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@"6. 20515 January ?L, 1,970

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,/#' The Honorable Richard M. Nixon The White House

Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. President:

It woul-d be of great value to the United States both scierrEifically and diplomatically to seL as official poliey our desire to have qualified nationals of other free world countries partieipate in the NASA astronautgram. Althoueh Although citizens of other nations are actively activelv involved involved in or.r, "pi"" program at the ground level, they have not yet had the opportunity to participate as astronauts. The rewards of national pride generated b5r a successful moon shot of course go primarily to the astronauts and the countr\r of which they are citizens " While there are undoubtedly qualified individ"uals from other countries who can be trained as our own citizens have been, so far only U.S. citizens have been chosen.

The International Treaty on Outer Space, ratified by the Senate in February, L961, says Lhat: I'States Parties to the Treaty shall carry on activities in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, ...in the interesE of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international co-operation and understanding.t' (Article III)

Internationalizing astronaut training would show the good faith and good will of the United States in fulfilling its treaty obligations. It would be an important sLep toward internationalizing space technology, a goatr- clearly defined

by Congress. The Act estabLishing the national space program states: "The Congress declares that it isthe policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind." It conl-inues to say that: "The aeronautical and space activities of the United Stat.es shall be conducted so as to contribute materiaily to...cooperation by the United States with other nations and groups of nations in work done pursuant to this chapter and in the peaceful application of the results thereof..."

(PL

85-56J8)

The accepiance of non-U.S. applications in NAS,A's astronaut Eraining program would have another important implication in light of the recent cuEback in the NASA budget" It would demonstrate to the world that the United States is not To the contrary, it. is embarking upon an important abandoning its space effort. new phase which holds special meaning for other countries " Presidential Library Reproduced at the Richard Nixon

Presidential I-ihrary Rcproduced at tlie Richarcl Niron

The Honorable Richard M. Nixon

-2-

January 2L, 1970

There is ampLe precedent and basis for incLuding quaLified nationaLs of other countries in the astronauL corps. NASA aLready has extensive eonnections with most counLries in the free r,,rorld. As of Ju1"y, L969, there are or have

been cooperative flight projecEs and experiments between NASA and trflenty other nations, joint ground-based experiments wLEh 74 nations, operation supporE programs for space expLoration with 26,countries, and personnel exchanges for research or technicaL training aE NASA sites with LrO57 men from 38 nations.

The totaL number of countries invoLved in various joint projects has reached 84. NA.SA installations have received approximatel-y 37 1200 officiaL visits from L25 countries, incLuding the European Launcher Devel-opment Organization (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organization (ESRO).

The Sol-ar ![ind Composition Experiment of Apo1lo L]- was designed and anaLyzed by a Swiss group of scientists. Thirty-six foreign scientists from eight different nations have helped to arra1-yze the l-unar surface materiaLs brought back by Apo11o missions. Apol1o L1 used Swedish HasselbLad cameras fitted with Zeiss (West German) optics, a Japanese Sony tape recorder, and British-designed

fueL

ce11"s.

It is obvious that foreign countries contribute val-uabIe resources to our program. Dr. Thomas Paine, speaking of the Land and tax benefits donated at ten siEes around the world for satelLite Lraeking and rescue stations, said, "If other countries refused to assist us in this respecE, T^re would have to deveLop very expensive and necessarily inferior al-Eernate mearrs and to accept an incalcuLabLe cost in risk to mission success and safety.tt The inclusion of foreign astronauts would be a sErong impetus t<x^rard further materiaL and financial heLp from these countries. It couLd eventually Lead Eo eost-sharing of our space program with those nations which are capabLe so that the United SLates ! woul-d not, have to carry the entire financial" burden. space

It is already official NASA policy to judge proffered experiments for each strictly on their merit; it shouLd aLso be official poLicy Lo judge potential astronauLs strictly on their qualifications.

Apol1-o moon missi.on

InternaLionaLizing the astronaut program need not, and shouLd not, impair iLs high standards. It is imperatlve that there be no reducLion in the strict standards of acceptance for astronaut training by NASA. The safety and mutualconfidence of the men who go into space are of paramount importance.

Simil-arly, there need be no question of losing control over planning and operating the program. The astronaut would representhis counLry, but work entireLy under U"S. auspices and authority. ?resently it takes two to three years t,o Lrain an experienced test pilot for the asLronauL program. No man who has flown in outer space has trained for less than three years, and some have trained for up to six years. Therefore, it may not be possibLe to incLude a foreign astronaut in any of the remaining Apol1o flights. These consist of seven, to be concluded in L974. But these facts add

Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library

Ehp Honorable Richard M. Nixon

-3-

January 21,

L970

to the decision to share future space fLights with nationaLs from other counLries. Training will soon be needed for the projected test space stations and manned space Laboratories of the late 70ts and early B0ts. Based on past experience, most of our present astronauEs will- have Left the program by L980.

If their repLacemenLs are to include foreign nationals, the deeision should be

urgency

made soon.

is no statutory requirement that astronauts be U"S. citizens. Many flight experience previous to their eLection. Thus lack of experience as a high-performance test piLot need not deter foreigners. The training puogram wil-I- not need to be modified, since it aLready provides for specializaLLon in science, anticipating the increased emphasis on experimentation that the manned space laboratories wilL require. of

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them had no

In conversaEions I have had with government Leaders and privaLe citizens in tTestern Europe and, most recently, Latin America, I have been struck by the deep interest of these nations in our technoLogicaL advances and especiaLl-y our space program. Young peopLe in these nations are eager to have a part in the excitement and achievement so evident in our technology.

Although they rejoice in the achievements of U"S. astronauts and glory in the groundwork contributlons they have provided, the widening gap between their teehnology and ours is nevertheless painfull"y feI"t. They feel Left out, because technoLogy up

to

now has advanced mainLy

within nationaL boundaries.

Steps on our part Lo internationalize our astronaut program wouLd pay immediate rich dividends in internationaL good wi1L, even though the fulfiLlment of the program would require several years.

In an age when the unifying forees of military comtritments to aefJna tfre free world are being challenged by divergent national interests, the proposed move by the United States coul-d do much, in a peaceful, non-military way, Lo improve the solidarity of the free world and demonstrate the basic contrtron interesEs of aLL mankind. No doubt valuable contributions to pur space program have been made, and will conti-nue to be made by other countries.

The internationalizat,ion of our astronaut program would provide a vivid demonst,ration of our or,.rn reciprocal" cormnitment to these nations" It is clearly within the intenE of the Congress, and it seems to me this is the ideaL time to begin.

Paul Findley Representative in Congress PF:me