>>1319818More like the other way round... Nixon wanted to shut down NASA and cancel the last 2 Apollo missions along with everything NASA had planned for it's future cause it was eating into the budget and it had already server it's purpose; we had defeated the Russians and space was ours.
https://www.alternatewars.com/SpaceRace/Speeches/Nixon_NASA_Budget_71.htmThe deputy director of the office of management and budget, Caspar Weinberger, wrote a 3 page memorandum (that's the link) to convince the president of the long term impact of NASA. Weinberger argued, amongst other things, that NASA was a symbol of American Superiority and disbanding it would broadcast weakness. It would prove to American enemies and allies that the US had now peaked and it was all downhill from there.
This memo basically elevated NASA from a spin-off project of the DoD to a permanent body dedicated to furthering man's exploration of space.... On an extremely tight budget.
The space shuttle had a budget of 5 billion dollars for 5 years of development. Most formula 1 teams have higher budgets than that. And yet, NASA produced a machine that was capable of human spaceflight and helped deliver some of the largest cargo's to LEO. I think that's something to be proud of.
