In less than two days we mark the fortieth year since the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon. To celebrate this monumental achievement in American and Human History, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum created We Choose the Moon, “a real-time, interactive recreation of the Apollo 11 mission.” Starting today, everyone can relive (or experience for the first time) this important milestone of space exploration through “archival audio, pictures, video and ‘real time’ transmissions”.
The Apollo program, conceived during the Eisenhower administration as a follow-up to the Mercury program, gained new urgency when President Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the moon speaking to a Joint Session of Congress on May 25, 1961:
"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 back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
He later reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to this goal at Rice University on September 12, 1962:
"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."
“JFK Presidential Library Launches New Site That Invites the World On Board Apollo 11 -- 40 Years Later.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum July 10, 2009 July 16, 2009 <http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK+Library+and+Museum/News+and+Press/JFK+Presidential+Library+Launches+New+Site+That+Invites+the+World+On+Board+Apollo+11+--+40+Years+Lat.htm>
“Apollo Program.” Wikipedia Wikimedia Foundation, Inc July 16, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program>
“John F. Kennedy.” Wikipedia Wikimedia Foundation, Inc July 16, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy>
No comments:
Post a Comment