Setting the Post-Apollo Stage

Abstract

While Richard Nixon’s involvement with the Apollo 11 mission provided the background to the first steps in the process of deciding what the United States would do in space after reaching the Moon, it did not create the positive momentum needed to overcome both skepticism on the part of those advising the new president about the value of continuing a fast-paced and expensive program of space activities after Apollo and the reality that NASA was ill-prepared to face its future. All involved recognized that there was a need for decisions on what would follow Apollo, but they approached that imperative with widely differing perspectives. It took almost a year to make and announce an initial judgment—that the United States would not continue an Apollo-like program of space development and exploration. The confused process of reaching this outcome is described in this and the following four chapters, which together constitute the first act of the post-Apollo drama.