Sarah Keegan
Headquarters, Washington, DC                 November 2, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1902)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N99-56

NASA HONORS MISSILE PIONEERS AT LAUNCH VEHICLE CONFERENCE

     NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will present Dr. Simon
Ramo and Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, leaders of the early American
space program, with NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal at
9:10 am Fri., Nov. 5, 1999, in the American Association for the
Advancement of Science Auditorium, 1200 New York Ave., NW,
Washington, DC.

     Ramo, as the chief scientist and leading civilian in the Air
Force program to build the first U.S. intercontinental ballistic
missile system, advanced the cooperation between the Air Force and
industry necessary to begin America's space program.  Schriever,
who pioneered the development of the Nation's first ballistic
missile, enabled the rocket technology that led to NASA's
successes in its early human space flight programs.

     The award presentation will kick off a day-long conference,
Developing U.S. Launch Capability:  The Role of Civil-Military
Cooperation, sponsored by NASA, the U.S. Air Force Space Command,
the National Air and Space Museum, the Space Policy Institute at
George Washington University, and the National Space Society.

     More information on the conference and registration can be
found on the Internet at:

  http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/lvconf/index.html

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