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This is a NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project transcript of astronaut James A. McDivitt, interviewed by Doug Ward at Elk Lake, Michigan, on 29 June 1999. McDivitt talks about flying F-86s in Korea, test pilot work at Edwards, and his first class at the Aerospace Research Pilot School. He also covers turning down Dyna-soar, joining NASA in 1962 and learning to be an Apollo Program Manager. He describes the Change Board and says decisions were not second-guessed.
“Kennedy Space Center”1 page
Johnson Space Center Oral History Project James A. McDivitt 29 June 1999 12-77 other meetings. I said, “Well, you can sit in there under one set of rules; and that is, you don’t ask any questions. You don’t make a peep! You sit there. This is a meeting of the workers; and if you’re going to start talking, you’re going to interrupt it.” So, he said, “That sounds fair enough.” And so, I’d go over there and I’d sit and listen. And we got in there one day and one of the Air Force Generals started asking a question, and then another NASA Center Director started asking questions. I got up and I went over and got this guy from Lewis. We went outside, and I said, “Get your damn team out of there! I told you what the rules were. You’re interrupting it.” “You can’t tell me what to do.” I said, “Like hell I can’t! Now you get them out of there!” So, anyway, he went and got his team out. And I said, “You’re welcome to come to my management team meeting and ask all the questions you want.” But in crucial times like that, you can’t have a bunch of interlopers interrupting what the hell’s really going on. So, anyway, that was this—we had a different management style. George [Low] was not quite so bad! WARD: More diplomatic. MCDIVITT: He was more diplomatic, I guess. Well, we had a lot to do and we needed to get it done. WARD: Getting back to the Apollo science program: At least my own perception is that Apollo didn’t begin as a scientific program the way [President John F.] Kennedy outlined it, sold it to the public, to the Congress. It was not perceived as a science program. And yet after Apollo 11, that really became the strong thrust of it.
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