Jun 9 1963

From The Space Library

In commencement address at Univ. of Delaware, NASA Ad­ministrator James E. Webb said: ". . . For the first time in the history of mankind the opportunity to leave the earth and explore the solar system is at. hand. Only two nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, have the resources with which to exploit this opportunity. Were we, as the symbol of democratic govern­ment, to surrender this opportunity to the leading advocate of the Communist ideology, we could no loner stand large in our own image, or in the image that other nations have of us and of the free society we represent. "Like it or not, therefore, the hard facts of international life leave no doubt that we are in a contest with the Soviet Union. Like it or not, it is a fact of international life that space achieve­ment is and will be a symbol of national character and national strength . . . ." (Text)

Floyd L. Thompson, Director of NASA Langley Research Center, was awarded honorary Doctor of Science degree by College of William and Mary. On previous day, he was awarded honorary Doctor of Science degree by Univ. of Michigan. (LARC Release, 6/10/63)

From 1950 to 1960, U.S. professional and technical work-force grew by 2,400,000, according to Columbia Univ. Bureau of Social Research. In 1950 professionals and technical workers made up 8.3% of the total employment, and in 1960,11.3%. In­crease was attributed to rapid growth of government activities and industries involved in government-sponsored work. (Liss­ner, NYT, 6/19/63, 75)

Jun 10 1963