computer software management information center, Cosmac, which disseminates NASA computer programs to domestic users. NASA has an active program known as technical utilization for disseminating aerospace technology and encouraging its use in the private and public sectors of our economy. To discuss the full impact of NASA's work in this field would take too long for this statement. However, there is attached for the information of the subcommittee a discussion of the benefits in communications which have flowed from NASA's work, both directly and through the technical utilization program. And I offer that to the committee for its record. Mr. MOORHEAD. Without objection, that will be made part of the record. [The information referred to follows:] PREFACE Understanding the social significance of America's civilian aeronautics and space effort has become increasingly difficult during the past five years. Whereas the missions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration once figured prominently in discussions of public issues, increased interest in other national priorities has come to compete with, and often to dominate, concern about those missions. The study which generated this presentation was undertaken to facilitate more thoughtful discussion of NASA's activities by exploring how the achievement of mission objectives has contributed to beneficial changes occurring in six areas of major national interest: communication, transportation, environmental quality, safety, health care and work. This statement focuses attention on the area of communication. After introducing some of the general factors that have affected progress in this area, NASA program elements are examined to illustrate relevant points of contact. Interpretive steps are taken throughout the statement to show a few of the more important ways people's lives have been affected as a result of the work of NASA and other organizations functioning in this area. The principal documents used and interviews conducted are identified after the conclusion of this statement. This statement, it should be noted, is incomplete in many respects, primarily because it reflects only a small number of the technical, economic, and social forces affecting American life. Taken as a summary statement, however, it hopefully will provide a useful basis for better understanding NASA's role in the national attempt to develop better communication links among people. COMMUNICATION: DEVELOPING BETTER LINKS AMONG PEOPLE In 1940, there were no transistors, no electronic computers, no transoceanic telephone cables, no microwave radio relays, and no communication satellites. Even television, now such an integral part of life in most industrialized societies, had not yet reached America's commercial market.1 Over the last quarter century, Major telecommunications innovations have occurred in the past quarter century. however, these technological innovations have been developed and have come to play an indispensable role in much of the world's social and economic activity. Electronic communication networks were born soon after the invention of the telephone in 1876. Today, some 250 million telephone sets operate Global communication networks rely on those innovations to provide needed services. in a worldwide network which includes ocean cables and communication satellites.2 Radio and television broadcasting networks provide educational, health, and entertainment services through a billion radio and television sets. And, with the burgeoning application of computers in an ever-widening range of local, national, and international networks, human communication is changing in profound and beneficial ways. New communication technologies bred out of America's civilian aerospace program have contributed directly and substantially to many advances in NASA-developed technologies now are used to help provide global communication. human communication. Through a unique series of technical accomplishments involving satellites and computers, NASA and the aerospace community have helped open new horizons in the ex change and use of information in such important areas as international relations, medicine, education, and weather forecasting. Satellite Communication Networks Words like Echo, Courier, Telstar, Relay, Syncom, Anik, Early Bird, Communication satellites provide instantaneous television and telephone contacts almost anywhere in the world. phrase "communication satellite" is one that almost every adult would recognize. Millions of Americans watched the television coverage of the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany and Soporo, Japan. Similarly, communication satellites made it possible for people everywhere to witness Neil Armstrong's historic walk on the moon, the events following the deaths of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and President Nixon's diplomatic visits to China and Russia. 3 |