The stature of our advanced technology and our ability to. Men questioned the capacity of our educational system to yield up the incalculably valuable resource of minds trained for the great tasks of the space age.

The very word, 'astronaut,' was not in our vocabulary. There was no NASA, no vast complex at what is now Cape Kennedy, no Manned Space flight Center at Houston. The readiness of our rockets was much in question. No American satellite had yet been orbited. Yet I remember-as I know you do-the climate of great awe and greater anxiety in which Senators addressed themselves to their responsibilities. The hearings and the events of those times seem now a world away for us all. Only ten years ago, as a Senator, I chaired the first Congressional hearings called to determine what response our national policy should make to the challenges of the exploration of outer space. The privilege of transmitting this milestone agreement to you before the end of the first decade of space exploration is especially gratifying for me. The provisions of this Treaty reflect the will and desire of the signatory states, already numbering more than half the nations of the world, that the realms of space should forever remain realms of peace. I am today transmitting to the Senate, for your advice and consent, the first Treaty on Outer Space.

Space warfare treaty