"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, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
in full support of a U.S. manned space program, he was also a supporter of an international space program. On several occurrences John made opportunities for the Soviet Union and the U.S to join in space missions. He actually asked the Soviet Union if they wanted to make the Apollo Missions a joint venture. The Union declined and in 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon successfully. Today the International Space Station has showed the benefit and success of joint missions.
Project Apollo
Against popular belief Kennedy did not create the Apollo Missions. The project was first proposed during the Eisenhower administration.
Eisenhower himself was against manned space missions and the high cost of the project only prolonged dates of the missions. By the time Kennedy got into office, though, the Space Race was in full steam. The Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik, and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. The U.S was being left in the dust, but Kennedy and his colleges were looking toward the next step, the Moon. Apollo was the answer to this.
During two presidential speeches, John F. Kennedy highlighted the values of space and Moon explor- ation. These excited the already intrigued public. NASA administrator James E. Webb and others met with Kennedy to discuss the Apollo missions. The main benefits of the
NASA