NASA was created in 1958.
Ad-hoc panel on man in space (December 16, 1960):
Weisner Committee Report from January 1961:
JFK's speech was important, but the infrastructure and a lot of work had already been done before he gave the speech in May 1961.
What's Bernie's timeline for throwing everything out and starting over with M4A? Oh, he doesn't have one.
They aren't comparable.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ad-hoc panel on man in space (December 16, 1960):
We have been plunged into a race for the conquest of outer space. As a reason for this undertaking some look to the new and exciting scientific discoveries which are certain to be made. Others feel the challenge to transport man beyond frontiers he scarcely dared dream about until now. But at present the most impelling reason for our effort has been the international political situation which demands that we demonstrate our technological capabilities if we are to maintain our position of leadership. For all of these reasons we have embarked on a complex and costly adventure. It is the purpose of this report to clarify the goals, the missions and the costs of this effort in the foreseeable future, particularly with regard to the man-in-space program.
This report has been made possible by the complete cooperation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Officials of the NASA presented a very impressive description of their detailed plans for development, utilization and costs of the Saturn vehicle. They also provided technical information on possible follow on vehicles, advanced propulsion techniques, and possible development and funding schedules, As far as we can tell, the NASA program is well thought through, and we believe that the mission, schedules and costs are as realistic as possible at this time. We had to project their plans beyond 1970, and such projections must be seen as only crude estimates.
Weisner Committee Report from January 1961:
[1] I. Introduction
Activities in space now comprise six major categories:
Ballistic missiles.
Scientific observations from satellites.
The exploration of the solar system with instruments carried in deep space probes.
Military space systems.
Man in orbit and in space.
Non-military applications of space technology.
We rely on the first member of the list, ballistic missiles, for a large part of the retaliatory response to the Russian missile threat.
It is generally assumed by the American citizen that our vast expenditures of money and technical talent in the national space program are primarily designed to meet the overriding needs of our military security. The fact is, however, that the sense of excitement and creativity has moved away from the missile field to the other components of the list, and that missiles, long before they are in condition for us to depend upon them, are slowly being delegated to the category of routine management. Before we proceed in this report to discuss and support the important activities in the other five categories we wish to emphasize the hazard of failing to complete and deploy on time our intercontinental deterrent missiles.
[2] In addition to the need to develop ballistic missiles to provide for our military security, there are five principal motivations for desiring a vital, effective space program. It is important to distinguish among them when attempting to evaluate our national space effort.
First, there is the factor of national prestige Space exploration and exploits have captured the imagination of the peoples of the world. During the next few years the prestige of the United States will in part be determined by the leadership we demonstrate in space activities. It is within this context that we must consider man in space. Given time, a desire, considerable innovation, and sufficient effort and money, man can eventually explore our solar system. Given his enormous curiosity about the universe in which he lives and his compelling urge to go where no one has ever been before, this will be done.
[...]
JFK's speech was important, but the infrastructure and a lot of work had already been done before he gave the speech in May 1961.
What's Bernie's timeline for throwing everything out and starting over with M4A? Oh, he doesn't have one.
They aren't comparable.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.