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Interview with Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr.
25
Mr. Sohier: These are things that he would ask you about?
Colonel Glenn: Yes, I don't ever remember being with him
for any length of time that there wasn't something brought
up about the time schedules and when we thought we could
do so-and-so, some phase of the project.
Mr. Sohier: Maybe you could discuss a little bit whether
he talked about the military aspects of space. I don't
mean so much the military space program as the military
importance of what NASA was doing. Did he ever get into
this subject or ask you what you felt its importance was?
Colonel Glenn: I remember he asked what I felt military
uses of spacecraft could be. I don't remember exactly,
but I think what I probably told him at that time were the
two that are obvious--for communications and also for
observation.
Mr. Sohier: Maybe you could tell us about the last time
you saw President Kennedy. Do you remember that?
Colonel Glenn: I believe it was just a brief stop to say
hello when I passed him coming out of the White House in
September of 1963.
Mr. Sohier: One final point: In terms of your discussions
with President Kennedy, what do you feel was his assessment
of the value of the space program and what it was achieving
for this country? Have you got any general philosophical
thoughts on that?
Colonel Glenn: As I mentioned earlier, I think his atti-
tude on it changed a little as time went on. He started
out looking at this pretty much as a competitive scientific
race with the Russians. I think his attitude changed some-
what on this and he attached increasing importance to the
scientific exploration aspects, although I don't recall any
specific statements in this regard.
Document source description
Interview with Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. by Walter B. Sohier, General Counsel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration June 12, 1964 Seabrooke, TX
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"ocrText": "Interview with Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr.\n25\nMr. Sohier: These are things that he would ask you about?\nColonel Glenn: Yes, I don't ever remember being with him\nfor any length of time that there wasn't something brought\nup about the time schedules and when we thought we could\ndo so-and-so, some phase of the project.\nMr. Sohier: Maybe you could discuss a little bit whether\nhe talked about the military aspects of space. I don't\nmean so much the military space program as the military\nimportance of what NASA was doing. Did he ever get into\nthis subject or ask you what you felt its importance was?\nColonel Glenn: I remember he asked what I felt military\nuses of spacecraft could be. I don't remember exactly,\nbut I think what I probably told him at that time were the\ntwo that are obvious--for communications and also for\nobservation.\nMr. Sohier: Maybe you could tell us about the last time\nyou saw President Kennedy. Do you remember that?\nColonel Glenn: I believe it was just a brief stop to say\nhello when I passed him coming out of the White House in\nSeptember of 1963.\nMr. Sohier: One final point: In terms of your discussions\nwith President Kennedy, what do you feel was his assessment\nof the value of the space program and what it was achieving\nfor this country? Have you got any general philosophical\nthoughts on that?\nColonel Glenn: As I mentioned earlier, I think his atti-\ntude on it changed a little as time went on. He started\nout looking at this pretty much as a competitive scientific\nrace with the Russians. I think his attitude changed some-\nwhat on this and he attached increasing importance to the\nscientific exploration aspects, although I don't recall any\nspecific statements in this regard."
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