May 10, 2011 Vol. 4, Issue 3
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced the goal of sending a human to the moon by the end of the decade.
President John F. Kennedy giving his historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961. Photo Credit: NASA
President Kennedy’s speech, delivered to a rare joint session of Congress, ignited the race to the Moon between the United States and the Soviet Union. It also set NASA on a course to develop the programs and missions that would lead to the Apollo 11 landing eight years and two months later.
Kennedy employed strong language to explain why he called for a joint session of Congress just months after delivering his first State of the Union address: “While this has traditionally been interpreted as an annual affair, this tradition has been broken in extraordinary times. These are extraordinary times. And we face an extraordinary challenge.”
In a wide-ranging speech that addressed geopolitics, defense, and economics, Kennedy saved his dramatic announcement about the Moon mission until the end: “Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.”
After explaining the stakes and acknowledging the lead that the Soviets had in space, Kennedy spelled out the call to action:
“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.”
The conclusion of his remarks about space made clear that the Moon mission was a commitment on the part of all Americans, not just the President:
“I believe we should go to the moon. But I think every citizen of this country as well as the Members of the Congress should consider the matter carefully in making their judgment, to which we have given attention over many weeks and months, because it is a heavy burden, and there is no sense in agreeing or desiring that the United States take an affirmative position in outer space, unless we are prepared to do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. If we are not, we should decide today and this year.
This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, materiel and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful interagency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel.
New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further–unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space.”
Kennedy also called for investments in nuclear rockets, communications satellites, and weather satellites. The investments in communications and Earth observation satellites helped establish the nation’s foundational capability in these areas.
Read the entire speech.
