ks@astrovax.UUCP (04/23/84)
A couple of weeks back one of you folks on the net asserted that Wernher
von Braun was not a shuttle supporter. Our system has long ago purged the
article, but I recall that my request for specific references on this
surprising assertion went unsatisfied. In the course of some research work
I am doing I have come across the following citation which (as I expected)
shows Dr. von Braun's *support* of the program.
[From Hearings before a subcommittee of the Senate appropriations committee,
92nd Congress, first session, June 29 1971, p.682] :
"The shuttle program proposed by NASA is the top priority space program of
the 1970's. It is the keystone of our long range plan for both manned and
unmanned programs."
At the time of this testimony NASA was still considering the two-stage,
fully-reusable, manned flyback booster shuttle concept. However, it's hard
to understand von Braun changing his mind just because of the design change.
I now really need some new information to indicate if and how his mind was
changed on this.