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

688
Project Apollo: Americans to the Moon
To ensure that there were enough heavy-lift boosters to complete the Apollo program, NASA had
contracted for the elements of 15 Saturn V vehicles. George Mueller, Associate Administrator
for Manned Spaceflight, hoped to keep open the various production lines involved in the
Saturn V program, anticipating that there would be other uses for the giant vehicle—
extended lunar exploration and launching a space station, for example—that would require
a heavy-lift capability during the 1970s. The program to carry out such activities was known
as the Apollo Applications Program. The first step in ensuring that this could be done was to
contract for those components of the vehicle’s S-IC first stage that required the longest time to
manufacture. In mid-1968, Mueller requested authorization from James Webb to enter into
such contracts.
Webb’s answer was negative— no uses for Saturn Vs beyond the original 15 had been
approved, and the budget outlook for such approval was gloomy. This memorandum, issued
even before the initial lunar landing, was thus the first step in a process that led to a 1970
decision to terminate the Saturn V program.
Memorandum to Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight
SUBJECT:
Termination of the Contract for Procurement of Long lead
Time Items for Vehicles 516 and 517
REFERENCE: M memorandum to the Administrator, dated June 2, 1968,
same subject
D memorandum to the Administrator, dated July 31, 1968
AD memorandum to M dated July 13, 1967
After reviewing the referenced documentation and in consideration of
the FY 1969 budget situation, your request to expend additional funds for the
procurement of long lead time items for the S-IC stages of the 516 and 517
vehicles is disapproved. The decision, in effect, limits at this time the production
effort of Saturn through vehicle 515. No further work should be authorized for
the development and fabrication of vehicles 516 and 517.
James E. Webb
Administrator
Document II-59
Document Title: Memorandum to Manager, Apollo Spacecraft Program from
Chief, Apollo Data Priority Coordination, “Re: LM rendezvous radar is essential,”
1 August 1968.
Source: Folder #18675, NASA Historical Reference Collection, History Division,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.