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Science Forum Index » Space - History Forum » LBJ and space travel...
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| mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com... |
 Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 7:02 am |
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I remember reading that LBJ said that, once we'd landed on the moon,
the USA could get to work on domestic problems. The clear
implication appeared to be that space travel wasn't necessary or
desired.
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
Thanks. |
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| M... |
| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 11:56 am |
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On May 11, 10:02 am, "mh... at (no spam) ohiohills.com" <mh... at (no spam) ohiohills.com>
wrote:
Quote: I remember reading that LBJ said that, once we'd landed on the moon,
the USA could get to work on domestic problems. The clear
implication appeared to be that space travel wasn't necessary or
desired.
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
Thanks.
I read in a book once that he commented to a space official at
Huntsville or Michoud after seeing all of the Apollo Saturn
infrastructure that
"it was too bad that all of this will be pissed away" after the Apollo
Program ended. |
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| Pat Flannery... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:27 am |
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mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com wrote:
Quote:
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
This is also the guy who also said he "didn't want to go to sleep by the
light of a communist Moon".
Perfect politician.
Or, as someone once said: "A politician is someone who will lie to
you...even when he doesn't have to."
(was that Mark Twain?)
Pat |
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| Pat Flannery... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:40 am |
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M wrote:
Quote: I read in a book once that he commented to a space official at
Huntsville or Michoud after seeing all of the Apollo Saturn
infrastructure that
"it was too bad that all of this will be pissed away" after the Apollo
Program ended.
What else could you do with it?
You could build a giant space station (pretty pointless, as we found out
with the ISS).
Build a base on the Moon, (again, what for? Need more rocks?).
Or set off on a manned expedition to Mars (we haven't figured out the
details of how to do that yet, much less in 1970).
Pat |
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| mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:02 am |
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On May 12, 2:40 am, Pat Flannery <flan... at (no spam) daktel.com> wrote:
Quote: M wrote:
I read in a book once that he commented to a space official at
Huntsville or Michoud after seeing all of the Apollo Saturn
infrastructure that
"it was too bad that all of this will be pissed away" after the Apollo
Program ended.
What else could you do with it?
That's not the point, here, and that changes the subject.
My direction is straightforward: what did LBJ (and his administration)
say that indicated a lack of interest in space travel? |
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| Rand Simberg... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:25 am |
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On Mon, 12 May 2008 01:40:47 -0500, in a place far, far away, Pat
Flannery <flanner at (no spam) daktel.com> made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:
Quote:
M wrote:
I read in a book once that he commented to a space official at
Huntsville or Michoud after seeing all of the Apollo Saturn
infrastructure that
"it was too bad that all of this will be pissed away" after the Apollo
Program ended.
What else could you do with it?
You could build a giant space station (pretty pointless, as we found out
with the ISS).
It's only pointless if you can't afford to get to it. Which in fact
would have been the case if we were constrained to Saturn. |
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| Jorge R. Frank... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:39 am |
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mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com wrote:
Quote: I remember reading that LBJ said that, once we'd landed on the moon,
the USA could get to work on domestic problems. The clear
implication appeared to be that space travel wasn't necessary or
desired.
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
Haven't found that quote yet (know he said something like that), but I
did find the source and context for the "other" quote:
/Schirra's Space/
Chapter 9 "Apollo: Tragedy, then Triumph", p. 180.
"It was President Johnson, oddly enough, who put the problem in
perspective for me. While preparing for an Apollo flight, I went
with my crew - Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele - to Michoud,
Mississippi, where the Saturn boosters were assembled. We met Mr.
Johnson, who was visiting the facility, and chatted with him. He
was certainly candid. 'It's too bad,' said LBJ. 'We have this
great capability, but instead of taking advantage of it, we'll
probably just piss it away.'" |
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| Jorge R. Frank... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:10 am |
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mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com wrote:
Quote: I remember reading that LBJ said that, once we'd landed on the moon,
the USA could get to work on domestic problems. The clear
implication appeared to be that space travel wasn't necessary or
desired.
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
Found something similar; it was in a 1966 State Department memo:
“If we can de-emphasize or stretch out additional costly programs aimed
at the moon and beyond, resources may to some extent be released for
other objectives which might serve more immediate, higher priority
interests.” |
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| OM... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:57 pm |
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On Sun, 11 May 2008 10:02:23 -0700 (PDT), "mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com"
<mholt at (no spam) ohiohills.com> wrote:
Quote: I remember reading that LBJ said that, once we'd landed on the moon,
the USA could get to work on domestic problems. The clear
implication appeared to be that space travel wasn't necessary or
desired.
The question is: did I imagine that? If I did not, can someone point
me to where I can find the exact context and quote?
....On a side note, the LBJ Library will be hosting a special exhibit
on LBJ and the Space Race starting in mid-August. Since it's just up
the road, I plan to see it, hopefully on opening day.
OM
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