470 



At Goddard now, comino- back to that spaceflight center, they are 

 carrying out a lot of studies to try to anticipate potential needs of 

 the future. They are looking at ways and means for better storing 

 information in the spacecraft, for even carrying out automatic analy- 

 ses in the spacecraft to try to minimize the load and the transmission 

 link to the ground, looking at ways and means for improving the re- 

 finement of data on the ground once it arrives there, and looking at 

 ways to better transfer the information to the potential users once 

 it has been analyzed on the ground. 



This is a very large and important area of technological investiga- 

 tion at this time. The timetable for this depends upon the needs. 



What we are studying now are the technologies that we should be 

 working on so that we can provide in a timely fashion a capability 

 when it is required. 



Mr. Drewry. In that connection, recognizing that there are various 

 tools, each one having its place: the aircraft having many uses, ships, 

 buoys, and so on, is there anything being done on an overall basis to- 

 try to bring this data management question into a total interdepart- 

 mental system? 



Dr. Seamans. Let me refer this to ISIr. Jaffe. 



Mr. Drewry. The data center was set up 



Mr. Jaffe. The Marine Council, sir, is reviewing the data center 

 problem jointly with all of the user agencies concerned. NASA is 

 participating in this review. That is one aspect of the data manage- 

 ment problem. So at least this particular aspect is being looked at 

 very carefully. 



Mr. Drewry. Just one other short question. You refer on page 3 

 to the "all-weather" capability for certain parameters. What would 

 be an example of that as contrasted with clear weather activities ? 



Dr. Seamans. Well, an example could be, say, in the radio fre- 

 quencies. I think Mr. Jaffe mentioned the use of radiometers to meas- 

 ure a wave height or the sea state. It appears that one of the measure- 

 ments that could be made quite reasonably precisely from either air- 

 craft or space is the sea state. This can be made throuofh cloud cover. 



Mr. Drewry. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Dr. 

 Seamans. 



Mr. Lennon. Are there further questions, gentlemen ? 



Mr. Karth. Mr. Chairman, just one observation which I would like 

 to make for the record. If Dr. Seamans wishes, I will strike it from 

 the record later on so that it does not appear. 



I think it is noteworthy that in line with the Chairman's seemingly 

 displeasure of NASA's contributions over the years to the Department 

 of Defense problems, it should be stated that insofar as NASA's 

 activities are concerned, the organic act creating it in 1958 very spe- 

 cifically sets NASA up for the purpose of exploring for peaceful pur- 

 poses matters of outer space, technological, scientific, et cetera. And 

 also that therefore there is no direct relationship between NASA and 

 the Department of Defense projects or problems as such, but that 

 much of NASA's scientific work in the basic and applied research 

 area has, like oceanography, been inadvertently extremely helpful 

 to solving some Department of Defense problems, and that basic and 

 applied research may very well, on many occasions, have been most 

 helpful to the Department of Defense. This would not appear on the 



