March 1959

COSPAR has a truly historic opportunity to become an effective force for international co-operation in space research. This co-operation will be most fruitful and meaningful if the maximum opportunity to participate in, and contribute to, all aspects of space research can be provided to the entire scientific community. In this regard, COSPAR can serve as an avenue through which the capabilities of satellite launching nations and the scientific potential of other nations may be brought together.

The United States will support COSPAR in this objective by undertaking the launching of suitable and worthy experiments proposed by scientists of other countries. This can be done by sending into space either single experiments as part of a larger payload or groups of experiments comprising complete payloads.

In the case of individual experiments to become part of a larger payload, the originator will be invited to work in a United States laboratory on the construction, calibration, and installation of the necessary equipment in a US research vehicle. If this is impossible, a US scientist may be designated to represent the originator, working on the project in consultation with him. Or, in the last resort, the originator might prepare his experiment abroad, supplying the launching group with a final piece of equipment, or ‘black box’, for installation. However, this last approach may not be practical in most cases.