208 HISTORY OF THE COMMUTE] ON SCIENC1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



NASA. The high-water mark for NASA appropriations had been reached 

 in calendar year 1964 when NASA was furnished with $5.25 billion, 

 and ever since then the funds had dwindled each vear. At the beginning 

 of 1969, NASA officials publicly indicated to the committee, for the 

 first time, that they would offer three alternative budgets, one of which 

 was officiallv approved by the Bureau of the Budget. First, there was a 

 barebones budget of $4.2 billion which deferred new projects and 

 was designed as a "minimum program for continuing ongoing pro- 

 grams." At the same time, NASA submitted an optional budget of 

 $4." billion as the amount "required to maintain world leadership in 

 space." The Bureau of the Budget responded by including only $3.76 

 billion for NASA — $1 billion short of the optimum, and half a billion 

 dollars below the minimum. These figures furnished a clear-cut chal- 

 lenge to the Science Committee, which responded with a recommenda- 

 tion that some $250 million should be added to the rockbottom budget, 

 about $200 million of which was earmarked for manned space flight 

 and Apollo Applications. However, the Senate stuck to the budgeted 

 figure and persuaded the House in conference to conform to the budg- 

 eted figure of $3-76 billion. 



Fuqua helped stave off some of the opposition which had been 

 grumbling about duplication between Apollo and the Air Force's 

 Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. He pointed out that the 

 Air Force was abandoning the MOL, leaving the manned space held 

 exclusively to NASA. And Representative Bob Casey (Democrat of 

 Texas) helped spice the debate with this gem: 



If Queen Isabella, after she pawned her jewelry to send Columbus on his adven- 

 turous trip to the New World, had had to stand for reelection, she would have 

 probably been beaten for taking that gamble * * *. Let us show the strength and the 

 fortitude and the leadership that we need to keep this country first in space. 



After spirited debate, the authorization bill passed by a 330 to 52 

 margin on June 10, 1969- 



Administrator Paine had a mission which was indeed painful: he 

 came to NASA to preside over the dissolution of much of NASA's 

 former power, as a result of severe budgetary constraints. Largely 

 through his personal leadership, however, there was inaugurated a 

 new spirit of scientific cooperation with the Soviet Union. From Paine's 

 initial contacts with M. V. Keldysh, President of the Soviet Academy 

 of Sciences, grew the Apollo-Soyuz linkup of American astronauts and 

 Soviet cosmonauts in 1975 (see chapter X). After eight vears of solid 



