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Whereas no decision had yet been made on selection of either the Polaris,
Redstone or Thor as the high altitude carrier, Polaris seemed to be out of
the running due to the inavailability within the proper time scale.
Redstone
looked like it might be the choice, however, it could not be used above
1000 kilometers, where Thor seemed to be the choice. Study by the JTF-8
staff had also showed that the Thor system could be ready by 1 May.
A TWX on 11 Dec from Betts to Reeves of ALO, Shuster of Sandia, Ogle of
LASL and Howell of H&N notes the plans for a survey trip by these gentlemen
and Gen. Starbird and JTF-8 staff members to the Hawaiian area and Johnston
Island starting on the 12th of Dec.
A TWX on 11 Dec. from Betts to Foster and Lradbury notes the possible problems
with the "Christmas tree'' concept that LRL had been pushing for some time
and that following the contamination problemsarrising from such happenings
as those following Antler and the situation arrising after Chena, there is
considerable scepticism in DMA regarding this concept. These experiences
plus other unknowns make a thorough and timely examination of the Christmas
tree concept as opposed to the outer space testing concept immediately neces-
sary.
And due to the high cost involved with developing either one of these
capabilities it seems clear to Betts that both of them can't be developed
and therefore a choice must be made at an early time. He asks both LASL and
Livermore to prepare a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of
the Christmas Tree concept and submit these on 14 Dec to the chairman so that
an early decision and an early concentration of resources may be made.
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is on the subject of "Pacific Islands Discussion with Representatives of
Department of State and Department of the Interior''.
on 11 Dec to discuss the possible use of 3 U.S.
The meeting was held
islands, Jarvis, Baker and
Howland. These islands have no inhabitants and are being thought of as
Sights for surface bursts. The Department of State has no concerns about
these areas for political reasons, however. they are concerned with the
fallout problem. Also the matter of the birds on Jarvis Island was discussed but didn't seem to generate much concern. The conclusion was that
there are no domestic or foreign policy problems which seem to preclude the
use of the islands for the conduct of the proposed tests and that to proceed
separate letters should be sent to the Departments of State and Interior
stating the proposed uses of the islands outlining the safety aspects and
requesting approval.
Both State Department and Interior Department Representatives felt that an affirmative answer would be forthcoming.
{
Bree. TWX from Bradbury to Gen. Betts addresses the Christmas Tree concept
and in general, states plainly LASL is prejudiced in favor of use of vertical
holes as opposed to tunnels or the Christmas Tree configuration. As for
outer space testing, Bradbury stresses that he feels the development of such
a capability should be explored in Bluestraw, and that LASL would like to
again press for the inclusion of a very high altitude shot, like 1000 kilometers.
He feels the purpose of such a shot would be primarily to explore diagnostic
techniques of a known system and only in a secondary way to observe the bomb
debris behavior and geophysical interactions.
LASL believes that-such a