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

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Project Apollo: Americans to the Moon
restraint on joint activities because of the close association of the Soviet space and
military missile programs.
It is true that the above proposal assumes that the USSR would be willing
to follow the now well established U.S. operational plan for manned lunar
exploration. This did seem reasonable as long as it appeared likely that Russia
has a well developed program of her own. Now, however, Premier Khrushchev’s
statement, whether it is true or not, makes such a proposal by the United States
reasonable from [3] every standpoint. The proposal now not only offers a program
which truly enhances the manned lunar exploration effort while leaving the
Apollo program intact, but also one which ought to be acceptable to the USSR.
It might be extremely advantageous for you to publicly offer this plan
to the USSR as a specific proposal for a joint program, formulated in the light
of Premier Khrushchev’s statement and designed to effectively combine the
resources of both countries. The effectiveness of the offer would be enhanced
if it were made while Khrushchev’s statement is still fresh in the mind of the
public. If the proposal is accepted we will have established a practical basis for
cooperative program. If it is rejected we will have demonstrated our desire for
peaceful cooperation and the sincerity of our original proposal.
If you believe this proposal has merit, I suggest that you request that NASA
prepare as soon as possible a specific plan along these lines for your consideration.
Jerome B. Wiesner
Document II-41
Document Title: Memorandum to Robert R. Gilruth, Director, Manned Spacecraft
Center from Verne C. Fryklund, Jr., Acting Director, Manned Space Sciences
Division, Office of Space Sciences, NASA Headquarters, “Scientific Guidelines
for the Project Apollo,” 8 October 1963.
Source: Folder 18675, NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Division,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.
The National Academy of Sciences Space Science Board held a 1962 summer study on the
campus of the University of Iowa to address all issues of space science (Volume V, Document
I-22). Two working groups, one on lunar and planetary exploration and the other on the
scientific role of humans in space, addressed the scientific aspects of the Apollo missions. The
latter group recommended that astronomical observations from the Moon be relegated to later
flights. These views were adopted by NASA as the basic scientific guidelines for early Apollo
flights to the Moon. The Apollo Logistics Support System was a proposed extension of the basic
Apollo capabilities to enable more extensive exploration of the Moon; it was never developed.