Jul 16 1979
From The Space Library
ComSatCorp announced the official beginning of the new International Maritime Satellite Organization, INMARSAT, to operate a global maritime communications network. ComSatCorp would represent the United States in the new body. INMARSAT's board, which would eventually represent 22 member nations, had met for the first time this date at Brighton, England. The new group would begin its operations in the 1980s after taking over from Marisat (developed and managed by ComSatCorp's wholly owned subsidiary Comsat General), which for three years had provided communications services to the U.S. Navy and commercial shipping and offshore industries. (ComSatCorp Release 79-28)
July 16-21: U.S. observances of the 10th anniversary of Apollo R's Moon walk included a July 16 Library of Congress exhibition opening attended by only one of the Apollo 11 crew: Michael Collins, pilot of the module that circled the Moon awaiting the return of astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., from the surface. At the reception, James Webb (head of NASA during Apollo 11) said that national interest in the space program had waned during the last decade. Barry Jagoda, former Carter advisor who had headed CBS News coverage of Apollo 11, said "on the way over here I couldn't help but compare the difference of the price tag for the energy effort-$142 billion stretched over a 10-year period versus the $20 billion the Apollo program cost us for 10 years. " The Washington Star said July 19 that all three Apollo 11 astronauts would attend an Air and Space Museum ceremony the evening of July 20; on July 20 it reported that the ceremony had been held at 11 a.m. A Star editorial July 20 asked why the United States had stopped abruptly after taking "our first steps into the universe," concluding that the United States was reluctant to pay for more space missions; assumed that "Americans had become bored by space voyages"; and now leaned "toward introspection and consumption." Like the Star editorial, a Tom Wolfe commentary in the July 20 New York Times drew a parallel between the Apollo program and Columbus's voyages, with support and excitement at the beginning and loss of public interest at the end.
The July 21 New York Times said that the Air and Space Museum ceremony drew "some 2,000 people"; the "engineers and managers and astronauts who made possible" the giant leap for mankind had gathered for a "family reunion ... When they spoke of the future, they wished it somehow could recapture the spirit of the past they remembered." Later, the three astronauts took copies of the NASA history, Chariots of Apollo to the White House; President Carter said "We will win energy security for our nation in the same way we won the race to the moon." As part of the observance, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Science and Technology held a symposium July 19: "Next Steps for Mankind The Future in Space." Moderated by Jules Bergman of ABC News, speakers were Professor Carl Sagan, Cornell University; Dr. Noel Hinners, Air and Space Museum director; and George Jeffs, president of Rockwell International's aerospace operations. A NASA release had recalled events of the Apollo 11 launch July 16, 1969, and an MSFC release announced a nine-day observance in Alabama, home of the center and its Saturn V that made the mission possible. (NASA Release 79-74, 79-76; MSFC Release 79-72; W Star, July 17/79, D-1, D-2; July 19/79, B-1; July 20/79, A-10, A-11, B-2; NY Times, July 20/79, A-12, A-25; July 21/79, A-1, A-21; symp rept, Sen Cte Comm/H Comm Sci, July 19/79)
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