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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

mentioned that the law of succession had changed since the early days of the Smithsonian and might well change again. The possibility of extending the invitation to both the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives was discussed. 

On motion by Mr. Cannon, seconded by Dr. Greenewalt, and carried it was unanimously 

VOTED that the Board of Regents directs the Secretary to invite the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to attend the meetings of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and to take part in the deliberations of the Board, with the understanding that they are not to be considered Regents. 

LANGLEY MEDAL

Mr. Philip S. Hopkins, Director of the National Air Museum, had proposed that the Smithsonian Institution award the Langley Medal to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. and had received concurrence from the members of the Advisory Board of the National Air Museum. The Secretary requested the views of Dr. Hunsaker, a holder of the Langley Medal. Dr. Hunsaker expressed the opinion that the Medal had customarily been awarded for a lifetime of work and not generally for one record-breaking feat. Nevertheless it was the consensus that this astronaut did take an unpredictable risk at a time when the country was looking for assurance of our ability in the field of space flight and that it was appropriate to give this distinction to this young man now rather than wait until the end of his career. 

On motion by Dr. Brown, seconded by Dr. Greenewalt and Dr. Hunsaker, and carried it was 

VOTED that the Langley Medal of the Smithsonian Institution be awarded to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., by the Chancellor or his representative, and that the Secretary shall arrange an appropriate time and place for the presentation, with the following citation: 

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr.: The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution confer on you its Langley Medal for Aerodromics in recognition of your courageous and pioneering contributions to scientific research as the first American to fly in space; and the first to control the attitude of a spacecraft while in space flight and during a condition of weightlessness.