Science: Foxhole in the Sky

One guarded paragraph, worded in the Stiffest gobbledygook, set off a loud crackle of scientific and near-scientific speculation last week. In his report on unification of the services, Secretary of Defense Forrestal said:

"The earth satellite vehicle program, which was being carried out independently by each military service, was assigned to the Committee on Guided Missiles for coordination . . . The committee recommended that current efforts in this field be limited to studies and component designs; well-defined areas of such research have been allocated to each of the three military departments."

The...

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