407 



It ia both significant and unusual that the Russian proposal is broader than 

 the one from the U,S, and perhaps indicates that we have a greater expertise 

 and technical competence in constructing such facilities underwater at the depths 

 that would be involved than have the Russians. The U.S. reaction to the Russian 

 proposals would seem to imply that we do plan to extend our defense facilities to 

 our continental shelves off our coasts and beyond our own territorial waters. This 

 development reinforces our conviction about the favorable outlook we foresee for 

 marine construction. The Navy certainly represents a significant source of 

 potential business in the construction of underwater facilities on our continental 

 shelves . 



Satellite Photo Reconnaissance of the Oceans and Land Areas 



In our November, 1968 issue of this report, we noted that Admiral Rickover, 

 the father of the nuclear submarine, had succeeded in convincing the Department 

 of Defense that the Navy should proceed to build an experimental new nuclear- 

 fired, electrically propelled silent submarine and also a prototype high speed 

 attack submarine. The apparent reason for Admiral Rickover winning his battle 

 recently became apparent in the course of an extraordinary American Broadcast- 

 ing Company television program February 9, 1969. This program was the second 

 in a series entitled "Man and His Universe" sponsored by the North American 

 Rockwell Corporation. This instalment entitled "The View from Space" (copy- 

 right American Broadcasting Company - 1969), was highly significant for 

 several reasons. The color photography of the earth and moon from Apollo 8 was 

 extraordinarily beautiful. The program also gave a number of specific examples 

 of how the nation has been benefiting from its space program. The solving of a 

 particularly frustrating shrimp fishing problem through Gemini photography, in 

 particular, was cited for one. 



The program's outstanding contribution, however, was its revelation of the 

 value of military and commercial satellite photo-reconnaissance. The program 

 explicitly reviewed communication and weather satellites, and showed some actual 

 sequences of recovery of film packages in mid-air which had been ejected on 

 command from the Air Forces' Space and Missile Observation Satellite (SAMOS). 

 As recently as last year even the use of the name of this satellite in print was 

 discouraged. In the course of the program, the ABC television narrator, Mr. Jules 

 Bergman, pointed out that both Russia and the United States have large and very 

 active space reconnaissance programs with satellites that use both television and 

 film cameras. 



We launch our recon spacecraft into polar orbits so that Red China and Russia 

 are visible beneath them in daylight hours every day. What they have discovered 

 since we started launching them regularly in 1963 has saved America billions of 

 dollars in unneeded armaments and possibly prevented a war based on miscalulation 

 of enemy strength. These satellites first uncovered Russia's new nuclear-powered 

 missile-equipped submarines which were subsequently closely watched. It was re- 

 ported that one fantastic picture taken last year - none of them has ever been 

 released and this one was not shown - spotted more Soviet nuclear submarines 

 being built in one yard on the Baltic than were being built in all the American ship- 

 yards. This rang the alarm bell since it was realized that Russia had a submarine 



