Jan 8 1972
From The Space Library
Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) said in press release that President Nixon's decision to proceed with space shuttle development was "a great mistake, and an outrageous distortion of budgetary priorities" and "the last thing we need at this time." It would keep NASA and aerospace industry occupied but "it will also insure a steady and very substantial drain on the federal budget. And it will insure that other needs will continue to go unmet." (Text)
Newspapers continued editorial comment on decision to develop space shuttle. New York Times: "The space shuttle is far less expensive than the Apollo project, and, fortunately, is not being launched in the atmosphere of Cold War hysteria that attended the birth of the lunar landing effort. On the contrary, NASA has already stated publicly it would welcome cooperation on the space shuttle from other industrially developed nations, including the Soviet Union. The argument that the space shuttle is simply another SST boondoggle has little validity. The potential benefits are far greater, and the space shuttle presents none of the environmental problems that counted so heavily against the supersonic transport." (NYT, 1/8/72, 28)
Detroit News: "It is good that the $24 billion outlay on the Apollo moon program is not to be wasted by the United States dropping out of the space program. Mission Impossible became mission accomplished because there was a national commitment to beat the Russians to the moon. The fact that the race has been won, however, should not blind Americans that it was only the first, tentative step in unlocking the mysteries of space. If we don't press on, others will." (D News, 1/8/72)
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