Remarks Following a Tour of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.

Dr. Fletcher, Dr. Kraft, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I first want to pay my respects to those who have been in the Skylab program. I want to do so, particularly, right here in Houston, but I want the whole Nation to hear this, I would trust, as well.

When man first landed on the Moon, of course it was an enormous event--and the second time and the third time. Even the first orbital flight, as we all recall-those names are legendary. But then, sometimes here in America we become accustomed to extraordinary feats, and sometimes we tend to take for granted bravery, intelligence, courage, all of these wonderful attributes that those men have displayed on this 84-day mission in space.

But let me say, while we sometimes take it for granted, that does not mean that we do not recognize not only their ability, but that we also recognize the contribution they are making to America and to science and to better relations between nations.

In that respect, I simply want to say that I wish there were more we could do for them than simply present these medals, which I hope they will never have to hock.

I think we pay well enough, don't we, Dr. Fletcher?

As a matter of fact, I invited them and their wives, too, as has been my custom, to spend a weekend at Camp David, which is the Presidential retreat. And after those many days in space, I think they will enjoy the lonely solitude of that beautiful place, which Franklin D. Roosevelt called Shangri-La, and when they are there will understand why it is called that.

Sometimes when the clouds--it is sometimes right above the clouds, and the clouds are right around you--when it is like that, you might think you were in space. Not having been in space, I am not sure they will think that, but whatever the case might be, that is the situation.

The other point that I would like to make, and Dr. Fletcher, if you would consider this--it will have to be after, I understand, perhaps around 1980 or so--but I understand that you will make it possible for people that are not trained in space to be passengers, and I would like to volunteer. My blood pressure is 120 over 72.

I don't know whether I could pass all those other tests, for dizziness, et cetera, which they passed, but in any event and not now speaking facetiously, let me say that shows how far we have come and also what great vistas remain for the future.

Also, could I pay my respects not only to these three men, to their families, but to you, ladies and gentlemen, and to the thousands working in the space program.

I asked Dr. Fletcher, "How many people are working?" He said, "Well, there are about 3,000."

"No, no," I said, "not only here, but everywhere across the country, in private industry, subcontracts, et cetera, et cetera."

He said about 120,000 people are working on the Skylab program and on the Soyuz program--120,000 people. Most of them aren't going to get medals. Most of them aren't going to be recognized as these three are being recognized, but every astronaut I have ever talked to says it is because of those men and women on the ground that we were able to do what we did in the air, and I applaud those on the ground, all of you. We thank you for your service to make what they did possible.

I would like to now add a word with regard to the joint expedition that will take place, I understand, in July of 1975 with the Soviet cosmonauts, and just to indicate that I know a little Russian-I understand that they are here--I will say, "ochen' priyatno poznako-mit'sya," which means, "Very happy to meet all of you."

But referring to the cosmonauts and the Americans allows me to say something in the whole area of foreign policy which I think we in America need to understand, and that is why these joint projects with the Soviet Union are so important to America, to the Soviet Union, and to the whole cause of peace and progress in the world.

Our systems of government are very different. Mr. Brezhnev and I have had some very interesting debates about the value of their system and the values of ours.

But as far as our great objections are concerned in many areas, they are the same. The Russian people want peace, and we want peace. The Russian people want progress, and we want progress. The Russian people want to cooperate with the United States, and we want to cooperate with the Russian people and with all people on the Earth in anything that will advance the cause of science, the cause of health, the cause of a better life for all of our children, as well, of course, as the cause of peace.

I do not mean that simply because we are going to have this joint project with the Soviet Union in the field of space that the differences between our two systems will change or that the differences that we have in various parts of the world where our interests will evaporate. Mr. Brezhnev as a realist knows that, and I as a realist know that as well.

But I do know that the Russian people are a great people, the American people are a great people, and we can be so much together, and when we can work together, let's work together. That is what this program is about.

I remember when this whole space program began. You remember Sputnik and when some in the administration--at that particular time it happened to be an administration of which I was a part--called it outer space basketball, and there was a tendency somewhat to think of it as a stunt. And there are many even in the United States today that raise the question, why go to the Moon? What is there? No people. Why have this orbital mission?

And let me put it in terms of what it means to America, to any great people. A great people must always explore the unknown. Once a great people gives up or bugs out, drops out of competition of exploring the unknown, that people ceases to be great.

Two centuries ago, three centuries ago, exploring the unknown meant Spanish and French and British sailors and the rest crossing the seas, not knowing what they would find, looking for a new world. And now we know our world, and there are other worlds out there, far out. What are they? What is the unknown? We must go. We must go, because since it is there, failure to try to find what is there means that we have lost something that has been great in the American spirit from the time that we were a very small nation.

You remember when we were just 13 colonies and how those pioneers went across the country. They were exploring the unknown. The other day, I remember I was a little concerned that it took 10 minutes more than the 3-hour schedule for our flight from Washington down here to Houston, and I think of my great-grandparents, or my grandparents, coming across the country by train, my great-grandparents, of course, and yours perhaps, in covered wagons.

We think, for example, of how much has happened since then and how much progress we have made. What I am saying, however, is this: You need not need to know that there is something there in order to have justification for trying to find out what is there. That is the mark of the scientist, but it is also the mark of a great people.

So, we must explore the unknown. That is why we are putting the money that we are into the space program--putting it in there because we realize that not only might we learn something but also that we are going to do something for the American spirit, which is tremendously important, which allows me to pay a tribute to our astronauts and what they have done for that spirit.

They have traveled America, and they have traveled the world, and believe me, they represent the best that is in America, these fine young men. I was going to say young men until I saw the men that are going to be on this next spacecraft. [Laughter]

I asked Colonel Stafford¹ about that, and he said, "Well, you ought to know," he says, "experience, also, counts." But let me tell you, the reports that we receive around the world, universally, from the Communist world and the free world have been ecstatic, about how magnificently our representatives in space have represented us as they have gone around the world.

¹Col. Thomas P. Stafford, USAF, was training at the Johnson Space Center to head a 3-man United States crew which was scheduled for the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

One of the byproducts--there are technological byproducts, there are scientific byproducts -- but the greatest byproduct is this: what it does for our own spirit, that we as a great nation are moving forward in this area.

And now, finally a word with regard to cooperation with the Soviet Union. I am not going to get into some of the political problems and the other problems that are so difficult to solve that will be discussed again at the third summit, but cooperation with the Soviet Union in the field of space and in other areas that have received perhaps too little attention.

Did you know that we have a new program which we developed at the first summit in Moscow in 1972 for cooperation between American doctors and people from the medical profession in America with Soviet doctors and people from that profession in the Soviet Union?

Think what that might mean. I know all of you have heard of the new program that I announced 2 years ago for $100 million that we are going to spend in order to find, if we can, an answer to the problem of cancer--and maybe, the doctors tell me, it is many answers, not like polio where one vaccine is the answer, but many answers.

The other day, perhaps 3 weeks ago, a month ago, I called a little 8-year-old boy in Florida. His father had asked me to call. He had leukemia. They knew he wasn't going to live. I think he knew it, although they had not told him.

And I remember that call, his voice, his spirit. We talked about the Dolphins.² He guessed the score better than I did. Today that boy is dead. And thousands of others here, in the Soviet Union, in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, will die of cancer and other diseases because we haven't found those answers.

² Miami Dolphins professional football team.

Now, where is the answer? It may be in America. We have, I believe, the best medical profession in the world. But it might be in the Soviet Union, or it might be, for example, in Africa or Asia or Latin America. But wherever it is, that spark of genius that could find an answer or one of the answers to any one of the diseases that devastate mankind, we must go forward together to see that we allow it to develop.

And we also know this: I was not a Boy Scout--and I see one here--but I remember they used to tell me about the Scouts, that they had learned to rub sticks together, and when they rub them together they can create a spark. And so it might be that Soviet doctors working together with American doctors, rubbing together, may find that spark that each working separately might not ever find.

And so I say to you, there are differences in the world in which we live. Thank God, we are at peace for the first time in 12 years, all of our prisoners of war are at home. We are negotiating with the Soviets, with the People's Republic of China, two systems with which we have broad ideological differences. But wherever we can work together, whether it be exploration of space, or in cleaning up the environment, or in finding the answer to those diseases that plague mankind, let us have the statesmanship to see that we work together rather than separately, because all of mankind will benefit, not just America, and that is what we want.

And now I understand it is time for the coffee break.

And I will simply conclude my remarks by saying something with regard to my last visit to Houston, because it also tells us something about life. It was here, when the Apollo 13 crew came back. They didn't make it, but they got back. And there was some who said they were failures. They didn't fail. The men and women on the ground didn't fail, because you are only a failure when you give up, and they didn't give up.

And to me, those men with their courage, with their ingenuity, even though they didn't make it, they told us something about the spirit of America, a spirit that keeps us moving forward as the greatest nation, we believe, in the world today, a spirit that tries always to be the very best but is never deterred by the fact that sometimes we may not succeed.

And so today, we applaud those who tried and did not make it. We applaud those who tried to get on this crew and weren't old enough. [Laughter] And we pay respects to the great American scientific, mechanical, clerical communities that have made it possible for America to be first in space. You have contributed to a great technological breakthrough. But most important, when history is written in perspective 20 years from now, you have contributed to what is far more important: the spirit of a great country, which means always look out toward the unknown, go there, take any risk, make any sacrifice, and never be discouraged because, sometimes, you may fail.

Thank you.

[At this point, Lt. Col. Gerald P. Carr presented the President with a commemorative pen and pencil set. The President then resumed speaking.]

You know, when I spoke of these older men, I watched his eyes; he doesn't wear contacts.

I am very appreciative of this memento, and it will, of course, go in the Presidential Library along with other items that have been brought back from our various space ventures. And I am particularly grateful that you had the ingenuity to bring me a pen, and a ball point, and a pencil. That shows there is no discrimination as far as you are concerned.

My purpose is not to delay you longer, except I would not want the occasion to pass--you know, those people who came out here, they had to learn "Hail to the Chief" and all the rest, so to the Clear Lake High School band, how about a hand for them, too.