A GENTLEMEN'S WAGER
In early February 1962, Presidential Assistant George B. Kistiakowsky wagered ten dollars that John Glenn would never fly. James Webb accepted the bet, and won on Feb. 20, 1962, when Glenn orbited the Earth three times. Messrs. Kistiakowsky and Webb autographed the twenty-dollar bill used for payment as a memento of the occasion.

President Lyndon B. Johnson and James E. Webb during a briefing at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1964.

A LEGACY OF SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT
James Webb retired from NASA on Oct. 7, 1968, his 62nd birthday, with the Apollo Program well on its way to a moon landing. Four days after his retirement, the first manned Apollo flight lifted off. On Dec. 9, 1968, President Johnson awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mr. Webb for his outstanding management of NASA.

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-- -- TIMELINE -- --


Racing to Space
The Moon decision
To reach the moon
Apollo 11
Later Apollo missions
What we learned about the Moon
After the Apollo Program


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Created: 7/99