Project Charles was a summer study group held at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT), of which F.W. Loomis was the appointed head. An agreement was formed between U.S. General Gordon Saville,

Louis Ridenour Louis N. Ridenour (June 27, 1911 – May 21, 1959) was a physicist instrumental in U.S. development of radar, Vice President of Lockheed, and an advisor to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Biography and positions held During World War II, Ri ...

Ivan Getting Ivan Alexander Getting (January 18, 1912 – October 11, 2003) was an American physicist and electrical engineer, credited (along with Roger L. Easton and Bradford Parkinson) with the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS). He was ...

and

John McCone John Alexander McCone (January 4, 1902 – February 14, 1991) was an American businessman and politician who served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1961 to 1965, during the height of the Cold War. Background John A. McCone was born in ...

of the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and designated leaders of MIT, for the formation of the project. Preceding events such as the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and the first detonation of a nuclear device by the then

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, during the 29th of August 1949, were possible catalysts and pre-conditions for the military to find it necessary to form the project. Initially a letter contract was issued during January the 30th of 1951, and the two parties entered into contractual obligations during the 6th of August 1951 via Basic Agreement AF18(600)-11. The agreement was formalized as AF19(122)-458 during February 1952, and continued until the 1st day of January 1959. At its initiation, the task of the project was to address by analysis, the problem of the development of technology to use for an effective air defence of the U.S. The goal of the project was to create a network of computers connected to a command centre in order to organise a response to a threat from within U.S. air-space. The project was active during February 1951, and released its report during the 1st day of August of the same year.S. Bridger
Scientists at War
published by Harvard University Press, 6 Apr 2015, etrieved 2015-08-09/ref> MITRE Corporation assumed the responsibilities identified as the project from January the 1st 1959, and the work developed ultimately into the SAGE project.

References

{{Reflist North American Aerospace Defense Command

See also

References