The year before the moon landing, 1968, was one of the most violent and bitter years for American citizens. From the war in Vietnam to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Americans had begun to lose faith in their divided nation. With the activist riots in Chicago over preventing the election of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Vice-President, Hubert Humphrey, America was filled social unrest until the next year. In 1969, the uplifting broadcast of Neil Armstrong landing safely on the moon had given confirmation that America could still rise from the distress and achieve greatness. The significance of the moon landing became a symbol for the American people of all their nation’s accomplishments.
Neil Armstrong looked at it not only as a great triumph for America, but also for the human race when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on his first step on the moon (Dunbar). On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about what he called "urgent national needs" at a stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas (“NASA Moon Landing”). In that speech, he challenged America to "commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the decade"(Schlager and Lauer). This became known as Kennedy's challenge and the idea was to outperform the Soviets. While the Soviets were off to a better start with the launch of Sputnik I, we soon rose to the challenge and accomplished our goal only eight years later on June 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely landed on the moon. With the great accomplishments of Apollo 11, America had bettered the Soviets and established superiority in space.
"If we can send a man to the moon, why can't we cure cancer, cl...
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...years behind then we are in technology today. The moon landing is one of the most significant events in American history because of the superiority and triumph it had given the United States.
[Conclusion]
Bibliography
~"The 1969 Moon Landing: First Humans to Walk on Another World." Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History in Context. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
~Dunbar, Brian. "July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind." NASA. NASA, 19 July 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
~Nave, Carl R. "Apollo Moon Exploration." Apollo Moon Exploration. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
~"NASA Moon Landing." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
~Randal. "Space Rovers." Space Rovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
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.
As a result of the successful mission that landed the first men on the moon, called the Apollo 11 mission, many people were inspired to provide commentary on this landing. Although these texts describe unique individual purposes about this landing, they all effectively support their purposes through the use of several rhetorical devices.
On September 12, 1962, John F Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University relating to the Space Race with Russia. This speech took place prior to the moon landing video release. I picked this artifact to be the backbone of this rhetorical analysis because it is credible, relates to my groups subject throughout the CIS course, and provides a visual and written representation of a different perspective on the moon landing other than my groups’ opinion.
The following four texts apart of the Culminating Activity were all related to the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which had first put a man on the moon. The first article was from the Times of London, and served to describe the events of the moon landing from the astronaut's point of view. The article used anecdotal evidence to describe Aldrin and Armstrong's experience in order to inform the audience of what had occurred, as well as the reactions in several different countries.. The speaker is a from a reputable news source, The Times, and is informing the European audience - as this event was apart of America’s space program, NASA - of the landing as a great success. Although
John F. Kennedy once said, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space...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”. The main motive for this quote was to ensure that the United States wanted to beat out the Soviets in the space race. Ever since the Soviets tried to advance on the moon, the United States wanted to be the first successful nation to accomplish the first ever moon landing. At the time, the tension between the United States and the Soviets was very strong because the Cold War just ended and neither nation wanted to lose to each other in the space race. Just as the United States planned their mission to the moon, the Soviets were the very first nation to ever settle on space. The U.S. as well as President Kennedy were shocked to see the Soviets be the first nation to fly in space. The United States had to come up with a plan in order to beat out the soviets, by becoming the very first nation to ever land on the moon. Overall, it is clear that the United States hoaxed the moon landing in order to beat out the Soviet Union in the space race through observations, evidence from a Hollywood studio, and allowing NASA to pull off the Apollo mission.
"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."- John F. Kennedy. On a warm July night in 1969, this dream came true. Millions of people sat captivated in front of their TVs witnessing one of the most monumental events in history, Neil Armstrong walking gracefully on the moon. This event in US history changed the way we look at space forever. Political issues such as the Vietnam War and foreign affairs were on the forefront of American's minds. Thousands of people came peacefully together in a historical concert event called Woodstock. Children were introduced to a place called "Sesame Street" and Heavy Metal meant more than just an old car. The year 1969 impacted American's lives today in politics, science, sports, art, entertainment and daily living.
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.
America went to the moon in the 1960’s, during a time of war, a time that was so far behind in technology compared to now, but yet human beings went to the moon . Human beings are capable of many wonderful things and their potential has no limits, except for the limits that are placed by government and society. Neil deGrasse Tyson attempted to liberate NASA from the limits of low funding by giving a speech to the U.S Senate. Tyson used emotion and logical thinking to make the complexity of NASA as relatable to the audience as possible, and by doing so he wanted to convey to them how important NASA is in our society today and the future of the human kind.
In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and brought them home safely1. It was President Kennedy's passionate beliefs that come through not only in his style of writing but in his delivery of the speech that drive home his point and get Congress, Industry and the American people to take up his call to arms.
[REVISE] The success of Apollo 11 which included the historic presence of the first humans on the moon signified the greatest extent of human intellectual advancement. Various circumstances were undertaken throughout the effort in success that established the United States’ superiority in terms of scientific and military progress.
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
Early on in the race, the USSR was very successful. In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, which triggered the start of the space race (John F. Kennedy). The United States began to scramble, trying to catch up with the Soviets. However, soon after, the Soviet Union completed another huge success. They sent the first man to orbit Earth (John F. Kennedy). In 1961 the USSR’s Yuri Gagarin became the first human to ever orbit the Earth (John F. Kennedy). The United States was still unsuccessful and beginning to look weak. After that, America got serious. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy asked Congress for around eight billion dollars to build up the space program over the next five years (John F. Kennedy). The president declared, “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth” (John F. Kennedy).
President Kennedy has shown the commitment, justified the struggles, and now developed the need in every listener’s mind why America needs to be the first country to land a person on the moon. Looking back, he obviously succeeded. His speech was the major turning point in making the move happen, and rhetorical questions, allusions, and repetition all played an important role in making the speech so persuasive and inspiring.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was July 20 1969, the day that reshaped our nation and gave us unparalleled dreams for the future. The impact of the day goes far beyond our pride and nationalism; that day would change space exploration and technology forever. Just like a shooting star, that day would give us a glimpse of hope. A chance to see an event so breathtaking and defying, it would be man’s greatest accomplishment in the 20th century. As millions of people watched from their TV sets, a rush of euphoria came over the nation as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was the first time in the history of mankind that we would step on the surface of another celestial body. John F. Kennedy dared us to dream, he inspired the nation to reach for the moon, to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. The Space Race was symbolic of many things. Our future as the technically dominate nation was secured in place; just as secure as Old Glory would be, when she was driven down into the soil of the moon. We not only reached the moon, we conquered it as a nation; united.