NASA's PR campaign on behalf of manned space flight, 1961—1963

Abstract

This essay examines NASA's public relations campaign from 1961 to 1963 to sell manned exploration of space to Congress and the American people. Not only did the space agency attempt to depict manned exploration as superior to unmanned exploration, but it also attempted to create the impression that humans were indispensable to the conquest of outer space. Tactically, NASA used the timing of its Mercury flights and the appearances of the astronauts at crucial congressional debates and hearings to gain funding for its manned space flight programs. The agency also controlled the media's access and coverage of the seven Mercury astronauts by instructing the astronauts to enter into a $500,000 contract with Life, which gave the periodical exclusive rights to the men's “personal stories.” Ultimately, NASA's public relations campaign helped to establish a presumption in favor of massive commitments of the nation's resources to placing humans in space which went virtually unchallenged until the Challenger accident in 1986.