Congress and the "Public" Consulted

The STG did organize a session to inform interested members of Congress about STG activities. That meeting produced little of substance. James Schlesinger, deputy director of BOB, attended as an alternate for Mayo, and reported that there was talk of “technology, pride, scientific knowledge, and spiritual uplift” and that a “promotional motive” ran “virtually unchecked throughout the meeting.”12

The STG also organized two sessions with a group of “Invited Contributors” to get some sense of public attitudes with respect to the future in space. Science adviser DuBridge in April had suggested that “a detached and unbiased group of well-informed people could cast a consid­erable amount of light” on what kind of space program the nation should undertake. He proposed that a group “that represents the general public” be formed under the auspices of Vice President Agnew. The vice president approved this proposal and told his assistant Jerome Wolff “Let’s go!”13

Of the 31 invitees, 18 attended the first meeting on July 7. One of them was former child movie star Shirley Temple Black; Agnew’s assistant Wolff assured the vice president that “as you suggested, the little girl who sang ‘On the Good Ship Lollypop’ will be with us.”14 Agnew opened the meet­ing, telling the group “it would be ludicrous to say that you are the man in the street and that this is participatory democracy. Your profile is clearly that of America’s intellectual, industrial, civic, and political leadership. But it is accurate to say that you are here to represent the man in the street and your participation reflects the finest tradition of participatory democracy. We are asking you to advise us on policy decisions that we hope the man in the street will be happy to live with for the next decade.” There was a second meeting of the invited contributors on August 1, this time to hear briefings on the potential for enhanced international space cooperation and on Russian space plans. Many of the invited contributors submitted thoughtful letters after these meetings, but there is no evidence that their views had any direct influ­ence on the content of the STG report or its recommendations.15