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[[underlined]] NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM EXTENSION PLANNING [[/underlined]]

Mr. Adams introduced the following paper and noted that its distribution in advance of the meeting had prompted Senator Garn to question the degree to which it implies that the Smithsonian is departing from the Regents' earlier approval for the development of Air and Space Museum facilities at Dulles International Airport. (The Senator's letter, and letters from Governor Schaefer of Maryland and Governor Baliles and Senator Warner of Virginia, are copied at the conclusion of the paper below.) For the Regents' information Mr. Anderson presented a brief chronology of the Regents' earlier discussions of this potential facility. It was noted that on September 16, 1985, it was "VOTED that the Board of Regents supports the facility for the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles International Airport, and to that end endorses the purposes of legislation, S. 1311, introduced by the Senate Regents...."

In discussion it was generally agreed that the Regents should reaffirm their earlier presumptive support for the Dulles site, though they ought to recognize that no final commitment regarding site could be made at least until all of the program, financial, and site studies have been completed. It was also recognized that the issue of site will continue to attract political attention and it would be in the best interest of the Smithsonian to expedite its independent study. With these understandings, it was

VOTED that the Board of Regents encourages the Secretary to proceed with a planning study for an extension of the National Air and Space Museum consistent with the program outlined and with the previous decision of the Board of Regents at its September 16, 1985 meeting.

Dr. Gell-Mann expressed interest in the implications of the paper below for the future programming of the Air and Space Museum and he urged