Feb 27 84

KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET
STOCKHOLM 60
February 22, 1964

 

BAKTERIOLOGISKA
INSTITUTIONEN

CONFIDENTIAL

Professor Joshua Lederberg
Stanford University
Medical Center

Palo Alto, California

US A

Dear Professor Lederberg,

My personal feeling about the matter discussed in the
enclosed letter is that the weight of the "verdict" to a large
extent depends on the composition of the group, which should
not only consist of pure "space biologists" but also ought to
have a membership of scientists with a broader background. At
present we are thinking in terms of the following composition:
Florkin, Imshenetskii, Lederberg, Lwoff, Miles, Oparin, Sneath
and Sagan (rapporteur), and I certainly hope that everybody
in this group will do his utmost to participate. I had been
hoping that bilateral discussion would simplify the situation,
but since no such contacts have obviously yet been made, there
is no alternative now but a rapid international action. When
you have read the first section of the "Views on Space Craff
Sterilization" you will understand that rapid action does not
mean incompletely prepared.

There is a certain urgency in the whole matter, since
the next "Mars window" will be in August 1964, Even if this
will only be used for "fly-bys", sterility considerations must
enter into the planning of the trajectories, and certainly the
art of space craft sterilization must be further advanced before
the next "window" in 1966.

I have requested that you will be provided with infor-
mation about the COSPAR Space Symposium in Florence, because
the life-sciences section may be of considerable interest to
you.

Best personal regards,

 

C.-G. Hedén

ec, V. Sarabhai