[116] Dr. Chichester, who is the Chairman of the Space Nutrition Panel of the Space Science Board, was to have welcomed you in the name of the Space Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, but he is unable to attend and has asked me to welcome you in his place.
This is the second meeting that the Space Science Board and NASA have collaborated in at the University of South Florida in the last 4 years with the objective of improving the diet for our spaceflight crews. I feel that the meeting we had here 4 years ago was very useful and one from which the space program derived definite benefits. However, we cannot stand still in the field of nutrition research, and, since our country has made considerable progress since 1964 along this line, I think it behooves all of us in this field to provide the best information available for the programs of the future. I believe we should continue to emphasize the importance of continuing national research in the field of nutrition and nutrition technology. Already certain advances made in some aspects of nutrition and food handling have resulted in benefits for everyone. It appears probable that knowledge gained in the studies the space agency has undertaken may even prove of value in the war against hunger.
Herbert Shepler