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HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



during the year. Symington added a new twist to this process in 1973 

 by calling a series of four "informal briefings" between September 24 

 and October 4. The briefings were designed to ascertain progress, tech- 

 nical difficulties, costs, launch schedules, and any program changes. 

 The briefings also enabled Symington and his committee to reiterate 

 their strong support for the entire Applications program, and specif- 

 ically satellites like ERTS. 



Symington and Esch put some more heavy pressure on NASA to 

 speed up the launch of an additional ERTS satellite, which Congress 

 had authorized. The conversation went like this: 



Mr. Mathews. We arc still actively pursuing your desire to accelerate 

 ERTS-B 



Mr. Esch. It seems ridiculous to me if the Congress mandates a position and 

 proposes it through the Authorization Committee, that NASA cannot respond. * * * 

 It would seem to mc that if NASA is doing its job they would be asking for supple- 

 mental appropriations, if necessary, or asking how to implement the appropriation so 

 it will be expedited. * * * I would like to know how we can help you convince the 

 Administration and the other NASA officials that Congress means this. Do you think 

 maybe we ought to have a GAO report, for instance? 



Mr. Mathews. I think that both NASA and others in the Executive Branch 

 of the Government fully understand the Congressional position on this point and 

 the fact that it is a strong position. 



Mr. Symington. It seems anyone with a grain of sense would want to keep the 

 momentum going and operating. I do think you ought to take a strong message back, 

 that I think a lot of people felt this thing was going to be on track. They didn't 

 realize that it was getting off again. 



Mr. Esch. I'm just very much concerned * * * that something as highly suc- 

 cessful as this would be caught in the bureaucratic bowels of OMB or NASA. 



As was customary in any Symington hearing, everything was not 

 completely sober and serious. At one point the colloquy went like 

 this: 



Mr. Camp. Have you done any work with windmills? 



Mr. Mathews. My office has not, but the Office of Aeronautical and Space 

 Technology has been working on it. 



Mr. Symington. The Congress is said to contribute in this area. 



Mr. Mathews [diplomatically]. I think a lot of positive energy is produced by 

 the Congress. 



Although more sparks flew during the Applications hearings, 

 Symington spent considerable time in bringing the subcommittee up to 

 date on recent developments in the space science field, including lunar 

 and planetary programs as well as physics and astronomy. One day 

 when Vincent Johnson of the Space Science Office was discussing 

 "comets that we know are coming back that we do want to intercept 

 and rendezvous with," this prompted Symington to relate: 



