Eisenhower and Advisers Plan a Civilian Space Agency and Define NASA’s Relationship with the Military (1958)

Date: March 5, 1958

Created By: A.J. Goodpaster

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, The Space Race

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Papers as President, DDE Diary Series, Box 31, Staff Notes March 1958 (2); NAID #12043739

This March 5, 1958 memorandum records a conference between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and senior advisers concerning the organization of the nation’s civilian space program. Presidential science adviser James Killian recommended building the new civilian agency around the existing National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), while the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) would oversee military space activities. The group rejected alternatives that would combine civilian and military programs or place the entire space effort within the Defense Department.

Eisenhower emphasized that scientific discovery and research in space should remain primarily civilian, even though discoveries could later serve military purposes. He also expressed concern that committees alone were ineffective for coordinating major government programs. Killian recommended that the proposed civilian organization—referred to in the memorandum as the “National Aeronautics and Space Agency” or NASA—hold the dominant position in American space activities while cooperating with ARPA and using Defense Department facilities when necessary. Eisenhower agreed that NASA should report directly to the president. The memorandum provides insight into the administration’s planning for the organizational structure and civilian character of the American space program several months before NASA was formally established.