Office of the Historian

101. Memorandum From the Science and Space Adviser, Program Coordination Staff, Office of Policy and Plans, United States Information Agency (Bourgin) to the Assistant Director, Europe (Hemsing)1

Washington, August 10, 1970

Apollo 13 Crew to Europe

Another Presidential astronaut mission is under way. Commander James A. Lovell, Jr. of the Apollo 13 crew (which got in trouble and [Page 253] never made the moon landing, but returned safely)2 had some European invitations outstanding. When these got to the White House they were balanced against countries which had not yet had formal astronaut visits, and another tour was projected. It was approved today, and could take place in late September and early October, or earlier.3

It will include Lovell, John L. Sweigert, and Fred Haise Jr., and the two wives (Sweigert is a bachelor), and will be financed and staged by State, NASA, and USIA, as before.

They will visit Iceland, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Malta, and possibly Poland, which Mr. Kissinger’s office wants, but must still be explored.

This tour will have less quick crowd exposure, and more exposure to the scientific and student community than recent trips. We will be shooting for something like three days per stop, instead of the one-day stops of the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 tours.

I will keep you informed of developments.

  1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, Office of Policy and Plans, Program Coordination Staff, Advisor for Science, Space, and Environment, Subject Files, 1958–1972, Entry P–243, Box 16, INF 7–6, Apollo 13 Astronaut Tour. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Bourgin; cleared by Stoddard. Copies were sent to White, Jenkins, Posner, and Nalle. Printed from an uninitialed copy.↩
  2. The Apollo 13 mission launched from Cape Canaveral on April 11. Two oxygen tanks exploded in the service module, and the craft also experienced a loss of power. In order to conserve power to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts powered down the equipment in the command module and used limited power in the lunar module. The moon landing was also cancelled. The astronauts returned to Earth on April 17.↩
  3. Attached but not printed is an August 10 memorandum from Haig to U. Alexis Johnson, Scheer, and Loomis, in which Haig indicated that the President wanted the Apollo 13 crew to undertake a goodwill tour in September. Loomis wrote: IOP Action. Keep me informed.” and “FS fyi” in the top right-hand corner of the memorandum.↩