Sep 20 1963
From The Space Library
Addressing U.N. General Assembly, President Kennedy listed results of U.S.-U.S.S.R. negotiations: "We have, in recent years, agreed on a limited nuclear test-ban treaty, on an emergency communications link between our capitals, on a statement of principles for disarmament, on an increase in cultural exchange, on cooperation in outer space, on the peaceful exploration of the Antarctic, and on tempering last year's crisis over Cuba .... "Finally, in a field where the United States and the Soviet Union have a special capacity-the field of space-there is room for new cooperation, for further joint efforts in the regulation and exploration of space. I include among these possibilities a joint expedition to the moon. "Space offers no problem of sovereignty; by resolution of this Assembly, the members of the United Nations have foresworn any claims to territorial rights in outer space or on celestial bodies, and declared that international law and the U.N. charter will apply. Why, therefore, should man's first flight to the moon be a matter of national competition? "Why should the United States and the Soviet Union, in preparing for such expeditions, become involved in immense duplications of research, construction and expenditure? Surely we should explore whether the scientists and astronauts of our two countries-indeed, of all the world--cannot work together in the conquest of space, sending some day in this decade to the moon, not the representatives of a single nation, but the representatives of all humanity. "All these and other new steps toward peaceful cooperation may be possible. Most of them will require on our part full consultation with our allies, for their interests are as much involved as our own, and we will never make an agreement at their expense. "Most of them will require long and careful negotiations. And most of them will require a new approach to the cold war-a desire not to `bury' one's adversary but to compete in a host of peaceful arenas, in ideas, in production, and in service to all humanity. "The contest will continue, the contest between those who envision a monolithic world and those who believe in diversity, but it should be a contest in leadership instead of destruction, a contest in achievement instead of intimidation. Speaking for the United States of America, I welcome such a contest. For we believe that truth is stronger than error, and that freedom is more enduring than coercion. And in the contest for a better life, all the world can be the winner .... " In addition to urging U.S.-U.S.S.R. negotiations, President Kennedy urged U.N. to work on five major projects, among them "a global system of satellites [which] could provide communication and weather information for all corners of the earth." (Text, Wash. Post, 9/21 /63, A10)
Commenting on President Kennedy's proposal for joint U.S. U.S.S.R. lunar exploration negotiations, NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans said in Houston press conference that the proposal did not mean Soviet cosmonauts would fly in Apollo spacecraft. Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator, compared a cooperative moon program to cooperative exploration of Antarctica-U.S. and Soviet scientists explore the continent together but, he said, "they get there in different ships." (Burnett, Wash. Sun. Star, 9/22/63)
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