Nov 3 1963

From The Space Library

Reviewing the U.S. manned lunar landing program, John Finney of the New York Times concluded that the race to the moon had always been a one-sided one, that there was no evi­dence that the Russians were building the large rocket that would be necessary for such a venture, that they were rather proceeding on a building-block program in space that eventually would lead to a lunar landing, but not as a special, high-priority project. This, Finney said, was also the approach of the U.S. until May 1961. "Then, in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the first Soviet manned space flight, the Kennedy Admin­istration ordered an abrupt change in course." The original justification was that U.S. prestige was at stake. As time went on and budget resistance developed in Congress, the Adminis­tration argument shifted to one of attaining "a position of pre­eminence" in space. Also the potential military benefits were emphasized more and more. Finally, the President's proposal for the joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. manned lunar program seemed to undercut all preceding positions. To Mr. Finney, all this added up to the certainty that the U.S. would continue its program for a manned lunar landing "but it will be pursued with less competi­tive zeal and at a more leisurely pace." (Finney, NYT, 11/3/63, 5E)

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, interviewed on NBC-TV, said he was surprised in May 1960 when the U.S.S.R. publicized the downing of the U.S. U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over Russia. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles also "believed just as I did that it was necessary to use it but he also believed that it would cause no real publicity if one of them should fall." Both of them felt that the Soviets would not be willing to concede publicly that for "three or four years we've been doing this . . . ." On the question of admitting U.S. responsibility for the flights, Mr. Eisenhower said: " . . . I just thought as the thing had come out, the best thing to do-and I don't believe I asked anyone's advice on this-I just said am responsible and that's that.' " (Wash. Post, 11/4/63)

• November

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