Dec 27 1961
From The Space Library
The "race in space" between the United States and U.S.S.R. was the top news story of 1961, with the Berlin crisis running second, according to a poll of Associated Press member newspapers and radio stations.
Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, speaking before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said that although science had become a determining factor in national and international events, its effectiveness was hampered because educated men did not understand science. Yet, he said, science was truly a part of the humanities; "Who in our times can make an adequate criticism of life without knowledge of the ideals, the methods, the dynamics of science?" DOD and USAF revealed that the B-70 bomber may be redesignated RSB-70 (reconnaissance-strike-bomber) and its mission changed from tracking known, fixed targets to seeking out and destroying unknown, hidden, or uncertain targets.
Dr. Carl Sagan, of University of California (Berkeley), disputed the "space seed" life theory in American Association for the Advancement of Science paper. "Panspermic" theory did not seem plausible in the light of the fierce environment of space and the vastness of the universe, he said.
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