Abstract
As 1987 began, with the Reagan administration starting its final two years in the White House, much of the optimism about the ability to put the United States on a new course in space had dissipated. The Challenger accident and the long and contentious process of developing a launch recovery strategy had diverted administration attention from the possibility of setting long-range space objectives. Reagan’s signature space initiative, the space station, was in budget trouble, and, with the grounding of the shuttles, there was little progress in space commercialization. During 1987–1988, the interagency rivalries that had emerged over the roles of the shuttle and expendable launch vehicles shifted their focus to the NASA space station and a potential commercial alternative, the Industrial Space Facility. Having survived its budget problems and after a redesign, the space station was given a name: Freedom.
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Notes
- 1.
Memorandum from Robert Gates, deputy director of Central Intelligence, to director of Central Intelligence, “Meeting with NASA Administrator Fletcher, November 28, 1986,” CIA-RDP88G01116R000600610001-8, CREST.
- 2.
Memorandum from Michael Driggs to Gary Bauer, “U.S. Role in the Commercial Use of Space,” September 24, 1987, OA 19224, Papers of Gary Bauer, RRL.
- 3.
There are many books about the Iran-Contra affair. One of the best is Theodore Draper, A Very Thin Line: the Iran-Contra Affairs (New York: Hill and Wang, 1991).
- 4.
On Howard Baker’s hesitation in accepting the chief of staff position, see Chris Whipple, The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency (New York: Crown, 2017), 148–149. On Poindexter’s firing and his replacement by Carlucci, see John P. Burke, Honest Broker? The National Security Adviser and Presidential Decision Making (College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 2009), 218–225.
- 5.
Memorandum from James Miller for the President, “Revised Cost Estimates for the Space Station,” February 10, 1987, Box 14, Outer Space Files, RRL. Memorandum from Donald Regan to William Graham, “Revised Cost Estimates for the Space Station,” February 19, 1987, and memorandum from Charles Cockell to Frank Carlucci, “Space Station Funding,” February 17, 1987, Box 14, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 6.
Article by Charles Petit, San Francisco Chronicle, March 7, 1987, Box 17, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL.
- 7.
Theresa Foley, “White House Delays Actions on New Station Cost Estimates,” AWST, March 2, 1987, 26; memorandum from Frank Carlucci, James Fletcher, William Graham, and James Miller for the President, “Space Station New Cost Estimates,” March 19, 1987, Box 15, Outer Space Files, RRL; Kathy Sawyer, “Reagan Approves Two-Part Plan in Bid to Rescue Space Station,” WP, April 4, 1987, A3.
- 8.
Letter from James Miller to Frank Press, April 10, 1987, Folder 12463, NHRC; National Research Council, News Release, “Panel Approves Basic Space Station Design; Urges More Dependable Space Transportation,” September 14, 1987, Box 15, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL.
- 9.
Letter from James Fletcher to James Baker, November 16, 1987, Box 5, Papers of James Fletcher; memorandum from Dale Myers to Jim Fletcher, November 24, 1987, Papers of Dale Myers, NARA.
- 10.
The quoted words are from the Report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, August 2003, 209.
- 11.
Theresa Foley, “The Broken Promise of Commercial Space,” AWST, September 14, 1987, 15.
- 12.
Memorandum from Isaac Gillam IV to Administrator, December 17, 1986, Box 5, Papers of James Fletcher, NARA.
- 13.
Information on the Industrial Space Facility is drawn from Marcus Lindroos, “Industrial Space Facility,” www.astronautix.com/industrialspacefacility.html; James Rose, “Industrial Space Facility (ISF) White Paper,” December 1987, Box 5, Papers of James Fletcher, NARA, and unsigned, “Potential Demand for the Industrial Space Facility (ISF),” December 28, 1987, OA19828, Papers of Michael Driggs, RRL.
- 14.
Eugene McAllister, Memorandum for the Economic Policy Council, “Agenda and Paper for the December 17 Meeting,” December 16, 1987, with attached “Report from the Working Group on Space Commercialization,” CIA-RDP92B00181R001000010017-1, CREST.
- 15.
Jack Anderson and Dale van Atta, “A Space Contract That Almost Was,” WP, April 27, 1988, D15. Letter from James Fletcher to James Baker, December 31, 1987, and letter from James Fletcher to Tom [no last name provided; probably Thomas Griscom], December 31, 1987, Box 16, Outer Space Files, RRL. James Fletcher, undated handwritten note, Box 5, Papers of James Fletcher, NARA.
- 16.
Memorandum from Eugene McAllister to James Baker, “One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Economic Policy Council—January 7, 1988,” January 6, 1987; memorandum from the Working Group on Space Commercialization, “Commercial Space Initiatives,” January 7, 1988, Box 17, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL; memorandum from Eugene McAllister for the Economic Policy Council, “Agenda and Papers for the January 14 Meeting,” Box 5, Papers of James Fletcher, NARA.
- 17.
Memorandum from Nancy Risque to Senator Baker, “Space Commercialization,” February 5, 1988; memorandum from Eugene McAllister on Behalf of the Economic Policy Council to the President, “Space Commercialization,” February 9, 1988, Box 17, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL.
- 18.
Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, Fact Sheet, “The President’s Space Policy and Commercial Space Initiative to Begin the Next Century” and “Press Briefing by Administrator of NASA Dr. James Fletcher, Commerce Secretary William Verity, and Transportation Secretary James Burnley,” February 11, 1988.
- 19.
Letter from James Fletcher to Nancy Risque, June 7, 1988, Box 4, Papers of James Fletcher, NARA; memorandum from Gerald McKiernan and Larry Harlow to Alan Kranowitz, “Hill Outlook on Space Funding,” June 10, 1988, Box 7, Papers of David Addington, RRL; memorandum from Robert Dawson, OMB, to Director and Deputy Director, “Current Status of the Commercially Developed Space Facility (CDSF),” August 8, 1988, Box 17, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL.
- 20.
Memorandum from Nancy Risque to Senator Baker, “Space Policy Initiatives,” June 8, 1988; memorandum from James Miller to the Chief of Staff, “Funding Situation for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” undated but early June 1988, Box 7, Papers of David Addington, RRL. Letter from Ronald Reagan to Jake Garn, June 16, 1988; letter from James Fletcher to Howard Baker, June 16, 1988; letter from James Fletcher to the President, June 16, 1988; memorandum from Alan Kranowitz to Rhett Dawson, “Propose Presidential Letters on Space Station,” June 21, 1988; memorandum from Nancy Risque for the President, “Letter to Congress in Support of Space Station,” June 22, 1988; “letter from Ronald Reagan to Mr. Chairman (John Stennis),” June 22, 1988; memorandum from Nancy Risque to Ken Duberstein and B. Ogelsby, “Space Policy Initiatives,” July 8, 1988, Box 15, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL.
- 21.
Memorandum from Nancy Risque to Ken Duberstein and B. Ogelsby, “Space Policy Initiatives,” July 8, 1988, Box 15, Papers of Nancy Risque; memorandum from Robert Dawson, OMB, to the Director and the Deputy Director, “Current Status of the Commercially-Developed Space Facility (CDSF),” August 8, 1988, Box 17, Papers of Nancy Risque; note from Alan Kranowitz to Nancy Risque, “Commercially Developed Space Facility,” undated, Box 7, Papers of David Addington, RRL. National Research Council, Report of the Committee on a Commercially Developed Space Facility, April 1989, 53.
- 22.
Vincent del Guidice, “Verity Urges Bush to Examine NASA’s Role,” January 10, 1989, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/10/Verity-urges-Bush-to-examine-NASAs-role/6418600411600/ph; “Washington Roundup,” AWST, January 16, 1989, 15.
- 23.
Letter from James Fletcher to Howard Baker, June 9, 1988; letter from James Fletcher to Thomas Griscom, June 10, 1988, Box 16, Outer Space Files, RRL.
- 24.
Memorandum from William Cockell to Colin Powell, “Space Station Name,” July 5, 1988; memorandum from Paul Schott Stevens to Rhett Dawson, “Press Release on Space Station Name,” July 14, 1988, Box 16, Outer Space Files; memorandum from Colin Powell for the president, “Naming the Space Station,” Box 15, Papers of Nancy Risque, RRL. Office of the press secretary, The White House, Statement by Marlin Fitzwater, July 18, 1988.
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Logsdon, J.M. (2019). The Home Stretch. In: Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier. Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98962-4_21
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