jim beggs brief the president. the top to the space station being the next logical step beyond the shuttle for the manned space program. he also emphasized the rapid development of the soyuz space station. if you wanted to give president reagan's attention you talked about the soviet threat and there was a soviet threat to our leadership in the manned space program in the form of that space station. following that study, the president developed or signed a study directive which asked the senior interagency group for space to conduct a study of the permanently manned space station. nasa conducted a dedicated study on the space station headed i a gentleman named john hodge and i was given the responsibility for taking that study, comparing it with other options and presenting that to the president. which i did. early -- late in 1983, i briefed that to the president and almost, almost all those in the cabinet meeting that day agree that the space station was the logical next step for our country. the presidents approv