AI transcript link (original YT generated text)Do you put this program? I don't think this program is the top priority program of the agency.
No sir, I do not. I think it is one of the top priority programs. But I think it's very important to recognize here that, as you have found, what you could do with the rocket, as you find how you could get out beyond the Earth's atmosphere and into space and make measurements, several scientific disciplines that are very powerful have begun to converge on this area.
Yeah, I think it is a top priority. I think we ought to have that really clear. A few of these other programs can slip 6 months or 9 months, and nothing particularly is going to happen with China, but this is important for political reasons, international political reasons. Whether we like it or not, an intent to raise—we get second to the moon. It's nice, but it's like being second anytime. So that I second by six months because we didn't give it the kind of priority then, of course, that'd be very serious. So I think we have to take the view that this is a top priority.
Number one, there are real unknowns as to whether man can live under the weightless condition, and you'll ever make the Luna. This is one kind of political vulnerability I'd like to avoid such a flat commitment to. I agree that we're interested in this, but we can wait 6 months.
But you have to use that information. But then you're saying, "Yeah, but only when that information directly applies to the program."
Jim, I think we got to have that. Mr. President, we don't know a damn thing about the surface of the moon, and we're making the wildest guesses about how we're going to land on the moon. And we could get a terrible disaster from putting something down on the surface of the moon that's very different than we think it is. And the scientific programs that find us that information have to have this highest priority, but they are associated with a lunar program. The scientific programs that aren't associated with a lunar program can have any priority we'd please to give them.
Now, the other thing is I would certainly not say we're spending six or $7 billion to find out about space. Why are we spending $7 billion on getting fresh water from salt water when we're spending $7 billion to find out about space? So, obviously, you wouldn't put it on that priority except for the defense implications. And the second point is the fact that the Soviet Union has made this a test of the system. So, that's why we're doing it. So I think we got to take the view that this is the key program and the rest of this so that we can find out about it, but there's a lot of things we want to find out about.
But you see, everything else, when you talk about this, is very hard to draw a line at what everything that we do ought to really be tied into getting onto the moon and ahead of the Russians.
Why can't it be tied to preeminence in space?
Because, by God, we've been telling everybody we're preeminent in space for five years. Nobody believes it because they have the booster and the satellite. But I do think we ought to get it really clear that the policy ought to be that this is the top priority program of the agency and one of the two, except for defense, the top priority of the United States government. I think that's the condition we ought to take. Now, this may not change anything about that schedule, but at least we ought to be clear; otherwise, we shouldn't be spending this kind of money because I'm not that interested in space. I think it's good. I think we ought to know about it. I'm ready to spend reasonable amounts of money, but we're talking about fantastic expenditures which wreck our budget and all these other domestic programs. And the only justification for, in my opinion, to do it is because we hope to beat them and demonstrate that starting behind it, we did by a couple of years. By God, we passed them.
One of the highlights of his life, and sadly, he was dead a year later. He never saw it coming more than likely.
Really surprised at how clunky his speaking grammar was. However understandable he was emotionally, he was not a clear communicator.
“Mr. President, we don’t know a damn thing about the surface of the moon, and we’re making the wildest guesses about how we’re going to land on the moon. And we could get a terrible disaster from putting something down on the surface of the moon that’s very different than we think it is”
Those were the good old days when scientists asked hard questions.
Then the “fake it until you make it” gang took over....