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55 Years Ago: President Nixon Establishes Space Task Group to Chart Post-Apollo Plans


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In early 1969, the goal set by President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon seemed within reach. A new president, Richard M. Nixon, now sat in the White House and needed to chart America’s course in space in the post-Apollo era. President Nixon directed his science advisor to evaluate proposals for America’s next steps in space. He established a Space Task Group (STG), chaired by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, to report back to him with their recommendations. The STG delivered its report to President Nixon on Sept. 15, 1969, who declined to select any of the options proposed. Instead, more than two years later, he directed NASA to build the space shuttle, just one element of the ambitious plans the STG had proposed.

President John F. Kennedy announces his goal of a Moon landing during a Joint Session of Congress in May 1961 President Kennedy reaffirms the goal during his address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962
Left: President John F. Kennedy announces his goal of a Moon landing during a Joint Session of Congress in May 1961. Right: President Kennedy reaffirms the goal during his address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962.

On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy, before a Joint Session of Congress, committed the United States to the goal, before the decade was out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. President Kennedy reaffirmed the commitment during an address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who played a key role in establishing NASA in 1958, and under Kennedy served as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, worked with members of Congress to ensure adequate funding for the next several years to provide NASA with the proper resources to meet that goal. Following Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, now President Johnson continued his strong support of the space program to ensure that his predecessor’s goal of a Moon landing could be achieved within the stipulated time frame. But with increasing competition for scarce federal resources from the conflict in southeast Asia and from domestic programs, Johnson showed less interest in any space endeavors that might follow the Moon landing. The space agency’s annual budget peaked in 1966 and began a steady decline three years before Kennedy’s goal was met. From a budgetary standpoint, the prospects of a vibrant post-Apollo space program did not look too rosy, the Apollo triumphs of 1968 and 1969 notwithstanding.

President Richard M. Nixon, right, meets with his science advisor Lee DuBridge in the Oval Office President Nixon, left, and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, right, introduce Thomas O. Paine as the nominee to be NASA administrator on March 5, 1969
Left: President Richard M. Nixon, right, meets with his science advisor Lee DuBridge in the Oval Office – note the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo on the wall. Right: President Nixon, left, and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, right, introduce Thomas O. Paine as the nominee to be NASA administrator on March 5, 1969.

On Feb. 4, just two weeks after taking office, President Nixon directed his Science Advisor Lee A. DuBridge to appoint an interagency committee to advise him on a post-Apollo space program. Nine days later, the President announced the formation of the STG to develop a strategy for America’s space program for the next decade. Vice President Agnew, as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, led the group. Other members of the STG included NASA Acting Administrator Thomas O. Paine (the Senate confirmed him as administrator on March 20), the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology.

Proposed lunar landing sites through Apollo 20, per NASA planning in August 1969 Illustration of the Apollo Applications Program experimental space station
Left: Proposed lunar landing sites through Apollo 20, per NASA planning in August 1969. Right: Illustration of the Apollo Applications Program experimental space station.

At the time, the only approved human space flight programs included lunar missions through Apollo 20 and the Apollo Applications Program (AAP), later renamed Skylab, that involved three flights to an experimental space station based on Apollo technology. Beyond a general vague consensus that the United States human space flight program should continue, no approved projects existed to follow these missions when they ended by about 1975.

Concept of a fully reusable space shuttle system from early 1969 Illustration from early 1969 of low Earth orbit infrastructure, including a large space station supported by space shuttles Cover page of NASA’s report to the interagency Space Task Group
Left: Concept of a fully reusable space shuttle system from early 1969. Middle: Illustration from early 1969 of low Earth orbit infrastructure, including a large space station supported by space shuttles. Right: Cover page of NASA’s report to the interagency Space Task Group.

Within NASA, given the intense focus on achieving the Moon landing within President Kennedy’s time frame, officials paid less attention to what would follow the Apollo Program and AAP. During a Jan. 27, 1969 meeting at NASA chaired by Paine, a general consensus evolved that the next step after the Moon landing should involve the development of a 12-person earth-orbiting space station by 1975, followed by an even larger outpost capable of housing up to 100 people “with a multiplicity of capabilities.” In June, with the goal of the Moon landing about to be realized, NASA’s internal planning added the development of a space shuttle by 1977 to support the space station, and truly optimistically, the development of a lunar base by 1976, among other highly ambitious endeavors that included the idea that the U.S. should begin preparing for a human mission to Mars as early as the 1980s. These proposals were presented to the STG for consideration in early July in a report titled “America’s Next Decade in Space.”

The Space Task Group’s (STG) Report to President Nixon Meeting in the White House to present the STG Report to President Nixon
Left: The Space Task Group’s (STG) Report to President Nixon. Right: Meeting in the White House to present the STG Report to President Nixon. Image credit: courtesy Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

Still bathing in the afterglow of the successful Moon landing, the STG presented its 29-page report “The Post-Apollo Space Program:  Directions for the Future” to President Nixon on Sep. 15, 1969, during a meeting in the White House Cabinet Room. In its Conclusions and Recommendations section, the report noted that the United States should pursue a balanced robotic and human space program but emphasized the importance of the latter, with a long-term goal of a human mission to Mars before the end of the 20th century. The report proposed that NASA develop new systems and technologies that emphasized commonality, reusability, and economy in its future programs. To accomplish these overall objectives, the report presented three options:

Option I – this option required more than a doubling of NASA’s budget by 1980 to enable a human Mars mission in the 1980s, establishment of a lunar orbiting space station, a 50-person Earth orbiting space station, and a lunar base. A decision would be required by 1971 on development of an Earth-to-orbit transportation system to support the space station. A strong robotic scientific and exploration program would be maintained.

Option II – this option maintained NASA’s budget at then current levels for a few years then anticipated a gradual increase to support the parallel development of both an earth orbiting space station and an Earth-to-orbit transportation system, but deferred a Mars mission to about 1986. A strong robotic scientific and exploration program would be maintained, but smaller than in Option I.

Option III – essentially the same as Option II but deferred indefinitely the human Mars mission.

In separate letters, both Agnew and Paine recommended to President Nixon to choose Option II. 

Illustration of a possible space shuttle orbiter from 1969 Illustration of a possible 12-person space station from 1969
Left: Illustration of a possible space shuttle orbiter from 1969. Right: Illustration of a possible 12-person space station from 1969.

The White House released the report to the public at a press conference on Sep. 17 with Vice President Agnew and Administrator Paine in attendance. Although he publicly supported a strong human spaceflight program and enjoyed the positive press he received when photographed with Apollo astronauts, and initially sounding positive about the STG options, President Nixon ultimately chose not to act on the report’s recommendations. Faced with the still ongoing conflict in southeast Asia and domestic programs competing for scarce federal dollars, the fiscally conservative Nixon decided these plans were just too grandiose and far too expensive. He also believed that NASA should be considered as one America’s domestic programs without the special status it enjoyed during the 1960s, one of the lasting legacies of the Nixon space doctrine. Even some of the already planned remaining Moon landing missions fell victim to the budgetary axe. On Jan. 4, 1970, NASA canceled Apollo 20 since it needed its Saturn V rocket to launch the Skylab experimental space station – NASA Administrator James E. Webb had turned off the Saturn V assembly line in 1968 and none remained beyond the original 15 built under contract. In September 1970, reductions in NASA’s budget forced the cancellation of two more Apollo missions, and for a time in 1971 President Nixon considered cancelling two more but he relented, and they flew as the final two Apollo Moon landing missions in 1972.

NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, and President Richard M. Nixon announce the approval to proceed with space shuttle development in 1972 First launch of the space shuttle in 1981
Left: NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, and President Richard M. Nixon announce the approval to proceed with space shuttle development in 1972. Right: First launch of the space shuttle in 1981.

More than two years after the STG submitted its report, in January 1972 President Nixon directed NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher to develop the Space Transportation System, the formal name for the space shuttle, the only element of the recommendations to survive the budgetary challenges. At that time, the first flight of the program was expected in 1979; in actuality, the first flight occurred two years later. It would be 12 years after Nixon’s shuttle decision before President Ronald W. Reagan approved the development of a space station, the second major component of the STG recommendation, and another 14 years after that before the first element of that program reached orbit. In those intervening years, the original American space station had been redesigned and evolved into the multinational partnership called the International Space Station.

The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021
The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021.

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      Apollo 11
      For Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, their busy August 1969 postflight schedule continued into September with events throughout the United States and beyond. These included attending hometown parades, dedicating a stamp to commemorate their historic mission, unveiling a display of a Moon rock they collected, addressing a Joint Meeting of Congress, and visiting contractor facilities that built parts of their rocket and spacecraft. They capped off the hectic month with their departure, accompanied by their wives, on a presidential round-the-world goodwill tour that lasted into early November.

      Left: Neil A. Armstrong at his hometown parade in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Image credit: Ohio Historical Society. Middle: Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin at his hometown parade in Montclair, New Jersey. Image credit: Star-Register. Right: Michael Collins at his adopted hometown parade in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image credit: AP Photo.
      On Sep. 6, each astronaut appeared at hometown events held in their honor. Apollo 11 Commander Armstrong’s hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, welcomed him with a parade and other events.  Montclair, New Jersey, held a parade to honor hometown hero Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Aldrin. And New Orleans, Louisiana, the adopted hometown of Command Module Pilot (CMP) Michael Collins, honored him with a parade.

      Left: Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, left, Neil A. Armstrong, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin with Postmaster General Winton M. Blount display an enlargement of the stamp commemorating the first Moon landing. Right: Aldrin, left, Collins, and Armstrong examine a Moon rock with Smithsonian Institution Director General of Museums Frank A. Taylor.
      Three days later, the astronauts reunited in Washington, D.C., where they appeared at the dedication ceremony of a new postage stamp that honored their mission. The U.S. Postal Service had commissioned artist Paul Calle in 1968 to design the stamp. The Apollo 11 astronauts had carried the stamp’s master die to the Moon aboard the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle and after its return to Earth the Postal Service used it to make the printing pages for the 10¢ postage stamp. At the National Postal Forum, Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin unveiled the stamp together with Postmaster General Winton M. Blount, and each astronaut received an album with 30 of the “First Man on the Moon” stamps. On Sep. 15, the crew returned to Washington to present a two-pound rock they collected in the Sea of Tranquility during their historic Moon walk to Frank A. Taylor, the Director General of Museums at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The rock went on public display two days later at the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, the first time the public could view a Moon rock. 

      Left: Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, left, Edwin E. “Buzz Aldrin, and Neil A. Armstrong each addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress, with Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and Speaker of the House John W. McCormack seated behind them. Middle: Apollo 11 astronauts’ wives Joan Aldrin, left, Patricia Collins, and Janet Armstrong receive recognition in the Visitors Gallery of the House Chamber. Right: The Apollo 11 astronauts and their wives cut at a cake at a reception at the Capitol.
      With their wives observing from the Visitors Gallery of the House of Representatives, on Sep. 16 Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. In this same chamber in May 1961, President John F. Kennedy committed the nation to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth before the end of decade. In a sense, the astronauts reported on the safe and successful completion of that challenge. Speaker of the House John W. McCormack introduced the astronauts to the gathering, as Vice President Spiro T. Agnew looked on. Each astronaut reflected on the significance of the historic mission.
      Armstrong noted that their journey truly began in the halls of Congress when the Space Act of 1958 established NASA. Aldrin commented that “the Apollo lesson is that national goals can be met when there is a strong enough will to do so.” Collins shared a favorite quotation of his father’s to describe the value of the Apollo 11 mission: “He who would bring back the wealth of the Indies must take the wealth of the Indies with him.” Armstrong closed with, “We thank you, on behalf of all the men of Apollo, for giving us the privilege of joining you in serving – for all mankind.” After their speeches, the astronauts presented one American flag each to Vice President Agnew in his role as President of the Senate and to Speaker McCormack. The flags, that had flown over the Senate and House of Representatives, had traveled to the Moon and back with the astronauts. Speaker McCormack recognized the astronauts’ wives Jan Armstrong, Joan Aldrin, and Pat Collins for their contributions to the success of the Apollo 11 mission.

      Left: Neil A. Armstrong and Michael Collins address North American Rockwell employees in Downey, California. Right: Presidential Boeing VC-137B jet at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston to take the Apollo 11 astronauts and their wives on the Giantstep goodwill world tour. 
      On Sep. 26, Armstrong and Collins visited two facilities in California of North American Rockwell (NAR) Space Division, the company that built parts of the Saturn V rocket and Apollo 11 spacecraft. First, they stopped at the Seal Beach plant that built the S-II second stage of the rocket, where 3,000 employees turned out to welcome them. Armstrong commented to the assembled crowd that during the July 16, 1969, liftoff, “the S-II gave us the smoothest ride ever.” Collins added that despite earlier misgivings about using liquid hydrogen as a rocket fuel, “after the ride you people gave us, I sure don’t have doubts any longer.” About 7,000 employees greeted the two astronauts and showered them with confetti at their next stop, the facility in Downey that built the Apollo Command and Service Modules. Both Armstrong and Collins thanked the team for building an outstanding spacecraft that took them to the Moon and returned them safely to Earth. The astronauts inspected the Command Module (CM) for Apollo 14, then under construction at the plant.
      On the morning of Sep. 29, a blue and white Boeing VC-137B presidential jet touched down at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. Neil and Jan Armstrong, Buzz and Joan Aldrin, and Mike and Pat Collins boarded the plane and joined their entourage of State Department and NASA support personnel. They departed Houston for Mexico City, the first stop on the Apollo 11 Giantstep goodwill world tour. They didn’t return to the United States until Nov. 5, having visited 29 cities in 24 countries, just nine days before Apollo 12 took off on humanity’s second journey to land on the Moon.

      Distribution of Apollo 11 lunar samples to scientists at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
      Back in Houston, distribution to scientists of samples of the lunar material returned by the Apollo 11 astronauts began on Sep. 17 at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Daniel H. Anderson, curator of lunar samples at the LRL, supervised the distribution of approximately 18 pounds – about one-third of the total Apollo 11 lunar material – to 142 principal investigators from the United States and eight other countries according to prior agreements. The scientists examined the samples at their home institutions and reported their results at a conference in Houston in January 1970. They returned to the LRL any of the samples not destroyed during the examination process.
      Apollo 12
      In September 1969, NASA continued preparations for the second Moon landing mission, Apollo 12, scheduled for launch on Nov. 14. The Apollo 12 mission called for a pinpoint landing in Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) near where the robotic spacecraft Surveyor 3 had touched down in April 1967. They planned to stay on the lunar surface for about 32 hours, compared to Apollo 11’s 21 hours, and conduct two surface spacewalks totaling more than 5 hours. During the first of their two excursions, the astronauts planned to deploy the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) and collect lunar samples. During the second spacewalk, they planned to visit Surveyor 3 and remove some of its equipment for return to Earth and collect additional lunar samples. The Apollo 12 prime crew of Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, CMP Richard F. Gordon, and LMP Alan L. Bean and their backups David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden, and James B. Irwin continued intensive training for the mission.

      Left: The Apollo 12 Saturn V exits the Vehicle Assembly Building on its way to Launch Pad 39A. Middle: The Apollo 12 Saturn V rolling up the incline as it approaches Launch Pad 39A. Right: Apollo 12 astronauts Alan L. Bean, left, Richard F. Gordon, and Charles “Pete” Conrad pose in front of their Saturn V during the rollout to the pad.
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      Left: Apollo 12 astronauts Alan L. Bean, left, and Charles “Pete” Conrad rehearse their lunar surface spacewalks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: Conrad trains in the use of the Hasselblad camera he and Bean will use on the Moon. Right: Bean, left, and Conrad train with an engineering model of a Surveyor spacecraft.
      With regard to lunar geology training, the Apollo 12 astronauts had one advantage over their predecessors – they could inspect actual Moon rocks and soil returned by the Apollo 11 crew. On Sep. 19, Conrad and Bean arrived at the LRL, where Lunar Sample Curator Anderson met them. Anderson brought out a few lunar rocks and some lunar soil that scientists had already tested and didn’t require to be stored under vacuum or other special conditions, allowing Conrad and Bean to examine them closely and compare them with terrestrial rocks and soil they had seen during geology training field trips. This first-hand exposure to actual lunar samples significantly augmented Conrad and Bean’s geology training. To highlight the greater emphasis placed on lunar surface science, the Apollo 12 crews (prime and backup) went on six geology field trips compared to just one for the Apollo 11 crews.

      Left: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles “Pete” Conrad, left, Richard F. Gordon, and Alan L. Bean prepare for water egress training aboard the MV Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico. Middle: Wearing Biological Isolation Garments and assisted by a decontamination officer, standing in the open hatch, Apollo 12 astronauts await retrieval in the life raft. Right: The recovery helicopter hoists the third crew member using a Billy Pugh net.
      Although the Apollo 11 astronauts returned from the Moon in excellent health and scientists found no evidence of any harmful lunar microorganisms, NASA managers still planned to continue the postflight quarantine program for the Apollo 12 crew members, their spacecraft, and the lunar samples they brought back. The first of these measures involved the astronauts donning Biological Isolation Garments (BIG) prior to exiting the spacecraft after splashdown. Since they didn’t carry the BIGs with them to the Moon and back, one of the recovery personnel, also clad in a BIG, opened the hatch to the capsule after splashdown and handed the suits to the astronauts inside, who donned them before exiting onto a life raft.
      On Sep. 20, the Apollo 12 astronauts rehearsed these procedures, identical to the ones used after the first Moon landing mission, in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas, using a boilerplate Apollo CM and supported by the Motorized Vessel (MV) Retriever. As it turned out, NASA later removed the requirement for the crew to wear BIGs, and after their splashdown the Apollo 12 crew wore overalls and respirators.
      Apollo 13

      Left: Apollo 13 prime crew members James A. Lovell and Thomas K. “Ken” Mattingly in the Command Module (CM) for an altitude chamber test – Fred W. Haise is out of the picture at right – at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: Apollo 13 backup astronaut John L. “Jack” Swigert prepares to enter the CM for an altitude chamber test. Right: Apollo 13 backup crew members John W. Young, left, and Swigert in the CM for an altitude chamber test – Charles M. Duke is out of the picture at right.
      Preparations for Apollo 13 continued in parallel. In KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), Apollo 13 astronauts completed altitude chamber tests of their mission’s CM and LM. Prime crew members Commander James A. Lovell, CMP Thomas K. “Ken” Mattingly, and LMP Fred W. Haise completed the CM altitude test on Sep. 10, followed by their backups John W. Young, Jack L. Swigert, and Charles M. Duke on Sep. 17. The next day, Lovell and Haise completed the altitude test of the LM, followed by Young and Duke on Sep. 22. At the time of these tests, Apollo 13 planned to launch on March 12, 1970, on a 10-day mission to visit the Fra Mauro highlands region of the Moon. To prepare for their lunar surface excursions, Lovell, Haise, Young, and Duke, accompanied by geologist-astronaut Harrison H. “Jack” Schmitt and Caltech geologist Leon T. “Lee” Silver, spent the last week of September in Southern California’s Orocopia Mountains immersed in a geology boot camp.
      Apollo 14 and 15

      Left: At North American Rockwell’s (NAR) Downey, California, facility, workers assemble the Apollo 14 Command Module (CM), left, and Service Module. Right: NAR engineers work on the CM originally intended for Apollo 15.
      Looking beyond Apollo 13, the Apollo 14 crew of Commander Alan B. Shepard, CMP Stuart A. Roosa, and LMP Edgar D. Mitchell and their backups Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Joe H. Engle had started training for their mission planned for mid-year 1970. At the NAR facility in Downey, engineers prepared the CM and SM and shipped them to KSC in November 1969. Also at Downey, workers continued assembling the CM and SM planned for the Apollo 15 mission in late 1970. As events transpired throughout 1970, plans for those two missions changed significantly.
      NASA management changes

      Left: Portrait of NASA astronaut James A. McDivitt. Right: NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine, right, swears in George M. Low as NASA deputy administrator.
      On Sept. 25, NASA appointed veteran astronaut James A. McDivitt as the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at MSC. McDivitt, selected as an astronaut in 1962, commanded two spaceflights, Gemini IV in June 1965 that included the first American spacewalk and Apollo 9 in March 1969, the first test of the LM in Earth orbit. He succeeded George M. Low who, in that position since April 1967, led the agency’s efforts to recover from the Apollo 1 fire and originated the idea to send Apollo 8 on a lunar orbital mission. Under his tenure, NASA successfully completed five crewed Apollo missions including the first human Moon landing. MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth initially assigned Low to plan future programs until Nov. 13, when President Richard M. Nixon nominated him as NASA deputy administrator. The Senate confirmed Low’s nomination on Nov. 25, and NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine swore him in on Dec. 3. Low filled the position vacant since March 20, 1969.
      To be continued …
      News from around the world in September 1969:
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      September 26 – Apple Records releases “Abbey Road,” The Beatles’ 11th studio album.
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    • By NASA
      News Chief Rob Garner shares NASA Goddard’s story with the public, supporting writers and creators in the Office of Communications.
      Name: Rob Garner
      Title: News Chief
      Formal Job Classification: Senior public affairs specialist
      Organization: Office of Communications (Code 130)
      Rob Garner has worked in the Office of Communications at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., since 2007.NASA/Jamie Adkins What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
      I am responsible for helping take the great work going on at our center and sharing it with as many people as we can. My job is sort of like being an editor in chief. I try to set the tone for our storytelling and manage our publication schedule. Mostly I try to give our writers and other communicators the support they need to do their jobs — and then I try to get out of their way so they can do what they do best.
      What is your educational background?
      I have a B.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a minor in astronomy, as well as a Master of Library Science degree focusing on archives, also from UMD.
      Why did you want to be a journalist?
      I sort of fell into the work that I am doing. In high school, I thought I would be a band director. I realized very quickly after high school that my enthusiasm for music did not align with my proficiency in it. Music remains an important hobby, but I needed to make a living doing something else.
      I did not really enjoy writing until I got to college and had the opportunity to experience journalism. Tight writing, going straight to the source to get answers, accurate researching, it all appealed to me. I think journalism as a profession plays a critical role in ensuring an informed and functional society.
      How did you come to work for Goddard?
      After I graduated college, I worked weekends for a few months on the digital desk at WTOP radio, editing copy and updating their website. I was still looking for a fulltime gig, and I happened upon a newspaper classified for a position at Goddard. It called for a little bit of newswriting, a little bit of web editing, a little bit of science. Until that moment, I never imagined NASA could have a place for someone like me.
      Goddard offered me a one-year fellowship in the Office of Communication (back then called Public Affairs) to do website editing for our Earth science team. The fellowship was renewed a few times, and eventually I became a general web editor, then also a social media editor, and eventually leader of the digital media team. In 2022, I became the news chief.
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      As a mentor, what is the one big piece of advice you give?
      I tell our interns to jump in with both feet. So much of what we do and what we know cannot be found in any handbook or manual. So much of it is the institutional knowledge that each of us carries based on our own experiences.
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      Everyone in the newsroom here knows that you are quite fond of the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and the NASA Stylebook and Communications Manual. Can you please explain what they and why you are so fond of them?
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      These manuals lay out more than the mechanics of which states get abbreviated in what way, when to use semicolons, and when to use em dashes. They also give us guidelines about how to do our jobs, covering things like ethics, chain of command, and conflict resolution.
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      My job is not just editing copy, fielding questions from reporters, or escorting groups for tours or documentary filming. I do enjoy all of that, but what I like most is that every day is different, and every day I learn something new. I love the variety of tasks and tactics that we use get our message out to the world. NASA plays a critical role in benefitting all of humanity by broadening our knowledge about the universe and our place in it. It’s personally very meaningful to me to have even a small role in that mission. And I enjoy working with a really great group of people.
      You said in high school you thought you would become a band director. Have you kept up with playing?
      In my free time, I do still play trumpet. For almost 20 years, I have played in community orchestras that draw repertoire from video game soundtracks. The past 10 years, I’ve been with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra (WMGSO), along with my wife, who plays the violin. This group — well over 100 of us — originated when we were all in college, and we have continued together since then. What makes our group special is that we still do a lot of the orchestration ourselves, meaning that you cannot hear our music anywhere else. We meet once a week and perform three or four times a year throughout the D.C. area. We even have an album out, with another on the way soon.
      Can you please tell us about your dog rescue volunteer work?
      Since 2018, my wife and I have been involved with a couple area animal rescues. We typically take in newly weaned puppies and keep them for the weeks or months it takes for them to find their forever homes. While they are in our care, we keep them safe, fed, warm, and loved. We also socialize them as much as possible. The organizations take care of finding them homes through weekly adoption events.
      My wife and I have three dogs of our own, two of which are rescues from this group. We have fostered hundreds over the years. I lost count somewhere north of 250 — and counting. I think it is important for everyone to find a way to make the world a better place. This is our way of doing that.
      Garner and then-Goddard News Chief Ed Campion celebrating the latter’s retirement in 2018. Aloha shirt Fridays were a mainstay of Campion’s tenure.NASA/Bill Hrybyk Who would you like to thank for helping you?
      That’s a long list! I’m forever grateful to Goddard’s executive producer, Wade Sisler, who saw something in babyface Rob Garner, nearly fresh out of school, and gave me a chance at a toehold in NASA.
      I definitely want to thank Ed Campion, our retired former news chief and “minister of truth,” for all he did for me. When I first got to Goddard in 2007, Ed was one of the first people to take me under his wing and teach me about Goddard and NASA culture. Ed came through the agency during some very hard times, both shuttle accidents, and some very important highs, like the successful Hubble telescope repair missions. He worked at NASA Headquarters in Washington and also at Johnson Space Center in Houston. I learned a lot about how to do this job, and how to treat your teammates, from him.
      I also want to thank my wife Katie. She’s challenged me and encouraged me to grow into a better person. Raising a family together has been a wild ride, and it’s only just getting started.
      What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
      “Omit needless words. Assume positive intent.”
      The first half was the rule hammered into us in journalism school. The second half is the mantra I learned from Michelle Jones, former head of Goddard communications, about treating others with kindness and compassion. Michelle — now the deputy associate administrator for communications at NASA — is another mentor I could never thank enough for helping me get where I am.
      By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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      Last Updated Sep 16, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactJamie Adkinsjamie.l.adkins@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
      People of Goddard Goddard Space Flight Center People of NASA Explore More
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