Margaret Chase Smith Library

Margaret Chase Smith: The Space-Age Senator In 2001 and 2002, the Margaret Chase Smith Library hosted a special exhibit commemorating Senator Smith's contributions to the American space program.
Astronauts Virgil Grissom, John Glenn, and Alan Shepard with Senator Smith. February 1962 Sen. Smith and NASA head James Webb with Mariner 2 model. December 14, 1962	For nearly fifteen years Margaret Chase Smith served on the United States Senate Committee on Aeronautics and Space Sciences, where she played a pivotal role in the history of space exploration. From the early years when Alan Shepard became our first astronaut in space and John Glenn the first American to orbit the earth, through the culmination of President Kennedy's dream with Neil Armstrong's first steps at Tranquility Base, Senator Margaret Chase Smith was a leader for America in space. Her constant support for NASA funding and her belief that space exploration would benefit the United States in the development of technology, education, and national defense, led longtime NASA Administrator James Webb to state, "If it were not for a woman, Margaret Chase Smith, we would never have placed a man on the moon."
Senator Smith with E. Alphonzo Bell, Jr. (R-CA) in her Washington D.C. office. May 15, 1962	Senator Smith's interest in the space program was borne out of Cold War concerns about the Soviet Union, following its successful launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957. The race for space was not only a matter of national security, but also a source of national pride and competition for international prestige. In response to Sputnik, the United States Senate formed the Special Committee on Space and Astronautics early in 1958. In August, Vice President Richard Nixon named fifteen members, eight Democrats and seven Republicans, one of whom was Margaret Chase Smith, to the renamed Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. In the same year, Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was charged with establishing and directing the American space program, the main goal of which became beating the Soviets to the moon.
The plane in which pilot Walter Cleveland flew reporter Margaret Chase. July 1925.	Early in her life, Margaret Chase Smith gained an appreciation for flight. In 1925 as a journalist for her hometown newspaper, the Independent Reporter, she took her first ride in a biplane, after which she conveyed to her readers the excitement of the experience.
Senator Smith's 1957 flight suit.	In 1957 she became a member of the "Mach Busters Club" when she broke the sound barrier in an F-100F Super Sabre. Years later she thrilled school children with details of the flight. Breaking the soundbarrier in 1957.
Senator Margaret Chase Smith examines the Telstar Communication Satellite Prototype in Washington, DC on July 17, 1962. Senator Smith Points to a photograph of the Telstar Earth Station in Andover, Maine. August 1, 1962	On July 10, 1962, Senator Smith witnessed what she described as one "of the emotional highlights of my life" - the launch of the Telstar I, the first communication satellite capable of transmitting telephone, television, telephoto, and facsimile data. Project Telstar was a joint public-private venture with NASA providing the rocket and launch site and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) supplying the satellite. The project was very dear to Senator Smith for two reasons - first, because one of the relay stations was located in Andover, Maine, and second, because she had once worked as a telephone operator during the days of hand-operated switchboards.
Maine Industrialists visit the Saturn S-IV Test tower at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, California on August 14, 1962.	To encourage economic development in her home state, Senator Smith invited six business and political leaders from Maine to participate in a nationwide trip that visited six NASA facilitities and eight aerospace companies in search of potential contracts during mid-August of 1962.
Major Robert Rushworth receives astronaut wings at the Pentagon on July 25, 1963. From Left: Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME), Rep. Clifford McIntire, Senator Smith, Major Robert Rushworth, Mrs. Joyce Rushworth, and General Curtis LeMay.	A native of nearby Madison, Major Rushworth was the first Mainer to reach outer space. His June 1963 flight in an experimental X-15 jet to an altitude above 50 miles earned him the designation "fixed-wing" astronaut.
	In April 1967 the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Fairfield, Maine, offered to supply specimens for NASA's Potato Biorhythm Experiment. The purpose of the project was to determine the effect of space environment on the metabolic activity and oxygen consumption of Maine's most famous agricultural export.
The first comprehensive desk-size globe of the moon. Prepared from selected photographs acquired in the five NASA Lunar Orbiter Missions. Presented to The Honorable Margaret Chase Smith United States Senate by Administrator Thomas O. Paine in July 1969.	Although Margaret Chase Smith left Congress eight years before the launch of the Shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, her support was critical to the program's development. As a charter member of the Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, Senator Smith began considering plans for a reusable space vehicle as early as 1965. In 1970 she was one of the key Senators who fought to save the shuttle program from deep congressional budget cuts. Almost a decade later, she saw the project achieve success with the launch of the Shuttle Columbia. Even in the face of disappointment and disaster with Apollo 1 in 1967 and Challenger in 1986, Senator Smith strongly believed in the value and continuance of the space program. Shuttle Orbiter Model. 1/15th-scale version of the Shuttle Columbia on loan from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. On display at the library March-May 2002.
"Importance of Aviation and Space in Our World Today" "Our space science and exploration efforts, which are still in their infant stage when compared with the age of aviation, nevertheless also have produced many notable achievements. The United States space efforts have resulted in the development of effective meteorological weather forecasting and global communication satellite systems; brought about an acceleration of industrial technology in other fields through the development of new exotic metals and other materials; and demonstrated that complex computer systems can be used to solve a variety of social and economic problems. Moreover, from a military standpoint, our space efforts to date have shown that a strong national program to explore and use outer space may well be essential to our security and to our position of world leadership. In my mind, however, the most significant achievement directly attributed to space exploration is that it has, in so short a time, challenged and stimulated our youth at all educational levels in the quest for scientific knowledge." --Margaret Chase Smith "Importance of Aviation & Space in Our World Today" Written for Above and Beyond: Encyclopedia of Aviation and Space Sciences Published in 1967
"Tenth Anniversary of the Moon Landing" Observance at the Library of Congress July 19, 1979 The Library maintains a rotating display of memorabilia and photographs relating to Senator Smith's long involvement in America's space race in its permanent timeline exhibit.
Museum
Library & Museum Hours: Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please call (207) 474-7133 for more information concerning resources available at the Margaret Chase Smith Library. Copyright ©1999 Margaret Chase Smith Library. This page last modified: January 2006 URL: http://www.mcslibrary.org