Origin of the Apollo Program
Every American has come to associate the Apollo programs and its missions with the moon. They have heard of the adventures and missions of various Apollo missions, from Apollo 11, the first moon landing, to the horrific yet successful outcome of Apollo 13. Yet, beyond the actual landing of these missions, little is known about the origins and the accomplishments these missions have done for the nation. The program begins during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, where the Apollo Program was established with its focus on the three-man spacecraft that would follow the one-man Project Mercury which put the first Americans in space. The program would be later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy as exemplified in his speech, May 25th 1961, where the ultimate goal of the Space Race was redefined, and support for the Apollo Program and the moon would be made known:
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. (Kennedy)
When Kennedy uttered those very words, the Space Race was already in session between the two Cold War rivals, the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR). This aspiration to reach the moon in Kennedy eyes was not a means for astronomical advancement, rather solely motivated by the cold war competition to hold the greatest scientific and technological power and military superiority. The United States after having been outdone by the Soviet Union who had successfully launched...
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...Executive Order merged the LOD and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. With the Apollo Program moving in the direction of a lunar landing, it was necessary to further expand the program and increase the organization with new test facilities and research laboratories that would better the pace of technology development. Thus the Mission Control Center (MCS) was established in Houston, Texas, where it would be the primary flight control center for all U.S manned space missions. In 1973, the MSC was renamed in honor of Lyndon Johnson, as Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The Center would house NASA's astronaut operations, and would also be the site of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, where astronauts returning from the moon would be quarantined. Along with the housing of astronauts, the majority of lunar samples retrieved from lunar missions would be stored in the facility.
Kennedy’s “We Choose to go to the Moon” portrays several different types of rhetorical devices. Throughout Kennedy’s speech he uses the rhetorical devices: Parallelism, Anaphora, and Metonymy. This speech was designed to acquire the support of his audience in this mission that seemed miraculous. In that time period, nobody would have thought about a mission dealing with flying a man out into space, better yet a man standing on the moon. With such minimal technology compared to today’s space program, it was indeed a challenge. The speech indicates that this nation keeps progressing over the years, so this quest should not seem bizarre. The purpose of this operation was to acquire new information and obtain greater knowledge of space science. It was to inform the people of what is to come about out of this
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.
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
John F. Kennedy - Presidential Library and Museum. Space Program. 2014. 16 April 2014 .
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.
The space race, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Peace Corps all help contribute to President Kennedy’s success as an influential person in history. Apollo 11, part of the space race, was set in place by President Kennedy in 1961 to perform a moon landing and to return safely to Ear...
Samuel Crompton says,”Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition.”(Crompton 56). The real reason that the United States joined the Space Race was to compete with the soviet union. JFK makes this very clear. The Soviets were ahead of us and this was unacceptable, being behind technologically was detrimental to morale.The Cold War wasn’t really a war at all. It was just an arms race, the space race was just an extension of the arms race. It was never really intended to have any scientific, technological, or strategic benefits. Dwight D. Eisenhower may have planned for the space program to focus on science, but when kennedy took the office he used NASA as a piece of propaganda. He never had any intention of using the space program for research. When Kennedy was first deciding whether or not to create a space program he sent a memo to his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson asking him to research a few things. None of JFK’s questions had anything to do with science or technology. They were all about the Soviet Union 's space program. The first questions was, “Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket land on the moon, or by a rocket go to the moon and back with a man.”(Kennedy). JFK’s sole interest was beating the Soviets. He didn’t care about any other benefits. Everything else came second to beating the
The 1960’s, a time of both peace and war at the same time. With the U.S. government constantly trying to flaunt their tech off to the Soviets and the Soviets boasting about their astounding success with Sputnik there was one crowning challenge that would irrevocably determine which country was truly superior. In 1969, a speech entitled “We Choose to Go to The Moon” was orated by John F. Kennedy in Houston Texas. This prodigious speech expertly inserts numerous amounts of Foreshadowing to help the audience understand his vision of what America could be as well as his uniformly crucial use of Anaphora to help highlight previous milestones. He also conveys what he says with an adept understanding of body language showing in the form of constant
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. Apollo 11 was part of a larger project known as the Apollo Program, comprised of a large number of unmanned test missions and 11 manned missions. The Apollo Program was intended to land humans on the moon and safely return them back to Earth. Of the 15 missions executed, six resulted in success to date. The concept of space expedition was initially sparked by the Russian launch of satellite Sputnik during the Cold War. The launch induced the creation of NASA’s first human spaceflight program called Project Mercury. A portion of the United States saw the launch as beneficial, as it established the need for the country’s advance, whereas others were concerned about what the Soviet Union will make out of this achievement. The first successful manned space expedition executed was Apollo 7, which had a tremendous influence in the outcome of the subsequent missions. Various other missions were performed before the launch of Apollo 11, some of which were unsuccessful such as Apollo 1, whereas others, like Apollo 7, had prospered in assisting in the success of Apollo 11. During the momentous mission, the participants, Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin, fulfilled their roles effectively. With the actions of those that participated in the mission, the United States was able to leave a physical mark on the uncharted territory thought to have been far beyond human reach.
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
"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?
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.
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
~"NASA Moon Landing." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
“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.