Sep 24 1961
From The Space Library
Administrator Webb announced major organizational changes and top-level appointments in NASA. Keyed to the Nation's accelerated civilian space program, changes provided clearer focus on major programs, and provided center directors with a louder voice in policymaking and program decisions. Effective November 1, major headquarters program offices would be headed as follows: Ira H. Abbott, Director of the Office of Advanced Research and Technology; Homer E. Newell, Director of the Office of Space Sciences; D. Brainerd Holmes, Director of the Office of Manned Space Flight; and an Office of Applications Programs with no director yet named. Thomas F. Dixon was appointed Deputy Associate Administrator. Abe Silverstein was named Director of the Lewis Research Center and Robert R. Gilruth, Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center.
Speaking at the Air Force Association convention in Philadelphia, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, Commander of the Air Force Systems Command, said that "the United States has been notably slow to recognize the military application of new inventions. Two of the most significant inventions of this century—the airplane and the liquid-fuel rocket—are American inventions. Yet in each case their first application was made by other nations." Gen. Schriever also stated: "We should recognize that there is no inherent difference between basic military and nonmilitary space technology. What really matters is not the technology but the intent...space power must become a vital part of our national strength and security." NASA made a grant to Stanford University's School of Medicine for development of design of payload instrumentation to determine existence of life forms on nearby planets, a project under the direction of Dr. Joshua Lederberg and Dr. Elliott C. Leventhal.
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