340 



Public discussions following the satellite launchings brought out once again the 

 fact that Americans customarily think of science in terms of applied work, or 

 engineering, despite the highly significant accomplishments of research workers 

 in the areas of fundamental investigation. Nevertheless, the connection between 

 ba«ic and applied research, and the degree of dependence of the latter upon the 

 former, has become increasingly clear during the past year. 151 



A nation of predominantly "practical" people, not overly concerned 

 with "impractical" basic research, began to appreciate its value 

 better as a result of the IGY. 152 Citizens became, according to Atwood, 

 "more keenly aware of the contributions being made by scientists 

 and by scientific institutions." l53 The leadership provided by the 

 National Academy of Sciences brought it greater recognition, and the 

 public became more aware of the value of the NSF and other scientific 

 organizations, both public and private. The IGY also captured the 

 imagination of children who, having lived always in an age of great 

 scientific achievement, found artificial satellites less marvellous, 

 miraculous, threatening, or unnecessary than did their parents. How- 

 ever, ". . . once the United States had begun to launch its own 

 space vehicles there was an improvement in American attitudes, a 

 thrill at witnessing the inception of a new era." u * 



COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES 



An important outcome of the IGY artificial earth satellite program 

 was the development of international communications satellites. As 

 pointed out by Ambassador Abbott Washburn, chairman of the U.S. 

 delegation to the INTELSAT Conference in 1971: 



After the first artificial earth satellite was launched in 1957, orbiting satellites 

 for communications moved rapidly from theory to practical reality. 165 



Progress was facilitated because the potential usefulness of earth 

 satellites for communications purposes had been widely discussed 

 and the theory of their application was relatively well developed. 

 At a sufficiently high altitude, individual satellites each can relay 

 microwave signals directly to more than one-third of the earth's 

 surface, reaching remote and less accessible areas as well as major 

 world centers of economic and political power. The Communications 

 Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) was organized in 1963 as a result 

 of the 1962 Communications Satellite Act to represent the "chosen 

 instrument" of the United States in bringing commercial satellite 

 communications to the world. The International Telecommunications 

 Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT) was created by interim inter- 

 national agreement in 1964 to provide an international mechanism 

 through which a single, unified, global commercial communications 

 satellite system could be operated. Permanent arrangements for 

 INTELSAT were completed after much negotiation during 1968-71 

 and entered into force on February 12, 1973, providing the world 

 with ". . . the first peaceful use of outer space for everyday com- 

 mercial purposes." l56 



i" NSF Eighth Annual Report, p. 4. 



IM Kaplan, "What We've Learned," p. 13. 



'" Atwood, "The IGY in Retrospect," p. 688. 



'*« Sullivan, Astault. p. 2. 



"» Ambassador Abbott Washburn, "The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization," 

 in: International Cooperation in Outer Space: A Symposium. U.S., Congress, Senate, Committee on Aero- 

 nautical and Space Sciences, Senate Document No. 9t-67, 92d Cong., 1st sess.. Dec. 9, 1971, p. 437. Much of 

 the material in this section is summarized from Washburn, pp. 437-452. 



'"Ibid. For additional information concerning the interim and definitive Intelsat agreements, see: 

 Treatiet and Other International Act* Seriu, Nos. 6646 and 7632, respectively. 



