The Audacity of Kennedy's Mission to the Moon
Subject
Kennedy's Speech to Congress Requesting Funds for the Space Program
First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the…
Emphasis
Object
Carl Sagan on the Audacity of John F. Kennedy's Moon Mission Proposal
Once upon a time, we soared into the solar system, for a few years. Then we hurried back. why? What happened? What was Apollo really about? The scope and audacity of John Kennedy's May 25th 1961 message to a joint session of Congress on "Urgent National Needs" -- the speech that launched the Apollo program--dazzled me. We would use rockets not yet designed and alloys not yet conceived, navigation and docking shemes…
Why they relate
Looking at what Kennedy was asking for from the perspective of today's politics, it's amazing how different things were then and today.