Broadcast: July 7, 2019 at 4:00 p.m.
The Politics Behind the Apollo Program
This is Part 1 of two hour-long documentaries called "Washington Goes To The Moon" which examine the behind the scenes, public policy stories leading up to Apollo 11's flight to the moon. The stories told in these programs (about NASA management, White House budget politics and Congressional oversight) had as much to do with Apollo 11 reaching the moon as the Saturn 5 rocket, but they have never been told.
This program, Part 1: "Washington We Have A Problem" looks at the battle to keep the Apollo space program funded and on deadline. It tells, among other stories: - Within weeks after pledging to send a man to the moon, President Kennedy got cold feet and tried to get out the commitment by bringing the Soviets on-board. -Lyndon Johnson's budget director tried to scrap the goal of getting to the moon by 1969 in order to help Pres. Johnson pay for the Vietnam War.
Produced by: Richard Paul
Listen click here for audio:http://beta.prx.org/stories/629