American Rocket Soctety, Inc 500 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 36, NEw YORK PRESIDENT Howard S. Seifert VICE PRESIDENT H. W. Ritchey EXECUTIVE SECRETARY James J. Harford TREASURER Robert M. Lawrence BoarD oF DIRECTORS Ali B. Cambel Richard B. Canright J. R. Dempsey Herbert Friedman Robert A. Gross S. K. Hoffman A. K. Oppenheim William H. Pickering Simon Ramo W. L. Rogers David G. Simons John L. Sloop Martin Summerfield Wernher von Braun M. J. Zucrow DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS Irwin Hersey GENERAL COUNSBL Andrew G. Haley PENNSYLVANIA 6-6845 November 14, 1960 Dr. Joshua, Lederberg Department of Genetics Stanford University Stanford, California Dear Dr. Lederberg: I have received the honor of being asked to be Chairman of an honorary committee being formed in connection with the proposed American Rocket Society SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE NATION, which will be held at the New York Coliseum, October 9-13, 1961. It is my distinct pleasure to invite you to join some forty distinguished scientists, engineers, edu- cators, philanthropists and statesmen who are being asked to serve on this committee. This meeting will be an extremely important event for the American Rocket Society, but more particularly for the nation. It will offer the nation's space pro- gram its first week-long opportunity to present itself to the profession and to the public. The ARS Program Committee intends to organize representative and com- prehensive technical sessions that will offer tutorial reviews of the many disciplines that are unified within the field of astronautics. In addition, three floors of the Coliseum will be devoted to an impressive manifestation of the country's physical equipment for undertaking a space program. The center of the exhibit will be a large display from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The technical sessions and exhibits will be attended by many thousands of professionals from the space field. ARS Space Flight Report To The Nation October 9-13, 1961, New York Coliseum, Spor ‘ored by the American Rocket Society However, equally important, there will be special hours allo- cated to the public, which will enable tens of thousands of interested citizens to view for the first time something of the technical nature of our country's space effort. It is planned to build a glassed-in radio and television studio on the main floor of the Coliseum so that interviews, panels, demonstrations of working models can be broadcast to the country throughout the week. The meeting will also be important for young would-be scientists and engineers. It is planned to have public lec- tures each evening covering such fields as astrodynamics, guidance, propulsion, in order to educate these people into & more mature understanding of the disciplines that make up the field of space flight. Because of your deep interest in the objectives to which this meeting is dedicated, I sincerely hope that it will be possible for you to agree to serve on the committee. I know that your schedule is extremely full. You will not, however, be asked to devote any of your time. We are concerned with composing the committee of distinguished leaders of the space field so as to symbolize the high level of quality and excel- lence with which the technical programs, the public events and the exhibits will be carried on. I look forward to your acceptance. I would appreciate hearing from you by December lst so that an announcement of the formation of the committee can be released shortly after that date. a Very truly yours, bru rdOQluee Wernher von Braun Chairman SPACE FLIGHT REPORT TO THE NATION Committee rl