Statement by the President Concerning the Report "The Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period."
IN THE brief span of less than ten years, the United States Space Program has advanced from small and hesitant beginnings into a large and vital national effort. Today, its achievements provide daily testimony of our country's leadership in space capabilities, in their applications to peaceful practical purposes, and to the advancement of scientific understanding of the world in which we live.
But space is a hostile medium both for man and his instruments and therefore long periods of study, planning and hard work are required before major space undertakings can be successfully executed and their benefits fully harvested. For this reason, my Science Advisory Committee during the last year has been examining the many faceted problem of what the United States might do in space in the early years following our Apollo Program. They have examined the potentialities and the value of new space programs and recommended a course for the future.
We will give careful consideration to these recommendations. Because the opportunities in space are great but the costs are high, our space planning deserves the thoughtful consideration of all Americans. I am therefore releasing this report for publication so that the excellent work of this Committee will be available to all as we chart a course into the future.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Note: The report is entitled "The Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period: A Report of the President's Science Advisory Committee" (Government Printing Office, 99 pp.).
A White House announcement of the same date listed the following as major objectives recommended in the report:
1. A limited but important extension of Apollo in order to exploit our anticipated ability to explore the moon.
2. A strongly upgraded program of early unmanned exploration of the nearby planets, on a scale of time and effort that will enable the results of this program to contribute significantly toward the planning of future manned expeditions.
3. A program of technology development and of qualification of man for long duration space flight in anticipation of manned planetary exploration.
4. The extension and vigorous exploitation of space applications for the social and economic well-being of the Nation and for national security.
5. The exploitation of our capability to carry out complex technical operations in near earth orbit for the advance of science, particularly astronomy.
The announcement is printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 3, p. 237).
The President's statement was included in the Committee's report. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Concerning the Report "The Space Program in the Post-Apollo Period." Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238319