[-Q HISTORY OF llll COMMITTEE ON SCIENC1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



The public interest in the Kennedy Space Center is now of such proportions and 

 of such a nature as to place the Cape almost in the category oi a national monument 

 k. With this in mind, the subcommittee has added. $] million to be applied to 

 the construction of facilities authorization for the Kennedy Center for fiscal 1965- 

 This amount would provide for the construction of public facilities which NASA 

 must have if it is to make the (.ape available to the public in any real sense. 



Early in 196S, Dr. George E. Mueller, NASA Associate Adminis- 

 trator for Manned Space Flight, asked the National Park Service to 

 recommend an appropriate visitor program. There were some queasy 

 feelings in \ \SA as sometimes happens when an agency or individual 

 does not think up a good idea first themselves), but after several years 

 of shifting from one foot to the other the idea began to take form 

 through designs and advance planning work. While all this was going 

 on, and before the Visitors Center was constructed, an interim program 

 of bus tours was started on July 22, 1966. It just so happened that 

 Chairman Teague was at the Cape that day, and he was delighted to 

 note that despite having to stand in the rain there were 1,500 people 

 who took the tours. Within a few years, the proper facilities were 

 constructed, and the Kennedy Space Center contracted with TWA to 

 operate the Visitors Center. 



Starting in 1969, the number of visitors topped 1 million, reached 

 a peak of 1,736,302 in 1972, and has exceeded well over 1 million every 

 year. Teague's determination to prod NASA also had its effect in the 

 establishment of similar visitor facilities at other centers, where they 

 were overwhelmingly successful, and also carried out the spirit of the 

 program "for the benefit of all mankind." 



Mueller had these conclusions on the public impact of the visitor 

 program lirst pushed by Chairman Teague: 



Teague and the committee believed in the manned space program and worked 

 tirelessly on its behalf. Recognizing that public support was essential, the committee 

 stressed the importance of the program and sought to make its complexities compre- 

 hensible to the public. Tiger would, from time to time, introduce groups of influential 

 private citizens to key figures in the space program. He was convinced that the more 

 people knew about the program and its goals, the more they would support it. This 

 conviction, and the steps he took to put it into action, was a vital element in the total 

 success of our program to place the first man on the Moon. 



MAXM.D SPACE PROGRAM COMES OF AGE 



When Chairman Teague opened the hearings of his subcommittee 

 on February 18, 1964, he made a brief and pointed introduction: 



Dr. Mueller, it is a pleasure to welcome you and the members of your staff to 

 the hearings on manned space flight. 



I believe that this year, above all other years, represents a historic turning point 

 in the program. In your hands rests the task of bringing to final reality objectives 

 which have now reached a sharp focus. 



