Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VIII, Public Diplomacy, 1969-1972

33. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Johnson to the President’s Assistant (Flanigan)¹

Washington, August 16, 1969

SUBJECT

• Apollo 11 World Tour

I have reviewed the recommendations Julian Sheer sent to you and find them excellent.²

The Department of State will of course be happy to fund all receptions and other such entertaining in honor of the astronauts. It is not clear what other “activities” will require funding. If there are such and the amount is substantial I am advised we would have a serious problem finding resources and would want to consult concerned agencies on the matter.

USIA agrees in principle to the recommendations subject to working out the details.

The State Department Committee on Astronaut Travel, which includes USIA and NASA representatives, has reviewed the recommendations and come up with a number of suggestions which I pass along for your consideration.

The Committee will meet at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 19th in room 6804 of the State Department. If you would care to send a representative please feel free to do so. In any case you will be promptly advised of any further recommendations they have. If there is anything specific you would like the Committee to take up, please let me know or call the Committee Chairman (Mark Sheehan on extension 20596 in the Department).³

U Alexis Johnson

Enclosure

Paper Prepared by the Department of State Committee on Astronaut Travel⁴

Washington, undated

Suggestions

Itinerary

1. We suggest the New York appearance be limited if possible to the United Nations. The time is ideal for U.N. appearance. We feel any other appearances would dilute the desired impact of expressing the universality of the moon mission at the outset of the world tour.⁵

2. We suggest that in view of existing political problems it would be appropriate to hold the first rest day somewhere other than Lima. If possible we would suggest rest days both at Quito and Rio de Janeiro. We realise that makes three rest days in the first nine days of the trip, but to avoid fatigue at the outset that might be useful. If only one rest day is desired we would recommend Rio de Janeiro, since Quito has a relatively high altitude, which could fatigue the Astronauts otherwise.

3. Similarly, Canberra is not as interesting a place for a rest day as Tokyo and we would suggest moving that rest day to Tokyo.⁶

4. There is some question as to whether the airport at Rawalpindi is adequate to receive the Presidential jet aircraft and that it might prove necessary to land at Lahore or Karachi. In that connection we would suggest moving that rest day to either New Delhi or Tehran. There will be an Asian fair at Tehran when the Astronauts arrive and that might make an enjoyable rest day.

Staffing

We will be happy to provide a State Department staff assistant for the trip. We would also suggest that a Protocol officer from State would be useful. (We have a Protocol officer who has been on Astronaut trips before). In addition the staff assistant for the Department’s Astronaut Travel Committee is already familiar with the preliminary planning for the trip. Furthermore, he is a former USIA staffer and has had public affairs experience at State.

5. USIA would probably want to put a Voice of America regional staffer on the plane, changing him as the trip moves from one area to another. We would recommend a spare seat be kept for this and suggest another spare seat be kept in case it was necessary to pick up additional secretarial or other help from the posts for brief periods as the trip progresses.

6. You may wish to consider adding State, USIA or White House personnel to the advance trip. State has no preference in this matter. I believe USIA would like to have one person on the advance party.

1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 392, Subject Files, Space Programs Foreign Cooperation (1970) [Feb. 69–Nov 70]. No classification marking.
2. Under an August 15 memorandum to Flanigan, Scheer transmitted information concerning the program for an Apollo 11 astronaut tour. Scheer noted: “It is important that we have approval for this mission as soon as possible so that advance groups can begin travel within ten days.” (Ibid.)
3. In an August 26 memorandum to Paine, Flanigan indicated that the President “has decided that the Apollo 11 Astronauts will tour the world as his representatives.” (Ibid.) According to the New York Times, the White House announced on September 19 that the astronauts and their wives would travel to 22 nations. The astronauts would begin their tour in Mexico City on September 29. (“3 Moon Astronauts Will Make a 22-Nation Tour,” September 20, 1969, p. 5) On November 5, the astronaut party flew from Tokyo to Washington to meet with the President and First Lady Pat Nixon and spend the night at the White House before flying to Houston to brief the Apollo 12 astronauts before their space mission. (Nan Robertson, “Apollo 11 Crew Feted by Nixons On Returning From World Tour,” New York Times, November 6, 1969, p. 42) For the President’s remarks at a White House ceremony honoring the astronauts, see Public Papers: Nixon, 1969, pp. 917–918.
4. No classification marking. No drafting information appears on the paper.
5. An unknown hand wrote in the left-hand margin next to this point: “Given the UN ceremony on Aug 13, why bother with the UN again.”
6. An unknown hand wrote in the left-hand margin next to this point: “For active men, who might want to rest on the beach, I’d prefer Australia to Japan.”