Nov 22 1963
From The Space Library
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Tex. Within two hours of the President's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson had taken the oath as the 36th President of the U.S. aboard Air Force No. 1, the Presidential jet aircraft. (NY T , 11/24/63, El)
President Kennedy, speaking at a breakfast in Ft. Worth a few hours before his assassination, mentioned as part of the growing strength of the U.S. the development of the TFX aircraft : "There's been a good deal of discussion about the long and hard-fought competition to win the TFX contract ; but very little discussion about what this plane will do. "It will be the first operational aircraft ever produced that can literally spread its wings through the air. It will thus give us a single plane capable of carrying out missions of speed as well as distance ; able to fly very far in one form, or very fast in another. "It can take off from rugged, short airstrips, enormously increasing the Air Force's ability to participate in limited wars. The same basic plane will serve the Navy's carriers, saving the taxpayers at least one billion dollars in costs if they built separate planes for the Navy and the Air Force." (NYT, 11/24/63, 2)
In the speech which President Kennedy was on his way through Dallas to deliver when he was assassinated, the President had prepared a statement on U.S. preparedness. After reviewing the improvements in military readiness, the President would have said : "I have spoken of strength largely in terms of the deterrence and resistance of aggression and attack. But, in today's world, freedom can be lost without a shot being fired, by ballots as well as bullets. The success of our leadership is dependent upon respect for our mission in the world as well as our missiles-on a clear recognition of the virtues of freedom as well as the evils of tyranny. . . . "And that is also why we have regained the initiative in the exploration of outer space-making an annual effort greater than the combined total of all space activities undertaken during the fifties-launching more than 130 vehicles into earth orbit-putting into actual operation valuable weather and communications satellites-and making it clear to all that the United States of America has no intention of finishing second in space. "This effort is expensive-but it pays its own way, for freedom and for America. For there is no longer any fear in the free world that a Communist lead in space will become a permanent assertion of supremacy and the basis of military superiority. There is no longer any doubt about the strength and skill of American science, American industry, American education and the American free enterprise system. In short, our national space effort represents a great gain in, and a great resource of, our national strength . . . ." (NYT, 11/24/63, 2)
The first live transmission of TV signals across the Pacific Ocean was accomplished via RELAY I communications satellite. The U.S. ground station in the Mojave desert transmitted the pictures, which were relayed by the satellite to Japan's new Space Communications Laboratory north of Tokyo. Viewers in Japan saw and heard taped messages from Japanese Ambassador Ryuji Takeuchi and NASA Administrator James E. Webb, as well as scenic and cultural sequences. A message of greeting that President Kennedy had taped for the occasion was deleted when word came in of his assassination a few hours before the broadcast was to take place. ABC- and NBC-TV shared in producing the program. (NASA Release 63-256; NYT, 11/24/63, 14)
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