White House Memorandum Advocating Increased Funding for NASA’s 1961 Space Program (1959)

Date: November 14, 1959

Created By: Jesse L. Mitchell

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, The Space Race

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Confidential File, Box 44, NASA (7); NAID #12060425

This memorandum was written by Jesse L. Mitchell to George B. Kistiakowsky, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Science Advisor, on November 14, 1959. The document evaluates NASA’s proposed 1961 budget and criticizes the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) staff recommendation for substantially reducing the agency’s funding request. Mitchell argues that the recommended budget would slow the nation’s rapidly expanding space program at a critical stage in the Space Race.

The memorandum compares NASA’s requested funding with the Bureau of the Budget’s recommendations and outlines the programs most affected by the proposed cuts, including scientific applications, advanced launch vehicle development, supporting research, and manned spaceflight. Mitchell strongly supports continued development of the Saturn launch vehicle, the 1.5-million-pound-thrust engine, Centaur liquid hydrogen technology, and Project Mercury, while emphasizing that NASA should receive sufficient resources to accelerate scientific exploration and place an American into space as soon as technically possible.