SECRETARY’S REPORT 107 
Dr. Whitney participated in the discussions of the International 
Conference of Information Processing of the UNESCO, in Paris. 
He also presented a paper at the Ninth International Colloquium of 
the Institut d’Astrophysique, in Liége, Belgium, June 1959. 
Dr. Hynek and Mr, Neilson made preparations for carrying out 
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s expedition to Spain, 
to observe the occultation of the star Regulus by the planet Venus. 
Members of the staff attended meetings and presented papers before 
the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, 
the American Geophysical Union, the National Telemetering Con- 
ference, the American Meteorological Society, the Department of 
Defense, the International Association of Geodesy, the American As- 
tronautical Society, the American Society of Photogrammetry, the 
Mellon Institute, and the American Philosophical Society. 
Every member of the scientific staff has given lectures at schools, 
colleges, civic groups, and military organization assemblies on the 
subject of satellites and space science. 
A conference of the chiefs of satellite tracking stations was held on 
June 15-29, 1959, at the training station in Las Cruces, N. Mex., at 
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and at the Observa- 
tory in Cambridge. This conference, which provided the first oppor- 
tunity for the chief observers to discuss particular problems related 
to the operation of tracking stations, proved of great benefit to all 
who attended. 
The Director was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 
April 1959. He served as consultant to the U.S. Office of Naval Re- 
search, to the U.S. Air Weather Service on problems related to the 
space age, and to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
He is chairman of the Technical Panel on Rocketry and member of 
the Technical Panel of the Earth Satellite Program of the Interna- 
tional Geophysical Year; chairman of the Panel on the Atmosphere 
of the Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. Air Force; president 
of Commission 22, Meteors, Zodiacal Light, and Analogous Problems, 
of the International Astronomical Union; member of the U.S. Rocket 
and Satellite Research Panel; member of the Committee on 
Meteorology of the National Academy of Sciences, National Research 
Council; member of Upper Atmosphere Committee in the Meteor- 
ology Section of the American Geophysical Union; member of the 
Committee on Cosmic and Terrestrial Relationships of the American 
Geophysical Union; member of the Committee on Atmospheric Sci- 
ences of the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Coun- 
cil; member of the Panel on Chemistry of Space and Exploration of 
Moon and Planets of the National Academy of Sciences, National 
Research Council Committee on Bio-Astronautics; member of Space 
