James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was the second administrator of NASA, serving from February 14, 1961 to October 7, 1968. Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
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Early career
Born in Tally Ho, Granville County, North Carolina, Webb was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an A. Granville County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ( UNC, North Carolina, or simply Carolina) is a public, Coeducational Research B. in education in 1928 and was a member of Acacia Fraternity. Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Acacia Fraternity is a social fraternity originally based out of Masonic tradition He became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a pilot on active duty from 1930-1932. Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer Military rank in many Armed forces. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. He also studied law at The George Washington University Law School from 1934-1936 and was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia in 1936. The George Washington University Law School, commonly referred to as GW Law, is the Law school of The George Washington University. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1938, he married Patsy Aiken Douglas and they had two children: Sarah Gorham, born on February 27, 1945, and James Edwin Jr. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar , born on March 5, 1947. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Webb enjoyed a long career in public service in Washington, D.C., first serving as secretary to North Carolina Congressman Edward W. Pou, from 1932 until 1934. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Edward William Pou (1863-1934 was an American politician serving in the United States Congress. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He then served as assistant in the office of O. Max Gardner, attorney and former governor of North Carolina, between 1934 and 1936. Oliver Max Gardner ( 22 March 1882 6 February 1947) was the Democratic governor of the U In 1936, Webb became personnel director, secretary-treasurer, and later vice president of the Sperry Gyroscope Company in Brooklyn, New York, before re-entering the U. Sperry Corporation (1910-1986 was a major American equipment and Electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. S. Marine Corps in 1944 during World War II. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
After World War II, Webb returned to Washington and served as executive assistant to O. Max Gardner, by then Under Secretary of the Treasury, before being named as director of the Bureau of the Budget in the Executive Office of the President, a position he held until 1949. Oliver Max Gardner ( 22 March 1882 6 February 1947) was the Democratic governor of the U The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the Treasury of the United States government. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB is a Cabinet -level office and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP The Executive Office of the President ( EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. President Harry S. Truman then asked Mr. Webb to serve as Under Secretary of State in the U.S. Department of State. When the Truman administration ended early in 1953, Webb left Washington, D. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. C. for a position in the Kerr-McGee Oil Corp. The Kerr-McGee Corporation was an energy company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas resources in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma but was still active in policy circles, for instance serving on the Draper Committee in 1958. Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the US state of Oklahoma. The Presidents Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program (" Draper Committee " was a bipartisan committee created in November 1958 Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Administrator of NASA
Webb returned to Washington in 1961 when he accepted the position of administrator of NASA. Under his direction, the agency undertook to achieve the goal set by President Kennedy of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade through the execution of Apollo program. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of For seven years after President Kennedy's May 25, 1961 lunar landing announcement through October 1968, Webb fought for support for NASA in Washington. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As a longtime Washington insider, he was ultimately able to acquire continued support for and resources to accomplish the Apollo Moon landing on the schedule President Kennedy had announced.
During his administration, NASA developed from a loose collection of research centers into a coordinated organization. Webb had a key role in creating the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) (later, the Johnson Space Center, JSC) in Houston. Despite the pressures to focus on the Apollo program, Webb ensured that NASA carried out a meaningful program of planetary exploration with the Mariner and Pioneer programs.
Webb was in the leadership of NASA during the Apollo 1 accident in 1967. Webb told the media at the time, "We've always known that something like this was going to happen sooner or later. . . . Who would have thought that the first tragedy would be on the ground?" Webb went to President Lyndon Johnson and asked that NASA be allowed to handle the accident investigation and direct the recovery from the accident. He promised to be truthful in assessing blame and pledged to assign it to himself and NASA management as appropriate. The agency set out to discover the details of the tragedy, to correct problems, and to get back on schedule.
Webb reported his investigation's findings to various Congressional committees and took a personal grilling at nearly every meeting. Whether by happenstance or design, Webb managed to deflect much of the backlash over the accident from both NASA as an agency and from the Johnson administration. As a result, NASA's image and popular support were largely undamaged.
Webb was informed by CIA sources in 1968 that the USSR was developing its own heavy N-1 launcher for a manned lunar mission and instructed MSFC to prepare Apollo 8. N1 or N-1 was the secret Soviet Rocket intended to send Soviet Cosmonauts to the Moon. At the time Webb's assertions over the Soviet Union's abilities were doubted and the N-1 was dubbed 'Webb's Giant', but later revelations over the Soviet Moonshot have given support to Webb's foresight. This article deals only with preparations for manned flight to the Moon by the USSR. Webb left NASA in October 1968, just as Apollo was nearing a successful completion.
Later life
After retiring from NASA, Webb remained in Washington, D. C. , serving on several advisory boards, including as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of In 1981, he was awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy at West Point for his dedication to the country. The Sylvanus Thayer Award is an award that is given each year by the United States Military Academy at West Point "USMA" redirects here For other uses see USMA (disambiguation The United States Military Academy (also known as USMA, He died in March 1992 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War
In the 1998 miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon, Webb was played by Dan Lauria. From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO Television Miniseries (1998 co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Daniel Joseph "Dan" Lauria (born April 12, 1947) is an American television and film Actor.
NASA's planned James Webb Space Telescope was renamed in Webb's honor in 2002. The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST) is a planned space Infrared observatory the successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope is referred to as "the Hubble successor". The Hubble Space Telescope ( HST; also known colloquially as "the Hubble" or just "Hubble" is a space telescope that was carried into
See also
References
- Portions of this article are based on public domain text from NASA. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, James Edwin Webb
Bibliography
- W. Henry Lambright, Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA; Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995; ISBN 0-8018-6205-1
- Piers Bizony, The man who ran the moon: James E Webb, NASA, and the secret history of project Apollo; New York: Thunder's mouth press, 2006; ISBN 1-56025-751-2
| Preceded by Harold E. Smith |
Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget 1946–1949 |
Succeeded by Frank Pace |
| Preceded by Robert A. Lovett |
Under Secretary of State 1949–1952 |
Succeeded by David K. E. Bruce |
| Preceded by T. Keith Glennan |
Administrator of NASA 1961–1968 |
Succeeded by Thomas O. Paine |
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