tract awards by NASA during this six month period were the following:

1. North American Rockwell Corp., Downey, Calif. NAS9-150. Design, develop and test Apollo command and service module. Awarded $281 million; cumulative awards $3,296 million.

2. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, N.Y. NAS 9-1100. Development of- Apollo lunar module. Awarded $190 million; cumulative awards $1,773 million.

3. The Boeing Company, New Orleans, La. NAS8-5608. Design, develop and fabricate the S-IC stage of the Saturn V vehicle, construct facilities in support of the S-IC stage and provide launch support services. Awarded $138 million; cumulative awards $1,337 million.

4. North American Rockwell Corp., Downey, Calif. NAS7-200. Design, develop, fabricate and test the S-II stage of the Saturn V vehicle and provide launch support services. Awarded $107 million; cumulative awards $1,237 million.

5. McDonnell Douglas Corp., Santa Monica, Calif. NAS7-101. Design, develop and fabricate the S-IVB stage of the Saturn V vehicle and associated ground support equipment and provide launch support services. Awarded $65 million; cumulative awards $1,023 million.

6. General Electric Company, Huntsville, Ala. NASW-410. Apollo checkout equipment, related engineering design, quality and data management and engineering support; support services to Mississippi Test Facility. Awarded $53 million; cumulative awards $723 million.

7. Chrysler Corporation, New Orleans, La. NAS8-4016. Fabricate, assemble, checkout and static test Saturn S-IB stage; provide product improvement program and space parts support; modify areas of Michoud Plant assigned to contractor; provide launch support services. Awarded $26 million; cumulative awards $484 million.

8. The Boeing Company, Washington, D.C. NASW-1650. Apollo/ Saturn V technical integration and evaluation. Awarded $26 million; cumulative awards $78 million.

9. Bendix Corporation, Owings Mills, Md. NAS5-10750. Maintenance and operation of the Manned Space Flight Network. Awarded $26 million; cumulative awards $53 million.

10. International Business Machines Corp., Huntsville, Ala. NAS 8-14000. Fabrication, assembly and checkout of instrument units for Saturn I and V vehicles. Awarded $25 million; cumulative awards $291 million.

11. North American Rockwell Corp., Canoga Park, Calif. NAS 8-18734. Fabrication and delivery of F-1 engines; provide supporting services and hardware. Awarded $25 million; cumulative awards $129 million.

12. General Motors Corp., Milwaukee, Wisc. NAS9-497. Guidance computer subsystem for Apollo command and service module. Awarded $21 million; cumulative awards $362 million.

13. Bendix Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NAS101600. Apollo launch support services at Kennedy Space Center. Awarded $18 million; cumulative awards $94 million.

14. North American Rockwell Corp., Canoga Park, Calif. NAS 8-19. Develop and procure 200,000-pound thrust J-2 rocket engine with supporting services and hardware. Awarded $16 million; cumulative awards $627 million.

15. International Business Machines Corp., Houston, Texas. NAS 9-966. Design, develop and implement real time computer complex for Integrated Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Awarded $15 million; cumulative awards of $129 million.

16. Federal Elctric Corp., Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NAS104967. Provide communications, instrumentation and computer operations support services for KSC facilities. Awarded $15 million; cumulative awards $31 million.

17. Aerojet-General Corp., Sacramento, Calif. SNP-1. Design, develop and produce a nuclear powered rocket engine (NERVA). Awarded $14 million; cumulative awards $464 million.

18. Trans World Airlines, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NAS 10-1242. Provide base support services at Kennedy Space Center. Awarded $14 million; cumulative awards $96 million.

19. Martin Marietta Corp., Denver, Colo. NAS8-24000. Payload integration for the Apollo Applications Program. Awarded $14 million; cumulative awards $25 million.

20. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., Bethpage, N.Y. NAS 8-25000. Lunar module modifications for the Apollo Applications Program. Awarded $13 million; (new contract).

Major Contractors

The 25 contractors receiving the largest direct awards (net value) during the period were the following:

Contractor &

Place of Contract Performance

1. North American Rockwell Corp.

*Downey, Calif.

Thousands

$444,325

Awards during the period represent awards on several contracts which have different principal places of performance. The place shown is that which has the largest amount of the awards.

6,761

LABOR RELATIONS

The number of man days lost because of strikes on construction contracts at all NASA Centers decreased from 2,066 during the first half of 1968 to 885 during the last half of the year. At Cape Kennedy, the man days lost decreased from 645 in the first half to 106 during the second half of 1968. Man days lost on industrial contracts during the period amounted to 3,519 as compared with 3,475 during the preceding period.

Advance planning prevented strikes from impacting on NASA programs because through procedures were put into effect to isolate contractor labor disputes from interfering with work of other on-site contractors, and alternative production techniques were used to continue production requirements during a strike.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Largely through the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board (AACB) and its panels, NASA and the Department of Defense continued to exchange information, and to review and coordinate the aeronautical and space programs. They also initiated certain new studies during the period.

Through the AACB, NASA and DOD reviewed the proposed facilities construction programs outlined in the FY '69 budget; reviewed large ground test facilities considered necessary to carry out foreseeable aeronautical programs in the next ten- to fifteenyear period; surveyed the coordination and exchange of information in the navigation satellite area; initiated launch vehicle studies to determine the future needs; established a policy relating to biological in-flight experiments and the manned space flight

program; and reviewed the instrumentation aircraft and ship requirements in support of the Apollo Program and DOD programs. NASA continued to use military detailees, although fewer were assigned during this period than during previous ones. Almost 300 individuals were on detail in the last half of 1968. Of these, 89 were from the Department of the Army, 26 from the Navy Department, and 183 from the Air Force. Ten NASA employees were assigned to DOD organizations.

NASA developed informal relationships with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for consideration of areas of mutual interest. These involve the role communications satellite technology might play in advancing educational and cultural objectives, such as instructional TV in schools, public TV, and medical education for practicing physicians. The Office of Education was expected to evaluate the educational aspects of proposals for using ATS satellites for educational demonstrations or experiments.

Aside from arrangements with the Department of Transportation on matters involving aeronautical research, NASA was working closely with that agency in connection with development of navigation satellites and related space technology that might be useful for various transportation applications.

NASA advised the Federal Communications Commission on some of the technical aspects of communications satellite systems, including launch vehicle capability and costs. This Agency also participated actively in the work of the President's Task Force on Communications Policy.

PATENT PROGRAM

Through its patent licensing program, NASA attempts to encourage the maximum use of its inventions for public benefit. While such inventions would be applicable to new products and services, they are equally valuable in contributing to the Nation's continued economic growth. To aid industries and interested parties in using these inventions, NASA issued patent licensing regulations under which its patented inventions may be licensed to industry.

The Agency of course prefers non-exclusive licensing on its patents so that the widest possible use may be made. However, it does on occasion grant an exclusive license when this added incentive appears necessary to have the invention developed for commercial use. As of the end of this reporting period, NASA held title to 780 U.S. patents. It had granted 171 nonexclusive licenses