CHAPTER III 



Racing for the Moon 



The members of the Committee on Science and Astronautics were 

 easy to spot, even though they were scattered throughout the crowded 

 chamber of the House of Representatives early on the afternoon of 

 May 25, 1961. They applauded long and loudly when President 

 Kennedy suddenly announced to a joint session of Congress the bold 

 commitment "to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of 

 landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." 



The ranking Republican on the Science Committee, Representative 

 James G. Fulton of Pennsylvania, was applauding so vigorously that 

 a press gallery occupant pointed down at him and remarked to a 

 fellow newsman: "They must make a lot of space vehicles in Pitts- 

 burgh." For Senator Kenneth B. Keating (Republican of New York), 

 who had served on the select committee, President Kennedy's address 

 was "an alarm clock to awaken the Nation." 



Up until the moment the dramatic announcement was made, 

 there had been considerable argument over the feasibility of the goal 

 both within the executive branch and in Congress. In the committee 

 publication "The Next Ten Years in Space, 1959-1969" written by the 

 select committee, but approved and released by the standing com- 

 mittee in 1959, many scientists, engineers, and military men had 

 focused on the timetable for a manned flight to the Moon. 



The committee itself was clear and specific in its recommendation 

 contained in its July 5, I960 report entitled "Space, Missiles, and the 

 Nation": 



A high priority program should be undertaken to place a manned expedition on 

 the Moon this decade. A firm plan with this goal in view should be drawn up and 

 submitted to the Congress by NASA. 



There was a tug-of-war going on within NASA and also among 

 scientists generally. When the seven newly chosen Mercury astronauts 

 first appeared before the Science Committee on May 28, 1959, Repre- 

 sentative J. Edward Roush (Democrat of Indiana) asked Gus Grissom 

 whether he was thinking beyond the preliminary suborbital and 

 Earth-orbiting flights. Grissom immediately answered: 



Surely. We have thought in terms of extending this on out further- to the 



Moon and other planets — but there has to be a first step and we feel this is the first 



step. 



63 



