1961: President Kennedy declares his intention of putting an American astronaut on the moon by the end of the decade.
Kennedy's declaration, made a few weeks after Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space in a 15-minute, suborbital flight, signaled a dramatic acceleration of the U.S. space program.
It was more than a matter of prestige: America had been shocked by Sputnik in 1957 and again when the Soviet Union was first to put a man into orbit. In the depths of the cold war, the technology race against Russia was all-important and the space race was the most visible symbol of that contest.
It took another nine months to get an American into orbit (John Glenn circled the globe three times the following February) but things happened quickly after that. The successful Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs allowed the United States to pull abreast of, and eventually surpass, the Russians.
The high point was reached in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon's powdery surface, thereby fulfilling Kennedy's vision.
(Source: NASA)
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