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==Background== See also: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race Space Race]<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Apollo program was conceived early in 1960, during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower Eisenhower] administration, as a follow-up to America's Mercury program. While the Mercury capsule could only support one astronaut on a limited earth orbital mission, the Apollo spacecraft was to be able to carry three astronauts on a circumlunar flight and eventually to a lunar landing. The program was named after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo Greek god of light and music] by NASA manager [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Silverstein Abe Silverstein], who later said that "I was naming the spacecraft like I'd name my baby."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-3 [4]]</sup> Dr. Silverstein recalls he chose the name after perusing a book of mythology at home one evening, early in 1960. He thought that the image of "Apollo riding his chariot across the Sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-4 [5]]</sup> While NASA went ahead with planning for Apollo, funding for the program was far from certain given Eisenhower's ambivalent attitude to manned spaceflight.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-5 [6]]</sup></p> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Giving_Historic_Speech_to_Congress_-_GPN-2000-001658.jpg][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Giving_Historic_Speech_to_Congress_-_GPN-2000-001658.jpg] President Kennedy addresses Congress, 1961, proposing to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In November 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president after a campaign that promised American superiority over the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet Union] in the fields of space exploration and missile defense. Using space exploration as a symbol of national prestige, he warned of a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_gap missile gap]" between the two nations, pledging to make the U.S. not "first but, first and, first if, but first period."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-6 [7]]</sup>Despite Kennedy's rhetoric, he did not immediately come to a decision on the status of the Apollo program once he became president. He knew little about the technical details of the space program, and was put off by the massive financial commitment required by a manned Moon landing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-7 [8]]</sup> When Kennedy's newly-appointed NASA Administrator [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edwin_Webb James Webb] requested a 30 percent budget increase for his agency, Kennedy supported an acceleration of NASA's large booster program but deferred a decision on the broader issue.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-8 [9]]</sup></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin Yuri Gagarin] became the first person to fly in space, reinforcing American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union. At a meeting of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics one day after Gagarin's flight, many congressmen pledged their support for a crash program aimed at ensuring that America would catch up.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-9 [10]]</sup> Kennedy, however, was circumspect in his response to the news, refusing to make a commitment on America's response to the Soviets.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-10 [11]]</sup></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On April 20, Kennedy sent a memo to Vice President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson], asking Johnson to look into the status of America's space program, and into programs that could offer NASA the opportunity to catch up.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-11 [12]]</sup> Johnson responded approximately one week later, concluding that "we are neither making maximum effort nor achieving results necessary if this country is to reach a position of leadership."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lbjmemo_12-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-lbjmemo-12 [13]]</sup> His memo concluded that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future that it was likely the United States would achieve it first.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lbjmemo_12-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-lbjmemo-12 [13]]</sup></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program during a special address to a joint session of Congress:</p> 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 in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.— <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Special_Message_0-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-Special_Message-0 [1]]</sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:President_Kennedy_speech_on_the_space_effort_at_Rice_University,_September_12,_1962.ogg][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:President_Kennedy_speech_on_the_space_effort_at_Rice_University,_September_12,_1962.ogg] President Kennedy speaks at Rice University (17 min, 47 sec)<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">At the time of Kennedy's proposal, only one American had flown in space—less than a month earlier—and NASA had not yet sent an astronaut into orbit. Even some NASA employees doubted whether Kennedy's ambitious goal could be met.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Cox.2C_pp._16-17_1-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-Cox.2C_pp._16-17-1 [2]]</sup> Kennedy even came close to agreeing to a joint US-USSR moon mission, to eliminate duplication of effort.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-13 [14]]</sup></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Landing men on the Moon by the end of 1969 required the most sudden burst of technological creativity, and the largest commitment of resources ($24 billion), ever made by any nation in peacetime. At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program#cite_note-14 [15]]</sup></p> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_F._Kennedy_speaks_at_Rice_University.jpg][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_F._Kennedy_speaks_at_Rice_University.jpg] President Kennedy delivers a speech at Rice University on the American space program, September 12, 1962.<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">It also required the conversion of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Task_Group Space Task Group], which had been directing the nation's manned space program from NASA's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Research_Center Langley Research Center], into a new NASA center, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Spacecraft_Center Manned Spacecraft Center] (MSC), to be housed in a new facility built in Houston, Texas on land donated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_University Rice University]. In September 1962, by which time two [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury Project Mercury] astronauts had orbited the Earth, and construction of the MSC facility was under way, Kennedy visited Rice to reiterate his challenge in a famous speech:</p> 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? ... <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">''We choose to go to the Moon.'' 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; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills; because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win ...</p> Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because it is there." Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the Moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.
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