SPACE SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS IN THE 1970'S 355 



It was the same story in subsequent years. Irked at the rapid turn- 

 over among Directors of the Office of Technology Utilization, Hechler 

 had the following exchange at the 1973 hearings: 



Mr. Hechler. How many Directors of Technology Utilization have there been? 

 What number are you? 



Mr. Farley. Mr. Moritz, for whom I am now appearing, would be number six. 



Mr. Hechler. This is obviously a highly hazardous job. More hazardous than 

 being a Congressman. 



In an effort to highlight the emphasis which his subcommittee 

 placed on technology utilization, Hechler scheduled the director of 

 that office as his leadoff witness on March 5, 1974. It was the last 

 chance the Subcommittee on Aeronautics and Space Technology had 

 before relinquishing the jurisdiction to the Fuqua Subcommittee on 

 Space Science and Applications in 1975- The curtain went up with the 

 following dialogue: 



Mr. Hechler. The first order of business is to examine technology utilization, 

 which is an area of emphasis that both this subcommittee and the full Committee 

 on Science and Astronautics stress as being a vital part of the space program. 



We have continuously placed greater emphasis than NASA in the areas of tech- 

 nology transfer and technology utilization. Unfortunately, all that it has taken has 

 been the flick of an OMB pencil to scratch out congressionally authorized and modest 

 increases for technology utilization. 



I regret to say that the top management at NASA has not fought very vigorously 

 against this type of action. In fact, NASA seems to have taken the position there are 

 more important programs to argue about. * * * 



And then, lo and behold, there appeared another new Director, 

 Edward Z. Gray. Mr. Gray modestly proclaimed that he did not 

 intend to become an "endangered species, because I must be Number 

 Seven. I hope that's a lucky number." 



One of the most interesting examples of technology utilization was 

 presented to the committee in 1974 by William Z. Penland, Jr., of the 

 National Cancer Institute. Because of the high danger of infection, 

 many leukemia and other patients were isolated in germ-free "clean 

 rooms, ' ' which was very confining for younger patients in need of more 

 physical exercise, trips to have X-rays taken, et cetera. So NASA helped 

 adapt the biological isolation garment used by the Apollo crew for use 

 to enable "clean room" patients to enjoy what is called a "mobile 

 sterile environment." 



A third application developed as a result of NASA experience was 

 demonstrated to the subcommittee by Dr. Karl H. Frank of the Federal 

 Highway Administration. Dr. Frank explained how a NASA com- 

 puterized technique for measuring and analyzing vibration was applied 

 to test the structural integrity of bridges, and determine their need for 

 repair and possible threats to safety. 



