Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-30
Virginia Given Land for Space Center
BY JAMES BIRCHFIELD
Star Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG, Va, July
80. Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy
Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Admin
istration called on future SCI
entists to learn to think
small" so that they may study
the vast vistaS Of outer space.
DR.. Dryden spoke here yes
terday following the transfer
of Federal lands to Virginia
for the creation of the Vir-
ginia Associated Research Gen.
ter near NASA's Langley Re-
search Center in the Newport
News area.
DR.. Dryden said there is a
need for creative physicists to
think of simple and small de-
vices that will make the critical
physical measurements that
will heighten our knowledge Of
the universe.
The center will be operated
Jointly by the University of
Virginia, william and Mary
College and Virginia Poly
technic Institute to train grad
uate students in space physics.
Great Impact Seen
The new center, 1t was said,
will become, the training CEN
ter. for national leaders in SCI
ence and will have an impact
that will be worldwide.
In a ceremony on the $50
acre site, held at noon when
pile driver equipment had
closed down, Gov. Harrison
signed papers by which Virginia
accepted the Federal lands.
DR.. Dryden gave his talk at
a luncheon at william and
Mary College attended by the
Governor and representatives
of NASA and the three edu-
cational institutions.
He sketched briefly areas in
which he said it will be possible
to open completely new viStaS
Of understanding.
First" DR.. Dryden said, 'is
cosmic radiation. Only recently
have we begun to comprehend
what happens to the energetic
particles that are emitted from
the surface Of the sun or from
other distant points in space
and which radiate through the
universe"
DR.. Dryden said the auroral
glow has long excited the inter-
estS Of physicists and added
that only since the advent of
rockets capable of penetrating
the earth's atmosphere have we
begun to understand coSmic
rays.
Varied Benefit Seen
He also listed as Of interest
to national space scientists the
nature of the surface of the
moon and Of phenomena re-
lated to the origin and nature
of the universe.
Gov. Harrison said the new
educational research center will
benefit not only research but
industrial developments in the
area. i
II understand" the Cover
nor said, that tidewater de-
velopment agencies already en-
vision q research and develop
ment complex adjacent to the
Virginia Associated Research
Center, and Of course, existing
firms in the Hampton Roads
area stand to benefit from the
faculties and the trained minds
and the equipment available at
NASA."
The research center will have
available the facilities Of the
NASA Langley Research Gen.
ter and also a new space radi-
alton effects laboratory which
is to be constructed at the
Langley Center. This center
will contain a $13 million syn
chro-cyclotron which will per-
NIT graduate students to study
the effects Of high energy par
ticles on both materials and
men.
The new center is expected
to be ready to receive graduate
students by 1865, and is plan
ned to handle as many as 1000
students. 1t will allow workers
on NASA programs to do grad
uate research without leaving
their jobs.