Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-19
Mistake in Space

National Aeronautics and Space Admin
istration, has pulled no punches in his
appearance before the Senate Appro-
priationS Committee. Speaking in SOM
Der and urgent tones, he has fatty de-
clared that the House, in recently voting
to cut 500 million from his agency's
budget for the current fiscal year, has
taken step that threatens to result in
disastrous consequences" and there is
no reason to doubt the soundneSS of his
warning.
The sum sought by NASA, with the
strong and unqualified backing of PreSi-
dent Eisenhower, is $3.50 million. AS DR..
Glennan has said, this represents tight
budget with LESS than any slack in it,"
In other words, it is the rock-bottom
minimum needed to give our country,
for the sake of both its prestige and
its security in a dangerous world, a
fighting chance to catch up with the
Soviet Union in space, and to go on from
there to achieve genuine leadership in
the field-an interchangeable second
to-none position.
This is the objective that the Ameri-
can people want to see attained with
the least possible delay. 1t is why Con-
greSS not many months ago, after the
Russians had successfully orbited the
worlds first earth satellite, acted with
extraordinary speed and unanimity in
bringing NASA into being and in recon-
mending that no expense be spared to
in
space. Yet, with massive inconsistency
and a certain measure of reckleSSneSS,
the House now has SlaShed a great
chunk out of the money the President
has requested to do the job that must
be done if such supremacy is ever to
be realized
Why such economizing? In DR..
Glennan'S words, What has happened
=. to give anyone a sense of compla-
cency? Have we-Who started serious
work in the space field six or seven years
after the SovietS were pouring unlimited
funds and their best brains into the
drive to dominance in SpaceASuddenly
achieved some enormous advantage?"
OF course we haven't. Actually, we still
lag behind in several vital respects, and
so we can i'll afford to pinch pennies in
dealing with situation in which "the
United States must bend every effort to
achieve position of leadership. And
we are all agreed that leadership in a
race where there are only two partici-
pants cannot conceivably mean running
second"
In saying this, and in admoniShing
that there will be disastrous conSe-
quenceS" if the House cut is sustained,
DR.. Glennan has backed himself up with
a chapter-and-verSe Recommendation of
what is likely to happen unless Con-
greSs restores the money that has been
taken away. Among others, the CON
sequences" will involve a slowing down.
a curtailment or a shelving of key
Notwithstanding the one aimed at
sending an American into orbit in 1861
designed to make us look reasonably
impressive in our spatial competition
with the Russians.
Accordingly, it is good to know that
space-minded Senator Johnson, the ma
jority leader, is in agreement with all
this. AS he has put it, it would be "a
great mistake" not to provide NASA
with every penny it has asked for. We
hope that Congress as whole, when the
issue is finally decided, will act in keep
ing with the warning that he and DR..
Glennan have both sounded.