Remarks on Presenting the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to the Apollo 14 Astronauts.

ONE of the greatest privileges that Mrs. Nixon and I have had is to entertain astronauts on the occasions of their returns to earth.

Each time we try to make it a different kind of dinner or reception, as the case might be.

Some of you will remember the time in Los Angeles when the first landing on the moon occurred when we had the astronaut dinner; and others, of course, will remember some of the smaller, more intimate dinners that we have had on other occasions.

Tonight, this is the first time that we have had not only the astronauts here in this East Room, rather than the State Dining Room--the East Room is larger, it allows more of their friends to be here and ours and those who support the space program, but beyond everything else, it particularly allows something that we have never had before at an astronaut dinner: It allows the members of their families to be here.

Now, I mean by that not only their wives--and as I think of our astronauts and how brave they are, I think their wives are very brave, too; you have seen all of them on television so often I am not going to introduce them now--but also when we think of them, we think of their parents. They are here tonight. And they also have received some television coverage.

But one thing that is quite special tonight that has never before occurred at a dinner in honor of the astronauts is that we have their children here. Not only those who are old enough to attend, or at least supposed to be old enough to attend, a state function at the White House, but those who are of all ages. And, of course, everyone of all ages watches what happens in the field of space.

I think the children of the astronauts ought to stand up, and let's give them a hand. There they are.

You just think, they will be going to one of the moons of Jupiter or someplace else in the future, or who knows what wonderful experiences are ahead for those who are so young with all this wonderful background that they have.

Also tonight, we have a very distinguished group here from another standpoint. Normally, we have, as we have tonight, Members of the House and Senate who support the space program. And we are honored to have those Members of the House and Senate who have supported this space program through the years.

We also have members of the Cabinet and other people in Government who have supported the program.

We thought tonight that in addition to those people and other astronauts who have been on previous flights who are here--and we look back to the ones, all of the Apollo flights and the ones earlier than that, and many of the great names are on the guest list tonight, and I won't name one for fear that I might leave out one--it seemed that tonight would be an occasion when we should honor particularly those on the ground, thousands, as Frank Borman used to tell me, and all the others--Neil Armstrong--who have gone to the moon and come back or have traveled around it or gone on these flights; they say without those thousands on the ground we couldn't have done it.

Now, it is very hard to pick out the one man on the ground or the one woman on the ground that should be honored tonight. But there is something very special tonight that I would like to share with you.

I understand, and I noted this when they came through the receiving line, that a young man, Tony Calio¹--now he has a very highfalutin tide in the space program that I won't go into, but he has something to do with moon rocks, collecting them or observing them or whatever the case may be. But he was scheduled to be married on Sunday, March 7. He received the invitation to come to this astronaut dinner. So he got married yesterday so he could bring his wife to this dinner.

And so, will the newlyweds, the Calios, please stand and be honored in the East Room?

¹ Anthony J. Calio, Director of Science and Applications, Manned Spacecraft Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, Tex.

Just think what he gave up: three days of freedom.

Now, before we make the awards, which are traditional on this occasion, the NASA Distinguished Service awards, I would like to speak very briefly with regard to the space program before this audience--an audience which has devoted so much of its life, so much of its energy and of its support to this program.

I think we all recognize that once we achieve something in this country, we tend to say, "Well, we have done that. What's next?" So we have reached the moon. And then there comes another moon flight. And each time, while there is enormous excitement and we watch on television, the amount of interest tends to recede a bit. And, also, the amount of support-and I speak now to my good colleagues in the House and the Senate--the amount of support for the space program tends to go down. That cannot be the case if this Nation is to continue to be a great nation, in my opinion.

Let me tell you an experience that I had in the very early days of this program before I met Alan Shepard--and he was one of the seven who came into the office when I was Vice President in 1959, one of the seven originals. I can't believe he is that old today.

But, in any event, I think back to before that when Sputnik happened. And then when we were all looking around to see what we could do about giving a greater boost to science in this country and get on our own space program and catch up with the Russians, or maybe pass them, as the case might be.

I remember a briefing we had. And as I recall, Wernher von Braun ² was there, among others. And the briefing was a very exciting one by one of the scientific advisers to the President at that time.

² Dr. von Braun, Deputy Associate Administrator of Planning, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was Director of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Ala., 1956-60.

And they put up a big chart that showed approximately 10 different discoveries that might be achieved as a result of our exploration of space. We had learned something about the weather, and we had learned something about communications, and they did predict, of course, a satellite whereby we could show programs around the world, and all of these things have happened since then. And there are some things on that chart that haven't happened yet.

But then I shall never forget that at the conclusion of this little lecture, the one who was briefing the President at that time turned to him and said, "Mr. President, members of the Cabinet, I simply want to say that probably the most important discovery we will make in our exploration of space is not on this chart." And that was a lesson for me.

It is a great lesson for the American people. Exploration, of course, involves going to the unknown, not going to find something you know is there, or you think something is there. We remember, for example, that those who came to the New World were looking for a passage to India and they found the New World.

And as far as space is concerned, we think we know what we want to find and what we may find, but the more we explore we break into new vistas of knowledge.

That is why if this Nation is to remain a great nation, as it will remain a great nation, we must never accept the position that because we have, as we have, been first in going to the moon, because we have had great achievements in a field like this, that then we rest on our laurels, because the history of all civilization tells us that once a nation gives up or accepts passively the role of being second in exploring the unknown, that nation ceases to be a great nation.

America must continue to be a great nation. We must explore the unknown, not because of what we are going to find or think we are going to find, not because of the uses that we expect to get from space, but because there is something there, something there that we must explore. It is there to find.

And the Americans, this great American Nation with all of the strength and the intelligence and the drive and dynamism that we have, we must go to find it.

I do not speak in any jingoistic terms. I am simply saying that this Nation with all of its capability and with all of its promise is first in space today, and America, as a great nation, must set as its goal remaining first in space, because that is the way to continue to be a great nation. This is a goal that we must set for ourselves.

Now, to do this requires thousands of men and women on the ground, devoted and dedicated men in the scientific field, in the engineering field, and other areas. It requires very brave men going on these journeys into outer space with all of the uncertainties that we saw on Apollo 13 and very brave women waiting at home with their children, their fathers, and their mothers.

And tonight we honor three more brave men.

And at this time, I would like to ask our three men of Apollo 14 to step to this stage so that we can make the awards of the evening, the NASA Distinguished Service award.

[At this point, the President presented the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to Lt. Col. Stuart A. Roosa, USAF. The President then resumed speaking.]

Major, you are now a lieutenant colonel---one of the few things a President has any prerogative on, he can make--Colonel Roosa, would you like to respond to the award?

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROOSA. Thank you, Mr. President, not only for the medal but also for that promotion. I guess we have got to talk to Bill ³ about that.

THE PRESIDENT. You have the most children, too, I notice.

³William A. Anders, Executive Secretary, National Aeronautics and Space Council, and former astronaut.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROOSA. This is a great moment for me. I feel particularly honored to receive this award in the presence of you people, because it is you people-each and every one of you--that made Apollo 14 the success it was. I thank you for that.

I also accept this award with humility and pride--pride in being a crewmember on 14, and being associated with two really great individuals, pride in being a part of NASA, and pride in being a citizen of this country.

And I feel very humble in being a part of the spirit that moved our flag from the eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean and on to the moon.

Thank you.

[At this point, the President presented the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to Capt. Edgar D. Mitchell, USN. The President then resumed speaking.]

Another promotion, Captain.

It is a good thing it didn't happen on the module, that's for sure.⁴

⁴ The President had accidently dropped the medal as he was about to pin it on Captain Mitchell.

CAPTAIN MITCHELL. Mr. President, distinguished guests:

I do feel greatly honored to receive this medal. It means a great deal to me. However, if we have been able to increase the base of scientific knowledge by some small amount, the engineering and operational know-how that permits the type of space travel that the President has spoken of, and in every way to inspire people of this country to continue with this effort of space exploration because of the knowledge that we can gain from it, then that is adequate reward for me.

Thank you very much.

[At this point, the President presented the NASA Distinguished Service Medal to Capt. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN. The President then resumed speaking.]

I have tested this one.

CAPTAIN SHEPARD. Mr. President, don't feel so badly about dropping that medal. It brings to mind an occasion on the 9th of May, 1961, when I received a similar medal from a different administration. The President also dropped that medal. So, Ed, welcome to the club.

You know, Ed had to go all the way to the moon to grow that beard. I just sent to Los Angeles for this.

THE; PRESIDENT. Would you give me the--

CAPTAIN SHEPARD. I am sorry, the shade is a secret, sir.

Mr. President, you do us a great honor this evening by presenting us with these medals. And we are truly grateful for that.

I think you do us an even greater honor by assembling these people that you have assembled here tonight. I see so many familiar faces in the crowd. And as so many of these familiar faces went through the receiving line, I was reminded of the successes and failures that we have had in the manned space effort since 1959.

As you and I were remarking earlier this evening, in 1959, they thought that if a man were to fly on a ballistic trajectory in a missile and be weightless for a period of 5 minutes or so that he would come back completely irrational.

This remark prompted one of our dinner partners to say, "Yes, I have been wondering what happened to you."

Fortunately, for me at least, my irrationality led me to the moon. And I think it is most important to me, because of the group assembled here, we don't have to talk about the benefits and the advantages of the program. We don't have to talk about the prestige and posture which we have gained. These things are intuitively known when we look at you and say, "Apollo 14 was a good one. We have a lot of momentum, and the three of us are very happy to be a part of it." Thank you.

Mr. President, we, as you know, used our lunar module, Antares, as part of an experiment. It was directed to impact on the lunar surface to further add to the knowledge we have of seismic history aud seismic response on the moon.

Most of it went down. Fortunately, we were able to salvage a few pieces for ourselves and for our very dear friends. One of the pieces we salvaged happens to be the eyepiece from the telescope which I used to sight on the stars to check our position during orbit and also to check our position after landing.

This eyepiece we have mounted together with our patch, and from the members of Apollo 14 we would like to present it to you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT. I accept with very much gratitude the presentation that has just been made. And also, I would like to add something with regard to our space program which I think everyone in this room will thoroughly agree.

When we think of that chart that I saw along with President Eisenhower back in 1957 or 1958, and those 10 items that were on it and wondering what was the one thing or two or three that we would not find, perhaps we all may have overlooked the most important of all.

What has impressed me has been the extraordinary quality of our astronauts, the men who have made space flights, who have gone to the moon or around the moon or on other parts of our various programs in space.

They have traveled all over this country. They have traveled all over the world. They have spoken eloquently and articulately as these men have spoken tonight.

In my view, they represent the very finest in American life today. We can be very proud of what our spacemen are doing.

And the discovery of these qualities, of course, these qualities in men who otherwise might be in very important activities, but who by the very fact that they were in this activity focused and developed capabilities far beyond what they might have developed otherwise, this makes that program worthwhile, these extraordinary men.

I think of these here. I think of the others in the past, of Borman, Stafford, Armstrong, Schirra, all the rest.

And speaking for all of the American people, we are proud of these men. We are proud of all of them, and we say that a nation that can produce men like this can go not only to the moon but far beyond in every way that we can think of.

I think, as you noted, when we made these awards to our three astronauts, the only one that didn't get a promotion was Captain Shepard.

I checked into that to see why that was the case. Because it is traditional, you know, for the President to promote all spacemen one rank. And so we promoted the other two. I said what about Shepard? They said, "Well, he is a captain now in the Navy. You can't make him an admiral because the Navy's regulations will not permit him to be made an admiral unless he has some experience other than in the space field."

Well, I thought I would change the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for that but, nevertheless, he is a very good man and we needed him for what he is presently doing.

I thought the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Zumwalt, was a very good man. Also, I thought of when I left this office I will be a lieutenant commander. So I didn't want to have any trouble with the Navy.

So I did want to find something special we could do for Captain Shepard. And so we now make a personal award to him. And if the Vice President would come up and join me for this award, I think it would be appropriate.

I shall read it to you: "Whereas, Captain Alan B. Shepard, U.S. Navy, was the first man to transport a golf ball into outer space. And, whereas, using the moon as a tee, on the third or fourth"--it says-"swing, he propelled aforementioned pellet possibly further than such an object has ever been propelled before, and, whereas, the likelihood exists that it fell eventually into a small crater and, thus, became the first celestial hole-in-one. Therefore, all who are here present and all who read this certificate in years to come know ye that he has been invested with the distinguished order of lunar duffer. Done at the White House on this First Day of March, 1971. And witnessed and attested by the Vice President of the United States, who wishes to point out that Captain Shepard's first two swings were embarrassing failures. And he knows just how he feels."

THE VICE PRESIDENT. Mr. President, I would just like to say a few words in self-defense.

First of all, I am a very good golfer who just happened to have a few bad first holes. I want you to understand that.

And, Alan, I know this--no, I don't know it. I only know it from the hearsay that I got at my table tonight, but I understand that this ball you hit this astronomical distance that has been described went completely around the moon and came back and reposed some distance compatible with my possibilities on earth.

And I don't know whether that is true or not, but I guess it is all right.

Mr. President, I just want to underscore my personal admiration for these wonderful astronauts, and when you talked about having them on a trip around the world, I had that experience with Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan.

And I just want to tell you from personal observation there has never been a group of men who can engender the kind of spirit in our friends around the globe that these men can.

And I hope that as astronauts have completed their lunar duties, and hopefully their Martian duties and their extraterrestrial duties generally in the future, that they will all become honorary ambassadors to promote the interests of global peace and the real conviction of us in the United States that people should learn to live together and work together, here and everywhere that the sun shines.

THE PRESIDENT. I will give Captain Shepard--we will find a way to make you an admiral eventually--but anyway, I will give him a chance to respond in a moment. But I don't want his two fellow astronauts to feel imposed upon, and I am going to give them the Presidential golf ball with the seal and signature, and one to the Vice President. Just putt with it, please.

CAPTAIN SHEPARD. I really have waited for this moment to tell the truth. You know how golfers are. They are even worse than fishermen when it comes to counting the number of strokes, or measuring the inches or the length of the fish. But really, I am not going to talk about the length of the six iron shot at all. I think that has been fairly well documented. And Ed is sworn to secrecy. So I feel secure.

But I do want to say the real reason for doing this was sort of a scientific experiment, but being a patriot, I had the interest of the country at heart and having observed the Vice President in action on the golf course, I thought the only way to help him out was to experiment. And so I did, on the moon.

I am happy to report, Mr. Vice President, because of the lack of atmosphere, regardless of how badly you hit them, they will still go straight.

THE PRESIDENT. We want to say to all our guests that that completes the program. We want all of you to know, too, that the rest of this house belongs to you for this evening.

We know that many of you will want to renew old acquaintances in the Red Room, in the Green Room, the Blue Room, the State Dining Room, and out in the Grand Hall there will be music befitting the occasion.

Oh, I should point out--because at the table it was asked--the music tonight really covers all of the services. The Marine Corps, which, as you know, is a branch of the Navy, according to one President but, nevertheless, the Marine Corps Orchestra, the traditional band of the Presidents for 180 years, of course, in the Grand Hall; the Army Chorus; and the Air Force Strings.

And you will now hear a Marine Corps combo in the hall. We have enjoyed having you. We want you to get a chance to talk to our friends, our honored guests, the astronauts.

Tomorrow they go with their families to Camp David for 3 days of rest. Their wives tell me that they have only had a half hour a day with them because the rest of the time they have been debriefed.

They are through their debriefing. At Camp David with their children, they have a few days off.

Thank you very much.