As a pioneer, native-born “Wash-a-tonian”, and a Democrat; I agree that the shuttle decision was 100% political. There is no question that Texas should have been awarded a shuttle. I was Lyndon Baines Johnson who enacted the “National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1957 and got President Eisenhower to think of the program as more than a military means to spy on the Soviet Union; who as President of the Senate Chaired the National Aeronautics and Space Council; as President of the United States kept the space program on scheduled to land a man on the moon by the end of 1968 (which was missed by 6 months); and he was only “Mr. President” to be present that the Apollo 11 launch for the moon landing on July 16, 1969. Add to this all that Texas did for the space program, there is no question in my mind that on any criteria the “Lone Star State” deserved one of the shuttle.
As a pioneer, native-born “Wash-a-tonian”, and a Democrat; I agree that the shuttle decision was 100% political. There is no question that Texas should have been awarded a shuttle. I was Lyndon Baines Johnson who enacted the “National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1957 and got President Eisenhower to think of the program as more than a military means to spy on the Soviet Union; who as President of the Senate Chaired the National Aeronautics and Space Council; as President of the United States kept the space program on scheduled to land a man on the moon by the end of 1968 (which was missed by 6 months); and he was only “Mr. President” to be present that the Apollo 11 launch for the moon landing on July 16, 1969. Add to this all that Texas did for the space program, there is no question in my mind that on any criteria the “Lone Star State” deserved one of the shuttle.