Oct 1 1977
From The Space Library
The new federal Dept. of Energy opened its doors with Secretary James R. Schlesinger promising "to resolve our energy problems ... through the effective work of all the people of this department." Proposed by President Carter March l, the department had become a reality Aug. 4 upon signing of its organization act and Schlesinger's confirmation as secretary the following day. The department inherited nearly 20 000 employees and had a first-yr budget of about $10.4 billion. Programs it would administer included conservation, resource development and production, research and development, data management, environment, and regulation. (DOE Release R-77-001)
Reporting on the end of the Intl. Aeronautical Federation's 28th conference in Prague, FBIS quoted "American scientist O'Neal" Gerard K. O’Neill on whether "his project of big settlements on near-terrestrial orbits was not too remote from reality": "Mankind will never give up the idea of settlements in space ... The question is only how fast will space industry and rocket technology reach the necessary level to enable people of the earth to start building the first cities in orbit." The congress discussed for the first time the efficiency of space research, concluding that spacecraft created in different countries would inevitably have a uniform appearance, depending on their use. The idea of merging engineering ideas was "a dominant one." Marcel Barrere of France was reelected president of the organization. (FBIS, Tass in English, Oct 1/77)
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