.e., beyond 1970) manned exploration of the moon. The building blocks for a

permanent space program were cemented together, such as Mercury, Mariner,

the F-1 engine, the Delta workhorse vehicle, and the Saturn super-booster.

B. Administrative and Organizational Changes During the Glennan Era

NASA, at the efid of the Glennan era, was vastly different from the agency

which had come into existence 28 months earlier. The total number of employees

increased from just under 8,000 (which had comprised NACA) to just over

16,000. The 16,000 figure excludes about 2,500 contractor employees working

at the NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Of the 8,000 increase, about

4,500 had been transferred to NASA en masse, almost all of them from the Army.

The NACA field installation system of three research laboratories and two flight

stations (one for rockets) was expanded under NASA by the building or acquisition of three space-flight development centers and several worldwide tracking

networks. Facilities and working arrangements were also established at the two

major national rocket launching ranges, AMR and PMR.

A Headquarters organization with five identifiable "segments" (top management, external relations, internal administration, aerospace research, and spaceflight development) evolved into one with nine "segments" (with the addition

of internal management, launch vehicle development, life sciences, and

information).

The annual budget of under $100 million which had funded NACA's primarily in-house research activities was only about 10 percent of the almost $1

billion budget that was funding NASA when the Glennan era ended, most of

which (about 85 percent) was spent out-of-house by contract.

The gross measurements of growth just presented teU little about NASA's

efforts to solve its administrative and organizational problems. A listing of these
1960---.-ORDERLY PROGRESS 177

problems, together with NASA's attempts to solve them, can serve as a device

for summarizing NASA's major administrative actions during its first 28 months.

The listing which follows includes administrative and borderline administrative/

program items, but excludes the many problems basically program in nature.

Prob/em I, Anew public program had to be expanded rapidly. In its

attempt to get its program moving rapidly, NASA mobilized industry and the

univeniti._e_ This meant that extemive work had to be done by conuacg which

in turn meant that contracting policies and procedures had to be attended to_

At the same time in-house efforts had to be expanded. New field installatiom were acquired (JPL and Marshal1) or established (Goddard), or old ones

altered (STG at Langley). The NASA staff had to be increased. This required

a major recruiting e_ort. The Civil Service Commission helped by relaxing its

control so as to give NASA flexibility in personnel maRem A new Civil Service

examination was formulated. Ways had to be devised to promote the more

effmient and responsible spending of money.

P_ 2. The rapidly _ program had to be intemally managed

and integrated. This was probably NASA's fundamental administrative problem.

In attempting to solve it, NASA established the position of Associate Administrator (i.e., general manager). The Associate Administrator was given a staff.

A program management system was installed. A financial management system

was improved. Operationswere dccentralized.A regionaloffice(WOO) was

establishedforadminlswat_ purlxmesonly. The Headquartersprogram offices

(e.g., OSFP and OLVP) were reorganized. A training system for pro_ect managem was mtahliahe_ Special efforts were made to evaluate the quality of

organization and management (e.g., the McKinsey studies and the Kimpton

Report).

Preb/em 3. Inter-agency coordination had to be achieved. Both for its

own good and to satisfy the desires of the White House and Congrms, NASA

had to establish effective working relationships with DOD and AEC. When

statutory machinery (the CMLC and the Space Council) did not work, new

machinery (the AACB) was esmb_ed administratively. Inter-agency agreemenus were entered into whereby agencies helped one another in areas of mutual

concern. NASA-AEC coordination was facilitated by the establishment of a

joint offtce (AEC-NASA NPO) which was organically part of both agencies.

Prob/mm 4. The program had to be adjusted, shaken down, and rmmded

out. Program changes were both ccmtinual and episodic. Aspecialstudycmnmittee was established to determine NASA's program in the life science area.

Much effort was expended in working out inter- and intra-agency progra,ms for

the development of launch vehicles. In response to a Space Act requirement,

an information and education program was established. Toward the end of the

Glennan era, serious attention was devoted to the formulation of a moon exploration program. Long-range plans were prepared by an office specially created
178 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

for that purpose. Intermediate-range planning was accomplished in part through

a budget preparation process. Numerous committees, study groups, advisory

panels, etc., were established to help give purpose and direction to NASA's

program.

Problem 5. An environment conducive to scientific and technical creativity

had to be established and maintained. NASA tried to prevent problems of a

"firefighting" variety from interfering with its steady-paced research efforts. A

conscious effort was made to keep developmental activities separated from research

activities. NASA tried to keep red tape at a minimum and maintain maximum

operating flexibility. An effort was made to attract new employees and hold on

to older ones by making the work as challenging as possible and at the same time

giving workers as high a grade (GS rating ) and pay as possible.

C. The Glennan Legacy

Dr. T. Keith Glennan served as a focal point for much of the administrative history of NASA presented in the last three chapters. This is not meant

to suggest that everything NASA did during its first 28 months revolved around

him. On the other hand, his role was more important than that of any other

one individual in shaping the new agency and establishing the direction of its

program. It may be well in closing a discussion of the Glennan period to

summarize what his contribution to NASA appears to have been.

First of all, it is safe to say that Glennan turned over to his successor an

organization in reasonably solid shape. Glennan showed a great concern and

talent for systematically solving problems as they arose. As a result there was

no serious backlog of problems for the new Administrator to dispose of. Glerman

was very conscious of the long haul and often concentrated on long-term problems

even when short-term efforts might have had an immediately bigger payoff with

Congress and the public.

Glennan was very deliberate and usually proceeded cautiously. He remained very loyal to President Eisenhower (often having to endure the ire of the

space zealots), even when he could have pursued a more independent course in

view of the strong public and congressional support which the space program

commanded. His relations with Congress, industry, the academic, and the general

public were satisfactory, at least in overall balance.

Although he was concerned with all aspects of the agency's activities, Glennan

paid particular attention to the following: ( 1 ) Almost singlehandcdly he established the position of Associate Administrator as a general manager of NASA's

basic program. (2) He led the effort to expand NASA's out-of-house R&D

activity. (3) He was the leading exponent of the idea that NASA should be

kept from mushrooming in size and that in-house expansion must be kept at a

minimum. (4) He gave strong support to NASA's reliability program, its execu-
I 9 60----OIH)ERLY PROGRESS 179

five training program, and its long-range planning program. (5) He was priwarily respons/ble for NASA's 1960 self-evaluation.

Not all of NASA's early organizational and administrative objectives were

achieved and some of the objectives that were achieved turned out to have only

interim value. "

The sizable program acceleration that occurred during 1961 kept constant

preeureonNASA'sprotaem4otvmgcapability,bothtechnicalandadmlnlmmlw

The fact that the sutzequent acceleration and expansion was accomplished within

the basic framework of what had evolved during the Glennan era is a commentary

on the soundnem of that framework.
PART TWO

1961-63
182 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958-1963 

NASA TOP MANAGEMENT, 1961-1963 

James E. Webb, Administtator (center); Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator 

(left) ; and Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Associate Administrator (right). 
Cha_r f_

TRANSITION FROM EISENHOWER TO KENNEDY

Under President Eisenhower the civilian space program occupied an uncertan position on his administration's list of long-range national objectives, As an

end (the sdentiflc exploration of space) it was supported at a levd which permitted

orderly but only moderate progress. As a means to such objectives as national

security and international prestige, it was probably underrated. Tune and again

the Eisenhower Administration asserted that the U.S. space program was adequate,

that the United States was not in a "space race" with the U.S.S.1L, and that

Russian space ac.hievemen_ per se, were not a threat to national security.

Not everyone felt this way. Sputnik had deeply hurt American pride, it

caused a dec.line in American prestige, it indicated a lag in American technology,

and suggested the _ of a gap in U.S. defenses.1 In the 3 years following

Sputnik, this outward situation had not changed _bly. Pride had not been

restored and the international prestige of the United States had not risen by

_reason of spectacular space accomplishments. There was no proof that the technological lead of the U.S.S.R. had been cut down. Nor was it well known

publicly that the United States actually had a ballistic missile superiority over

the U.S.S.R., a condition stemming to some degree from the fact that the Rmaian

missile buildup was less than had been expected.

T/w Pres/dent/a/ E/wt/on CamOa/gn. In the presidential dection campaign of 1960, Senator Kennedy attacked the gisenhower space record, Vice

President Nixon defended it. Nixon claimed that the Eisenhower administration had dosed a missile gap inherited from the Truman administration. Kennedy

claimed that shortsighted Eisenhower policies had left the United States in a

second-best position, a situation he would change.'

For an extended analym of these factor, see Vernon Van Dyke, Prid# and Power: Th,

Rat/ona_ of the Space Program (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1964).

s A detailed analysh of the role of space in the campaign is beyond the scope of this chapter.

The so-called "missile gap" was a major campaign issue, space was a somewhat peripheral iuue

183
184 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

A report prepared by the U.S. Information Agency, entitled "World Reaction to the U.S. and Soviet Space Programs," was made public in late October

1960." It bore out Kennedy's contention that the United States had suffered a

significant loss of prestige from lagging behind the U.S.S.R. in space achievements.

Senator Lyndon Johnson, who had taken a very active interest in space

matters since Sputnik, was Kennedy's running mate. Kennedy often looked to

Johnson for the lead on space matters and promised that if they were elected,

Johnson would be given significant responsibilities in space matters.

Uncertainty Following Konndy's Election. Kennedy's November election

victory ushered in a !_"iod of uncertainty--a type of interregnum when those in

command were lame-ducks and when the policies and peasonalities of the future

had not yet been determined.

It was generally assumed, in view of Kennedy-Johnson campaign statements,

that space matters would receive greater emphasis in the new administration.

There was no assurance, however, that NASA's civilian-oriented program would

be expanded or even maintained. Many Kennedy statements made during the

campaign had stressed the military and national security aspect of space. The

military services argued that Russia was concentrating on the development of a

"near-earth" operational capability for military purposes, something which NASA's

civilian-scientific program could not counter.

In the power vacuum following the November election, the military services

loudly asserted their point of view. Outside of the missile projects and some antimissile R&D, the Eisenhower administration had kept tight rein over the space

activities of the military services. Under Kennedy they hoped to win a larger

share of the national etort.

Most of their lobbying came in December. For example, on December 1,

1960, an "Air Force Information Policy Letter for Commanders" gave reasons

why the Air Force was ready and able to assume a larger role in the Nation's space

program.' On December 6 the Air Force announced plans for orbiting a monkey

into the Van Allen radiation belts. + On December 8 the Air Force announced

plans to orbit a passive communications balloon satellite. + Also in December the

Navy announced its intention to initiate a series of new space satellite projects. +

These various announcements were made unilaterally by the individual services

and had not been coordinated by DOD. s

In the light of the "ofTensive" by the military services, NASA's future grew

more and more uncertain. Even tail-end support by the Ei_nhower administration faltered. Maurice Stans, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, tried to

• For text, see New York Times, Oct. 29, 1960, p. 10.

' U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Defense Space Interests,

Hearings, 87th Cong., Ist seas. (Washington: GPO, 1961 ), pp. 93--96 (hereafter cited as House

Hearings, De/ense Space I,tere_ts ).

anew York Times, Dec. 7, 1961, p. 21.

"New York Times, Dec. 9, 1961, p. 7. "+

THouse Hearings, D#/ense Space l,terests, p. 11.

• Ibid.
TRANSITION FROM EISENHOWER TO KENNEDY 185

keep NASA's fiscalyear 1962 budget at an absoluterockbortomlevd.° Several

well-jtmified requests were trimmed, particularly those associated with postMercury manned _ For the first time even Administrator Glennan felt that

BOB and the. White House had not given NASA the support it deserved, x°

NASA's response to the uncertainties Of December was similar to that of

NACA back in 1958. In 1958 NASA was given responsibility for the Nation's

firm man-in-space program, in spite of much greater Air Force agitation for it,

became NACA had developed a detailed and feasible program for manned flight

based on existing technology." In late 1960, NASA quietly polished plans to

implement its '_I'en Year Plan," including post-Mercury manned flight, and which

called for a lunar landing by an American after 1970.'" A task force was created

on October 17, 1960, to develop a prdiminary lunar landing plan. 1. Later in

October, NASA selected several industrial conwactors for the preparation of

Project ApoIlo femitflity _udies on a three-man spacecraft for extended earth-orbit

and ciro-nhm*r flighL _ In early January, Glennan had to warn NASA's

manned lunar exploration planners that NASA could not proceed on such a large

und_taking but would have to await a White House decision on the matter? s On

the other hand, Glennan felt that NASA could legitimately claim that a manned

lunar landing could and would be accomplished eventually, and could proceed

with im planning. _'

NASA's intense plannL_ did not bear fruit until May 1961. During the

interregnum, uncertainty continued. In January 1961, a hoped-for clarification,

the report of President-elect Kennedy's Ad Hoc Committee on Space, fell short

of expectatiom and confused matters more than it clarified them.

T/us W/e_mrr _ To help him evaluate the status of the Nation's

progtmn, President-dect Kennedy had appointed a nine-member Ad Hoc Committee on Space. Jerome Wiemer of MIT served as Chairman. The Committee

submitted its report to the Prmident-elect on January 10, 19617'

The report was quite critical of the Nation's space program, both for its

military and civilian phases. One of the report's findings contn'outed to an important nmrganization of DOD's spaceprogram. Its comments on NASA, however,

"Bared on iatervie_

= Interview with T. Keith Olanmm,Jail 18, 1964.

"See forthamfing hittt_ of Project Mercury, Tids N#= Oc#an.

"See Historical $1rJtrh o[ NASA (Washington: NASA EP-29, 1965), pp. 28-29.

mSee theminutes of the Jan. 5--6, 1961, meeting of the Space Exploration _ Council

u See Low testimony, U.S. Congrem, Homm, Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1962

NASA Autho_ation, Hearings, 87th Cong., 1st se_. (Washington: GPO, 1961), p. 358 (hereafter cited u Houm Hearings, 1962 NASA Authorization).

SEPC minutes of Jan, 5-6, 1961.

1, Ibid.

1, "Report to the Pretident elect of the Ad Hoc Committee on Space" made public on

Jan. 12, 1961. (See Nsw York Times, Jan. 12, 1961, p. 14.) (A portion of the report on

military space programs was clamified.) Committee members were: Kenneth BeLieu, Trevor

Gardner, Donald Hornig, Edwin Land, Max Lehrer, Edward Purcell, Bruno Rcmi, and Harry

Watters.
186 ADMI'NISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

have been discounted somewhat for being too hastily drawn and based on insufficient fact-finding. Even though the Committee's Chairman became President

Kennedy's Special Assistant for Science and Technology, the report made a

relatively minor long-run impact on Kennedy and Johnson? 8 Became of its

short-run impact, the report warrants examination.

The report listed five principal motivations for the Nation pursuing a space

program: "national prestige, . . . national security, . . . opportunities for

scientific observation and experiment, . . . practical non-military application,

. . . possibilities for international cooperation." 19

The Committee felt that the objectives sought in the U.S. space program had

not been achieved to the necessary degree. Even the excellent achievements in

the scientific area had "not been impressive enough" against the background of

the spectacular exploits of the U.S.S.R. The shortcomings of the U.S. program

were not due to any lack of ability, but rather a lack of "efficient and effective

leadership" together with "organizational and management deficiencies" and problems of "staffing and direction." Problems existed at the "executive and other

policy making levels of Government," within DOD, and within NASAY °

To fill the void existing at the top policy making level, the report supported,

as could have been predicted, the Kennedy-Johnson plan for reactivating the

National Aeronautics and Space Council. The Council was needed to coordinate the Nation's space activities, to advise the President, and to settle "conflicts

of interest" between NASA and DOD? _ DOD was criticized for having a "fractionated" space program. The report advocated that responsibility for "all military space developments" be assigned to "one agency or military service" within

DOD. _

In addition to coming under the blanket condemnation of having organizational and management deficiencies, NASA was accused of being preoccupied

"with the development of an in-house research establishment" and that "too large

a fraction of the NASA program . . . is being channeled into NASA operated

facilities." NASA was accused of giving aeronautics too low an organizational

position. 2a The report recommended that NASA have a "vigorous, imaginative,

and technically competent top management," including, in addition to the Administrator and Deputy Administrator, Directors for "propulsion and vehicles, . . .

scientific programs, . . . non-military space applications, . . . and aerodynamic

and aircraft programs." _' The report did not state why this fourfold breakdown

was deemed best.

=See text of President Kennedy's Jan. 25, 1961, news conference, New York Times, Jan.

26, 1961, p. 10.

I0 See Pt. I of the report.

=oIbid.

= Pt_ III.

I* Ibid.

"Ibid. -.

s, Summary. No reasons were given for presenting such detailed recommendations on

NASA's internal organization.
TRANSITIONFROMEISENKOWERTOKENNEDY 187

As to the content of the Nation's space program, the report indicated sarisfaction with the scientific program only; it called for review and redefinition in

the areas of large boosters, manned space i_t, the military use of space, and the

application of space technology to practical end& It urged more attention to postSaturn launch vehicles. _ It suggested that manned space flight (i.e., Project

Mercury) was too high on the priority list? e It urged a vigorous applications

program, especially in communications and meteorology, and declared that it

should be a joint indust_-Govemment undertaking with governmental organizational machinery established to carry it out.'* The various statements on manned

space flight suggest that the Committee was uncertain about the size of the program

and what organizations should be involved. It questioned some of the technical

aspects of Project Mercury. It is generally felt that the Committee's factfinding

was especially inadequate in the manned space flight area.

In the course of the next several months, several of the recommendations

included in the Wiesner Report were implemented. Several were not, however,

and in some cases diametrically opposite a£tion was taken.

tl_ New NASA Ad_. The Wiemer Report recommended that NASA's top leaders be "vigorous, imaginative, and technically

competent." One reason given for the relatively long delay in selecting a rep/acement for Glennan was that Lyndon Johnson favored a tried and proven administrator, whereas other advisers, presumably including Jerome Wiesner, advocated

that a technical man be appointed. _ The Johnson point of view prevailed,

although there were rumors that several technical persons (such as Berlm¢_,

Picketing, Gardner, DuBridge, and Draper) had been considered, j' On January

30, 10 days affter Glennan had left NASA, President Kennedy announced that

James E. Webb had been nominated for the post of NASA Administrator and that

Hugh L. Dryden had been asked to stay on as Deputy Administrator? °

The Senate Space Committee's hearing on Webb's nomination was held on

February 2, severaldays beforethe nomination was actually rccdvcd,a_ This

was done "in the interest of expediency" so that the Senate could take "prompt

action"as soon as thenominationwas recdvcd,a,

The hearingrevealcdthatMr. Wcbb was a dynamo ofactivity,beingengaged

simultaneously in a large number of activities both public and pdvateY' He was

born in North Carolinain 1906 and graduatedwitha degreeineducationfrom the

UniversityofNorth _ He studiedlaw atGeorge Washington Univcrsity

= Pt. IV.

=PL VI.

=PL VII.

"New York Times, Jan. 31, 1961, p. 18.

Washington Evcning Star, Jan. 20, 1961.

aNew York Titres, Jan. 31, 1961, p. 18.

,t U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Nomination, Hearing on Nomination of JameJ Edwin Webb, Feb. 2, 1961, 87th Cong., 1st tana. (Wa._hington: GPO,

1961 ). Replacing Lyndon Johnson as committee chairman was Robert Kerr, one of Webb'$

principal sponsors.

= Ibid., p. 1.

"Ibid., pp. 2-3.
188 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

and was admitted to the bar. From 1936 to 1943, his longest stint with any one

organization, he worked for the Sperry-Gyroscope Co. During World War II

he served as a major in Marine Corps aviation. From 1946 to 1949 he was

Director of the Bureau of the Budget and from 1949 to 1952 was Under Secretary

of State. Subsequent activity was far ranging. At the time he was nominated

NASA Administrator, he was, among other things, the chairman of the Municipal

Manpower Commission (a study commission financed by the Ford Foundation),

a director and officer of Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Inc., and a director of

McDonnell Aircraft Corp. (one of NASA's major contractors). He agreed to

sever all relationships with firms doing business with NASA.

His interest in policy and administration was evidenced by his being a

member of such organizations as the American Society for Public Administration,

the American Political Science Association, the American Academy of Political &

Social Science, the American Society for the Advancement of Management, the

American Management Association, and the National Planning Association.

Webb's nomination was enthusiastically endorsed by the Senate Space

Committee and was confirmed by the Senate on February 9. He was sworn in

as NASA Administrator on February 14.

NASA Asked To Review Its Program. During the 3y2 weeks between

Glennan leaving NASA and Webb being sworn in, NASA was under the direction

of Dr. Hugh L. Dryden whose resignation had not been accepted by President

Kennedy, and who, therefore, stayed on as Deputy Administrator. Dryden then

served as Acting Administrator during this interim period. At a House Astronautics Committee hearing, Representative Fulton asked Dryden if he had received

any instructions from the White House while he was Acting Administrator "to

speed up anything." Dryden replied that he had not. He added, however, that

the new Administrator had received a letter from the White House asking Webb

"to review all the programs of the agency and to make his recommendations." :'

The results of this review are discussed later in this chapter.

DOD Reorganizes Its Space Program. On March 6, 1961, President Kennedy's new Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, issued a directive designed

to improve DOD's space program by "better organization and dearer assignment

of responsibility." :5 The directive assigned responsibility for all "research,

development, test and engineering of Department of Defense space development

projects" to the Air Force. A "DOD space development project" was one that

had been approved by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of Defense. All DOD

agencies could conduct "preliminary" research and draw up proposals for R&D

programs and projects. These proposals would then be reviewed by the Director

of Defense Research and Engineering. Only after formal approval at the top

would they be turned over to the Air Force. The directive dealt only with

8, U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Attronautict, Discussion o/U.S. Satellite

TTacking System, Hearings, Feb. 15, 1961, 87th Cong., 1st seu. (Washington: GPO, 1961 ), p. 9.

m Department of Defense Directive No. 5106.32, Mar. 6, 1961. Subject: Development of

Space Systems. (The quotation it from McNamara's covering memo.)
Ta_srnoN nou zm_own To r_mc_Y " 189

development. Operational programs were assigned to the individual services on

an item-by-item basis.

The directive was the outgrowth of three factors. One was the December

lobbying by the military services which revealed they had a large amount of

freedom to make program changes on their own. Second, the Wiesner Report

had strongly recommended a pinpointing of responsibility in DOD's space effort_

Third, a study of DOD's space program by McNamara's new Office of Organization and Management Planning Studies revealed that the Air Force was already

respomible for over 90 percent of DOD's space R&D. The Wiemer Report

prompted McNamara's special study."

DOD chimed that the reorganization would have no detrimental effect on

NASA-DOD relatiom." Some Congressmen feared that the Air Force was

being given too large a role in space. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Thomas

White was quick to point out that there was plenty of work for all. u On May

16, 1961, the administration revealed that the Air Force had been given a role

in the sufaa4mmter field, limited to the use of solid fuels, however. NASA was

to c_centrate on superboosters using liquid fuek"

Steaw.c Act Ammaded. Chronologically the next major event was the March

amendment to NASA's budget. But so that the March and May budget amendments can be disomed together, it is probably best to break the chronological

sequence of events and discuss first the April amending of the Space Act. It

should be kept in mind that amending the Space Act was not related to the

accderafi_ of NASA's program being contemplated at the time.

On April I0, 1961, President Kennedy asked Congress to amend Section 201

of the Space Act. Section 201 provided for the _--¢ab!ishment and functioning

of the National Aeronautics and Space Council to be composed of the President,

the Secretaries of State and Defense, the heads of NASA and AEC, and no more

than four other appointed memben. It was to advise the President in his performance of certain duties enumerated in the Space Act. Except during NASA's

early history, President Eisenhower had not utilized the Space Council; indeed,

he had advocated that it be abolished because it was not needed. *° During the

1960 election campaign, Kennedy indicated that he would reactivate the CounciL

•In December he announced that he would seek to have the Space Act amended

so that Vice President Johnson, rather than himself, could head the Council '_

It should be recaRed that Johnson was responsible for the creation of the Council

back in 1958. It is uncertain why President Kennedy waited until April to

propose the amendment.

"The DOD reorganization was the principal subject of House hearings, D*[e_r* Space

Int#r#sts, beginning Mar. 17, 1961. Many pertinent documents, including the Mar. 6 directive,

were inserted into the printed hearings.

'* Ibid.

"New York Times, Mar. 19, 1961, p. 1.

" N,w York Timas, May 17, 1961,13. 18.

"Thh hag been _ in Ch. 5, Sec. VIA.

a N, uJ York Tim_,Dec. 21, 1960, p. 1.
190 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Congress responded with dispatch?: Four basic changes were made. First,

the Council was given an organizational home in the Executive Office of the

President. Second, the Vice President was made Chairman of the Council in

place of the President. Third, the four appointed members were eliminated,

thus reducing the Council to five statutory members. Fourth, when requested

by the President, the Council was to "assist" him as well as advise him.

The staff of the Council, almost nonexistent during the Eisenhower administration, was expanded. Dr. Edward C. Welsh was named Executive Secretary. '_

The March Budget Amendment. In response to President Kennedy's directive that NASA reexamine President Eisenhower's January budget, NASA

responded with a request for an additional $308,191,000," an increase of 28

percent in the $1,109,630,000 January budget for fiscal year 1962. This March

request was trimmed 60 percent by the Bureau of the Budget and the formal budget

amendment submitted to Congress on March 28 totaled $125,670,000. '5 This

amendment did little more than give NASA the fiscal year 1962 budget it had

hoped to get from the Eisenhower administration. The new administration felt

at this time that many of its "new frontier" projects "on earth" were of higher

priority. _

The cuts in NASA's March budget request suggest that the philosophy of

the Wiemer Report may have had some influence, as the new administration had

little confidence in or few contacts with the NASA organization at this point.

NASA had requested additions to almost all of its programs. BOB approved

only a narrow range of items---launch vehicle development, launching facilities,

and communications satellite development. The entire additional $42,600,000

requested for Project Apollo, the manned space-flight project to follow Project

Mercury, was disallowed. All requests for scientific exploration of space were

disallowed. This was in keeping with the Wiemer Report's emphasis on launch

vehicle development and practical applications, its feeling that the scientific

program was sound, and its uncertainty on future manned space'-flight programs. "T

a President Kennedy's request was dated Apr. 10, 1961. The House Space Committee held

a heating on Apr. 12. A bill was reported out (Report 225) on Apr. 13 and it passed the House

on Apr. 17. The Senate Space Committee held a hearing on the bill on Apr. 19 and it was

reported out (S. Kept. 174) the same day. The Senate completed action on Apr. 20. Public

Law 87-26 was signed by the President on Apr. 25.

a On Mar. 21, 1961, Dr. Edward Welsh, an economist on the staff of Senator Symington,

was appointed to the $20,000 position of Executive Secretary. A staff of 20 to 25 persons was

contemplated.

U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization or Fiscal Year 1962, S. Kept. 475, 87th Cong., 1st seu. (Washington: GPO, 1961), pp.

2-7 (hereafter cited as Senate Report, NASA Authorization /or Fiscal Year 1962).

,s Ibid.

Based on interview.

Dryden, in an appearance before the House Space Committee, testified that President

Kennedy had not ignored manned space flight during the March review but had "reserved" it

for "further study within the executive branch." Dryden went on to say, "I think at the

time most of us felt he was contemplating reconsidering this in connection with the following

budget." See House Hearings, 1962 NASA Authorization, p. 1037 of Part 3.
TRAHSrI_NlrROMEISENE[OWERTOKENNEDY 191

BOWs action made sense to the extent that the Saturn vehicle, especially the

larger C-2 version, was the pacing item for all furore manned space-fright programs, and that the fiscal year 1963 budget could fund the spacecraft involved.

NASA admitted that the March add-on, modest as it was, permitted an accderation of the Apollo fl_rht schedule. _ Flights around the earth using the Apollo

spacec:_ were moved up from 1967 to 1965, and circumlunar flights from 1969

to 1967. The add-on even permitted the establLdmmnt of a target date for a

lunar landing in the 1969-70 time period.

Publicly NASA did not protest the action of BOB in cutting back the March

request. There seemed to be a general acceptance, even by the aggressive House

Astronautics Committee, that the March budget amendment was a _t

step forward."

Then, on April i2, came the dramatic news that Yuri Gagarin of the

U_.S_R. had become the first human to orbit the earth in space.

lmpact ot tl_ Ga_arin Fl_ltt. The impact of the Gagarin flight in Vostok !

was fike that of Sputnik I. Even though there were numerous warnings that

Russia's big boosters would permit it to make spectacular achievements in space,

including manhed space flight, there was a great chagrin in the United Stat_.

Once again it had come in second best.

It did not take the House Astronautics Committee long to zero in on exactly

what NASA had asked for in March and what it had received. In remarkable

testimony on Apr_ 14, 1961, 2 days after the Gagarin flight, Associate Administrator Seamans reluctantly told the House Astronautics _ everything

it wanted to hear. _ Yes, BOB had knocked out everything that NASA had

requested for manned space flight. Yes, NASA felt that Project Apollo would

benefit by having more money spent on it during fiscal year 1962, even though

the launch vehicle, the Saturn C-2, was still the pacing item. Yes, spending

large amounts of money could achieve a telescoping of NASA's lO-year plan

oaui possibly permit, if everything went perfectly, a manned landing on the moon

by 1968 or even as early as 1967. ( 1967 was regarded as a crucial date; there

were rumors that the U.S.S.R. would attempt a lunar landh_g as part of its

celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.) Seamans

clearly indicated, however, that NASA had no plans to ask the Bureau of the

Budget for more money for fiscal year 196271 Actually, Vice President Johnson

had been studying the future of manned space flight for some time, but this was

not known publicly."

mSee Seamam' testimcmy of Apr. 14, 1961. House Henr/np, 1962 NASA Authorim_m,

p. 375.

*' A reading of the u-anscrlpt of the Webb-Dryden-Seamam news conference on the March

budget amendment, however, reveals, if one looks for it, a definite lack of enthuslaJm on what the

March amendment could achieve and an umpirited defense of the adequacy of the amendment.

(For the transcript, see NASA News Release 61--65, Mar. 28, 1961.)

" See House Hearings, 1962 NASA Authorization, pp. 360-382.

a Ib/d., p. 361.

=See Dryden comments to NASA Historical Office, Aug. 4, 1964.

215-892 O---86------14

_z.
192 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The Gagarin flight accelerated the reappraisal of the U.S. space program, sa

On April 21 President Kennedy formally instructed Lyndon Johnson and the

Space Council to make a study of what space projects must be pushed if the

United States intended to surpass the U.S.S.R. in space?" On May 5, the date

of Astronaut Shepard's suborbital Mercury flight, President Kennedy revealed

that a second budget add-on was a possibility? 5 On May 25, 6 weeks after the

Gagarin flight, President Kennedy announced a sizable acceleration of the

Nation's space program. 56

The Presidfat's May 25 Message. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy,

at a joint session of Congress, delivered a State of the Union message, st After

discussing the domestic economy, national defense, and foreign affairs, the President came to his last and major point--space. He declared that the time had

come to "take longer strides" in space, that it was time for a "great new American

enterprise," time for the United States "to take a dearly leading role in space

achievement." He claimed that the United States had the "resources and

talent," but had never made the national decision to use these assets to achieve

world leadership in space. The head staxt of the U.S.S.R. should not discourage

the United States. "For while we cannot guarantee that we sliall one day be

first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last."

The President called for the Nation to commit itself "to achieving the goal,

before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safdy

to the earth." He pointed out that this would be an expensive venture, one that

would consume time, talent, and resources that could be spent elsewhere. He

believed it would be worth it, however, and he asked Congress and the American

people to consider the matter so that the entire Nation could arrive at a truly

national decision and make it a truly national venture.

In addition to asking for a large acceleration of the effort related to a manned

lunar landing, the President asked for an accelerated effort in three other areas---

the development of a nuclear rocket, the development of communications satellites, and the development of meteorological satellites.

The President indicated that the degree of acceleration he had in mind

would increase the fiscal year 1962 budget by an additional $531 million.

m For other more detailed accounts, see Jay Holmes, Am#flea on the Moon: The Enter.

prise o[ che Six¢ies (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1962 ), Ch. 15; also "The Expanded Space

Program," Historical Sketch of NASA, pp. 27-31.

"_New York Times, Apr. 22, 1961, p. I. The Bay of Pigs fiasco had occurred on Apr. 17

and is generally regarded as an additional reason for the administration's interest in doing

something dramatic in space.

"New York Times, May 6, 1961, p. 14. The Shepard flight, because of the open and

widespread coverage, was a worldwide propaganda success for the United States even though it

did not compare with the Gagarin flight as a technical achievement.

4"The full inside history of the January-May events has yet to be written.

"For text, see N#w York Times, May 26, 1961, p. 12.
TRANSITIONFROMKI5__ TO_Y

Budgets over the following 5 years would have m be increased by a total of from

7 to 9 billion additional dollars.u

_R_ _ of the l_,_"s D,_. The Kennedy

administration's space program acceleration decision immediately altered NASA's

long-_ planning,espedally its lunar-rela_l aspects." Tune tables were _-

nificantly compressed. This could only be achieved by spending larger zmoun___,

of money aver a shorter period d time. The fiscal year 1962 budget amendmeats were only an initial down payment on a large long-range spending program.

The most _un;fir_nt dmetable change was the target date for a manned

lunar landing. The timetable inherited from the _ adminisuation called

for a post-1970 lunar landing date, with 1971 considered the earliest pmsi_

date. Prmideat Kennedy called for a pre-1970 date, with 1967-68 regarded

as the earl_ Ixmible d__

The planning date for a manned flight around the moon (circumlunar, not

lunar orbital) was changed from 1969 to 1967, or earlier. The flight of a

three-man space "laboratory" in orbit around the earth was changed from 1967

to 1965.

To carry out these very large undermkin_ much new hardware would

have to be developed and much research conducted. The only applicable hardware items actually under development in early 1961 were the Saturn C-1 vehicle,

which was to launch the thrce-man laboratory into orbit around the earth, and

two large engines that could be used in post Saturn vehicles. The January

budget had included small amounts of money for moving ahead in fiscal year

1962 with the development of the three-man capsule (the Apollo capsule) and

•,he vehicle to launch the capsule on a circumlunar flight (the Saturn C-2).

Since the lunar landing and r_rn would require a spacecraft with its own

propulsion system, the vehicle for the lunar landing mission would have to be

considerably larger than the Saturn 0-2.

In early 1961 there were many unknowns concerning the problems that would

be encountered in achieving a manned lunar landing. The Kennedy budget

ameadmeats constituted NASA's best estimates on which objectives to pursue

tint.

Dm_ails of t/_ Mardt and May Budg_ Amamdmam_ The budget ameadmerit that President Kennedy sent to Congress the day following his .May 25

message was over four times as large as his March ameadmeat." T_ea together,

=The public ut_'ances on the future casts cd the Nation's space progrmn were very coafusing. At a May 25, 1961, budget briefing given by Webb, Dryden, and Seamam, it was

indicated that NASA's budget over the 9 rata/ years beginning with facal year 1962 would

amount to $40 billion, which is about $28 billion more than projections made by the Eiaenhower

administration. The overall price tag for developing the capability to make a manned lunar

landing was generally estimated to be between $20 and $40 billion. For text of budget briefing,

see NASA News Release 61-I 15, May 25, 1961.

"CA. Seamam' and Hyatt's testimony on Mar. 23, 1961 (House Hearings 1962 NASA

duthorizatioa, pp. 167-190), with various testimonies adter May 25.

•* President Kennedy's letter to Speaker Rayburn was dated May 26, 1961. The budset

amendment was published as H. Doc. 179, May 29, 1961, 87th Cong.
194 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

the two budget amendments provided for a 61-percent increase in President

Eisenhower's fiscal year 1962 request. The details of the March and May

amendments, together with the January request, are presented in Table 6-171

This table gives a comprehensive picture of precisely what was changed as a

result of the acceleration. It should be remembered that the amendments were

to the fiscal year 1962 budget and thus for a fiscal year that was to get underway

only 5 weeks after the May 25 message.

The March and May amendments increased "New Obligational Authority

for Construction of Facilities" by 163 percent (line 28). This was an indication

of the importance placed on getting started on long lead time construction items. _

in keeping with NASA_s policy ol relying heavily on outside contractors,

"Research and Development" (line 27) was increased at a much faster rate

than "Salaries and Expenses" (line 26). Nevertheless, plans for 4,080 new

positions constituted an ambitious in-house expansion program for a 1-year period

(line5).

As mentioned carlicr,thc March amendment emphasized launch vchiclc

development almost cxclusivcly.Thc March funds for Saturn (line6) were

designedto permit an immediatc go-ahead on the large-scaledevelopment of

thc Saturn C--2,thcvchiclcthat was to bc used forcircumlunarflights.Thc

funds for Centaur (line7) and relatedAMR construction(line18) were designed to bccf up the development of a vehicleupon which many important

futureflightsdcpcndcd (e.g.,the Surveyorsoftlanderon themoon), and which

alsowas to be theproving ground for a liquid-hydrogenpropulsionsystem intended for usc in the upper stagesof Saturn vehicles.

Many itcmswcrc increasedin the May amendment. Thc biggestincrease

was fortheApolloproject(line9). This change meant thata large-scaleeffort

could be madc to developa spacecraftwith the eventualcapabilityof landing

men on the moon and returningthcm to earth.

Closelyassociatedwith the Apollo projectwas the item providingfor the

constructionof a new laboratoryfor manned space flightprojects(line19).

EventuallylocatedinHouston,Tcx.,thisnew NASA installationwas tohave jurisdictionoverthedcvclopmentof theApollospacecraftand itseventualflightprogram, includingflightstothemoon.

The largeadditionsto the lunar and planetaryprogram (line11) were

designedto strengthenNASA's program for the unmanned explorationof the

moon, usinghard-landingRanger Spacecraftand soft-landingSurvcyor spacecraft. Thc unmanned explorationof the moon was considcrcdan absolutcly

essentialstcppreparatoryto a manned landing.

The May amendment included$133 millionforthc so-calledNova launch

vehicleand relatedpropulsionsystemsand facilities(lines8, 12,20, 21 ). The

• 1Baaed primarily on data on pp. 3--7 of Senate Report, NASA Authorization /or Fiscal

Year 1962. -.

m CoF constituted 9 percent of the January budget and 14 percent of the much larger May

budget.
¢_,_smos x,ttoM _msNsow_ TO _Y

T_mcs 6-1.--Summm'y, NASA's Fiscal Year 1962 Budget

195

Line and item

i.Sa_i= _d _ ................

2. Rcmmr.h and _t ...........

3. _ ci Facilities ..............

4. To_ ..........................

5o l_itio_ ...........................

Major R&D _:

6. Saun-n Veh/r_ Development ..........

7. Centaur Vehicle IX-veiopment .........

8. X_q_d Prepare .....................

9. Apono Pro_t ........................

10. Iie Sc_m_ .........................

tl. Lm=r and Phnemry ..................

12. _ Vehicle Tcchnolo_ ............

IS. Nova Vchieae Devttoptmnt.

14. _ Satzt_ IX-vtiop=_t..

l_ _ s_it. IX-_opm_ ......

m. Nuc_ffirs_ T_chaok_ ...........

17. All Other ............................

Major Co]F changes:

18. Atlantic Mim/le Range ................

19. Manned Flight Laboratm'y .............

20. Nova Latmch Facilitim..

2t. l_quid _ Fa_ti_ ...........

22.

23.

New obligationalauthority, in thoman_

amend°

mcnt

$1as, 986 t_ 7O0

819, 819 99, 7'20

99, 8Z_ t9, 250

1, 109, 630 125, 670

07, s¢2) (78o)

168,160

3O,80O

68,7OO

29,5OO

8,620

I03,8_

15,000

56,OOO

25,600

9,320

--5,200

17, 000

34,60O

28,20O

24, 000

32,583

.

l,175

Nuclear Todmolo_ F_m_ .........

May

amendmerit

$3O, 000

376,OO0

143,000

549,000

(3,S00)

..........

I'"i52 

130,5t10

12,000

56,000

_2, 000

'm, 500

_,000

_., 000

6,000

22,0oo

2B,ooo

3o,ooo

15,000

I0,000

total

$226,686

1, 295, 539

o75

I, 78¢, 300

(21,499)

994, 160

56,4oo

93, 0'20

160, 000

2o,62o

15g,899

27,000

4,8,5OO

94,6OO

50,m0

S6,000

32.5, 140

49,.583

6O,OOO

28,0OO

31, 175

15,000

78,317

Pettentage immmKs tmmd ea January budget:

24. March #_tm-nt ....................................................... I I

25. Mm_ and May Am,_h,_-_m .............................................. 61

26. SalaN_m and Falmmm .................................................. 19

27. Rematch and _ ............................................. 58

28. Commactioa cd FEiliti_ ................................................ 163

Major R&D catcgm'ics:

29. Applications Progrmm ................. .................................... 131

30. Manned Exploration o_Space .............................................. 126

31. Launch Vehicle Development ............................................. 63

32. Scientific Expltration of Space ............................................. 38

33. All Other ............................................................... 25
196 ADMI_STRATrW HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Nova was an interim name given to. a very large launch vehicle which would

cluster the large F-1 and J-2 engines that NASA was developing. Supposedly it

was to be the vehicle that would launch the Apollo spacecraft, including its propulsion unit and a three-man crew, directly to the moon.

As far as the manned lunar landing was concerned, the budget amendments

left two major questions in abeyance. One was whether to begin a sizable national program for the development of large solid-fueled vehicles to parallel the

liquid system upon which NASA was concentrating. The other was whether

to pursue simultaneously several methods of achieving a manned lunar landing,

such as the direct approach using one large vehide_ _nd the t._rth orbit rend_,_vom

approach using several smaller vehicles. (The lunar orbit rendezvous approach,

the one selected a year later, was not given much consideration in early 1961.)

In addition to the lunar projects, NASA's space program was accelerated in

two other areas---practical applications and nuclear technology. It was felt that

the U.S.S.R. could very likely be bested in both these areas. Funds for communications and meteorological sateRites were increased 131 percent (lines 29, 14, 15 ).

Nuclear-systems technology and related facilities received an additional $42 million

(lines 16, 22).

Condu.6anu. The turnover in the national administration led to three basic

changes that significantly affected NASA's subsequent history. First, a top-level

policymaking body for the entire national space program, the National Aeronautics and Space Council, was reestablished and staffed. Second, NASA obtained a new administrator with more of an administrative orientation than a

technical one. Third, the civilian space program was significantly accelerated

with a growth potential that would make NASA one of the largest agencies in the

Federal Government.

Continuity forces also were at work. Webb's replacing Glennan was the

only major change in NASA's top management. 6s Everyone else stayed in their

old jobs including the appointed Deputy Administrator. Although DOD's space

program was reorganized, NASA-DOD relations, partially institutionalized by

the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board, continued much as before.

NASA's organizational and administrative response to the acceleration of its

program is the topic of the next chapter.

"It should be noted at this point that Glennan took great care in putting NASA's house

in order and preparing a set of transition notes for the incoming Admlni.trator.
Chapter _vm

REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION

The ta_-vious chapter covered the period of transition from the Eisenhower

administration to the Kennedy _ and the extremely hnportant

decision to substantially accelerate NASA's space program. This chapter covers

the rest of 1961.

There seems to be little doubt that 1961 was the most eventful of NASA's

first 5 years. Agency officials must have been reeling by the time the year ended.

Momentous decisiom on both program and administrative matters had been made

in quick succession. There were at least two administrative decisions of major

importance. One was the decision to strengthen NASA's general management

by great]y str_n_th_ing the $ta_ of the Assoc_te Administrator, the other was

the decision to reo_ranize NASA as a whole. The November 1, 1961, reorganizawas the climax of NASA's 1961 admini_ative history. The ev_ts leading

to it wee cmnplcx.

By way of introduction_ it may be well to summarize briefly the organization

and program that th_ new Administrator took over in February 1961. NASA

consisted of over I 6,000 employees, more than 95 percent of whom worked in field

offices located in California, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, and Maryland.

Yet only about 15 percent of its $I billion annual budget was spent directly

in-house. The rest was spent by contract, primarily with the aerospa_ industry,

but also with the construction industry, universities, and nonprofit organhafim_

Ies program of basic aeronautical and space research, spacecraft and launch vehicle

research and development, and space exploration had af.hieved several notable

especially in the scientific field. Significant _ had been made in

other fields, especially manned space flight. Among Federal ag_cks, it ranked

13th in number of perscmnel and 8th in terms of its budget (i.e., obligational

anth_ty) ."

NASA faced the usual problems of all large organizations. In addition, it

faced problems unique to the technical program for which it was responsible, a_d

SBased on the President's fiscal year 1961 budget requests. In terms of obligational

authority, only DOD, Treasury, VA, USDA, HEW, AEC, and Foreign Aid were larger. In

number of personnel, all of the executive departments except Labor were larger, as were the

VA, FAA, and GSA. TVA was about the same size.

197
198 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

to the contracting arrangements by which it did most of its work. These problems

were compounded by what was generally regarded as something short of a clearcut statement as to NASA's long-range objectives. At the time it lacked the

support which a clientele-oriented agency can muster, although some support

from the scientific community could be obtained. It lacked the security which

an agency performing indispensable functions such as defense, foreign policy, or

tax collecting has. It was not a multifaceted agency where declines in certain

areas could be matched by advances in others. In early 1961, NASA was still a

"reactive" agency--a manifestation of the reaction or response of Congress and

the President to the challenge of outside events. As it turned out, the pressure

of outside events continued for a long enough period to permit NASA to become

somewhat better entrenched. By 1964 the agency's organization and program

had become somewhat stabilized.

This is not to suggest that the only problem NASA faced in early 1961 was

its mandate. There were numerous internal administrative and organizational

problems to which the new Administrator had to address himself. At the same

time much of his attention had to be devoted to the external activity of working

with Kennedy and Johnson concerning a reformulation of NASA's mandate.

I. WEBB'S FIRST LOOK AT NASA ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS

Glennan departed from NASA 3 weeks before Webb appeared on the scene

and thus was never able to brief his successor on NASA's administrative and

organizational problems? He was able to pass on to his successor information

and recommendations on those problems. In addition, Webb inherited the small

group of NASA officials who had closely participated in Glennan's organizational

studies and who were thus familiar with what had been done and what was still

left to do. s

The following is a brief summary of the information and recommendations

which Webb inherited.*

A. Summary of NASA's 1960 Administrative Self-Evaluation

In October 1960, a McKinsey & Co. report on NASA contracting recommended a strengthening of NASA's procurement practices, policies, and machinery,

and a general tightening in the area of project management?

e This was a source of frustration for Glennan. See his letter to Richard Homer, former

Associate Administrator, Jan. 12, 1961.

s The Director of the Office of Business Administration, Albert Siepert; his deputy, Wesley

Hjornevik; and special assistant Alfred Hodgson, all came to NASA shortly after its establishment. The head of NASA's Management Analysis Division, John Young, came to NASA in

December 1960 from Mc.Kinsey & Co. where he had been in on almost all of the studies that

McKinsey & Co. had done for NASA.

* See Ch. 5, Sec. III, for full details.

See Ch. 5, Sec. III.B.
REORGANIZATIONFORPROGRAMACCELF.J[ATION 199

In November 1960, the report of the Advisory Committee on Organization

(the Kimpton Report) made mild recommendations on NASA's organizational

arrangements and delineated several areas for agency attention, e The report

concluded that eventually NASA would have to realign its Headquarters program

OffiCestO ellmln_tP tl:ie "built-in" integration problem caused by the existence of

sepmate offices for spacecraft development and launch vehicle development. No

other significant strucUwal recommendation was made. The areas earmarked

for attention were these:

1. The balance between research, on one hand, and development, on the

other, and the proper insulation of one from the other (more flexibility needed).

2. The optimum degree of decision making and operational decentralization

(more decentralization needed ).

3. The balance between in-house and out-of-honse activity (the more of the

latter the better).

4. The optimum utilization of university resources (und_ at that time).

5. Better allocation of responsibilities among NASA installations (responsibility should be better pinpointed).

6. The role of the Associate Administrator (his power should be strengthened).

7. The organizational status of aeronautics (should be elevated).

The self-evaluaion activity of which the Kimpton Report and the McKinsey

Contracting Report were a part also generated other ideas which were more or less

floating around at the end of Glennan's term.' One such idea was that the field

centers might more properly be directly under the Associate Administrator rather

than under Headquarters program directom ,Another was that new field centers

were needed, especially for life science and manned space flight activities. A third

was that NASA needed more rather than less in-house activity. A fourth was

that NASA Headquarters needed a more comprehensive reorganization than

merely eliminating the bifurcation between launch vehicles and spacecraft.

With the impending change in national administrations and no immediate

crises demanding attention, comprehensive implementation of the various recommendations was not attempted in late 1960. The pot was simmering, however,

when Webb became NASA's second Administrator. s

Ik _ r-dmm_ "$mumW took"

As a lawyer-administrator, Webb was very. interested in organizational and

administrative matters. Shortly after being sworn in he was briefed by NASA's

• See Ch. 5, See- III.C.

"NASA officials were aaked to comment on the Kimpton Report. See Ch. 5, last portion

of Sec. III.C.

* It should be recalled that the January 1961 Wiesner Report included several organizational and adminim-ative recommendatiom. See Ch. 6.
200 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

specialists on organizational structure and administrative processes (Siepert,

Hjornevik, Hodgson, and Young). He quickly gave a green light to preparation

of an analysis of NASA's organizational problems and of a set of alternative structures should major reorganization seem necessary. 9

The first document to be produced, entitled "A Summary Look at 'the Headquarters Organization Problem,' " is significant in that it revealed the thinking

of NASA's organizational specialists and also turned out to be the base for subsequent analysis. 1° It is dated February 27, 1961, prior to any inkling that the space

program might be significantly accelerated.

No recommendations were made. Instead, problems were listed and several

alternative solutions presented. Certain assumptions were set forth which had

definite implications as to which solutions would be most desirable. 11 These

a.qsumptions were that NASA's general management needed strengthening, that

planning and programing should be improved in NASA Headquarters, that operations be decentralized as much as possible, and that the multipurpose role of the

field centers be continued. These assumptions implied that changes were necessary

and that the power of the Headquarters technical program offices was too great

relative to general management, on one hand, and the field centers, on the other.

In effect, NASA's trend toward a bureau system of organization should be nipped

in the bud.

Before it went into detail on NASA's specific problems and possible solutions,

the "Summary Look" suggested that the relationship among the top three agency

officials need not continue along the same lines as under Glennan. (Under Glennan the top three acted as a trinity in making major decisions, but with Glennan

primarily serving as "Mr. Outside," Seamans as "Mr. Inside," and Dryden as

"Mr. Science," responsible for relationships with the scientific community, national

and international, but with few operating responsibilities.)12 The "Summary

Look" pointed out that Mr. Webb, not being a technical man, might want to

loosen the trinity somewhat by detaching himself from certain technical decisionmaking activities (in favor of Dryden). The report was careful to point out that

Mr. Webb would determine the arrangement and could even go so far as to

convert the Deputy Administrator's position into one of general manager."

NASA's administrative and organizational weaknesses were delineated:

1. Program budgetary and management reporting were too fragmented

among Headquarters offices.

2. The organizational separation"of spacecraft from launch vehicles was

causing undue coordination problems.

3. There was imbalance among Headquarters program offices (the Office

• See pp. 3-4 of "List of Basic Steps and Documents Involved in NASA Reorganization of

November 1, 1961" prepared by John Young, 1962.

10 "A Summary Look at 'The Headquarter1 Organization Problem,' " Feb. 27, 1961. (Prepared by Hjornevik, Siepert, Hodgmn, and Young, 37 pages, 4 organization charts.)

" Ibid., p. 1.

" Ibid., pp. 2-3.

_"Ibld., p. 4.
REORGANIZAT_N _ PRt_BAM ACCELEBA'_ON 201

of Life Science Programs was too weak, the Office of Space Flight Programs was

too sm ng).

4. Headquarters-field relationships presented problems, mostly because of

the large number of echelons between the field center director and the NASA

Adminisuaxor. Because centers lacked direct access to NASA's general management, the centers did not develop an "agencywide" point of view and did not

in l o/-m ,ing.

To correct current deficiencies, the paper presented a series of alternative

organizational arrangements ranging from a slight modification of the status quo

to its wbole_de revision. Since the maximum change suggested (labded"Altemative IF') in--ted most of the innovations of less drastic alternatives, it affords

the best means of mmmarizi_ the variom innovatiom deemed feasible.

Alternative D departed from the stares quo in four principal ways: ( 1 ) It

provided that the field centers report directly to the Associate Administrator rather

than to the Headquarters program dim:ton; (2) it strengthened the hand of the

Associate Administrator by creating a staff office responsible for program management and attaching the Office of Business Administration directly to the Associate

to strengthen his hand in administrative management; (3) it realigned the functions of the old Headquarters program _ primarily to dim/-

nate the organizational separation of spacecraft from lmmch vehicles; (4) it

concentrated program integration at the general management level (which is

actually the result of changes ( 1)-(3 ) and the fact that the old program o/rices, in

effect, were converted into staff offices rather than line offtces).

Changes (2) and (3) could stand alone. Change (1) requiredchange(2)

unless a highly decentralized system of decision-making and program integration

was desired, which it was not.

By the end of 1961, most of the features of Alternative D had been implemented, except that the May manned lunar landing decision contributed toward

a different realignment of the Headquarters pcogram offices than that envisioned

in February. Change (2) was brought about by the establishment of the Office

of Programs in June. The other changes came in November. The course of

reorganization in 1961 was not without its ups and downs; program decisiom,

personality clashes, and structural r_onali_tions all affected the outcome. One

is left with the feeling, however, that some of NASA's top leaders may well have

developed a "mind-set" on NASA's optimum organization as early as February

and thus became somewhat inflexible toward other points of view that devdoped

.,ubeequently.

C. Reactions to the March Program Acceleration

The "Summary Look" examined fundamental intra-agency relationships on

the basis of past experience. The fiscal year 1962 budget add-on of $125 million

in March, with its potential for a shable increase in fiscal year 1963, prompted a

u Ibid., pp. 6--I0.
_)02 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

look at organizational and administrative problems in the light of future program

objectives. On March 31, John Young, the head of the Management Analysis

Division, sent a memo to Webb which attempted to list all areas requiring attention. 15 In addition to fundamental areas such as those covered in the "Summary

Look" (program integration, Headquarters alignment, interinstallation relationships), the following also were listed: (1) In-house versus out-of-house division

of effort (not new, a major area of attention under Glennan) ; (2) the planning

and management of research (in 1960, emphasis was on the balance between

research, on the one hand, and development, on the other) ; (3) the role of DOD

in supporting NASA's program; (4) additional improvements in procurement,

especially in incentive contracting; (5) improved liaison with the scientific community; (6) maintaining NASA's technical and scientific competence and skill,

basically a personnel problem; (7) better recognition of the social, political, and

economic implications of thc civilian space program; (8) the establishment of a

manned space flight center; (9) the future role of the Office of Business

Administration.

The implications of this listing were, of course, that internal organizational

problems were only a portion of an even larger number of problems requiring

attention, many of which involved external relationships, the area of Webb's

particular concern.

II. STRENGTHENING GENERAL MANAGEMENT

The program acceleration decisions of the March-through-May period had

to be taken into consideration before proceeding with a major agency reorganization or any significant overhaul of basic operating procedures. Time was needed

to analyze fully the long-run implications of program acceleration. Furthermore,

NASA had to await Congress' ratification of the President's policy decision before

it could act on the basis of the new policy. A clearer picture had to develop as to

the nature and scope of necessary in-house expansion. For these and other reasons,

and in spite of a flurry of study during May, the overall reorganization of NASA

was not agreed upon until September and did not become effective until

November.

One important problem predated the March-May program acceleration

decisions, however, and was ripe for early attention. The problem was NASA's

system of weak general management. Top NASA officials had been aware for

some time that power was not centered in general management (personified by

the Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and Associate Administrator) as much

as in the Headquarters program offices and in the field centers. Many officials

felt that NASA was actually at the crossroads; it would develop either into an

"Major Problems of Concern in the Organization and Management of the Civilian Space

Program," a draft memorandum prepared by John Young for James Webb, Mar. 31, 1961.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGPJ_M ACCELERAT_N 2O3

agency of several m, mg and semiautonomom bmzam or into an agency integrated

under strong central management at the top. 16

The several "rearrangemems" and staff additiom made in the Office of the

Associate Administrator during 1959 and 1960 were only a partial strengthening

of general managem_t- 1_ The turnover in Associate Administrators in September

1960 and in Administratom in January 1961 negated much of the strengthening

effort.

Webb's appearance on the scene provided a logical time for a reappraisal

of the role of NASA's general management. The end result was a significant

strengthening of general management--one of the most important development,,

in NASA's _tminlm'aJ_e history. A staffstudyprepared by the/,_magement

Analym Division became the bluep_t for the changes that were made.iS

A. The April 14, 1961, Study on General Management

The April 14 study focused on the roles and responsibilities of NASA's general

management (Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and Associate Administrator) and theadequacy oftheorgan_donal and stalrmgarrangements avzilable

to its three top officials.

The rolesof NASA's top three offic_M__ were stated as being much the same

in 1961 as in 1958 when the idea of an A_sodatc Administratorwas firstsug-

_._ The Administrator served as the principal link between NASA and the

President and Congress, and was the chief formulator of top-levd policy.

Deputy Administrator was precisely that, a deputy whose power and function was

as broad in scope as that of the Administrator. The Associate Aflministratm',

however, was internally oriented and responsible for the internal execution of

policy decisions--a type of general manager. He also maintained relationships

with DOD and the military services in connection with joint technical progran_.

In regard to the basic concepts underlying NASA's top three positions, the

April 14 study recognized two devdopment_ One was that the new Administrator was not a technical man. The other was that Deputy Administrator

Dryden had establi_ed himself as the NASA official chiefly res_nsible for

relatiomhilm with the scientitic community, especially the international ,_i.entific

community.

The study did not evaluate the roles of NASA's top three offi_ but rather

regarded them as set. The variable was the organizational and sta_ng arrangement surrounding the top three. Here probletm existed.

= The need for agencywide integration under general management has been emp_ in

several early 1961 studies, such as the "Summary Look" mentioned in footnote 9 above. The

idea that the development of bureaus had to be clipped was seldom, if ever, stated in writing.

1TSee Ch. 5, Sec. II.E.

m "Clarifying and Strengthening the Role of NASA's General Management," Apr. 14, 1961

(37 pages). Study was prepared by John Young, head of NASA's Management Analysis

Dhdsion.

= Ibld., Exh_t A.
204 ADMINISTP.ATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The most serious problem was that staff arrangements were inadequate for

central program review and analysis. _° There was no "effective means for

bringing together the review of short-term agency programs and projects, the

central programing of related resources, and reprograming actions related to

major on-going programs and projects." NASA's program budgeting and

budget execution mechanism was too fragmented. The same was true of

NASA's management reporting and evaluation system. As a result, the Associate Administrator was not being supplied with the information he needed to

make budget, project, and reprograming decisions. Nor was the system by which

the Associate Administrator could identify problem areas an adequate one.

A second problem was the lack of a central secretariat service. _1 Efforts

were fragmented; there was a need for a "general reappraisal and improvement"

in normal secretariat functions.

The third and final problem was that the three top officials needed adequate staff assistance to serve them directly (i.e., there was a need for more

"assistants to" positions) ss so that "unfiltered" information could be pulled

together, "spot analyses" made, and followup work done. (In addition, such

positions would be useful opportunities for training future executives.)

Recommendations ot the April 14 Study. _B To solve the problems just

mentioned, several actions were recommended: Each of the top three NASA

officials should be provided with anywhere from one to three personal assistants;

a central secretariat should be established directly under the already established

Assistant to the Administrator position; an Office of Programs should be established directly under the Associate Administrator. This, in turn, would necessitate a clarification of the role and responsibilities of the already existing Office

of Business Administration.

The recommendations concerning the Office of Programs and the Office

of Business Administration were very significant and warrant detailed discussion,

especially since they were implemented almost in their entirety only a little over

a month later.

It should be recalled that NASA's Office of Business Administration (OBA),

with its Financial Management, Personnel, Procurement, Security, Administrative Service, Management Analysis, and other divisions, was generally regarded

as one of the several large Headquarters program offices reporting directly to the

Associate Administrator, even though many of its functions were not line functions in the ordinary sense. The Office was not considered a staff arm of the

Associate Administrator. The early 1961 staff of the A_ociate Administrator

consisted of several immediate assistants, an Office of Program Analysis and

Control, and an Office of Reliability. It should also be recalled that budget

analysis and review was performed by ad hoc teams rather than a central office.

Ibid., p. 2.

" Ibid., p. 3.

" Ibld., p. 4.

" Ibld., pp. 5-16.
REORG_T_ON FOR PROGRAM ACCELEI_TE)N 2O5

The April 14 study recommended a drastic overhaul in the existing setup.

It recommended the establishmen_t of a sizable office to serve as the staff arm of

the Assodate Administrator for such matters as budget preparation, management

reporting, project evaluation and review, facility coordination, and general control over the two fundameatal resources of manpower and money. These were

matters which the Associate Administrator had to have jurisdiction over il he

was to act as a true general manager.

The overall functiom and power c._temphted for this "Office d Pmgran_"

are revealed by an exam/nation of its four proposed subordinate divi_m.-.-

management repom, resources programing, project review, and fadlities coordination. The proposed management reports division was to Olmrate a program

and project reporting system (at the time built around the older Project Management Plan and the incoming PERT system) designed to supply data for "program

planning, scheduling, and status reporting" to all levels of NASA management.

The proposed resources programi_ division was to have several important

substantive functiom. It was to formulate budget policy guidelines and present

them to top management for decision. It was to analyze the budget estimates

from program offices in terms of adequacy of justification, adequacy of interoffice coordination, absence of duplication, and general all around soundness and

balance. After review by top management, the resm_es programing division

would prepare the data for NASA's budget. In addition to budget preparation,

the division was to play a major role in analyzing the status of "near term

projects" and make recmnmendatiom on all requem for program adjustments

involving money ca- manpower. The division was to supply substantive analytical information for use by other ofliceL

The proposed facilities coordination division was to perform the somewhat

specialized function of keeping tab on all NASA construction and facility acquisition activities, including the review and evaluation of budget estimates for new

comtruction and acquisitions.

The proposed project review division was technically oriented. It was to

have general jurisdiction over NASA's reliability _ make a special effort to

keep track of NASA's many study activities, and, most important of all, to conduct a final technicai evaluation of all requests for new projects or significant

changes in old one_ (The innovatiom in project approval procedures are discussedlater.)

As a whole, the Office of Programs was to have the capability to advise the

Associate Administrator on any normal internal management situation that would

arise. Its loyalty would be to the Associate Administrator rather than to any

one program or group of progrmm, or to any combination of field installations

or program oflice_ It was to give the Associate Administrator the capability

to be a true general manager instead of a mediator among power blocks.

The involvement of the Office of Programs in the control of money and

manpower and in such things as budget preparation, budget execution, manage-

-?
206 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OIF NASA, 1958--1963

ment reporting, and facilities coordination raised the question of what should

be the substantive powers and functions of the Office of Business Administration.

The April 14 study called for a reconceptualization and reclarification of the

role of the Office of Business Administration. It suggested that OBA be thought

of primarily as a staff arm of general management, but with the understanding

that it was to render service to all of NASA.

Since most OBA activities related to the internal operations of NASA (e.g.,

accounting, auditing, procurement, personnel administration, security), it made

sense to place the office directly under and close to the Associate Administrator.

On the other hand, OBA activities were also related to the activities of the Administrator and Deputy Administrator (e.g., organization and management work),

the Headquarters technical offices (e.g., procurement, contract research), and the

field installadorm where counterpart offices were located. This multifaceted

orientation of the Office of Business Administration posed a thorny problem.

The April 14 study indicated that it was still being studied and would be worked

out some time in the future.

B. Implementation of the Recommendations of April 14

On June 5, 1961, NASA announced the establishment of the Office of

Programs. z* At the same time, the Office of Business Administration was renamed

the "Office of Administration" and the Western Operations Office put directly

under it. In taking these actions, NASA adhered very closely to the recommendatiom of the April 14 study.

The June 5 announcement revealed the names of those appointed to the

Office of Programs and thereby suggested a tactical reason for the Office's

establishment, whereas the April 14 study had been couched in terms of administrative principles. The tactical reason for establishing the Office of Programs

was to decide once and for all that Associate Administrator Seamans was to be

the center of power in NASA rather than the Headquarters program directors,

especially Silverstein, the head of the Office of Space Flight Programs." For

this reason the establishment of the Office of Programs was one of the most

significant events in NASA's adminisU:ative history. The train of events, as it

related to individual personalities, warrants recapitulation.

During the Glennan period the most powerful positions in NASA Headquarters, and in many ways in all of NASA, were the Administrator, Deputy

Administrator, Associate Administrator, and the Directors of Aeronautical and

Space Research, Space Flight Development, Launch Vehicle Development, and

*'NASA Announcement 314, June 5, 1961. Subject: Organizational and Functional

Changes in NASA Headquarters.

Based on the author's own synthesis of information gathered from several sources, in

cluding his experience as an employee of the Office of Programs shortly after it was established,

interviews with several NASA officials, and an interview with Aaron Rosenthal of NSF, former

head of NASA's Financial Management Division.
REOgGA_ZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCE_TION 207

BusinessAdministration.For a varietyof reasons,disproportionateamounts of

power gravitatedtoward theDirectorof Space FlightDevelopment (Silvcrstcin).

Four reasonsareident£fiablc:positioncontinuity,inherentpowers of individual

positions, the characted_cs of NASA's program, and the personalities of the

individuals. It was a combination of these factors which led to the accumulation

of Silverstein's power.

Continuity: Silvemtdn; Dryden, the Deputy Administrator; and Siepert,

Director.oftheOfficeof BusinessAdministration,heldthe same positionsin 1961

as thcy did in 1958. However, Sicperthad come to NASA from the outside.

Dryden had come from beingDirectorof NACA to Deputy Admln/stratorof

NASA. Silvcrstein held the same position in NASA that he had held for

sever_ months in NACA. Glennan, on leave from the Case Institute of TechnologT, became a "short-timer" as soon as the end of the Eisenhower admiuim_-

tion came in sight. The position of Associate Administrator was not filled until

mid-1959 and there was a turnover from Homer to Seamans in mid-1960. The

original Director of Aeronautics and Space Research, Crowley, was succeeded

by Abbott in mid-1959. The Directorof Launch VehicleDevelopment, Major

GcncradOstrander,was appointedin December 1959.

Inlter_tpowers:Allthrcctop positionswere powerfulones. However, the

power ofDryden (who ratedhigh incontinuity) was probablylessenedmmcwhat

by theverynatureofhisbeinga deputy,a typeof vicepresident.

Charactof_'tics of NASA's program: The new and raodly growing portion

of NASA's space program, space flight developraent, had been put under Silverstein in 1958. Much of the activity in this area was centralized in Headquarters

because the development centers (Goddard, STG, JPL) all lacked true field

center characteristics during NASA's early years. Silverstein's area swallowed

the lion's share of NASA's R&D and (]oF budget, most of it being spent by

contracL The establishment of a separate Launch Vehicle Development Office

helpedrestorea better balance, but only somewhat. The Director of Aerotmutical

and Space Research had the four large former NACA centers under him. Ordinarily this would be a source of power, but the centers were relatively stable,

powerful in thenmclves, and somewhat independent.

P_rsonali_s: Silverstein was technically competent and aggressive, and quite

successful in building a team of diligent assistants. He readily filled any vacuum

that may have developed. Because of the first three factors listed, the best coalition to achieve central control would have been Glennan, Seamans, and S_.

However, Siepcrt believed in evolutionary organizational change and hesitated

in trying to force the establishment of a centralized control system during NASA's

early years.

The establishment of the Office of Programs in June 1961 restored (or

perhaps "moved" is a better word) the locus of power to NASA's center. It

did this by taking several of Silverstein's key assistants and making them reslxmsible

to Associate Administrator Seamans. To help make the new Office of Programs

215-8920---66----15
208 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

effective, Siepert gave up the last hold he had on the budget function and his

small budget office was split to pieces in staffing the Office of Programs.

The five key appointments were as follows. The person chosen to head the

Office of Programs was Silverstein's Director of Program Planning and Coordination, DeMarquis Wyatt. The head of the Project Review Division became

William Fleming, who had been one of Wyatt's principal assistants. To head

the management reporting operation, Thomas Jenkins, another one of Wyatt's

assistants, was selected. (One reason for Silverstein's strength was that Wyatt

ran a good program planning and coordination operation for him.)

Ralph Ulmer, head of Siepert's budget office, was put in charge of facilities

coordination. The person named to head the resource programing operation

was the Bureau of the Budget's NASA budget examiner, Don Cadle.

The Office of Programs also absorbed the Office of Reliability and Quality

Assurance headed by Landis Gephart. This Office dated from March 1960 and

had been part of the Office of the Associate Administrator.

The appointment of Wyatt, an engineer, to head the Office of Programs,

rather than a finacial management person, was designed to make the move as

palatable as possible to the Headquarters technical program offices, including the

one headed by Silverstein.

The establishment of the Office of Programs greatly strengthened the hand

of the Associate Administrator in managing NASA's internal affairs. The people

assigned to the Office of Programs soon became engaged in a variety of acta'vities.

Some activities were ad hoe in nature, such as the special studies and special

analyses prepared for the Associate Administrator. Many were exploratory and

experimental, such as working out relationships between the Office of Programs

and other organizational units. Certain activities were inherited, such as the

work associated with budget preparation and execution, and with the various

management reporting systems. During 1961 there were significant developments

in program management which were tied closely to the Office of Programs.

Most of these activities and developments were procedural rather than structural

and are discugsed elsewhere in this chapter. N

The Office of Programs had to get off to a swift start, as problems were

dumped in its lap right from the beginning. The fiscal year 1963 budget had

to be prepared and the fiscal year 1962 budget (much larger than foreseen 6

months earlier) executed. Manned lunar landing problems were complicated

and took high priority. Facility construction was especially urgent and problems

associated with it complex. The manned lunar landing time schedule made

management reporting more important than ever.

It was generally recognized that the establishment of the Office of Programs

was only a partial solution to the general problem of reorganization. At the

same time that decisions were being made on the establishment of the Office of

Programs, a broader study was being undertaken on the fundamental questions

of Headquarters' division of responsibility and inter-installation relationships.

mSec. VI.A and Sec. VI.B.
I_,ORGA-NIZAT_N FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 209

III. OVERALL REORGANIZATION RESTUDIED

Dur_ May, NASA's specia]L_ on organizadonaJ structure made a much

more deta_ed ana]y_s of NASA's overaJ] o_an_afiona/structure than they had

made cartier in February. Their purpose was to come up with a more corn:ere

set of alternative structures that could be used as the basis for making decisions

on agency reorganization. They organized themselves into an informal task force

and generated numerous papers, organization charts, etc. Their work was summarized in a draft study dated June 12, 1961.

A. The June 12 Staff Study s,

The June 12 study is a landmark became it systematically depicted the

status of NASA's organizational problem after the Office of Programs had been

established and after the May 25 program acceleration had been made public.

This was revealed by its title, "Reappraising NASA's Organizational Structure

To Achieve the Objective of an Accelerated Program."

Clur_e in Tone. The June 12 study included many ideas, comments,

proposed solutions, etc., contained in previous mulies, but these took on a new

dimension in the face of a major program acceleration. For example, statements

concerning NASA's general dependence on outside organizations , such as the

aermpace industry, DOD, and the universities, now were stated as matters of

immediate and prime cemem.

Prefmm Pumi_rano_ Necesmry. Apart from the change in tone, the

major additional points made in the June 12 study were these: ( 1 ) NASA must

assure that organizational arrangements for the manned space-flight program

will accommodate the program's high-priority status, attract the necessary leadership talent, and _ utmost coordination with all supporting dements. Yet

it wRl have to be an integrated part of the overall space program. (2) NASA

must assure that the "application" area (communications and meteorology) will

be given a proper organizational home. (3) Programs in life sciences, space

sciences, advanced research, advanced technical development, and hunching,

tracking, and communication support all have to be accommodated.*' In e_ec_

these three "findings" said that the current arrangement had to be revised.

T_ Haulqm_s.Fidd C,.u_r _ _ In the area of

Headquartexs-field vd=tin-_hiph two points were made: there was too great a

gulf between the centers and general management and the center directors were

too far down in the organizational hierarchy. The study went on to analyze

the Headquarters-field relationship in great detail?* Since this problem had been

WThe draft study entitled '_Reapprahlng NASA's Organizational Structure To Achieve

the Objectives of an Accelerated Program" was undated. The cover memorandum written

by John Young was dated June 12, 1961.

" Ib/d., pp. 6-12.

• Ibid., pp. 12-15.
210 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

the crux of almost all the organizational difficukies that NASA faced in the next

2 years, it warrants considerable amplification.

The Headquarters-field relationship problem as seen by NASA's organizational specialists was this:

The then-current NASA practice of making the field centers subordinate to

the Headquarters program directors (rather than to general management) gave

rise to several problems. One has already been mentioned--the gulf between

general management and the center. Another problem was that almost all

centers were multipurpose; that is, engaged in two or more types of activities

mmh :_ research ._!lnru_rt teehnnlno'v ._11nn_'rl". nrNie(_t rn:_navement ._nnn4"wt.._vstems

................... ff - - "_ ......... Oq" ---ff - - "_ f- -J - o ......... JF • - • ,'

and subsystems devdopment, and space flight projects. The Headquarters office

to which the center was responsible was less "multipurpose" and tended to restrict

certain center activities which might be beneficial to the agency as a whole.

Also, the current system gave inadequate recognition to the fact that "...

the centers must be dealt with on two different but closely interrelated bases:

a. General management of the centers as institutions and going concerns, b. Functional management of the same activities carried on at two or more centers .... ,, a0

Complex and multifaceted functional management has built-in conflict problems. These problems are not insurmountable, however, as long as a center

manager, faced with functional crossfire, can have an easy access to a level of

management that can authoritatively resolve conflicts. This was very difficult

in NASA because the line of command was routed through parochial Headquarters

program directors.

The report suggested that the problem could be most easily solved by placing

the NASA field centers directly under the general manager and by establishing

smoothly functioning machinery to promote efficient functional management.

Line authority would be simplified, and specialized functional relationships made

no more complicated--a net gain, supposedly.

One ot Four Alternatives Preterred. This bias in favor of having center

directors report directly to the Associate Administrator colors the remainder of the

report, in which the pros and cons of four alternative organizational arrangements

were presented. Only one of the alternative arrangements would accommodate

all the basic problem areas delineated. The Headquarters organization had to

give due consideration to manned space flight and application without causing

life sciences, space sciences, advanced research, advanced technical development,

and launching, tracking, and commu_cation support to suffer. The fidd centers

would have to report directly to general management.

The alternative which incorporated these features was called "Alternative

D." Other alternatives were presented as being only partial solutions to the

problems that NASA faced. The November 1 reorganization conformed quite

closely to Alternative D.

"Ibid., p. 1S. See aim J. Casper, "Functional Management in NASA," historical note

No. 53.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 211

B. The Silverstein Alternative

None of the alternatives _ in the June 12 study gave the manned

space flight program a pceition of power in the agency commensurate with the

amount of money that would be poured into it. None of them suggested that the

manned space flight program should be given a semiautonomom position in the

agency which would set it apart from other agency activity. As early as Apr,, Abe

Silverst_ suggested that the manned lunar landing could be best achieved by

givingthe job to a scmiautonomous bureau in NASA with almostcompleteselfsu_ciency in terms of ovcrhcad staff."

This approach flew in the opposite direction of the school of thought that the

bureau approach was un_le and the locus of power in NASA should be

centered in general management.

The high priority assigned to the manned program gave weight to the Silverstein approach. This was recognized by NASA's organizational speciali_. When

the June 12 study was revised in August, an alternative similar to the Silverstein

approach was inco_waM in it.

The Silverstein concept emphasized the importance of program objectives

in d_ an organization's structure. This was also recognized by NASA's

specialism on organizational structure in their August revision. They quoted

approvingly from a textbook in public administration: "One of the most important reasons why activities are grouped in particular ways isto secure emphasis

on what are conceived to be the most impcwtant aspects of a governmental

In view of the important r_l_tlnn_ip between the program of an agency and

its organization, it would be well to describe certain program developments during

the summer and fall of 1961 before examining the November 1 reorganization

and the August study and other events leading directly to it. The discussion of

NASA's program in the section which follows focuses on key decisions related to

the manned lunar landing program.

IV. _MM DEVELOPMENTS FOLLOWING THE MAY DECISION

The March and May budget amendments accelerated NASA's program over

a broad front. There is little doubt, however, that the manned hmar laudingwas

the focal point around which most agency activity revolved. The feasibility of the

lunar landing had been established in the February 1961 reportof the Manned

Lunar Landing Task Force (theLow Committee) which had bcen establishedby

" The so-caUed Silvera_ein approach, has been pieced together from a variety of sources,

most of it through interviewL

= The quotation is from Simon, Smithburg, and Thompson, Public Adminiatratioft (New

York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950), p. 168. The Aug. 7, 1961, staff study in which it was quoted is

cited later in the chapter.
212 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Glennan on January 6, 1961. This section examines the developments designed

to get the manned lunar landing program off to the fastest possible start? a

Three distinct areas of activity can be discerned following the May manned

lunar landing decision. First of all, planning studies had to be completed to form

the basis for action. Two action areas then moved forward in parallel. One

involved in-house facilities, the other out-of-house R&D contracts. By the end of

1961 _ key program decisions had been made.

A. Planning Studies

Two planning studies were especially important. One was the Fleming

Report on the overall manned lunar landing mission; the other was the Golovin

Study on launch vehicles for the manned lunar landing.

The Fleming Report. On May 2, 1961, the Associate Administrator

appointed an ad hoc task group to make an intensive study of what had to be

done, and when, if the manned lunar landing was to be accomplished within the

61⁄2- to 81⁄2-year time frame hoped for. s_ Intermediate goals were to be delineated

as well as pacing items and major decision points. The study was to be used as

the basis for realistic program and budget planning. The study was to be based

on a direct ascent to the moon using one large vehicle rather than the rendezvous

method using several not-so-large vehicles.

The task group, chaired by William Fleming of NASA Headquarters, made

its report (classified "Confidential") on June 16. The report, called the Fleming

Report, concluded that the manned lunar mission could be performed within the

time frame hoped for." The chief pacing items were declared to be the first, or

booster, stage of the launch vehicle and facilities for static testing the booster and

launching it. (It turned out that the spacecraft was the chief pacing item.)

Early attention would have to be given to acquiring information on the effects

of solar flare radiation and lunar surface characteristics, since spacecraft design

would be directly affected. The report made special mention of the need for a

strong management organization.

The job of the Fleming Committee had been a difficult one. Over 2,000

separate progress events had to be dovetailed, and most of them were highly interdependent. A special technique (called PERT) for synthesizing sequential but

interrelated events was used. NASA's existing program was dovetailed with the

accelerated manned lunar landing program.

The Fleming Report provided a sufficient basis for taking certain actions in

" For perspective on NASA's overall program plans for fiscal year 1962, the reader is referred

to Table 6-I in Ch. 6.

'* "NASA Lunar Program and Large Booster Chronology" (Draft), HHN-33, prepared

by the NASA Historical Staff, Mar. 15, 1964.

,s The work and findings of the task force were briefly described by Dryden in a speech,

entitled "The National and International Significance of the Lunar Exploration Program,"

delivered at an AAAS meeting in Denver, Colo., Dec. 29, 1961. (See NASA News Release

61-286.)
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 213

the area of spacecr-_ devdopment and facility construction. The biggest question not answered by the Fleming Report concerned the detailed configuration of

the lannch vehicle to be used.

The Go/o,_ Study. On May 25, NASA established a task group to study

the launch-vehicle p/_lem. Its report (the Lundin Report) on June 10 was

apparently inconclusive, because on July 20 a more elaborate study was undertaken

under the cognizance of both NASA and DOD. TM This joint study, cochaired by

Dr. N'_ Golovin of NASA and Dr. Laurence Kavanan of DOD, was to

take a look at the entire national launch vehicle program, not only in connectim

with the manned lunar landing program but also in connection with all NASA

and DOD needs for the next I0 yea_

The joint committee making the study, the Large Launch Vehicle Planning

Group, worked over a 4-month period and was mentioned in the trade press as

the Golovin Committee. It soon recognized that the large vehicle concept (called

Nova), upon which the Heming Report relied, posed technical and reliability

problems too immense to permit meeting the time schedule. Thus serious considerationwas given to the use of the rendezvous technique using two or nu_

"Nova Juniors"or "Advanced Saturns,"3, The Golovin Committee made its

finalreportin December 1961. By then the direct-ascentapproach usingNova

had been prettywelldiscardedinfavorof an earth-orbitalnmdczvous approach

using an Advanced Saturn.

Even though not all technical decis/ons had been made on the launch vehicle

for the manned lunar landing, NASA, on the bern of the Fleming Report and

preliminary repo_ on launch vehicles, was able to go ahead and take

initial actions on testing facilities, I_,,nchlng facilities, spacecraft contracts, and

certainlaunch vehiclehardware contrac_

B. Facility Problems Attacked

Even though U.S. industrywould be calledon to do much of the work on

the manned lunar landing, a fair amount of in-house expan_on was deemed

necessary.

Facility construction was given very high priority because leadfimes were

very long, especially for launching facilities, and the facility had to be constructed

before it could be put to work. By the end of October, four important decisions

on facilities had been made. One had been contemplated for some time, the

others were made in a maner of weeks,

Mud S_e_aft Center _tab/_ksd. Since late 1960, NASA was concerned with its inadequate facilities for manned space-flight training and operations. NASA's Space Task Group, the field dement carrying out Project Mern Ibid., p. 3.

"New York Tim#s, Oct. 8, 1961, p. 35. It should be noted that the so-e__ed Heaton Report

of September 1961 k pertinent here. No information on the classified Heaton Report was

obtained.
214 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

cur/, was housed at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. Glennan

had favored converting NASA's Ames Research Center in California to a manned

flight laboratory? s After Webb became Administrator, NASA asked (in its

March 1961 request) for money for a new laboratory but BOB disallowed it. s9

However, $28 million was approved in the May amendment. Work was begun

almost immediately on selecting a site for the new field center, although public

announcement of the site selection activity was not announced until after the

Appropriation Act was passed in August. `° On September 1, NASA asked

the Army Corps of Engineers to manage the construction of the new manned

spacecraft center in Ho,_ton '1 On Sept__rnber !9, N.A_A o._nno,,-nced thatthe

new center would be located near Houston, Tex? _ There was considerable speculation that the selection of the Houston site was influenced by the fact that a

Texan, Lyndon Johnson, was Vice President and Chairman of the Space Council

and that a Houston Congressman, Albert Thomas, was the chairman of the

House Independent Offices Appropriations Subcommittee, the subcommittee

handling NASA appropriations. "s

The chief responsibilities of the new center (called the Manned Spacecraft

Center, or MSC) were to engage in manned spacecraft re_search and devdol>-

ment, to plan the manned flight missions, to train the astronauts, and finally to

conduct the flight missions.

A 21⁄2-year construction program was begun in late 1961. By the middle

of 1962, the new Center, formed from the Space Task Group formerly housed

at the Langley Research Center, was moved into temporary quarters in Houston. "4

Launching Site Selected. A more expensive activity was building the

launching facilities for the very large vehicles needed for the manned lunar landing.

Leadtime on launch facilities was especially long and NASA moved very rapidly

in selecting the site. In June, a NASA-DOD survey team was established to

study launch problems and evaluate potential sites. The resulting report (the

Dehus-Davis Report) was dated July 31, 1961 .,s In early August the choices were

narrowed down and on August 24 it was announced that the Cape Canaveral area

had been selected as the site from which the American astronauts would be

= Interview with T. Keith Glennan, Jan. 18, 1964.

ss See Ch. 6.

,0 See the report of Webb's meeting with Senator Byrd and others from Virginia on July 26,

1961, in the Newport News Daily Press, July 27, 1961.

NASA Historical Staff is presently preparing "The Decision To Use Army Enginem-s for

Management of New Construction" (HHN-17).

a NASA News Release No. 61-207, Sept. 19, 1961. For a detailed account of Houston's

selection, see Stephen B. Oates, "NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston, Texas," The

Southwestern Historical Quarterly, January 1964, pp. 350--375.

a See the Oates article just cited.

*"Grimwood, Pro}set Mercury: A Chronology, p. 168. Cf. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Master Planning o[ NASA Installations (H. Rept. No. 167),

Mar. 15, 1965.

,s "NASA-DOD Joint Report on Facilities and Resources Required at Launch Site To

Support NASA Manned Lunar Landing Program, Phase I," July 31, 1961.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 215

launched on the flight to the moon. "e Hand in hand with the selection of Cape

Canaveral was the necessity for a sizable enlargement of the then-existing launch

area. On September 1, NASA asked Congress to authorize the purchase of 80,000

acres of land on Merritt Island immediately to the north of the existing area. "T

On September 2i, Webb requested the Army Corps of Engineers to undertake this land acqui_tion, a Congrem adjourned Mo_ any authorization was

enacted. Without the authorization, NASA could not ask for an appropriation.

Yet land acquisition had to get underway immediately. NASA went ahead and

used its reprograming authority to begin acqui_tion More the end of 1961.'_

Vddc/c Fabr/cat/on and T_t S/re Sdected. In September NASA announced that it would take over an unused Government manufacturing plant in

Michoud (near New Orleans ), La., and convert it into a launch vehicle assembly

plant to be used by NASA industriaJ contractors in their launch vehicle fabrication

operation, so By renovating an existing plant, NASA would not have to pay a

contractor to build or modify its own private facilities. Furthermore, the plant

was large enough to accommodate severalcontractors working on different but

interrelated boosters. Having this activity under one roof would facilitate the

supervision of the contractors' activity by the Marshal] Center, of which the

Michoud plant was to be an extension. The plant had been built late in World

War II but not really used until the Korean War when Chrysler Corp.

manufactured tanks there,

A key asset of the plant was that it was located on a water transportation

route to the Gtdf of Mexico, an important considerationinthe VmmlX_ of large

becev_ to Cape Canaveral.

After boosters are a_mbled, they have to be test fired. The engines going

into the boosters also have to be tested. In October, NASA announced that it

was going to estabfi_,zh a Government owned and operated central test facility, near

the Michoud plant across the State line in southwestern Missi_ppi? * The

Mimi_s_ppi Test Facility, as it was named, was also to be an extemion of the

Marshall Center. A water route connected the test facility and the Michoud

plantand thus therewas a water connectionwith Cape Canaveralon theFlorida

coast.

'* The decidon wM made ea Aug. t& U.S.U_grem, sen_e, Committeecm_

Second Snppi¢numtal Appropriation M for 1962, Hearings on HAL 11038, 87th Cong., M

(Waddngton: OK), 1962), p. 148 (hereafter cited as Senate Hem-lng_ S_mu/Snp_h_-

m,mtal Approtn'_io_ M for 1962).

" U.S. Congrem, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences,Anun_/ng t/_

NASA Authorizatiol Act for Fiscal Year 1962, Hearing on S. 2481, Sept. 1, 1961, 87th Cong.,

1st sea. (Washington: GPO, 1961). At the hearing NASA revealed how the mlecdon had

been made.

Letter from NASA Administrator Webb to Lt. Gen. W. K. Wihon, Chief of Engineer%

U.S.A., Sept. 12, 1961.

_' NASA transferred ftm(h from its R&D account to its CoF account. It had to advance

money to the Army Corps of Engineers, which acted as NASA's agent in carrying out the land

acquisition action. The authorization-appropriation ditHculty was straightened out during 1962.

See Senate Hearings, S_ond Supplenurntal Appropriation Bill for 1962, p. 154.

S'NASA News Release 61-201, Sept. 7, 1961.

_NASA News Release 61-236, Oct. 25, 1961.
216 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

NASA pointed out that the manned lunar landing program was being carried

out in a year-round warm-weather area bordering the Gulf of Mexico (Texas,

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). Needless to say, the area would

benefit greatly by the economic stimulus afforded.

By the middle of October, decisions had been made on: (1) the location

of a new manned spacecraft center; (2) the launch site of the manned lunar

launchings and its expansion; (3) a large launch vehicle assembly installation;

and (4) an engine and booster testing facility.

NASA's field installation pattern, viewed geographically, underwent few

changes over the course of the next 2 years.

By December, NASA had also determined to use the Army Corps of Engineers to manage its construction of new facilities which had to be completed on

schedule and could exploit the experience of the Corps in serving the Air Force

on missile site construction? _

C. Major Manned Lunar Landing Contractors Selected

On the basis of numerous studies carried on both in-house and by contract

beginning in 1959, NASA felt certain that ground and flight hardware could be

developed, within the existing state of the engineering arts, and that methods of

operation could be perfected to successfully accomplish the manned lunar landing

by the end of the decade. Even though configuration of the launch vehicles to be

used had not been finalized, NASA felt it knew enough to bring contractors on

board.

In July 1961, NASA conducted a NASA-industry conference on the Apollo

project (the name given the manned lunar landing program) attended by 1,200

representatives from 300 companies." Industry was briefed on what it would be

called upon to do.

In August a much smaller number of firms was briefed on detailed requirements for the Apollo spacecraft?' In September several firms were invited to

bid on various major hardware systems.

In early October, five firms submitted proposals for the development of the

Apollo spacecraft." In November, NASA announced that North American

Aviation had been selected as prime contractor for the very important job."

The configuration of the launch vehicle to do the manned lunar landing

mission was decided upon in late 1961. The largest vehicle under development,

the Saturn, was not large enough for this purpose. The extremely large vehicle

"NASA's view of placing responsibility for construction contracting of new facilities on

the Army Corps of Engineers was contained in a letter from the Director of Administration

(Siepert) to the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A. (Wilson), Dec. 12, 1961.

u NASA, Sixth 8oniannual Report, p. 26.

s, Ibid.

ss Ibid.

s, NASA News Release 61-263, Nov. 28, 196[.
REORGANIZAT_NFORPROGRAMACCELERATION 217

necemary to accomplish the manned lunar landing using the direct-ascent

approach was deemed to be too great a step forward from the Saturn. The

derision taken at this time, therefore, was to combine a somewhat smaller vehicle

with some form of rend_mus in space. By the end of the year, the configuration

of a vehicle called _ Advanced Saturn (which evolved into Saturn V) was

tentatively agreed upon. s' Three contractors were selected to build it. In

December, Boeing was selected to build the first, or booster, stage, and Douglas

was selected to build the third stage, a modification of the second stage of the

s_ner Saturn which it was also bcilding. _ Earlier, in September, North American had been selected to build a stage which became the second stage of the

Advanced Saturn. s" The selection of Boeing, Douglas, and North American

eventually res_ted in contracts worth billions of dollars.

V. THE NOVEMBER 1, 1961, REORGANIZATION

The digression on the manned lunar landing program was designed to give

a more realistic setting for the NASA reorganization announced on September

24, 1961, and effective November 17° The account dearly indicated that decisiom on agency reorganization were only a portion of the large number of

important decisions being made at the time.

Earlier in this chapter the coux_ of reorganization was traced from early

1961 to the middle of June. The analytical activity of NASA's specialists on

organizational matters was emphasized, culminating in the June 12 staff study.

Mention was made of a reorganization plan, labeled "the Silverstein approach,"

which included features that conflicted with the alternatives proposed elsewhere, sl

During the period following the June 12 study, a certain amount of discussion and argument led to a revision of the June 12 study. The revised study,

dated August 7, incorporated many of the features of the Silverstein approach.

The August 7 revision can be viewed as the "mature" document upon which

the November 1 reorganization was based.

Before looking at the August 7 revision in detail, it would be well to briefly

review the argument that must have been going on in NASA Headquarters at

the time. NASA's drift toward becoming an agency made up of several somewhat autonomous buream was to be nipped by the determination of NASA's

general management to amrt itself as the basic policy-making and progr'amintegrating dement in NASA. The establishment of the Office of Progrmm

was to have supplied the chief means by which this central control could be

made pos_le. However, the tight timetable of the manned lunar landing prom NASA, Sixth $_n_ianlmd R#port, p. 9.

"NASA News Releases 61-281 (Dec. 15, 196I) and 61-284 (Dec. 20, 1961).

"NASA News Release 61-203, Sept. 11, 1961.

"NASA News Releue 61-213, Sept. 24, 1961.

a The _called "Silve_tein approach" was worked up by some of the same persons who had

worked on the other studies.
218 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

gram, which got its green light in May, immediately suggested the need for a

fast-paced program under powerful leadership.

The record does not reveal whether there was a lineup of officials on one

side or the other. Top management would tend to favor integrating the manned

space flight program into NASA's overall program, whereas program managers,

seeking maximum operating freedom, would tend to favor a separation of the

manned program from the rest of NASA. Since Silverstein was regarded as

one of the most likely persons to head the manned space flight program, his

point of view had to be taken into consideration. The specialists on organizational problems took the top-management position for the most part--in fact,

they probably took the lead in convincing general management of its desirability.

The August 7 study reveals, however, that second thoughts developed; the study

does a remarkable job in steering a middle course between the two basic positions.

A. The August 7 Staff Study e2

The AUgust 7 study attempted to answer the question, How can NASA

achieve a centralization of power in the hands of general management and at

the same time give manned flight activities the authority and freedom necessary

to accomplish the manned lunar landing?

The following is a summary of what was new in the August 7 study when

compared to the June 12 study.

Basic Management Concel_ts Delineated. es It was recommended that

several basic management concepts be adopted by NASA to promote implementation of its accelerated space program : ( 1 ) The concept of program imbalance. NASA would have to recognize that manned space flight will have to be

given special treatment, including a degree of freedom not given other program

areas. (2) NASA would have to establish open and direct communications

(i.e., shortest communication routes) with minimum delays at all points. The

study implied that this is something that does not come naturally but has to be

worked on. (3) The concept of functional management. This was a favorite

concept of NASA's organizational specialists:

A functional manager's responsibilities are those delegated by general management to a functional specialist to oversee and direct a program or activity wherever

it may be located in the organization structure. The functional manager has certain

specified responsibilities for the performance of counterpart activities in headquarters

and in the field establishment .... Proper application of functional management

reduces to a marked degree the approval processes by the staff around the official to

whom a given center may report, e"

(4) Overall systems integration must be emphasized. This meant that attention

m "Organizing To Achieve the Objective_ of an Accelerated Civilian Space Program," Aug.

7, 1961 (Draft).

U lbid., pp. 6-12.

*'Ibid., pp. 8-9. (Functional management is covered in more detail later in this section.)
REORGANIZATIONF_ PROGRAMACCELERATION 219

must be paidtosystemsenginccring---the specialtyofintegratingsubsy__cms. (In

the caseof the manned lunarlanding,thesubsystemswould he the vehicle,the

spacecraft,and ccrtainothersupportingitems.) (5) Clearance and approval

procedures must he e_cient

NASA in a short period d lem than 3 _ has acquired some 'qmm_mtic

practices" which generally come much later in the historical devdolmmnt d an

organization. Many d these practices fall in the area d clearance and

procedures. In o_[er to accomplish the proposed objectives within the tight

limitations, k is absolutely necessary that these pt_x_lures be reduced to the m'ln'_lllm

_-ntizi m l_ucl_t management._

$_d A_ _ A major addition was made to the four

alternative plans presmted in the June _'udy.** Incorporating thc Silverstein approach, a plan was presented in which NASA would have two associate administrators instead of one. One of them would he in charge of manned space flight,

the other would be in charge of everything else. Some NASA field centers would

reporttoone amociatcadministrator,the othcrswould relX_ tothe othcrassociate

administrator.

Ways and Meam et _ ti_ Mmmsd Lunar _ Program. *T

In line with the concept of program imbalance, the August 7 study suggested

that the manned flight program would have to be given special powexs not given

to the other pmgramL

The report recommended that the director of the manned flight area he

delegated substantial discretionary powers in such matters as budgeting, procurement, reprograming, altering facilities, etc. Special priorities, both external

(rclatcdto the Nation'sDX system) and internal,would have to he assignedto

all projects d the manned lunar landing program. Interagency agreements might

have to he altered or new ones entered into. Certain supporting services might

have to he wholly within the control of the manned flight office. Other agencywide supporting services might have to he subject to manned space-flight prioritie_

Narrowi_ti_Ckolce.s. _ In contrast with the Junestudy, NASA'sorganizational spedalists were much less inclined to advocate the alternative (labeted

"Alternative D") providing for maximum centralized control Nor were they

willing to make a complete turnabout and advocate the full bureau approach

which has been termed the "Silverstdn approach." Being administrative realism,

they advocated a comlmxnise mixture of the two (see the next paragraph).

Although Alternative D was closest to what was finally decided upon, it is worth

noting that the plan advocated in the August 7 study bore many s'mfilafities to

the November 1, 1961, reorganization after it had been modified several times

during 1962.

_Ibid., pp. 11-12.

"Ibid., pp. 55-60.

Ibld., pp. 61-76.

= Ibid., pp. 77-85.
220 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Thus it is possible to delineate three distinct approaches to the problem of

NASA reorganization: ( 1 ) The top-management approach, with program planning and integration placed in the hands of general management to which all the

field centers would report; (2) the Silverstein approach, with manned space

flight placed under a high-level official to which the pertinent field centers would

report; and (3) what might be termed the "Young approach," a compromise

in which the director of manned space flight would be a "first among equals" to

which the key field centers concerned with the manned program would report,

with all other field centers reporting to general management (which would also

the reorganization plan decided upon adhered quite closely to what has been

termed the "top-management approach."

Relationships Within the Structure. Getting the formal structure straightcncd out was only part of the problem. Certain intra-agcncy relationships flowed

automatically from the formal structure; others did not. When the formal

organization was announced in September, several relationships had not been

worked out. There is a school of thought which holds that some relationships

never did get worked out and that the 1963 reorganization was a manifestation

of this. ss

The coreoftherelationshipproblem was a problem prevalentin most large

organizations;namely,theimpossibilityofmaintainingperfectunityof command

(i.e.,a situationwhere thereare straight-line relationshipsup and down a pyramidal hierarchy). Relationshipsin a largeorganizationmore oftenresemblea

lattice(ratherthan a pyramid) in which therearc vertical,diagonal,and horizontalrelationships.*° Itiscustomarytothinkoftwo management systemsworkingsimultaneously--thegeneralmanagement systemwhich embraces the overall,

agcncywidc command linecoming down from thc apex of the agency,and the

specializedfunction-managementsystem,which isparticul,Tristicand technical

and which may ormay notbe agencywidc.

Functional Management. The concept of functionalmanagement was

thought of by NASA's specialists on organizational matters as an important key

to a smoothly operating system of intra-organizational relationships. It is a frank

declaration that workers get orders from more than one individual and that this

is normal, necessary, and workable. It declares that the specialist has got a job

to do and it is impossible to do it by. working through a single command channel

running down from the top of the agency.

The functional manager is the person responsible for carrying out certain

functions. A function can be viewed here as a distinct and specialized facet of

operations as a whole. Typical examples are personnel, budgeting, accounting,

auditing, and procurement. In addition, there may be functions peculiar to a

particular agcncymin NASA's case, functions such as data acquisition, spacecraft

tracking, spacecraft launch vehicle development, and launching operations. It

The author's general impression bued on many interviews with NASA officials.

NASA's organizational specialists used the term "matrix" rather than "lattice."
REORGANIZATION _ PROGRAM ACCELERATION 221

could be argued in a general way that everyone below the very top level of general

management is a functional specialist.

The specialists engaged in the agency's prime activity (in NASA's case, space

research and development) usually have a special direct-line relationship with

top management. SIk_Aalim not on this direct line of command have a crossed

or latticed relationship with the rest of the agency.

The key questinn is: To what extent does the person in the direct-line

relationship have to take orders from someone positioned on the lattice outside

of the direct line? This would be an especially acute question if the reorganizadon of NASA were to move toward placing all field cente_ directly under

the general manager, since all of Headquarters would then be outside of the

primary direct-line relationship and lattice relationships would be widely prevalent.

Some type of legitimizafion of the lattice relationship was necessary. This was

done primarily through a functional management system.

NASA's spedali_ on organizational matters devoted much effort to constructing a workable functional management system for NASA. It went through

many drafts and was still in the process of formulation when the November

organization went into effect, n

B. Details of the November 1, 1961, Reorganization

Webb declared that the two major objectives of the reorganization were to

realign Headquarten program offr_s "to provide clearer focus and greater

empham on NASA's major programs," and to provide center directors "an increased voice in policy making and program decisions." =

The most significant f_ of the NASA reo_tion were there:

1. All of NASA's field centers (with the exception of the Western Ope_tions

Offce---a contract administration office) were put directly under the Associate

Administrator (Seamam). To help him in su_ the field centers, the

position of Deputy Associate Administrator was created (Dixon).

2. The former Headquazxem program offices of: (a) Advanced Research

Programs (Abbott) ; (b) Space Flight Programs (Silverstda) ; (c) Launch

Vehicle Programs (Ostrander/Dixon) ; and (d) Life Science Programs (Roadman) were abolished.

3. Four new Headquarters program olfices were established: (a) Advanced

Research and Technology (Abbott); (b) Space Sciences (Newell, formerly

Silverstein's deputy) ; (c) Manned Space Flight (Holmes, a new appointee from

RCA) ; and (d) Applications (vacant).

4. An agencywide support office called "Tracking and Data Acq, dqltion"

was established (Bucldey).

n _ is discussed in more detail in the next subsection, entitled "Unfinished Business."

CL J. Casper, "Functional Management in NASA," historical note No. 53.

n NASA News Release 61-213, Sept. 24, 1961, op. cir.
222 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

5. The Office of Technical Information and Educational Programs, formerly

under the Associate Administrator, and the Office of Public Information, formerly

under the Administrator, were placed under an Assistant Administrator for Public

Affairs (Cox) who was directly under the Administrator.

6. Other Headquarters offices were changed very little except that the Office

of Research Grants and Contracts was moved from the Office of Administration

to the newly formed Office of Space Sciences.

These changes are shown very clearly in the following three organization

charts. Figure 7-1 is the last chart signed by Glennan before he left NASA

in .,T___n_uary lq_1 Figllre 7-9 _hnwe the irnnnrt_nt i-h_nc, w rn_rle in Ti1ne hv

the creation of the Office of Programs and the renaming of the Office of Business

Administration. Figure 7-3 depicts NASA organization on November 1, 1961.

It is readily apparent that the reorganization decided upon was fax removed

from thai advocated by Silverstein. It is generally known that he was offered the

position of Director of Manned Space Flight, but declined it because he felt that

he could not accomplish the manned lunar landing objectives with the type of

organization adopted. Instead, he accepted the directorship of NASA's Lewis

Research Center in Cleveland where he had been Deputy Director prior to coming

to NACA Headquarters in 1958.

NASA L_adership, November I, 1961. The personnel changes accompanying the reorganization reshuffled NASA leadership somewhat with the net

result of slightly diluting the old NACA influence. The officials comprising

NASA's top two echelons can be divided into six groupings based on whether they

had once been part of NACA, whether Glennan had brought them in from the

outside, whether Webb had brought them in, and whether the official was in

Headquarters or a field center:

.AfACA

Headquarters ............ Dryden

Abbott

*Wyatt

*Buckley

Dembling

Field .................... Gilruth

Goett

Silverstdn

Thompson

I)eFrance

Bikle

Krieger

*Entered top echelons under Webb.

Glcanan

Seamans

*Newell

Siepert

Johnson

Hyatt

Frutkin

yon Braun

Webb

*Dixon

*Holmes

*Cox
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224. ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Headquarters Realigned. One of the most important features of the November 1 reorganization was a rather extensive reshLdfling of the technical program

offices in Headquarters. The four existing offices were abolished. The Office of

Advanced Research Programs (OARP), the old NACA core, numbered about

70 and had been responsible for Aeronautical and Astronautical Research of the

advanced variety, largely done in-house. The Office of Space Flight Programs

(OSFP) numbered about 105 and had been responsible for the development of

spacecraft and their flight programs. The Office of Launch Vehicle Programs

(OLVP) numbered about 70 and had been responsible for the development of

launch vehicles and their flight tests. The Office of Life Science Programs

(OLSP) numbered under 20 and had been responsible for an uncertain NASA

life science program.

These four program offices were replaced by four new program offices and an

agencywide support office. This realignment involved a dozen interoffice shifts.

The five new offices were: The Office of Advanced Research and Technology

(OART). absorbed the old OARP, plus an advanced technology unit of the

OSFP and the nuclear propulsion research program of OLVP. The Office of

Space Sciences (OSS) absorbed about half of the old OSFP, plus the "small"

launch vehide programs of OLVP, plus some of the bioscience activity of OLSP,

plus the Office of Research Grants and Contracts which had been part of the

Office of Administration. The Office of Applicatiom (OA) absorbed the _=ommunicatiom and meteorological programs of the old OSFP. The Office of

Manned Space Flight (OMSF) represented the most significant organizational

change. It absorbed most of the large vehicle and engine development programs

of OLVP, much of the life science activity of OLSP, and all of the manned

flight program (primarily Project Mercury) of OSFP. The Office of Tracking

and Data Acquisition (OTDA), the agencywide support office, absorbed the

Space Flight Operation's Office of OSFP. Graphically the realignment of offices

and people is shown in figure 7-4. TM

Since neither the old nor the new arrangements were "pure" forms, it is difficult to say that there was a conscious shift from one organizational basis to

another basis. It is possible to discern a shift from an organization in which various "means" were put into different categories, to one in which program objectives

or "ends" were the main basis for division. The reorganization 2 years later continued the second approach.

Headquayt_rs.Fi_ld RelationshilJs. Of equal importartce to the realignment

of program offices in Headquarters was the change in the way the field instaliatious were related to Headquarters. Before the reorganization, the field centers

reported to various Headquarters program offices. After the reorganization, they

reported to the general manager, the Associate Administrator. This change meant

several things. One was that the field center directors wen raised a notch in the

n'Prepared from data in the Sept. 30 and Nov. I, 1961, Headquarters Position Complement

I_u. There are leveral minor diacrepanei_.
REORG_A',,,'IZATION FOR PROGRAM AGC_L.ERAT_N 225

OARP

67 ]

t',-

co

88

OART OA

OSFP

r l

OTI)A OSS

OLVP OI..SP

i I I

OMSF

agency's hierarchy. Secondly, it meant that the field centers now looked to general management for their resources (money and manpower) and to the Headquarters program offices for program direction. The program offices continued

to be responsible for program goals and progress, but their authority did not extend

over the allocation of the resources being used to carry out the programs. In resource a/location matters, they took on the appearance of staff offices to the Associate Administrator. It is di_cult to describe precisely how subsequent practice

worked out; formal myth and informal practice clouded things considerably.

NASA made "adjustments" in the arrangement over the next 2 years. In November 1963 it was signticantly altered by an overall agency reorganization.

C. Unfinished Business

To promulgate a new organizational structure is one thing; to make it work

is much more difficult. The November reorganization was drastic enough to

require a reworldng of many basic intra-agency relatiomhips. These relationships were still in the process of being worked out when the reorganization went

into effect.

This whole area was exceedingly thorny and it is difficult to fit all the parts

together, to say nothing of delineating the parts in the first place. At least four

separate relationships were of concern: the relationship between the field centers

and the general manager; between the field centers and the Headquarters program

offices; between the field centers and the Office of Administration; and the flow of

work between and among all units of the agency.
226 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The flow of work involved procedures governing the flow of paper. These

procedures are discussed later in this chapter.

The other relationships involved more than a flow of paper and the approval

and concurrence actions tied thereto. Involved was the whole concept of giving

and taking orders; the responsiveness to influence, both formal and informal;

and the effectiveness of whatever paper-flow systems were devised.

The first requirement that had to be satisfied was the need for formal statements on basic intra-agency relationships. These statements were worked on

during the summer and fall of 1961.'* Not until June 15, 1962, were satisfactory

versions issued as a part of NASA's Management Manual. Ys Even then they

were iabeied "reformational."

The statements, two in number, were first drafted in July 1961. They were

rewritten numerous times and an outside management expert was hired to comment on them. T6 It is virtually impossible to trace the changes that took place

from draft to draft. What follows is a summary of the final version issued in

June 1962.

The first statement, entitled "General Responsibilities and Functions of a

NASA Headquarters Program Director," applied to the Directors of the Headquarters Offices of Manned Space Flight, Space Sciences, Application, Advanced

Research and Technology, and Tracking and Data Acquisition. TT It pointed out

that these directors were both "advisers" and "operators." "He is the principal

adviser to the Associate Administrator in regard to his assigned program area"

and "He is the principal headquarters operating official in regard to management

of his assigned program."

One sentence pinpoints very well the director's relationship with the field

centers. "Within authorities delegated by the Associate Administrator, he directs

his assigned program by working directly with center directors and their project

_' The great ditiiculty in preparing the formal statements was indicated by the large number

of draft statements that were prepared. Here is a list of some of them:

'_I'he Responsibility of the Office of Administration for Counterpart Activities in the

Research and Space Flight Centers," June 19, 1961.

"Management of Technical and Administrative Activities in the Research and Space Flight

Centers," July 13, 1961.

"Responsibilities and Authorities of a NASA Headquarters Technical Program Director,"

Sept. 25, 1961.

"General Respomibilities and Functions of a Headquarters Program Director," Oct. 20, 1961.

"Functional Management l_esponsibilities of the Office of Administration," Nov. 1, 1961.

Others dated Sept. 8, Sept. 18, and Nov. 1, 1961, and Jan. 27, 1962, are known to exist.

_NASA Circular No. 233, June 15, 1962. Subject: Informational Material on Auignment

of Kelrponsibilities in NASA Headquarters. Attachment "A" was entitled "General llesponsibilities and Functions of a NASA Headquarters Program Director." Attachment "B" was entitled

"Functional Management Responsibilities of the Office of Administration."

N NASA contracted with John Diebold & Associates, Inc., for management consulting

services in connection with the Nov. 1, 1961, reorganization. (Contract No. NASw-272, Aug.

7, 1961.) Services were rendered by William Finan, the former BOB official who had helped

write the Space Act. Finan submitted both written and oral reports; the final report was dated

Dec. 21, 1961.

Quotations are from Attachment "A" of NASA Circular No. 233, op. cir.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGR.&M ACCEL_TION 227

and system managers." In other words, the Headquarters program director's

power over a field center was confined to the management of particular projects.

It should be recalled that the field centers were multipurpose. Often a center

was working on projects in several program area& Any one field center could

be involved in projects under the supervision of all five Headquarters program

offices.

To make sure that the projects for which he was responsible met all objectives,

the Headquarters program director was authorized, within certain limi_ to spend

money, reprogram funds, communicate with contractors, and even issue instructiom to center directom. It should be remembered that the center directors

themselves were responsible only to the Associate Administrator, except to the

extent which the Associate Administrator might provide otherwise. The statement implied that the Associate AdminLm'ator would settle conflicts that might

arise.

The second statement was entitled "Functional Management Respomibi_-

ties of the Office of Administration." _s The concept of functional management

has already been described in general The June 1962 statement spelled out

how it would work in practice. The functional managers (financial management

and reports, personnel, procm'_nent,security, etc.) were responsible "to see that

their assigned administrative activities are performed throughout NASA in a

manner to accomplish . . ." the objectives of uniformity, legality, and efficiency.

The functional managers were to prescribe standards and procedures, conduct

surveys and reviews, communicate with counterparts in the various NASA installations, and participate in the selection of key counterpart personnel This had

to be done within the authority ddegated by the Associate Administrator. No

major policy or program changes could be made. The concurrence of other

officials was necessary whenever the action went beyond the confines of the specific function itself. Conflicts would be resolved at the Associate Administrator's

level.

It is easy to see that both statements described a situation in which the Associate Administrator played the key role, both in the powers he delegated and in

the conflicts he resolved.

In April 1962, NASA Administrator Webb described NASA's organization

and management in a speech to the American Society for Public Administration.

It covers much the same ground as this section and may help clarify what has

been said. It is excerpted in Appendix F.

V]. OTHER 1961 DEVELOPMENTS

In this section an attempt is made to cover important 1961 administrative

activity not directly related to the manned lunar landing program nor directly in

the mainstream of reorganization activities.

Quotations are from Attachment "B" of NASA Circular No. 233, op. cir.
_)28 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

r

A. Program Management and Related Procedures

During 1961 there were several significant developments in program management and related "paperwork" procedures. These developments were not necessarily related to the acceleration of NASA's program in 1961, although program

acceleration certainly enhanced the need for them. Basically the developments

reflected the normal bureaucratic response to problems of running an expanding

agency, in which informal face-to-face contacts no longer were as feasible a way

of doing business as they were earlier.

At the beginning of 1961, two major paperwork systems were already in

,,._- One was the s_tem ..... of Fk,,.__ncialOpe_ting _,1_..o _ At_txo I J- _._.L /_r_D,o,3/ _ 1..... _.:_. _._+._1 oar vvlx,t_aa i.,**_tlt_t_

control over funding was attempted/9 The other was the Program Management

System with its Program Management Plans (PMP's) designed to keep top

management informed on project progress and to pinpoint problem areas. *°

During 1961 a Project Planning and Implementation System was inaugurated and

the PMP system was supplemented by a more advanced project-reporting system

called NASA-PERT.

The Project Planning and Implementation System. The Project Planning

and Implementation System was developed in late 1960, partly as a result of

recommendations made in the 1960 McKinsey and Kimpton Reports and partly

out of the realization that a forthcoming change in administrators called for

precise definitions of what projects had been officially authorized and with what

restrictions. Two of Glennan's last official acts were signing a list of authorized

projects and signing a General Management Instruction providing for a formal

system of planning and implementing programs. .1

The system was designed to pinpoint responsibility for projects and subprojects, to provide for top-level approval of projects, and to clarify the overall

perimeters within which the project was to be undertaken, especially in regard

to resources and manpower.

The first step in the system, as outlined in the management instruction, was

some type of proposal that a specific project be undertaken. Ordinarily projects

were proposed as a result of a study conducted by or for a field center. On the

basis of the details in the study, the field center would prepare a Project Development Plan (PDP), a document summarizing the project, justifying it, giving its

history, setting forth both a technical plan and management plan for its accomplishment, stating what resources would be required, the results to be obtained,

and so forth.

The PDP would then be submitted to the appropriate technical program

office in NASA Headquarters. If the technical office approved the PDP, it would

'* See Ch. 5, See. II.B.

** See Ch. 5, See. II.E.

The list of authorized projects was discussed in Ch. 5, See. II.E. The General Management Instruction (No. 4-1-1 ) was dated JAn. 18, 1961. Subject: Planning and Implementation

of NASA Projects (TS 205).
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGI_M ACCELERATION 229

then be drculated to other offices for comment. Eventually it would reach the

Oiti_ of the Associate Administrator and only with his approval would it become

an authorized project. PDP's were to be reviewed and updated annually. Certain types of in_m modifications were to recdve Headquarters approval by means

of such devices as Program Manag_n_t Plans and Financial Operating Plans.

If the preparation of the PDP would involve consid_able expense, as it

might for large and complex projects, a less elaborate Preliminary Project Development Hart (PPDP) could be used to request approval. The regular PDP

would be prepared as soon after the approval of the PPDP as possible.

The PDP system was significantly modified in early 1962. The system, as

set forth in the January 1961 instruction, ran into a snag--the PDP's submitted

from the field varied greatly in content. In a highly detailed PDP, the Associate

Administrator was faced with details which neither he nor anyone on his staff could

evaluate. The best example of this was the PDP for the Ranger spacecraft submitted in the summer of 1961. It was several inches thick and departed greatly

from what PDP's were intended to be. Asaresult, a call went out in August 1961

for ideas on how the PDP system could be improved, s2 In May 1962 a formal

change was made in which the Headquarters technical office would process the

PDP's and submit to the Associate Administrator a summary PDP." On the

basis of the summary PDP, the Associate Administrator prepared a one- or twopage Project Approval Document which then became the ot_cial authorization

for the inauguration of a new project.

F/ex/b//_ for Top Mamq_mat Sm_kt. Shortly after its estabtisinnm_

the Office of Programs attempted to work out a system by which operating

flem'bility could be combined with central control."

Two avenues of control were employed_program control and funding control. Prior to 1961, program control was unsystematic, much of it handled informany. As stated earlier, one of Glennan's last acts was to issue a list of approved

projects and inaugurate the Project Development Plan system just discussed. The

Associate Administrator was designated as the focal point for all project approvals.

The approval of a project carried with it the authorization to make money

commiunents, but not to make money obligatiom? s

m Memorandum from D. D. Wyatt, Director, OtSce of Programs, to Program Directors,

Aug. 24, 1961. Subject: Content and structure of Project Development Plans (PDP's) and

Preliminary Project Development Plans submitted to the Amociate Administrator for approvaL

"NASA _ No. 219, May 7, 1962. Subject: Planning and Implementation of NASA

Projects--Interim Chan_ to.

" The following m m per_nent to this topic. They are all from Associate Administrator Seamam to Pmta'am Director, and/or Heads of Ollices:

July 28, 1961. Subject: Financial Operating Plans.

Aug. 8, 1961. Subject: Financial Operating Plans.

Aug. 23, 1961. Subject: Call for Financial Operating Plan Obfigatiom Estimates for

the Fiscal Year 1962 Construction of Facilities Appropriation.

as There is a legal requirement that an agency honor all of its obligations. Obligations are

ordinarily based on legal imtraments such as contracts or purchase orders. A commitment is

more of an administrative earmarking of funds or a declaration of intent to obligate--a decision

to spend made in advance of the execution of the legal instruments.
23O ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The public laws governing the financial affairs of an agency focus on obligations. Obligational authority comes from Congress and a strict system of

control has to be maintained. An agency has to be able to prevent overobligation. In NASA this was done by the system of allotments. This was not, of

course, an effective managerial control device for the Associate Administrator.

Prior to 1961 the paperwork involved in funding control was done by the

Division of Financial Management, but most of the substantive decision-malting

power on program matters was in the hands of the Headquarters technical

program offices.

With the establishment of the Office of Programs and the implied decision

to make the Associate Administrator the center of agency management, there

was an attempt to focus control at the center of NASA by whatever means were

deemed best. Through the use of Project Development Plans (PDP's), Project

Approved Documents (PAD's), and Financial Operating Plans (FOP's), both

program and funding control could be maintained.

It was all basically a pie-cutting operation. Of course, any time a pie is

cut in advance (i.e., at the beginning of the fiscal year) there is the danger that

subsequent events may dictate a different cut. To provide for this possibility,

NASA felt it wanted to cut only a portion of the pie at first. It also wanted

to devise a system for changing the size of the pieces cut initially.

The program line offices were given authority to make commitments only

on what was initially approved by the Associate Administrator. The portion

of the program which the Associate Administrator declared "unfirm," even though

part of the "budget," had to receive subsequent formal approval before commitments could be made. High-priority items coming along later could "bump"

an unfirm project out of the budget. Thus there was an incentive for the line

divisions to firm up the unfirm.

The control over programs was supplemented by detailed control over

money. Although program approval permitted commitments, the more legalistic

act of obligating could only be made on the basis of allotments made to the

line divisions (i.e., field centers). Allotments were made on basis of FOP's

prepared by the line division. The FOP's had to agree with the project

approvals and the related commitment authority. Allotments were initially set

at only 75 percen t of the amount approved for commitment, the remaining

25 percent to be kept in reserve pending review of the obligation trends as the

fiscal year moved along. This gave Headquarters a reserve for flexibility.

When the line divisions could prove need for additional funds, the funds would

be allotted provided, of course, that newer projects with. higher priority had not

come along and "soaked" up the reserve.

NASA experience revealed that there was usually a lag in getting money

obligated for its R&D projects. One reason was that R&D money was "no-year"

moneymNASA had it to obligate in any fiscal year it chose and thus there was

no absolute requirement to spend it during the fiscal year for which it was appropriated. Furthermore, R&D work has an uncertain element in it and planning
RF..ORGANIZAT1ON FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATEON 231

can never be 100 percent accurate. In view of this, the funding flexibility just

described was used to accommodate a system of overprograming by which NASA

attempted to promote as high an obligational level as possible."

Overprogranfing_i.e., approving more for commitment than funds available

for obligatiow--was especially enticing to NASA in 1961 because of the urgency

associated with the manned lunar landing deadline. In additicah NASA faced

dramatically increasing budgets over the next few fiscal years. Thus future

appropriations could be used to cover the "over-commitments" d any one fiscal

year. The only thing NASA had to be assured of was that it did not overobligate,

as that was against public law. Once the budget leveled off, overprogranfing

would have to be checked. As it turned out, NASA showed great ability to

obligate its regular program on schedule and a tight fiscal situation developed

at the end of fiscal year 1963.

In fiscal year 1962, however, overprograming did allow new projects to get

going without having to await the budget for the new fiscal year.

ROroZram/_. Shifts in funds among projects and locations were permitred. The Associate Administrator was to be kept informed of all reprograming

action._ His approval was necessary only when the technical scope of the project

was significantly changed, when the approved number of spacecraft or launch

vehicles was changed, or when time schedules were signific_tly altered. _

Proiect Pro_eu REVERT. Whereas the PDP system was designed to get a project launched in the best possible way, the PERT system was

designed topromote project planning and secondarily to use the project plan as

a bas/s for progress assessment.. The initials stand for "Program Evaluation and

Review Technique." The technique was perfected by the Navy in connection

with its Polaris IRBM program.

PERT is similar in its objectives to the Program Management System described in Chapter 5. It provides a method of synthesizing a large number of

judgments into a comprehensive project plan. PERT is a more sophisticated

system, however. It can be computerized and can handle a very large number

of variables, which, of course, is important for large and complex projects. Both

systems use the concept of checkpoints or milestones in measuring progress.

PERT more easily handles complex chains of events where individual events

may occur simultaneously or may affect several subsequent events. PERT is

designed to sort out all the events involved in completing a project and measure

time intervals between them. A critical path through the pinpointed events can

then be charted to give a realistic picture of the minimum total time interval from

beginning to completion and at the same time iden_y the points which warrant

special managerial attention.

PERT thus is a tool for the project manager. It does not evaluate the

quality of management, but can help the manager manage more effectively. A

"See attachment "A" of Seamans' Aug. 8, 1961, memo to Program Directors and Heads

d Ol_.es. Subject: Financial Opem_g Plato.

"Ibid.
232 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

PERT system can generate information useful to all levels of management. Top

management, however, is more interested in the fact that it is being used than the

details of the results obtained from its use.

In early 1960, NASA hired a PERT specialist from the Navy (Walter

Haase) who more or less conducted a one-man lobby to get NASA to adapt

PERT to its use. Navy PERT was simplified slightly, the result being termed

"NASA-PERT."

On January 17, 1961, Seamans was briefed on NASA-PERT and gave the

green light to develop it further, u It was felt that PERT had to be sold, not

decreed from above, and during 1961 most NASA officials were briefed on what

NASA-PERT was and how it could be of value to NASA. In July, a 50-page

NASA-PERT Handbook was issued. Several projects were "PERT'ed" in 1961

with beneficial results. The field centers did not have the trained personnel

needed to apply PERT to their projects, so much of the early detailed work was

done by Headquarters officials, s9

PERT was "established" as an official NASA system by a management

instruction dated September 1, 196170 One statement in the instruction reveals

the effort to sell it. "Voluntary use of the PERT technique for project managemerit is encouraged, since PERT has proved to be a systematic and logical

management tool heretofore missing in the planning and execution of projects."

The instruction went on to state that the Associate Administrator could require

the use of NASA-PERT on certain projects. In such cases PERT would supersede the PMP system for those projects. As with the PMP system, the PERT

system was under the overall direction of the Associate Administrator, with specific responsibility lodged with the Office of Management Reports, one of the

offices in the newly created Office of Programs.

Considerable progress in the job of selling the idea was made in 1961, but

the job of training personnel to execute it did not get underway on a large scale

until 1962 when a contractor was hired to conduct a training program? 1

One of PERT's principal attributes---the dovetailing of complex* development schedules--was especially pertinent to NASA in connection with the decision

to achieve a manned lunar landing before 1970. The June 1961 Fleming Report

on a manned lunar landing used PERT techniques in drawing up its tiraetable? _

However, the first Director of Manned Space Flight, D. Brainerd Holmes, was

not a PERT enthusiast and did not make extensive use of the technique. HIS

successor, George E. Mueller, has made much greater use of it. As a result,

"Interview with Walter Haase, Jan. 29, 1964.

m Ibid.

WGeneral Management Instruction 4--1-5, Sept. 1, 1961. Subject: NASA Program

Evaluation and Review Technique--PERT System.

u Contract No. NASw-536 with Management Systems Corp.

" Interview with Walter Haase, Jan. 29, 1964.
IEORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCZLEMAT]EON 233

most hardware development projects of the Apollo program have now been

PERT'ed."

In 1962 the NASA-PERT system was combined with NASA's Contractor

Financial Management Reporting System to form what was called the "NASAPERT and Companion Cost System." By integrating time data and cost data,

a major step toward the establishment of an all-inclmive project management

system was achieve"

It is difficult to untangle the story of NASA fmances in 1961 became d

the many changes that occurred in the course of the year. In the areas of

budget preparation and execution, the end of the year bore little resemblance to

the beginning of the year. In the areas of accounting and auditing, few s_,nificant changes were made.

Co_qTe_ Rati_e_ the PresUmes Manned Lunar _ Deci._ In

Chapter 6 a detailed account was given of how NASA's fiscal year 1962 budget

was twice amended upward by the Kennedy administration. In March, $126

million was added and in May $549 million more. The following table (Table

7-1) traces the fortunes of this budget:

TABLE 7-1.--Re_, Audmrim6ons and Appropria6equ_, NASA Bad.t, Fi_sl

Yem" 1962

[In themal_]

S&E R&D

_uaryl_l mbmimion

Mareh1961amendment..

M_ 1961_m*_4m_t ........................

Total 1961 requem .....................

_.u_ (Public Law 87-98, July 21, 1961).

6,ppmpriaz_ (Pubtic Law 87-t41, Aug. 17,

1961).....................................

_ph_nen_ _ (PubUcLaw 87-s32,

sept. 30, 1961).............................

$189.966

6,7OO

3o. ooo

226,686

226,686

206, 75O

+1o,000

P._quest for supplemental (Feb. 7, 1962) ...................

_upplemental appropriation (Public Law 87-545,

july 25, 1962)........................................

$819, 819

99, 7'20

376, 000

1, 295, 539

1, 305, 539

1,220,000

CoF Total

5"99,825 11, 109, 63O

tg,2,5o 125,67o

143,000 549,000

262, 075 1, 784, 300

252, 075 1, 784, 300

245, 000 I, 671, 750

-lO, oco .....................

85, 000 71, 000 156, 000

82, 500 71, 000 153, 500

"Based on comments submitted to the NASA Historical Otiice by Jay H_mes of NASA's

Office of Manned Space Flight, December 1964.

"A draft "NASA PERT and Companion Cost System Handbook," was issued June 30,

1962. The revised hamibook (NPC 101) wss dated Oct. 30, 1962. A more detailed system

designed for the performing unit level, the "DOD and NASA Guide PERT Cost Systems

Design," was jointly published by DOD and NASA at about the same time.
234 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Excluding a late fiscal year 1962 supplemental, Congress authorized everything the Kennedy administration asked for, but appropriated 6 percent less.

It is generally held that in authorizing the full amount, Congress overwhelmingly

ratified the President's manned lunar landing decision. '5 The cut of 6 percent

amounted to a little over $100 million; while not critical, it was sizable enough

to give NASA some concern.

It is difficult to trace the vicissitudes of NASA's budget as it moved through

Congress. Much of the work was underway before the budget amendments

came along; as a result, many things were worked out in the semi-secret actions

of conference committees. In general, however, the regular pattern prevailed

in which the House and Senate Space Committees gave strong support, the

House Appropriations Committee held back somewhat, the Senate Appropriations Committee was relatively generous, and the House and Senate differences

were compromised by the conference committee.

Budget Preparation and Execution. "e 1961 developments in these two

areas included both procedural experimentation and organizational rearrangemen_ By the end of 1961 most of the substantive work in both areas had

gravitated to the Office of Programs, established 6 months earlier. The role of

the Office of Administration was reduced to little more than the routine processhag of documents.

Budget execution procedures for the fiscal year 1962 budget were worked

out on an experimental basis. The system of project approvals, financial operating plans, allotments, overprograming, and reprograming has already been

discussed.

The preparation of the fiscal year 1963 budget was primarily the responsibility of the Office of Programs. NASA hired the Bureau of the Budget's examiner for NASA (Cadle) to direct NASA's budget activity. Several budget

specialists were recruited from other agencies. In view of the state of flux that

existed, only minimum analysis and review could be accomplished. Heavy reliance had to be placed on the estimates submitted by the operating line divisions.

The fiscal year 1963 budget as finally submitted to the Bureau of the Budget

in the fall of 1961 was over three times as large as the one submitted the

previous fall.

C. Personnel

Developments during 1961 in the personnel area were relatively quiet compared with developments in other areas of NASA activity. This was only the

lull before the storm, however, because a large increase in personnel was slated

for 1962. During 1961, total NASA personnel increased by about 3,000, but

"The only recorded vote on the authorization bill was the House vote on the conference

report. It was passed 354 to 59. (Data supplied by NASA's Offree of Legislative Affairs,

January 1964.)

u This topic based primarily on observation while employed in the NASA Office of Programs.
REOROANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERA'rION 235

during 1962 the total in_ was ahnost 6,700? _ In November 1961, NASA

announced that it would conduct a comprehensive recruiting drive for 2,000

new scicnt_ts and cngincc_ '_

In 1961, total agency personnd increased2,945,or 18 percent.. All NASA

installations grew in ,fize. Headquarters grew 45 percent (up 300 employees),

Goddard 53 percent (up 643), and Space Task Group, which became an independent field installation in January 1961, 72 percent (up 478).**

During 1961, NASA converted its professional scientific and engineering

IX_itiom from the old Aeronautical Research Sdentist (ARS) category to the

new, more up-to-date AeroSpace Technology (AST) category. 1°° Of the

approximately 5,000 positions affected, 4 subcategory groupings accounted for

70 percent of the total--Fluid and Flight Mechanics (27 percent), Measurement

and Instrumentation (18 percent), Flight Systems (13 percent), and Experimental Facilities and Equipment ( 12 percent). Life Sciences and Space Sdences

accounted for less than 3 percent. The conversion was a major undertaking

and had been worked on for about 2 years. It was closely intertwined with the

AST examination which has been discussed at some length. _

D. Procurement/Contracting

NASA's procurement problems were omnipresent by the very fact that its

out-of-house program was constantly expanding and continued to involve activities somewhat unique in character. Policies and procedures were almost constantly under review, and 1961 was no exception.

The DraOer _._ The relationship between the Headquarters procurement division and the field center procurement offices was critically examined

by one of Webb's consultants, Gen. W. H. Draper. The Draper Report recommended that Headquarters should put greater emphasis on the development of

agencywide policies and regulations. At the same time, there should be an

improvement in the means of ensuring the solution of problems on an agencywide basis. A continuing program of field review by Headquarters, and frequent

procurement conferences were recommended.

The October Confermce. 1°* A major intra-agency procurement conference

was held in October 1961. Although most of the topics were technical and of

For a mote detailed account of 1961 pemonnel uzads, see App. C.

UNASA Newt Release 61-244, Nov. 3, 1961.

rathe Space Task Group was redesignated "Manned Spacecraft Center" on Nov. I, 1961.

m For a more detailed account, see the NASA "Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for

the Quarter ending June 30, 1961," dated Aug. I, 1961.

aa The conversion of positions from ARS to AST has been given less attention than the

AST examination because it was a much more technical operation and information was not as

available. Its importance should not be underes1_nated.

mNo copy of the 1961 Draper Report could be located. The information which follows is

based on a summary of the report found in the "Conference Notes" of the October 1961 NASA

Procurement Conference held at the Lewis Research Center.

For a detailed account, see the "Conference Notes" just cited.
236 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

interest only to the procurement specialists, the conference did discuss several

things of a broader nature. For example, frequent mention was made of the

fact that NASA procurement had to operate in a goldfish-bowl environment. Not

only were potential contractors interested in NASA's honesty, fairness, and efficiency, but Congress and the General Accounting Office were as well. All procurement decisions would have to have sound reasoning behind them. NASA

would have to accommodate Congress' warm attitude toward small business.

The discussion of technical problems focused on such things as NASA's frequent use of letter contracts in expediting procurement actions, the difficulty in

ascertaining the correctness of the price of the contract, the use of service contracts, and the need for greater efforts to keep costs under control.

Procurement Training. Training is generally regarded as an important

means of improving the competence of workers, which in turn facilitates the solution of broader problems. Training requires time and money and is often considered a luxury which an agency with a heavy workload cannot afford. Thus,

training programs usually start small. A start in a NASA procurement training

program was made in 1961.1°*

NASA began by utilizing the several procurement training courses offered

by the military services. An in-house program was also deemed desirable and in

late 1961 NASA hired Harbridge House to plan and present a 2-week training

course for NASA personnel. 1°5 The course was not confined to procurement

specialists, but to include program personnel as well. The training program got

underway in 1962.

Headquarters Procurement Branch Established. Prior to July 1, 1961,

procurement for NASA Headquarters, with two exceptions, was done by the procurement office of NASA's Goddard Center. This was designed to keep NASA's

Procurement Division in Headquarters free from line operations and also to promote decentralization of procurement by not building up a Headquarters procurement capability.

The "Goddard for Headquarters" procurement system did not work out

well. l°e Gocldard had plenty of thorny procurement activity of its own and the

20 miles between Goddard and Headquarters hindered frequent face-to-face

contacts.

Dissatisfaction with the system prompted Headquarters technicalprogram

officesto threatento setup theirown procurement offices,which would have

There were two areas of concern--training the procurement specialist and training the

nonspecialist who is involved in procurement matters. A study emphasizing the former was prepared by Richard Femler of the Headquarters Procurement Division and submitted to Brackett,

the Division's Director, on June 6, 1961. The latter area, termed "procurement management,"

was discumed as early as April 1961. (See letter to George Vecchietti, Assistant Director of the

Headquarters Procurement Division, from Harbridge House, Inc., Apr. 25, 1961.)

m Contract No. NASw-337, dated Oct. 1, 1961.

m See Brackett's memorandum to Siepert, Mar. 6, 1961. Subject: Suggestion for Centralized Headquarters Procurement Office.
REORGAIqlZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 237

added to the two specialized ones already in existence, l°T (One of the two procured office supplies and equipment, primarily from GSA. The other serviced

the Office of Research Grants and Contracts. )

Brackett, the head of NASA's Procurement Division, recommended that one

proc_ent office should service all of Headquarters. l°s He felt that the Headquarters prooum_ent workload was heavy enough so that an efficient operation

could be established. He did not fed that such a move would promote the

centralization of NASA procurement.

Effective July 1, 1961, the Headquarters Procurement Branch was established as an autonomous unit of the Procurement Division? °s The two existing

specialized procurement units were not altered.

H_. The House Astronautics Committee studied NASA's program for promoting small-business participation. The study concluded that

"NASA is doing a commendable job in guaranteeing to small business an adequate

participation in the national space program." 110

The statistical data on NASA procurement released for fiscal year 1962

revealed that the number of procurement actions increased 32 percent over fiscal

year 1961, whereas the total value of the actions increased 100 percent, m Sixtysix percent of the value went directly to private business, a significant increase

over fiscal year 1961. Data for fiscal year 1962 reflect the large Apollo program

contracts, many of them awarded to aerospace firms in Cali/ornia. (See App. E

for more detail on NASA procurement trends. )

E. Olhor Nonodmini_ Happ4mtngs

The year 1961 was an eventful year in NASA's history that overlooking signiiicant but less-publicized activity is quite possible. This section is designed to

fail some of the gaps.

Extema/R,/at/mu. 1961 was a peak year in the number of formal agreements that NASA entered into with other agencies of the Executive Branch. m

Almost half of the new interagency agreements were with the Department of Defemse, apart from those with the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

In general, the agreements were less fundamental than earlier ones, many of

them being amendments to earlier ones. The chief exceptions to this were agreements concernmg rockctrangesingeneraland Cape Canaveralin particular.

m Ib/d.

"Ibid.

U'NASA Circular 147, July I, 1961. Subject: Functions and Authority---Headquarters

Procurement Branch.

m Quotation is from Ducander's Sept. 25, 1961, letter to Representative Miller, the chairman of the House Astronautics Committee, upon the transmittal of a staff study, U.S. Congress,

House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Small Business Participation in th# NASA Research and Development Programs, 87th Cong., 1st scss. (W_shington: GPO, 1961 ).

m See NASA, Annual Procurement Report, Fiscal Yee._ 1962.

m Based on listing supplied by NASA Secretariat Services Branch.
238 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY 01_' NASA, 1958--1963

Relations with the Space Committees of Congress were affected somewhat

by a turnover in chairmen. Lyndon Johnson was replaced by Senator Robert

Kerr (Democrat, Okla.) in January 1961. Representative George Miller (Democrat, Calif.)became chairman of the House AstronauticsCommittee upon the

death of Representative Overton Brooks (Democrat, La.).

Program Highlights as Indicated by Major Launchings. Quantitatively,

1961 was similar to 1960 in earth-orbiting and deep-space-probing activity. 11s

Thirteen major launch attempts were made, of which only six were completely

successful, three partially successful. Eleven suborbital and orbital launches were

made in connection with Project Mercury, including Shepard's and Grissom's

suborbital flights and the orbital flight of Enos, the chimp. The Ranger lunar

reconnaissance program got underway, but with only partial success. NASA's

large launch vehicle, the Saturn, was successfully tested in October.

Othr Program Activity. As NASA's budgets increased over the years, the

scope and diversity of its program grew likewise. This makes a brief recapitulation

of NASA's overall program more and more difficult. TM

No major programs were canceled during 1961 and relatively normal progress was made on most of the ongoing projects. The program changes related

to the Kennedy amendments to NASA's budget (i.e., manned space flight, applications, nuclear technology) have already been covered. Perhaps the only major

program item not mentioned so far (and one which gave many spending headaches in later years) was Project Gemini.

Project Gemini was approved in December 19617 is The objective of the

project was to develop and then orbit a two-man spacecraft for lengthy missions

around the earth and for rendezvousing with another object in orbit. The

spacecraft was conceived to be an enlarged Mercury capsule (the Mercury Mark

II) and the launch vehicle, a modified version of the Titan II, the Air Force

two-stage ICBM with greater thrust than the Atlas. Project Gemini was thought

of as being a halfway house or stepping stone between Mercury and Apollo. The

fact that it was approved well after Apollo was announced suggested the possibility

that Gemini may have been designed to sustain interest and gain experience in

manned space flight while the sophisticated and complex Apollo spacecraft was

being developed. In 1961 it was argued that the Gemini spacecraft could be

developed cheaply and quickly as it was to be built along the same lines as the

Mercury spacecraft, n6 Nevertheless, the Gemini project represented a significant

technical step beyond Mercury and the manifestation of a cautious building-block

approach to manned space flight. The need for developing the rendezvous

m Baaed on "Chronology of Major NASA Launchings," app. B of Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962, prepared by the NASA Historical Office.

=a For a brief but very good summary of NASA's program for 1961, see the President's

Annual Report to Congress, United States Aeronautics and Space Activities, 1961, pp. 7-31.

mNASA News Release 61-273, Dec. 7, 1961.

m The Gemini concept was first introduced in May 1961 by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., the

builder of the Mercury spacecraft. (See Grimwood, Project Mercury: A Chronology, p. 145.)

It was added to NASA's budget in about Augult 1961. McDonnell was picked to build it.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM ACCELERATION 239

technique became crucial inasmuch as the rendezvous approach to the moon had

superseded the direct ascent approach in late 1961. The development of the

rendezvous capability was aLso of interest to the Department of Defense.

Kenae.dy Enuadates Commun_at/om Po//cy. In July President Kennedy

announced his concurrence in the Space Council's recommendations on a national

policy on communication satellites._' The statement favored private ownership,

as long as standards of broad coverage, nondiscrimination, and broad participation

were followed. The U.S. Government would cooperate in developing the system

and in supervising related international agreement_ It would also maintain

al_olute control over the hunching of any communication satellite.

This was basically an elaboration of the elementary Eisenhower-Glennan

private-ownership policy on the same subject. The year 1962 revealed that there

was a vocal minority in Congress which thought the policy did not adequately

protect the public interest.

M/scd/a_om. During 1961 NASA put the finishing touches on two

important worldwide tracking networks: the Mercury Network for the manned

Mercury flights and the Deep Space NetwoA for lunar, solar, and planetary probes.

CONCLUSION

The year 1961 will probably be regardexi as the most hectic year in NASA's

history. There is little doubt that the Presidential decision to broaden and

accderate the space program and undertake a definite program leading to a

manned lunar landing gre_My altered NASA's subsequent history. President

Kennedy regarded it "as among the most important decisions that will be made

during my incumbency .... ,, n8

It was repeatedly stated that the manned lunar landing could be achieved

within the current state of the art. This would suggest that the manned lunar

landing was essentially a management and engineering problem, rather than a

scientific one. Subsequent developments revealed that the management and

engineering problems were even more difficult than expected.

m For a copy of the Pres]dcnt's July 24, 1961, statement, see United States Aeronaatics and

Spa¢# Activities, 1961, pp. 105-106. (App. C).

"" Speech at Rice Univenity, Houston, Tex., Sep. 12, 1962.

215-892 O_,-----I_"
Chapter Eight

RAPID GROWTH/ORGANIZATIONAL READJUSTMENTS

Previous chapters traced NASA's administrative history from its establishment

in 1958 through what could be viewed as a reestablLshment in 1961. A leveling

off which appeared to be manifesting itself at the end of the Glennan period did

not _, largely because of the decision by the Kennedy administration to

enlarge and accelerate NASA's program significantly. Thus, instead of leveling

off at 20,000 employees and a $1.5 billion budget, NASA again grew dramatically

and a leveling off was not contemplated until 34,000 employees and budgets of

$5 to $6 billion were reached. Most of the growth took place over a 2- to 3-year

period, which meant that the rate of growth was extremely rapid.

It goes without saying that periods of rapid growth in any organization tend

to be less than tidy. Certainly NASA was no exception and it has been argued

that NASA grew too rapidly. But inexorable deadlines existed for its most

important prograam and thus time was the most important governing determinant,

As long as NASA's chief objective, the manned lunar landing, was not questioned,

its rapid rate of growth was accepted without much question. A "honeymoon"

between NASA and Congress existed for 2 years. It would appear that the

"honeymoon" ended ix, ."63.

The term "honeymoon" refers to the nature of the external support given

NASA. It does not mean that there was internal bliss. In fact, just the opposite

was true. The 1962-63 period is often characterized as a period of constant

firefightingduringwhich new conflagrationsoccurredasfastas (orfasterthan) old

ones were put out.

The chid objectives of this chapter are to quantitatively depict NASA's

rapid growth during the 1962-63 period, to delineate some of the management

problems faced and how they were solved, and to analyze the manner in which

the November 1961 reorganization appeared to have worked out in practice.

Other devdopments during the period are treated only in summary fashion:

I. GROSS MEASUREMENTS OF NASA'S RAPID GROWTH, 1962-63

NASA's rapid growth can be readily measured in three area.s---finances,

numbers of personnel, and procurement activity.

z The reader should keep in mind that the rather detailed coverage of NASA organizational

and administrative developments of earlier chapters cannot be continued in light of the increased

tempo of agency activity. Furthermore, the period is so recent that there is no way of knowing

what activities warrant special attention from the long-range point of view.

241
242 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

A. Growth of NASA Budgets and Spending

In January 1961, the President requested $1.1 billion for NASA for fiscal

year 1962; 2 years later the amount requested was $5.7 billion, a 500-percent

increase. Actual appropriations did not increase so dramatically, of course, as

the fiscal year 1962 budget was amended upward by President Kennedy and the

appropriation for fiscal year 1964 was $600 million less than what was asked for.

A more concrete measure of increasing agency activity, both in-house and

out-of-honse, is the amount of money actually obligated and expended. This is

depicted in the following table: _

Period Obligations Expenditures

[inmillions] [inmilh'om]

January-June 1961 .......................................

July-December 1961 ......................................

January-June 1962 .......................................

July-December 1962 ......................................

January-June 1963 .......................................

July--December 1963 ......................................

Fiscal year 1962 ..........................................

Fiscal year 1963 ..........................................

567

697

1, 143

1,415

2, 101

2, 070

1,840

3, 516

411

479

778

1,015

1,538

1,844

1,257

2, 553

Thus obligations and expenditures were twice as great during the first half

of 1963 as they were in the first half of 1962, and four times what they were before

the acceleration of NASA's program.

Doubling 2 years in a row appfied to the primarily out-of-housse research

and development and construction of facilities accounts. The salary-and-expense

account doubled during 1962 and then began leveling off, whereas R&D kept

rising. Amounts for CoF moved up and down irregularly because of the way

construction contracts worked out. During the first half of 1963, obligations for

CoF peaked at $356 million.

Period

January-June 1961 ..............................

July-December 1961 .............................

January-June 1962 ..............................

July-December 1962 .............................

January-June 1963 ..............................

July-December 1963 .................... : ........

S &E

$91

99

117

198

228

243

Obligations

[in millions]

R &D

$424

486

819

999

1,517

1,627

CoF

$51

112

107

217

356

20O

zData supplied by NASA's Financial Management Division. For greater detail, see app. D.
lU_m OaOWTH/OIO_.aTmNAL _JUSTMmCrS 243

It should be kept in mind that the first half of the calendar year is the second

half of the fiscal year. Since NASA's appropriation bills did not become law until

well into each fiscal year, there was a tendency for January-June spending activity

to be con_derably higher than July-December activity. Thus new highs would

likely be attained during the first half of 1964.

B. Growlh in Tofal Pqmmnael

T. Kdth Glennan, NASA's first Administrator, made a conscious effort to

hold down the number of new employees in NASA. Of the 16,000 NASA

crnployees at the end of his period of office, over 78 percent had been transferred to

NASA en masse and only about 3,500 came aboard as new employees, primarily

to staff Headquarters and the new Goddard Center.

With the acceleration of NASA's program under the Kennedy administration, personnd numbers for a period moved sharply upward. This is revealed

in the following table: _

Asob--

Dec. 31, 1960 ...............................

June 30, 1961 ...............................

Dee.. 31, 1961 ...............................

June so, 19_ ...............................

$1, 1962 ...............................

Junes0, 1_3 ...............................

Dec. Sl, 1963...............................

Number

of NASA

employees

16,042

17,471

18,987

2s, ees

2s, 667

29,934

3o,o69

pr_o= period

1,429

I, 516

4_699

I, 981

4, 267

135

9

9

25

8

17

As can be seen from the table,the personnd numbers incxeased50 percent

during the 18 months from the beginningof 1962 to the middle of 1963. To

increaseby thatamount (Mmost 11,000individuals),NASA hiredabout 18,000

persons. (Itshouldbe pointedout,however,thatthe 7,000separationsduring

the period includedregularturnovers,plusthosepersonswho had been hiredfor

temporary summer jobs The agency's turnover rate was normaL)

During the 18-month period, certain NASA _tallafions grew much faster

than others. The Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston almost tripled in size.

The Cape Canaveral facility went from a 300-rnan adjunct of the Marshall Center"

to a 1,200-man independent field center (the Launch Operations Center ). Headquartersmore than doubledinsizeand the Goddard Center increased almost 90

percent. The largecontractswith west-coastfirmswere reflectedin the Western

Operations Office increase in size of over 350 percent.

Did the rapid increase in personnel result in any change in the composition

of NASA's work force? Only a little bit. The recruitment emphasis was on

=Data supplied by NASA's Personnel Division (SF 113). For greater detail, see App. C.
244 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

scientists and engineers (i.e., aerospace professionals) and the result was that the

number of persons in this classification increased from 32 percent of the total

at the end of 1961 to 37 percent by the end of 1963. Administrative types increased from 7 percent to 10 percent of the total, a larger percentage gain than

the aerospace professional category. The Wage Board category decreased from

32 percent to 23 percent of the total?

The problem of recruiting scientists and engineers is examined in a later

section in this chapter.

C. Changes in Procurement Patterns During the Period of Rapid Growth

A comparison between NASA procurexnent patterns for fiscal year 1961,

the last period before program acceleration, and fiscal year 1963, the last period

for which data are available and by which time two-thirds of the acceleration had

taken place, reveals several significant changes? Not all the changes are indicative of long-run trends, of course, nor are all of them directly related to the program

acceleration. Cause-and-effect relationships are difficult to establish and the

following comparisons only reveal gross changes.

From fiscal year 1961 to fiscal year 1963, the total value of NASA procurements increased over 325 percent. The number of procurement actions only

doubled, so there was a sizable increase (112 percent) in the average value of

a procurement action.

The value of direct awards to large business increased at a rate over twice

that of small business and nonprivate organizations. NASA's 25 largest private

contractors received 78 percent of the awards to business in fiscal year 1963

compared with 70 percent for fiscal year 1961.

Awards to business based on noncompetitive procedures increased faster than

awards based on competitive procedures.

In regard to the type of contract used, an interesting development took place.

Both the desirable firm-fixed-price-type contract and the undesirable cost-plusfixed-fee-type contract declined in use (relatively speaking, and the former more

than the latter) in favor of more sophisticated contracts, many of which contained

incentive features.

A dramatic shift occurred in regard to the Government agencies which

procured goods and services for NASA. Procurements by the Department of the

Army for NASA increased almost fourteenfold from fiscal year 1961 to fiscal year

1963, whereas the procurements by the Air Force increased only by 60 percent,

the same rate as that for all other Government agencies. This was a reflection

of NASA's dependence upon the Army Corps of Engineers for land acquisition

and new facility construction.

• Data supplied by NASA's Personnel Division.

J Comparison based on data in NASA's Annual Procurement Reports for fiscal year 1961 and

fiscal year 1963. For greater detail, see App. E. *
aAem GROWTK/OmGAm_TXONAL aXADJUST_Z_rTS 245

The pattern of procurement activity of individual NASA instaRations changed

somewhat. In comparison with the average agency increase of 328 percent,

Manhall increased 268 percent, WOO 216 percent, Goddard 96 percent, and

the Manned Spacecraft Center 798 percent. These four installations accounted

for 74 percent of NASA procurement in fiscal.year 1963 compared with 83 percent

for fiscal year 1961.

California improved its position as chid recipient of NASA awards directly

to business by moving from 39 percent of the total in fiscal year 1961 to 50 percent

in fiscal year 1963. The spread among other states improved stightly during the

same period.

In summary, the acceleration of NASA's program enhanced the role of ( 1)

the Manned Spacecraft Center, ( 2 ) the Army Corps of Engineers, (3) the large

California aercspace firms, (4) noncompetitive procedures. The position of

small business worsened as far as prime contracts were concerned, but very likely

improved when subcontracts are taken into consideration. In general, the substantial overall increase in the amount of goods and services NASA procured

resulted in heavy demands on U.S. industry.

U. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS, 1962-63

The Kennedy administration'sfiscalyear 1962 budget add-ons in March

and May of 1961 set off a rapid acceleration of NASA's program. By fiscal year

1964,only 2 yearslater,NASA's budget was over $5 billion,at which paintit

leveledoff.

NASA's budget experts have broken NASA's fiscal years 1962-64 program

down into the same fivefold division used in the reorganization of NASA Headquarters. The following table shows how one program category quadrupled,

one tripled, and the other three doubled: _

[Final yem; mmlcm _ donm]

_mmd Sp_ n_t...

Space Scimcm .....

_ gmarch md T_..

Tracking and Data Acquai_m ......

1962

923.2

442.7

76. 2

260.7

118.9

Total ........................ I,8,71.7

(50. 7)

(24. 3)

(4. 2)

(14. 3)

(6. 5)

1963

?_ 242. 1

634.7

118. 1

4xJ_7

196. 1

3, 687. 7

Percent

of total

(60_s)

_rT. 2)

(s. 2)

(is.s)

(gs)

19_

3, 758.2

836.7

140. 7

597. 2

379. 2

5, 712. 0

Percent

of mtal

(6,_8)

(14.6)

(2,.s)

(10,5)

(6. 6)

• U.S. Congrea, Senate, Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Authorization [or Fiscal Year 1964, Hearin_ on S. 124-5, 88th Cong., 1st sen. (Washington: GIN:), 1963),

p. 778 (Pt. 2) (hereafter cited as Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization [or Fiscal Year 1964).
246 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

A. Manned Space Flight

It is easy to see from the above table that manned space flight was the area

into which NASA poured the lion's share of its resources. Within the manned

space flight area most programs expanded, a few contracted. Compare the

budget requests for fiscal year 1962 with fiscal year 1964 for some of the major

manned space flight activities.7

[Millions of dollars]

Fiscal year Fiscal year

1962 1964

Mercury (1 man, earth orbital) ................................

Gemini (2 men, earth orbital and rendezvous) ...................

Apollo (3 men, earth orbital and lunar landing) ..................

Saturn I (the original Saturn) .................................

Saturn IB (different 2d stage) .................................

Saturn V (the 5 F-1 cluster, moon rocket) .......................

Engine development ..........................................

Comtruction of facilities (primarily launch) ......................

Other R.&D ................................................

ToW .................................................

42.3

58.9

84.6

257. 4

.5

69. 5

123. 9

245. 4

40.7

92S. 2

0.2

335. 3

1, 263. 2

158.6

76. 0

799. 7

192.4

564. 5

368. 3

3, 758. 2

A major program decision, not directly revealed in the above data, was

made public in July 1962, when NASA announced that instead of concentration

on the direct ascent approach to the moon, as contemplated in the Fleming

Report of June 1961, or the earth orbital rendezvous approach, as suggested by

the Golovin Report in December 1961, NASA would rely primarily on a lunar

orbital rendezvous (LOR) approach. This decision was made after a million

man-hours of engineering studies demonstrated that it would be the cheapest

method and would resuk in the earliest possible accomplishment of a manned

lunar landing. The LOR approach required the development of a smaller

lunar landing craft than earlier contemplated--the two-man lunar excursion

module, rather than a three-man landing craft. The size of the required hunch

vehicle would be smaller than under the direct ascent approach. An orbital

tanker would not be required as under the earth orbital approach. The Apollo

spacecraft would consist of a three-manned command module, a propulsion or

service module, and the lunar excursion module in which two members of the

three-man crew would descend to the surface of the moon while the third member stayed in the command module in orbit around the moon. For the return

to earth, the two-man lunar excursion module would launch from the surface

of the moon and rendezvous with the rest of the Apollo spacecraft in lunar orbit."

Ibid., p. 779.
g_Pn_ OROW_/O_OamZATIO_aL _,vj_s_szcrs 24.7

Only the three-man command module would return to earth. In November

1962, NASA announced that the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. had been

sdected to develop the lunar excursion module, thus completing the selection

of major hardware contractors for the Apollo _.

The manned lunar landing mission wou!d be achieved by putting the 5-tou

command module (being built by North American), the 12-ton lunar excursion

module (Grumman), and the 5-ton service module (North American) loaded

with 20 tom of fuel, on top of the 150-200-ton three-stage Saturn V hunch

vehicle (first stage, Boeing; second stage, North American; third stage, Douglas)

loaded with over 2,500 tons of fueL Launched from Cape Canaveral, the 45-ton

payload would be put first into earth orbit, then hurled on its flight toward the

moon. 8

Using power furnished by the service module, the Apollo spacecraft would

maneuver into an orbit around the moon, from which the lunar excursion module

would descend as earlier described. To assemble the launch vehicle stages and

the spacecraft modules, NASA planned the construction of a mammoth vertical

assembly building at Cape Canaveral The assembled space vehicle would then

be transported in a vertical position 3 miles to the launch pad.

The foregoing description touches on only a few of the aspects of the extremely complex manned lunar landing endeavor. Although it was not a threeshift, parallel-course crash program, the sheer magnitude of the fast-paced

program ate dollars at a furious rate.

In 1963, Project Mercury was completed. This project, as old as NASA

itself, culminated in a 22-orbit mission (Cooper flight) on May 15-16. Two

manned suborbital missions had been flown in 1961 (Shepard, Grissom), and

three orbital missions in 1962 (Glenn, Carpenter, and Schirra). The program

had cost almost $400 million, including the $125 million invested in a tracking

network? Although costing more and taking longer than originally contemplated, the project met its objectives and can only be classified as completely

suCC_$_I.ll.

In June, Webb announced that with the end of Project Mercury, the Mercury team and its facilities would be utilized in the Gemini and Apollo programs, l°

It should also be mentioned that during 1962-63 the Gemini project, originally conceived as a relatively simple projection of Project Mercury, was upgraded

into a much more sophisticated (and expensive) project. 11 The Air Force was

very interested in NASA's Gemini program, since the program included nearearth orbital operations--something considered to have future military signifi-

• For a good description of the Apollo mission, see Holmes' statement, /b/d., pp. 484--497

(Pt. 1).

"Mtrcuey Proiect Summary . .., NASA 8P-45 (Washington: GPO, 1963), p. 25.

t= Grimwood, Project Mercury, A Chronology, p. 196.

11 U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1964 NASA Authorization,

Hearings on H.R. 5466, 88th Cong., 1st sere. (Washington: GPO, 1963), pp. 873, 884 (Pt. 2b)

(hereafter cited as Houae Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorizatioa).
248 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

cance. Interagency agreements were entered into providing for close NASAAir Force liaison on the project. 12 A NASA-Air Force Gemini program planning board was established and DOD agreed to contribute funds to help attain

Gemini program objectives. Project management remained with NASA.

B. Space Sciences

The following table compares the fiscal year 1962 budget with the fiscal

year 1964 budget for the major space science program areas: la

[Millions of dollars]

Geophysics and astronomy (e.g.,OSO, OGO, OAO, International).

Lunar and planetaryexploration(e.g.,Ranger, Mariner) ..........

Launch vehicle development (smaller than Saturn) ................

Bimcience .................................................

Grants (primarily to univermtics) ............................... :

C_mtruction of facilities .......................................

Total ..................................................

Fiscal year Fiscal year

1962 1964

119.8

164.6

100. 9

4.1

13.5

39. 8

442. 7

232. 6

331.4

149. 5

41.3

56.4

25. 5

836. 7

The lunarand planetaryexplorationprogram includedunmanned explorationofthemoon, a vitalinputintothc manned lunarlandingendeavor. Unfortunatclyby thecad of calendarycar 1963,none ofthe unmanncd flightstothe

moon had been successful.A very.notablesuccesswas scored in planetary

explorationin late1962 when thc Mariner II spacecraftscanned Venus as it

passed within 21,000 miles.

The Geophysicsand Astronomy program achievedsevenout ofsevensuccessful launches in 1962, and three out of three in 1963. The large multiexperimcnt

scientific earth satellites, such as the orbiting astronomical observatory and the

orbiting geophysical observatories were being developed for launching during

1964 and later.

In the launch vehicle development area, a significant milestone was passed m

the successful test of the Centaur liquid hydrogen launch vehicle on November 27,

1963.

The NASA grant program provided for the construction of research facilities,

the training of research students, and the funding of research projects at U.S.

universities and colleges. The NASA University Program was considered an

essential part of NASA's long-range investment to make sure that space-skilled

researchers and researched information would be constantly forthcoming from

Ulbid., pp. 406--410. (A copy of the Jan. 21, 1963, NASA-DOD agreement is printed

on p. 407.)

n Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1964, p. 782.
aApm CeowrH/om_'rxONAL aXADJUSTM_-lcrs 249

the university and college area. The fourfold increase shown in the table is a

manifestation of Administrator Webb's keen interest in this area."

C. Applications _,

"" [Milliom of dollars]

M_ tatellitm.......................................

Comn'amitm "firmsmtellitea .....................................

Other (hr.hating inaum-_ application).........................

Total ................................................

Fiacalyear ] Fiw.alyear 1962 1964

I

39. 7 I 73. 1

35. 5 55.8

1.0 11.8

76. 2 140. 7

During 1962 and 1963, NASA succesdully hunched five Tiros weather

satellites, demonstrating operational utility far exceeding expectations for an R&D

spacecraft. Widely publicized were the 1962 successfully hunched Telstar and

Relay communications satellites. In 1963 another successful Telstar and two

Syncom satellites were launched. Both Syncoms were placed in a 22,000-mile

orbit in which they remained relatively stationary over one point on earth. Only

the second one was successful for communications purposes.l"

D. Advonced Research and Technology 1,

[Millions of dollars]

(indudi_ nuc_ar) .................................

Space power (including solar and n_lear) .......................

Space vehicles (including reentry) ..............................

Toni.. ...............................................

Fiscal year

1962

84.3

21.3

8&4

28.8

37. 9

260.7

Fiscal year

1964

214. 7

54.1

195. 1

4.5.1

88_3

597.3

a See T. K. L. Smull, The Nature and Scope ofth# NASA University Program (Washington:

NASA SP-73, 1965); T. P. Murphy and T. W. Adams, '_Declsion Making in NASA for

University Cooperation," paper given at American Political Science Association, Washington,

D.C., Sept. 8, 1965.

Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization/or Fisral Year 1964, p. 784.

t, See forthcoming G. IL Thompson, "NASA Comsat Development," NASA Historical

Monograph No. 8.

Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1964, p. 785.
250 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

It is interesting to note that the program area labeled "Aeronautics" was

less than 1 percent of NASA's budget in fiscal year 1964.

The construction money in 1964 included money to begin a new field center--

the Electronics Research Center--slated for the Boston area. It also included

money for a Nuclear Rocket Development Station in Nevada. Both are examples

of NASA's functional and geographic spreading out for the long-term conquest

of space. _8

E. Tracking and Data Acquisition _9

_._ .._,,,_ arid dam acquisition program brought together certain specialized activities common to all of NASA's space exploration projects. It involved

the building, expansion, and operation of NASA's worldwide tracking facilities,

together with providing communications among them, and handling and

processing data received through them.

[Millions of dollars]

Fkcal year Fiscal year

1962 1964

Network opcratiom ..........................................

Equipment and components ....................................

Supporting research and technology .............................

Comtruction of facilities .......................................

To tR_ ..................................................

51.8

16.4

15.7

35. 1

118. 9

105.8

134.0

21.8

117.6

379. 2

Three major networks were involved--the satellite network, the manned

flight network, and the deep space network. The first 2 involved about 15

stations each; the latter involved 3 stations. Most of the stations were outside

the United States. In addition, local networks were maintained for activities at

Wallops Island and Flight Research Center, the latter in association with the

X-I 5 program.

The fiscal year 1964 construction budget included $90 million to outfit 3

old ships with the necessary instruments to convert them into mobile tracking

stations.

In appraising NASA's program during 1962 and 1963, it should be kept in

mind that the payoff in new knowledge and flight exploits from the accelerated

activity of 1961 on was still to come some time in the future. The publicized

is Details are supplied later in the chapter.

1' Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year 1964, p. 787. See also U.S.

Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Independent Offices, Independent O_ces Appropriations for 1964, Hearings, 88th Cong., Ist. sess. (Wuhington: GPO,

1963), pp. 493-499 (Pt. 3).
RAPID GROWTH/ORGANIZ_TION_ I_.,ADJUSTMENTS 251

accomplishments of the 1961-63 period were actually the culmination of NASA's

program laid down during the Eisenhower-Cdennan era. Nor should it be

forgotten that the organizational and administrative problems NASA faced during

1962 and 1963 were related primarily to the vast activity involved in preparing

for what later would.hit the headlines and .be judged worthwhile or otherwise.

In the meantime, who could really judge NASA's efficiency and wisdom?-

probably not even NASA itself.

III. ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS, 1962-63

This period was one of overall organizational stability. One major change

was made in the field and two in Headquarters. All other changes were relatively

minor. The major agency reorganization at the end of 1963 (discussed in the

next chapter) sugge_ that other things were happening beneath the surface.

A. Field Installation Changes

Cape Canaveva/Fad//ty G/yen Fu/I F/eL/Center Status. In 1960, NASA

had consolidated its Atlantic and Pacific Missile Range activity under the Launch

Operatiom D/rectorate (LOD), a somewhat autonomous extension of the

Marshall Center in Huntsville, Ala. _ On March 7, 1962, LOD was split into

three segments, two of which became independent field installations, n That

portion of LOD at Cape Canaveral, Fla., became the Launch Operatiom Center

(LOC). That portion at Point Mugu, Calif., became the Pacific Launch Operations O_ce (PLO0). The Marshall Center retained a segment of LOD and

it was designated the "Launch Vehicle Operations Division."

Dr. Kurt Debus, the head of LOD, was named Director of LOC. Initially,

it consisted of 338 persom transferred from the Marshall Center (i.e., LOD). It

grew rapidly and by the end of 1963 numbered 1,269." LOC's mission was

thredoki. One was to aid in the NASA hunchings made from Cape Canaveral.

The second was to supervise the mammoth construction going on at the Cape in

connection with the manned lunar landing program. The third was to maintain

rehtionshil:s with the Air Force which had overall control of the Atlantic Missile

Itan 

LOC's director did not report to _ Administrator Seamam, as did

most NASA's field center director_ Instead he reported to D. Brainerd Holmes,

the Director of Manned Space Flight in NASA Headquarters. Seamam stated

that this would assure that LOC would be immediately responsive to the many

requirements of the manned lunar landing program. _ Although manned space

"See Ch. 5, Sec. I.B.

"NASA Circular No. 208, Mar. 7, 1962. Subject: Establidunent of the Launch Operations

Center at AMR and the Pacific Launch Operatiom Office at PMR.

.- See App. C.

"NASA News Releue No. 62-53, Mar. 7, 1962.
252 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

flight was the "major user," the LOC would also serve other program areas.

Thus NASA seems to have violated one of the concepts of the previous November

reorganization--that of having all multipurpose centers report to general management. s` As it turned out, this was only the first retreat from the concept.

The Pacific Launch Operations Office, in keeping with the "major user"

concept, reported to Homer NeweU, the Director of Space Sciences in NASA

Headquarters, thus having the same type of relationship with Headquarters as

LOC. PLOO was very small; it numbered only 11 to begin with and by the

end of 1963 had grown to only 19. NASA contractors did most of the work

in connection with the few actual launchings that NASA made at the Pacific

M_._Ic Range.

NASA's rapidly expanding activities in the Cape Canaveral area brought

into question the degree to which these activities should be under the cognizance

of DOD, which had overall responsibility for the Atlantic Missile Range. After

some heated debate, NASA and DOD entered into an agreement in early 1963

calling for a somewhat different division of responsibility, s5 The Air Force was

to continue to be "host agency" for the existing 15,000-acre Cape Canaveral

launch area, but NASA was to be "host agency" for the massive new 87,000-acre

Mcrrit Island Launch Area to the northwest. DOD continued to have responsibility over certain fundamental range functions involving the scheduling of

launches, safety, and "downrange" activities. The agreement gave NASA much

greater freedom in conducting its construction activities.

Northeaste_ OOeratlo_ O_e Eatabllshed. On July 3, 1962, NASA

announced the establishment of a Northeastern Operations Office, to be located

in Boston. s6 The action was designed to facilitate day-to-day contacts with the

universities and corporations in the New England area. The Office was to serve

NASA centers in the conduct of their business with area firms and to maintain

technical and administrative liaisons with NASA contractors and grant recipients.

It was not large, numbering t0 by the end of 1962 and 29 by the end of 1963.

Electronics Resenrch Center Prol_osed. In the budget guidelines of March 2,

1962, NASA's Associate Administrator directed the Office of Advanced Research

and Technology to prepare, for inclusion in the fiscal year 1964 budget, a plan

to strengthen NASA's electronic capability. _T NASA's concern for its electronic

capability stemmed from the fact that on the order of 70 percent of the cost of

spacecraft is for electronic components. Furthermore, electronics was proving

the key to mission reliability and success. NASA had not "inherited" competence in electronics to the extent it had inherited competence in other scientific

and technical areas, s8

" John D. Young in his comments to the NASA Historical Olfice dated Jan. 1, 1965, makes

the point that LOC was not a fully integrated center and that two separate launching organizatiom existed within it, each of which was somewhat single purposed.

"NASA News Release No. 63-11, Jan. 22, 1963.

"NASA News Release No. 62-155, July 3, 1962.

"NASA Electronics Research Center, Staff Report," Jan. 1963, p. 6.

"Letter, Webb to Miller, Chairman of House Astronautics Committee, Mar. 21, 1963. (Reproduced in House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 3012-3015.)
_Pm GROWm/O.C,_'.Z*TION_ _JUSTMZ_'rs 253

As a result of the A_ociate Administrator's directive, the Electronics and

Control Directorate of the Office of Advanced Research and Technology conducted

a study. The result was a recommendation for an Electronics Research Center,

eventually costing $50 million to construct and employing 2,000 persons. _ The

fiscal year 1964 budget, submitted to Congress in January 1963, included $.5

million to begin the Center. NASA also stated that Boston had been selected

as the tentative location for the Center became of the abundant university and

industrial dectronic resources there.

It turned out that NASA might have used different tactics in seeking congremional approval for the Center. Members of the House Astronautics Committee questioned both the need for the Center and its proposed location, m

NASA was somewhat vulnerable to criticism because it had not used a formal

site selection procedure, probably because it felt the selection of the Boston area

had overwhelming merit. NASA was accused of selecting Boston for political

reasom, and in view of the limited documentation on why other sites were rejected

the charge was difficult tO refute, sx The upshot was that Congress required

NASA to rejustify the need for the Center and, in addition, to submit a de_

analysis of potential locations. If Congress was satisfied with the results of

effort, it would release the money to get the Center started, a2 (It eventually did. )

Contract Administration O0_ce Eaablisk_ at Downey, Calif. In May

1962, NASA established an on-site management unit at the Downey plant of

North American Aviation. u The Downey plant was unique in that two of

NASA's largest contracts were centered there. One was for the Apdlo spacecraft and was under the jurisdiction of the Manned Spacecraft Center. The

other was for the second stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle and was under

the jurisdiction of the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Downey office was

an extension of NASA's Western Operatiom Office, but also included project

representatives from the two centers. The reason for its establishment was the

need for a "single NASA face" on matters transcending individual projects. _

NASA usually relied on representatives of the military services to conduct

certain types of on-site activities when contracts with both NASA and DOD

""NASA Electronics Retmrch Center, Staff Report," Jan. 1963.

"See ditoamiom on pp. 2956-2964 and 3011-3018 of Home Hearingt, 1964 NASA

= In the selection of Hom_a for the Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA used a formal s/_e

procedure which may or may not have been the deeding factor in the dec_on, but at

least it sat_.d some of the crit/cL In the case of the Electronics Center, NASA was acctmed

of help/ng Senator Ted Kennedy do more for Massachusetts, something Kennedy had claimed

he could do in his 1962 campaign.

"See NASA Fiscal Year 1964 Authorization Act, Public Law 88-113, Sept. 6, 1963. See

also NASA News Release 63-233, Oct. 21, 1963.

"NASA News Release 62-115, May 11, 1962. See also General Mmmgement Imtruction 2-2-16.1, May 1I, 1962. Subject: Establishment and Functions of the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration Office---Downey.

"Memo, Walter Hahn to Albert Siepert et al., Mar. I, 1962. Subject: NASA Representative at North Ameri_ey.
254 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORYOFNASA,1958--1963

existed. In the case of the Downey plant, however, NASA activity greatly

exceeded that of DOD. The on-site NASA representatives were involved in

such things as postaward contract administration, cost analysis, subcontract review, in-plant inspection, etc. Over 100 NASA personnd were involved.

In 1963 a similar but smaller office was established at a General Electric

office in Daytona Beach, Fla. _ Initially, it was an integral part of NASA's

Office of Manned Space Flight; later it was transferred to the Launch Operations

Center.

The Organization o_ NASA's Nuclear Activities. NASA's nuclear activities

were primarily joint activities with AEC. As a result, a rather complicated

organizationai structure was used. in i 960 a joint AEC--NASA Nuclear Propulsion Office was established, headed by a NASA official and housed at AEC

Headquarters. se An AEC--NASA agreement in early 1961 clarified the contracting powers of the joint office and established a pattern for field extensions. *_ At

least one field extension was to be under NASA cognizance at NASA facilities in

Clevdand, Ohio, and another, under AEC cognizance, at AEC facilities in

Albuquerque, N. Mex.

The acceleration of NASA's program in 1961 included the acceleration of

the nuclear rocket program. The need arose to more clearly spell out how the

joint program was to operate, lest it suffer from its uncertain interagency status.

In July 1961 a more comprehensive AEC-NASA agreement was entered into.**

The joint office was renamed the "Space Nuclear Propulsion Office" (SNPO)

of AEC-NASA. The Albuquerque extension (SNPO-A) was to maintain

liaison with AEC's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and the Cleveland extension

(SNPO-C) with NASA's Lewis-Research Center. Considerable authority was

delegated to the Manager of SNPO to carry out the Rover nuclear rocket project.

In October 1961, NASA announced that the Cleveland extension (SNPO-C) had

been activated, s°

Most of the developmental work on the nuclear rocket was being done under

contract. As technical development progressed, the need arose to test what had

been developed. In February 1962, NASA announced the establishment of the

Nuclear Rocket Development Station at AEC's Nevada Test Site. `° The need

for such a facility had been recognized for some time and a facility architectural

"NASA Circular 267A, June 23, 1963. Subject: Establishment of a NASA Manager,

Daytona Beach Operation (LOC), Daytona Beach, Fla.

a*See Ch. 5, See. I.B.

**"Agreement Between NASA and AEC on Management of Nuclear Rocket Engine Contracts," signed by Seamans of NASA and Alvin Luedecke, General Manager of AEC, Feb. 1, 1961.

"Inter-agency Agreement on the Program for the Development of Space Nuclear Rocket

Propulsion (Project Rover)," _,ned by Seamans and Luedecke, July 28, 1961.

NASA Announcement No. 384, Oct. 23, 1961. Subject: Activation of the Joint AEC,--

NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion Office---Cleveland. It should be noted that Lewis was engaged

in its own advanced nuclear propulsion studies. The Plum Brook Station, located about 40 miles

west of Lewis' main area, had a nuclear reactor which went to full power in April 1963.

,e NASA News Release 62-37, Feb. 19, 1962.
GROWTH/OR_TXO_AL aF_DJUSTMX_rS 255

and engineering study contract had been let in late 1960? 1 Since existing Nevada

Test Site facilities were being fully used, some consideration was given to locating

the rocket development facility elsewhere, but the February announcement confirmed the Nevada location. In June 1962, a SNPO extension (SNPO-N) was

established in Las Vegas, Nev., to manage the Nuclear Rocket Development

Station.'Z The Nevada extension was activated in October.'*

By the end of 1963, NASA personnel numbered 13 at SNPO Headquarters,

59 at SNPO Cleveland, and 30 at SNPO Nevada.

The Manager of SNPO (Harold Finger) was also Director of Nuclear

Systems in NASA's Office of Advanced Research and Technology. In

capacity he gave program direction to activities related to NASA's in-house nuclear progrmn. He was in a good position to assure that NASA activities and

SNPO activities were coordinated."

MisceUaneom D_e/o0nm_. During 1962, three significant projects were

transferred from the Ma.,,sha]l Center to the Lewis Center. One was Dr. Ernst

Stuhlinger's electric propulsion program; the second was the very important

Centaur hunch vehicle devdopment project; the third was the Agena launch

vehicle program. The effect was to make Marshall a more single-purpese center

(Saturn vehicles) and Lewis even more of a multipurpose center. _

a. NmdWart.n CheaS_

During the period between the November 1, 1961, reorganization and the

November 1, 1963, reorganization, two significant changes and several minor

ones were made in NASA's Headquarters organization. Both major changes

centered around the Office of the Associate Administrator.

Director of Maned Space Flight Namal Deputy Asmdat, Admlnlstrator. The Office of the Associate Administrator, following the November 1,

1961, reorganization, consisted of the Associate Administrator (Seamans), a

Deputy Associate Administrator (Dixon), and a staff assistant (Romatowski).

This Office had jurisdiction over one gaff offu:e (Programs); one staff-service

office (Administration) ; one agencywide support office (Tracking and Data Acquisition); four program offices (Advanced Research and Technology, Space

Sdences, Applications, Manned Space Flight) ; and nine field centers (Langley,

Ames, Lewis, Flight, Goddard, Wallops, Marshall, Manned Spacecraft, and JPL).

This gave Seamans a span of control of 16. Dixon was to assist in the overall

direction of the centers and in the overall direction of sub-Saturn launch vehicles,

the area of his special technical competence.

,zJoint KEC--NASA RelemeNo. 60-319, Dec. 19, 1960.

aNASA Announcement No. 513, June .5, 1962. Subject: Bob P. Helgeson Appointed

Chief, Space Nuclear Propulsion Ol_ce---Nevada Extension.

"_NASA News Release No. 62-215, Oct. 12, 1962.

For an overall diagram of the nuclear rocket programorganization, see Senate Hearings,

NASA Authorization for FiscalYear 1964, p. 653.

aNASA News Releases Nos. 61-255, Nov. 11, 1961; 61-209, Sept. 29, 1962; 62-261,

Dec. 12, 1962.

215-892 O--66-18
256 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

The bottleneck, which on the face of it would seem inevitable, was to be

avoided by developing intra-agency relationships which did not follow traditional

hierarchical lines but rather crisscrossed the agency in a latticerike fashion26

An early indication (March 1962) that this may not have been working

out as planned was the decision to put the newly established Launch Operations

Center directly under the Director of Manned Space Fright instead of under the

Associate Administrator. _7

A clearer indication that it was not working out was the action taken on

October 30, 1962, when a new Deputy Associate Administrator position was

established28 The new _position was named "Deputy Associate Administrator for

Manned Space Flight Centers," and had jurisdiction over the Marshall Space

Flight Center, the Manned Spacecraft Center, and the Launch Operations Center.

Dixon, the existing Deputy Associate Administrator, was given a somewhat more

limited jurisdiction over NASA's other seven centers and he was later given the

unwieldy title of "Deputy Associate Administrator for Other Than Manned Space

Flight Centers." _9

Most significant of all was that the person named to the new position was D.

Brainerd Holmes, the Director of Manned Space Flight in NASA Headquarters,

a position he continued to fill. By giving Holmes two hats, and giving Dixon a

certain amount of responsibility for specific centers, NASA was able to drastically

modify the November 1961 organization by a move that appeared to be only an

adjustment. In one action, Seamans' span of control was reduced from 16 to 8. s°

At the same time, Holmes was given both "institutional" and "program" management authority over the key field centers involved in the manned lunar landing

program, and thus could balance positions and facilities (resources) with program

requirements (needs).

An interesting facet in this episode was provided by the change in the relationship of the Launch Operations Center to Headquarters. Prior to October 30, the

Center reported to the Director of Manned Space Flight (Holmes). After

October 30 it reported to the Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space

Flight Centers (Holmes), and thus was on a par with all other NASA Centers.

The NASA October announcement on the new position called the action

"a move aimed at adapting NASA's management structure to the agency's rapid

growth . . ." and "another step in the evolution of NASA's emerging organiza-

"* See Ch. 7, Sec. V.A.

" See See. Ill.h above.

"NASA News Release No. 62-233, Oct. 30, 1962.

"*This new arrangement was very similar to one of the alternatives rejected by top management the year before. See Ch. 7, Sec. V.A.

'*Dixon resigned as of Mar. 1, 1963, and his succe,_or, Earl Hilburn, did not report until

July 12, 1963. This meant that Seamans' respite was not continuous. Actually Dixon's control

over the centers under him was nominal compared to that of Holmes, partly due to the fact that

Dixon never had the staff resources that Holmes had, and even Holrn.es did not build up a staff

that was adequate for the job. (See comments by Jay HoLmes, submitted to NASA Historical

O_ice in December 1964. Also letter, Siepert to Rosholt, Dec. 24, 1964.)
_,Pm G_ow'rK/OR_TIONAL ¢F.AVJUSTMESTS 257

tion." This was putting it a bit euphemistically, as it was probably more an

attempt to repair an untenable managerial arrangement _x

Detmty Assoda_ Admbti_ator for Defem_ Afairs APtmbttat. Action

concerning a third Deputy Associate Administrator's post was revealed in November when NASA announced that Vice Adm.. Walter Boone (USN, retired) had

been named to _ the newly created position of Deputy Associate Administrator

for Defense Affai_." The O_ce of Defemse .Affairs was established to improve

and strengthen the overall working relationships between NASA and DOD, to

expedite the flow of information beOveen the two agencies, and to promote

coordination on matters of mutual interest. It was to be the focal point for

all major defense-related matters within NASA and thus had to work with just

about every major office in NASA.

In dealing with DOD and the military services, the Deputy Associate

Administrator for Defense Affairs could speak (within established policy) for

the entire agency. He served as the alternate to the NASA Cochairman of the

Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board. The office which he headed

provided the NASA secretariat for the Board and consequently the focal point

for all NASA matters relating to the Board."

Deputy Assoda_ Administrator for Industry Affairs A_. A fourth

Deputy Associate Administratorship was established in March 1963. _ This

action was not as much of a firefighting action as were the changes made the

previous October. It was more evolutionary and stemmed from the everincreasing contacts (and contracts) that NASA had with U.S. industry. The

action was designed to bring relationships with industry right into the outer

office of NASA's general manager (the .Associate Administrator )._ Contracting

problems were brought to a higher managerial level which facilitated an agencywide attack on them.

Appointed to the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Industry

Affairs was Walter Lingle, a former Procter & Gamble executive who had joined

NASA in June 1962, and had served, successively, as a special assistant to Webb,

acting Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, and Assistant Administrator

for Management Development.

The most significant aspect of the new position was that NASA's Procurement Division was put directly under it. Thus instead of being one of several

divisions in the Office of Administration, the Procurement Division became

the all-important division under a Deputy Associate Administrator. (The

a At least this is the comemus of several NASA olFaciah interviewed.

"NASA News Release No. 62-249, Nov. 21, 1962.

_"Based on comments from the Office of Defense Affairs to the NASA Historical Office, Aug.

17, 1964. It should alto be noted that the establishment of the Office of Defense Affairs was

related in the change of AACB cochairmanshlp from Dryden to Seamans.

NASA News Release No. 63-44, Mar. 4, 1963.

For Webb's comments, see House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, p. 24; for Siepert's

statement, see p. 433; for Seamam' statement, see Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal

Year 1964, p. 212.
258 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Headquarters Procurement Operations Branch remained in the Office of

Administration. )

The feasibility of this move was anticipated 2 Y2 years earlier by John Young,

then of McKinsey & Co., in his 1960 study of NASA contracting, s_ In 1963,

NASA's contracting problems were infinitely more complex than they had been

earlier, especially in view of the fact that the hardware development contracts

for the manned lunar landing were just beginning to hit their stride.

In addition to the Procurement Division, the Deputy Associate Administrator for Industry Affairs was given jurisdiction over the Western Operations

Office (WOO) and the Northeastern Operations Office (NEO), NASA's two

contract administration and industry liaison offices, in August i963, NASA

established an Office of Construction and made it part of the Office of Industry

Affairs. This action was an outgrowth of 1 _ years of study prompted by Mr.

Webb's concern for the way NASA's mammoth construction program could be

protected from irregularities, inefficiencies, and the like. A program of systematic evaluation and review of NASA's construction activities was undertaken, s7

Other Headquarters Changes. In January 1962, a provision of the November 1, 1961, reorganization was implemented when the Office of Public

Affairs was established. Under it were grouped three units---the Office of Public Service and Information (formerly directly under the Administrator), the

Office of Educational Programs and Services, and the Office of Scientific and

Technical Information (which two offices had been formerly combined in the

Office of Technical Information and Educational Programs directly under the

Associate Administrator. 8s The Office of Public Affairs was put directly under

the Administrator).

An activity which NASA widely publicized in 1962 and 1963 and which

fostered several minor organizational readjustments was the application of new

knowledge and techniques, resulting from NASA's R&D activity, to the economic

world outside of NASA. Various terms were used to describe this activity--

technical "spinoff," technical "fallout," industrial applications, technology utilization, and so forth. The fact -that all sectors of the economy (not just the aerospace industry) stood to gain from NASA's pioneering R&D work was thought

of by NASA as a further justification for its multibillion-dollar budget.

Although there is no act process by which this "spinoff" takes place, NASA

felt that it could increase the spinoff pace by singling it out as an area of special

concern and giving it organizational recognition, s'

u The idea had appeared only in a draft of the procurement study. However, Young

transferred to NASA and in early 1963 was Deputy Director for Administration. See Ch. 5,

Sec. III.B.

For a more complete account, see the Annual Report of the Office of Construction, June

30, 1964.

" NASA General Management Instruction 2-I-6, Jan. 24, 1962. Subject: Functions and

AuthoritymAsslstant Administrator for Public Affairs.

"In his January 1963 Economic Report to the Congress, Preslc]ent Kennedy stated that

"spinoff" was not automatic, that it had to be fostered, and that his administration would foster

it. See International Science and Technology, Mar. 1963.
P_Pm OnOWTH/OaO,_nZATt_NAL _IUSTMZNTS 259

The Office of Applications established by the November 1961 reorganization

included a small unit called "Industrial Applications." In August 1962, an

Industrial Applications Advisory Committee was established, e° The objective

was to work out a system that would place newly discovered knowledge and

techniques into the ti_ds of potential users at the earliest possible time.

In March 1963, the Industrial Applications Division of the Office of Applications was transferred to the Office of Public Affairs and was renamed "Technology Utilization Division." (In a nomenclature travesty, NASA renamed the

Office of Public Affairs the "Office of Technology U_tion and Policy Planning.") sl This was considered a better home for the function as it could be tied

in with NASA's sdentilic and technical information program. The Technology

Utilization Division was given overall cognizance of NASA's $2 to $3 million

technology utilization program. _

The many changes made within the Headquarters program offices involve

detail beyond the scope of this study. Many changes were made within the

Office of Manned Space Flight and were important in the management of NASA's

hrgest program ar_

IV. ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENTS, 1962-63

The 2-year period following the November 1961 reorganization was a

dynamic one. Routine operations constituted a heavy and ever-increasing workload. At the same time NASA constantly had to grapple with new and complex

situations not faced before. Administrative procedures were under continuous

strain.

The 1961 reorganization, in placing maximum control at the center, implied

that NASA's program was a "whole entity" and that the entire agency should

work together to achieve a common set of objectives. The manned lunar landing

was a NASA objective, not just the objective of the Office of Manned Space Flight.

All NASA field installations were to contribute to its accomplishment, not just the

centers labeled as manned space flight centers. Agencywide functions such as

finance, personnd, and procurement were to be performed for the benefit of the

entire NASA program, not just one segment of it.

NASA's general management strove to get the entire agency moving forward

in step. The tendency to get out of step was great Keep'mg the manned space

flight program in step proved to be a difficult task in itself. Problems of administrative operations and agency coordination are covered in this section.

mNASA News Release No. 62-179, Aug. 7, 1962.

= NASA General Management Imtruction 2-1-6, Apr. 26, 1963. Subject: Functiom and

Authorlty--As_istantAdministratorforTechnology Utilization and Policy Planning.

a Involved in the programwere innovation identification, innovation evaluation, and informarion dissemination. Several contractors were hired to assist in the program. See House

Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 3445-3449.
260 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

A. Finance

Money was without a doubt the basic common denominator which touched

upon all phases of NASA's activity. Whether NASA hired in-house personnel

or contracted for goods and services to be produced out-of-house, money was

always involved.

The source of the money was Congress; the ultimate destination was primarily

U.S. business. The in-between flow was complex and many flow channels and

control gates existed. The flow was rapid and spillage was inevitable.

Sources o/Funds. For fiscal year 1963, Congress appropriated almost $3.7

biiiion, 97 percent of what was asked for. For fiscal year 1964, the appropriation

totaled $5.1 billion, 89 percent of what was asked for. Both appropriations

represented sizable increases over the previous year. Both were passed well into

the fiscal year to which they applied, especially fiscal year 1964. 68

Flow ot Funds. No significant developments took place during the 1962-63

period concerning procedures related to the flow of funds through NASA. After

funds were apportioned to NASA by the Bureau of the Budget, they were systematically doled out to the various NASA installations and programs. The manned

space-flight program consumed two-thirds of NASA's total appropriation, and

the Marshall and Manned Spacecraft Centers spent about half of the NASA total.

Substantive control over spending was maintained by the Associate Administrator and his Office of Programs (primarily through the allotment process).e,

The Office of Administration (Financial Management Division) took care of the

detailed accounting and was responsible for detecting all deviations from what

had been officially approved. The Office of Administration (Audit Division)

performed the postaudit function.

Money was always a scarce resource around NASA in spite of NASA's

sizable appropriation. The program people could always find ways to spend it.

Departures from the original spending plan, the budget, were often necessitated

by fast-changing events. As a result, the reprograming of funds was frequently

required.

NASA's reprograming actions had to be done within a framework established

by Congress. For example, the Authorization and Appropriation Acts for fiscal

year 1963 contained these limitations: _5 ( 1 ) Maximum transfer of funds between

NASA's two lump-sum appropriations---Research, Development, and Operations

(RD&O) and Construction of Facilities (CoF)--was limited to 5 percent; (2)

NASA could use up to three-fifths of the 5 percent transferable from RD&O to

CoF for "new" projects not part of the original CoF authorization; (3) NASA

could reprogram $30 million of its CoF appropriation for "new" construction

projects; (4) CoF funds were authorized on a "per location" basis (15 in all in

*' Congressional action on NASA's fiscal year 1963 and fiscal year 1964 budgets is covered in

detail in Ch. 9. -,

'*Ch. 7, Sec. VI.A.

"See Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Ysar 1964, pp. 1094-1109. See also

"Summary of Reports to the Congress . . .," NASA Office of Legislative Aifairs, Jan. 25, 1963.
_m OROWTH/OaOAmZATIONALmZADJUSTMSNTS 261

fiscal year 1963) and "per location" spending could vary only 5 percent from

the figure authorized per location, as long as such variation would not result in

total CoF spending exceeding the total authorized; (5) the use of RD&O funds

for constructing contractor and university facilities and the use of CoF funds for

minor repairs was pemfissible, but only under certain conditions; (6) the standard

requirement that NASA had to fulfill in exercising the second, third, and fifth

provisions was notifying the House Astronautics and Senate Space Committees

of tim actions taken.

Within the RD&O appropriation, no limitation was placed on the re.allocation of funds among programs (i.e_, reprograming), although there was a

gentlemen's agreement between NASA and the Space Committee that NASA

would not use reprogramed funds to carry out programs or projeos specilically

deletedfrom NASA's budget by the Committees._

All in all, NASA's spending freedom was quite great. During feral year

1963, NASA took almost the maximum possible action within the limitatiom

outlined alive_" In addition, it reprogramcd withinits RD&O appropriation

extem/vely. If the fiscal year 1963 budget is compared with the fiscal year 1963

column in the fiscal year 1964 budge.t, the following major reprograming actions

are revealed: =

Clumgos

(millions of dollar:)

Manned qmee-flisht progr_,_,, --125

Project C,_i,_ , +4S

z,.,iect Apoao ........ --144

Saturn vehicle dew.loping* +76

Nova vehicle develop_ _-t . --155

Other +57

Spare- sciemce progrmnt +46

OGO, OSO, OAO. --25

+37

Surveyor --34

Mars Lander_ _ --54

Man fly_, +29

Centaur vehicle developmmst -t-33

University prospero .,. +21

Other +39

Advanced research and technolo_r __ +IS

Aeronautics -{-lS

RIFT --14

Other q- 14

"See Senat_ Heaxings, NA$A Authorization for Fiscal Year I964, p. 1092.

_lbid., p. 1098.

m Data based on information found in Senate Hearings, NASA Authorization for Fiscal Year

1964, pp. 1058, 1071, and in House Hearings, I964 NASA Authorization, pp. 608, 1704, 2434.
262 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Changes

(Millions o/ dollars)

Applications programs ....................................... -- 19

Meteorological satellites ............................... + 13

Communications satellites ............. --35

Other +3

Tracking and data acquisition programs ....... -4-15

Network equipment-.................................. -f-11

Other +4

and sizable administrative job. Most of the reprograming actions were handled

by the Headquarters program offices. For certain larger ones, the A_ociate Administrator and the Office of Programs became involved, e*

Destination o] Funds. During fiscal year 1963, NASA spent about 12

percent of its funds for in-house activities (termed "administrative operations")

and 88 percent on out-of-house activities (R&D and CoF). Over half of the

12 percent was used to pay the salaries and personal benefits of NASA's 28,000

employees. The rest went for such things as travel, transportation, communicatiom, utilities, supplies, equipment, miscellaneous services, etc. The 12 percent

was spent at NASA field centers in roughly the following pattern: Marshall, 26

percent; Lewis, Goddard, Langley, Headquarters, and Manned Spacecraft, about

12 percent each; with eight other installations accounting for 15 percent, r°

The 88 percent spent out-of-house was distributed initially as follows: private

business, 70 percent; Government agencies (primarily Army and Air Force),

20 percent; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 7 percent; and educational and nonprofit institutions, 3 percent. Ninety percent of the amount going initially to

Government agencies went ultimately to private business, as did over 75 percent

of the funds going to JPL. Thus the ultimate destination of NASA's R&D and

CoF dollar was: private business, 93 percent; JPL, 2 percent; Government agencies, 2 percent; and educational and nonprofit institutions, 3 percent. 'x

Auditing. Auditing is a somewhat specialized function, crucial to an

agency's long-term well-being. In NASA it has consisted of the detailed and

independent review, analysis, and evaluation of the Agency's operations, with

special emphasis on the effectiveness of administrative activities and their compliance with policies and procedures.T=

NASA auditing has been done by two separate groups working in close

liaison with one another. One group is the Audit Division of NASA Headquarters which has been responsible for all in-house auditing and has had cogm See ch. 7, sec. VI.A.

_ BaJed on data on p. 771 of the appendix to the U.S. Budget for Fiscal Year 1965.

Baaed on NASA, Annual Procurement Report for Fiscal ]'ear 1963, p. 5.

n NASA Genera] Management InstruCtion 2-1-9.8, Jan. 17, 1962.- Subject: Function and

AuthoritymAudit Division.
RAPIDGROWTH/ORGANIZATIONALREADJUSTMENTS 263

nizance over NASA auditing in general. The other group is the audit agencies

of the three military, service_ Early in NASA's history, the policy decision was

made to have NASA utilize DOD audit ._rvices whenever feasible. TM This was

an extension of the existing pattern whereby the three military .services utilized

each others' audit ser_ces. The result has been a "single government face" in the

auditing of most Government contracts. As a result, most of the auditing of

NASA contracts has been done by the Air Force, Navy, and Army audit agencies.

NASA's Audit Division dates from late 1958 when the decision was made to

establish it as a separate division in the Office of Business Administration. 7" The

Office of Business Administration was one of several offices reporting to the Associate Administrator. Placing the Audit Division so far down in the organization's

hierarchy might have compromised its independence--something crucial to an

effective auditing operation. Independence has been maintained, however, by

procedural safeguards and the delegation of a considerable amount of discretionary

authority to the Division's Director. _s

The Division has established its own regional offices. The NASA field

centers have been precluded from establishing their own counterpart audit traits. TM

In late 1963, 75 percent of the Division's personnel were attached to regional

offices located and functioning at all major NASA installations except the Ames

and Langley. Research Centers. _

A good picture of the nature and scope of the Division's work can be obtained

by analyzing the allocation of effort among major audit activities. TM For example,

during the period from July 1, 1963, through March 31, 1964, about 29 percent

of the effort of the Division's staff was devoted to procurement-related activities.

This 29 percent embraced NASA-DOD audit liaison (8 percent), the audit of inhouse procurement operations (4 percent) and the direct audit of NASA contracts (17 percent). DOD audit agencies did almost all auditing of NASA cow

tracts. The exceptions were NASA's Michoud operations and several somewhat

unique contracts where top management deemed NASA auditing necessary. TM

The remaining 71 percent of the Division's staff effort was broken down

approximately as follows: GAO liaison, 5 percent; special assignment and assist

audits, 4 percent; audit of in-house operations related to construction, 3 percent;

audit of in-house financial management operations and other operations, 16 percent; management supervision, 8 percent; secretarial and clerical, 20 percent; and

leave, u'aining, and travel,15 percent.

This allocation of effort was based on NASA's particular needs for a particuha" period. Since these needs changed from period to period, the work assign-

= Ck 4, See. III.B.

,4 Ch. 3, Sec. II.C.

= Interviews with Walter Shupe, June II, 1964, and Raymond Einhorn, June 15, 1964.

=NASA General Manasement Instruction 2-I--8.8, Jan. 17, 1962, op. cir.

= Interview with Raymond Einhorn, June 15, 1964.

= Data supplied by NASA Audit Division.

Interview with Raymond FAnhorn, June 15, 1964.
264 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

ments of the Division's professional auditors have varied accordingly, s°

GAO liaison activity has always received high priority. '1

The

B. Personnel

NASA's dramatic growth in numbers of employees has already been depicted.

Personnel administration takes on added dimensions under such conditions. The

press of day-to-day recruitment, examination, and placement activities often took

priority over long-range "tidying up" activities. The latter could not be ignored,

however, especially with the Civil Service Commission _owing an increased inter-

__ ._ ,,,A ,, • ,_ I a_airs _._t ut _cxoct _ p_rsuliuc

Reendtment. On November 3, 1961, NASA announced the startof a

nationwide drive to recruit 2,000 scientists and engineers, s" The effort was an

agencywide one and a team approach was used. During late 1961 and early 1962,

15-member recruiting teams visited all major U.S. cities, interviewing prospective

employees, many of whom were initially informed of NASA openings by extensive

advertising and other public relations activity. Teams were composed of both

aerospace professionals and personnel specialists. By the time the "Major City"

phase of the drive was completed in March 1962, over 14,000 contacts had been

made and over 5,000 interviews conducted. Thirty-one prime cities and over 150

satellite and supporting cities were visited. _

By the end of fiscal year 1962 (June 30, 1962), NASA had hired almost

3,000 scientists and engineers. Total recruiting costs for the year were estimated

to be $1,222,000, or about $420 per hire. s* The major-city drive accounted for

about one-third of the total cost, but probably a smaller percentage of new hires.

Experience gained in the fiscal year 1962 recruiting drive was utilized in

conducting an even more successful recruiting effort during fiscal year 1963. The

approach was modified somewhat, however. The major-city drive was scaled

down with only half as many cities visited and less advertising used. The advertising used was less general and better designed to attract only the persons who could

meet NASA's relatively stringent requirements. Greater use was made of NASA's

employment offices in New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles. The result of

NASA's overall requirement efforts during fiscal year 1963 was the hiring of

over 3,500 scientists and engineers, s5

Fiscal year 1963 recruitment was facilitated by the pay increases which were

D Interview with Walter Shupe, June 11, 1964.

m Ibid.

NASA News Release No. 61-244, Nov. 3, 1961.

= "Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for Quarter ending March 31, 1962" (dated

Apr. 20, 1962), pp. 7-8.

_' See Siepert testimony,House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, p. 2955.

m Information supplied by John Duggan, NASA Personnel Division, Mar. 24, 1964. (The

change in emphasis occurred after the drive had begun. See NASA Headquarters Personnel

Bulletin, HPB 3-62, Nov. 2, 1962.) "
RAPID O_OWTH/OROmq_.AXtO_m. aZAUJUSTMZ_rrs 265

part of the Salary Reform Act of 1962. _ NASA also got a lot of "free" publicity

as a result of the widespread coverage given its activities.

In nontechnical areas, NASA usually received large numbers of job applications without having to do any recruiting. NASA was a glamour agency, and

being new, its grade structure was quite flexible. As a growing agency, opportuni.

ties for promotion were good.

NASA faced its toughest recruitment problem in trying to locate top managem The disparity between public and private salary schedules almost precluded NASA from attracting experienced managers from private industry.

NASA contracted for "executive search services" in late 1962, but the effort proved

abortive.'*

C_s of Newly Hiral Sdmti_ and En_uers. Quantitatively,

NASA met its recruitment goals during fiscal year 1962. Qualitatively, the

results appear to have been satisfactory also. The results of NASA's recruiting

efforts were analyzed in a special study based on questionnaires completed by

93 percent of the 3,710 scientists and engineers hired between July 1, 1961, and

September 30, 1962. u The study revealed the following:

Residence before joining NASA: 65 percent of the 3,448 completing the

questionnaire were from the 8 states in which NASA installations were located:

Alabama, 15 percent; Ohio, 9 percent; V'mginia, 9 percent; California, 8 percent;

Maryland, 7 percent; District of Columbia, 7 percent; Texas, 6 percent; and

Florida, 3 percent. These were the top eight states. (Pennsylvania and New

York were tied for 9th and 10tlL) It should be pointed out that most of the

new scientists and engineers went to work for the Marshall Center in Alabama,

the Lewis Center in Ohio, the Manned Spacecraft Center in Texas, the Goddard

Center in Maryland (near Washington, D.C. ), and the Langley Center in V'trginia.

Reason for interest in NASA: 27 percent stated that a friend had first

prompted interest in NASA as an employer. Other personal contacts (family,

teacher, etc. ) accounted for 6 percent. NASA recruiters accounted for 12 percent,

NASA advertising for 10 percent, recruitment brochures for 4 percent, and college

placement offices for 6 percent_a total of 32 percent for what might be termed

"organized recruiting efforts." News stories about NASA accounted for 12 percent and "other" sources accounted for the remaining 24 percent.

Where primarily employed (or studying): 40 percent had been employed

by the Federal Government (including 7 percent employed by NASA), 32 percent

by industry, and 22 percent had been students. College and university staffs

furnished less than 2 percent. Almost half of the industry recruits came from

NASA's principal contractors, several of which were experiencing work cutbacks.

A third of the students came from 17 schools, 9 of which had co-op training

agreements with NASA. Total schools represented numbered 203.

m Public Law 87-793, Oct. 11, 1962.

r. NASA Contracts NASw-526 and NASw-527, Sept. 24, 1962.

""AST and Engineering Recruiting Results (July 1, 1961-September 30, 1962)," prepared

by C. Guy Fergmon of the NASA Personnel Division.
266 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Education: In regard to the highest degree held, 3 percent were doctor's,

14 percent master's, and 80 percent bachelor's. This conformed very closely to

NASA's existing pattern as did the academic fields represented. Engineering

degrees accounted for 68 percent; the physical sciences, 18 percent; mathematics,

10 percent; and life sciences, 2 percent. Mechanical, electrical, and aeronautical

engineering accounted for 52 percent of the overall total. Of the total, 35 percent

claimed they had been in the fourth quartile of their undergraduate class, 40

percent in the third quartile, 11 percent in the second quartile, 2 percent in the

lowest quartile, and 12 percent gave no response. Thus at least 75 percent said

they were in the upper half of their classes.

Salaries: Of those coming to NASA from other jobs, 39 percent received

higher salaries, 12 percent lower, and 49 percent about the same. Of those

coming from industry, 37 percent received higher salaries, 24 percent lower. For

transferees from other Federal agencies, the figures were 37 percent higher salaries

and 2 percent lower, which meant that about 60 percent were lateral transfers.

Of the small number of teachers recruited, 80 percent received higher salaries

upon coming to NASA.

Unique Examination lot R_D Administrative Posi6o_. In 1960 the

Civil Service Commission approved a two-part Aero-Space Technology (AST)

examination for NASA to use. Part A covered the physical sciences, engineering,

and mathematics. Part B covered work in the life sciences and related fields.

NASA had asked for approval for a third part to cover certain types of administrative positions, but the Civil Service Commission deferred action on Part C

pending further study. 8_ Approval came in 1962, culminating an intricate,

difficult, and protracted project requiring much innovation and extensive

negotiation.

Part C of the Aero-Space Technology examination was "for work in Research

and Development Administration." 90 It was to be used to fill positions in NASA

onlybno other Federal agencies could use it. It applied only to GS--9 positions

and above. GS--5 and GS--7 positions were to be filled by means of the Federal

Service Entrance Examination (FSEE) and the Management Intern Examination

(MI).

R&D Administration was defined to cover five occupational fields: ( 1 ) Administration; (2) Procurement and Property Management; (3) Financial Management; (4) Personnel; (5) Information, Editing, and Library. Within each

occupational field were several specialties. The announcement declared that

"R&D administrative work involves detailed discussion, analysis, evaluation and

.qolution with scientists and engineers of administrative problems directly interwoven with aerospace research, development, design, and operations programs. ''91

The key to what made the examination unique was the education and experience requirement. All applicants had to have a bachelor's degree or equivalent,

n See Ch. 5, Sec. II.C.

m Announcement No. 952B, Pt. C, issued June 15, 1962.

m Ibid., p. 5.
x_vm GZO_rm/OaGA_ZArmNAL a_AulUSTMs_rrs 267

all had to have experience and/or graduate study (the amount depending on the

grade of the position sought), and all had to have---

Evidence of knowledge of the basic concepts, methods, and objectives of sc/ence or

eng/ne_/ng, and also (for grade GS-12 and above) evidence of understanding of

research and development organizations and their specialized problems, organizational

structures,functions, operations, and characteristic& 9=

Training in science and engineering and work experi_-ce in R&D organizatiom

were listed as acceptable means of meeting the "knowledge and understanding"

requirement.

The announcement was issued in June 1962. The rating procedure was

approved in the fall of 1962 and the training of examiners was begun in late

October. In December, rating the accumulated backlog of applications was

b gun.

Ratings were made by NASA specialists sitting as Boards of U.S. Civil Service

Examiners and were based on an evaluation ofthe applicant's training and experience. By the end of fiscal year 1963 (after almost a year of operation), 3,482

applicatiom had been processed and 1,233, or 35 percent, of the applicants were

found eligible and placed on registers. However, only 189 appointments were

made. R&D administrative positions embraced about 10 percent of the total

number of NASA positiom. Most of NASA incumbents at the time Part C went

into effect were "grandfathered" in. "s

NASA viewed Part C as an important innovation in its personnd managemerit program. It was called a "milestone" and an "advance in sdective examining and recruiting."" NASA pointed out that Part C was the "first Federal

examination for a broad range of administrative positions which recognizes the

dose interrelationships of administrative functions with the sul_zntive program

operations of C _ 9S a Federal agen y. NASA was happy with the "open-endedness"

of the examination; that is, specialties could be added without amending the

announcement, and training and experience requirements could be interpreted in

such a way as to enhance the examiner's discretion in determining eligibility.

Since the examination was for NASA's exclusive use and since NASA professionals

were the examiners, it is easy to see that NASA's hiring freedom was fairly great.

At the time of its approval, the Civil Service Commission viewed Part C as

an experiment. If it worked in NASA, the conceptmight possibly be tried on a

Federal-wide basis. _

Parts A, B, and C of the AeroSpace Technology examination, when taken

together, provided a means for NASA to fill almost all of what could be termed its

= Ibid., p. 9.

w Information supplied by NASA Personnel Division (Donald Holum). See also Headquarters Personnel Bulletin, HPB 4-62, Nov. 13, 1962, Item 1.

"Memo, Siepert to Directors of Headquarters Program and Staff Offices and NASA Centers

and Installations, Oct. 19, 1962. Subject: New Examination Announcement for R&D Administration Positiom: Part C of the AeroSpace Technology Announcement.

I* Ibid.

N Ibid.
268 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

"professional" positions. This, combined with the power of the Administrator

to make "excepted" appointments, gave NASA almost complete control over whom

it hired.

Excepted-Posltlon Development¢. In February 1963 Administrator Webb

asked the Bureau of the Budget for permission to submit proposed legislation to

Congress increasing the number of excepted positions from 425 (the October 1961

figure) to 750, anincrease of 76 percent. An alternative was to use GS-16, -17,

and -18 supergrades for which more liberal provisions had been made in the

Federal Employees Salary Act of 1962. NASA felt that problems would arise

in mixing the two types of pay systems and asked that its existing system be extended

In July 1963 the Bureau of the Budget informed NASA that the policy of the

Executive Office of the President was to work toward one systemmthe General

Schedule system--and that no further extensions of special pay systems would be

permitted.

Faced with no alternative, NASA issued instructions to program and center

directors to prepare justifications for appointments to GS-16 positions. In

October and November, some 200 cases were presented to the Givil Service

Commission for approval. About 165 were approved.

Although problems arose immediately, the really acute problems would not

come until a few years had passed and the junior-level men at GS-16 had advanced

into the upper levels of the salary structure, g'

The lns_ction ot NASA by the Civil Service Commission. During October and November 1962, the Civil Service Commission made its first comprehensive inspection of NASA. Although the complete findings were not made

public, a variety of sources suggest that numerous deficiencies existed--something

to be expected in a new, fast-growing agency, originally formed by combining

several groups with diverse backgrounds? 8

NASA was commended for giving personnel management a high place in

the agency's overall management and for its positive attitude on the necessity

for constant improvements in personnel management. Its imaginative recruiting, technical training programs, and new personnel program evaluation system

received favorable comment, as did the esprit de corps of NASA employees.

NASA's chief deficiencies stemmed from NASA not having paid enough

attention to matters essential to the long-term well-being of the agency. NASA

had processed a very large number of applications, but had not maintained adequate control over them nor processed all of them according to CSC regulations.

Deficiencies were readily noted in NASA's merit promotion system--something

Entire section based on information lupplied by Howard Braithwaite in memo to the

NASA Historical Office, Nov. 10, 1964.

"Chief "murce£' were: Interview, Robert Lacklen, Apr. 17, 1963; "Briefing Regarding

the Commission's Agency-wide Evaluation of Personnel Management in NASA," Apr. 12, 1963;

Headquarters Personnel Bulletins, late 1962.
RAPID GROWTH/ORGANIZATIONAL READJUSTMENTS 269

which in the long run could signiticantly lower employee morale. NASA's

incentive-award program was declared to be spotty.

Perhal_ NASA's greatest deficiencieslay in the area of position documentation and classification. Not only was the position da._ification system not being

fully kept up but the-system itself had deficiendes.

Many of NASA's deficiencies were attributed to the lack of dear-cut agencywide policies on particular personnel matter_ This meant that the Personnd

Division in NASA Headquarters would have to take the lead in clearing up the

deficiendes. It did so by stepping up the issuance of policy directives and by

moving ahead faster with its personnd management evaluation (i.e., field inspection) activities.t*

Perummd Maaqenmtt Eva/uaaon Syaem. Although the need for a

systematic review of field-center personnel management had been recognized for

some time, t°° NASA did not start developing the actual system until the middle

of 1962, just before the CSC inspection? °t The system, as it evolved, was based

on periodic evaluations or impections of NASA installations by personnel management program specialists from the Personnel Division at Headquarters. The

evaluation focused on how well the installation was complying with NASA and

CSC policy directives. The "Report on Evaluation of Personnel Management

Activities" was submitted to the installation's director and to the Civil Service

Commission, with information copies going to NASA's Director of Administration, the installation's director of administration, and director of personnel. The

report, when approved by NASA's Director of Personnel, became the basis for

seeking improvements in the field installation's program. By the end of fiscal

year 1964, evaluations were made or scheduled for all NASA installations.

Miscellaneous Persomu_l D_. In 1962, NASA began participating in the Federal Management Intern Program administered by the Civil Service

Commission. '°t Nine interns_were selected for NASA Headquarters and seven

each for the Lewis Research and Manned Spacecraft Centers. To participate

in the program, NASA had to establish a 12-month on-the-job training cycle

during which the selectively picked interns would rotate among job assignmen_

In November 1962, NASA conducted an Employee-Management Cooperation Seminar to acquaint interested NASA personnel with the Federal Government's new policy encouraging employee-management cooperation? a On the

program were such topics as "Negotiation," "Arbitration," "Conduct of Elections," etc. tet

m See Headquartezs Personnel Bulletin, HPB 5--62, Nov. 27, 1962, Item 1.

m See Ch. 5, See. II.C.

,,1 Interview, Walter Wilson, Apr. 17, 1963.

m NASA Announcement No. 558, July 16, 1962. Subject: Management Intern Program

Now Underway.

t_*Executive Order 10988, Jan. 17, 1962. See also Personnel Methods Series No. 15, August

1962, published by the Civil Service Commh_ion.

"*See agenda of the Nov. 7-9, 1962, seminar.
270 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORYOF NASA, 1958-1963

C. Procurement/Contracting

NASA continued to devote a great deal of attention to procurement policies

and procedures during the 1962-63 period. The growth in procurement activity

has already been described in this chapter, as has the "upgrading" of the procurement policy and procedure function by putting it directly under a Deputy Associate Administrator. l°s

St_clal Procurement Study. In April 1962, Webb established a study

group to conduct a 6-month special procurement study. 1°6 The Study Director

was Walter Sohier, NASA's Deputy General Council, and the Study Group Chairman •"ag_._ Ernst Brackett, the Director of NASA's Procurement Division. A

contractor, Harbfidge House, Inc., was hired to assist in the study, x°T The objectives of the study were: to analyze NASA's source evaluation procedures; to study

contract innovations (including incentive provisions) which would improve contractor performance; and to determine what performance data were most pertinent

in evaluating the competence of potential contractors, x°s

The study was prompted by the so-called Bell Report made public in April

1962, which in turn had been prompted by a letter of President Kennedy dated

July 31, 1961. The Kennedy letter asked BOB Director David Bell to "review

the effectiveness of this means [i.e., R&D contracts] of accomplishing the Government's purposes. ''a°9 Participating with Bell in the review were Webb of

NASA and the heads of DOD, AEC, CSC, and the Special Assistant to

the President for Science and Technology? _° The product was to be a set of

recommendations to guide future Executive action.

The Bell Report acknowledged the need for the Federal Government to

contract for research and development and did not recommend that problems

could be solved by cutting back on the amount of contracting. 1"1 Rather, the

solution lay in improving the existing system. Two approaches were recommended. One was to improve the in-house competence of the Government so

it would always be in "control" of the situation. Retaining competent in-house

personnd was viewed as the key to this, and thus salary reform turned out to

be the report's key recommendation. Secondly, the report recommended that

procurement machinery be improved by using incentive contracts, by devising

better methods of evaluating potential contractors, by devising means of assuring

quality contractor performance, etc. It was the second area with which NASA's

1962 Special Procurement Study was concerned.

See this chapter, Secs. I.C. and III.B.

_.i NASA Contract NASw-445, May 28, 1962.

_aNASA Circular No. 231, May 29, 1962. Subject: Special Procurement Study.

m Letter, Kennedy to Bell, July 31, 1961. (Reprinted on p. 25 of S. Doc. 94 cited below.)

m The Director of the National Science Foundation was added later.

m "Report to the President on Government Contracting for Research and Development,"

prepared by the Bureau of the Budget, Apr. 30, 1962. Issued as S. Doc. 94, 87th Cong., May

17, 1962 (Washington: GPO, 1962). *

L
s_-m GaOWTH/OROamZATmNaL RZaDJUSTUV._rrS 271

The Special Procurement Study was concluded in February 1963. The

overall accomplishments of the study were substantial. An analysis and evaluation of these accomplishments are beyond the scope of this study. The final

report of the Study Director (Sohier) can serve, however, as a means of identifying the most significant results of the study.. _ts

Sohier, in his final report, stated that the Study Group had disposed of

the incentive contracting topic early in the game. x" The Group had recommended that NASA increase its use of incentive provisions in its contracts but

to do so very cautiously. (The implementing circular provided that the Director

of NASA's Procurement Division had to give advance approval to all procurement in which incentive pmvisiom were contemplated.) NASA's caution, in

comparison with DOD, stemmed from the uniqueness of so many NASA procurements and the high degree of technical direction which NASA wanted to maintain

over its contracts. The Group felt that NASA's first step must be to improve

its ability to handle incentive contracting--something much more difficult than

ordinary contracting. Thus Harbridge House, Inc., was hired to conduct training

courses in incentive contracting for NASA procurement personnel, x" NASA

also experimented with a simplified incentive-type contract (called a cost-plusaward-fee contract) in which the contractor is rewarded for meeting certain

predetermined objectives on the basis of an after-the-fact evaluation rather than

on an elaborate before-the-fact formula, as in a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract."5

Concerning the problem of the evaluation of potential contractors (called

source evaluation), two produOs remlte(L One was a study of current and

prolmsed practices on the evaluation and selection of R&D contractors done for

NASA by Harbridge House, Inc? _6 The second product was a draft manual

on source evaluation prepared by NASA on the bas_s of the Harbridge House

study just mentioned and other efforts including extensive discussions with DOD

and people from private industry. "_ According to Sohier, neither the Harbridge

House study nor the draft manual advocated any dramatic changes in NASA's

source evaluation and source selection procedures. Rather they favored refinements, agencywide uniformity (within a framework of discretionary freedom of

local action), and slight changes in emphasis in existing policies and procedures, m

m Memo, Solder to Webb, Feb. 21, 1963. Subject: Conclmdon of Special Procurmnent

Study.

"Memo, Solder to Webb, July 20, 1962. Aim NASA Circular No. 242, effective Sept. 1,

1962. Subject: Use of Incenti_ ContractL

us NASA Contract NASw-590, Dec. 18, 1962. Harbridse House, Inc., prepared a "NASA

Incentive Contracting Guide," dated September 1962.

mp. 3 of 5older memo of Feb. 21, 1963, op. cir. See also the dilcuadon in Hotwe Hearing_

1964 NASA Authorizatlo_, pp. 3008-301 I.

xm'_Fhe Evaluation and Selection of Major R&D Sources," by Harbridge House, Inc., dated

Feb. 28, 1963.

1,, "NASA Guide to Source Evaluation and Selection," a draft guide dated Oct. 1, 1963.

m "Principal Conclusions Stemming From the Special Study of Source Evaluation and Selection Procedures." Included m "Tab C" in Solder's memo of Feb. 21, 1963, op. cir. NASA's

lack of uniformity was depicted by Gordon Tyler, Goddard's Procurement Officer, at NASA's

September 1962 procurement conference. See p. 13 of the Conference Summary.

215-892 O-66-19
272 ADMINISTRATIVE HI_TORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

The Study Group felt that NASA had to strike a realistic balance between selecting

a contractor on the basis of the proposal submitted, on the one hand, and on the

contractor's intrinsic competence, on the other. In comparison with past practice,

more emphasis on the latter was recommended. In fact, there was a great need

to bring "brochuremanship" under control so that individual firms would not

waste resources on the unnecessary preparation of proposals. 119

Concerning the third area of effort, the work of the Study Group was less

conclusive. It concerned the evaluation of contractor performance. Here NASA

combined its efforts with DOD which had a high-level study of the same topic

underway, a_° The DOD study culminated in a "DOD Guide to the Evaluation

of the Performance of Major Development Contractors." ---1 l'-ne Study Group

felt that NASA should adapt the DOD Manual to its own use. _z2 The DOD

system involved a series of evaluation reports on each contract, together with

the appointment of special groups to review the reports. NASA decided to

field-test the DOD system before attempting to prepare its own system. NASA's

objective was to devise a system that would evaluate a contractor's performance

both periodically and terminally. This performance evaluation would then become a significant part of the source selection process for subsequent contracts.

It is safe to predict that the Special Procurement Study will not be the last

ad hoc study of NASA's procurement policies and procedures. With 90 percent

of its money being spent by contract, NASA will have to continue to give diligent

attention to procurement matters.

Geographic Distribution of NASA Contracts. The geographic distribution of NASA contracts was a touchy political problem. Congressmen were

sensitive to the fact that most of NASA's procurement dollar was spent in a

handful of states. NASA's answer was that the competence of a contractor

rather than his location was the basis for awarding contracts. Also, the statistics

were based on prime contracts only; if subcontracts were taken into consideration,

a broader geographical pattern would emerge. To be able to back such a statemerit with evidence, NASA inaugurated, during 1962, a system for obtaining

information on subcontracts. A simple "postcard" system was adopted by which

NASA's 12 largest contractors would report on their first-tier subcontractors,

who in turn would report on second-tier subcontracts, l:s

u, NASA wanted to keep its procurement as competitive as possible. The Study Group

stressed the need for NASA to "harness" competition, not exploit it. Better definitions of work

to be done, the use of preliminary proposals, and the use of less detailed proposals (in terms of

technical content) were regarded as desirable.

_See pp. 6-7 of Sohier's memo of Feb. 21, 1963, op. eit. See also NASA News Release

No. 62-195, Sept. 13, 1962. In February 1962, NASA and DOD had held a "Procurement

Management Improvement Conference."

an Final version is dated July 26, 1963.

m "Summary of Main Elements of the Joint DOD-NASA System for Evaluating Contractor

Performance." Included as "Tab E" in Sohier's memo of Feb. 21, 1963, op. cir.

a"NASA Circular No. 243, Aug. lff, 1962. Subject: Geographic Distribution of NASA

Subcontracts.
GROWTH/OIOAND_TION_READJUSTMENTS 273

The results of the "postcard" system, even though only partial data were

received, dearly bore out NASA's contention. States like Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Iowa fared much better on mbcontracts than

on prime contracts (24 percent of reported subcontracts versus 6 percent for

all prime contracm) ?"

Cost Cmttrm[. Conu'd]ing cost was not an activity peculiar to the procuremerit function, per se, but since NASA spent most of its money by contract, the

procurement area was a natural place on which to focus attention.

NASA found that most of its projects cost more than originally estimated

and thus in spite of larger and larger appropriations the agency almost always

found itself in a fight financial condition. Acceleratious in costs quickly consumed any slack that may have been in the budget to start with. Increases in

the cost of a project were often due to NASA's decision to acquire more sophisticated hardware than originally contemplated and continued insistence on the

highest degree of reliability and quality control. Probably just as often, however,

costs increased because of cost overruns which frequently stemmed from such

causes as overoptimistic initial prognostication, inept management, inefficient

contractors' operations, inmi_cienfly comprehensive estimating techniques, and

the like. Under cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts, cost overruns were borne entirdy

by NASA.

The most complete compilation as to the scope and amount of cost overruns

was revealed in the 1963 hearings of the House Astronautics Committee on

NASA's fiscal year 1964 authorization bill (H.R. 5466). A few of the most

extreme examples of cost overruns were thee: the Orbiting Astronomical Obeervatory ($24 millionin costoverruns out of a $57 milliontotal) ; Nimbus meteorological satellites ($5 million out of $9 million); Mercury spacecraft ($50 million

out of $140 milllon). 1_ In 1963 NASA analyzed a sample of RBd) contracts

over $1 million to determine the general pattern of cost overruns. On the basis

of comparing initial and June 30, 1963, cost estimates for the sample, NASA

estimated that cost overruns would average between 25 and 30 percent.x_ In

view of the fact that NASA procures complex and unique items for which accurate

cost estimating is difficult, it is impcedble to tell whether this figure is moderate,

excessive, or what.

NASA recognizedtheimportanceofkeepingcostoverrunsat a minimum and

attacked the problem from several directions. One avenue, the use of incentive

contracts, has already been discussed. The establishment of a contractor performancc evaluation system was being developed in late 1963, whereby historical

data on the performance on past contracts is accumulated to serve as a guide to

the selection of more effident contractors for future projects. NASA constantly

_* Based on data in NASA's Annual Procu.-ement Report for Fiscal Year 1963, pp. 35, 39.

m House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 1766--1768.

a, Letter, Richard Callaghan of NASA to Charles Ducander of the House Space Committee,

Nov. 8, 1963.
274 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

improved its proposal and source evaluation process and its contract administration

process.

Studies were made of other methods of cost reduction also, such as the standardization of components, more ground testing before flight testing, a more

rigorous system of quality control in manufacturing, and even the possible use of

recoverable boosters. 127

D. Program and Project Management

D. Brainerd Holmes, who was appointed to head NASA's gigantic manned

space flight program, was fond of saying that the major requirement for getting

to the moon was good management. He also felt that "the national experience

of managing a research and development program of this magnitude is an added

benefit, beyond the technological dividend that we shall obtain from the manned

lunar landing program. ''1"

Holmes' position implied that NASA should be benefiting from U.S. experience with such earlier large-scale projects as the development of the Polaris IRBM.

However, NASA's program and problems were sufficiently unique so that many

things had to proceed ahead largely on trial and error. The benefits of past

experience seemed more in the area of training individuals (e.g., a number of

people came to NASA from the Polaris project) than in developing management

practices and principles of widespread applicability (PERT is an example of an

exception to this).

The Maaa&emcnt Council. An early and significant managerial innovation in NASA's manned space flight program following the November 1961

reorganization was the establishment in December 1961 of a Management Coundl

to coordinate the manned space flight program? *° The Council was chaired by

Holmes and was initially composed of the top two officials of the two manned

space flights centers (Marshall and Manned Spacecraft) and Holmes' five principal subordinates in Headquarters. Regular monthly meetings were held.

When the Council was formed, the two field centers were not under Holmes' line

of command, but rather were under Associate Administrator Seamam. Holmes

sought to use the Council as a means of arriving at a unanimous position on major

matters without having to worry whether the action was within his rather complete

program authority or not. According to Holmes, the Council was to "spot and

identify problems as early as possible and to resolve them quickly. ''_"

The Council was not able to solve all problems, however. Because yon Braun

(Director of Marshall Center) and Gilruth (Director of Manned Spacecraft

1_ U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Ways and Means of

E_ectmg Economies in the National Space Program, Hearings, 87th Cong., 2d seas. (Washington:

GPO, 1962).

"!"House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, p. 132. Holmes also said in regard to the

manned lunar landing, "The only major breakthroughs required are in the area of management-"

" NASA News Release No. 61-287, Dec. 31, 1961.

m Ibid.

L
RAPID _OW'm/OIC, amZaTmSAL _ADJUSTUXm'S 275

Center) held equal status with Holmm in NASA's organizational hierarchy, they

had the theoretical ability to go over his head. As described earlier in this chapter,

this situation was changed in October 1962, by giving Holmes another hat at

the Deputy Associate Admin_rator's leveLm This move created a better decisionmaking environment... Holmes spoke very approvingly of what the Council was

able to achieve and he regarded it as a significant part of the management of the

manned space-flight program?"

Manq_ Adv/m_ Comm/tt_ _ In March 1963 a Management Advisory Committee for Manned Space Flight was established to advise the

Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Centers on the organization and management of the manned space flight program, m Dr. Mervin

Kelly, the retired and renowned head of Bell Laboratories, was named committee

chairman. TM The action was a further indication that management was regarded

as a critical factor in the manned space-flight program.

C_ors Hfi'ai for Teeimical Coor_ During 1961 most of the

prime hardware contractors for Project Apollo were selected. The problem

remained m to how NASA was to put the hardware together and get the mission

completed. The Air Force solution to such a problem might well have been to

hire a nonhardware contractor to help a single prime contractor integrate the

variom hardware subsystems. The NACA-NASA solution would be to develop

the necessary in-house competence to do the integration job. NASA moved in

th_ latter direction by establishing a systems engineering office as one of the

principal divisions of the Office of Manned Space Fright in NASA Headquaxtex,J.

A highly q,211sed systems engineer (Shea) was found to head the office, m

But the problems in this area were complex and pressing. Faced with hiring

restrictions characteristic of public agencies (relatively low salaries, etc.), NASA

simply could not develop in-house competence at a fast-enough rate. It turned

to private industry for assistance.

In February 1962, Webb wrote to the president of the American Telephone

& Telegraph Co., explaining NASA's problem and asking the Bell System to

assist NASA "by providing an organization of experienced men capable of giving

responsible NASA officials the benefit of the most advanced analytical procedures

and the factual ba_ they need to make the wide range of systems engineering

decisions required for the mccesdul execution of the manned space flight

mi_ 2, 188

AT&T responded favorably and organized a separate subsidiary corporation,

" See Sec. III.B. of this chapter.

"For example, see Home Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 129, 138.

'" NASA General Management Instruction 2-5-3, Mar. 29, 1963. Subject: Management

Advisory Committee for Manned Space Flight.

_ NASA Circular No. 277,Mar. 29, 1963.

inTo head the Systems Otfice, NASA hired Dr. Jmeph Shea of Space Technology

Laboratories.

m Letter, Webb to Kappel, Feb. 21, 1962. (Reprinted in HouJe Hearings, 1964 NASA

Authorization, p. 372.)
276 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Bellcomm, Inc., to do the work. Bellcomm drew many of its employees from

AT&T, the Bell Telephone Laboratories, and Western Electric Co. A year later,

in March 1963, Bellcomm consisted of 96 technical people and a supporting staff

of 60. A size of 250 was aimed for. Most of the personnel were located in

Washington, D.C. Top Bellcomrn salaries were considerably higher than NASA

salaries. Twenty-one earned over $20,000, four over $30,000.1sT

According to the multimillion-dollar contract with Bellcomm, the organization was to "perform studies, technical fact finding and evaluation, analytical

investigations, consulting effort and related professional activities in support of

manned space flight and related programs in NASA." 188

it should be stressed that Bellcomm supported a NASA technical office

(Office of Systems). NASA maintained its own control over high-level technical

and administrative decision-making.

Bellcomm's inputs were primarily in the basic conceptual decisions that

NASA had to make concerning the overall integration of all aspects of the Apollo

mission. Implementing these decisions was an even bigger job in terms of

manpower and technical activity, and involved hardware development for such

jobs as systems checkout. For assistance in the overall integration of Project

Apollo, including checkout, systems integration, and mission reliability, NASA

hired the General Electric Co. as9 The GE contract was much larger than the

Bellcomm contract and involved many more individuals.

Both the Bellcomm and GE contracts gave programwide support to NASA's

manned space flight program, especially its massive Project Apollo, and represented

an interesting experiment in utilizing the talents of private industry at a very

high level and yet keeping the Government on top when it came to de_i_on-making.

Bellcomm's and GE's activity made them privy to certain internal administrative and technical matters which would have given them a certain advantage

over other corporations in subsequent procurement actions. To prevent this

from happening, ground rules were established restricting their participation in

future hardware procurements, a'°

E. Other Administrative Developments

OSS--OMSF Coordination. To maximize coordination between NASA's

manned and unmanned space exploration programs and to promote the scientific

objectives of manned flights, NASA established a Joint Working Group, made

See House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 372-377, 3238.

NASA Contract NASw--417.

_*NASA Contract NASw-410, Oct. 12, 1962. See also House Hearings, 1964 NASA

Authorization, pp. 1074, 1101, 3257.

1*°For details, tee Webb's letter to.McNeely of AT&T, Apr. 11, 1962 (reprinted in House

Hearings, Systems Development and Management, p. 1701), and NASA Circular No. 280,

Apr. 16, 1963. Subject: Restrictions on Contracting With the General Electric Company

Where Competitive Advantage May Exist. See also General Management Instructions 3-3-7.1

and 3-3-7.2, May 10, 1963.
RAPID GROWTH/ORGANIZA'FIONAL READJUSTMENTS 277

up of full-time representatives from both NASA's Office of Space Sciences and

Office of Manned Space Flight. TM

ADP Dew/opining. In March 1963, the General Accounting Office reported to Congress that the U.S. Government could save money by doing more

purchasing and less leasing of its automatic data processing (ADP) equipment, m

The report was of interest to NASA, since NASA was a heavy user of ADP

equipment. Among Federal agencies, only DOD and AEC were heavier users. "8

In NASA both the Goddard and Marshall Centers had many ADP units and

so would the Manned Spacecraft Center in due time_ Most NASA ADP equipment was for scientflic and engineering work, rather than administrative use_14"

In terms of rental versus purchase, NASA generally agreed with the GAO report.

But because of its rapidly changing program, NASA felt that it had to maintain

maximum flexibility, so that it could take advantage of the rapidly improving

computers that were coming on to the market. Thus it would have to continue

to rent many more computers than it would purchase. "s

With ADP operations becoming more prevalent in the Federal Government,

the BOB exerted greater effort to assure that certain standard policies on the

acquisition of ADP equipment were followed on a Government-wide basis, 1"6

NASA established ADP policies to meet BOB requirements. "T To permit as

much decentralization of ADP decision-making as possible and stir conform to

BOB rules, NASA established an Inter-Center Committee on Automatic Data

Processing. z*s The chief function 0i the Committee was to promote uniform

ADP poficies on an agencywide bars and to facilitate intra-agency communications on ADP matters."

Projea_t AOWoval Procedswes. Project approval procedures as inaugurated

in 1961 and modified in-1962 were further modified in 1963. The net effect

was to strike a better balance among the five Headquarters Program Offices,

the Office of Progrmns, and the Associate Administrator, in terms of the paperwork

involved. The Associate Administrator remained the sole approving authority. ? N

1,1NASA News Release No. 62-251, Nov. 27, 1962.

m "Study of Financial Advantagea of Purchasing Over Leasing of Electronic Data Proceadng

Equipment in the Federal Government," a report to the Congress, March 1963. (Reprinted

in House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, pp. 1421-1436.)

m See the Bureau of the Budget's "Inventory of Automm_ Data Processing (ADP) Equip.

merit in the Federal Government .... " August 1962.

NASA was not very _ when it came to the nmchaaimti_ of admiaiJtmt_

operationL See Ch. 5, 5¢c. II_

m See diacuadon in Hou_ Hearings, 1964 NASA AatAorizatioa, pp. 2922-2928.

m BOB Circular No. A-54, Oct. 14, 1961. Subject: Policiea on Selection and AcquiMtlon

of Automatic Data Proceming (ADP) Equipment.

" General Management Instruction 3-6-1, July 5, 1963. Subject: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Equipment and Services.

x,, General Management Instruction 3-6-2, Oct. 4, 1963. Subject: NASA Inter-Center

Committee on ADP.

14,On Oct. 10-1 i, 1962, NASA held an agencywide workshop on ADP.

"For details, see General Management Instruction 4-1-1, Mar. 8, 1963. Subject: Planning and Implementation of NASA Projects. See also Ch. 7, Sec. VI.A.
278 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Patent Regulations Revised. NASA's patent policies and procedures were

based on the Space Act of 1958. The discretionary powers given the NASA

Administrator on patent matters permitted NASA to steer a middle road between

the positions of AEC (which catered to the Government) and DOD (which

catered to contractors)? sl NASA attempted to get the Space Act amended

to bring its congressional mandate in line with DOD's. Congress was unreceptive.

In late 1962, NASA took a different tack by attempting to streamline its patent

regulations within the framework of the Space Act.

Three separate actions were taken. First, the patent dames of NASA

contracts were changed to require contractors to be more diligent in reporting

inventions and innovations made in the performance of NASA contracts. 15_

These inventions and innovations would ordinarily automatically become the

exclusive property of the United States.

Second, NASA issued new licensing regulations designed to facilitate the

economic exploitation of Government-owned patents. 15s

Third, NASA announced public hearings on a proposed revision of the very

important waiver regulations under which NASA could waive its exclusive claim

to a patent in favor of a contractor? 5' The revision was designed to make the

waiver device a broader and more effective means of achieving greater economic

exploitation of the many discoveries flowing from the space program.

The new technology reporting clause, the new licensing regulation, and the

proposed waiver regulations could all be viewed as manifestations of NASA's

increasing effort to step up the economic utilization of space-age technology? ss

As it turned out, the proposed waiver regulation was not promulgated as

planned. NASA held off to await the results of President Kennedy's attempt to

bring about the adoption of a Government-wide patent policy. In October 1963,

the White House issued a statement on patent matters which became the basis

for further study and revision of NASA patent regulations? 58

V. MISCELLANEOUS 1962-63 DEVELOPMENTS

This chapter has presented only a partial account of NASA's administrative

history during the dynamic 1962-63 period. Special attention was focused on

three areas: ( 1 ) NASA's rapid growth and several key administrative activities

related to it, such as personnel administration, finance administration, and con-

"" See Ch. 4, See. II.E.

"" See Gerald O'Brien's "NASA Patent Policy and Procedure," delivered at NASA's Feb. 12,

1963, NASA-Industry Conference. (Proce#dings o[ the Second NASA-Industry Program Plans

Conference, NASA SP-29 (Washington: GPO, 1963), pp. 203-206, especially 204.)

m NASA News Release No. 62-228, Oct. 26, 1962.

"'_27 F.R. 10460, Oct. 26, 1962. See aho O'Brien, '_NASA Patent Policy and Procedure,"

op. cir.

"" The technology reporting clause and related clauses were further revised in October 1963.

See General Management Imtruction 18-9--101, Oct. 26, 1963.

28 F.R. 10943, Oct. 12, 1963.
GROWTH/ORGANIZATIONALREADJUSTMENTS 279

tracting; (2) the expansion pattern of NASA's major program ac6vities; (3)

adjustments in the organizational structure and related procedures which NASA

had established in the reorganization of November 1961.

Before ending this chapter it would be well to summarize a few topics not

yet covered and also-acknowledge some of the gaps that exist.

A. Non-NASA Space Developments, 1962-63

During 1962-63, the U.S.S.R. made several notable achievements in its

manned space flight program. In August 1962, the tandem flight of Nikolayev

(64 orbits )and Popovich (48 orbits )took place. In June 1963, another tandem

flight was conducted by Cosmonauts Bykovsky (81 orbits) and Termhkova (48

orbits) (fL_t woman to fly in space).

The U.S.S.R. also orbited many unmanned satellites around the earth.

Their unmanned lunar exploration efforts were no more successful than those of

the United States. Their planetary efforts were less successful than those of the

United States. United States-U.S.S.R. cooperation in space is touched on in the

next chapter.

The space activity of other nations gained momentum during 1962-63.

Some of it was completely independent of NASA and the United States, but much

of it was done in cooperation with the United States und¢_ NASA's international

program. The U.N. continued its interest in space law and the peaceful uses

of outer space.

Non-NASA space activity in the United States was substantial In fiscal

year 1964, the United States budgeted $7,038 million in new obligational authority

for space, of which $5,189,500,000 was for NASA, $1,615,800,000 for DOD,

$227,600,000 for AEC, $2,700,000 for the Weather Bureau, and $2,400,000 for

the National Science Foundation."'

B. Miscellaneous External Relationships

In addition to the very important NASA-DOD agreement on the Atlantic

Missile Range, the NASA-Air Force cooperation on the Gemini program, and

the NASA-Army understanding on the role of the Army Corps of Engineers in

NASA's extensive construction program, all covered earlier in this chapter, many

other NASA-DOD agreements were entered into, embracing a variety of topics

beyond the scope of this study. _

NASA-DOD cooperation was greatly facilitated by the liaison activity of the

NASA-DOD Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board (AACB)

established in 1960. ts°

m United States Aeronautics and State Activities, 1963, Report to the Congrem from the

President of the United States, Appendix E-I (p. 142).

" The NASA Historical Ol_ce hag a list of all NASA-DOD agreements.

m See Ch. 5, Sec. IV_B.
280 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

In 1962 and 1963, the AACB was supplemented in several ways. In April

1962, the Air Force named Maj. Gen. O. J. Ritland to maintain liaison between

General Schriever's Air Force Systems Command and NASA's Office of Manned

Space Fright. a6° Rifland set up his office right in NASA Headquarters. In July

1963, the Air Force established a three-man Gemini liaison and support office at

NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center. ae: In September the Air Force Systems

Command announced the establishment of a substantial field office at Manned

Spacecraft Center to serve as the contact point between AFSC and MSC?"

NASA and the Federal Aviation Agency worked closely together on the

development of a commercial supersonic transport aircraft, actual development

olwmcn was orderedby thePresidentin june i_o_."" NASA and the Weather

Bureau of the Department of Commerce worked closelytogetheron a meteorologicalsatellite system.TM

NASA's happy relationswith Congressduring 1962 and unhappy relations

during 1963 arc discussedin the next chapter.

C. Unremarched Areas

It might be well to list some of the topics not covered in this chapter.

Nothing has been said about the internal operation of any of NASA's field

centers. Little has 'been said about procedural changes. This stemmed from

the fact that most of the changes were gradual and of a refining nature. Gradual

changes eventually may alter basic relationships, of course, but this was not

explored in this chapter.

The role of the White House and the Space Council in NASA's administration and management has not been systematically researched.

Certain NASA activities such as information dissemination, educational programs, international programs, legislative liaison, and relations with the scientific

community have been pretty well ignored. No attempt was made to present a

perfectly balanced picture of NASA's aerospace program.

The difficulty in integrating into one account all of the major facets of

NASA's activities during the 1962--63 period is probably a manifestation of that

period's dynamic and turbulent character. Some of the loose ends arc tied

together in the next chapter, which covers NASA's November 1963 reorganization.

" Astronautical and Aeronautical Ev#nts of 1962, Apr. 26, 1962.

_*aAstronautics and A#ronautics, 1963 (Washington: NASA SP-4004, 1964), July, pp.

262-292.

" Ibid., Sept. 2, 1963.

am See NASA-FAA agreements, dated June 28, 1961, Sept. 25, 1961, mad Jan. 8, 1964.

ae_See NASA-Department of Commerce agreements, dated Jan. 10, 1962, and Jan. 18, 1962.
Chapter Nine

REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS

On Octobe_ 1, 1963, NASA was 5 years old. The occasion was marked

by press releases, special publications, and official celebrations, as could be expected.

Yet the occasion lacked the joyonsnem usually associated with significant anniversaries and the celebran_ seems to lack spontaneity.

To suggest that NASA was preoccupied with other matters would be putting

it mildly. The major milestone that NASA passed in 1963 was not i_ fifth

anniversary but rather the end of one era and the beginning of another. All of

NASA's first 5 years were dynamic, of course, and all had dements of transition

in them. But 1963 will be remembered as the year when numerous pent-up

matters finally broke loose. The result was that NASA emerged somewhat

battered and bruised, but very likely at the threshold of a much more stable era.

The November 1963 reorganization could be viewed as an effort to clear

the decks of some of the fallen debris andto get the agency moving forward in

harmony. Webb stated that the reorganization was intended to "strengthen

our management structure, to bring it in fine with our needs, to correct mistakes

of the past, and to look as far into the future as we can to anticipate our needs." x

The reorganization was also linked to the end of Project Mercury, but exactly

how was not made dem'?

NASA's reorganization in 1963 occurred in a much different clin_te than

that which prevailed at the time of the last major reorganization in 1961. In

late 1963, NASA was emerging from a very turbulent period of criticism. In

1961 general silence had prevailed. A brief examination of this change in climate

wilt help recreate the general external'conditions facing NASA at the time of

its November 1963 reorganization. (This is not meant to suggest that the reorganization was a direct result of the change in climate; changing circumstances

within NASA were probably more important. )

u.s. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics,Brit_ng on NASA Raorganlza_ion,Project MGrcurySummary, Hearing, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 1963),

p. 2 (here_ter cited as House Hearing, Bris_ng on NASA Reorganization . . .).

sIbid.

281
282 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORYOFNASA, 1958--1963

I. THE CHANGE IN CLIMATE, 1963 VIS-A-VIS 1961

The change in climate manifested itself in three area.s---the debate over

NASA's mission, the changing pattern of external support, and the leveling off

of NASA's budget.

A. The Debate Over NASA's Mission

In May 1961 President Kennedy called for a national debate on the future

scope and objectives d the U.S. space program before making any major deci-

.v. 1 .... 1 sions on his pr%r_s__-__,,- an accei_,atcu program built around a manned lunar

landing. The decisions were made but the debate failed to materialize, at least

in 1961. A major debate on fundamental national objectives in space did not

occur until 1963, by which time NASA and the space program had already

gained a momentum that was not easily deflected. The debate included a

wholesale criticism of the national space program and proved healthy in most

respects in spite of some rather intense feelings.

The debate was probably triggered by President Kennedy's $5.712 millioo

budget request for NASA for fiscal year 19647 This request not only placed

NASA among the big spenders (exceeded only by the Departments of Ddense,

Agriculture, and Health, Education, and Welfare)' but was considerably higher

than the $5 billion figure that had come to be associated with the leveling-off

point for NASA's budget.

Furthermore, the acceleration in NASA's spending from its previous $1.8

and $3.7 billion budgets had already made an impact on U.S. resource allocation.

Some people regarded this impact desirable, others not desirable.

Several schools of thought flourished at one time or another during the

course of the 1963 debate. Omnipresent was the perennial "more space funds

for the military" school with its Pentagon exponents and Capitol Hill supporters.

The "economy-in-government/balanced budget" school viewed the space program

as filled with unnecessary boondoggles. This was the general Republican position and former President Eisenhower was the chief spokesman? Another school

questioned allocating so many resources to space when there were other more

urgent needs, such as education, oceanography, etc., which were felt to be more

urgent. Killian and Abelson could be regarded as the chief spokesmen for this

school, e The allocation of resources within NASA was also questioned; i.e.,

"On Jan. 27, 1963, a New York Times (Western Edition) editorial called for a debate on

the space program in view of the high budget sought for NASA and the resource allocations

• determined thereby.

' Based on New Obligational Authority. Interest payments of the Treasury Department

are ignored.

• See Eisenhower's article in Saturday Evening Post, May 18, 1963, pp. 15-19.

• James R. Killian, Jr., president of MIT and former Science Adviser to President Eisenhower; Philip H. Abehon, director of Carnegie Institution's Geophysics Laboratory and editor

of Science.
REORGANIZATION FOl Plb0GRAM OPERA_NS 283

too much emphasis was on manned flight, not enough on unmanned scientific

efforts.

Related to the "misallocation of resources" school was the argument that

NASA was unduly diverting scarce technical manpower away from other important

national goal& The validity of this argument hinged on whether a scarcity

actually existed, but this was never demonstrated.

The "efficiency of operation" school raised the question whether NASA was

wasteful in conducting ils operation. The New York Times suggested that

1_1 been too uncritical of NASA's plans and pedormance and that

a more determined effort should be made to cut the fat out of NASA's budget.'

Many moderates had the firm if unspecific feeling that the geometric budget

increases had to mean a kxee and wasteful program.

The "_ut" school felt that NASA was placing too much emphasis on

the 1970 deadline for the manned lunar landing. NASA's objectives were

viewed as smilfactory er_ept for their timing. This school argued that the

conditions prevailing at the time of the 1961 commitment had changed. First,

the price tag to meet the deadline was apparently higher than had been earlier

thought. Second, it was uncertain whether the U_.S.IL was in a race for the

moon. Not only had Khn_chev issued statements suggesting it was not, but,

in addition, President Kennedy seemed to indicate a willingness to settle for a

tie rather than push for a win. The m-et_oot argument was enddng to Congress.

men who were simultaneously faced with both a large budget and a tax-cut

p op fL

F'mally, the "support the space program" school, of which NASA was the

prime spokesman, stressed such things as the race with the U_.R. for international prestige, the potential national security benefits resulting from increased

space capability, the economic and technical "fallout" from the space program,

and the value of scientific discoveries. NASA claimed that both a speedup and

the m_tchout would be less efficient and actually more expensive per unit of

return.'

S. The _ _ ef Emem_ fmpeed

The debate over the space program revealed that the pattern of support for

NASA had changed over time. For example, the scientific community tended

to "be more divided and in general less firm in support than it had been earlier

in NASA's history. NASA was accused of a preoccupation with manned flight

to the moon at the expense of purely scientific exploration. On the other hand,

NASA endeared itself to many university administrators and certain academic

disciplines through its sizable grant progrmn which included research grants,

training grants, and grants to build facilities. Those not in a pmition to participate may weft have been jealous.

' See editorial in New York Timas, June 28, 1963. Also Jan. 27, 1963, editorial, op. c/t.

' See Webb testimony, I-Imme Hearmp, 1964 NASA Authorization, p. 31.
284 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

Congress was much less firm in its support of NASA. The best evidence

of this was manifested in Congress' action on NASA's fiscal year 1964 budget, a

topic discussed in detail later in this chapter.

The support of NASA's program by the White House, the Space Council,

and the Bureau of the Budget seemed to stay firm. President Kennedy's statement in September to the U.N. on United States-U.S.S.R. cooperation very likely

damaged NASA's funding position with Congress, however. The fact that NASA

asked BOB for up to $6.2 billion for fiscal year 1964 but was allowed $5.7 billion

was probably not an indication of any serious deterioration in White House support

for or confidence in the space program.

The area where NASA picked up its greatest external support was among

what could be termed its clientelemthe aerospace industry. This industry was

one of the fastest growing in the United States and its economic impact in certain

areas was very great. The political influence of the industry grew also and NASA

took its place among those agencies which could count on a type of grassroots

support from several geographic areas.

The net effect of this changing pattern of support is difficult to evaluate. A

powerful economic bloc got a vested interest in NASA's program. It is too early

to say whether this economic bloc would ever be able to significantly influence

NASA's policies. If so, this would be unfortunate, at least if xhe Space Act is

regarded as a wise and fruitful mandate for NASA. The bipartisan Space Act

stressed aeronautical and space research, .scientific exploration, and the development of space flight capability. NASA seemed willing to expand on this to

indude both economic and educational impact.

C. The Leveling Off of NASA's Program

The terminal point of this study roughly coincides with the point in time

when NASA's growth curve turned the corner and started flattening out. Thus

it is too early to say what the precise results of this leveling off will be. It has

been generally assumed that once the period of rapid expansion was over, NASA

could tidy up and attack problems previously neglected. Furthermore, with inhouse staff pretty well built up, NASA would be able to manage its programs and

projects in a manner which would permit administrative efficiency and maximum

program progress.

The psychological impact of the leveling off was felt as early as 1963 in connection with the enactment of NASA's fiscal year 1964 budget. Action on the

fiscal year 1964 budget epitomizes the change of climate which NASA felt in 1963

and thus warrants amplification.

NASA's Fiscal Year 1964 Budget d_ected by Fiscal Year 1963 Ae6om.

In 1962 NASA's fiscal year 1963 budget moved through Congress quite smoothly.

The 342-to-0 vote of the House of Representatives approving a $3.6 billion NASA

authorization bill, the high-water mark of congressional support, was truly satisfy-
REORGANIZATION 701 PItOGRAM OPEItATI_NS 285

ing to NASA's leadership and may well have given many NASA oHcia_ an overly

optimistic view of future congressional support.

The s_ V d NASA's fiscal year 1963 budget can be briefly recapitulated:

NASA's request was for $3,787,276,000, a figure twice as large as the previom

year. The Home ._a_'onantics Committee made only small selective cuts (3 percent) in this figure. The House approved this unanimously on May 24, 1962.

In June, the Senate Space Committee approved an authorization of $3,749,-

515,250, only 1 percent below NASA's request, which action received Senate

approval in July. The Home-Senate conferees agreed to a figure very near the

Senate one---$3,744,115,2507

The Home voted a $3,644,115,000 appropriation bill and the Senate a

$3,704,115,000 one, both chambers approving the actiom of their respective

Appropriation Committees. The compromise arrived at was $3,674,115,000, a

figme less than 2 percent below the authorization. The Appropriation Act was

signed by the President on October 3, 196270

During the same period, Congrem passed a $153,500,000 mpplemental

appropHalion for fiscal year 1962. u"

Some congressional miping at NASA did occur in 1962, especially from

Senator Pmxmire. John Finney of the New York Times reported that congre_

slonal mi_6vings on the cost of the space program were growing, that these had

not come out into the open during 1962, but might well lead to demands for large

cuts in NASA's fiscal year 1964 budget."

Toward the end of 1962, NASA discovered that its program,

manned space flight, had achieved a momentum which was consuming money

faster than expected and that the fiscal year 1963 appropriation was uncomfortably

marginal The decision had to be made either to try to squeeze by, pcem_ly

slowing the pace somewhat, or to request a $400 million supplemental appropriation. A third alternative may have been to bring the Air Force in on funding

the Gemini prograx_

None of the alternatives was appealing. Webb, sensing the congremional

undercurrent, felt the climate was not ripe to request a sizable supplemental on

the heels of a budget that had just doubled the one for the previous year. So

NASA attempted to squeeze by, reprograming funds from less important to more

important projects and hoping to recoup some of the money in its fiscal year 1964

appropriatio_ _'

NASA's Fiscal Yw 1964 Bmigct $_b_ted to C_. The NASA

budget presented to Congress in January 1963 totaled $5,712 billion in new

* Became Pubfic Law 87-584, signed Aug. 14, 1962.

I' Public Law 87-741.

n Public Law 87-545, July 25, 1962. $82.5 million for R&D and $71 m/lllon for CoF.

a Finney's prophetic words appeared in the New York Tiracs on July 25, 1962, p. 12.

'*See Seamam' _ny, House Hearings, I964 NASA Authorization, pp. 3259--3260.

(Holmes, head of manned space flight, evidently felt that the supplemental was needed, and the

monet the better. This difference of opinion between Holmes and general management is

rumored to have marked the end of the honeymoon between NASA and Holmes.)
286 AVMn_ST_,T_W HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

obligational authority, an increase of $2 billion over the previous year. Evidently

President Kennedy asked NASA to prepare three budgeks---$5.2, $5.8, and $6.2

billion, x' NASA felt the $6.2 billion figure would permit optimum progress.

The President, pushing for a tax cut, tried to hold the budget deficit down and

wanted the lowest possible NASA budget consistent with the national space

commitment. The $5.7 billion figure was agreed to. Only $50 million of the

budget (less than 1 percent) was for new projects. 15 Eleven months were to pass

before NASA's fiscal year 1964 appropriation was enacted. During that period

a wide-ranging debate took 'place. For NASA, the sailing was rough.

The Enactment of NASA's Fiscal Year 19_64 Budget. The NASA Apprv-_

priation Act, signed by President Johnson in December 1963, totaled $5.1 billion,

over 10 percent le_ than NASA's original request, le

The enactment process got underway in early March when the House Astronautics Committee began hearings on an authorization bill for NASA. These

hearings were exhaustive and both NASA and the Astronautics Committee put a

great deal of effort into them. Three subcommittees worked simultaneously and

with painstaking care. Hearings were held on 39 different days ranging over 4

months. The printed record totaled almost 3,500 pages? T Since the House

committee departed from normal practice and prepared an 80-page index, these

hearings are an excellent source of information on NASA and the space program.

After this careful scrutiny, the House Astronautics Committee cut a half billion dollars from NASA's request. The cuts were selective ones in that no percentage formula was used. Construction was cut 13.5 percent; R&D, 7.2 percent.

All program areas were cut, ranging from 7.4 percent for manned space flight to

12.7 percent for space sciences.

The report of the Home Astronautics Committee of July 25, 1963, recommending a $5,238,119,400 NASA authorization, was in itself a remarkable document? s

The first 169 pages were devoted to justifying the authorization recommended.

The next 18 pages explained the modifications that the committee had made in

NASA's request. Three pages were devoted to justifying new provisiom of the

authorization bill designed to restrict further NASA's discretionary spending authority. The committee also expressed its views on what it felt to be problem

areas: to ( 1 ) Interagency coordination still left something to be desired; (2) not

enough emphasis was being placed on the national security aspects of the space

program; (3) greater interagency cooperation on the me of facilities was needed;

(4) NASA should exercise care not to give preference to any one contractor; (5)

R&D on high-energy fuels should be accelerated. Most of these were time-worn

_' See Webb's testimony, ibid., p. 30.

I, Ibid., p. 28.

_' Public Law 88-215, Dec. 19, 1963.

_' House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization. See bibliography for complete citations.

1" U.S. Congre_, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics, Authorizing Appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, H. Rept. 591, 88th Cong. 1st seu.,

July 25, 1963 (Washington: GPO, 1963).

m Ibid., pp. 190-194.
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS 287

positions and the ah_ce of am/other pints suggests that the committee still

suplmrted the principalNASA objectives.Severalcommittee members wrote

dissentingviewson certaintopics,however._°

The actionof the House Ast_nautics Committee was highlysignificant,

as this committee wgs restxmsi_e for the detailed scrutiny of NASA. Not only

were money cuts made bet the authorization bR1also tightened the repr0graming

discretion given the agency. NASA's proposal for a new elecl_ad.cs center in

Boston was given only qualified approvaL

On the floor of the House, two Republican-slxmsored amendments resulted

in two additional cuts, and the authorization bill, as finany passed by the House

on August 1, 1963, totaled $5,203,719,400. a:

Meanwhile, the Senate Space Committee was fulfilling its traditional role

of restoring House cuts. Even though NASA had lost a staunch supporter as a

result of the death of Senator Robert Kerr, chairman of the Senate Space Committee and dose friend of Mr. Webb, it picked up a strong supporter in Senator

Clinton Andeasmg the new chairman. The Senate Space Committee trimmed

NASA's budget only 3 _ percent, thus restoring 60 percent of the cuts made by

the House. The Senate ratified the committee's action on August 9 when it

passed a $5,511,520,400 authorization bill Action on the Senate floor almost

reduced the authorization to the amount of the House bin." The vote was 37 to

32 against the reduction. (This is in sharp contrast with the action on the floor

of the Senate in 1959 when the amount recommended by the Senate Space

Committee was increased to a level which was higher than what NASA had asked

for.)

Later in August, House-Senate conferees compromised on a $5,350,820,400

figure which became Public Law 88-113 on September 6, 1963. This law

included several clauses designed to shrink slighdy NASA's discretionary spending

power. Reprograming of R&D funds for "new" coustrucdon was cut from 3

percent of the R&D appropriation to 2 percent. NASA's freedom to reprogram

among major existing program areas and to reprogram into new program areas

was restricted by a tightening of the language requiring the prior notice to the

House Astronautics and Senate Space CommiRees.

Authorization action was being completed about the same time that approlaJation, action was getting underway. Since appropriations almost always fell

short of authorizations, NASA did not face very pleasant prospects in September

1963. Lateness alone was causing anxiety and administrative headaches.

On Monday morning, August 19, 1963, NASA officials marched up to

Capitol Hill to face the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Independent

Offices and its chairman, Albert Thomas. The 37 NASA officials making an

appearance included just about an of NASA's top leadership. Administrator

Webb opened the hearings with a plea that NASA needed every penny authora Ibid., pp. 196-206.

a The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 2, 1963.

aNew York Times, Aug. 10, 1963.

215-892 0-66-20
288 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

ized. _s (The House-Senate authorization compromise had not been made as yet

and Webb claimed the Senate's $5.5 billion authorization figure was the minimum

appropriation that NASA could tolerate and still maintain optimum momentum.)

In spite of the extensive and intensive work of the House Astronautics Committee, the Thomas subcommittee also took a careful look at NASA's request,

espedally for construction. The hearings took the greater part of i week. NASA's

testimony failed to stem the tide, however, and the Thomas subcommittee decided

on a $5.1 billion appropriation figure for NASA. This was about I 1 percent below

NASA's request and 5 percent below the amount Congress had authorized for

anpropriation.

NASA came close to suffering much deeper cuts. On September 20, 1963,

President Kennedy, in an address to the United Nations General Assembly, stated

that in the field of space there was room for United States-U.S.S.R. "cooperation,"

for "joint efforts," including the possibility of a "joint expedition to the moon." _'

"Why should the United States and the Soviet Union, in preparing for such expeditions, become involved in immense duplications of research, construction and

expenditures?" The President did not propose a cooperative program, but asked

only that the possibility of cooperation be explored.

President Kennedy's U.N. speech raised numerous questions on Capitol Hill

and in the press? s The very next day Representative Thomas felt required to

ask the President if he had changed his position on the need for a strong U.S. space

program? e The President's September 23 reply stated that a strong U.S. space

program was essential so that any possibilities of United States-U.S.S.R.

cooperation could be explored from a position of strength, zT

The New York Times reported that the President's speech triggered an

effort in the Thomas subcommittee to cut NASA's appropriation an additional

and probably crippling $900 million. 2s The vote was 4 to 4, thus sustaining the

$5.1 billion figure. Representative Cannon, the Chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, joined the three subcommittee Republicans in the reduction

effort.

In early October the House Committee on Appropriations reported out a $5.1

biRion NASA appropriation, which figure was ratified by the whole House. NASA

• See Webb's testimony, U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Independent Offices, Indep#ndent O_fces Appropriations for 1964 (Pt. 3), Hearings, 88th

Cong., 1st leB., (Washington: GPO, 1963), pp. 82-90.

s, Text of the Sept. 20, 1963, speech can be found in the Washin&ton Post, Sept. 21, 1963,

p. AI0.

J Other 1963 eventa added to the confusion. Khrushchev was quoted and misquoted on

g.veral occasions concerning Ruuia's manned lunar landing plans, with the net result that there

was some uncertainty whether Ruuia was in the race for the moon. The March 1963 DrydenBlagom-avov agreement on space communications and meteorology suggested that space cooperation was feafible.

• Thomas' Sept. 21, 1963, letter was reprinted in Senate Hearings, Iadep#ndent O_ices

Appropriations, 1964, pp. 1616-1617.

Ibid., pages 1617-1618.

• New York Times, Sept. 28, 1963.
REORGANIZATION _ PJtOGL_M OPERATIONS 289

recovered very little from the Senate Committee on Appropriations, which reported

out a $5.19 billion appropriation in early November. In Senate floor action a

Fulbright amendment to cut $519 million, or 10 percent, was defeated 46 to 36,

but a Proxmire amendment to cut $90 rn_on was passed 40 to 39. zs Thus the

Senate and House both agreed on a $5.1 billion figure. The appropriation bill

was signed by President Johnson on December 19, 1963, almcst 6 mouths into

the fiscal year to which it applied.S° Included was a provision that no funds made

available to NASA under the act could be used for "expenses of participating in a

manned lunar landing to be carried out jointly by the United States and any other

country without consent of the Cougre_"

In summary, the tax-cut proposal and economy moves flowing therefrom,

NASA's budget being larger than expected, the easing of cold-war tensions, the

Dryden-Blagonravov agreement, Khrushchev's statements on Russia's lunar landing plans, and Kennedy's statements on United States-U_.R. space cooperation

all contributed toward NASA's budget woes for fiscal year 1964. It is too early

to state what the final impact will be. In early 1964, NASA gave indications

that its internal economizing and reprograming were permitting it to stay close

to schedule---providing, of course, that its fiscal year 1965 request of $5.3 billion

(plus a fiscal year 1964 supplemental appropriation of $141 million for manned

space flight) would be appropriated in full $1

II. THE _BER 1963 REORGANIZATION

The zema_er of this chapter is devoted to the N_emi:_" 1963

za_on. This Lqnot meant to suggest 0_t the reorganization was a drm_c

climax to the first 5 years of NASA's administrative history. This was not the

case. The reorganization, after the chaff of title changes is blown away, had

only one truly fundamental provision--it undid the provision of the 1961 reorganization which put the field centers under the institutional control of the Amodate

Admlnis_ater.

Nor should the reorganization be viewed as NASA's reaction to its external

troubles--except, of course, to the extent that NASA knew that strong internal

management would always enhance its position vis-a-vis external parties. The

reorganization was pr/maray a reaction to basic internal problems related to the

balancing of program requirements with institutional resources, and the discussion

of the 1963 change of climate was designed only to recreate the general external

couditious that prevailed at the time the reorganization took effecL

Reorganization is both continual and episodic. The 1961 and 1963 reorganizatious were episodic because they involved changes in fundamental relationships. Organizational changes made on a continual basis were usually designed

to accommodate a particular new development or solve a particular problem.

aNew York Times, Nov. 21, 1965.

** Public Law 88-215.

a See Webb's testimony, House Hearings, 1965 NASA Authorization, pp. 9--10.
290 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

(It should be added that when an episodic reorganization takes place, the occasion

is often used to announce several less fundamental adjustments, many of which

would have been made anyway. )

The fundamental changes made in 1961 involved the power and authority

of general management, the alignment of program offices in Headquarters, and

the relationship between Headquarters and the field centers. The 1963 reorganization involved all three elements also, but with the visible change confined

primarily to the third one--headquarters-field relationships. The fundamental

change made was not an innovation but more in the nature of a return to an

arrangement that had prevailed during the first 3 years of NASA's history. It

recombined program and institutional management by placing the field centers

under the Headquarters program directors instead of under general management

(i.e., the Associate Administrator). It confirmed the new division of work that

had been initiated in 1961 and perfected subsequently.

In its less fundamental provisions it eliminated the Office of Applications

as a separate Headquarters program office by combining it with the much larger

Office of Space Sciences; it altered some of the offices reporting directly to Webb

and Dryden; and it gave new titles to most top-echelon officials.

A. Events Leading to the Reorganization

Strictly speaking, the November 1963 reorganization was a two-step reorganization like the November 1961 reorganization. In 1961, the first step was the

establishment of the Office of Programs in June. In 1963 the first step was

giving the Director of Manned Space Flight a second hat, that of Deputy

Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Centers in October 1962."

In fact, the November 1963 reorganization can be viewed as doing for all of

NASA what the October 30, 1962, "adjustment" had done for the manned

space flight area.

Thus the reasons for the 1962 adjustment are the reasons for the 1963

reorganization. It should be recalled that the 1962 adjustment was made because

the November 1961 reorganization was not working out as smoothly as hoped for.

The arrangement whereby center directors looked to NASA general management

(i.e., Robert Seamans, the Associate Administrator) for men and money

(resources) and to the Headquarters program offices for program direction did

not work well. The center directors found it difficult to balance the program

demands placed on them with the resources given them. Furthermore, the

center directors often had inadequate or conflicting working arrangements and

management systems imposed on them by Headquarters."

u See Ch. 8, See. III.B.

m In September 1962 the Management Analysis Division of the Office of Administration

prepared a draft memo outlining these problems. One draft, dated Sept. 28, 1962, was titled

"Inadequate and Conflicting Management Systems."
RF_RGANIF_TIDN FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS 291

Itisnot easy to statewith certaintywhether the 1961 reorganizationwas

poorlyconccivcd,whetherthe 1961 reorganizationwas wellconceivedbut inadequatelyimplemented,orwhetherwellconceivedand wellimplcrnentcdbut simply

unable (as any other arrangcment alsowould have been) to cope with the

dynamic growth thatNASA was cxpcriencing.A good casecan be made that

itwas wellconceivedto cope with theproblems beingfacedat thetime but that

a combination of factors interfered with its evolving into a viable setup for

NASA's long-range need&

In order for NASA to have: ( 1 ) succesdully changed the basis for dividing

up its program (i.e., to one based on major objectives ) ; (2) succeeded in asserting

the control of general management over all subordinate organizational units; and

(3) coped with problems stemming from its rapid growth, it would have had to

have: (a) personnel who could successfully submerge their own parochial interests

in favor of an agencywide point of view; (b) a good training program to make

up for any deficiencies that may have existed among its top managers; (c) widespread agreement on basic administrative processes; (d) a staff surrounding the

general managers that would serve as a true intermediary between the program

offices and the field, correctly interpreting to the general manager the problems

that arise; and (e) someway of coping with the general manager's overly large

span of control, i.e., solving most problems without having to take them to the

general manager. There were deficiencies in one or more of these areas."

As described earlier, the 1961 structure was modified in 1962 when one of

the major program areas, manned space flight, was given institutional control

over the three field centers primarily involved in its program. Thus, for serial

months NASA had a chance to compare two different arrangements side by side.

The 1962 adjusunent revealed that significant progress had been made in

strengthening NASA's general management. If one of the objectives of the 1961

reorganization was to curb or even stop the trend toward the development of

autonomous bureaus in NASA, the 1962 adjustment raised the possibility of the

trend being resumed, at least in one very important program area. In June 1963,

the Director of Manned Space Flight resigned from NASA, in part because general management felt he was pursuing too independent a course (or looked at

from the reverse side, because he was not allowed to pursue as independent a

course as he thought necessary). This helped clarify the accountability of the

program directorates to general management and helped create the necessary

environment for the 1963 reorganization.

In April 1963, Webb ordered a review of NASA's organization in the light

of its $5.7 billion budget request, the definitizing of its major manned lunar landing contracts, and the knowledge gained as to who could mange and how? 6

The review was not as formal as that conducted in 1961, nor were the alternaa,_ on comments submitted to the NASA I-IismHcal Office by Albert Siepert (Dec. 24,

1964) and John Young (Jan. 1, 1965).

• See Webb's testimony, House Hearing, Bvi_[ingon NASA R#organiza6ou . .., p. 15.
292 ADMINISTRATIVE. HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

tive courses of action as diverse or numerous." NASA had a much greater store

of knowledge and experience to draw from.

In September the final round of discussions was held and on October 9,

1963, the details of the reorganization were made public? 7 On the same day

the House Astronautics Committee was briefed on the changes made."

B. Provisions of the Reorganization 39

The changes, effective November 1, 1963, resulting from the reorganization,

can best be shown by comparing the 'before' and 'after' nrg-aniT_tion char_ (fi_s.

9-1 and 9-2).

Headquarters-Field P_lationshlps. The fundamental change was combining program and center management by placing the field centers under the line

command of the Headquarters program directors instead of under general management. The program directorate to which a center reported was determined

by the center's primary activity. Thus the Marshall, Manned Spacecraft, and

Launch Operation Centers were put under MueUer, Holmes' successor in the

Office of Manned Space Flight. Goddard, Wallops, PLOO, and JPL were put

under Newdl, the head of the Office of Space Sciences and Applications. The

four former NACA labs--Langley, Ames, Lewis, and Flight--were restored to

their old position under the Office of Advanced Research and Technology

(Bisplinghoff).

The increased authority and responsibility of Mueller, Newell, and Bisplinghof_ was recognized by giving them new titles ("Associate Administrator

for --").

NASA listed two major benefits accruing from this move: ( 1 ) "Clearer and

more direct lines of authority and responsibility between Headquarters and field

imtallations will be established," (2) "The Associate Administrator will have

more time to discharge his 'general manager' responsibilities and to consult on

policy matters with the Administrator and Deputy Administrator." ,0

The precise reduction in Seamans' span of control is difficult to measure

because the responsibilities of the two Deputy Associate Administrator positions

established in October 1962 were never entirely clear. Certainly after the 1963

reorganization it was crystal dear that Seamans' principal subordinates for program and center management were Mudler, Newdl, and Bisplinghoff.

'* Interview with Leonard Carulli, NASA Management Analysh Division, Apr. 2, 1964.

= NASA News Release No. 63-225, Oct. 9, 1963.

= House Hearing, Brie/ing on NASA Reorganization ....

B Unless indicated otherwise, the information in this subsection is based on a Staff Paper

prepared by the Office of Administration, O_tober 1963, and titled "Adapting NASA's Organization and Management to Future Challenges."

4, Ibid., p. I-4.
REORGANIZATIONFORPROGRAMOPERATIONS 293

111
294 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

r_

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._J lk

- il [_!z -_fij, F - V2---1

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Z _
REORGANIZATION FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS 295

C/uuq_/n Headquarters. The 13 principalHeadquarters offices can be

divided, for discusmon purpcees, into three groupe. Group One consists of those

reporting to Seamans and having program execution responsibilitie_ Group

Two consists of those reporting to Seamans and having advisory, functional, and

service responsibilities directly related to NASA's aerospace program. Group

Three consists of throe _ng to Webb/Dryden.

Group One changes: The number of otfices in this group was reduced from

five to four by combining the Office of Applicatiom and the _ of Space

Sciences. The former was a small office and in the execution of its program it

employed the same launch vehicles and the same field centers as the much larger

Office of Space Sciences. The newly appointed head of the office (Robert

Garbarini)cooperatedby givingup his coequalhierarchicalstatusand agreeing

to serve under Homer Newdl, the Associate Administrator for Space Sciences and

Applicatiom. It should be recalled that Space Sciences and Applications had

been together under Silverstdn before the November 1961 reorganization.

The _ of Tracking and Data Acquisition was not stru_y altered

by the reorganization. Its head (Bucldey) retained the title of Director, signifying

that he had no field centers under him, in contrast with the three "Associate

Administrators for--." Before the reorganization, the Office of Tracking and

Data Acquisition worked directly with Goddard, Wallops, and JPL in allocating

for NASA's tracking network. After the reorganization, it had to

coordinate this effort with the Associate Administrator for Space Sciences and

Applications under whom the centers were now located.

Group Two changes: On the surface, the changes were relatively minor.

The heads of the four offices involved were all given tides of "Deputy Associate

Adminisu'ator for _.'" The Office of Administration and the Office of Defense

Affairs were not changed at alL The Office of Industry Affairs was expanded

by transferring two activities to it. The Reliability and Quality Assurance Division was transferred from the Office of Programs, and the Inventions and Contributions Board was transferred from its semiautonomous position under Webb.

It is still too early to know precisely how the functions of the Office of

Programs (now named Office of Programming) were altered as a result of the

reorganization. It would appear that the Office would do less firefighting and

solve fewer jurisdictional disputes inamnuch as Associate Administrator Seamam

became less involved in the management of NA_SA's field centers. This would

allow the Office of Prog_ to concentrate on fundamental agencywide

matters of an overall control nature. The Office wc>uld serve as "Comptroller,"

"Intermediate and Short-Range Planning Agent," and "Program Evaluation

_J_ent" all rolled into one_

The Deputy AssociateAdministrator's position was altered somewhat. Previously it was program and center oriented. In keeping with the talents of the

new incumbent (I.ingle), it was slanted more in the direction of organization and

management in generaL

The heads of the eight offices reposing to Associate Administrator Seamans
296 ADMrNvISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

were constituted as a Management Committee under the chairmanship and vice

chairmanship of Seamans and Lingle. The Committee was to "assist and advise

the Associate Administrator on agencywide management systems and on managerial, organizational, and operational matters and problems involving more

than one agency dement." ,1

Group Three changes: Several changes were made among the offices reporting directly to Webb and Dryden. The old Office of Program Planning and

Evaluation, Glennan's first organizational creation back in August 1958, was

abolished. This move had been in the mill ever since NASA canceled its longrange planning activities in early 1963. An interim substitute had been the 5-year

projections handled by the Office of Programs and Associate Administrator

Seamam. The staff of the old Office of Program Planning and Evaluation was

put under the Assistant Administrator for Technology Utilization and Policy Planning (Simpson), with the responsibility for assisting in policy formulation and

evaluation. Policy formulation and evaluation was to be the special responsibility

of a newly created Policy Planning Board made up of senior NASA officials from

Headquarters and the field. The Board was to advise the Administrator and

Deputy Administrator on fundamental policy matters.

The public affairs/technology utilization organizational pattern which evolved

in a somewhat confusing manner in 1962 was clarified by putting Public Information, Educational Programs and Services, and a Special Activities Division

(exhibits, etc.) under an Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs (Scheer).

Technological Utilization and Scientific-Technical Information, together with

the expanded policy planning activity, were placed under an Assistant Administrator for Technology UtiliTation and Policy Planning (Simpson).

Simpson was given another job as well, that, of Assistant Deputy Administrator? _ This position was established to provide overall monitorship of top-level

business while the Administrator and Deputy Administrator were away. It is too

early to say whether the Assistant Deputy Administrator will tend to become a

"layer" between Webb/Dryden and the offices directly under them. At least

such was not the intent.

The title changes announced with the reorganization (Assistant Administrators, Associate Administrators, Deputy Associate Administrators) are somewhat

confusing and unwieldy to write about. Webb suggested that fancy titles were

a psychic reward to underpaid, hard-working civil servants."

C. An Evaluation of the Reorganization

It is still too early to know what the long-range results of the reorganization

will be. Webb is quick to point out that it will not be NASA's last reorganization."

,l lbid, p. I-I 1.

" This position was originally named "Associate Deputy Administrator" but was changed

so as not to be confused with the position of "Deputy Associate Administrator."

a House Hearing, Brie_ng on NASA Reorganization . .., p. 7.

**Ibid., p. 6.
REORGANIZAT_0N FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS 297

Reconciling the conflicting rationales behind the 1961 and 1963 reorgan_adons is di_cult. The most plausible explanation is that the 1961 approach was

the best approach at the time, but that changing circumstances called for a different approach later on. The 1961 reorganization was designed to clarify the

powem of general management and prevent the development of autonomous

bureaus in NASA. To do this, many powers and activities were centralized in the

hands of the general manager. The 1963 reorganization emphasized the dispemion of power and promoted decision-making at lower org_niT_t/rm_l levels.

The 1961 reorganization emphasized cross-relationship and dual-command channell The 1963 reorganization emphasized simplified command lines with multidirectional information channeh.

The 1963 reorganization would seem to form a good basis forthe refinement

and perfection of adminim-ative processes. Command lines seem cleaner and

more easily understoodthan beforethe reorganization. Delegatiom of authority

from the Associate Administrator to the heads of the four program areas to the

center directors can be maximized. The setup would seem to give the heads of

the four program areas the authority commensurate with their respomib'dity.

This, in turn, should promote the optimizing of management and organization

within each program area. (Changes within the four program areas have not

been dealt with in this study. It should be acknowledged that those in the Office

of Manned Space Flight were far reaching and important.)

NASA moved rapidly in the formulation of basic administrative processes

based on the operating concepts and philosophy of the 1963 reorganization. I_

February 1964, a document was issued establishing basic policies and ground rules

in such areas as authorizations and appropriations, budget execution, project and

facility planning and approval, reporting, procurement, agencywide management,

functional management, etc."e

D. NASA Leadership, November 1963

A list of NASA's top leaders following the November 1963 reorganization

reveals the extent of Webb appointments in NASA Headquarters. A similar listing based on the November 1961 reorganization makes an interesting comparison'*

In the following chart, NASA officials are broken down into six groupings based

on whether they had once been part of NACA, whether Glennan had brought them

in from the outside, whether Webb had brought them in, and whether the official

was in Headquarters or a field installation. A comparison of the 1961 and 1963

charts reveals a stability in field center leadership and a large turnover in Headquarters leadership.

a NASA Basic Administrative Processes, NPC 107, February 1964.

" _ Ch. 7, Sec. V.B.
298 ADMm'XSTRATrVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

JVACA Gl_man

Headquarters ............ Dryden Seamans

*Wyatt *Newel]

*Buckley *Young

Johnson

Frutkin

Field centers (over 500 GiIruth

employees )............. Goett

Silverstein

Thompson

De.France

Bikle

Krieger

*Entered top echelons under Webb.

yon Braun

*Debus

Webb

*Simpson

*Lingle

*Mueller

rBisplinghoff

*Hilburn

*Boone

*Callaghan

*Scheer

III. WEBB'S FIRST 33 MONTHS---SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Webb had served about 33 months at the time of NASA's fifth anniversary

and its 1963 reorganization. This period was roughly comparable in length with

the 28-month administration of his predecessor, Dr. T. Keith Glennan. The two

eras were almost as different as the two men themselves. (In the following summary of NASA's accomplishments during the Webb period, frequent comparisons

are made with devdopments during the Glennan era. ) '_

A. NASA's Program

Without a doubt the most significant development during the Webb period,

and one which pervaded almost everything NASA did, was the national policy

decision to accomplish a manned lunar landing, with the time factor ( 7 to 9 years)

more important than the cost factor (anywhere from $20 to $40 billion). An

administrative history cannot reveal what would have happened had an alternate

road been taken in 1961. In view of Webb's personality and public interests, it

seems safe to assume that significant changes would have been wrought anyway,

but certainly not on the scale of those stemming from the manned lunar landing

decision.

Since the manned lunar landing tended to permeate, and in fact was designed to animate, almost everything NASA did, it is extremely difficult to appraise

changes in the rest of NASA's program. NASA's own claim that only 1 percent

of its fiscal year 1964 budget was for new programs suggests a considerable amount

of program stability. Nevertheless, there are several program developments that

show the Webb imprint.

For example, the University Program was expanded to include training and

facility grants as well as increased funding for research grants. This program

was budgeted for over $50 million in fiscal year 1964, a level over 10 times as

"See Ch. 5, Sec. V.
REORGANIZATION FOR P_ OPERATIONS 299

great as in fiscal year 1960 under Glennan. "8 The Technology Utilization Program was structured during 1962 and 1963 and budgeted at $3.5 million for fiscal

year 1964. Both prograzm have an dement of social and economic engineering

in them and represent Webb's willingness to interpret the Space Act in the broadest

possible terms. It is-conceivable that NASA-might have branched out into other

marginal space programs if the manned lunar landing had not been such a highpriority, rmource-comuming endeavor. No account is available of the valid

programwop ah

The year 1963 reprmented something of a transition point in NASA's flight

program. Prior to 1963, most of NASA's flight program was the manifestation

of pre-Webb R&D activity. The year 1964 would see the beginning of flight

missions amociated with NASA's accelerated program following the 1961 lunar

landing decision. Most of the expensive hardware being developed would not fly

until 1966 and after. During 1963, NASA attempted only 13 major launches,

which was about half the total for 1962 and far below the 34 to 42 launches that

had originally been scheduled for the year." This development represented slippages because of technical difficulties and cancellations because of budget difficulties. The final story of this has yet to be revealed. Of the 13 major launch

attempts, 5 were in the "applications" category (meteorology and communications), 3 in the scientific earth satellite category, 2 each in the vehicle development

(Saturn and Centaur ) and "reentry" categories, and 1 in the manned flight category (Cooper's 22-orbit mission). Not a single lunar and planetary launch was

made. There was no major launch for a 4-month period between July 26 and

November26, 19¢3.

NASA's extensive fiscal year 1963 reprogramlng, its 1963 reorganization, and

the revision of its 1963 flight program all point to 1963 as a period of shakedown.

In March 1963, Webb declared that NASA was in "... the process of shaking

down into a hard-boiled capably managed operation a total organization that has

doubled every year for the past 5 years_.... ,, 50

In any case, NASA's major program accomplishments during Webb's fi_t

33 months must be measured not in its fright program but in the momentum gained

toward the accomplishment of flight minions during the last half-decade of the

1960's.

8. oq_iz_ mi Admi__ Clm_S,s

Under Glennan, NASA went from the 8,000 NACA core to 16,000

employees, with over half of the increase coming from mass transfers from other

agencies. During a comparable period under Webb, numbers increased from

16,000 to 30,000. During its first 28 months, NASA obligated $1,250 million.

During Webb's first 33 months, obligations totaled $6,670 million.

a The tenfold increase is a rough estimate, aJ data is not directly comparable. (Compare

Senate Hearings, NASA Authorizatio, [or Fiscal Year 1960, p. 708, with House Hearings, 1964

NASA Authorization, p. 76. )

See Seaman's testimony, House Hearings, 1965 NASA Authorization, p. 92.

** House Hearings, 1964 NASA Authorization, p. 22.
300 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

NASA's outward structural appearance changed dramatically during the

formative years under Glennan as new program offices were formed and new field

centers established. Changes resulting from expansion continued under Webb,

but, in addition, numerous changes resulted from rearranging the existing

organization.

General Management Powers Clarified. Glennan's objective of molding a

unified agency out of four previously separate units (NACA, the Vanguard Division of the Naval Research Laboratory, the Development Operations Division of

the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) was not

achieved in full. Webb's arrival provided a good opportunity to take one more

significant step---that of bringing the entire agency more closely under the control

of general management. Thus the establishment of the Office of Programs in

June 1961 and the agency's reorganization in November 1961 represented the

high-water mark of NASA as a centralized organization.

It is probably a natural tendency for a new Administrator to want to make

sure the reins of authority are firmly in his grasp. Once this "feeling" is estal>

lished, the reins can be loosened. The November 1963 reorganization represented

the loosening of the reins as held by general management. Whether or not

general management had ever truly established its complete authority in NASA

is debatable, as NASA's rapid growth tended to outpace efforts for central control.

NASA's Goals P_de[ined. At the same time that NASA, under Webb,

was clarifying the role of general management, the very objectives of the agency

itself were being clarified. As stated before, the national policy decision on a

manned lunar landing before 1970 was the single most important event in NASA's

history. The effect, in terms of agency growth and administrative and program

problems, taxed the entire agency's problem-solving ability.

NASA's Expanding Program Organized and Managed. Right after NASA

was established, a sizable expansion of its program took place. Following the

1961 program acceleration, the cycle was repeated and many of the same approaches were used, only on a larger scale. Under Glennan, NASA decided to

give U.S. industry the major role in aerospace R&D. The same policy was

followed under Webb and in almost an unbelievably short period of time several

contractors were selected for multimillion-dollar R&D contracts. Contracting

policies and procedures deemed so important under Glennan took on even more

significance as a result of NASA's multibi]lion-doUar budgets.

Even though out-of-house efforts expanded faster, in-house expansion was

substantial. All NASA field centers grew by at least 50 percent and many of

them doubled, tripled, or more. Several centers were changed substantially.

One center, the Space Task Group housed at the Langley Research Center in

Virginia, was moved to Houston and greatly expanded. Another unit at Cape

Canaveral was made independent and greatly expanded. In addition, the already

large Marshall Center was expanded by establishing facilities near New Orleans

(Michoud Operations) and southwestern Mississippi (the Mississippi Test

Facility). During the 33-month Webb period under discussion, NASA obligated
REORGAN_TION FOR P_0GRAM OPF.JtATIONS 301

over $1 billion for the construction of facilities, six times as great as during NASA's

tirst 28 month& Many of the facilities were to be used by NASA contractors

and thus located in diverae places.

Managing the accelerated program was NASA's fundamental administrative

problem. It is still too early to evaluate NASA's success in this. NASA faced

one severe problem that is basic to good management; namely, securing good

manager& The turnover in two crucial areas (the Manned Space Flight

in Headquarters and the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston) was substantial

The type of manage_ needed (someone who can integrate in-house and out-43fhouse efforts and also cooperate with other segments of the organization) was not

easy to come by. Webb was fond of saying that NASA's most significant achievemerits were in pulling together the team of individuals to do the job. _

NASA did not achieve timely solutions to all of its problems in the areas of

administrative relationships and administrative procedures. As stated before, the

November 1963 reorganization could be viewed in part as the abandonment of

a 2-year centralization experiment that did not work out as planned. The slowing

down in N,ASA's rate of expansion may give NASA an opportunity to bring a

lot of freewheeling activity under control. The decentralization accompanying

the November 1963 reorganization may permit more efficient handling of detail

without loss of fundamental central control.

Some S_ and Contfimity Had To Be M_ NASA, growing

as it initially did on a piecemeal basis, always had a past to contend with.

Preserving what was good from the past naturally was desired. Dazing the

Glennan era, NASA attempted to retain some of NACA's good qualities by keeping

research activity and development activity separated from one another, even to

the point where particular centers were earmarked to concentrate on one or the

other. The old NACA labs were kept largely intact. After the manned lunar

landing decision, the press of developmental work forced the labs to step up their

work in development. The labs were allowed to grow in size. Under Glennan

the total personnel in NACA's four principal field centers (Langley, Ames, Lewis,

Flight) stayed constant at about 7,800. 52 In 33 months under Webb, the figure

moved up to 11,800, an increase of 50 percent. Thus even the most stable portion

of NASA had to change considerably. The story of the transition of the old

NACA labs to NASA research centers, devoting most of their efforts to space work,

has yet to be told.

Much continuity was afforded by NASA's ability to hang on to its employees,

even though temptations to go with private industry were substantial. Continuity

in leadership was substantial, except for some areas in the dynamic and fastchanging manned space flight program.

An expanding and interesting program, opportunities for promotion, relatively high salaries (for pubfic officials, that is), and other similar factor, all

helped foster a high level of morale among NASA employees. Whether NASA

For example, see Webb statement quoted in Space Business Daily, Jan. 3, 1964, p. 10.

u Actual figures went from 7,786 to 7,796. In the interim, however, about 700 personnel

had been transferred en me.me to other centers (STG and Wallops).
302 ADMINISTRATIVEHISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

has created a long-range environment for employee creativity has yet to be

determined.

C. NASA in Transition

Late 1963 has been selected as the terminal point for this study. Although

any breaking point in the story of an ongoing organization is somewhat arbitrary,

some breaking points are better than others. By late 1963, NASA had passed

its 5-year milestone. The program with which the American public was most

familiar, Project Mercury, had been successfully completed. NASA's period of

rapid growth had turned the comer. Congressional oversight of NASA was

tightening up. NASA reorganized itself by combining the best of its two previous

organizational arrangements.

An additional factor pointing to late 1963 as a good breaking point in NASA's

administrative history was the untimely death of President Kennedy. His May

25, 1961, challenge to the Nation, reinforced by his speech at Rice University

in September 1962, set the tone for NASA's endeavors. It was symbolically

fitting to have the place from which the United States would launch its lunar

spaceships named after him. On November 29, 1963, President Johnson signed

an Executive Order renaming U.S. facilities at Cape Canaveral the John F.

Kennedy Space Center. On December 20, 1963, Administrator Webb redesignated NASA's Launch Operations Center as the John F. Kennedy Space Center,

NASA.

It is too early to ascertain the precise effects on NASA and the space program of Lyndon Johnson's assumption of the Presidency. On the basis of past

events, it seems safe to assume that White House support will stay firm. Johnson

has been close to the space program for many years. In 1957, while Senator

and Majority Leader, he headed the first congressional investigation of the U.S.

space program following Sputnik, and became the Nation's most outspoken advocate of an accderated program. In 1958 he chaired the ad hoc Special Committee on Space and Astronautics which helped write the Space Act. He also

became chairman of the standing Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space

Sciences. He led a successful Senate floor action to get an appropriation for

NASA that was larger than NASA's request. In the 1960 campaign he was the

chief Democratic spokesman on space matters. President Kennedy had the

Space Act amended so that Vice President Johnson rather than himself would

head the National Aeronautics and Space Council. As Space Council Chairman,

he helped lay the groundwork for the manned lunar l.anding decision in 1961.

He had a hand in James Webb's appointment as NASA Administrator and Hugh

Dryden's retention as Deputy Administrator.

Even as President Kennedy symbolized the action of getting the Nation

moving rapidly forward in space and the national aspirations associated with it,

so might President Johnson symbolize the era which NASA is now entering--

that of hardheaded realism and sure-footed operations.
APPENDIXES

215-892 0-66--21
APPENDIX A

THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS

AMENDED

The copy of the National Aeronautics and Space Act which follows was prepared by the staff of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and

includes amendments through the end of the 87th Congress, October 13, 1962. The

same text has been incorporated into the NASA Management Manual (General

Management Instruction 1-2-1A, March 17, 1964). Minor amendments have been

indicated by brackets (deleted language) and italics (new language). Section 201

was extensively changed in 1961. The original text of Section 201 has been appended

together with related legislation affecting the Space Act.

304
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED 305

roomm"J_s x,m:w_]

NATIONAL AERONAITFICS AND SPACE

ACT, AS AMENDED

ANACT

To im_vide for research into problems of flight within and outside

the earth's atmosl_e_ and for ocher purposes

Be it ena¢_ by the 8_t_ a_t House of Rep,zs¢_

a_es of the. U,tlt_ St_,ez of A_ _, Oong_u

aswmSh_t,

TITLE I--SHORT TITLE, DE_TION OF _

POLICY, AND DEFINrrIONS _

SBc. 101. This Act may be cited as the "National

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958".

DECLARATION OF POLICY AND

S_c. 102. (a) The CongTess hereby declares that it is ,2U.S.C. 2,SL

the policy of the United States that activities in space

should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of

all mankind.

an_b) The Congress declares that the general welfare

security of the United States require that ad.equate

provision be made for aeronautical and space activities.

The Congress fu .r_her declares that such activities shall

be the responsibility of, and shall be directed by, a civiliau agency exercising control over aeronautical and

space activities sponsored by the United States, except

that activities peculiar to or primarily associated with

the development of weapons systems, military operations, or the defense of the United States (including the

research and development necessary to make effective

provision for the defense of the United States) shall be

the responsibility of, and shall be directed by, the Department of Defense; and that determination as to which

such agency has responsibility for and direction of any

such activity shall be made by the President in confortuitywith section201(e). _ s_.t.
ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

(c) The aeronautical and space activities of the

United States shall be conducted so as to contribute

materially to one or more of the following objectives:

(1) The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space;

(2) The improvement of the usefulness, performance. speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical

and space vehicles;

(3) The development and operation of vehicles

capable o_ carrying instruments, equipment, supplies, and living organisms through space;

(4) Th.e _ta_!ishment of long-range studies of

the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for

peaceful and scientific purposes;

5) The preservation of the role of the United

States as a leader in aeronautical and space science

and technology and in the application thereof to the

conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the

atmosphere;

(6) The making available to agencies directly

concerned with national defense of discoveries that

have military value or significance, and the furnishing by such agencies, to the civilian agency established to direct and control nonmilitary aeronautical

and space activities, of information as to discoveries

which have value or significance to that agency;

(7) Cooperation by the United States with other

nations and groups of nations in work done pursu_ an.t

to this Act and in the peaceful application of the

results thereof; and

(8) The most effective u_ation of the scientific

and engineering resources of the United States,

with close coope_ration among all interested agencies

of the United States in order to avoid unnecessary

duplication of effort, facilities, and equipment.

(d) It is the purpose of this Act to carry out and

effectuate the policies declared in subsections (a), (b),

and (c).

DEFINITIONS

SF_C.103. As used inthisAct-

(l) the tom "aeronauticaland space activities"

means (A) researchinto,and the solutionof,problems of flightwithin and outsidethe earth'satmospher_ (B) the development, construction, testing,

and operation for research purposes of aeronauticaI

and space vehicles, and (C) such other activities as

may be required for the exploration of space; and

(9.) the term "aeronautical and space vehicles"

means aircraft, missiles, satellites, and other space

vehicles, manned and unmanned, together with related equipment, devices, compon .ents_ and parts.
NAT_NAL AF..RONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

TITLE H--C00RDINATION OF

AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE AC'rlVITLES

I_AT_0NAL A]_0NAUTIC8 AND SPACE COUNCDL,

Sic. 201. (a) Them is hereby established, in the Executive Office ofthe President; the National Aaronantics

and Space Council (hareinaX_r called the "Council")

which shallbe composed of-

(1) the Vice President, who shall be Chairman

of the Council;

(s)theSecretaryof State;

(3) the Secretary of I)efense;

(4) the Administratorof the NationalAeronautics. and Space Administration;and

.(5) the Chairman of the Atomic Energy ComI_ISslon.

(b) The President shall from time to time designate

one of the members of the Council to preside over meetings of the Council during the absence, disability, or

unavailability of the Chairma_

(c) Each member of the Council may designate another officer of his department or agency to serve on the

Council as his alternate in his unavoidable absence.

tio(nd) Each alternate member designated under subeec_

(c) of thissection shallbe designatedto serve as

such by and with the advice and consent of the Senate

unless at the time of his designation he holds an odice in

the Federal Government to which he was appointed by

mad with the advice and consent of the Sena_

e) It shall be the function of the Council to advise

assist the President, as he may request, with respect

to the perfornmnce of functionsin the aeron&uticsand

space field, including the following functions:

(1) survey all significant aerormutical and space

activities, including the policies, plans, programs,

and accomplishments of all departments and agencies of the United States engaged in such activi_es;

(2) develop a comprehensive program of sero-

;:_ U._C. _1_71) was amended April _, 1961, by Public Law 87-26.

7.6 S_tat. 40, to_p/ace the National Aeronauti_ and 8paee Council within

the _reeuuv_ O_eo of the l_mident ; to remove the Pros/dent from the

Counefl and f_rom the _R_!-m_n!hip thereof and replace him with the Vice

President L to provide that the Council shall be composed at the Vies Pros/-

dent. the _ea_tary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator

of the National Aecomauties ud Space Administration, and the C'na/rman

of the Atomic Enerly Commis_on ; to remove from the Counefl the addltional Government member o£ the Council appointed by the Prss/d_at and

the _ eivilltm scientific members also appointed by the President

unoer me previous law ; to authorize the President to des/gnate other

Council members to act as Chairman when the Vice President is absent

or otherwise unavailable ; to enlarge the role of the Council by removing

the language which makes it the specific duty of the President to formulate .the national space program and to add language requiring the Council

"essmt" the t-resident in the "performance of functions in the aeronautics

and space field" : to broaden the duty of the Council to help provide for

cooperation between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

and the .Department of Defense to include cooperation "among all departmenrs an o agencies of the United. States engaged in aeronautical and space

act_.,.vities'" ; to repeal the provmzon authorizinar per diem compensation to

c_vumn members of the Counc/L See part II of appendlx for orlsinal

language of See.

307

8m

42 U.LC. _47L

TB _ 47.

TI_ lgat. 46.

r
308

Employees

eempeneetion.

68 Stet. 954.

5 U.S.C. 1071.

Seeurl_

ebeek.

72 Sgat. 428.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

nautical and space activities to be conducted by departments and agencies of the United States;

(3) designate and fix responsibility for the direction of mamr aeronautical and space activities;

(4) provide for effective cooperation among all

departments and agencies of the United States engfyaged in aeronautical and space activities, and spec-

, in any case in which primary responsibility for

any category of aeronautical and space activities

has. been assigned...to any de artment, or agency,

which of those acUvmes may _ carried on concurrentlv by other deuart, m_nt._ or A._,_r.;_. _,_

(5i resolve differences arising_'-amon'g--clepart -

ments and agencies of the United States with respect

to aeronautical and space activities under this Act,

including differences as to whether a pax_icular

project is an aeronautical and space activity.

' (f) The Council may employ a staffto be headed by a

civilian executive secretary who shall be appointed by

the President by and with the advice and consent of the

Senate and shall receive compensation at the rate of

$20,000 a year. The executive secretary, subject to the

direction of the Council, is authorized to appoint and

fix the compensation of such personnel, including not

more than [three] seven 2persons who may be appointed

without regard to the civil-service laws or the Classification Act of 1949 and compensated at the rate of not more

than $19,000 a year, as may be necessary to perform such

duties as may be prescribed by the Council m connection

with the performance of its functions. Each appointment under this subsection shall be subject to the same

se:c.urity requirements as those established for personnel

of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

appointed under section 203(b) (2) of this Act. Other

provisions o/law or regulations relating to Gover_ment

e_ployment (except those relating to pay and retiremerit) shall apply to council employees reporting, directly to the chai_'m_zn to the extent that suvh prov_sions

are applicable to employees in the o?_ce of the Vize

President. n

r(g) Members of the Council appointed from private

life under subsection (a) (7) may be compensated at a

rate not to exceed $100 per diem, and may i_e paid travel

expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence in accordance

with the provisions of section 5 of the Administrative

Expenses. Act of 1946 (5 U.S.C. 731>-2) relating to persons serving without compensation.]

SBee. 201(f) of the National Aeronautics and Spate Act of 1958 (72

Star. 428; 42 U.S.C.. 2471(f))_, was amended October 4, 1961, by Public

_aw 87-867aumo_zmg me Jsxeeutive Secretory of the National Aeronautics ana _paee uouneil to employ not to exceed seven persona at rates

or annual compensation or not to exceed $19,000, instead of three as

formerly authorised. (See appendix A.)

• See appendix A, Publle IAw 87-584, see. 7. (75 Stet. 885.)
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

_A_O_AL A_ONA_CS _ S_A_ AD__O_

SEc. 202. (a) There is hereby established the Natio_nal

Aeronautics and Space A_ion (hereinafter

called the "Administration"). The A_tration shall

be headed by an Administrator, who shall be appointed

from civilian lffe by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at the into of $22,500 per annum. Under the

supervision and direction of the President, the Administrator shall be responsible for the exercise of all powers

and the discharge of all duties of the Administration,

and shall have authority and control over all personnel

and activities.thereof.

(b) There shah be in the Administration a Deputy

Administrator, who shall be appointed from civilian life

by the President by and with the advice and consent of

the Senate, shall receive compensation at the rate cf

$21,500 per annum, and shah perform such duties and

exercise such powers as the Administrator may prescribe.

The Deputy Administrator shah act for, and exercise the

powers of, the Administrator during his absence or disability.

(c) The Administrator and the Deputy Administrator

shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment wliileservingas such.

FUNCTION8 (IF THE ADI_EI_'I$T2ATIOm"

SEc. 203. (a) The Administration, in order to carry

outthe purpose of thisAct,shall-

(l) plan, direct, and conduct aeronautical and

space activities;

(2) arrange for participation by the s_ientific

community in planning scientific measurements and

observations to be made through use of aeronautical

and space vehicles, and conduct or arrange for the

conduct of such measurements and observations; and

(3) provide for the widest practicable and app mpriate dissemination of information concerning its

activities and the results thereof.

(b) In the performance of its functions the Administration is authorized--

(1) to make, promulgate, issue, rescind, and

amend rules and regulations governing the manner

of its operations and the exerc_ of the powers vested

in it by law;

(2) to appoint and fix the compensation of such

officersandemployees as may be necessaryto carry

out such function_ Such officersand employees

shall be appointed in accordance with the civil-service laws and their compensation fixed in accordance

with the Classification Act of 1949, except that (A)

to the extent the Administrator deems such action

necessaryto the discharge of his responsibilities, he

309

72 SUtt. _'_7.

a2 U.S.C. 2472..

A_a_gstmtor,

B_-k'tioL

42 U.S.C. 2473,

RUi_ au6

ma_latlom_

lmplo_ma

68 Star.

5 U.S.C. 1071
310

72 8taL 429.

22 Stat. 480.

Acquisition

of property.

NASA.

Learn of

bulldlnp.

72 BUtt. 480.

42 U.8.C. 9478.

19 Star. 870.

78 B/at. 21.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASAj 1958--1963

may appoint and fix the compensation (up to a limit

of $19,000 a year, or up to a limit of $21,000 a year

for a maximum of [thirteen] thirty 8 positions) of

not more than [two hundred and sixty] four hundred and twenty-five (of which not to ezeceed three

hundred and fifty-five may be filled prior to March

1, 196_ and not to e_ceed three hundred and ninety

may be filled Frior to July 1,196B)" of the scientific,

engineering, and administrative personnel of the Administration without regard to such laws, and (B)

to the extent the Administrator deems such action

necessary to recruit specially qualified scientific and

en_neering talent, he may establish the entrance

grade for scientific and engineering personnel without previous service in the Federal Government at

a level up to two grades higher than the grade provided for such personnel under the General Schedule

established by the Classification Act of 1949, and fix

their compensation accordingly;

(3) to acquire (by purchase, lease, condemnation,

or otherwise), construct, improve, repair, operate,

and maintain laboratories, research and testing sites

and facilities, aeronautical and space vehicles, quarters and related accommodations for employees and

dependents of employees of the Administration, and

such other real and personal property (including

patents), or any interest therein, as the Administration deems necessary within and outside the continental United States; to acquire by Zeaze or otherwise, through the Adrain_strator of General Se_wices, buSldings or parts of buildlngs in the Dist_t

of Co_r_b_z for the use of the Admlnistration/or

a period not to e_ceed te_ years without regargto

the Act of March 3,1877 (1,0 U.S.C. 35) ; _ to lease to

others such real and personal property; to sell and

otherwise dispose of real and personal property (including patents and rights thereunder) in accord-

• See appendix A, Public Law 87-554, Bee. 7. (76 Stat. 885.)

"As originally enacted see. 203(b)(2) of the National Aeronautl_

and Space Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 429; 42 U.S.C. 2478(b)(2)) authoriseu

the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

to *'appoint and fix the compenuflon (up to a limit of $19,000 a year,

or up to a limit of $21,000 a year for a maximum of ten positions) of not

more than two hundred and alxty of the selentific, engineering, and

_'i_l :tnLadawfli_e6-4_:__i_ SI_at: _'ir_fgn d_d:!ht ,h,?¢areAng:tIsn_tfrb_:s_terlolultn gl.?_

hundred and sixty _' and inserting in lieu thereof "two hundred and

ninety." Thereafter, see. 206(a) of the act of October 4, 1961, Public

Law "87-367, 75 Stat. 791 amended the foregoing again by striking out

"thirteen," and inserting in lieu thereof "thirty", and by strikin,g out

"two hundred and ninety" and inserting in lieu thereof "four hundred

and twenty-five (of which not to exceed three hundred and fifty-five

may be filled prior to March 1, 1962 and not to exceed three hundred

and ninety may he filled prior to July 1, 1962)". Sec. 206(b) also

requires the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to submit to the uonlrresa at the close of each fiscal year pertinent information ¢oneerntng the individuals obtained to fill these

po_sitions. (See appendix A.) See. 203(b)(3) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

(72 Star. 429; 42 U.S.C. 2473) was amended May 18 1959 by Public

Law 86-20, 78 Stat. 21, to authorize.the National Aero_'autles and Space

&dministration to lease omce space in the District of Columbia through

the Administrator of General Servicea for a period not to exceed ten years.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

ance with the provisions of the Federal Property

and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended

(40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.) ; and to provide by contract

or otherwise for cafeterias and other necessar_ facilities for the welfare of employees of the Administration at its installations and purchase and maintain

equipment therefor;

(4) to accept unconditional gifts or donations of

servlcys, money, or+ p_l_.y , real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible;

_ (5) without regard to section 3648 of the Revised

_tatutes, as amended (31 U.S.C. 529), to enter into

and perform such contracts, leases, cooperative

agreements, or other transactions as may be necessary m the conduct of its work and on such terms

as it may deem appropriate, with any agency or

instrumentality of the United States, or with any

State, Territory, or possession, or with any political

subdivision thereof, or with any person, firm, association, corporation, or educational institution. To

the maximum extent practicable and consistent with

the accomplishment of the purpose of this Act, such

contracts, leases, agreements, and other transactions

slmll be allocated by the Administrator in a mauner

which will enable small-bnsiness concerns to participate equitably and proportionately in the conduct of

the work of the Administration;

(6) to use, with their consent, the services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of Federal and other

agencies with or without reimbursement, and on a

similar basis to cooperate with other public and private agencies and instrumentalities in the use of

serviees, equipment, and facilities. Each department and agency of the Federal Government shall

cooperate fully with the Administration in _ma_king

its services, equipment, personnel, and facilities

available to the Administration, and any such department or ag_. cy is authorized, notwithstanding

any omer provision of law, to transfer to or to receive

from the Administration, without reimbursement,

aeronautical and space vehicles, and supplies and

equipment other than administrative supplies or

equipment;

• (7) to aP_0int such advisory committees as may

be approprmte for purposes of consultation and

advice to the Administration in the performance of

its functions;

(8) to establish within the Administration such

offices and procedures as may be appropriate to

provide for the greatest possible coordination of

its aotivitie_ under this Act with related scientific

and other activities being carried on by other public

and private agencies and organizations;

n m_tt. _IT.

GL_a

Coord_atio_

8tzt. _.

311
312

72 fltat. 481.

60 Star. 810.

Employment

of aliens.

Retired

omeerL

68 8tit. 1,8.

_ts.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

(9) to obtain services as authorized by section 15

of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 U.S.C. 55a), at rates

not to exceed $100 per diem for individuals;

(10) when determined by the Administrator to

be necessary, and subject to such security investigations as he may determine to be appropriate, to

employ aliens without regard to statutory provisions

prohibiting payment of compensation to aliens;

(11) to employ retired commissioned officers of

the armed forces of the United States and compensate them at the rate established for the positrons

occuvied by them within the Administration, subject

only-to the- limitations in pay set forth in section 212

of the Act of June 30, 1932, as amended (5 U.S.C.

59a) ;

(12) with the approval of the President, to enter

into cooperative agreements under Which members

of the Amy, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps

may be detailed by the appropriate Secretary for

services in the performance of functions under this

Act to the same extent as that to which they might be

lawfully assigned in the Department of Defense;

[and:]

(13) (A) to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, settle, and pay, on behalf of the United States,

in full satisfaction thereof, any claim for $5,000 or

less against the United States for bodily injury,

death, or damage to or loss of real or personal property, resulting _rom the conduct of the Administration s functions as specified in subsection (a) of this

section, where such claim is presented to the Administration in writing within two years after the accident or incident out of which the claim arises; and

(B) if the Administration considers that a claim

in excess of $5,000 is meritorious and would otherwise be covered by this paragraph, to report the

facts and circumstances thereof to the Congress for

its consideration[.]; and

(1_ ) to reiraburse, to the ewtent determined by the

Ad_lvinist_tor or his designee to be fair and masonable, the owners and _nants of land and .interests in

land acquired on or after November 1, 1961, by the

United States for use by the Administration by purchase, condemnation, or otherzoise for eoopenses and

losses and damages incurred by such owners and

tenants as a direct _s_lt of moving therasehoes, their

families, and their possessions because of said acquisition. Such reimbursement shall be in addition

to, but not .in duplication of, any payments that may

otherwise be authorized by law to .be vn_ade to such
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED 313

ow_rs and tenant_. The total of an_ such r_mburs_nent to any oum_ or tenant 8hail in no ev_

e_ce_d _5, per centum of the fai_ va_, as de_

by the Administrator, of the parcel of land or intz_st _ Za_ to wMc_ the _mT_'sem_ is _lat_.

No paymen_-u_der this paragraph shall be made unleas _ therefor, suppor_l by an itemized

statonent of the e_ae_es, _osses, and damages incurred, is _d to the Administrator within

one year front (a) the date upon _i_h the parcel

of land or interest in land is to be vacate_ tmd_

agreement with the Government by the owner or

totant or pur_nt to law, including but not limited

to, an order of a court, or (b ) the date upon wMch

the parcel of land or interest in the land involved is

vacated, whichever first occurs. The Admi_stmtor may perfm_ any and all acts and mahe such

_Zes end regu_ion, as he deem_ necessary and

proper for the purpose of carryi_y out this paragraph. All fmwtions performed under this paragraph shall be ezempt from the operation of the Act

of Jume 11, 191_6, as amended (5 U.S.C. 1001-I011)"

ezcept as to the requirements of section 3 of said

Act. Fumts available to the Administration for

the ac_ulsition of real property or i_tterests therein

sha_ also be a_ail_bZe for caring out this pa_-

g_phJ

GIVILIAN-MIIATAr/" I.JAISO_ COl_t'l'2"gl$

SEc. 204. (a) Them shM1 be a Civilian-Military Liaison Committee consisting of__

(1) a Chairman, who shall be the head thereof

and who shall be appointed by the President, shall

serve at the pleasure of the President, and shall

receive compensation (in the manner provided in

subsection (d)) at the rote of $20,000 per annum;

(2) one or more representatives from the Department of Defense, and one or more representatives

from each of the Departments of the Army, Navy,

and Air Force, to be assigned by the Secretary of

Defense to serve on the Committee without addition-

(3) representatives from the Administration, to

be assigned by the Administrator to serve on the

Committee without additional compensation, equal

in number to the number of representatives assigned

to serve on the Committee under paragraph (2).

41 UJl.r. ZCr4,

• U.8.C. 1001-1011 is the Administrative Procedure Act.

' See. 6 of Publie Law 87--584 ; 76 Star. 382 (see appeudix A) amends

the Space Act to pro v4.de for the _el_abursement of moving expezmes incurred by owner_ and tenants of lan_ acquired by NASA.
314

72 StaL 4SI.

72 Btat. 482.

Chairman.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

(b) The Administration and the Department of Defense, through the Liaison Committee, shall advise and

consult with each other on all matters within their respective jurisdictions relating to aeronautical and space

activities and shall keep each other fully and currently

informed with respect to such activities.

(c) If the Secretary of Defense concludes that any

request, action, proposed action, or failure to act on the

part of the Administrator is adverse to the responsibilities of the Department of Defense, or the Administrator

concludes that any request, action, proposed action, or

is adverse to the responslbihtles of the Admmzstratzon,

and the Administrator and the Secretary of Defense are

unable to reach an agreement with respect thereto,

either the Administrator or the Secretary of Defense

may refer the matter to the President for his decision

(which shall be final) as provided in section 201(e).

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law,

any active or retired officer of the Army, Navy, or Air

Force may serve as Chairman of the Liaison Committee

without prej udice to his active or retired status as such

officer. The compensation received by any such officer

for his service as Chairman of the Liaison Committee

shall be equal to the amount (if any) by which the compensation fixed by subsection (a) (1) for such Chairman

exceeds his pay and allowances (including special and

incentive pays) as an active officer, or his retired pay.

42 U.B.C. 247_.

INTE]L_ATIONAL COOPERATIO]¢

S_.o. 205. The Administration, under the foreign policy guidance of the President, may engage in a program

of international cooperation in work done pursuant to

this Act, and in the peaceful application of the results

thereof, pursuant to agreements made b_ the President

with the advice and consent of the Senate.

REPOR'I_ TO THE ODNG]L_P, SB

Sec. 206. (_) The Administration shall submit to the

President for transmittal to the Congress, semiannually

and at such other times as it deems desirable, a report of

its activities and accomplishments.

(b) The President shall transmit to the Congress in

January of each year a report, which shall include (1) a

comprehensive description of the pro_ramed activities

and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United

States in the field of aeronautics and space activities during the preceding calendar year, and (2) an evaluation

of such activities and accomplishments in terms of the
NA'I'iONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT_ AS AMENDED

att_.inment of! or the failure to attain, the objectives described in section 102(c) of this Act.

(c) Any report made under this section shall contain

such recommendations for additional legislation as the

Administrator or the President nmy consider necessary

or desirable for the attainment of the objectives described

in section 102(c) of this Act.

(d) No information which has been classified for

reasons of national security shall be included in any report made under this sectlon, unless such information

has been declassified by, or pursuant to authorization

given by, the President.

TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS

315

_ATIONAL AD_ COMMI'rI'gE FOR AEmONAU'r[(_

Szo. 301. (a) The National Advisory Committee for _m_

&eronautic_ on the effective date of this section, shall _*e

_eae to exist. On such date all functions, powers, duties,

and obligations, and all real and personal property, perrunnel (other than membe.rs of the Committee), funds,

Lnd records of that organizatmn, sludl be transferred to

the Administration.

(b) Section 2302 of title 10 of the United States Code

_s amended by st "nking out "or the Executive _ Yoz s_-t. lrr. of Committeefor

and.mserting m lieu thereof "or the Administrator of the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration."; and

section 2303 of such title 10 is mended by striking out

"The NationaJ Advisory Committee for Aeronautics."

and "mserti_ in lieu thereof "The National Aeronautics

and Space Agmini_tiom"

(c) The first section of the Act of A ub_... _6. 1950 (5 _ smt ,Y_

_U.S.C. 22-1), is amended by striking out the Director, _st*tsmt.4z_

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics" and inserting in lieu thereof "the Administrator ofthe National

Aeronautics and Space Administration", and by strikin_

out "or National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics _

and "mserti_ in lieu thereof "or National Aeronautics

and S_lZ_CeAdministration".

(d) The Unitary W'md Tunnel Plan Act of 1.949 (50

U_.C. 511-515) is amended (1) by striking. out "The

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (herein- u st_L

after referred to as the 'Committee')" and inserting in

lieu thereof "The Administrator of the National Aeronautics an,d Space Administration (hereinafter referred

to as the Administrator')_'; (2) by striking out "Committee" or "Committee's" wherever they appear and inserting in lieu thereof "Administrator" and "Administrator's", respectively; and (3) by striking out "its"

wherever it appears and inserting m lieu thereof "his".
316

]la_eetlve

date.

Publieat/on

in F.R.

42 U.S.C. 2453.

42 U.B.C. 2454.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASAj 1958--1963

(e) This section shall take effect ninety days after

the date of the enactment of this Act, or on any earlier

date on which the Administrator shall determine, and

announce by proclamation published in the Federal Register, that the Administratl"on has been organized andis

prepared to discharge the duties and exercise the powers

conferre_l upon it by this Act.

TRANSFER OF RELATED FUNCTIONS

Sv.c. 302. (a) Subject to the provisions of this section,

the President, for a period of four years after the da._ of

enactment of tilts ACt, may transter to me Aarmms_ration any functions (including powers, duties, activities,

facilitie.% and parts of functions) of any other department or agency of the United States, or of any officer or

organizational entity thereof, which relate primarily to

the functions, powers, and duties of the Administration

as prescribed by .section 203 of this Act. In connection

wit-h any such transfer, the President may, under this

section or other applicable authority, provide for appropriate transfers of records, property, civilian personnel,

and funds.

(b) Whenever any such transfer is made before January 1, 1959, the President shall transmit to the Speaker

of the House of Representatives and the President pro

tempore of the Senate a full and complete report concem)ing the nature and effect of such transfer.

(c) After December 31, 1958, no transfer shall be

made under this section until (1) a full and complete reimrt concerning the nature and effect of such l_ropo__

transfer lms been transmitted by the President to the

Congress, and (2) the first period of sixty calendar days

of regular session of the Congress following the date of

receipt of such report by the Congress_ has expired without the adoption by the Congress of a concurrent resolution stating that the Congress does not favor such

transfer.

ACCESS TO IN'FORMATION

S_c. 303. Information obtained or developed by the

Administrator in the performance of his functions under

this Act shall be ma_le available for public inspection ,

except (A) information authorized or required by Federal statute to be witldmld, mid (B) information classified to protect the national security: P_'_wided, That

nothing in this Act shall authorize the withholding of

information by the Administrator from the duly autl_orized committees of theCa)ngress.
NATIONAL AFJt0NAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMF._qDP.D

BECURrrY

Sr_. 304. (.a) The Administrator shall establish such

curity reqmrements, restrictions, and safeguards as he

ms necessary in the interest of the national security.

The Administrator may arrange with the Civil Service

Commission fo_ the conduct of such security or other

personnel investigations of the Administration's officers,

employees, and consultants, and its contractors and subcontractors and their officers and employees, actual or

prospective, as he deems appropriate; and if any such

investigation develops any data reflecting that the indi_

vid ual who is the subject thereof is of questionable loyalty the matter shall be referred to the Federal Bureau of

Investigation for the conduct of a full field investigation.

the results of which shall be furnished to the Adminis_

42_ll|lre_snt_

.S.C. 2455.

72 Star. 433.

T2 Stat. 434.

F.IL

tra_r.

(b) The Atomic Energy Commission may authorize zmmto

any of i.ts employees, or employees of any contractor, AnCmmtet.

pr__pective .contractor, licensee,. .or prospective licensee

of the .A_mlc Energy Commmslon or any other person

authorized to have access to Restricted Data by the

Atomic Energy Commission under subsection 145b. of

the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2165(b)), ast,t**z

to permit any member, officer, or employee of the Council, or the Administrator, or any officer, employee, member of an advisory committee, contractor, subeontractor,

or officer or employee of a contractor or subcontractor of

the Administration, to have access to Restricted Data

relating to aeronautical and space activities which is required m the performance of his duties and so certified

by the Council or the Administrator, as the case may be,

but only if (1) the Council or Administrator or designee

thereof has determined, in accordance with the estabhed personnel security procedures and standards of the

uncil or Administration, that permitting such individual to have access to such Restricted Data will not

endange, r the common defense and security, and (2) the

Council or Administrator or designee thereof finds that

the established personnel and other security procedures

and standards of the Council or Administration are adeUate and in reasonable conformity to the standards

fished bythe Atomic Energy Commission under section 145 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U_.C.

2165). Any individual granted access to such Restricted

Data pursuant to this subsection may exchange such

Data with any individual who (A) is an officer or employee of the Department of Defense, or any department

or agency thereof, or a member of the armed forces, or a

contractor or subcontractor of any such department.

agency, or armed force, or an officer or employee of any

such contractor or subcontractor, and (B) has been authorized to have access to Restricted Data under the pro317
318

68 8tat. 942.

a_lon_re

Censorship.

62 Stat. 786-

738 ; 85 Stat.

719.

18 U.S.C.

791-798.

Violation.

Pmalt.y.

\

72 Brat. 484.

Y2 Brat. 4aft.

Pro_,tlon of

U.IL omits

and employm

62 Stat. 756.

Permission to

g_ firearms.

42 U.8.C. 2486.

42 U.S.C. 2457.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASAj 1958--1963

visions of section 143 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

(42 U.S.C. 2163).

(c) Chapter 37 of title 18 of the United States Code

(entitled Espionage and Censorship) is amended by-

(l) adding at the end _hereof the following new

section:

"| 799. Violation of regulations of National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

"Whoever willfully shall violate, attempt to violate,

or conspire to violate any regulation or order promulgated - by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics

and '3pace Administration for the protection or security

of any laboratory, station, base or other facility, or part

thereof, or any aircraft, missile, spacecraft, or similar

vehicle, or part thereof, or other property or equipment

in the custody of the Administration, or any real or

personal prope_rty or equipment in the custody of any

contractor under any contract with the Administration

or any subcontractor of any such contractor, shall be

fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than

one year, or both."

(2) adding at the end of the sectional analysis

thereof the following new item:

"| 799. Violation of regulations of National Aeronautics and Space

Administration."

(d) Section 1114 of title 18 of the United States Code

is amended by inserting immediately before "while engaged in the performance of his official duties" the following: "or any officer or emplo_,ee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administratmn directed to guard and

protect property of the United States under the administration and control of the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration,".

(e) The Administrator may direct such of the officers

and employees of the Administration as he deems necessary in the public interest to carry firearms while in

the conduct of their official duties. The Administrator..

may also authorize such of those employees of the contractors and subcontractors of the Administration enad in the protection_of p.roperty owned by the United

ares and located at facilities owned by or contracted

to the United States as he deems neeessary in thepublic

interest, to carry firearms while in the conduct of their

official duties.

PROPERTY RIGHTS IN INVENTIONS

Szc. 305. (a) Whenever any invention is made in the

performance of any work under any contract of the Administration, and the Administrator determines thatm

(1) the person who made the invention was employed or assigned to perform research, develop-
NA_NAL AF.XONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

ment, or exploration work and the invention is

related to the work he was employed or assigned to

pc.rformb or that it was within the scope of his employ. _t duties, whether or not it was made during

wortnng hours, or with a contribution by the Government of the use of Government facilities, equipment,

materials, allocated funds, information proprietary

to the Government, or services of Government eraployees during working hours; or

(2) the person who made the invention was not

employed or assigned to perform remar_ development, or exploration work, but the invention is nevert_elees related to the contract, or to the work or

duties he was employed or _ to perform, and

.was made during working hours, or with a contriImtion from the Gov_t _)f the sort _ to

in clause (z),

such invention shall be the exclusive property of the

United States, and if such invention is patentable a

patent therefor shall be issued to the United States upon

application made by the Administrator, unless the Administra_r waives all or any part of the rights of the

Uni .t_. States to such inventzon in conformity with the

prov3mons of subsection (f) of this sectio_

(b) Each contract entered into by the Administrator _vt_.

with any party for the performance of any work shall

cog_in effective provisions under which such party shall

fuimish promptly to the Administrator a written report

containing full and complete technical infornmtion conceming, an_ invention, discovery,, improvement_ or innovation which may be made m the performance of any

such work.

(c) No patent may be issued to any applicant other x_tmt

than the Administrator for any invention which appears ,mmeaeou.

to the Commissioner of Patents to have significant utility

in the conduct of aeronautical and space activities unless

the ap.plicant _ with the Commissioner, with the applzcation or .within thirty days after request therefor by

the Commissioner, a written statement executed under

oath setting forth the full facts concerning the circumstances under which such invention was made and stating

the relationship (if any) of such inventiun to the

formance of any work under any contract of the Administration. Copies of each such statement and the

application to which it relates shall be transmitted forthwith by the Commissioner to the Administrator.

(d) Upon any application as to which .any such statement has been transmitted to the Administrator, the

Commissioner may, if the .invention is patentable, issue T2St_L ,aS.

a patent to the applicant unless the Administrator, within r_ sttt _a

ninety days after receipt of such application and statement, requests that such patent be issued to him on behalf

215-4192 0-66--22

319
320

Board of

Patent

Interferences,

Waiver.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASAj 1958--1963

of the United States. If, within such time, tile Admin

istrator files such a request with tile Commissioner, the

Commissioner shall transmit notice thereof to th_ applicant, and shall issue such patent to the Administrator

unless the applicant within thirty days after reoeipt of

such notice requests a hearing before a Board of Patent

Interferences on the question whether the Administrator

is entitled under this section to receive such patent. The

Board may hear and determine, in accordance with rules

and procedures established for interference cases, the

questmn so presented, and its determination shall be subiao.f.t.n nnr_n.l hv fha _nnl_e,,,,,l t_ ]a,, tla_ A d,_i,_;s_--gtor _,

the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in _w_ordance

with px_Bdures _-overning appeals from decisions of the

Board of Patent Interferences in other pl_1.ing_.

(e) Whenever any patent has been issued to any applicant in conformity with subsection (d), and the Administrator thereafter has reason to believe that the statement

tiled by the applicant in connection therewith contained

any false representation of any material fact, the Administrator within five years after the date of issuance

of such patent may file with the Commissioner a request

for the transfer to the Administrator of title to such

patent on the records of the. Commissioner. Notice of

anv such request shall be transmitted by the Commissioner to the owner of record of such patent, and title to

such patent shall be so transferred to the Administrator

unless within thirty days after receipt of such notice

such owner of record requests a hearing before a Board

of Patent Interferences on the question whether any such

false representation was contained in such statement.

,_ueh question shall be heard and determined, and deterruination thereof shall be subject to review, in the manner

prescribed by subsection (d) for questions arising thereunder. No request made by the Administrator under

this subsection for the transfer of title to any patent, and

no prosecution for the violation of any criminal statute,

shall be barred by any failure of the Administrator to

make a request under subsection (d) for the issuance of

such patent to him, or b_¢ an_' notice previously given

by the Administrator stating that he had no objection to

the issuance of such patent to the applicant therefor.

(f) Under such regulations in conformity, with this

subsection as the Administrator shall prescribe, he may

waive all or any part of the rights of the United States

under this section with respect to any invention or class

of inventions made or which may be made by any person

or class of persons in the performance of any work required by any contract of the Administration if the Administrator determines that the interests of the United

States will be served thereby. Any such waiver may be

made upon such terms and under such conditions as the
NATIONAL A_RONAUTICS AND SPAC_ ACT, AS AMRNDED

A dm_.." .rator shall determine to be required for the

protecuon of the interests of the United State_ Each

._j waiver_ made with respect to any invention shall be

oct to the reservation by the Administrator of an

_rec_voC_forl_tnonexclusive, nontransferrable, royalty-free cerise zor t_e practice of such inventien throughout the

world by or on behalf of the United States or any forgovernment pursuant to any treaty or agreement

with the United State_ Each proposal for any waiver iavmt_==

under this subsection shall be ref_ to an Inventions -,-d Cmtrktleaa _earlL

and Contributions Board which shah be established by

the Administrator within the A_tration. Such

Board shall accord to each interested party an oppo.rtunity for hearing , and shall transmit to the Adminisits findings of fact with respect to such proposal

and its recommendations for action to be taken with

r_g) thereto.

The Administrator shall determine, and promulgate .re_d. attons specifying, the terms and conditions mpauaa

upon which, h_mes will be granted by the Administration for the practice by any person (other than an _zstat 4a_

agency of the United States) of any invention for which 7ffistar 4st.

the Administrator holds a patent on behalf of the United

S_

ab(h) The Administrator is authorized to take all suit- _ucua=

and necemary steps to protect any invention or dis- =¢ut_

covery to which he has title, and to require that contracers or persons who retain title to inventions or diseovories under this section protect the inventions or discoveries to which the Administration has or may acquire

a licevse of usa

(i) The Administration shall be considered a defense v=tmm

agen_cy of the United States for the purpose of chapter _L so=-

17 of title 35 of the United States Code. m

(j) As used in this section-- - v.affim.ffi

(1) the term "person" means any individual,

partnership, corporation, association, institution, or

other entity;

(2). the term "contract" means any actunl or propoa eontm =g.rysg . t, unda t ading, or oth r

_t, .and includes any aamgnnamt, substitution of partles_ or subcontract executed or entered

into thereunder; and

(3) the term "made", when used in relation to any

invention, means the conception or first actual reduction to practice of such invention.

CONTRIBITPION8 AWARI_

SEc. 306. (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, 4_u.s.c.s46a

the Administrator is authorized, upon his own initiative

or upon application of any person, to make a monetary

321
322

1'3 Brit. 43T.

7S Iltlt. 488.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA., 1958--1963

award, in such amount and upon such terms as he shall

determine to be warranted, to a-ny person (as defined by

section 305) for any scientific or technical contribution

to the Administration which is determined by the Administrator to have significant value in the conduct of areonautical and space activities. Each application made

for any such award shall be referred to the Inventions

and Contributions Board established under section 305

of this Act. Such Board shall accord to each such applicant an opportunity for hearing upon such applicat_!on, and sh_all t_ran_smit_to the Administrat.or i_t,sree_om:

IIIt_IIU_I+UIUII IJL_ t_L) I.,11_ L._I['J[.LI_ U/ L,II_ IJ,W_Ji,J['UL_ 1/ _kl.JLqy$ U_

made to such applicant for such contribution. In determining the terms and conditions of any award the

Administrator shall take into account-

(l) the value of the contribution to the United

States;

(2) the aggregate amount of any sums which

have been expended by the applicant for the development of such contribution;

(3) the amount of any. compensation (other than

salary received for services rendered as an officer

or employee of the Government) previously received

by the applicant for or on account of the use of such

contribution by the United States; and

(4) such other factors as the Administrator shall

determine to be material.

(b) If more than one applicant under subsection (a)

clanns an interest in the same contribution, the Administrator shall ascertain and determine the respective interests of such applicants, and shall apportion any award

to be made with respect to such contribution among such

applicants in such proportions as he shall determine to

be equitable. No award may be made under subsection

(a) with respect to any contribution--

(1) unless the applicant surrenders, by such means

as the Administrator shall determine to be effective,

all claims which such applicant may have to receive

any compensation (other than the award made under

this section) for the use of such contribution or any

element thereof at any time by or on behalf of the

United States, or by or on behalf of any foreign government pursuant to any treaty or agreement with

the United States, within the United _tates or at any

other place;

(2) in any amount exceeding $100,000, unless the

Administrator has transmitted to the appropriate

committees of the Congress a full and complete report concerning the amount and terms of, and the

basis for, such proposed award, and thirty calendar

days of regular session of the Congress have expired after receipt of such report by such committees.
NA'r/ONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

AI'PF_PRIATION8 s

S_c. 307. (a) There are hereby authorized to be ap- maumt,aa

propri_ted such sums as may be necessary to carry out

Act, except that nothing in this Act shall authorize

the apl_ropriation of tiny amount for (1) the acquisition

or condemnation of any real property, or (2) any other

i.tem of a capital nature (such as plant or facility acquisition, construction, or expansion) which exceeds $_50,000.

Sums appropriated p_t to this subsection for the

construction of facilities, or for research and development activities,shallremain availableuntilexpendecL

(b) Any funds appropriated for the constructionof

facilitiesmay be used for emergency repai_ of existing

facilitieswhen such existingfacilitiesare made inoperativeby major breakdown,accident,or othercircumstano_

and such repairsare deemed by the Administratorto be

of greaterurgency thanthe constructionof new facilitiea

Approved July 29,1958.

s See appudlx A, Publle Law 86-45.

323

1
3_)4 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASAj 1958--1963

APPENDIXES

APPENDIX A

t_ELATED LE(;ISLATION ._kFFF-_ING THE SPACE ACT

(1) Section 4 of the Act of June 15, 1959, Public Law 86-45, 73

Star. 75, 42 U.S.C. 9A59 provides that--

notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, no appropriation may be made

to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration unless previously

authorized by legislation hereafter enacted by Congress.

_L,] k._b&VJLl_ _VU eI,JLIU _U l UJ, LII_ .Z_LI_b UJL l__Jl_tA.ll.)_r *-J:_ .J._I).L) JU UUIII._

87-367, 75 Stat. 791, 42 U.S.C. "2471 provide the following:

szc. 206. (a) Section 203(b)(2) of the National Aeronautics TaStat. lSS.

and Space Act of 1958 (.72 8tat. 429; 42 U.S.C. 2473(b)(2)),

authorizing the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and

8pace Administration to establish not more than two hundred and

ninety scientific, engineering, and administrative positions in the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is amended by

striking out "thirteen", and inserting in lieu thereof "thirty", and

by striking ou¢ '_vo hundred and ninety" and inserting in lieu

thereof "four hundred and _venty-five (of which not to exceed

three hundred and fifty-five may be filled prior to March 1, 1962,

and not to exceed three hundred and ninety may be filled prior to

July 1, 1962)".

(b) (1) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration shall submit to the Congress not later than Re_

_orty-flve days after the close of each fiscal year a report which _oqvm_.

sets forth, as of the close of such fiscal year--

(A) the number of positions established under section 203

(b) (2) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as aslmm.

amended (42 U.S.C. 2473(b) (2)) ;

(B) the name, rate of compensation, and description of the

qualifications of each incumbent of each position established

under such section 203(b) (2), together with the position title

and a statement of the duties and responsibili_es performed

by each such incumbent ;

(C) the position or positions in or outside the Federal Goverament held by each such incumbent, and his rate or rates

of compensation, during the five-year period immediately

preceding the date of appointment of such incumbent to such

position; and

(D) such other information as the Administrator may

deem appropriate or which may be required by the Congress

or a committee thereof.

:Nothing contained in this subsection shah require the resubmis-

_ion of any information required under subparagraphs (B) and

(C) of this subsection which has been reported pursuant to this

_ubsection and remains unchanged.

(2) In any instance in which the Administrator may find full National_eu- x'lty matters.

public disclosure of any or all of the matter covered by paragraph Omdmioa of

(1) of this subsection to be detrimental to the national security, lnformat_oa.

r.he Administrator is authorized-

(A) to omit in such report those matters with respect to

which full public disclosure is found to be detrimental to the

national security ;

(B) to inform the Congress of such omission; and

(C) at the request of any congressional commit_e to which

such report is referred, to present all information concerning

such matters.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED 325

n_cm_as m suzcmm or _LOY_S Or_a_ONAL *_OSAU_CS AN._

SPACE COUNCZLUNDzm SF_rION 201 (F) OF THE NATIONAL A_mNAU-

_CA _ meACZXCT OF _01S

S_. 207. Section 201 (f) of the National Aeronautics and Space

Act of 1958 (72 Sial 428; 42 U.S.C. 2471(f)), authorizing the

executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council

to employ not to exceed three persons at rates of manual compensation of not to exceed $19,000, is amended by str/king out "three"

and _nsertl_ in lieu thereof "seven _.

(3) Sections 6 and 7 of the Act of August 14, 1962, Public Law

87-584, 76 Stst. 382, provide the following:

_ Section 203(b) of the National Aeronautics and Space

42 UJ.C. _trS. Act of 19_8, as amended (72 Star. 429, 431), is amended by (l)

striking out the word "and" where it appears after the semicolon

at the end of section 206 (b) ( 12 ) ; (ii) striking out the period at

the end of section 20_(b)(13) and inser_ug in Lieu thereof a

semicolon and the word "and"; and (ifl) adding at the end

thereof the following new paragraph:

"(14) to reimburse, to the extent determined by the Administrator or his designee to be fair and reasonable, the

owners and tenants of land and interests in land acquired on

or after November 1, 1961, by the United States for use by

the Administration by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise

for expenses and losses and damages incurred by such owners

and tenants as a direct result of moving themselves, their

families, and their possessions because of said acquisition.

Such reimbursement shall be in addition to, but not in duplication of, any payments that may otherwise be authorized by

law to be made to such o_-ners and tenants. The total of any

such reimbursement to any owner or tenant shall in no event

exceed 25 per contum of the fafr value, as determined by the

Administrator, of the parcel of land or interest in land to

which the retm_t is related. No payment under this

para_ph shall be rode unless application therefor, sul_

ported by an itemized statement of the expenses, losses, and

incurred, is submitted to the Administrator within

one year from (a) the date upon which the parcel of land or

interest in land is to be vacated under agreement with the

Government by the owner or tenant or pursuant to law, in.

einding but not limited to, an order of a court, or (b) the date

upcm which the parcel of land or interest in the land involved

is vacated, whichever first occurL The Administrator my

perform any and all acts and make such rules and relgulaUons as he deems necessary and proper for the purpose of

carrying out this paragrapiL All functions performed under

this Imragraph shall be exempt from the operatien of the Act

60 star.287, of June 11, 1946, as amended (5 U.S.C. I001-I011), exee_ as

2_L to the requirements of section 3 of sam Act Funds available

to the Administration for the acquisition of real property or

interests therein shall also be available for carrylng out this

paragraph".

7. Section 201 (f) of the National Aeronautics and Slmee

72 Star 427. Act of 1_8 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following

42 U.8.C. 2471. new sentence: "Other provisions of law or regulations relating to

Government employment (except those relating to pay and retiremerit) shall apply to council employees reporting directly to the

chairman to the extent that such provisions are applicable to

employees in the office of the Vice PresidenL"
326 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1965

APPENDIX B

OR1GINAL TEXT OF SECTION 201 OF THE I_ATIONAL

_ER0]_AUTICS AND SPACE ACT OF 1958

SFC. 201. (a) There is hereby established the National Aero- Establiihment.

nautics and Space Council (hereinafter called the "Council")

which shall be composed of_

(1) the President (who shall preside over meetings of

the Council) ;

(2) the Secretary of State ; 72 Stat. 427.

(3) the Secretary of Defense ; 72 8tat. 428.

(4) the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and

t,._l +_ _ _xu JtxltatoLt _t t lvta

t5) the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission;

(6) not more than one additional member appoi_lted by

the President from the departments and agencies of the

Federal Government; and

(7) not more than three other members appointed by the

President, solely on the basis of established records of distinguished achievement, from among individuals in private

life who are eminent in science, engineering, technology,

education, administration, or Imblic affairs.

(b) Each member of the Council from a department or agency Altm_ate.

of the Federal Government may designate another officer of his

departmen( or agency to serve on the Council as his alternate

in his unavoidable absence.

(c) Each member of the Council appointed or designated under

paragraphs (6) and (7) of subsection (a), and each alternate

member designated under subsection (b), shall be appointed or

designated to serve as such by and with the advice and consent

of the Senate, unless at the time of such appointment or designation he holds an oflioe in the Federal Govermnent to which he

was appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(d) It shall be the function of the Council to advise the President with respect to the performance of the duties prescribed

in subsection (e) of this section.

(e) In conformity with the provisions of section 102 of this Dutlmof

Act, it shall be the duty of the President to--- l_rnldent.

(1) survey all significant aeronautical and space activities. including the policies, plans, programs, and accomplishments of all agencies of the United States engaged in such

activities :

(2) develop a comprehensive program of aeronautical and

b3_ace activities to be conducted by agencies of the United

States :

(3) designate and fix responsibility for the direction of

major aeronautical and space sctlvities ;

(4) provide for effective cooperation between the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department

of Defense in all such activities, and specify which of such

activities may be carried on concurrently by both such agencies notwithstanding the assignment of primary responsibility therefor to one or the other of such agencies: and

(5) resolve differences .arising among dep,_rtments and

agencies of the United States with respect to aeronautical

and space activities under this Act, including differences as

to whether a particular project is an aeronautical and space

activity.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT, AS AMENDED

C0_M_On.

88 8tat. _.

S UALC. 1871.

Seeur/ty cheek.

P_r dhm.

Stlt. 428.

72 5mr. 429.

69 Stir. _L

327

(f) The Council may employ a staff to be headed by a civilian

executive secretary who shall be appointed by the President by

and with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall receive

compensation at the rate of $20,000 a year. The executive secretary, subject to the direction of the Council, is authorized to

appoint and ttx the compensation of such personnel, including

not _ more than three persons-who may be appointed without regard to the civil service laws or the Classification Art of 1949

and compensated at the rate of not more than slg,000 a year,

as may be necessary to perform such duties as may be prescribedby the Council in connection with the performance of its funetimm. Each appointment under this subsection shall be subject

to the same security requirements as those established for personnel of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

appointed under section 206(b) (2) of this Act.

(g) Members of the Council appointed from private life under

subsection (a)(7) may be compensated at .q rate not to exceed

$100 per diem, and may be paid travel expenses and per diem in

lieu of subsistence in accordance with the provisions o5 section .5

of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (5 U.5.C. 73b-2)

relating to persons ._erving without compensation.
APPENDIX B

hlASA ORGANIZATION CHARTS

CO_

Date Subject Authorization

1955, .July 8 NACA Headquarters Hugh L. Dryden

1958, Mar. 3 NACA Hugh L. Dryden

1958, Mar. 3 NACA Hugh L. Dryden

!958,..._j..... r _..... Co--fLee)

1958, June 2 Proposed NASA (Abbott Committee)

1958, July 18 _ NASA (Abbott Committee)

1958, Aug. II _ NASA (Abbott Committee)

1958, Aug. 21 Propo_i NASA (Glennan meeting)

1958, Oct. 24 Tentative NASA (Internal use only)

1958, Nov. 14 Tentative NASA

1958,Dec. 31 _ NASA (McKimcy & Co.)

1959, Jan. 29 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1959, Mar. 23 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1959, May 1 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1959, Sep. 15 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1959, Dec. 29 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1960, Feb. 7 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1960, Apr. 4 NASA T. Keith Glennau

1960, Aug. 15 NASA T. Keith Glennan

1960, Oct. 12 Proposed NASA (Kimpton Committee)

1961,Jan. 17 NASA T. Keith Glenmm

1961, June I NASA James E. Webb

1961, Nov. 1 NASA James E. Webb

1962, Mar. 1 NASA James E. Webb

1962, Aug. 17 NASA James E. Webb

1962,Nov. 23 NASA Hugh L. Dryden

1963, Apr. 26 NASA Headquarters Jamm E. Webb

1963, Apr. 26 NASA James E. Webb

1963, Nov. 1 NASA James E. Webb

328
NASAORGANIZATIONCHAI[TS

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_uoG_a_ 369

Forty-fourth Annual Report of the National Advisory Committac for A#ronauties, 1958

(FinaJReport). W_: GPO, 1959.

Congressional Racord (Daily F.Aidon). Aug. 31, 1960. (VoL 106, No. 147, p. 17215.)

"... Aero Space Technology .... " U.S. Civil Service C,ommimon Announcement No.

252B, Parts A and B, IssuedDec. 6, 1960.

"Report to the Pre_'dent-elect of the Ad Hoc Committee on Space." R_emed Jan. 12,

1961. (Jerome Wiemer, Chin;.... )

Department of Defense Directive No. 5106.32. Mar. 6, 1961. Subject: Develolmamt of

Space SystemL

Bo_ Enid. "The Esmbli_,,_,,t of NASA: The Political Role of Advisory Scientists."

Paper read before the meeting of the'America,, Asmclation for the Advancement of

Science, Dec. 27, 1962.

U_. Aeronastic$ and Space Actioities, January 1 to Daccmb#r 31, 1959. (The Second

Annual Report of the President on the Nation's aetivitie- in the fields of aeronautics and

space See aim the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Annual Reporm.)

C. ITEMS NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO SPACE

Kennedy, President John F. Letter to David Bell, BOB. July 31, 1961.

BOB Circular No. A-54. Oct. 14, 1961. Subject: Policies on Selection and Acquidtion

of Automatic Data _ (ADP) Equipment.

Report to th# Pr,sidcnt oa Government Contracting for Res#arch and Developm,ntt. Apr.

30, 1962. Prepared by BOB. (Issued as S. Doc. 94, 87th Con_., Washington: GPO,

1962.)

"Inventory of Automatic Data Pro_ (ADP) Equipment in the Federal Governmerit .... August 1962." Prepared by BOB.

Personal Methods $cri#s No. 15. August 1962. Published by the Civil Service Comm3ulon.

"Study of Financial Advantages of Purchadng Over Leasing of Electric Data Processing

Equipment in the Federal Government." March 1963. Prepared for Congress by GAO.

D. DISSERTATION AND SEMINAR PAPERS

Levine, Arthur. "United States Aeronautical Research Policy, 1915-1958." Unpublished Ph.D. dimerta_n, Columbia University, 1963.

Ambrose, Mary Stone. '_'he National Space Program, Phase I: Passage of the _Natlonal

Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.'" Unpublished seminar paper, The American

Univermty, 1960.

Ambrose, Mary Stone. 'Whe National Space Program, Phase II: Implementation of the

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958." Unpublished (but NASA reproduced)

seminar paper, The American University, 1961.

XI. Interviews and Leffers to the Author

A. FORMAL INTERVIEWS

Glennan, T. Keith. Jan. 18, 1964.

Dryden, Hugh r. Apr. 9, 1963.

Demblh_, Paul. Dec. 5, 1962.

Ostrander, Don. Feb. 17, 1964.

Siepert, Albert. Mar. 19 and Apr. 9, 1963.

Silverstein, Abe. Jan. 18, 1964.

Wyatt, DeMarquis. Dec. 17, 1963.

Bowman, Donald. Dec. 17, 1963.

Carulli, Leonard. Apr. 2, 1964.

Clagett, Albert. Apr. 22, 1963.

Einhorn, Raymond. June 15, 1964.
370 ,_n,nSTRA_VE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Haase, Walter. Jan. 29, 1964.

Jenkins, Thomas. Dec. 17, 1963.

Lacklen, Robert. Apr. 17, 1963.

Romatowski, Kay. Jan. 31, 1964.

Rosen, Milton. Sept. 4, 1963.

Rosenthal, Aaron. Apr. 24, 1963.

Rothrock, Addison. Apr. 28, 1963.

Shea, William. Jan. 15, 1963.

Shupe, Walter. June 11, 1964.

Sload, Philip. Mar. 28, 1963.

Thompson, William. Apr. 29, 1963.

Wilson, Walter. Apr. 17, 1963.

Wood, Clotaire. Apr. 23, 1963.

Cormn, John. McKinsey & Co. Apr. 26, 1963.

Shapley, Willis. Bureau of the Budget. May 7 and 29, 1964.

B. PARTIAL LIST OF INFORMAL INTERVIEWS

Gavin, Patrick

Gilmn, Lucy

Hochberg, Charles

Hodgson, Alfred

Holum, Kenneth

Littel, Robert

Maggin, Bernard

Manning, John

Mecuthchen, Edward

Neill, Thomas

Picketing, Harlan

Ambrose, Mary

Baker, Luther

Braithwalte, Howard

Cadle, Don

Cushman, Ralph

Danieh, Walter

Duggan, John

Ferguson, Guy

Fessler, Richard

Fields, Daisy

Gamble, Allen

C. LETTERS TO THE AUTHOR

Kiilian, James. Manachuaetts Institute of Technology.

Xll. Types of Items Net Included

United States Budgets

NASA Budgets

NASA Contracu

Kimpton Committee Workpapers

Qulntrcll, William

Rachlln, Henry

Schreiber, Carl

SmuU, Thomas

Tiemann, Robert

Ulmer, Ralph

Valentine, Burl

Wheeler, Catherine

Young, John

Aug. 14 and Sept. 3, 1963.

in This Bibliography
INDEX

AACB. See Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board, NASA-DOD

Abbott Committee (see a/so Ad Hoe Committee on NASA Organization), 39--40, 42,

zk%50, 51, 53, 54,128

Abbott, Ira A., 39

ABMA. See Army Ballistic Missile Agency

Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization

(see also Abbott Committee), 39-40

Ad Hoc Committee on Space (see a/so Wimaer

Report), 185

Administrative procedures

automatic data processing (ADP), 277

budget, 88-89, 130-131. 134-135

contracting/procurement, 54, 62-65, 92, 95-

96, 146-147, 154-160,198

finance, 52, 53, 60, 135-136

internal reporting, 81, 136

management manual, 81-83

monthly flight schedule, 83

NASA-PERT, 15L 2116, 212, 231-233

personnel 141-144,146

planning, 39-4O, 130-131

problem& 177-178

Program Management System, 150-151

project authorization, 153, 277

project management, 145-146, 151-L52, 157-

158

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA),

DOD, 38rg 108

establishment, 7n

transfer, 39, 43, 45,59,114-115, 120

Advisory Committee for Aeronantics (U.K.),

19-20

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (U.S.).

See National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)

Advisory Committee on Governraent Org_mization, 8-10

AEC. See Atomic Energy Commission

Aeronautical Research Scientist (ARS) examination, NACA-NASA, 84, 141-142, 235

Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating

Board (AACB), NASA-DOD (see also

Civilian-Military Liaison Committee

(CMLC), NASA-DOD), 104, 171, 172-173,

196, 257, 279

Aerospace Technologist (AST) examination,

84, 141-144, 235, 266-268

Agena, 255

Agena B, 153

Agreement

Dryden-Blagonravov, 288, 289

NASA

AEC, 124, 254-255

Air Force, 104, 248

Army, 47, 104, 108, 110-111, 118, 121-122,

122-123

DOD, 47, 66-67, 104-105, I10-Ill, 172-

173, 237, 252, 279

Navy, 104

NRL-DOD, 44-45

Agriculture, Departmem of, 79

Air Force. See U.S. Air Force (USAF)

Ambrose, Mary S., 62n

American Rocket Society (ARS), 5, 7n

American Society for Public Administration,

227, 351

American Telephone & Telegraph CO. (AT&T),

275-276

Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, NACA (see

a/so Ames Research Center), 21

Ames Research Center (ARC), NASA (see

a/so Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, NACA),

75, 83, 214.

AM1L See Atlantic Missile Range, USAF

AMROO. See Atlantic Missile Range Operatioas Office, NASA

Anacostia Naval Station, 80

Anderson, Sen. Clinton P. 8, 287

AOMC. See Army Ordnance Missile Command

Apollo, Project (see also Manned space flight),

238, 247

budget, 90, 194

capsule, 193

conference on, 216

contracts. 216-217,237, 253, 275-276

feasibility, 185

flight schedule, 191

launch vehicle, 196

module,246-247

Appropriations. See National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA) and U.S.

Congress

ARC. See Ames Research Center, NASA

ARGMA. See Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency

Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947

CASPA), 61, 62

Armed Services Procurement Regulations

qASPR), 62n, 63n, 92

371
372 INDEX

Army. See U.S. Army (USA)

Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) (see

also Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC),

NASA; and Saturn), 45, 46-47, 107-114,

117-123, 133, 139, 140-141, 155

Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC),

46, 47

Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency

(ARGMA), 46

Arnold Engineering Development Center, 96n

ARPA. See Advanced Research Projects

Agency, DOD

ARS. See American Rocket Society

• Lu La_ * •

atJ ._ ,v. e,o,lAu ALau_q_ V_.rL,IV,ULtp, I._,rl..I." 9 l._l._

176, 194, 251, 279

Atlantic Missile Range Operations Office

(AMROO), NASA, 81n, 123-124

Atlas, 4, 153

Atlas-Agena, 73, 76n

Atlas-Centaur, 73

Atlas-Hustler, 73

Atlas-Vega, 73

Atomic Energy Act, 8

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 8, 41, 62,

65, 67, 77, 94, 120, 124, 254.-255

AT&T. See American Telephone & Tdegraph

Co.

Baltimore Sun, 46

Bcall, Sen. J. Glenn, 79

Bell, Alexander Graham, 19

Bell Committee Report, 147, 270

Bellcom, Inc., 276

Beltsville Space Center, NASA (see al_o Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), NASA),

45, 47, 54, 53, 74, 75, 83

Bennett, R/A Rawson (USN), 43

Big Joe, 76

Bioscience Advisory Committee, NASA, 96n,

97, 124-126

Bisplinghoit, Raymond L., 292

BOB. See Budget, Bureau of

Boeing Co., 217

Bomber, manned jet, 4

Boone, V/A Walter (USN Ret.), 257

Brackett, Ernest W., 62, 63n, 270

Brooks, Rep. Overton, 99, 100, 238

Brundage, Percival, 8

Budget. See National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA)

Budget, Bureau of (BOB), 8, 12, 33, 38, 39,

43, 50, 60, 67, 88, 89, 90, 110, 114, 118, 121,

137, 138-139, 141, 163-164, 165, 190, 284

legislation, draft, 10, 11

Management and Organization, Office of, 10

Military Division, 10

Budget Policy Committee, 89

Burden, William A., 68

CAB. See Civil Aeronautics Board

Cadle, Don, 208

California Institute of Technology (Cai Tecl_),

46, 47, 95, 130

Ca] Teeh. See California Institute of Technology

Campbell Joseph, 57, 102

Cape Canaveral, Fla. (see also Kennedy Space

Center, NASA; Launch Operations Center

(LOC), NASA; and Launch Operations Directorate (LOD), NASA), 45, 81, 123, 173,

214-215, 247, 251-252, 302

Cape Canaveral Launch Area, USAF, 252

Carpenter, LCdr. M. Scott (USN), 247

Case Institute of Technology, 15, 41, 42n, 117,

207

Centaur, 76, 194, _48, 255

Chicago, University of, 161

Chincotcague Naval Air Station, 104

• ._av_x zlt_luaacttt_t,= J_vctatl _,_'ILD], DO

Civil and Defense Mobilization, Office of

(OCDM), 67

Civil Service Commission (CSC), 68n, 68, 141-

144

Civilian-Military Liaison Committee (CMLC),

NASA-DOD (see also Aeronautics and Astronnutics Coordinating Board (AACB),

NASA-DOD), 14, 67, 102-104, 109, 170, 171,

172

Clark, John F., 47

Classification Act of 1949, 14, 56

Cleveland, Ohio, 21

CMLC. See Civi/ian-Mtlitary Liaison Committee, NASA-DOD

Committee on Space Research (COSPAR),

68-69

Conferences

NASA-Industry, 174, 216

stall, 138, 152

Congress. See U.S. Congress

Contract, 42, 45, 50, 73n, 74, 92, 94, 99-102,

123, 146, 147, 154, 161n, 162

cest-plus-fixed-fee, 63, 64, 132, 158

geographical distribution, 272-273

Contracting/procurement

administration, 54, 64-65, 95--96, 158-159,

236-237, 253-254, 257-258

authority, 61-62

Board of Contract Appeals, 92

Contract Adjustment Board, 92

cost control, 273-274

facilities, 45

patents, 91-92, 93

policy, 61-62, 174

procedures, 62-65, 146-147

R&D, 63, 64

statistical data, 93, 147-148, 237, 244--245

study, 42, 50, 54, 154-160, 163, 164, 167,

235-236, 270-272

training, 236

trends, 350

Convair, 73

Cooper, Maj. L. Gordon (USAF), 247

Carps of Engineers, Army, 173, 214, 215, 244

Corson, John J., 42, 50n, 51, 52, 94n, 154, 161,

168

COSPAR. See Committee on Space Research

Cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) contract, 63, 64,

132, 158

Crocker, Allen J., 50n
INDEX 373

Crowley, J. W. 50,148

See Civil Service Commission

Cudmum, Ralph E., 39n, 61n, 62n

Daddario, Rep. Emilio, 126

Day, Melvin S., 127a ..

Dayton, Ohio, 29

Debu_ Dr. Kurt H. 123, 251

Debus-Davis Report, 214-215

Deep Space Ne_orL 239

Defense., D_artmamt d (DOD) (see _ U.S.

Air Foree; U.S. Army; am/US. Navy), 10,

24,69

Advanced Research Projects Agency

(ARPA), 7n, 38n, 39, 43, 45, 59, 108, 114-

115-120

agreemeata, NASA-DOD, 47, 66-67, 104--

105, 110-111, 172-173, 237, 252, 279

Committee on Special Capabilities, 5

contract, 61, 62

cooperation

NACA, 23

NASA, 9, 23, 63, 66-67, 73--76, 77, 125, 126,

158, 162, 171, 214-215

coordination

Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinat.

ing Board (AACB), NASA-DOD, 104,"

171, 172-173, 196, 257, 279

NASA-DOD, 13, 14, 16, 67, 102-104, 105,

170

patents, 91-92, 170

space program

funding, 61

hunch vehicle, 73

missile projects, 4-.5, 6, 10

nature, 13, 16, 23

plan, loag-raage, 131n

reor_mizat/on, 108, 185

satellite, 39, 67

transfers tO NASA, 12, 38--39, 43, 44-48,

58, 59, 62, 90, 107-115, 117-123

Dembling, Paul G., 10, 11, 34n, 39n, 50a, 92

Directorate of NASA Teats, 81

Doolittle, L/G James H. (USAFR), 8, 34, 35

"Doolittle Dinner;' 34

Douglas, J_ H. 1_

Douglas Aircraft Co., 217

Downey, Calif., 253

Draper, Gee. W. IL, 255

Draper Report, 235

Dryden, Hugh L, 8, 28, 29, 34-36, 37-38, 39,

40-41, 42, 43, 48, 57, 65, 89, 102, 128, 140,

172, 173, 187, 188, 190, 200, 203, 207, 302

Dryden-Blagonravov agreement, 288, 289

Dryden Plan, 35-36

Echo Project, 77

Echo/, 175

Edwards AFB, Calif. 21

Einhorn, Raymond, 133n

Eisenhower, Pres. Dwight D., 35, 90, 96, 101,

140, 282

appointments, 6, 15, 40, 41, 67, 68n, 84

budget requests, 61, 90, 136--137, 139, 171

committees

Advisory Committee on Government Orgonimtion, 8-10

President's Scientific Advisory Committee, 6, 8, 25, 130

directivcs, 10,11, 12, 37, 38, 39

-Executive order, 44, 47, 120

messages to Congress, 10, 11-12, 118, 171

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958,

12-13, 15, 169-171

space po/icy, 11, 16-17, 23, 169-170, 183,

184-185

spoech, spac_ 5, 6

tramfera to NASA, 104, 109, 110-111, 118

Electmn/cs Research C.ent_r, NASA, 250, 252-

253

Emm_ Eugene M. 21n

Europe, 19

Executive privilege, _-I02

Exlgarer !, 6, 46

Explorer Fill, 175

FAA. See Federal Aviation Ageno/

FCST. See Federal Council for Scieaee and

Teehndo_

Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), 68, 280

Federal COuncil for Science and Technology

(FCST), 67

Federal Property and Administrative Services

Act of 1949, 61-62

Federal Resister, 15, 18, 21, 43, 44, 9L 146a

Federal Service Entrance _on

(FSEE), 43

F_n, C Guy, 50n

Fesder, Richard, 236n

F'manee, 40, 48, 349

aceouatia_ 52, 1&5-135

administration, 60

auditing, 52, 53, 262-264

funding, 59--60, 85-91, 260-262

"Johnson rider," 60

management, 51, 52-53, 132-136, 167, 229-

231

pommad, 133

reportia_ 136

Finger, Harohi IL 255

Finney, John W. 285

Flenfiag, Wmiam A_ 2O8, 212

Fleming Report, 212-213

Flickinger, B/G Don (USAF), 96

Flight Research Center (FRC), NASA (see

a/m High Speed Flight Station, NACA), 75,

76"79,83,25O

FSEE. See FederalServiceEntrance_.n_.

tion

Fulbright,Sen.J.William,289

Gagarin,Yuri,I91-192

Gamble, Allen,84n

GAO. See General Accounting Office

Gemini, Project. 238, 247-243, 280, 285

General Accounting Office (GAO), 68, 100-

101, 102

General Dynamics Corp., 73n

General Electric Co. (GE), 7n, 276
374 INDEX

General ServicesAdministration (GSA), 61,

68,237

Geneva,Switzerland,128

George C. Marshall Space FlightCenter. See

MarshallSpace FlightCenter

Gephart,Landis,208

Germantown, Md., 124

Germany, 4

Luftwaffe,21n

Gilruth,Robert,80

Glenn,L/C John H.,Jr.(USMC), 247

Glcnnan, T. Keith,43,68n,71,88, 89,94n,98-

102, 105-106, 117, 126, 157, 173, 185, 196,

¢t_gt nn,'t

#.vv t 4v d

administrative actions, 42-44, 62, 65---66, 81,

90, 91, 96, 97, 114, 124, 128, 144, 148,

151-152

appointments, 57, 62,111

background,15,41

budget,137,138

evaluationof,175--179

initialdecisions,42--44,46,130

nominationand confirmationof,15,37,41--42

prochunation,15-16,4.3--44

projectauthorization,80,153,228,229

studies,42,49, 50-56,106-107,109,161-162,

168

Goddard, Robert H. 80

Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA,

124

Goddard Space FlightCenter (GSFC), NASA

(see also BeltsvilleSpace Center, NASA),

47, 79, 80, 83, 124, 139, 148, 155, 174, 236,

243, 245, 292

Golovin, Dr. Nicholas E., 150, 213

Golovin Study, 213

Gough, Melvin N., 81

Great Britain. See United Kingdom (U.K.)

Grillo, Stephen, 136n

Grissom, Maj. Virgil I. (USAF), 238, 247

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., 247

GSA. See General Services Administration

GSFC. See Goddard Space Flight Center,

NASA

Gulf of Mexico, 216

Hagen, John P.,45,78,89,127-128

Hampton, Va.,21

Harbridge House,Inc.,145,236,270-271

Harris,Ray, 92

I-li_ Speed Flight Station,NACA (see also

ight Research Center),21

High Speed FlightStation,NASA, 79

Hjornevik,Wesley L.,43n,65n, 88,89,200

Holaday, William,7,67,I03,109n

Holifield.Rep. Chet, 102

Holmes, D. Brainerd,232,251,256

Hootman, James A., 50n

Hoover Commission Report, First, 62

Horner, Richard E., 79, 83, 84, 97, 114, 115n,

129, 150, 207

House of Representatives. See U.S. Congress"

Houston, Tex., 194, 214

Houston Manned Spacecraft Center. See

Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), NASA

Huntsville, Ala., 46, 90, 108, 133, 173, 251

Huntsville Facility (see also Army Ballistic

Missile Agency (ABMA) and Marshall Space

Flight Center (MSFC), NASA), 120, 121

ICBM. See Missiles, ballistic, intercontinental

ICSU. See International Council of Scientific

Unions

IGY. See International Geophysical Year

Illinois Institute of Technology, 68n

International Council of Scientific Unions

(ICSU), 68

International Geophysical Year (IGY), 5--6, 45,

UP

Inventions and Contributions Board, 15, 49, 50n,

65, 78, 91, 295

IRBM. See Missiles, ballistic, intermediate

range

Jastrow, Robert,47

Jenkins,Thomas E.,47

Jenkins,William,208

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 46--47,49,

50, 54, 55, 59, 74, 93, 94-95, 155, 174, 292

John F. Kennedy Space Center. See Kennedy

Space Center, NASA

Johns Hopkins University, 40

Johnson, John J., 43n, 63

Johnson, Pres. Lyndon B., 286, 289, 302

Johnson, Sen. Lyndon B., 7n, 12, 13, 59n, 137-

138, 170, 184, 302

Johnson, Vice Pres. Lyndon B., 187, 189, 191,

214, 238

Johnson, Roy, 7n, I0n, 38

Joint Working Group, NASA, 276-277

JPL. See Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Juno II, 73, 76

Jupiter, 4, 108

"Jury rigged" launch vehicles, 73

Kamm, Robert W., 96n

Kavanau, Laurence L., 213

Kennedy, Pres. John F., 270, 278, 302

appointments, 187-188

budget, 190-191, 192-196, 233-234, 242, 282,

286

communications satellites, 239

cooperation, U.S.-U.S.S.R., 284, 288

election campaign, 183-184

manned lunar landing, 192-193, 201, 202,

233-234

national debate, 282-283

space policy, 107, 136, 140, 171, 189, 192-

193, 239

study, space program, 185-187, 188

Kennedy Space Center, NASA (see also Cape

Canaveral; Launch Operations Center

(LOC), NASA; and Launch Operations Directorate (LOD), NASA), 124, 302

Kerr, Sen. Robert S., 238, 287

Kety, Dr. Seymour S., 97, 124

Khruahchev, Chairman Nikita {U.S.S.R.), 283,

288n, 289 "

Killian, James IL, Jr., 6, 8-9, 10, 12, 23, 38, 41,

67

Kimpton, Lawrence, 161
INDEX

Kimpton Committee (see also Kimpton Report), 161, 162-163, 168

Kimptun Report, 161-169, 199

Lacklen, Robert J_ 28n, 34_ 39n, 140n

Langley Field, Va., 21

Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory,

NACA (see also Langley Research Center,

(LaRC), NASA), 21, 69

Langley Rmearch Center (I.aRC), NASA (see

a/so Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, NACA), 68a, 69-70, 75, 80, 83, 124,

155, 214

LaRC. See Langley Research Center, NASA

Large Launch Vehicle Planning Group, NASADOD, 213

Launch Operations Center (LOC), NASA (see

also Cape Canaveral; Kennedy Space Center,

NASA; and Launch Operations Directorate

{LOD), NASA), 124, 243, 251-252, 256, 302

Launch Operations Directorate (LOD), NASA

_see also Cape Canaveral; Kennedy Space

Center, NASA; and Launch Operations Center (LOC), NASA), 123-124" 251

Launch vehicle

assembly plant, 215-216

development, 72-76, 137,195-196, 255

"jury rigged," 73

Large Launch Vehicle Planning Group,

NASA-DOD, 213

launching site, 214-215

operations and capability, 130-131, 175

program, 90, 108-109, 115, 173, 175

study, 213

test facility, 215-216

Lewis Flight Propulsion Center, NACA (see

a/so Lewis Research Center), 21

Lewis Research Center (LRC), NASA (see also

Lewis Flight Propulsion Center, NACA), 75,

83,222,254

Lindseth, Elmer, 161n

Lingie, Walter L.. Jr, 257, 295

Littel], Robert, 50n

Little Joe, 76

LOC. See Launch Operations Center, NASA

LOD. See Launch Operations Directorate,

NASA

Los Ahunos Scientific Laboratory (LASL),

AEC, 254

Los Aagetee, CaliL 29

Lovelace, Dr. W. Rendolph, II, 96

Lovelace Foundation, 96

Low Committee, 211-212

LRC. See Lewis Research Center, NASA

Lunar (see a/so Lunar program and Manned

space flight)

circumlunar, 185, 193, 194

exploration, 130, 185, 248, 283

landing, 185, 193, 194, 196, 208, 211-213,

217-218, 239, 251, 259, 298

lunar orbital rendezvous (LOR), 246-247

probe, 7n, 39, 45, 77, 239

reconnaissance, 238

Lunar program (see also Lunar and Manned

space flight)

375

acceleration, 192-193

contractors for, 216-217

criticism, 282-283

facilities, 213--216

manned flight and landing. 185, 193, 194"

196, 208, 211, 217-218, 239, 246-248,

251, 259, 298

study, 2L2-213

Lundin Report, 213

Lunik l, IL and III, 77

McCormack, Rep, John W., 12

McDonnell Aircraft Corp., 70, 76, 101

McElroy. Neff H. 7n. 102, 103. 109

McKinsey and Company (see a/so McKJnsey

Report), 42, 49, 50, 5In, 55, 56, 63

McKinsey Report on Peaceful Uses, 42n

studies

contracting/procurement, 146, 154-160,

199

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 93, 94-

95

organization (Kimpton Report), 161-169,

199

transfers to NASA, 112-114

Western Coordinat/oa Offa_ (WCO),

NASA, 78,95-96

McKinsey Report, 42, 49, 50-56, 63, 79

McNamara, Robert S. 188

Management, 148-149, 149-150, 167. 225-227.

290-291.299-301

concepts, 218-221

contract. 54, 64-65, 95-96

financial 51, 52-53, 60, 132-136,167

flexibility, 229-231

Management Council 274-275

manual 81-83

NASA-PERT, 151,205, 212, 231-233

personnel, 58

planning, 39-40, 228-229

Program Management System, 149, 150-151

project, 145-146, 151-152. 157-158, 205, 273-

276

study, 200-201, 203-209, 218-221

Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), NASA

(see a/so Space Task Group (STG),

NASA), 245, 253, 280

established, 213-214

personnel, 243

Manned space flight (see a/so Apo.o, Project,

and Gemini, Project), 77, 194, 210

circumlunar,185, 193, 194

cooperation,66

expenditure,74

lunar exploration, 185, 248,283

Lunar landing, 185, 193, 194, 196, 208, 216,

217-218, 239, 246-248, 251, 259, 298

contractors, 216--217

facilities, 213-216, P.51

lunar orbital rendezvous (LOR), 246-247

management. 259

study, 212-213, 246

program, 39, 65, 153, 185, 187, 208, 209, 211-

213, 218-221, 224, 246-248, 285, 298-299,

301
376 INDEX

Mariner H, 248

Marshall Space FlightCenter (MSFC), NASA

(see also Army BallisticMissileAgency

(ABMA), and HuntsvilleFacility,NASA),

123,245,251,253,255,300

contract,123,148,155,215

establishment,120

finance,132,133-134

•NASA-industry conferences,174

personnel,121-122,139,141,243

Maryland, 79

MassachusettsInstituteof Technology (MIT),

6

Medaris, M/G John B. (USA), 46, 47. 109n

Mercury Mark If,238

Mercury, Project, 65,66, 96, 101, 124, 125, 187,

238

capsule, 69-70, 76

completed, 247, 302

engine, 70

funding, 87

personnel, 83

tracking network, 76, 239

transfer to NASA, 104

Merritt Island, Fla., 215

Merritt Island Launch Area, NASA, 252

Mexico, Gulf of, 216

Michoud, La., 215

Michoud Operations, 300

Miller, Rep. George P., 238

Minitrack, 45, 79

Missile Firing Laboratory, USA, 123

Missiles, 108

ballistic

intercontinental (ICBM), 4

intermediate range (IRBM), 4, 46

Mississippi Test Facility, NASA, 215-216, 300

MIT. See Massachusetts Institute of Tech.

nology

Mitchell,Elliott,50n

MoflettField,Calif.,21

Moon (see also Lunar; Lunar program; and

Manned space flight), 171, 193

Morris, Delmar M., 120

MSC. See Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA

MSFC. See Marshall Space Flight Center,

NASA

Mue]ler, George E., 2,32, 292

NACA. See National Advisory Committee for

Aeronautics

NACA-Air Foree-Navy X-15 rocket research

aircraft, 6

NAS. See National Academy of Sciences

NASA. See National Aeronautics and Space

Administration and listinss by sub /ect

NASA-PERT, 151, 205, 212, 231-233

NASC. See National Aeronautics and Space

Council

National Academy o| Sciences (NAS)

Rocket and Satellite Research Panel, 7n

space, 5, 8, 12, 20, 35

Space Science Board, 65, 68

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

(NACA), 11, 30, 52, 53, 69, 78, 79, 82, 132,

133, 135, 136, 148

Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization

(Abbott Committee), 39--40, 42, 48

Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, 21, 29

appropriations, 20, 22, 58

contract,23,32,61,62,128

cooperation,9,22,2,3

Dryden Plan,35--36

facilities, 22, 29

founded,3,20

history,19-23

i,.m4m-_l_;r, 9_

_'IVf_n-C_.or_n-ittee," 24, 28, 32, 33, 35

national space program, 39

legislation

draft, 11-12

Space Act, 12-15

proposal, 7n

redesignation [or, 8-10,19

organization

committees and subcommittees, 23-28, 33

divisions, 30-31

headquarters, 29--32

personnel, 20, 22, 29, 31, 33, 57, 141-142, 144

relationships

committee-agency,

headquarters-field, 34--35

resem_h, 21, 22, 29, 32, 34-35

space-related activities, 6, 9, 34--36, 37-38

Special Committee on Space Technology, 35,

96

"Top Three," 28, 30, 33-34

transfers, 37, 38--39, 43

Western Coordination Office (WCO), 29, 95

X-l, 21

X-15, 6, 21, 34

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958,

39, 71, 101, 105, 284

amendment, 16, 92, 169-171, 173, 189-190,

3O2

enactment, 12-13

international cooperation, 49n

provisions and requirements, 13-15, 43, 98

civilian.military coordination, 67, 103

contracting, 61, 62

funding, 59, 60

inventions, 50n, 91, 170

patents, 92, 170, 278

peaceful uses, 6566

personnel, 56, 104, 140

text as amended, A1-A12

transfers to NASA, 46, 109, 118

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (see also listinss by subiect)

Administration, Office of, 206, 222, 224, 225,

234, 257, 295

administrative procedures, 62-66, 81--83, 88--

89, 92, 95-96, 13O-131, 134-135, 141-144,

146-147, 151-152, 154-160, 177-178, 198,

205, 212, 231-233

Advanced Research and Technology, Office

of (OART), 221, 224, 252, 255, 292
INDEX 377

Advanced Research Programs. _ of

(OARP), 116, 162. 221. 224

Aeronautical and Space Research, Office of

(OASR). 55,115-116,128

agreements, 44-45, 47, 66-67, 104-105, 108,

110-111. 118, 121-122, 122-123, 172-173"

237,252.254.288,289 --

Apldications, Otce of (OA), 991, 994, 259,

290,295

appropriations, 10, 38, 47, 58, 59, 79-80, 85-

88. 136-138, 169,171, 233--234

Associate Adminim-ator, O_ce of.. 40. 50,

55, 78, 79, 84, 96, 129, 148-149, 149-150,

178, 197, 199, 203, 205, 229, 255-258, 289

astronauts, 76, 192, 214, 238

awards, 15

Bioscience Advisory Committee, 93n, 97,

124-126

budget, 52, 60-61, 73, 76, 80, 88-91, 106, 114,

130-131, 134-135, 136-139, 176, 185, 190-

191, 192-1%, 291, 204, 208, 211, 230, 233-

234, 238, 242, 245, 283" 234--239

Budget Policy Committee, 89

Business Administrat_n, Off_ of, 52, 83,

127n, 140, 159, 167, 201, 202, 204, 206, 207,

222

conferences

NASA-industry, 174, 216

staff, 138, 152

Constructinn. O_ee of (OC), 258

contract, 42, 45, 50, 73n, 74, 92, 94, 99-102,

123" 146, 147, 154, 161n, 162

Contract (UnivendW) Iteseffir_ O_e of, 55

contract/ag/procurement, 42, _. 50, 54, 55,

61-65, 91-93, 128-129, 146-148, 154-160,

174, 236-237, 270-274

eooper_ou"

AEC, 67, 77, 196, 254-25.5

Air Force, 66, 279-280

DOD, 9, 23. 63, 66-67, 73-76. 77,. 125, 126,

158, 162, 171, 214-215. 257, 263, 272

DOD-Weather Bureau, 77

FAA, 6& 280

international, 14

U.S.-U.S.S.IL, 279, 284, 288

Weath_ Bureau, 68, 280

eoordini_io n

facility, 51, 53--54, 159n

inera-agency, 165-166, 291-202, 209-210,

226--227

NASA-DOD, l& 14, 16, 67, 102-104, 105,

170, 17'2-173, 196

space flight p_ 276-277

Defense _ Otce of, 257, 295

establishment, 37, 43-44

background, 3-10

legislation, draft, 10-12

Space Act, 12-15, 43

Executive Salary Committee, 57

facilities, 111, 122, 123, 126

construction, 208, 213, 301

coordination, 51, 53-.54, 159n

finance, 40, 48, 51. 52-53, 59-60, 85--91, 132-

136, 167, 229-231, 233-234, 260--264

Financial Management, Office of, 133, 136

Financial Management Div;-._on,

funds, 45, 58, 59--_, 72, 74-75, 90, llL 118,

119, 231

General Counsel Office, 92_ 93, 146, 147

Grants and Research Contracts, Otce of

(OGRC), 128-129

Industzinl Affairs. Offlce of (OIA). 258, 295

industrial relations. 154-160, 174, 301

International Activities, O_ce of, 40

International Programs, Office of, 128

Inventions and Contributiom Board, 15, 40,

_n, 65, 70, 91, 295

laun_ lm, 238, 299

developmeat, launch vehicle, 72-76, 175

probe,lunar,70,77

_tellite, 7O,77,175

site selection, 214-215

Launch Vehicle Programs, O_ce of (OLVP),

115, 162, 166, 168, 221, 224

Life Science Programs, Otce of (OLSP),

96n, 124-127, 291, 221, 224

management, 51, 52-54, 64-65, 81-83,

132-136, 145-146, 148-152, 157-158, 200-

291, 203-209, 212, 218--22L 228-23& 273-

276, 290-29L 299-301

Management Analysis, Omce of, 161,

Manned Space Flight, Office of (OMSF), 221.

222, 224, 259, 292, 297

nuclear activities, 124, 192. 196, 2S4-2S5

organization, 39-40, 42, 48-56, 71, 78-81, 149-

150, 161-169, 176-178, 199-292, 218-

221,219, 220, 299-302

reorgunizatioa, 110, 115-116, 166, 217-227,

289-298

patents, 15, 91-92, 93, 170,174, 278

persounel, 14, 44-45, 47, 48, 56-58, 83-84,

120-121, 126, 139-146, 167, 222, 234-235,

242-244, 268-269, 297-2_, 301

Personnel Division, 84, 122, 142, 144, 146

planning, 37-39,177-178

long-range, 91,130-131,167,193

studies, 212-213

policy,82,105-107,296

Policy Planning Board, 296

powers, 11-12

_ Divisiou, 62, 129, 15_159, 236-

237, 257

Pmm_nun Analysis and Control, Olce of, 151.

2O4

Program Munagement, Office of, 140

Program Plunning and Evaluation, Off, e" of

(OPPE), 49. 50, 130-131,167, 296

programs, 72, 175-176

engine development, 68, 59, 74, 99. 115

launch vehicle, 70, 72-76, 77, 90, 106-109,

115,173, 2O9

life sciences, 96-97,124-127, 209

problems, 177-178

source, 3, 10, 11, 69, 71

space flight development, 38, 40, 48, 54-55,

69.70,207.299

space sciences. 48. 49, 50, 55, 209. 245

study. 137

tracking and data acquisition, 45. 67, 74, 76,

209, 239, 245, 250-251
378 INDEX

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) --Continued

Programs, Office of, 150, 201, 204, 205-206,

207-208, 217, 222, 230, 234, 290, 295

Project Review Division, 208

Public Affairs, Office of (OPA), 127, 258

Public Information, Omce of, 222

Reliability and Systems Analysis, Office of,

149, 153, 204

research, 48, 50, 54, 55, 66, 68, 74, 77, 126,

162, 164, 193, 209, 245, 249-250

Research Advisory Committee (s), 78, 152

Research Grants and Contracts, Office of

(ORGC), 32n. 128-129. 222, 224, 237

scientists and engineers, 3, 4, 5-6, 56, 235,

244, 264, 265-266

security, 15, 174-175

small business, 92, 237, 244

Space Exploration Program Council (SEPC),

152-153

Space Flight Development, Office of (OSFD),

54-55, 78, 95, 114, 115-116, 130

Space Flight Programs, Office of (OSFP),

116, 162, 166, 168, 201,206, 221,224

Space Sciences, Office of (OSS), 221, 222,

224, 290, 295

studies, 42, 50-56, 93-96, 154-169, 163, 164,

167, 185-187, 188, 198-202, 235--236, 270-

272

Technical Information and Educational

Programs, Office of (OTIEP), 127, 167,

222, 258

technology utilization, 258-259, 299

Technology Utilization Division, 259

Tracking and Data Acquisition, Office of

(OTDA), 224, 295

transfers, 38-39, 43, 44--48, 62, 107-115, 118-

123, 139, 140-141

United Nations Conference, Office for

(OUNC), 127-128

universities, 49, 65, 93, 156, 164, 209, 248-

249, 283, 298-299

University Research Program Office, 128

X-15, 66, 77, 250

National Aeronautics and Space Board, proposed, 12

National Aeronautics and Space Council

(NASC), 13--14, 67--68, 98, 99, 102, 103, 130,

169-170, 173, 186, 189-190, 192, 196, 214, 284

National Bureau of Standards (NBS), 20, 28,

40, 67

National Science Foundation (NSF), 5, 8, 12,

35, 41, 67, 84n, 142

National Space Vehicle Program, NASA-DOD,

66

Naval Appropriation Act of 1915, 20n

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), 59, 80, 84

Vanguard, Project, 5-6, 43, 44--45, 47

Navy. See U.S. Navy

NBS. See National Bureau of Standards

Nevada Test Site, AEC, 254

Newell, Homer E., 47, 292

New York, N.Y., 124

New York Times, 283, 285, 288

Nixon, Vice Pres. Richard M., 183

North American Aviation, Inc., 45, 216-217,

253-254

Rocketdyne Division, 70, 77, 95, 99, 100, 101

Northeastern Operations Office (NEO), NASA,

252, 258

Nova, 73, 108. 194-195, 213

NPO. See Nuclear Propulsion Office, AECNASA

NRDS. See Nuclear Rocket Development Station, NASA

NRL. See Naval Research Laboratory

NSF. See National Science Foundation

NTS. See Nevada Test Site

Commission), 124, 192, 196, 254-255

Nuclear Propulsion Office (NPO), AEC-NASA

(see also Space Nuclear Propulsion Office

(SNPO), AEC-NASA), 124, 254-255

Nuclear Rocket Development Station (NRDS),

NASA (see also Atomic Energy Commission), 250, 254-255

Nunn, Robert G., Jr., 92

OAO. See Orbiting astronomical observatory

OCDM. See Civil and Defense Mobilization,

Office of

OGO. See Orbiting geophysical observatory

Orbiter-Vanguard controversy, 5n

Orbiting astronomical observatory (OAO), 248

Orbiting geophysical observatory (OGO), 248

Organization

changes,78--81,149-150,176-178,299-302

charts, 328-346

planning,39--40

reorganization,II0, 115-116, 166, 217-227,

289-298

studies, 209-211,218--221

structure, 42, 48-50, 52, 71,219, 220

studies, 42, 50-56, 93-96, 161-169, 199--202

Ostrauder, M/G Don (USAF), 115, 116, 121n,

164, 166, 2O7

Pacific Launch Operations Office (PLOO),

NASA, 251-252,292

PacificMissileRange (PMR), 123, 124, 176,

252

Paperclip,Project,4

Patents, 15, 91-92, 93, 170, 174, 278

Patterson, Morehead, 161n

Pearson, Nathan, 161n

Pentagon, 47

Perkins, James A., 161n

Pershing, 108

Personnel, 47, 48, 120--121, 126, 222, 297-298,

301

ceiling, 138, 139-140

CSC inspection, 268-269

examination, civil service, 84, 141-144, 266-

268

excepted positions, 14, 56-58, 84, 130, 140--

141, 268

Federal Management Intern Program, 269

flexibility, 58

growth, 56, 83-84, 139, 234-235, 242-244, 299,

347-348
INDEX

management, 1&_3,146, 268-269

recruitment, 264-265

training, 144-146, 167

transfer to NASA, 44-45, 56, 111, 118, 120-

122

PERT. See NASA-PERT

Phillips, Frank, 68 --

Picketing, William EL, 46

Pilau& Robert O. 68

Pilotless aircraft, 4

Pilotless Aircraft Research Station, NACA

(see a/so Wallops Station), 21, 48, 81

P/oneer V, 153, 175

Plan, long-range, NASA, 90, I_--131

Plan, Ten-Ycer, NASA, 130, 185, 191

Plam_ 37--39,17%178

long-range, 130-131, 167,193

studies, 212-213

PLOO. See Pacific Launch Operations Office,

NASA

PMIL See Pacific Missile Range

Polaris, 4

Policy Planning Board, 296

President's Sciemce Advisory Committee

(PSAC), 23, 130

reconstituted, 6

Space Sciences Panel 8

Procurement. See Contract/ns/procurement

Pro$ress Report, 81

Proxmire, Sen. WilFuun J., 285, 289

PSAC. See President's Science Advisory

Committee

Public Health Service, 97

Public Law 313, 56, 57

Quarles, Donald A., I0n, 38, 102,103

B.A. See Redstone Arsenal

Randt, Dr. Clark T., 97, 126, 127

Ranger spacecraft, 194

Redstone, 4, 108

Redstone Arsenal (RA), 46, 110, 113, 121, 122

Redstone program, 46

Relay, 249

Reorganization, 110, 115-116, 166, 217-227, 289-

29O

studies, 209-211, 218-221

Reorganization Act of 1949, 15

Research, 48, 50, 54, 55, 66, 68, 74, 77, 126, 162,

164, 193, 209, 245, 249-250

Rettaiiata, John, 68

Ritland, M/G O. J. (USAF), 280

Rockefeller, Nelson A., 8

Roey, Jacob M., 92

Rosen, Milton W, 47,114

Rosenthai, Aaron, 121n, 133, I?_n

Rothrock, Addison M, 34n

Rover, Project, 67, 124, 254

Russia. See U.S.S.R.

San Francisco, Calif., 21

Satellites, 45, 74, 76

communications, 74, 77, 175, 184, 192, 196,

249

distinction, 7

379

foreign, 77

launch, 70, 77, 175

meteorological, 67, 74, 77, 175, 192, 196, 249,

28O

reconnaissance, 39

scientific, 115, 175, 248

Saturn (program) (see also Army Ballistic

Missile Agency (ABMA) and Marshall

Space Flight Center (MSFC), NASA), 71,

72, 131, 137, 191, 193, 194, 238

Advanced Saturn, 213

Saturn V, 217, 247, 253

transfer to NASA, 76, 78, 79, 90, 107-110,

114--115, 118

Sehirra, Cdr. Waiter M., Jr. (USN), 247

School of Aviation Medicine (SAM), USAF,

96

Science Advisory Committee, President's.

See President's Science Advisory Committee

(PSAC )

Scientists and engineers, 3, 4, 5-6, 56, 235, 244,

264, 265-266

Scout, 73, 74, 76

Seamans, Robert C. Jr., 129, 150, 191, 200, 207,

221,251,255,290,292,295-290

Seattle World's Fair, 128

Senate. See U.S. Congress

SEPC. See Space Exploration Program Council, NASA

Sergeant program, 47

Shapley, Willis H, lln, 39, 61

Sbea, Joseph F, 275

Shepard, CAr. Alan B., Jr. (USN), 192, 238, 247

Siepert, Albert F_ 43n, 51, 53, 57, 89, 111, 112,

136,148,2o0,207

Silverstoin, Abe, 37--38, 48, 54, 60n, 70, 73, 80,

95, 114, I15-II6, 128, 148, 206, 207, 21I, 217-

218,222

Small business, 92, 237, 244

Smithsonian Institution, 19, 20

Astrophysical Observatory, 67

Snap, Project, 67

SNPO. See Space Nuclear Propulsion Office,

AEC-NASA

Sohier, Waiter D., 270

Soviet Union. See U.S.S.R.

Space CounciL See National Aeronautics and

Space Council (NASC)

Space Exploration Program Council (SEPC),

NASA, 152-153

Space Nuclear Propulsion _ (SNPO),

AEC-NASA (see a/so Nuclear Pmpulaion

Office (NPO), AEC-NASA), 2.54-255

Space Task Group (STG), NASA (see a/zo

Langley Research Center (LaRC). NASA

and Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC),

NASA), 69, 80, 83, 124, 166, 213-214, 235, 300

Sputnik, 15

NACA reaction to, 34-36

Sputnik !, 3, 5, 6, 16, 22, 96, 106

Sputnik II, 6

U.S. reaction to, 6-8, 183

SST. See Supersonic transport aircraft

St. Louis, Mo., 70

Stack, John, 22n
38O INDEX

Standard Oil of Ohio, 41

Stans, Maurice H., 10n, 88, 184-185

State Department of, 68

Stauffacher, Charles, 161n

Stever, H. Guyiord, 96

Stewart, Dr. Homer J., 130

STG. See Space Task Group, NASA

Studies

contracting/procurement, 42, 50, 54, 154--160,

163, 164, 167, 235--236, 270-272

McKinsey Report, 42, 49, 50-56, 63, 79

management, 200-201, 203-209, 218-221

manned lunar landing, 212-213, 246

organization, 42, 50--56, 93-96, 161-169, 199--

zo2

planning, 212-213

reorganization, 209-211, 218-221

Stuh]inger, Dr. Ernst, 255

Supersonic transport (SST) aircraft, NASAFAA, 280

Surveyor, 194

Symington, Sen. Stuart W., 98, 102, 130

Syncom, 249

Telstar, 249

Thomas, Rep. Albert, 88, 139, 214, 287-288

Thompson, Shelby, 127n

Thor, 4, 153

Thor-Able, 73, 76

Thor-Delta, 73

Tiros, Project, 77, 249

Tiros I and H, 175

Titan, 4

Titan II, 238

Townsend, John W., Jr., 47, 80

Tracking and data acquisition, 74, 209

network, 45, 76, 77, 239, 245, 250

optical, 67

program, 250-251

stations, 250

Transfers to NASA

Advanced Research Projects Agency

(ARPA), 45

Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA),

46-47, 107-114, 117-123

Cape Canaveral, USA, 123

discussions, NASA-DOD, 38--39, 43

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 46--47, 49,

50

Mercury, Project, 104

Saturn (program), 76, 78, 79, 90, 107-110,

114--115

Vanguard, Project, 44--45

Treasury, Department of, 68

Ulmer, Ralph E., 39n, 140n, 208

UN. See United Nations

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. See

U.S.S.R.

United Kingdom (U.K.)

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1.9-20

United Nations (UN), 284, 288

Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,

69, 127

United Nations Conference, Office for (OUNC),

NASA, 127-128

United States (U.S.)

space program

acceleration, 192-193, 201, 202, 233-234

debate, national, 7, 2.82-283

Eisenhower Administration plan, 8-12

International Geophysical Year (IGY), 5-

6

legislation, 10-15

military missiles, 4-5, 6

nature and scope, 7-8, 16-17, 22, 107

reappraisal, 192

Wiesner Report, 185-187

space race, 183-184, 191-192, 283

U.S. Air Force (USAF), 62, 63, 108, 184, 188,

189, 247-248

Air Force Ballistic Missile Division (AFBMD), 45

Atlantic Missile Range (AMR), 123, 176,

194, 251, 279

Atlas, 4, 7n, 76

contract, 45

cooperation, 66, 76, 81n, 93, 104, 172, 244,

279-280

launch,66,70,77

missile activity, 4-5, 7n, 45

School of Aviation Medicine (SAM), 96

Titan, 4

Thor, 4

transfers to NASA, 45, 59, 67

X-15, 6, 66

U.S. Army (USA), 108

agreement, 104, 108, 118, 121-122, 122-123

Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC),

46,47

Army BallisticMissileAgency (ABMA),

45, 46-47, 107-114, I17-123, 133, 139,

140-141

Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency

(ARGMA), 46

White Sands (N. Mex.) Missile Range

(WSMR), 46

contract, 47

cooperation, 76, 93, 172, 244

Corps of Engineers, 173, 214, 215, 244

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 46-47

Jupiter, 4

Jupiter C, 7

launch, 66, 70

missile activity, 5, 4,5-47,122

Orbiter, Project, 5n

Redstone, 4, 76

transfers, 45, 46-47, 59, 78, 107-115, 117-

123, 133, 139, 140-141

U.S. Congress, 8, 10, 16, 21, 22, 23, 36, 46, 58,

61, 71, 90, 103, 109, 126, 193, 202, 215, 230,

284

authorization and appropriation, 60, 8,5-88,

134, 136-138, 169, 233-234, 284--289

drah legislation, 12

General Accounting Office (GAO), 68, 100-

101, 102 "

House of Representatives, 14, 90, 102, 170--

171, 284
INDEX 381

Appropriations Committee, 86, 88, 139,

234, 287, 288-289

Committee on Government Operations,

99_

Committee on Science and Astronautics,

99-102, 119, 130, 171, 173, 188, 190n,

191, 234, 237, 238,.253, 273, 285, 2136-

287,288,292

Select Committee on A_stronmutics and

Space Exploration, 12, 40

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 8

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

amendment, 16, 92, 169-171, 173, 189-190

enactment, 12-15

Senate, 15,68, 86-87, 9O,102,119, 170

Appropriations Committee, 80, 138, 234

Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, g8-99, l19n, 130, 137, 138, 14L

171n, 187-188, 19on, 234, 238, 285, 287,

289, 302

Committee on Armed Services, 7

Special Committee on Space and Astrommtics, 12, 41, 302

transfers to NASA, 109, 111, 11&-119

U.S. ICY Committee (National Academy of

Sciences), 5

U.S. Information Agency, 184

U_S. Navy (USN)

agreement, 104

missile activity, 4-5

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), 5-6, 43,

44-45,59,8O,84

Naval Research, Office of, 5, 84

Polari_ 4

recovery, 76

satellites, 184

transfers, 43, 44-45, 59

Underwater Sound Lal_ratorie_ 41

Viking/Aerobee-Hi, 5

X-15" 6, 66

U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

(see a/so Sputnik), 17, 22, 41, 107, 186, 279

intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

capability, 3

Lunik I, II, and III, 77

space race, 183-184, 191-192, 283

Sputnik l, 3, 5, 16

Sputnik tt, 6

gostok 1, 191-192

Van Allen, James A_ 7n

Van Alien radiation belts, 184

Vanguard, Project, 34, 39, 73, 76, 77, 78

cost, 23n, 74

International Geophysical Year (ICY), 5--6

transfer to NASA, 43, 44--45, 47, 79

Vanguard Ill, 77

Venus,248

VeteransAdministration,133

Veterans' Preference Act, 143

Victory, John F., 20, 28, 29, 39n

yon Braun, Wernher, 46, 114, 119, 120, 122, 141

Vostok l, 191-192

Walcott, Charles D. 20n

_aller, Fletcher, 161n

Wallops Island, Va., 21

Wallops Station (NASA) (see _ Pilotle_

Aircraft Research Station, NACA), 50, 75,

81,104,250,292

War Department, 20n

Washington, D.C., 34, 45, 79,80,125,174

WCO. See Western Coordination

Weather Bureau, _ 67, 77

Webb, James E., 203, 247, 287-288

appointments, 297-296

first 33 months, review,

nomination and confirmation of, 187-188,302

organization and management, 227, 281, 296-

297,299, 351-3_

studies, 199-202, 201-292

Welsh, Dr. Edward C., 190

Western Coordination Office (WCO), NACA,

29,95

Western Coordination Office (WCO), NASA

(see a/so Western Operatiom Office (WOO),

NASA), 78, 79, 95-96

Western Electric Co., 76

Western Operations Office (WOO), NASA (see

a/so Western Coerdinatien Oftce (WCO),

NASA), 79, 83, 96, 206, 243,253,258

White, Gen. Themas D. (USAF), 189

White House, 3, 6, 71, 98, 99, 109, 137

White Sands (N. Mex.) Missile Range

(WSMR), 46

_tite Sands Proving Grounds (WSPG), N.

Mex_ 4

Wiesner, Jerome, 185,187

Wiesner Report, 185-187, 189,199n

Williams, Walter C., 76

Williamsburg, Va., 102

WOO. See Western Operationa _, NASA

Wood, Clotaire, 34n, 39n, 49n

World War I, 20

World War II. 4, 21,41, 61. 215

Wright-PattersonAFB, Ohio,21,62:t

WSMIL See White Sands MissileRange

Wyatt, DeMarquis D., 2{}8

X-1 (research aircraft), 21

X-15 (rocket research aireralt), 6, 34, 66, 77,

25O

Yale University, 41

York, Herbert F., I0n, 38, 131, 172

Young, John D., 51n. 94n. 112, 155. 168. 200,

2O2

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APPENDIX D

NASA FINANCES, 1958 THROUGH 1963"

[In mmtomofdoUm]

F_II year

aad. ,_

qma-t_

Net_

S&E R&D CoF -Total S&E R&D C,oF Total

1958:

3(I ..................... 20 ....... , 5 25

4¢h ............... -..... 22 I 7 30

1959:

let ................... 21 9 6 36

2d .................... 24 24 7 35

3(I .................... 22 38 I0 70

4th .................... 22 59 9 90

i960:

let ................... 24 73 15 112

2d .................... 22 85 22 129

3(I .................... 36 77 25 159

4th ................... 39 128 27 194

961 :

let ................... 42 105 23 169

2d ................... 42 177 23 242

3(I ................... 47 161 20 228

4¢h .................... 47 187 17 251

962:

let ................... , 55 260 22 337

2d .................... 59 327 57 441

3d .................... 87 332 39 459

4th .................... 100 415 41 556

L963:

,let ................... II0 528 46 684

2d .................... 119 636 99 854

3d .................... I I I 678 50 839

4th ................... 120 780 104 1, 005

Total ............... 1, 189 5, 080 674. 6, 945

_'m:al year:

1959 .................. 87 34 23 145

1960.. 91 256 54 401

1961 .................. 159 487 98 744

1962 .................. 207 936 114 I, 257

1963 .................. 416 1, 912 225 2, 552

_alendar year:

1959 .................. 89 130 32 251

1960 .................. 121 363 89 574

1961 .................. 176 630 83 890

1962 .................. 301 I, 334 159 I, 793

1963 .................. 460 2, 622 299 3, 382

21 ....... 8 2_

21 73 6 10/]

21 50 6 78

99 52 19 9S

21 61 10 92

22 121 27 17(]

23 77 22 121

24 57 30 III

39 76 13 128

42 154 34 228

44 223 20 288

47 201 31 279

49 164 43 255

50 322 70 44:

56 379 42 476

61 440 65 g67

90 412 27 528

109 587 191 886

104 813 141 I, 058

124 704 216 1,043

127 729 87 943

116 898 113 1, 127

I, 233 6, 593 1, 221 9, 043

I

86 183 35 305

89 315 90 494

172 653 98 923

216 1, 504 220 1, 740

426 2, 516 574 3, 516

86 284 62 433

128 364 99 589

190 910 164 1,264

316 I, 818 325 2, 457

471 3, 144 557 4, 171

*Source: Stand rd Fm'm 133, Report on Budget

of rounding.

349

Status. Slight dhcrepandes are the resuh
APPENDIX E

TRENDS IN NASA PROCUREMENT BY FISCAL YEAR I

1959 s 1960 1961

Total number of procurement actions ...... 26, 900 44, 100 93, 500

Percent with large business ..................... 29 24

Percent with small business ..................... 66 65

Percent with Government agencies .............. 4 10

Percent with other organizations ................ 1 1

Net value of awards (thousands of dollars).. 213, 000 337, 000 1756, 000

Percent of total NASA obligations ...... 70 68 82

Percent to large business .............. 34 43 48

Percent to small business .............. 7 9 8

Percent to Government agencies ........ 45 32 29

Percent to .JPL ...................... 11 11 12

Percent to other organizations .......... 3 5 3

_x_graphical distribution :8

California ............................................. 39

Mimouri .............................................. 11

New York ............................................. 12

Alabama .............................................._ I0

Louisiana......................................................

Placement by Procurement Office :4

Marshall Space Flight Center ............................ 34

Manned Spacecraft Center .............................. l 1

Goddard Space Flight Center ................... 23 21

Western Operations Office ...................... 2 17

All other ..................................... 75 17

1962 1963

126, 8OO 184, 4.0C

2O 29

66 6_

10 4

1 1

1, 551,000 3, 231, 00(

90 95

58 64

8

21 2(

10

3

47 5(

8 ¢

6

9

2

39

13 2_

14

17 1_

17 21

I Data taken from NASA's Annual Procurement Reports.

2 For 9 months only.

Percentage of direct awards of $25,000 and over to bminem.

4 Percentage of net value of awards.

350
APPENDIX F

ADMINISTRATION AND THE CONQUEST OF SPACE*

JAM_ E. WEmi, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

Soon after taking o_ce in February, 1961, guided by skilland judgment of

NASA's Director of Administration,Mr. Albert Siepert,and Mr. John Young, his

Deputy, stepswere initiatedby Dr. Hugh Dryden, the Deputy Administrator,Dr.

Robert Seamans, the Associate Administrator, and myself, to identify the major

organ_tional and management problems NASA's general management should concern itselfwith over the near term future. This was littlemore than another

in the continuous process of review and evaluationthat had been initiatedby Dr.

Keith Glennan, NASA's outstandingly capable firstAdministrator. Our review

and ¢v_tmtion had gotten to the point where we were considering several evolutionary

changes in _tional and management concepts when the President recommended

the accelerated and expanded space program last Spring. Prior to the Pre_dent's

mesmge, we had begun our study of the steps we would have to take to bring the

organization structure, staffing, and management concepts in line with what we

antidimted might be a decision to undertake an accelerated and expanded space

program. Our study, among otherthin_, included:'

1. Setting down a statement of program objectives, nmjor policy assumptions,

and maxmgement concepts as a basic frame of reference against which NASA's general

management might judge various organizational alternatives.

2. We conducted comparative analysis d oth_ experiences, such as the Manhattan Engineering District, Polaris Special Project Office, and Air Force Weapons

Systems Management.

3. We developed alternative organizational plans and reviewed these with senior

NASA staff and knowledgeable individuals from txivate life.

After thorough consideration, President Kennedy in May, sent to Congxem

his recommendation for a program to build the necessary big boosters and step up the

program. The Congress completed its authorization of the accelerated and expanded

space program in September, 1961. In October, we announced the steps we planned

to take to bring NASA's organization and management concepts in line with this

new program. We began detailed implementation of these steps around November 1

of last year. We are still in this process. As I am sure you can understand, it takes

considerable time and effort to implement effectively even relatively small changes

*Excerpts from banquet addre_ at the National Conference of the Amer/can Society for

Public Admin_tratlon, Detroit, Mich., Apr. 13, 1962.

351

215-892 066-24
352 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA, 1958--1963

in large complex enterprises--private or public. I think you will agree that in few

cases has so much effective organizational realignment taken place in so short a time.

Our current concepts of organization and management fall logically into five areas:

1. Headquarters Program Offices which correspond with each of NASA's four

major programs.

2. Center Directors reporting directly to headquarters general management on

over-all Center matters, and to headquarters program directors on program development and execution.

3. Single locus ]or tracking and data acquisition support in headquarters.

4. Provision ]or integrated launch operations services at the Atlantic and Pacific

Missile Ranges to serve all NASA projects.

5. Improved staff services [or general management; that is, an Office of Programs and an Office of Administration at headquarters.

It may be useful to explain in some detail our thinking underlying several of

these basic concepts; those that I believe would be of most interest to members of

ASPA. These are (1) the role of the Headquarters Program Offices; (2) reporting

relationships of Center Directors; (3) staff services for general management; and (4)

the role of functional managers in the area of administration.

1. Headquarters Program Directors. Program management in NASA involves

the planning and direction of an interrelated series of research and development

projects designed to achieve one or more of NASA's major objectives; for example,

manned space flight, including a lunar landing and return.

Effective November 1, 1961, the primary responsibility for each of NASA's four

major programs--Manned Space Flight, Space Sciences, Applications, and Advanced

Research and Technologymwas assigned to a headquarters program director. If

traditional organization terminology were to be used, the headquarters program

directors are responsible for both staff and line functions. A program director has

a dual role in which he both advises and operates. He is the principal adviser to the

Associate Administratorm"NASA's General Manager"_in regard to his assigned

program area. He is also the principal headquarters operating official in regard

to management of his assigned program. He directs his assigned program by working directly with Center directors and their project, and their project and systems

managers. In addition to handling such matters as budgeting and programing of

funds and establishing and issuing technical guidelines, each program director is also

responsible for providing continuing leadership in external and interagency relationships related to an assigned program.

2. Reporting Relationships o[ Center Directors. The reorganization of last

November provided that the Directors of NASA's research and development centers

report directly to the Associate Administrator--"NASA's general manager"_rather

than a particular technical program office in headquarters as they had up to that

time. This was done in recognition that most of the Centers that had been transferred

to NASA were multi-purpose Centers. Although each had a primary orientation

(for example, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the area of unmanned spacecraft),

most had an across-the-board capability that was important to maintain in terms of

rapid feedback from one area to another; for example, from applied research in

electronics to the design of particular spacecraft "instrumentation, such as Ranger.
zxcn_s 353

We explored the feasibilityof (a) making NASA's Centers more single

and (b) more or lesscompletely self-sufficient.Both of these approaches appeared

unrealisticin terms of the effectiveand rapid use of the resourcesthathad been made

availableto NASA. Thus, it was on basic considerationsof that nature that we

deternfinedto have IKASA's Center_ report to.theAssociateAdministrator and c_-

tributeto the variousprograms on the bash of theiravailablein-houso capabilities.

This approach also provides opportunities for the Center Direc_rs to have an increased

3. Sta_ Services for Genaral Management. During the last year, we have taken

steps to improve and _en the staff services available to general management.

This has been done primarily to provide general management with more accurate,

complete, and timely information on which to base program policies and decisions,

particularly in terms of ensuring that the interrelationships among the four badc

programs are continually being properly adjusted.

These staff services are provided by an Office of Programs and an _ of

Administration. These offices in reality have multiple bosses. They are responsible

for servicing all three me_ of general management: Administrator; Deputy Administrator, and the Associate Administrator, and the headquarters program directors.

This approach helps to minimize the size of headquarters staff services while at the

same time obtaining better integration of these services throughout NASA. I must,

however, be frank on this point. This approach re_luires a very unique type of

individual Those that are only at ease and secure when they "serve only one boss"

are ill adapted to provide effective performance on staffs organized in suda a manner.

4. Role of Functional Managers in the Area of Administration. Here is anothmarea where, I believe, we are departing somewhat from traditional or classical concepts

of organization. The Directors of divisions, Headquarters Office of A_tion--

for example, the Director of Persormelmare NASA's functional managers and spefor their particular area_ As functional managers, they are responsible to see

that their assigned administrative activities are performed throughout NASA in a

manner to a_omptish NASA's objectives. Here we are directly and consciously

departing from traditional line and staff concepts of organization. Functional management, as we perceive it, is a means of optimizing administrative specialization,

while at the same time retaining the essential ingredients of traditional line managemerit concept_ It is an effort to cope with the persistent problems we have in modem

complex organizatiom of solving the dilemma between hierarchy and specialization.

The headquarters divisiondirectors,Office of Administration, as functional

man/qge_ are among other things, responsible for observing and evaluating the

manner in which work in his assigned area is carried on throughout NASA. Thus,

the divsinn directors share with the Center Direcuns the z,.'sponsibility for performance

of administrative elements within the Center. The administrative elements in the

Center do in fact have two bosses. This concept places a premium on competent

leadership in the headquarters administrative divisions. There is no escape into the

jargon "that I am only a staff man, but they don't take my advice." The functional

manager approach places" a premium on people who can operate on the basis of competence and confidence in relationship to Center Director and Center administrative

elements rather than on traditional authority concepts; i.e., "I have the right to issue

directives and you have the obligation to carry them out."
354 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY 01_ NASA_ 1958--1963

These, then, are some of the basic concepts that underlie the present organization

and management of NASA and the civilian space program. In some areas, we

believe we are beginning to plow new ground. However, in light of the unprecedented nature of NASA's job, and its distinctive characteristics, we must do more.

We must continually, vigorously, and intelligently seek better answers to the organization and management of the large technological enterprise such as NASA.
CLASSIFIED BiBUOGRAPHY OF SOURCES CITED IN THIS

- STUDY

This Bibliography lists the sources cited in footnotes, plus a few key references

not known to the author at the time of writing. Additional documents pertaining

to NASA's administrative history, collected and collated in the preparation of this

study, have been made part of the NASA Historical ArchiveL Within the categories

of this Bibliography, items have been put in chronological or alphabetical order on

the ba_ of their nature.

I. _olm

Dupmtz, A. Huwrea, Sci_c, in th, Federal Govcrnnumt: A History of Polities mul Aclivit_

to 1940. Cambridge: Harvard Univ., 1957.

E_ws, Eumsmt M. (m_.), History o[ Rocket Techaolofy. Detroit: Wayne State Uaivc_ty

Pre_ 1964.

GaaY, Gz_tms W., Pr_tiers of Flight: Th, Sto,7 of NACA Rcs#arch. New York: Alfred A.

Knopf, 1948.

_, AusoN, Tke Natioul Aerouutics aad $1mc¢ A_: A Stmly of t&r Dev,lotmunU of

Pvblir Policy. Waddngton: Public Affai_ Press, 1962.

HoLlrgS, JAY, America om tk. ,5'1007': The Enterlffi$¢ of tl_ Sixths. Philadelphia: J. K IAp-

_ott c,x, 19e2.

_s, Joan B., Cosntdoem for Dcc/g_m. New York: Putnam's, 1960.

VAN Dye, VmmoN, P_d¢ ud Pou_: The R_ of ¢/_ Spat, Profram. Urbana: Univerdty d llttn_ Pre_ 1964.

II. Arlides (Periodicals)

COitSON, JowN, "Goverm_ent and Business: Partnent in the Space Age," Managem,at Rzviam,

September 1959.

Dzx, o_, Huox L., "Future Exploration and Utilization ¢d Outer Space," T_tmology nd

Cultur#, Spring 1961, pp. 112-126.

DZMaLmo, PAUL, "National Coordination for Space Explo_ .... " The lAG ]omrual,

February 1959.

GLZNSAN, T. Ksrra, "Our National Space Program," addre_ before the Institute of W_ld

AHai_ Pasadena, Calif., Dec. 7, 1959.

Gt.gwa_, T. Km'rH, "Opportunities for International Cooperation in Space Exploration," U,q.

D¢_t o[ State Bttllaiu (Jan. 11, 1960), pp. 58-63.

OATU, S_Pmm B., "NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston, TerM," The $otah_e_-

¢rn Historical Quarterly, January 1964.

Wua, JAMZS E., "Interview: Why Spend $20 Billion To Go To the Moon?" U£. N_vs am/

World Report, July 3, 1961, pp. 58--63.

Wuz, JAMES E., "NASA and USAF: A Space Age Partnership," The Airmaa, August 1964,

pp. 6-11.

355
356 ADMrNISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Ill. Articles and Editorials (Newspapers)

Newport News Daily Press, July 27, 1961.

New York Times:

Feb. 5,1958 (p. 1) Oct. 21,1959 (p. 1)

Aug. 6, 1958 (p. 10) Oct. 22, 1959 (p. 1)

Aug. 7, 1958 (p. 24) July3, 1960 (p. 2)

Oct. 16, 1958 (p. 14) Oct. 29, 1960 (p. 10)

Oct. 19, 1958 (p. 16) Dec. 21, 1960 (p. 1)

Oct. 23, 1958 (p. I) Jan. 12,1961 (p. 14)

Oct. 30, 1958 (p. 14) Jan. 26_ !96! (p. I_)

N_:. 17, 1958 (p. 1) Jan. 31, 1961 (p. 18)

June30, 1959 (p. 3) Mar. 19,1961 (p. I)

Sept.24, 1959 (p. I) Apr. 22, 1961 (p. I)

Oct. 13, 1959 (p. 1) May6, 1961 (p. 14)

New York Times (Western Edition), Jan. 27, 1963.

The Wall Street ]ournal, Aug. 2, 1963.

Wa_ington Evening Star, Jan. 20, 1961.

Washington Post _Y Times Herald, Nov. 8, 1957 (p. AI4).

Washington Post, Sept. 21, 1963 (p. A10).

IV. Public Laws

86--30 (May 20, 1959)

86--45 (June 15, 1959)

86--213 (Sept. l 1959)

86--255 (Sept. 14, 1959)

86--481 (June 1, 1960)

87-26 (Apr. 25, 1961)

87-545 (July 25, 1962)

63-271 (Mar. 3, 1915)

85-325 (Feb. 12, 1958)

85--568 (July 29, 1958)

85-617 (Aug. 8, 1958)

85--657 (Aug. 14, 1958)

85-766 (Aug. 27, 1958)

85--844 (Aug. 28, 1958)

May 17,1961 (p.18)

May 26, 1961 (p.12)

Oct. 8, 1961 (p.35)

Dec. 7, 1961 (p.21 )

Dec. 9, 1961 (p. 7)

Dec. 11, 1961 (p.68)

July25, 1962 (p. 12)

June 28, 1963

Aug. I0, 1963

Sept. 28, 1963

Nov. 21, 1963

87--584 (Aug. 14, 1962)

87-741 (Oct. 3, 1962)

87-793 (Oct. 11, 1962)

88-113 (Sept. 6, 1963)

88-215 (Dec. 19, 1963)

V. Congressional Documents and Publications

(Entries are grouped by committee and titles alphabetized. "Washington: GPO" has

been omitted)

Home:

Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration.

Astronautics and Space Exploration. Hearings on H.R. 11881, 85th Cong., 2d seu.,

1958.

Authorizing Construction for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Hearings on H.R. 13619, 85th Cong., 2d ses_, 1958.

Establishment of the National Space Program. H. Rept. 1770 on H.R. 12575, 85th

Cong., 2d sees., 1958.

Committee on Science and Astronautics.

Authorizing Appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

H. Rept. 591, 88th Cong., let se_., 1959.

Briefing on NASA Reorganization, Project Mercury Summary. Hearing, 88th Cong.,

1st seu., 1963.

A Chronology o/Missile and Astronautic Events. H. Rept. 67,"87th Cong., let seu.,

1961.
smuoG_e_Y 357

D_t_ Space Interests. Hearings, 87th Cong., 1st se_., 1961.

Discus/on of U_. Sat,llite Tracking System. Hearings, 87th Cong., Ist se_, 1961.

Mmt_v P/an_ng o] NASA Installations. H. Rept. 167, 89th Cong., 1st sere., 1965.

1961 NASA Authorization. Hearings on LLR. 10246, 86th Cong., 2d sere., 1960.

1962 NASA Autho_Son. Hearings, 87th Cong., 1st se_., 1961.

1964 NASA ,fithoriz_ion. Hearings on H.R. 5466, 88th Cong., 1st sen., 1963.

Th, Production of Documents by the National A_vomm_ics and Spa_, Administration

for tl_ Commlu_ on Scie_, am/ As:roaa_s. Hearin_ 86th Cong., 2d se_,

1960.

Property Righgs in lnumttions Mae_ under FedGral Space Research Contru_. Hearin_ 86th Cmng., 1st se_, 1959.

Proposed Revisioms to the Patdntg Section, Natiomal Aerommm_s amt Space Act of 1958.

Committee Print of Subcommittee Report, 86th Gong., 2d sere., 1960.

Report oa tk* Aetivi_ of the Committee on $ci_e and Astro_umCics. EL Rept. 2215,

86th Cong., 2d _m., 1960.

Small Bmimcss Particitmtiom im the NASA Research and Development Progrnms. Staff

Study, 87th Cong., 1st se_., 1961.

Space Med_i_ Research. Hearings, 86th Cong., 2d sess., 1960.

To Amamt th_ Nafioul Aeromm_tics ansi Space Act of 1958. Hearings on HR. 9675,

86th Cong., 2d se_, 1960.

Tramper of tht Deodopnun_ Op_a6ons Di_viom of the Army Ballistic Missil_ A£_

to the Na_umal Aeromau_i_s and Space Administration. Hearing on H.J. Res. 567,

86th Cong., 2d se_, 1960.

Ways and Me_uu of E_eetiq F.coaomuu in tits National Space Protein. Hearings,

87th Cong., 2d am., 1962.

Commime o.i App_

Ind_pmtdm_ O_s Appropriations for 1959, Part 2. Subcommittee Hearings, 85th

Cong., 2d ram., 1958.

l_t_t_,,tmu O_s Approtnlagimu for 1964, Pan 3. Subcommittee Hearings, 88th

Cons., l*t _e_, 1963.

Committee on Government Operations.

Or£amim6on and Managmnm_ of Missile Programs. Subcommittee Hearings, 86th

Cong., 1st sel, 1959.

Syst_n_ Development and Managenuv_, Part 5. Hearings, 87th Cong., 2d se_, 1962.

Senam: Special Committee _ Space and Astmnautic_

Compilation of Materials am Space and Astrorm_ics, No. 1. Commiu_e Print, 85th

Cong., 2d se_, 1958.

Compilation of Materia_ on Space and Astronautics, No. 2. Committee Print, 85th

Gong., 2d se_, 1958.

Fiul Report. S. Rept. 100 Pursuant to S_ Re_ 256, 85th Cong., 1st sere., 1959.

Ne_amal Am_tmai_s ad Space Act. Hearings on S. 3609, Parts 1 and 2, 85th Cong.,

2d se_., 1958.

N_. Hearing on the Nomination of T. Ke_th Glennan . . . and Hugh L.

Dryden, Aug. 14, 1958, 85th Cong., 2d se_, 1958.

Committee on Aeronautical and Space Science_

Am#riding the NASA Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1962. Hearing on S. 2481,

87th Cong., 1st sess., 1961.

Documents on International Aspects of the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, 1954-

1962. Staff Report issued as S. Doc. 18, 88th Cong., 1st sess., 1963.

Governmental Organization [or Space Activities. S. Rept. 806, 86th Cong., 1st _ess.,

1959.
358 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Investigation o/Governmental Organization/or Space Activities. Subcommittee Hearings, 86th Cong., 1st ses-'., 1959.

Missile and Space Activities. Joint Hearings with Armed Services Subcommittee, 86th

Cong., 1st sess., 1959.

NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1960.

1959.

NASA Authorization or Fiscal Year 1961.

,eu., 1960.

NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1961.

NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1962.

NASA Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1964.

1963.

Hearings on S. 1582, 86th Cong., Ist seas.,

Hearings on H.R. 10809, 86th Cong., 2d

S. Rept. 1300, 86th Cong., 2d sess., 1960.

S. Rept. 475, 87th Cong., Ist sess., 1961.

Hearings on S. 1245, 88th Cong., Ist sess.,

NASA Supplemental Authorization/or Fiscal Year 1959. Hearings on S. 1096, 86th

Cong., 1st sess., 1959.

Nomination. Hearing on Nomination of James Edwin Webb, 87th Gong', 1st seas.,

1961.

Nominations. Hearing on Nominations of William Burden and John Rettaliata, May

19, 1959, 86th Cong., 1st seu., 1959.

Space Research in the Life Sciences: An Inventory o/ Related Programs, Resources,

and Facilities. Committee Print, 86th Gong., 2d aess., 1960.

Transfer o/yon Braun Team to NASA. Subcommittee Hearing on H.J. Res. 567, 86th

Cong., 2d sess., 1962.

Committee on Appropriations.

Supplemental Appropriation Bill/or 1960. Hearings on H.R. 7978, 86th Cong., Ist

Rn., 1959.

Second Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1962. Hearings on H.R. 11038, 87th

Cong., 2d sess., 1962.

Committee on Armed Services.

Inquiry Into Satellite and Missile Programs, Parts 1, I1, and Ill. Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee Hearings, 85th Cong., 1st and 2d sess., 1957, 1958.

Committee on Government Operations.

Science Program--O6th Congress. S. Rept. 120, 86th Cong., 1st sess., 1959.

VI. Entries in the Federal Register

23 F.R. 7579 (Sept. 30, 1958)

23 F.R. 7643 (Oct. 1, 1958)

23 F.R. 9405 (Dec. 3, 1958)

23 F.R. 9646 (Dec. 12, 1958)

24 F.R. 1644 (Mar. 5, 1959)

24 F.R. 1816 (Mar. 12, 1959)

24 F.R. 3574 (May 5, 1959)

24 F.R. 5178 (June 25, 1959)

24 F.R. 5183 (June 25, 1959)

24 F.R. 6086 (July 30, 1959)

24 F.R. 6615 (Aug. 14, 1959)

24 F.R. 6907 (Aug. 26, 1959)

24 F.R. 7638 (Sept. 23, 1959)

24 F.R. 7639 (Sept. 23, 1959)

24 F.R. 8788 (Oct. 29, 1959)

25 F.R. 403 (Jan. 19, 1960)

25 F.R. 2100 (Mar. 12, 1960)

25 F.R. 2151 (Mar. 16, 1960)

25 F.R. 2197 (Mar. 17, 1960)

25 F.R. 10763 (Nov. 11, 1960)

25 F.R. 10766 (Nov. 11, 1960)

27 F.R. 10460 (Oct. 26, 1962)

28 F.R. 10943 (Oct. 12, 1963)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 359

VII. NASA Publications and News Releases

A. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS

First (Oct. 1, 1958 to Mar. 31, 1959)

Second (Apr. 1, 1959 to Sept. 30, 1959)

Third (Oct. 1, 1959 to Mar. 31, 1960)

Fourth (Apr. 1, 1960 to Sept. 30, 1960)

Fifth (Oct. I, 1960 m June 30, 1961)

Sixth (July 1, 1961 to Dec. 31, 1961)

Seventh (Jan. 1, 1962 to June 30, 1962)

Eighth (July 1, 1962 to Dec. 31, 1962)

N'mth (Jan. 1, 1963 to June 30, 1963)

]_ PROC_'It£M_4T REPORTS

NASA Procw/_nunu, Octob_ I, 1958, to ]u_ 30, 1960.

Also i_ued as House Document:

No. 187, 86th Cong.

No. 361, 86th Cong.

No. 454, 86th ConS.

No. 55, 87th Cong.

No. 468, 87th Cong.

No. 588, 87th Cong.

No. 78, 88th Cong.

No. 179, 88th Cong.

No. 314, 88th Cong.

A_mud Pro_r_n4mt Report, Final Y#ar 1961. (Aim F'uw,al Year 1962 and Fizal Year

1963.)

Sonimtnual Pro_rondmt Report, July 1, 1960, through De¢_nb_r 31, 1960. (Aim July 1

through December 31 for 1961, 1962, and 1963. )

C. GENERAL PUBLICATIONS

Axz_s, DAvm S., Historical Orifi_ of the George C. Marshall S_e Flight Cem_r.

(MSFC Historical Monograph No. 1) Huntsville, AlL: NASA, 1960.

"Chronology of Major NASA |.2u_w-hin_t October 1, 1958, Through December 31, 1962"

(App. B of AJfronau_ical _ Aeronautical Evdmts of 1962. Washington: GPO, 1963.)

EMME, EUGZNlt M., AGronautics and Astromxutics, 1915--60. Wathingten: NASA, 1961.

Gmmwoon, J_llus, Proj_t Mcr_: A Chromdogy. Washington: NASA SP--4001, 1963.

Ln_z_a.'_, RmuUtT A., and F_g J,_JtzTr, "Historical Origim of Launch Operations

Genter to December 1962" (KHM-I).

Lmz, M,_ Mna_, Space Medi_'i_ iB Proje_ Mcr¢=ry. WabaSh, ton: NASA SP--4003,

1965.

MGrcury Pro_eet Summary. Washington: NASA SP-45, 1963.

NASA Historical Staff, Hiz:oric_ Sketch of NASA. Wathington: NASA EP-29, 1965.

NASA _cal Sta_, Astronautics a_l Aeronautics, 1963. Washington: NASA SP-4004,

1964.

NASA-Industry Program Pla_ Conferee, July 28--29, 1960. (Include= Bracke_ Ernest,

"NASA's Procurement System," and Sohier, Walter, "Legal Framework of NASA's Procurement Program.")

Proceedings of the Second NASA-Industry Program Plans Conferee. Waahington: NASA

SP-29, 1963. (Includ_ O'Brien, Gerald, "NASA Patent Policy and Procedure.")

goszwrtt_, A_tqum, The Early Years, Goddard Simc.e Flight C=atcr, Historical Origins

and Aetioi_: Through Dec_nnb_r 1962.

"Saturn _ to December 31, 1960." May 1961, MHR-1, MSFC _mxn-ical Off_e.

Sellbt_ to NASA. Wa_,ton: GPO, 1962.

S_.WZLL, WZm_ZX,L H., X-15 Research Results. Washington: NASA SP--60, 1965.

D. NEWS RELEASES

"NASA To Take Over NACA September 30," Sept. 26, 1958. (NACA Release.)

"Fact Sheet on the Transfer of Certain Functions From Department of Defense . . .,"

Oct. 1, 1958.

"... brief biographies of the top officers . . .," Oct. 5, 1958.
360 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

"Glennan Announces First Details of New Space Agency Organization," Oct. 5, 1958.

"NASA Announces Contracting Procedures," Oct. 30, 1958.

"Functions and Responsibilities of Research Advisory Committees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration," Nov. 21, 1958.

59-121 (Apr. 23, 1959) 61-201 (Sept. 7, 1961) 62-115 (May 11, 1962)

59-123 (Apr. 30, 1959) 61-203 (Sept. 11, 1961) 62-155 (July 3, 1962)

59-125 (May 1, 1959) 61-207 (Sept. 19, 1961 ) 62-179 (Aug. 7, 1962)

59-153 (May 28, 1959) 61-213 (Sept. 24, 1961) 62-215 (Oct. 12, 1962)

59-167 (June 25, 1959) 61-236 (Oct. 25, 1961) 62-228 (Oct. 26, 1962)

59-206 (Aug. 25, 1959) 61-244 (Nov. 3, 1961) 62-233 (Oct. 30, 1962)

Kq...97t_ (T_._ gt la_O) _1 og_ /*,T^.. 11, 1till _ co oAn t,,v--. i_,vv. ,_, _A, ln=,_ A,,Tu_j

59-285 (Jan. 1, 1960) 61-263 (Nov. 28, 1961) 62-251 (Nov. 27, 1962)

60-231 (July 22, 1960) 61-273 (Dec. 7, 1961) 62-261 (Dec. 12, 1962)

60-260 (Sept. 13, 1960) 61-281 (Dec. 15, 1961 ) 63- 11 (Jan. 22, 1963)

60-300 (Nov. 17, 1960) 61-284 (Dec. 21, 1961 ) 63- 44 (Mar. 4, 1963)

60-319 (Dec. 19, 1960) 61-287 (Dec. 31, 1961) 63-225 (Oct. 9, 1963)

61- 65 (Mar. 28, 1961) 62- 37 (Feb. 19, 1962) 63-233 (Oct. 21, 1963)

61-115 (May 25, 1961 ) 62- 53 (Mar. 7, 1962)

VIII. Intemal NASA Documents

A. NASA GENERAL DIRECTIVES

No. 9, Jan. 29, 1959. Subject: Delegation of Authority--NASA Patent Matters.

No. 10, Feb. I0, 1959. Subject: NASA Advisory Committee.

B. MEMORANDA FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR

Oct. 20, 1958. Subject: Establishment and Approval of Excepted Positions and Salaries

Under the Authority of Sec. 203(b) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

Jan. 30, 1959. Subject: NASA Organization.

Apr. 6, 1959. Subject: Functions and Authority--Office of Research Grants and Contracts.

May 1, 1959. Subject: Functions and Authority---Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

May 25, 1959. Subject: Preliminary Budget Proposals--FY 1961.

May 27, 1959. Subject: F_stablishment of the Administrator's Progress Report.

C. GENERAL MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTIONS, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

AND REGULATIONS

Introduction, June 1, 1959. Subject: NASA Issuance System.

Introduction, July 22, 1959. Subject: NASA Issuance System.

2-1-6, Jan. 24, 1962. Subject: Functions and Authority--Assistant Administrator for

Public Affairs.

2-1-6, Apr. 26, 1963. Subject: Functions and Authority--Assistant Administrator for

Technology Utilization and Policy Planning.

2-1-8.8, Jan. 17, 1962. Subject: Function and Authority--Audit Division.

2-1-13, May 30, 1960. Subject: Functions and Authority--Office of Technical Information

and t'.ducational Programs.

2-2-9.1, Oct. 27, 1960. Subject: Establishment of NASA Test Support Office, Pacific

Missile Range.

2-2-16.1, May II, 1962. Subject: l_stablishment and Functions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office---Downey.

2-5-5, Mar. 29, 1963. Subject: Management Advisory Committee for Manned Space

Flight.
SlSLXOO_eWt 361

3-3-7.1, May 10, 1963. Subject: Contractual Relationship between the Headquarters

Contracting O_cer for Contract NASw-410, Center Directom and Procurement Offw_rs

at LOC, MSFC, MS(], and the General Electric Co.

3-3-7.2, May 10, 1963. Subject: Contractual Relationship Between Headquarters Contractlng Officer for Contract NASw--41O, the Director and Procurement Officer at MSFC,

and the General Electric Co. Concerning the Mimimippi Test Facility.

3-5-3,June 14,1960. Subject: FinanclalOperatlngSystem_

3--6-1, July 5, 1963. Subject: Automatic Data Proceming (ADP) Equipment and Services.

3-6-2, Oct. 4, 1963. Subject: NASA Inter-Center Committee on ADP.

4--1-1, Jan. 18, 1961. Subject: Planning and Implementation of NASA Projects.

4--I-1, Mar. 8, 1963. Subject: Planning and Implementation of NASA ProjectL

4-I-5, Sept. 1, 1961. Subject: NASA Program Evaluation and Review Technique---

PERT System.

6--1-1, June 1, 1959. Subject: NASA Issuance Procedures.

6-2-1, July 1, 1959. Subject: Adminhuator's Progrem Report.

6-2-2, July 1, 1959. Subject: Preparation of A_i-l-trator's Progress Report.

6-2-3, May 5, 1960. Subject: NASA Program Management Systeln.

18-9-101, Oct. 26, 1963. Subject: Property Rights in Inventions Made in the Performance of Work Under NASA Contracts.

D. CIRCULARS

No. 55, Mar. 7, 1960. Subject: Detail of Personnel to the Office for the United Nations'

Cm_es_u:e.

No. 57, Mar. 14, 1960. Subject: Establishment of NASA Hunmville Facility.

No. 93, Auw 3, 1960. Subject: Interim Operating Plam---4_ce of the A_te Administratm-.

I_ 110, Oct. 21, 1960. Subject: F.atablishment of Pmitions of Amismat AdminJm'ator for

Prograna and Assistant Adminhtrator for _urem--O_ce of Associate Adminim-ator.

No. 147, July I, 1961. Subject: Functiom and Authority---Headq_ Procurement

Branch.

No. 208, Mar. 7, 1962. Subject: Eamblishment of the Launch Operations Center at AMR

and the PacificLaunch Operations Officeat PMIL

No. 219, May 7, 1962. Subject: Planning and Implementation of NASA Projec_----

Interim Changes to.

No. 231, May 29, 1962. Subject: Special Procurement Study.

No. 233, June 15, 1962. Subject: Informational Material on Amignment of Regtonsibilio

in NASA Headquarters, Attachment A: General Responsit_ilities and Functions of a

NASA Headquarters Program Director; and Attachment B: Functional Management

Rm'ponmb_tim of the Office of Adminhu-ation.

No. 242, Sept. l, 1962. Subject: Use of Incentive Contracts.

No. 243, Aug. 16, 1962. Subject: Geographic Distribution of NASA Subcontracts.

No. 277, Mar. 29, 1963. Subject: NASA Management Advisory Committee for Manned

Space Flight.

No. 280, Apr. 16, 1963. Subject: Restrictions on Contracting with the General Electric Co.

where Competitive Advantage May Exist.

E. ANNOUNCEMENTS

No. 58, Dec. 14, 1959. Subject: Establishment of New Headquarters Staff Component.

No. 71, Jan. 18, 1960. Subject: Arrival of New Deputy Associate Admlni_trator.

No. 85, Feb. 2, 1960. Subject: Appointment of Director of Financial Management.

No. 86, Feb. 2, 1960. Subject: Appointment of Director of Audits.
362 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

No. 134, May 17, 1960. Subject: Reorganization of the Office of Research Grants and

Contracts.

No. 156, June 13, 1960. Subject: NASA Organizational Changes at AMR and PMR.

No. 165, June 30, 1960. Subject: Establishment of Headquarters Personnel Office.

No. 173, July 19, 1960. Subject: Appointment of Associate Administrator.

No. 314, June 5, 1961. Subject: Organizational and Functional Changes in NASA Headquarters.

No. 384, Oct. 23, 1961. Subject: Activation of the Joint AEC--NASA Space Nuclear

Propulsion Office, Cleveland.

No. 513, June 5, 1962. Subject: Bob P. Helgeson Appointed Chief, Space Nuclear Propulsion Office---Nevada Extension.

No. 558, july 16, 1962. Subject: Management intern Program Now Underway.

F. LETTERS

Barclay, Gen. J. A., U.S. Army.

June 9, 1960. To Gen. Don Chtrander, NASA.

Brooks, Representative Overton.

May 28, 1959. To T. Keith Glennan.

Corson, John, McKinsey & Co.

Dec. 18, 1958. To T. Keith Glennan.

Dryden, Hugh.

Apr. 15, 1958. To Roy Johnson, ARPA.

Eisenhower, President Dwight D.

Jan. 5, 1959. To T. Keith Glerman.

Glennan, T. Keith.

Sept. 29, 1958. To Joseph Campbell, GAO.

Nov. 10, 1958. To NACA Committee Chairman.

Dec. 26, 1958. To President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Feb. 9, 1959. To James Perkins, Carnegie Institution.

Apr. 7, 1959. To Senator Stuart Symington.

May 25, 1959. To Maurlce Stans, BOB.

June 15, 1959. To Representative Overton BrookJ.

Aug. 14, 1959. To Crawford Greenewalt, Du Pont Co.

Aug. 28, 1959. To Joseph Campbell, GAO.

Sept. 2, 1959. To John Rettallata, NASC.

Sept. 8, 1959. To Gen. John Medaris, U.S. Army.

Oct. 20, 1959. To President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Nov. 16, 1959. To President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Nov. 18, 1959. To John Cormn, McKinsey & Co.

Jan. 14, 1960. To Speaker, House of Representatives.

Feb. 10, 1960. To Crawford Greenewalt, Du Pont Co.

Mar. 25, 1960. To James Douglas, DOD.

June 6, 1960. To John Cor_n, McKinsey & Co.

July 15, 1960. To Roger Jones, CSC.

Aug. 5, 1960. To Ralph Beue, Cleveland Electric Co.

Jan. 12, 1961. To Richard Homer, formerly of NASA.

Harbridge House, Inc.

Apr. 25, 1961. To George Vecchietti.

Jones, Roger, CSC.

Aug. 23, 1960. To T. Keith Glennan.

McKinsey & Co.

Sept. 26, 1958. To T. Keith Glennan.
BraLK)GRAPHY 363

Siepert, Albert.

Dec. 12, 1961.

Webb, James E.

Sept. 21, 1961.

Feb. 21, 1962.

Apr. ll, 1962.

(3. MEMORANDA

Abbott, Ira.

To Lt. Gen. W. K. Wilson, ACE.

To LL Gen. W. K. Wilson, ACE.

_To Frederick Kappel, AT&T.

To J. McNeely, AT&T.

May 23, 1958. To Edward Chamberlin et aL Subject: _on and Staffmg of

NASA Headquarters.

Brackett, Ernest.

Mar. 6, 1961. To Albert Slepert. Subject: Suggestion for Centmlimd Headquartem

Procurement Offu_.

Cono_ John, McKimey _ Co.

Sept. 16, 1958. To NASA (Memorandmn for Dimttssion). Subject: Assistance on

Organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Adminhtration.

Dec. 8, 1958. To T. Keith Glennan. Subject: Next Steps in Oration of the

National Aeronautics and Space Admlnlstration.

Nov. 2, 1969. To T. Keith Glennan.

Jan. 26, 1960. To T. Keith Glenna_ Subject: A Plan for Appraidng NASA's Contracting Poficies and Over-all Organization.

Coruight, Edgar.

Aug. 23, 1960. To Newell SanderL Subject: Some Comments on "An Evaluation

of NASA's Contracting Pollcles, Organization, and Performance" by McKimey & Co.

Nov. 3, 1960. To Abe Silventein and Don Chtrander.

Dembliug, l_uL

Apr. 26, 1960. To Director of ]kuineu Administmfio_ Subject: Contr_u for

Servic_

Gamble, Allea.

June 8, 1959. Memorandum of Record.

July 19, 1960. To Langley Personnel OtiiceT et aL Subject: AeroSpace Technology

Examination.

Dec. 11, 1959. To Langley Penonnel Officer et aL Subject: Draft of AeroSpace

Technologist Examination.

Glenna_ T. Keith.

Oct. 10, 1958. To Wedey Hjornevik.

Nov. 19, 1958. Memorandum of Record.

Dec. 24, 1958. To Hugh Dryden.

Apr. 7, 1959. To Abe Si/wrstein, John Crowley, and Albert Siepert. Sub_-t: Program Reporting.

Apr. 15, 1959. Memorandum to record the remits of the conversation between Mem_

McElroy, Dryden, and Glenmm, who were joined later at lunch by Dr. Quarles.

May 19, 1959. To Albert Siepert.

July 7, 1959. To Headquarters Staff. Subject: Bimcience Advisory Committee.

Aug. 28, 1959. To Richard Homer.

Sept. 9, 1959. To Richard Hornex.

Oct. 7, I959. To Hugh Dryden et aL

Nov. 16, 1959. To Richard Horn_.

Feb. 2, 1960. To Headquarters Directorates. Subject: 1962 Budget Guidelines.

Feb. 24, 1960. To Homer Stewart. Subject: Distribution of "The Ten-Year Plan,"

a Confidential Document of NASA.

Mar. 7, 1960. To Albert Siepert.
364 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Mar. 18, 1960. To Members of the Advisory Committee on Organization. Subject:

The Evaluation of NASA's Organization: The Problem, Suggested Approaches, and

the End Objective.

Aug. 1, 1960. To Robert Lacklen.

Sept. 1, 1960. To Albert Siepert.

Dec. 14, 1960. To Abe Silverstein.

Glennan, T. Keith, and Gates, Thomas.

Oct. 21, 1959. Memorandum for the President. Subject: Responsibility and Organization for Certain Space Activities.

Golovin, Nicholas.

Apr. 8; 1960. To Program Directors. Subject: NASA Program Presentation to

Industry.

Apr. 13, 1960. To Richard Homer. Subject: Principal Conclusions of the Meeting

of April 13, 1960, NASA-Industry Conference.

Finan, William, John Diebold & Associates, Inc.

Dec. 31, 1961. To John Young. Subject: Final Report Under Contract No. NASw272.

Hahn, Walter.

Mar. 1, 1962. To Albert Siepert et al.

American--Downey.

Hjornevik, Wesley.

Apr. 27, 1959.

Homer, Richard.

Aug. 3, 1959.

Management.

Sept. 24, 1959.

Decisions.

Mar. 22, 1960.

1960 Long-Range Plan.

King, Robert.

Aug. 24, 1960. To Don Ostrander and Abe Silverstein.

for the Administrator.

Laciden, Robert.

Apr. 4, 1958. To John Victory.

McKinsey & Co.

June 3, 1960. To T. Keith Glennan.

tracting Policies.

Ostrander, Don.

July 27, 1960.

Nov. 14, 1960.

Rosenthal, Aaron.

Apr. 25, 1961.

Operations.

Aug. 4, 1960.

Plans.

Aug. 16, 1960.

Nov. 14, 1960.

Apr. 10, 1961.

and Reporting.

Rosenthal, Aaron, and Ostrander, Don:

Apr. 29, 1960. To T. Keith Glennan.

Subject: NASA Representative at North

To T. Keith Glennan.

To Abe Silverstein, Ira Abbott, Albert Siepert. Subject: Program

To Directors of OBS, OASR, OSFD. Subject: Necessity of Timely

To Headquarters Directors. Subject: Planning Schedule for the

Subject: Initiation of Review

Subject: Progress Report on Study of ConTo T. Keith Glennan.

To Edgar Cortright.

To Albert Siepert. Subject: Mechanization of Fiscal and Reporting

To T. Keith Glennan. Subject: Fiscal Year 1961 Financial Operating

To Albert Siepert. Subject: Status of Financial Management System.

To Program Directors et al. Subject: Agencywide Coding Structure.

To Stephen Grillo. Subject: Mechanization of Financial Accounting
BIBLIOGR&PHY 365

seamam, Robert.

July28, 1961. To Program Directon. Subject: FinanicalOperatinsPlam.

Aug. 8, 1961. To Program Directon. Subject: FimmcialOperating-PlanL

Aug. 23, 1961. To Program Directors. Subject: Call for Financial Operating Plan

Obligation Estimatm for the Fiscal Year 1962 Construction of Facilities AppropriatiOIL ""

SL-Iw._ Albert.

May 7, 1959. To T. Keith Giennam

Jan. 13, 1961. To T. Keith Glenmm. Subject: Comnamta on Final Report of

C,on_ttee on Or_u_on.

Oct. 19, 1962. To Directors of Headquarun_ Program and Staff Offices and NASA

Centers and Installations. Subject: New Examination Amzotmcement for R&D

Adminim_on Pmldom: Part C of the Acre-Space Technok_ Announcement.

Sohier, Walter.

July 20, 1962. To James E. Webb.

Feb. 21, 1963. To James K. Webb. Subject: Conclusion of Special Procurement

Study.

Stewart, Homer.

Nov. 12, 1958. To T. Ke/th Glennan.

Webb, James F_

Apr. 3, 1962. To Robert Seamam. Subject: NASA Procurement Study Group.

Welmer, Grove.

Oct. IS, 1960. Subject: Permnnel Management Evaluatiou for NASA.

Wya__

Nov. 18, 1960. To Edgar Cortright.

Aug. 24, 1981. To Program Diz_tors. Subject: Content and Structure of Project

Develop,neat lqam (PDP,) and Preliminary Project Development Ham Submitted

to the Amnciate Adminimamr for Approval

Y_, John.

July 24, 1961. To James E. Webb. Subject: Additional Item on Organization.

I-L REPORTS AND STUDIES PREPARED FOR NASA

"The Evaluation and Selection of Major R&D Sources." Feb. 28, 1963. Prep_ by

Harbridse Home, Inc.

"An Evaluation of NASA's Contracting Polic/es, Organization, aad Performance-" October

19e0. Prepzred by _ _ C_.

"National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Iet Organ_tion and Managmnent."

October 1960. lht_ared by the Adv_orT Committee on O_ La_ Fdm_

"NASA Incentive Contracting Guide." September 1962. Prepared by Harbridse Home,

Inc.

'_NASA _t and Control Sy, te_" Nov. 30, 1960. Prepared by Raam-Woeld_-dse C_

"NASA--JI*L Itelmiemhi_ and the Role of the Western C_miination Ol_e." Marr.h

1959. Pzepared by McKimey & Go.

"NASA Procurement Management Seminar." 1962. Prepared by Harbridge House, Inc.

"Operational Phm for NASA Advisory Committee." Aug. 7, 1959. Prepared by the

RAND Corp.

Propos#d $tudlcs of the Implications o] Peace/ul Space Ac:ivities [or Human A_airs. Prepared by Brookin_ Institution. (Published as H. Rept. 242, 871h Cong., Washington:

GPO, 1961.)

"Providing Supporting Services for the Development Operatiom Division." Jan. 16, 1960.

Prepared by McKinsey & Co.
366 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

"Recommendations to the NASA Regarding a National Civil Space Program." Oct. 28,

1958. Prepared by the NACA Special Committee on Space Technology.

"Report of National Aeronautics and Space Administration Bioscience Advisory Committee."

Jan. 25, 1960. Prepared by Bioscience Advisory Committee, Seymour Kety, Chairman.

I. REPORTS AND ITEMS IN A SERIES

"Annual Training Report for Fiscal Year 1960." Also for Fiscal Year 1961 and Fiscal

Year 1962.

"Minutes, Space Exploration Program Council Meeting, February 10-11, 1960." Also

Apr. 25-26, 1960.

"NASA Headquarters Personnel Bulletin" (HPB 3-62), Nov. 2, 1962. Also HPB 4-62,

Nov. 13, 1962, and HPB 5-62, Nov. 27, 1962.

"Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report to Subcommittee on Manpower Utilization of

the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, for Quarter

ending Mar. 31, 1959." Apr. 27, 1959. Also for quarters ending June 30, Sept- 30

and Dec. 31, 1959, and subsequent quarters in 1960, 1961, and 1962.

"Report of Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization." May 21, 1958. Also Revised

Report, Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization, June 2, 1958; Second Revision of

Report of Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization, July 25, 1958; and Final Report

of the Ad Hoc Committee on NASA Organization, Aug. 12, 1958. Prepared by Ad Hoc

Committee on NASA Organization, Ira Abbott, Chairman.

J. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS, STUDIES, STAFF PAPERS, ETC.

"Adapting NASA's Organization and Management to Future Challenges." October 1963.

Prepared by the Office of Administration.

"AST and Engineering Recruiting Results (July 1, 1961-September 30, 1962)." Prepared

by the Personnel Division.

"Brief Discussion of Procurement Organization and Practices of NACA-NASA." August

1958. Prepared by Ralph Cushman.

"Briefing Regarding the Commission's Agency-wlde Evaluation of Personnel Management

in NASA." Apr. 12, 1963.

"Clarifying and Strengthening the Role of NASA's General Management." Apr. 14, 1961.

Prepared by the Management Analysis Division.

"Draft for Discussion Purposes, Subject: Administrator's Report." Apr. 6, 1959.

"Inadequate and Conflicting Management Systems." Sept. 28, 1962. Draft memorandum

prepared by the Management Analysis Division.

"Justification of College Education Requirements for Professional Aero-Space Technology

Administrative Management and Information Positions in the National Aeronautics and

Space Adminhtration." July 1, 1960. Prepared by Allen Gamble.

*'Leghlation Pertaining to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as of April

1958." Prepared by NACA Office of Legal Adviser.

"Major Problems of Concern in the Organization and Management of the Civilian Space

Program." Mar. 31, 1961. Draft memorandum prepared for James Webb by John

Young.

"Managing Major New Technologies." Oct. 1, 1960, 39 pp. Prepared by Walter T.

Sohier.

"Manpower Utilization Aspects of the Transfer to the NASA of the Former 'Development

Operations Division,' ABMA, Army Missile Ordnance [sic] Command." See Annex D

to the Quarterly Manpower Utilization Report for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 1960.

"Memorandum on Need for Study to Develop Supportable Position on Rate and Scale in

Space Research." June 19, 1959. Prepared by T. Keith Glennan.

"NASA Electronics Research Center,. Staff Report." January 1963.

"NASA Executive Development Program." July 15, 1960.

"NASA Guide to Source Evaluation and Selection." Oct. I, 1963. (A Draft Guide.)
em_xxpwt 367

"NASA Lunar Program and Large Booster Chronology" (Draft). Mar. 15, 1964.

HHN-33 prepared by NASA Historical Staff.

"NASA Staff Conference," Monterey, Calif., Mar. 3-5, 1960. Summary.

"National Space Vehicle Program." Sept. 30, 1959. Prepared by W'dliam Holaday,

Chatrm_ CMLC.

'q_Totes of Conversation." Aug. 20, 1958. (Glemmn, Quaries, et aL)

"Norm of _on With Rear Admiral Rawmn Bennett." Aug. 20, 1958.

"Orpnizing to Achieve the Objectives of an Accelerated Civilian Space Program." Aug. 7,

1961. (Draft.)

"Permnnel Data Relating to the Transfer of ABMA DOD to MSFC." (Enclosure, Letter

from Ruth Jarrell, MSFC, to Helen Wells, NASA Headquarters, AUg. 21, 1963.)

"P_ea_ NASA's Organ/zational Structure To Achieve the Objectives of an Accelerated _" June 12, 1961. Cover memorandum _ by John Young.

"Recommendatiom Toward a Sound Procurement Policy for NASA." Nov. 15, 195&

"Report to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics" (Requested in hearings

before the committee on March 9, 1959). Mar. 17,1959. PrepazedbyNASAPenonnel

Divi6on.

"Suggested AdditionalPoints for Gon_deraxion by NASA Advlmw Committee on Organization" (Attachment A). July 15, 1960.

'q3uggested Or_m_mtional and Opera_ng Pattern for NASA" (Attachment B). July 15,

1960.

"Summary Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 1961, NASA." Aug. 19, 1960.

"A Summary Look at _ Headquarters Organization Problem.'" Feb. 27, 1961. Prepared by Hjome_ Siepe_ Hod_on, and Young.

"Summary of _ at Conference on National Space Program held October 22, 23,

1959." Nov. 2, 1959.

"Summary of Meeting with Mr. Finaey, April 27, 1960." Apr. 28, 1960. Prepared by

Aaron RmeathaL

'3ummary, of lepom to the Co_ve_... January 25, 1963." Prepared by O_e

of LeshL_e _a_

"Summary Progrea Report No. 5." May 28, 1960. Subject: Dev_opl3_ent and Installation of New Financial Management System at MSFC. Prepared by Martin Finney for

Aaron l_mendud.

"Supplement to Examina_m for Pmfemional Positions in Acre-Space Technology . . ."

(Draft). July 1, 1960.

]L INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS, UNDERSTANDINGS, ETC.

Agreement Between NASA and AEC on Mana4gement of Nuclear Rocket Engine Contracts.

Feb. 1, 1961.

Agreement Between the Department of De/e_e and the National Aemnaulics and Space

Ad_;-;-trafion Concerning theAeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board. Sept.

13, 1960.

Agreement Between the Delmrunant of Defmae and the Na_mal Aeronautics and Space

Administration C_nceming Principles Governing Reimbursement of Com. Nov. 12,

1959.

Agreement Between Department of Defeme and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Regarding Transfer of Records, Property, Facilities, and Civilian Personnel

of Project Vanguard. Nov. 20, 1958.

Agreement Between the Department of the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration Concerning Air Force Assistance to NASA .... Aug. 15, 1959.

Agreement Between the Deparlment of the Army and NASA on the Objectives and Guidelines of the Implementation of the Presidential Decision To Transfer a Portion of ABMA

to NASA. Nov. 16, 1959.

215-892 0-66--25
368 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF NASA_ 1958--1963

Army NASA Transfer Plan. Dec. 11, 1959.

Cooperative Agreement on Jet Propulsion Laboratory Between the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration and the Department of the Army. Dec. 3, 1958.

Inter-agency Agreement on the Program for the Development of Space Nuclear Rocket

Propulsion (Project Rover). July 28, 1961.

Memorandum of Understanding. Nov. 20, 1958. Subject: Program for a Manned Orbital

Vehicle. (NASA and ARPA.)

Memorandum of Understanding. Nov. 14, 1958. Subject: Principles of Participation of

NASA in Development and Testing of the Air Force System 464L Hypersonic Boost Glide

Vehicle (Dynasoar I). (NASA, Air Force.)

NASA-DOD Joint Report on Facilities and Resources Req,_i_d __*.Launch Site To Support

NASA Manned Lunar Landing Program, Phase I. July 31, 1961. (Debus-Davis

Report. )

The National Space Vehicle Program, prepared by the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration in consultation with the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the

Department of Defense. Jan. 27, 1959.

Terms of Reference---Civilian-Military Liaison Committee to the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration and the Department of Defense. Oct. 29, 1958.

L. OTHER

Notice of Change of Address. Sept. 30, 1958. (NACA Announcement.)

Interim Procedure for Issuing NASA Management Manual Instructions. Oct. i, 1958.

(NASA General Notice.)

IX. Speeches

Dryden, Hugh L. "The National and International Significance of the Lunar Exploration

Program." Dec. 29, 1961. Delivered at the AAAS Meeting, Denver, Colo.

Dryden, Hugh L. "The Utilization of Technical Personnel in the Space Age." May 8, 1961.

Delivered at the Engineering Manpower Conference, Denver, Colo.

Kennedy, President John F. May 25, 1961. State of the Union Message delivered at a joint

session of Congress.

Kennedy, President John F. Sept. 12, 1962. Delivered at Rice University, Houston, Tex.

Webb, James E. "Administration and the Conquest of Space." Apr. 13, 1962. Delivered at

the National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration, Detroit, Mich.

X. Miscellaneous Items

A. PRE-APRIL 1958 NACA ITEMS

"Rules and Regulations for the Conduct of the Work of the National Advisory Committee

for Aeronautics With Amendments Approved by the President to May 3, 1949."

Memorandum of Understanding. Dec. 23, 1954. Subject: Principles for the Conduct

by the NACA, Navy and Air Force of a Joint Project for a New High Speed Research

Airplane.

Forty Years of Aeronautical Research. By Jerome Hunsaker. (Smithsonian Report for

1955. Washington: Srnithsonian Institution, 1956. Pp. 241-271.)

"A National Research Program for Space Technology." Jan. 14, 1958. Prepared by

NACA.

"A Program for Expansion of NACA Research in Space Flight Technology With Estimates

of the Staff and Facilities Required." February 10, 1958. Prepared by NACA.

B. ITEMS RELATED TO SPACE

"Advisory Committee on Government Organization." Memorandum for the President.

Mar. 5, 1958. Subject: Organization for Civil Space Programs.