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Interview with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
12
community that human beings can function fairly effectively
under weightless conditions, and we felt that this longer
period of time would help us get an immediate answer to
what the problems of circulation were, what the problems of
muscular atrophy and so on were, and this seemed to me we
could apply directly to the Gemini flights.
These were the two opinions I expressed in favor of making
another flight. The opposing opinions I expressed for Mr.
Webb. He felt that it was appropriate, since we had had
six successful Mercury flights, that we terminate the
Mercury program; that we take the talent that had been
working on the Mercury program and shift it over to Gemini,
which at that time was rushing along; and that we would
then have more time and more talent available to apply to
the Gemini program.
The extra cost of the mission was a relatively small figure
and really of no consequence, although it was discussed.
The President did not indicate at that time whether he
favored or whether he was opposed to making another flight.
He said that he felt that it should be the decision of the
Space Administration to make. He did not indicate that he
would use his influence in any way in either direction.
Mr. Sohier: It's an unusual opportunity to be able to tell
the President of the United States your own views about
something. What sort of atmosphere was this done in? Was
it just a question of picking your brains and getting your
point of view?
Commander Shepard: Well, it seemed most of the time we were
with him the atmosphere was very informal. The Gridiron
Club meeting and some parts of our presentations at the
White House, of course, were quite formal. The Collier
Trophy, when we briefed the President at the Cape, and also
when he visited here at Headquarters--some of these briefings
were quite formal, but most of the time it seems our con-
versations and associations with him were most informal.
Document source description
Interview with Alan Shepard for the John F. Kennedy Library Oral History Program by Walter Sohier, General Counsel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. June 12, 1964 Houston, Texas
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"ocrText": "Interview with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr.\n12\ncommunity that human beings can function fairly effectively\nunder weightless conditions, and we felt that this longer\nperiod of time would help us get an immediate answer to\nwhat the problems of circulation were, what the problems of\nmuscular atrophy and so on were, and this seemed to me we\ncould apply directly to the Gemini flights.\nThese were the two opinions I expressed in favor of making\nanother flight. The opposing opinions I expressed for Mr.\nWebb. He felt that it was appropriate, since we had had\nsix successful Mercury flights, that we terminate the\nMercury program; that we take the talent that had been\nworking on the Mercury program and shift it over to Gemini,\nwhich at that time was rushing along; and that we would\nthen have more time and more talent available to apply to\nthe Gemini program.\nThe extra cost of the mission was a relatively small figure\nand really of no consequence, although it was discussed.\nThe President did not indicate at that time whether he\nfavored or whether he was opposed to making another flight.\nHe said that he felt that it should be the decision of the\nSpace Administration to make. He did not indicate that he\nwould use his influence in any way in either direction.\nMr. Sohier: It's an unusual opportunity to be able to tell\nthe President of the United States your own views about\nsomething. What sort of atmosphere was this done in? Was\nit just a question of picking your brains and getting your\npoint of view?\nCommander Shepard: Well, it seemed most of the time we were\nwith him the atmosphere was very informal. The Gridiron\nClub meeting and some parts of our presentations at the\nWhite House, of course, were quite formal. The Collier\nTrophy, when we briefed the President at the Cape, and also\nwhen he visited here at Headquarters--some of these briefings\nwere quite formal, but most of the time it seems our con-\nversations and associations with him were most informal."
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