significant level of insight into Soviet manned program management, spacecraft hardware and cosmonaut training. A post-ASTP US Government interagency assessment established that there was no unwarranted transfer of US technology or know-how to the Soviet side during the implementation of this joint activity.

Space Biology and Medicine: Detailed exchanges of
biomedical data from manned missions took place regularly
under the agreement. Such information has proved valuable
in assessing the short and long-term effects of
weightlessness on humans. Biomedical exchanges have also
resulted in development of countermeasures which have
improved US astronaut crew health during manned
spaceflight. In ground-based simulations of
weightlessness, Soviet test techniques have been applied in
US research, resulting in improved experiment design and
more accurate simulation of real-world conditions. NASA
participation in three Soviet biosatellite missions during
the 1972-82 period provided an opportunity to fly life
science experiments in space during a period of hiatus in
the US space program, and valuable data was acquired in
many areas of high scientific interest.

Planetary Sciences: NASA received direct benefit from a number of joint activities in the planetary sciences from 1972-82. A series of exchanges of lunar samples brought back to Earth by the US Apollo and Soviet Luna missions provided American scientists with access to samples from locations different from those in which Apollo landed. . Scientist-to-scientist exchanges in Venus studies were quite productive, particularly beginning in 1979 when the US Pioneer-Venus (PV) and Soviet Venera spacecraft had commenced returning data from Venus. PV-derived maps influenced selection of Soviet landing sites for their 1982 Venera 13 and 14 missions in areas of high US scientific interest.

US/USSR SPACE AGREEMENT:
NASA VIEWS ON RENEWAL

President Reagan has on a number of occasions since 1984 publicly stated his interest in increasing contacts with the Soviet Union and willingness to work with the Soviets in cooperative space activities which are mutually beneficial and productive. In July 1985, the U.S. suggested to the Soviet Union that the two sides enter into discussions aimed at improving bilateral cooperation in the peaceful uses of space. To that end, the U.S. informed the Soviet Union that it would be interested in exploring the potential for renegotiation of the US/USSR intergovernmental space agreement which expired in 1982. This interest has been reiterated at various levels several times since then.

As requested in your June 27, 1986 letter to Mr. Bloch, I am pleased to transmit the enclosed report entitled "Activities Managed by the National Science Foundation Under the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Agreement for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology: 1972-1982." This report provides information relative to the following seven items:

1. A description of the basic activities undertaken;

2. NSF's point of principal contact in the Soviet Union;

3.

4.

5.

6.

The dates and duration of exchanges;

The number of participants in the exchanges;

The annual cost of activities undertaken;

An assessment of the benefits accruing to the United States; and

7. Whether NSF would like to renew exchanges under the previous agreement.

The National Science Foundation will be happy to provide you with any additional information you may require based on its experience in managing the U.S.-Soviet Agreement.

Enclosure

Sincerely yours,

Bodo Bartocha

Director

ACTIVITIES MANAGED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
UNDER THE U.S.-U.S.S.R. AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION

IN THE FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: 1972-1982

This summary of U.S.-Soviet activities managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) between 1972 and 1982 under U.S.-U.S.S.R. Agreement on Cooperation in Fields of Science and Technology has been prepared at the request of the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives for insertion into the record of hearings on U.S.-Soviet exchanges and joint cooperative projects. The Subcommittee Chairman information relevant to the following seven items:

1.

2.

asked for

A description of the basic activities undertaken;

NSF's point of principal contact in the Soviet
Union;

The dates and duration of exchanges;

1.

3.

4.

The number of participants in the exchanges;

5.

6.

7.

The annual cost of activities undertaken;

An

assessment of the benefits accruing to the United States; and

Whether NSF would like to renew exchanges under the
previous agreement.

NSF's responses to these items follow.

Basic activities undertaken between 1972 and 1982 under the
U.S.-U.S.S.R. Science and Technology Agreement.

an

The U.S.-U.S.S.R. Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology [hereafter the Science and Technology Agreement], which was in force from 1972-1982, provided intergovernmental framework for cooperation in the basic sciences. Under the framework of the agreement, 14 Working Groups proposed and conducted agreed upon activities. Activities of the following 11 Working Groups were supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF):

Working groups, usually chaired by distinguished academic specialists, planned and monitored cooperation on specific topics within the general field covered by the group. Types of activities included exchanges of scientists and technical information, Joint development of research programs, Joint

testing, and joint conferences and symposia.

research and

2.

The National Science
Soviet Union.

Foundation's Principal

Contact in the

NSF's formal

point of contact in the Soviet Union was the State Committee on Science and Technology (SCST). The Science and Technology Agreement was one of 11 U.S. -Soviet intergovernmental cooperative agreements dating from the early 1970's. Policy for the overall program was made by a Joint Commission, co-chaired by the President's Science Advisor and the Chairman SCST. NSF provided staff support to the President's Science Advisor as U.S. Joint Commission Co-Chairman.

The U.S.-U.S.S.R Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology was signed by the U.S. Secretary of State. William Rogers, and the Chairman of the U.S.S.R. State Committee for Science and Technology, Vladimir Kirillin, on May 24, 1972. This agreement, which focused on basic sciences, was the first of 11 bilateral science and technology agreements between the two

countries. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 and the exile of Andrei Sakharov immediately thereafter, the Carter Administration deferred all high level scientific meetings with the U.S.S.R., and directed that the State Department review all joint activities under the Science and Technology Agreement on a case-by-case basis. As a result, these