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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient James E. Webb
James E. Webb
(1906-1992)
NASA Administrator, 1961-1968; responsible for laying the groundwork for man's lunar landings
JAMES E. WEBB
Awarded by
President Lyndon B. Johnson
December 9, 1968
A most distinguished public administrator, he has been a farsighted and forceful leader of this Nation in the pioneer exploration of outer space, opening new frontiers of discovery and progress for the American people.
James Edwin Webb was the second administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, formally established on October 1, 1958, under the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.
James Webb was born on October 7, 1906, in Tally Ho, Granville County, North Carolina. His father was superintendent of schools in Granville County for 26 years. Mr. Webb was educated at the University of North Carolina, where he received an B.A. in education in 1928. He became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and served as a pilot on active duty from 1930-1932. He also studied law at George Washington University from 1934-1936 and was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia in 1936.
Webb enjoyed a long career in public service, coming to Washington in 1932 and serving as secretary to Congressman Edward W. Pou, 4th North Carolina District, Chair of the House Rules Committee, until 1934.
In the early 1930's, Mr. Webb became a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Officer and pilot. In the picture on the left, Col. Christien Schilt, Commanding Officer, Ninth Marine Aircraft Wing, pins gold oak leaves on Major Webb who was just promoted from Captain.
In 1936, Mr. Webb became personnel director, secretary-treasurer and later vice president of the Sperry Gyroscope Company in Brooklyn, New York, before re-entering the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944 for World War II. After World War II, Mr. Webb returned to Washington and served as executive assistant to O. Max Gardner, by then Under Secretary of the Treasury, before being named as director of the Bureau of the Budget in the Executive Office of the President, a position he held until 1949. President Harry S. Truman then asked Mr. Webb to serve as Under Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State. When the Truman administration ended early in 1953, Mr. Webb left Washington for a position in the Kerr-McGee Oil Corp. in Oklahoma City, OK.
James Webb returned to Washington on February 14, 1961, when he accepted the position of administrator of NASA. Under his direction the agency undertook one of the most impressive projects in history, the goal of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade through the execution of Project Apollo.
MANAGING THE MOON JOURNEY
JAMES E. WEBB AND APOLLO
As the first explorers of space, astronauts garnered most of the public attention. But the sheer scale and complexity of the moon journey required many extraordinary individual contributions.
A special challenge of the Moon project was management. At its peak, more than 400,000 people in NASA, universities, and industry worked on Apollo and the supporting human and scientific exploration programs. The effort was the largest and perhaps most technically daunting engineering enterprise ever undertaken.
In 1961, President Kennedy selected James E. Webb to succeed Keith Glennan as Administrator of NASA and to guide a program that would require the talents of nearly every community in the nation.
An experienced manager, attorney, and businessman, Webb had served as Director of the Bureau of the Budget and as Undersecretary of State in the Truman administration. Webb also served as president and vice president of several private firms and served on the board of directors of the McDonnell Aircraft Company. Only three months after Webb's appointment to NASA, President John F. Kennedy stated the national goal of landing a man on the Moon before 1970. Webb served until October 1968, departing just months in advance of the historic moon landing. Under his leadership, NASA transformed space exploration from a partly-realized dream to one of the greatest American success stories.
Webb held the view that the space program was more than a race to the moon-it could also be a catalyst for strengthening the nation's universities and industry. As one example, he promoted a program to expand the supply of scientists and engineers by assisting students in obtaining advanced degrees. Through initiatives such as this Webb expected the space program to help the country meet future challenges.
NASA, like the Department of Defense, accomplished most of its work through contracts to industry and universities. NASA dollars flowed into communities all across the nation, making many Americans direct participants in the great venture. At the peak of Apollo, NASA had 35,000 employees and over 400,000 contractors in thousands of companies and universities. Project Mercury, the first American human space exploration effort, and Project Gemini were completed during Webb's tenure. Robotic spacecraft-Rangers, Surveyors, and Lunar Orbiters-examined the Moon in preparation for exploration by astronauts. And scientific probes were sent to Mars and Venus to extend our understanding of the solar system. Webb saw his greatest contribution in the "grand alliance" he forged among government, industry, and the academic community. He expected this collaboration to provide a lasting resource for improving local communities and for meeting the country's scientific and technical needs.
A LEGACY OF SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT
James Webb retired from NASA on Oct. 7, 1968, his 62nd birthday, with the Apollo Program well on its way to a moon landing. Four days after his retirement, the first manned Apollo flight lifted off. On Dec. 9, 1968, President Johnson awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mr. Webb for his outstanding management of NASA.
James E. Webb's Presidential Medal of Freedom
Apollo to the Moon Timeline
October 4
Sputnik 1, world’s first artificial satellite, is launched by U.S.S.R.
November 3
Sputnik 2, second Soviet artificial satellite, with dog (Laika) aboard, gathers biological data from orbit.
December 6
Vanguard TV3, U.S. satellite attempt, fails.
January 31
Explorer 1, first U.S. artificial satellite, is launched. Identifies Van Allen radiation belts.
February 3
Sputnik 3, the third Soviet satellite attempt, fails.
March 17
Vanguard 1, uses solar power and transmits "pear shaped earth" data until May, 1964.
April 2
NASA is proposed by President Eisenhower.
July 29
President Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 creating NASA.
August 19
Keith Glennan is sworn in as NASA's first administrator.
August 20
President Eisenhower gives manned space flight responsibilities to NASA.
October 1
NASA officially begins operations.
November 5
Space Task Group is established to coordinate manned space flight activities.
November 26
Keith Glennan and NASA Deputy Administrator Hugh Dryden agree on the name "Mercury" for the first manned space program.
December 17
Project Mercury is publicly announced. December 31 Jet Propulsion Laboratory is transferred to NASA.
January 2
Soviet satellite Luna 1 is the first to achieve earth-escape velocity and goes into solar orbit after coming within 5,998 km of Moon.
January 12
McDonnell Aircraft Corp. is chosen to build Mercury spacecraft.
January 15
NASA announces a Space Projects Center to be built in Greenbelt, Md. February 17 Vanguard 2 orbits for 18 days, transmitting first photographs by TV.
April 9
Mercury astronauts are selected. May 1 The Space Projects Center is renamed the Goddard Space Flight Center.
September 12
Soviet Luna 2 impacts on the Moon on September 14.
September 18
Vanguard 3 gathers micrometeorite data until December 11, 1959 and is first satellite to map earth’s magnetic field.
October 4
Soviet Luna 3 is first satellite to photograph far side of moon.
January 18
President Eisenhower approves Saturn rocket project.
March 11
Pioneer 5, the first successful interplanetary spacecraft, is launched.
March 15
Agreement to transfer Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), headed by Wernher von Braun, to NASA is reached.
April 1
TIROS I, the first weather satellite, is launched.
July 1
ABMA is officially transferred to NASA and becomes the Marshall Space Flight Center.
July 28-29
Project Apollo, the post-Mercury program, is announced. August 11 Discoverer 13 becomes the first payload recovered from orbit.
August 12
Echo 1, the first passive communications satellite, is launched.
August 19
Soviet Sputnik 5 is the first vehicle to return successfully a live payload from space to Earth. After 17 orbits the satellite returns the dogs Belka and Strelka and six mice.
February 15
James Webb is sworn in as NASA's second administrator.
April 12
Soviet Vostok 1
Soviet Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space in Vostok 1. He lands in USSR after making one orbit in 1.8 hours.
May 5
Alan B. Shepard Jr. is America's first man in space in a 1961 suborbital flight of 15 minutes 22 seconds. His Mercury Freedom 7 spacecraft, launched by a modified Redstone rocket, reached an altitude of 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) and traveled 488.9 kilometers (303.8 miles) down range, splashing down near the Bahamas. May 25 President Kennedy announces the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon before 1970.
July 21
Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom reaches an altitude of 190 kilometers (118 miles) and lands 487 kilometers (303 miles) from Cape Canaveral in the second suborbital flight of the Mercury Project. His Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft sank during recovery when the hatch opened prematurely. Grissom barely escaped without injury.
August 6
Vostok 2 carries cosmonaut Gherman Titov in the Soviet Union's second human space mission, completing 17 orbits in a little over a day. August 24 NASA announces it will establish a launch facility on Merritt Island in Florida.
September 19
James Webb announces the move of Space Task Group to Houston to start a new Manned Spacecraft Center.
October 27
First Saturn rocket is successfully launched.
December 7
Project Gemini is announced.
February 20
John H. Glenn, Jr., becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Friendship 7 , a 1354-kilogram (2987-pound) Mercury spacecraft completed three orbits in 4.9 hours, after launch by Atlas rocket.
March 7
The American OSO-1, the first orbiting solar observatory, is launched.
May 24, 1962
Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, aboard Aurora 7 , reports that he can see "… individual fields, rivers, lakes, roads...," during his 3-orbit, 4.9-hour flight. An attitude error and late retrorocket firing caused Carpenter's Mercury spacecraft to overshoot its planned landing site in the Atlantic Ocean by 402 kilometers (250 miles). Carpenter waited for 3 hours in a life raft alongside his spacecraft until a rescue helicopter arrived to transfer him to the recovery carrier USS Intrepid.
July 1
NASA's Launch Operations Center in Florida is opened.
July 11
James Webb announces that NASA has chosen Lunar Orbit Rendezvous as the technique for landing astronauts on the Moon.
August 11
Cosmonaut Adrian Nikolayev lands by parachute after 64 orbits in Vostok 3. His flight was part of a dual launch mission, a space first.
August 12
The Soviet Vostok 4 comes within 4.9 km of Vostok 3 during Earth orbit, as the second part of the first dual launch mission. Vostok 4 cosmonaut Papel Popovitch landed by parachute after 48 orbits.
October 3
Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., flies Mercury spacecraft Sigma 7 in a 6-orbit flight lasting 9 hours, 13 minutes. Increased landing accuracy enabled Schirra to splash down just 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the recovery ship, 442 kilometers (275 miles) northeast of Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean.
December 14
The US scientific probe Mariner 2 encounters Venus.
May 15-16
Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., in Faith 7 completes the last Mercury mission. In a 22-orbit, 34 hour, 20 minute flight Cooper sighted roads, vehicles, and buildings and landed within 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) of the recovery ship.
June 14
Cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky lands by parachute after 81 orbits in Vostok 5. This was a part of a dual launch mission with Vostok 6)
June 16
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, lands by parachute after 48 orbits in Vostok 6.
July 26
Syncom II becomes the first operational communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit.
July 28
Ranger 7, the first successful U.S. lunar probe, is launched, and takes the first close-up photographs of the moon.
October 12
The first three man crew in space--cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov--returns after 16 orbits in 24.3 hours in Voskhod 1.
March 18
Voskhod 2 Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov aboard Voskhod 2 spends 20 minutes outside spacecraft in the first extravehicular activity--a spacewalk. Leonov and fellow cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev returned after 17 orbits.
March 23
Gemini, the second US human spaceflight program, begins with a 3-orbit flight by astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young. Launched atop a Titan 2 rocket, the crew of Gemini 3 performed the first orbital maneuvers involving change of the altitude and path of their spacecraft.
June 3-7
Astronaut Edward H. White II is the first American to walk in space during the first day of the flight of Gemini 4. After White and James A. McDivitt opened the hatches of their spacecraft, White floated out of the cockpit and into space. While McDivitt took photographs, White "walked" for 21 minutes at the end of his gold "umbilical cord." White later said that he had no sensation of falling while outside the spacecraft. He compared the experience to flying over the Earth in an airplane.
July 14
The US scientific probe Mariner 4 encounters Mars.
August 21-29
During the flight of Gemini 5 astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles Conrad, Jr., set a human duration record of 8 days in space, demonstrating that crews could function after experiencing prolonged weightlessness. Fuel cell problems threatened the flight initially but were overcome and a series of 17 scientific, medical, and engineering experiments performed.
Dec. 4-18, 1965
The first rendezvous of two piloted, maneuverable spacecraft occurs on Dec. 15, 1965, when Gemini 6 joins Gemini 7 in orbit above the Earth. Gemini 7, with astronauts Frank Borman and James A. Lovell Jr., was launched on Dec. 4, 1965. Gemini 6, piloted by astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr. And ThomasP. Stafford, rendezvoused with Gemini 7 in orbit on Dec. 15, 1965. The two spacecraft remained together, at times only 0.6 meter (2 feet) apart, until the next day when Gemini 6 returned to Earth. Gemini 7 continued in orbit until it splashed down on Dec 18. The 14-day flight of Gemini 7 set a new duration record for human spaceflight and demonstrated that a two-week flight to the Moon and back would be possible.
January 31
The Soviet Luna 9 makes the first soft landing on the Moon on February 3. The spacecraft returned photographs of the lunar surface for three days.
February 26
A Saturn 1-B rocket, 68-meters tall (224 feet), launches the first test of an Apollo command module on a suborbital flight without a crew.
March 16
Gemini 8 performs the first docking in space with an Agena target vehicle. Shortly after the successful docking, an attitude control thruster on Gemini 8 began firing continuously, tumbling, both spacecraft out of control. As a result, the Gemini 8 mission was terminated early.
March 31
The Soviet Luna 10 scientific probe orbits the Moon and gathers data until May 30.
May 30
Surveyor 1 is launched. It is the first US spacecraft to soft land on the Moon. It landed on June2 and in almost six weeks of operation took 11,150 photographs.
June 3-6
Gemini 9's scheduled docking maneuver with a target vehicle is cancelled after astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan rendezvous with the target vehicle and find that its protective upper shroud had not been jettisoned. The shroud covered the docking mechanism, preventing the planned docking exercise. On this mission astronaut Cernan space walked for almost an hour and a half but had difficulty in maintaining his position outside the spacecraft. Exertion caused his helmet faceplate to fog, obscuring his vision.
July 18-21
Gemini 10 astronauts John W. Young and Michael Collins successfully dock with an Agena and later rendezvous with an Agena from the Gemini 8 mission. A new manned spaceflight altitude record was set when Young and Collins fired the Agena's engine while the two spacecraft were linked together. The spacecraft then soared to an orbital altitude of 663 kilometers (412 miles).
August 10
Lunar Orbiter 1 is launched. It was the first U.S. spacecraft to photograph the far side of the moon and returned data until August 29 when it crashed on the moon.
Sept. 12-15
Astronauts Charles Conrad Jr. and Richard F. Gordon Jr. dock their Gemini 11 spacecraft with an Agena target vehicle only 94 minutes after launch. Using the Agena as a booster, the two astronauts raised the orbit of their spacecraft to an apogee (highest point) of 1193 kilometers (741.5 miles), a new record for human spaceflight.
October 11
The Soviet Union begins the first triple launch of piloted spacecraft with Soyuz 6, 7, and 8.
October 12
Soyuz 7 carries three astronauts and conducts autonomous navigation experiments. Re-entered the atmosphere on October 17 after 80 orbits.
October 13
Soyuz 8 carries two astronauts and conducts maneuvers with Soyez 7. Re-entered the atmosphere on October 18 after 80 orbits.
November 11-15
Gemini 12 Astronauts James A. Lovell Jr. and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. dock with an Agena target vehicle and photograph a solar eclipse on this final mission of Gemini program. Aldrin "walked in space" three times for a total of 5 1/2 hours.
January 27
Apollo1 astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee die when fire swept through their Apollo command module during a ground test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The three were scheduled to fly the first manned Apollo mission. The tragedy caused the Apollo program to be delayed for months and resulted in extensive design modifications to the interior of the Apollo command module, including replacement of all flammable parts with flame-resistant and flame-retardant materials.
April 23
Soyuz 1 makes the first flight test for the Soviet Soyuz program, completing 18 orbits in a little over a day. Vladimir Komarov was killed in landing due to fouled parachute lines.
November 9
Flying without a crew, an Apollo 4 command module successfully launches on a Saturn V rocket.
September 14
Zond 5 is the first flight to carry animals around the moon and return them alive to earth.
October 11-22
The first Apollo manned flight, Apollo 7, proves the command and service modules could support a crew for the time necessary for a round trip flight to the Moon. Apollo 7 crewmen Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Don F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham tested command and service modules systems and tracking station communications during their 11-day flight. Other accomplishments of the flight included repeated firing of the command/service module's main engine, seven televised conferences with the crew, and a rendezvous within 21 meters (70 feet) of the spent Saturn 4-B stage.
October 25
Soyuz 2 is launched as an unpiloted rendezvous target for Soyuz 3.
October 26
Soyuz 3 cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoi maneuvers to 650 feet from Soyuz 2 and lands after 64 orbits.
November 12
NASA announces Apollo 8 will go to the Moon. December 7 OAO-2, the first successful orbiting astronomical observatory, is launched.
Dec. 21-27
On Christmas Eve, 1968, the Apollo 8 crew are the first humans to orbit the Moon. Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell Jr., and William A. Anders had lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:51 a.m. (e.s.t.) on Dec. 21, 1968. The crew was the first to be boosted into space by a 111-meter-tall (363 feet) Saturn 5 launch vehicle. They photographed the Moon during their 20-hour stay in lunar orbit and saw the Earth as a small, blue ball more than 381,404 kilometers (237,000 miles) away. Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii at 10:51 a.m. EST a little more than 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) from the recovery ship, U.S.S. Yorktown. All spacecraft systems functioned almost flawlessly.
January 14
Soyuz 4 cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov performs a manual docking with Soyuz 5 in the first link up of two piloted vehicles.
January 15
Soyuz 5 cosmonauts Yevgeni Khrunov and Alexei Yeliseyev transfer to Soyuz 4 in an emergency rescue rehearsal, leaving their fellow cosmonaut Volynov to return the Soyuz 5 spacecraft back to Earth alone.
March 3-13
The crew of the Apollo 9 tests the complete Apollo system for the first time. They successfully conducted rendezvous and docking maneuvers in Earth orbit. James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart docked with the Apollo 9 lunar module and pulled it from its storage area in the upper stage of the Saturn 5 launch vehicle a little more than 5 hours after lift-off. After orbiting the Earth for 2 days, McDivitt and Schweickart entered the lunar module and began testing the vehicle. Schweickart photographed the command and service modules and lunar module during a space walk on the fourth day. On the fifth day, the lunar module was separated from the command and service modules in orbit for the first time. McDivitt and Schweickart flew the lunar module through a series of tests.
April 3
Thomas Paine is sworn in as NASA's third administrator.
May 18-26
Apollo 10 is the final rehearsal for the first landing of humans on the Moon and tests the Apollo spacecraft in lunar orbit. While astronaut John W. Young piloted the command and service modules in orbit 96.5 kilometers (60 miles) above the Moon, astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan flew the lunar module to within 15,240 meters (50,000 feet) of the lunar surface. While in lunar orbit, the astronauts conducted extensive photographic surveys of the Moon, including the landing site for the upcoming Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.
July 16-24, 1969
As Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins orbits above, Neil. A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. make the first human steps on the Moon, July 20, 1969. At 4:17:40 p.m. July 20, astronaut Armstrong radioed to Mission Control in Houston and to the world, "The Eagle has landed!" The astronauts stayed outside their lunar module for a total of more than two hours and collected more than 21.3 kilograms (47 pounds) of lunar samples from their landing site in the Sea of Tranquility.
July 20
At 10:56 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, Neil A. Armstrong sets his left foot on the surface of the Moon.
Nov. 14-24, 1969
Apollo 12 follows the success of Apollo 11 by conducting almost 8 hours of lunar surface exploration. During their stay, astronauts Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean erected a nuclear powered experiment package and recovered parts from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft. Apollo 12 landed within 200 meters of Surveyor 3. Richard F. Gordon, Jr., performed experiments and photographed the Moon from the orbiting command module as Conrad and Bean explored the lunar surface.
April 11-17
On Apollo13, an exploding oxygen tank in the service module nearly causes tragedy, but the crew's efficient response to the mishap and ground control's round-the-clock efforts safely bring home the crew of James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise Jr. The three astronauts used the lunar module's engine for propulsion, and its oxygen supply and electrical supply for life support during the aborted mission.
June 1
The Soviet Soyuz 9 spacecraft carries two astronauts for the longest manned space flight at that time, spending 17 days, 16 hours and 59 minutes in space.
September 12
The Soviet Luna 16 scientific probe lands in the Moon's Sea of Fertility on September 20. It was the first automated lunar landing, collecting lunar soil samples and returning them to Earth on September 24.
November 10
The Soviet Luna 17 scientific probe lands on the moon November 17, deploying an automated, television-controlled lunar roving vehicle, Lunokhod 1, on the lunar surface.
Jan. 31-Feb. 9
Apollo 14 achieves the third lunar landing. America's first man in space, Alan B. Shepard Jr., and his fellow explorer, Edgar D. Mitchell, performed numerous experiments during their 9 hours outside the lunar module. While the two were on the lunar surface, command module pilot Stuart A. Roosa photographed future landing sites.
April 19
The Soviet Salyut 1 flies as a prototype space station for human habitation and remains in orbit until October 11.
April 23
The Soviet Soyuz 10 spacecraft docks with Soyuz 1. This first attempt to dock with a space station failed.
April 27
James Fletcher is sworn in as NASA's fourth administrator.
June 6
The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 successfully enter Salyut 1 and remain docked with the space station from June 7 to June 29. The return to Earth, however, was tragic: the three cosmonauts died of asphyxiation just prior to reentry.
July 26-Aug. 7
During Apollo 15, the fourth US lunar landing, astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin ride their lunar roving vehicle near the Moon's Hadley Rill during more than 18 hours of exploration. During this time Command module pilot Alfred M. Worden conducted extensive photographic mapping activities from lunar orbit. Worden later retrieved the films from their service module compartment during a televised space walk, the first conducted in deep space.
January 5
President Nixon approves the Shuttle.
February 14
The Soviet Luna 20 automatic spacecraft lands on the Moon, collects lunar samples, and returns them to Earth on February 25.
April 16-27
Outward bound from Earth, Apollo 16 astronauts John W. Young, Thomas K. Mattingly II, and Charles M. Duke, Jr., photograph the Earth's auroras using film sensitive to ultraviolet radiation. After landing on the Moon near the crater Descartes, Young and Duke explored the surface for more than 20 hours, collecting an unprecedented 95.4 kilograms (210.4 pounds) of lunar samples. Command module pilot Mattingly performed a space walk during the flight back to Earth, recovering films of the lunar surface from the camera compartment in the service module.
May 24
President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexsei Kosygin sign Apollo-Soyuz Test Project agreement, initiating the first cooperative undertaking in human space exploration between the two antagonists. The agreement symbolized the improved relations between the US and USSR under President Nixon's policy of détente.
Dec. 7-19
Apollo 17, the last mission of the Apollo lunar landing program, returns 110 kilograms (243 pounds) of lunar samples to Earth. Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt spent more than 44 hours outside the lunar module erecting experiment packages and collecting samples while astronaut Ronald E. Evans orbited overhead. As Cernan took his last step off the lunar surface he said ". . . as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."
January 8
The Soviet Luna 21 spacecraft departs for the Moon to deploy the automated lunar roving vehicle, Lunokhod 2. The spacecraft and rover sucessfully landed on the Moon on January 16.
February 17
Manned Spacecraft Center is renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.
April 3
The Soviet Salyut 2 space station, without a crew aboard, fails in orbit and disintegrates April 14, 1973.
May 14
The US Skylab, a space station derived from Apollo rocket and spacecraft technology, is launched for initial deployment. The station included an orbital workshop, an airlock module, a multiple docking adapter, and an Apollo telescope mount. The station sustained serious damage during launch, losing a solar panel and thermal and micrometeoroid shields.
May 25
On the Skylab 2 mission, the first crew arrives at the space station. Three astronauts stay for over 28 days, working to repair the damaged spacecraft.
July 28
On the Skylab 3 mission, a second crew of three astronauts continues making to Skylab space station and remain onboard for 59 days.
September 27
The Soviet Soyuz 12, an improved version of the Soyuz 11 on which three cosmonauts died, flies to the Salyut space station.
November 16
The Skylab 4 mission sends three astronauts to the Skylab space station. This was the last crew to occupy the station and they set the record for the longest U.S. space mission--84 days.
December 3
Pioneer 10 becomes the first spacecraft to encounter Jupiter.
December 18
The Soviet Soyuz 13 carries three cosmonauts for a few hours short of 8 days. The Soviet crew was in orbit at the same time as the crew of Skylab 4.
March 29
Mariner 10 becomes the first spacecraft to encounter Mercury.
June 24
The Soviet Salyut 3 space station is launched.
July 3
The Soviet Soyuz 14 transports two cosmonauts to Salyut 3. They remain on the station for over 15 days.
August 26
The Soviet Soyuz 15 carries two cosmonauts in an unsuccessful attempt to dock with Salyut 3.
December 2
The Soviet Soyuz 16, with two cosmonauts aboard, conducts a test of an Apollo Soyuz docking mechanism as a part of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).
January 10
Two Soyuz 17 cosmonauts dock with and board Salyut 4 in a 29 day mission.
April 5
On the Soviet Soyuz 18A spacecraft two cosmonauts eject during launch vehicle failure, landing safely. The flight was headed for Salyut 4.
May 24
Two Soyuz 18 cosmonauts dock with Salyut 4 and work onboard for almost 63 days.
July 15
Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission commences. Soyuz 19 and Apollo 18 dock on the 36th orbit of Soyuz, remained in orbit together almost 6 days. Three American astronauts and three Soviet cosmonauts participated in joint mission.
James E. Webb with President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the White House
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Medal History
