Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in ... - The Black Vault

Exploring the Unknown 477
program, an expensive program (about $1 billion to a flight test) until the
national policy on the long-range space goals could be established. We have had a
thorough review of the Rover program, and both NASA and the Science Advisory
Committee are looking into the range of possibilities in the big booster field,
including the relative merits of solid fuels and large chemical boosters, as well as
nuclear rockets. It should be noted that these ambitious space systems could not
exist for a number of years, and it seems inappropriate to cancel all of the ongoing
activity until that time. It has become perfectly clear to the Administration
that these decisions had to be faced, and it is our intention to do so. On the other
hand, it would have been erroneous to commit very large sums of money without
first establishing clear-cut national goals that go beyond the present plans. In the
end it will be necessary to decide how large a share of the funds available [2] to
the Federal Government should be committed to this field.
In regard to the Mercury sub-orbital flight now scheduled for April 28, the
following are the facts: The dates were not advanced to compete with the Soviet
flight. It has always been a tight schedule, paced by available funds and technical
problems. We have analyzed it thoroughly and don’t believe that its chances of
success would be greatly enhanced by any reasonable delays in the firing schedule
or a small number of additional test firings. Some consideration should be given
to the question of whether or not the risks involved in a failure don’t out-weigh
the advantages of carrying out of the shot successfully. There are valid technical
reasons for carrying out the experiment in view of the bio-medical and systems
test information that will be obtained. It is probably fair to say that the successful
orbiting of man has removed many of the bio-medical questions which it was
designed to answer.
Jerome B. Wiesner
Document II-8
Document Title: John F. Kennedy, Memorandum for Vice President, 20 April 1961.
Source: Presidential Files, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston,
Massachusetts.
Document II-9
Document Title: NASA, “Do We Have a Chance of Beating the Soviets?”
22 April 1961.
Source: Folder 18675, NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Division,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.