Space Salesman
It takes a man for all seasons to negotiate with foreign countries for jointly operated weather stations. NASA's RICHARD J. BARNES '51, Director of the Cooperative Projects Division for their Office of International Affairs, has enough versatility for the three diverse elements of such a job: government, science, and foreign affairs.
Dick calls himself "a catalyst for international programs involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." He negotiates with about 70 countries who cooperate with us on operations ranging from manned flight to sounding rockets.
He is an articulate scientist, without benefit of formal science background, who sees beyond pure science and is equally aware of applications and implications. He is a flexible bureaucrat and an easy-going but precise diplomat who admits to rusty French and Spanish, but says, "Fortunately, the language of cooperative space research is principally English."
It's possible to get a picture of this man - who has an M.P.A. from Harvard, a Phi Beta Kappa key, and experience as a naval officer and editor of the Atomic Industrial Forum's magazine - through his view of the job. Even though his thoughts are in space, his feet are on the ground.
"People don't realize how much of a world leadership we have," he says of our position in space. "And it brings corresponding responsibilities."
"NASA is a civilian agency that gets $5 billion of the taxpayers' money annually. There's no point in pulling a stunt just to spend that money. The project has to have concrete results."
He calls Project Apollo, the moon shot, typical of NASA because it focuses on a tremendous variety of skills: scientific, technical, managerial, industrial, and brings together in a new and closer relationship the academic, industrial, and governmental worlds.
Thayer School's Professor Millett G. Morgan has had an experimental radio flown in a NASA satellite. Over 90% of our space dollars are spent in American industry. NASA often translates space technology into industrial uses. An inorganic paint developed for thermal control has been licensed to fifteen companies because of its potential as excellent house paint.
To the many who ask: "After the moon, then what?" he answers, "It would be a shame to lose the momentum we have and break up these teams."
"There's a space program for every pocketbook," he claims. He tells of the Kenya radio ham who with $25,000 had a do-it-yourself weather station, invaluable to that country's agricultural industry.
He points out that the United States and France have had political difficulties, but their science/space relationship is prized by both countries.
NASA's programs are one of the most effective global projections of the American image. And versatile Dick Barnes is one of the most effective projections of NASA.
