John F. Kennedy and the Apollo Program

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses President John F. Kennedy's support for the Apollo space program. According to the paper, his interest was not so much focused on space exploration itself, but rather on the political ends to be gained from the success of such a publicly popular endeavor.

Outline:
Political Motivations
After the Decision: Financial and Scheduling Issues
Project Mercury
Project Gemini
Speculation: What if Kennedy had lived?

From the Paper:

"On this issue, Kennedy and Webb experienced a serious disagreement during the meeting. Webb, as mentioned above, was concerned about the technical and scientific necessity of key programs at NASA for the success of the Apollo mission. Programs such as the Centaur upper stage and the Surveyor would for example be neglected if Apollo received priority attention above all else. Webb's second concern was his own negotiating position in the face of a clear statement from the president regarding the priority of Apollo. If the president were to clearly state the priority of Apollo above other programs, Webb feared that this might be to the detriment of his position (Garber, 2002)."
"Specifically, the key programs mentioned above were not formally part of the Apollo program. Webb nonetheless believed that their timely completion was crucial to the success of Apollo. Centaur for example was created with the purpose of robotic probes into space, its relevance to the Apollo program lay in its use of liquid hydrogen for a propulsion fuel. Webb felt that the knowledge gained from the use of this fuel was vital to the Apollo program. According to Garber (2002), this was an accurate assessment, as benefits were indeed gained from observing Centaur's use of these fuels."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bell, David. Memorandum for the President, "National Aeronautics and Space Administration Budget Problem," 22 March 1961, NASA Historical Reference Collection. Available online: http://history.nasa.gov/JFK-Webbconv/pages/bellmemo.pdf
• Bizoni, Piers. "Politics of Apollo - U.S. moon flight mission." Omni, July, 1994. Database: FindArticles.com
• Day, Dwayne A. "Murdering Apollo: John F. Kennedy and the retreat from the lunar goal (part 2)." The Space Review, Nov. 6, 2006. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/739/1
• Dick, Stephen J. "Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Oct 22, 2004. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/Apollo.html
• --"The Decision to Go to the Moon: President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 Speech before joint Session of Congress. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. March 24, 2004. http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html

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