Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Message to the Apollo 7 Astronauts

October 11, 1968

Congratulations on the splendid beginning of this Apollo 7 flight. The Nation is proud of you and of the many in NASA, the Services, and the private companies which have combined to make such a successful manned space flight team.

Everything in the President's office came to a halt as Foreign Minister Debre of France and I watched with mounting excitement the magnificent launch of the Saturn 1B. You can well imagine the great pleasure which filled the room as word came of your successful insertion into orbit.

The path to the moon takes courage, ability, and devotion to our goals. You are making a major stride on this star-studded way.

Note: The President's message to the three astronauts, Capt. Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Maj. Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham, marked the beginning of an 11-day test flight of Apollo 7, the space ship designed to carry the first Americans to the moon. In his message the President referred to Foreign Minister Michel Debre of France, who watched the launch with him on television at the White House. The message was sent to Robert R. Gilruth, Director, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, for transmission to the astronauts.

For remarks of the President to the Apollo 7 astronauts following their return, see Item 552, and for remarks at a ceremony in their honor, see Item 574.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Message to the Apollo 7 Astronauts Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237221

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