Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report on U.S. Aeronautics and Space Activities.

January 31, 1966

To the Congress of the United States:

The record of American accomplishments in aeronautics and space during 1965 shows it to have been the most successful year in our history.

More spacecraft were orbited than in any previous year. Five manned GEMINI flights were successfully launched.

Our astronauts spent more hours in space than were flown by all of our manned spacecraft until 1965. Ten astronauts logged a total of 1,297 hours 42 minutes in space.

The five manned flights successfully achieved included a walk in space, and the first rendezvous between two manned spacecrafts.

A scientific spacecraft completed a 325 million-mile, 228-day trip to Mars. MARINER 4 thereby gave mankind its first close-up view of another planet.

The RANGER series, begun in 1961, reached its zenith with two trips to the moon that yielded 13,000 close-up pictures of that planet. The entire RANGER series produced 17,000 photographs of the moon's surface which are being studied now by experts throughout the world.

Equally important were the contributions of our space program to life here on earth. Launching of EARLY BIRD, the first commercial communication satellite brought us measurably closer to the goal of instantaneous communication between all points on the globe. Research and development in our space program continued to speed progress in medicine, in weather prediction, in electronics--and, indeed, in virtually every aspect of American science and technology.

As our space program continues, the impact of its developments on everyday. life becomes daily more evident. It continues to stimulate our education, improve our material well-being, and broaden the horizons of knowledge. It is also a powerful force for peace.

The space program of the United States today is the largest effort ever undertaken by any nation to advance the frontiers of human knowledge. What we are discovering and building today will help solve many of the great problems which an increasingly complex and heavily-populated world will face tomorrow.

The year 1965--the year of GEMINI, RANGER, and MARINER--is a brilliant preface to the coming years of APOLLO, stations in space, and voyages to the planets. I have great pride and pleasure in transmitting this remarkable record to the Congress that, through its enthusiastic support, has made possible.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

January 31, 1966

Note: The report is entitled "Report to the Congress From the President of the United States, United States Aeronautics and Space Activities, 1965" (172 pp.).

Lyndon B. Johnson, Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report on U.S. Aeronautics and Space Activities. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239055

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