Db.
“When Ready” Concept.
As testing is conducted farther out into
space, the means for obtaining diagnostic and effects data will be
increasingly limited to instrumentation contained within the device
carrier and/or to measurements from satellites.
This is because the
problems of achieving reliable and acceptable limits, with regard to
time-space, become more and more difficult as greater testing altitudes
are attempted.
As we move outward in space to conduct testing it will
be, in most instances, less feasible and suitable to take measurements
from or near the earths surface.
From an operational and organizational
view-point, this means greatly reduced requirements for ships, aircraft
and people which in turn means a smaller testing organization.
Because
of the large dollar costs and the magnitude of technical preparations
associated with high altitude testing it will become increasingly
important to obtain the naximm amount of information from each shot.
t seems reasonable to conclude that we will not test numberswise as
in past surface test series, but rather on a more limited scale for
specialized purposes.
Reduced requirements for major items of military support i.e.,
aircraft, ships, etc., and the need for less military personnel (other
than scientific) indicates that a small planning organization can be
augmented by TDY forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force to an operational
level well within the technical and logistical lead times of possible
future high altitude tests.
This is particularly applicable if full advantage
is taken of the inherent Army test support capability at Johnston Island.
On the basis of the foregoing considerations, a small permanent test