On September 28, a significant incident occurred on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, resulting in injuries to four individuals during an aircraft recovery operation. Two aviators from Carrier Air Wing 3 successfully ejected from their two-seater plane and were promptly evaluated by onboard medical staff.

McCone and National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy left the meeting early to head over to the White House to brief the president. Kennedy directed McCone to go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to brief former president Dwight D. Eisenhower on the situation and to solicit his advice. McCone immediately set out on the eighty-five-mile trip.

In September 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the National Defense Education Act. It was enacted in the midst of the space race, responding to the need for