Charting NASA's Future: To The Moon And Beyond [podcast 7 min 47 sec]
Forty years after a small, spidery-looking spaceship carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the surface of the moon, NASA is working toward another moon shot. But this time around, the reasons to go to the moon are much more complex than in the days of the space race.
The Cold War loomed large on May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy spoke before a special joint session of Congress and declared, "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."
After all, the previous month, the Soviet Union had blasted Yuri Gagarin in orbit around the Earth. He was the first human in space. America sent Alan Shepard up a few weeks later, but his flight just went up and back, and didn't make an orbit.
Read entire article at NPR Morning Edition
The Cold War loomed large on May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy spoke before a special joint session of Congress and declared, "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."
After all, the previous month, the Soviet Union had blasted Yuri Gagarin in orbit around the Earth. He was the first human in space. America sent Alan Shepard up a few weeks later, but his flight just went up and back, and didn't make an orbit.