LBJ Killed the Space Race

At least that's what Allan Wasser claimed in the first of a two part piece on LBJ's involvement of the space race. His theory was that President Johnson wanted to end the space race after we got to the Moon so he could pay for his war in Vietnam. To do it he signed the Outer Space Treaty which prevented anyone from claiming any territory on the Moon.

I was skeptical at first. Conspiracy theories are abounds, especially when it comes to NASA. However in his second installement he's provided proof in the form of uncovered documents.

Many times I've wondered what happened after the Apollo program. It took humanity barely a decade to get to the Moon. And for nearly forty years we've been stuck in low earth orbit unable to send but a handful of astronauts into space every year. If the momentum of the 60's was kept up, we would be honeymooning on Mars by this point...

I had settled on the idea that it was the fact that NASA was a government organization, and eventually the bureaucracy and red tape that goes along with being tied to government would eventually overcome the momentum as it did with the end of Apollo.

However these documents point the finger squarely at one man: Lynden B. Johnson. If these documents prove true, LBJ will be remembered as the man who killed the space race and humanity's drive to the stars.

Tip o' the hat to Curmudgeons.