The DREAM
The most egregious goal ever set is that of President John F.
Kennedy:
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.
When Kennedy made this statement in May 1961, the United
States had very little to go on. We had no micro electronics, no
portable computers, no deep-space communications network, no
giant rockets, no lunar navigation system, and practically no manned
space fl ight experience. America had yet to put a man in orbit
around Earth, let alone go to the moon.
Alan Shepard had fl own a suborbital hop that lasted a grand
total (from launch to splashdown) of 15 minutes. He spent only
15 seconds in space, near the apex of his 115-mile-high arc. Two
months later, Gus Grissom fl ew a nearly identical suborbital fl ight
with one signifi cant difference. Upon splashdown, his capsule sank
to the bottom of the ocean, and Gus nearly drowned.
John Kennedy dreamed a great dream and fi red the imaginations
of not only Americans but also people around the world. He
gave us the big picture and aimed higher than anyone dared believe.
Maybe he even BS’d a little. With his New Frontier Program,
Kennedy created the desire to reach for space—“to sail this new
ocean.” He told his nation a story, and Americans embraced it.
And when he died, Americans rallied to his dream and fulfi lled
it. Does Kennedy deserve credit for getting humans to the moon?
He didn’t know anything about lunar rendezvous or von Braun’s
Nova rocket. Nevertheless, Michael H. Hart ranked John F.
Kennedy number 81 in The 100: A Ranking of the Most Infl uential
Persons in History. Hart argued that Kennedy was “the person primarily
responsible for instituting the Apollo program.” Of course,
Kennedy had the help of von Braun, a coterie of the world’s most
brilliant rocket scientists, brave astronauts, and about 400,000 other
scientists, technicians, engineers, and skilled laborers.
And let’s not forget the 100 million taxpayers who paid the bill.
When Kennedy was speaking about the payload he accidentally
said, “It will be the largest payroll—ah payload—in history.” Quick
to realize his mistake, he added, “And it will be the largest payroll.”
According to Hart, it was Kennedy who made the crucial breakthrough—
a political one that required convincing the American
public to spend $30 billion to get to the moon.
As long as there are human beings, the achievement of
landing people on the moon will be remembered as one of the
greatest in history. And it all started with the dream of one man:
John F. Kennedy.
The most egregious goal ever set is that of President John F.
Kennedy:
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.
When Kennedy made this statement in May 1961, the United
States had very little to go on. We had no micro electronics, no
portable computers, no deep-space communications network, no
giant rockets, no lunar navigation system, and practically no manned
space fl ight experience. America had yet to put a man in orbit
around Earth, let alone go to the moon.
Alan Shepard had fl own a suborbital hop that lasted a grand
total (from launch to splashdown) of 15 minutes. He spent only
15 seconds in space, near the apex of his 115-mile-high arc. Two
months later, Gus Grissom fl ew a nearly identical suborbital fl ight
with one signifi cant difference. Upon splashdown, his capsule sank
to the bottom of the ocean, and Gus nearly drowned.
John Kennedy dreamed a great dream and fi red the imaginations
of not only Americans but also people around the world. He
gave us the big picture and aimed higher than anyone dared believe.
Maybe he even BS’d a little. With his New Frontier Program,
Kennedy created the desire to reach for space—“to sail this new
ocean.” He told his nation a story, and Americans embraced it.
And when he died, Americans rallied to his dream and fulfi lled
it. Does Kennedy deserve credit for getting humans to the moon?
He didn’t know anything about lunar rendezvous or von Braun’s
Nova rocket. Nevertheless, Michael H. Hart ranked John F.
Kennedy number 81 in The 100: A Ranking of the Most Infl uential
Persons in History. Hart argued that Kennedy was “the person primarily
responsible for instituting the Apollo program.” Of course,
Kennedy had the help of von Braun, a coterie of the world’s most
brilliant rocket scientists, brave astronauts, and about 400,000 other
scientists, technicians, engineers, and skilled laborers.
And let’s not forget the 100 million taxpayers who paid the bill.
When Kennedy was speaking about the payload he accidentally
said, “It will be the largest payroll—ah payload—in history.” Quick
to realize his mistake, he added, “And it will be the largest payroll.”
According to Hart, it was Kennedy who made the crucial breakthrough—
a political one that required convincing the American
public to spend $30 billion to get to the moon.
As long as there are human beings, the achievement of
landing people on the moon will be remembered as one of the
greatest in history. And it all started with the dream of one man:
John F. Kennedy.
Comments