_— A 26 December TWX from Austin McGuire at Lasl to Ogle and Schuster in Washington
discussesthe LASL program fhe 7 airdrops
at sea and |
land shof on Jarvis
The airdrops will be supported from | CVS(carrier) and 2 MSTS SHIPS.
island.
McQuire details the LASL
personnel requirements on each ship with the LASL
headquarters to be on the CVS.
avallable, possibly LASL
Also, the possible LALS
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Further, he feels that Jarvis Island is not
could execute one shot in a Liberty hull
instead.
requirement for Liberty hulls will be discussed by the
WWG on 27 December.
A memorandum from Herman Hoerlin and Dick Taschek to Bradbury dtd
ore
26 December discusges the LASL proposed high altitude shot at {500 kilometers
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are
or higher.
This memo may never been sent to Bradbury or else it was extensively
re-written and revised after being received because the copy in the folder here
has been changed quite a bit from the original.
The memo notes the two planned
DOD tests and notes that the large yield and relatively low-altitude of the 400
Kilometer shot make
it impossible to explore space diagnostic techniques and
Vela capabilities to the fullest extent from an AEC standpoint
test.
with this particular
The major LASL objective in this proposed test should be to proof test a
weapons diagnostic system applicable to possible space testing beyond the region
of appreciable geophysical field coupling, jie, about 50,000 miles.
that the
It is noted
higher altitide will give much better experience in investigating space
diagnostics,
applications.
LASL feels very strongly
that this particular test is needed in addition to the 400 kilometer test to the
AEC's objectives and notes that the Sandia Corporation would support and complement
the LASL efforts as. well as Livermore putting its space diagnostic capability to
the test.
One appendix to this memo notes the technical advantages of deep spaced
testing as well as the political advantages.
The suggested modifications to the original paper from Foster, Griggs, and Teller,
as transmitted by Longmire
“ae
ina eT December letter, include the following:
ee
non
The following paragraph indicates where they feel we have gotten to through the moritor-
ium and what we must do:
"during the years of the moritorium the U.S. efforts were
mainly directed at smaller, “certifiable” improvements in our stockpile.
We have not
been so active in taking the larger steps and risks which wees require verification by
testing.
This has resulted in a considerable loss of momentum.
In view of the present
A