[xv] The research on which this book is based could not have been carried out without the assistance of hundreds of persons within NASA and elsewhere. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help so cheerfully given by the staff of the NASA History Office and the NASA Technical Library. I would also like to acknowledge the cooperation of the Federal Records Center in Suitland, Maryland, where most of the retired records of NASA Headquarters are stored; the library of the U.S. Department of Transportation; and the Milton Eisenhower Library of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, for permission to examine the Hugh Dryden papers.
I am also indebted to those persons whose close readings helped shape this work and improve its content and organization. At the NASA History Office, Dr. Monte Wright, Frank Anderson, Jr., Carrie Karegeannes, Alex Roland, and Lee Saegesser reviewed the manuscript at various stages of its gestation. Other persons who read the complete draft of the manuscript include Richard Hallion of the National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Homer Newell, Dr. Robert Seamans, Willis Shapley, and James Webb. Although I cannot list them individually, I would like to thank the dozens of NASA officials whose explanations clarified many details of the space program. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Stefanie, whose good humor and patience made a somewhat Sisyphean task more bearable. I must add what no one is likely to dispute: Any errors of fact or Judgment in this book are my responsibility.
Arnold Levine