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

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Project Apollo: Americans to the Moon
and the individuals, “communities of interest,” and organizations affected. The
rationale and actions must make it clear that, in spite of the cancellation, the
President continues to support a program involving man in space and with strong
scientific content. Specifically:
1. The reason given for cancelling [sic] Apollo would be budgetary;
there are no other limitations to carrying Apollo to completion.
2. The total space program recommended by the President must be
one that does not put an end to manned space flight (or even portends to do so
in the future) and must, therefore, include Skylab and a real commitment to the
shuttle with a go-ahead in the spring of 1972, and some earth orbit Apollo (“gapfiller”)
missions between Skylab and the shuttle.
3. The scientific content of the space program should be enhanced to
offset the science lost with Apollo 16 and 17.
4. The total NASA budget should not drop below the essentially
constant level of FY 1971 and FY 1972 (about $3.3 billion in budget authority) to
demonstrate the President’s intent to maintain a strong space program.
Rationale
The rationale supporting this position would be as follows:
“Our space program has three basic purposes: exploration; the acquisition
of scientific knowledge; and practical applications for man on earth. (See
President’s statement of March 7, 1970.) We must always strive to achieve the
proper balance among these purposes.
“Today we must stress two aspects of our space program. We must give a
top priority to practical applications now possible and press forward with
[5] the development of earth oriented systems which will enable us to make
wider and more effective practical uses of space in the future.
“The key to the future in space--in science and exploration as well as
practical applications--is routine access to space. Space activities will be part
of our lives for the rest of time. These activities cannot continue, for long, to
be as complex, as demanding, or as costly as they are today. We must develop
new, simpler, less expensive techniques to go to space and to return from
space. This is the goal of the space shuttle program. The sooner we get on
with this development, the sooner will we be able to turn our knowledge
gained in space science and space exploration toward helping man on
earth.
“To operate in space most effectively we must also learn more about how
man can best live and work in space. So while we are developing the shuttle,
we must conduct space operations over longer periods of time--with Skylab.