GEMINI AND APOLLO 



193 



The war in Vietnam has already forced a substantial reduction in the NASA 

 budget for the coming fiscal year. Fortunately, however, thanks to our abundance of 

 resources, it has not yet forced us to abandon our goals and our national requirements 

 in space. 



And Teague had reason to be concerned. The budget for NASA 

 had already passed its peak, and it was touch and go whether the 

 spending plateau could be maintained high enough to enable a suc- 

 cessful Moon landing by the end of the decade. On August 17, 1966, 

 Astronaut Lt. Col. Edward H. White wrote Teague from Houston to 

 tell him that "We are coming along rather well in our preparations 

 for the first manned Apollo flight and should be shipping our space- 

 craft to the Cape next week. If all goes well, which it usually doesn't 

 on the first flight, we shall be ready for launch in about 100 working 

 days after the spacecraft reaches the Cape. * * * I hope that your 

 schedule will permit you to attend our launch as you did for the flight 

 of Gemini IV. I would like you to feel that you have a personal invi- 

 tation from the crew. Enclosed is a picture from the first Apollo crew." 



Teague responded August 26, 1966: 



Dear Ed: Thank you so very much for your letter of August 17 and the wonderful 

 picture of you, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee. I certainly expect to be at Cape 

 Kennedy for your launch and appreciate your invitation. 



At the moment, Ed, I am very depressed over our space program — more so than 

 at any time since I have been working on it. There are so many things happening 

 which indicate that the administration will make a serious cut in money this next 

 year. To me it would be a great shame if we do not complete our space program 

 because of money and not because of technology. It seems that billions have to go 

 into the poverty program. It is my personal belief that the space program and the 

 poverty program could be tied together very well. * * * 



Only a few months later, tragedy struck on pad 34 at Cape 

 Kennedy. 



"fire in the cockpit!" 



On February 18, I960, when the Science Committee was in its 

 infancy, Dr. Abe Silverstein, NASA's Director of Space Flight pro- 

 grams, was testifying before Chairman Teague's subcommittee on the 

 subject of the first planned Mercury suborbital flight. After listening 

 for awhile to the engineering complexities which were involved, 

 Teague suddenly observed: 



I am one who wants that first flight to be a successful flight, and I don't care 

 how long we wait to do it. 



From the start, the priority of the Manned Space Flight Subcom- 

 mittee was always placed on human safety. Yet there was a feeling 

 of high confidence within both the committee and NASA, as well as 

 among the hundreds of thousands of contractor personnel, plus a 

 "can-do" spirit which dominated the entire program outlook. The 



