Apollo 11 was the mission that landed the first man on the moon. On July 21st, 1969 the whole world stopped to watch as Neil Armstrong took his first steps, making man’s first footprints on the surface of the Moon. Meanwhile, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were growing and the heat of the arms race was smoldering. Upon the conclusion of the mission, Apollo 11’s crew of three was successfully recovered along with the photographs taken on the lunar surface; many of which are quite iconic to this day. However, one in particular stood out with respects to American achievement. It displayed an astronaut on the moon saluting the stars and stripes of the American flag in front of the Eagle Lunar module. One could argue that this photo was taken to represent the extent of America’s interest in scientific exploration. But before we should jump to any conclusions, we must first take a closer look into why we chose to send Americans to the Moon in the first place. Does the photograph of the saluting astronaut truly represent America’s interests in science and exploration? Or does it in fact reveal the hidden agenda of the United States to keep a leg up in the Cold War? The space race had begun after the Soviets had successfully launched the first artificial satellite that could orbit the earth. The announcement of Sputnik’s success was a shock to the United States, which began what was known as the “Sputnik crisis”. This was conceived as a major threat. If the soviets could design a rocket that could reach space, what could stop them from using that same rocket to deliver a warhead anywhere in the world? Within less than a year later, Congressed passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) which was a program tha... ... middle of paper ... ...over all nations in the race for space. We chose to go to the moon for many reasons –for science, technological advancement, even for the exploration of new worlds –yet why have we not continued to do so? Today in the year 2014, government funding for NASA has been cut exponentially since the days of Apollo. The United States no longer has the need for the continuation of manned space travel. The Cold War is long over along with the Soviet Union, which defeats the need to continue to exceed Russia with our technology. The purpose behind why the United States chose to go to the moon was not for the pure sake of science, but for the interests of the Cold War. Work Cited Kennedy, John F. "The Moon Speech." Rice University. Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas. 12 Sept. 1962. Speech. Shekhar Deshpande,”The Confident Gaze.” From little India, 1997. Reprinted with permission
In the 1960s the Cold War was at its peak, with both the USSR and America trying to spread their ideologies onto the rest of the world. The world was still uneasy due to the Korean War. In the public’s eyes, nuclear Armageddon was only a press of a button away. The Space Race was a welcome peaceful distraction for the world. The USSR and the United States were constantly trying to best each other in celestial exploration. In 1962, American President, John F Kennedy announced to America that by the end of the decade America would land a man on the moon. Kennedy carefully chose the audience and language of his speech to convince the public to support the Apollo Moon Program.
In September 1961, president John. F. Kennedy delivers one of his best inspirational speeches titled “We choose to go to the Moon”. This notorious speech was addressed at Rice University in Houston Texas to a very fortunate crowd of students. The significance of his timing is both vital and genius for at the time being the cold war between the United States of America and Russia had been in mid-hype, Russia leading in the space race. This brought doubt to the Americas power and authority thus giving his speech more influential drive. Kennedys fear of the Soviet Union landing on the moon first is because he did not want to see the accomplishment “governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of
Kennedy had realized that the only way to overtake the Soviets after falling so far behind, would be by putting the first man on the moon. The US morale had taken a serious blow following Sputnik and the first cosmonaut in space, Yuri Gagarin. On September 12th, 1962, Kennedy delivered his famous speech, saying “We choose to go to the moon.” Kennedy knew that it was essential to gather support behind a manned mission to the moon from the American public. Although many argued that it would be easier, and more efficient to send an unmanned mission to the moon, it was more about the morale boost and the message a man on the moon would send to the
On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong planted the first human footprints in the lunar soil. The United States had accomplished their goal in sending men to the moon. They managed to not only send them 238,857 mi. (384,403 km) into space to our neighbor celestial body, but also send them back with a successful flight to our mother earth. This seems like a difficult task for a country that was behind Russia in space exploration at the time.
The Space Race is remarkably similar to that of the arms race because of the parallel between the creation of the atomic bomb and the goal of reaching the moon. The United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki effectively established its place as the technologically superior nation; however, major milestones in space achieved early by the Soviets damaged America’s reputation. In 1957, Soviet scientists shocked the world by successfully launching the Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, beyond the Kármán Line (the boundary of space). This amazing breakthrough “rattled American self-confidence. It cast doubts on America’s vaunted scientific superiority and raised some sobering military questions.” This blow to national pride along with the fear that the Soviets could potentially launch ICBMs from space led to “Rocket fever”. The sudden wave of nationalism and the desire to build a space program worthier to that of the Soviet Union led to the...
After World War II ended, a silent war slowly began between the USSR and USA. It was a technology war. The two superpowers raced to the moon, but they couldn’t do this themselves. Both sides tried to recruit the German scientists that were behind the V-2 rockets. Using the V-2 rocket technology that could reach the speed of nearly 3500mph, both sides rushed to find the brilliant scientists behind the rockets technology. The race to space was very important during this time because of the Cold War era and they used satellites to spy on one another. Both countries were strong military wise and it was an equal match but to prove who’s the strongest the race to space began.
On September 12, 1962 John Franklin Kennedy charged the nation to achieve what no other civilization had done before; he charged the United States to place a man on the moon. Kennedy delivered his man on the moon speech in a time of great peril for the United States. It appeared that the Soviet Union was rising faster than the United States was posed to take our place as the world’s super power. His moving speech in Rice Stadium inspired the nation and other nations, to take the challenge and travel to the moon. Kennnedy use of allusions, repetition, and rhetorical questions motivate and embolden his audience, and make a difference that would last forever.
Little did anyone know or expect this would be the most rewarding mission since 1961. Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins left from the Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida on July 16,1969. Michael Collins was the command module pilot, Neil Armstrong was the mission commander, and Buzz Aldrin was the lunar module pilot. The Apollo 11 crew traveled 240,000 miles in just 72 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19,1696. Collins detached for the lunar module The mission was already ahead of schedule with Americans waiting to see what was going to happen next for their country. At 10:39 p.m., Armstrong, being televised, opened the hatch of the lunar module, and three minutes later Armstrong made history by putting his left foot of the moon’s powdery surface. When Armstrong stepped down from the last step from the spacecraft, all of America jumped for excitement and joy. Aldrin soon joined Armstrong 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs, then planted the United States flag. President Nixon was so very blessed and honored that he was able to witness America make history on July 24, 1969 along with all of the other Americans. Returning back to Earth
The Cuban Missile Crisis Speech by John F. Kennedy, broadcasted on 22 October, 1962: available on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnY6b-qy_8
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard" (Kennedy). When John F. Kennedy said these famous words, he set the stage for one of the greatest accomplishments the United States of America has ever made. Over the course of that decade, the space race would be in full swing; a universal goal would unite the nation to achieve the dream of sending a man to the moon and safely back to earth. Through human determination, the United States made enough scientific breakthroughs to alter events back on planet earth. In one decade, this nation was able to prove that the sky is no longer the limit. How was the United States able to effectively accomplish such a colossal task, and what was the global significance at the time?
When no other country had accomplished space travel to the moon, the United States set the president by sending Apollo 11 on a space exploration. The United States was a front-runner in the race to land a man on the moon. Apollo 11 was launched into space in 1969 and was quite different from the Apollo 10. The successful lunar landing of Apollo 11 made the United States a respected and competitive player in space technology.
Before President Kennedy’s 1961 speech funding for the Apollo program was less than 1 percent of NASA’s total budget. In the years following his speech Apollo’s share of the budget grew to 70 percent. Without that income it would not have been possible for NASA scientists and engineers, contractors and the entire country to put in the hours and energy to make this dream a reality.
These early space missions excited most of the people in developed countries, but there were some problems. The Soviet Union had made it into space, and now President John F. Kennedy wanted to land on the moon first. President John F. Kennedy said, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving
The Cold War began soon after World War II in 1947. During this period, tensions were high against the United States and the Soviet Union. Especially during President Kennedy’s administration due to something called the “Space Race.” On October 4, 1957 Russia sent out the first ever satellite into space called Sputnik. The U.S. sent out their satellite, Explorer I, the following year. However, the Soviets sent the first man to space in 1961 the year John F. Kennedy got elected. He assured that the United States would get a man on the moon by the end of the century. As he predicted, it happened on July 20, 1969, therefore it made America win the Space Race.
...erful for social objectives. Technology, especially in aerospace engineering and electronic communication, advanced greatly during this period. Today over a thousand artificial satellites orbit earth, relaying communications data around the planet and facilitating remote sensing of data. The moon landing stood for a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown. To win the Space Race we had to be the first to land a man on the moon and for that moment in the tumultuous 60’s, our country came together in celebration and pride. The citizens of the U.S made the journey possible; through their contributions to the space effort, or even if they just supported the effort they were helping the cause. John F. Kennedy requested, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” We responded, we prevailed, we triumphed.