Space Speech and Other Space Stuff
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On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave what is arguably the most famous speech about space exploration ever given.
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I well remember this sentence, spoken to Congress more than a year before (in May, 1961):
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“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.”
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But in the 1962 speech at Rice University in Texas, JFK explained why a moon landing should be our goal. Here is part of that speech:
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There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
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nAnd the U. S. succeeded with, not just one, but six moon landings.
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More Space Stuff
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On this day in 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, which was deliberately impacted onto the moon’s surface with some experimental equipment and some stainless steel pennants.
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On this day in 1966, U. S. launched Gemini 11, which made 44 orbits of Earth and which also gave astronauts practice with docking and separating.
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On this day in 1992, U. S. launched the Endeavor space shuttle. The crew included the first female African American astronaut, Dr. Mae C. Jemison.
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