SEN. LARCH: Exactly when and where during this three-orbit flight did you and Commander Perkins first sight the ghost ship, colonel?
SEN. HEWLETT: May I interpose a word at this point, Senator Larch?
SEN. LARCH: Please do so, Senator Hewlett.
SEN. HEWLETT: Thank you. It is my opinion, senator, that in referring to the ship boarded by Colonel Greaves as a 'ghost ship' we are lending too large an ear to the somewhat sensational nomenclature with which the press has discolored the incident, and are peradventure implying official sanction to irresponsible reporting. Therefore, I recommend that in the future, or until such time as evidence justifies a more specific appellation, we allude to the object in question by the designation first accorded it by the officials at New Canaveral: 'Spaceship X'.
SEN. LARCH: Very well, senator. I will repeat the question: Exactly when and where during this three-orbit flight, Colonel Greaves, did you and Commander Perkins first sight Spaceship X?
LT. COL. GREAVES: On the first pass, just after we reported in to central control via the Australian relay station. In accordance with instructions, Perk—Commander Perkins, that is—had taken the capsule off automatic attitude control and begun an experimental series of rolls, pitches, and yaws on manual control. We had no idea of the—of Spaceship X's presence till it appeared suddenly upon the periscope screen. Instantly Perk stabilized the capsule in its present attitude and began making the minute attitudinal adjustments necessary to keep the image on the screen.
SEN. LARCH: What was the position of the ship with relation to the Camaraderie 17?
LT. COL. GREAVES: It was about half a mile 'above' and behind us, and slightly to the north of our trajectory. We saw at once that it was gradually overtaking us and that we were gradually rising to meet it.
SEN. LARCH: And the implications of these factors were?—
LT. COL. GREAVES: That Spaceship X was traveling at a greater velocity than the Camaraderie 17, and that its orbit considerably exceeded our own. However, owing to the eccentricity of our orbit, the two trajectories were approaching, and would parallel each other before, during, and slightly after apogee, during which time the two spacecraft would be close enough to each other to permit a boarding attempt.