Russian and American spacecraft land at the Library
In July, a 90-ton crane lifted American and Russian spacecraft and a Mission Control console into the LBJ Library building in preparation for the new space exhibit. Flying again was the VOSTOK 3KA-2, the actual VOSTOK that carried a dog and mannequin into space just prior to Yuri Gagarin's famous flight that made him the first man to reach space in 1961.
The crane also lifted a replica of Freedom 7, the capsule that carried Alan Shepard, making him the first American to travel to space.
Release Date: May 27, 2008
New exhibit opening August 27th, To the Moon: The American Space Program in the 1960s.
While Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Lyndon Johnson was instrumental in obtaining passage of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 which stated that
The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind & and to provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes.
This act led to the subsequent creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On April 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed legislation making Vice President Lyndon Johnson head of the National Aeronautics and Space Council with the charge of exploring the feasibility of landing a man on the moon within the decade.
Because Lyndon Johnson played such a significant role in establishing the United States space program, the LBJ Library and Museum will celebrate this historic achievement with a special exhibit, To the Moon: The American Space Program of the 1960s. The exhibit will open on President Johnson's Centennial birthday, August 27, 2008, and close on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, July 20, 2009. The exhibit also coincides with the 50th anniversary of NASA.
LBJ Press Release Contact: Anne Wheeler
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Exhibit: 2008 Press Release
Images from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum, Austin, Texas.
Photographs by Gary Phelps
