Yet, it was Carter who ultimately saved NASA’s space shuttle program — giving the country perhaps its most iconic space vehicle. Years before Carter took office, NASA was eyeing its next big endeavor. “But to build a space station, you need a new vehicle that can carry all the equipment into low-Earth orbit,” Neal said. Enter the space shuttle. By the time Carter took office in January 1977, however, political appetites for the shuttle program were on thin ice.

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Persons: Jimmy Carter, Carter, “, ” Carter, John F, Kennedy, Lyndon B, Johnson, ”, Valerie Neal, Neal, ” Neal, didn’t Organizations: NASA, Kennedy Space Center, AP, National Air and Space Museum