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 DR. ROBERT GILRUTH - OPENING REMARKS

Dr. Gilruth opened the symposium by welcoming the attendees to the Manned Spacecraft Center. He discussed the fact that this was not the usual kind of symposium in that it was designed more for the people who were conducting it, rather than for the audience. It could be considered as a working session in which NASA expected to get a hard-corereview of the lunar mission.

He urged the participation and comments of the audience throughout the sessions, and then introduced General Phillips.

GENERAL SAMUEL PHILLIPS-OPENING REMARKS

General Phillips discussed the fact that the Apollo Program is committed to a set of technical requirements and configurations which are con­sidered adequate. All the elements of the overall system either have been or are scheduled to be fully evaluated and qualified by tests be­ fore flight.

He stated that the purpose of the symposium is to focus attention on the lunar mission and to insure that the right things are being done in planning and preparing for the execution of the mission. Also, the symposium would serve to clearly identify any additional actions or any redirections of actions or efforts that this critical review of lunar mission planning might indicate.

General Phillips then turned the symposium over to Dr. Shea.

DR. JOSEPH SHEA - INTRODUCTION

Dr. Shea opened the discussions by explaining that the symposium covers the first lunar mission only and that the details of the earth orbital missions and the ground test program will not be discussed.

The current mission approach will be presented, and it is not claimed that this approach is necessarily correct in every sense. It may change between now and the time when it is actually accomplished, and it is not claimed to be unique. The question is more "Will this way work; is it adequate; then, is it the best?" Dr. Shea then went on to summarize several major considerations in the design of the first lunar landing mission. Detailed discussions of these points will, for the most part, make up the body of the symposium.

1. The first mission will be "open ended", that is, there will be dis­crete sets of decision points and the decision to continue, stop, or modify the mission will be made at these points along the way. The general concept for the mission is to keep it going as long as