Coexistence in Orbit?

During the days of unchallenged Soviet supremacy in the race for space, Moscow loftily rejected all U.S. attempts to cooperate in exploring man's newest frontier. For three years Russia boycotted successive U.N. outer space committees. But after John Glenn's three orbits, Khrushchev sent out a vague feeler about cooperation in the heavens. President Kennedy responded promptly, early this month suggested five specific areas for joint exploration: tracking space vehicles, space medicine, development of weather and communications satellites, studies of the earth's magnetic field.

Last week came the relatively affable answer. Khrushchev was willing to open bilateral scientific talks on the five suggested topics, added three more problems: retrieving astronauts who land on foreign soil, drafting a legal code governing outer space, studies of interplanetary physics. Khrushchev apparently acted out of a desire to share the "considerable expenditures" of space exploration, and in response to pressure by Soviet scientists for more contact with their U.S. colleagues: highly sophisticated U.S. instruments have produced better technical data than the more spectacular Soviet shots. But Kennedy assured the U.S. that no scientific gains would be sacrificed, carefully pointed out that national security would be well served if the U.S. and Russia could ever agree to make space off limits for military purposes.

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