Keck Institute for Space Studies - Open Lecture

Professor Logsdon's talk will be based on his new book After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program. On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." The success of the Apollo 11 mission satisfied the goal that had been set by President John F. Kennedy just over eight years earlier--"before this decade is out, landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth." It also raised the question "What do you do next, after landing on the Moon?" It fell to President Richard M. Nixon to answer this question. The talk will trace in detail how Nixon and his associates went about developing their response, reducing the priority of the NASA space program, thereby ending human space exploration and then approving the space shuttle. Nixon's decisions made between 1969-1972 have defined the U.S. program of human space flight well into the twenty-first century. Those choices have thus had a much more lasting impact than did John Kennedy's 1961 decision to go to the Moon. The factors leading to Kennedy's decision are well understood, but that is not the case with respect to space policy-making under President Nixon. Logsdon's book provides that understanding, and thus fills in the details of a crucial period in the history of the United States space program, and particularly of its human space flight element.

This lecture is sponsored by the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and all interested students, staff, faculty and researchers are invited to attend. No registration is required for this open lecture. Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.