Obtained by FOIA requests in 1996, NASA Donald N. Michael reported that in November 1959 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration contracted with the Brookings Institution to undertake... the design of a comprehensive and long-term program of research and study regarding the social, economic, political, legal, and international implications of the use of space for peaceful and scientific purposes. The long-term program of research set out in the report - and briefly outlined in this Summary -includes a. Sufficient description and evaluation of speculations on the implications of space activities to provide a basis for judging which implications may have sufficient impact on human affairs to merit research, b. Specification of criteria for selection of high priority research, c. Specification, when feasible of high-priority research areas for initiating a long-range research program and specification of other research areas which will extend the utility of the initial research, and specification of research which may become central under later circumstances, d. Suggestions as to methods, persons, and organizations that might assist the conduct of research, e. Suggestions on the organization and function of a NASA research capability to implement the program.
Space activities require great investments of money, men, material, and creative effort and thereby compete with the needs of other areas of human endeavor. They contribute to rapid rates of technological change and thereby give rise to social and personal readjustment problems. Thus, it is most desirable that the problems and opportunities they may imply for society be understood.
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