Space Exploration: Apollo missions
By Kenneth Hanks FDSCI 101 41 fall 2015 10/30/2015
What was the motivation that led to the discovery?
The Apollo program was conceived during the Eisenhower administration in 1960. Up until this time the US space program had only supported one astronaut in flight. The Apollo program would carry 3 astronauts. The motivation was to be able to orbit 3 instead of 2 or 1. At the beginning of the research and design into Apollo, the trips to the moon were not anticipated until the far future. The US was perceived to be behind the USSR in space exploration. President Kennedy changed all that.
What questions were asked?
President Kennedy on May 25th 1961 proposed a manned Moon landing in this special message
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Johnson was to look into the status of America’s space program. He had promised the American people that we would catch up in space exploration. Johnson reported back 1 week later that we are not making maximum effort nor achieving the results that are necessary to reach a position of leadership. As a result of this report Kennedy delivered the above message. This was the start of the monumental effort that went into the Apollo program and achieved the first manned moon landing.
What was the significance of the discovery?
The first decision was to reconfigure the Apollo program to be the vehicle for the first moon landing. Massive inventions in hardware and software and organization were needed to succeed. A launch control center named launch Complex 39, a vertical Assemble Building (VAB), a mobile launcher platform, a transporter, an operations and checkout building (OCB), and 2 vacuum chambers would need to be designed and built for the Apollo program to succeed in a moon landing.
Talented scientist, engineers, and administrators were recruited to organize and direct the effort to invent the needed changes to the existing Apollo design. There were 4 proposals on how Apollo would be
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Some of those are: John Houbolt at Langley Research Center; Robert Seamans; Nicholas E. Golovin, Joseph Shea; Wernher von Braun; Jerome Wiesner; and many others contributed to the final decision of LOR (Lunar Orbit Rendezvous) for the Apollo program.
Space historian James Hansen concludes that:
“Without NASA's adoption of this stubbornly held minority opinion in 1962, the United States may still have reached the Moon, but almost certainly it would not have been accomplished by the end of the 1960s, President Kennedy's target date.”
Mr. Hansen is speaking of the LOR
John F. Kennedy once said, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space...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”. The main motive for this quote was to ensure that the United States wanted to beat out the Soviets in the space race. Ever since the Soviets tried to advance on the moon, the United States wanted to be the first successful nation to accomplish the first ever moon landing. At the time, the tension between the United States and the Soviets was very strong because the Cold War just ended and neither nation wanted to lose to each other in the space race. Just as the
The space race was an event that shaped America as we know it, and the man that came up with the idea to control the moon, John F. Kennedy, had a major impact on history. The United States and Russia were competing to land on the moon during a time of tension. NASA’s funding increased to get an man
On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy paved the way for the world’s first lunar landing when he announced the US’s ambitious goal to place an American on the moon before the end of the decade. This historic announcement was fueled by desires to beat the Soviet Union, and show the United State’s dominance, the need for a uniting cause among the American people, and a desire to lead the world in the scientific field.
In this essay, President John F. Kennedy builds an argument to persuade his readers in investing in space exploration. Kennedy uses analogies and reasoning to build his argument towards investing in space exploration. Kennedy’s speech had a powerful impact on the decision whether to direct the resources of the United States toward the construction of a space program.
From the start of the Space Race, the Soviet Union had the United States beat by sending the first satellite, the Sputnik, and the first man, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, into space. However, President Kennedy would not stand by as the Soviet Union began to run away with the space race. Kennedy addressed the nation by consulting Congress to “increase NASA’s budget by nine billion dollars”(Cox). This bold move made by Kennedy enabled the United States to make it to the moon first. Going to the moon first was a much higher feat than simply going into space because it required much more “precision while launching and higher equipped technology to go the extra distance”(Exploring Space). Due to the extra skill required to go to the moon, it showed how by the end of the Space Race the United States had superior technology. Since the Cold War was a fight for Global Power, going to the moon was a significant move for the United States because it showed that they had exceptional machinery. With this admirable technology, it solidified the United States’s reputation as a Global
In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and
Kennedy traveled the country during the early 1960s advocating for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. On September 12th, 1962, he delivered the “Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort” at the Rice Stadium, in Houston, Texas, the home of NASA’s mission control. He began the speech by thanking the Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the President of Rice University, Kenneth Pitzer. He commends Rice University for its knowledge, progress and strength and advocates for these virtues nationwide. JFK alludes to the Space Race by saying “the greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds" (John F. Kennedy). He speaks of advances made throughout history including the wheel, printing press, steam engine, electricity, telephones, automobiles, planes and penicillin. He compares the past 50,000 years of to half a century to prove the amount of advancement that has occurred over a relatively short amount of time. He comments “this country was founded by those who move forward - and so will space.” (John F. Kennedy). JFK explains that we choose to go to the moon because it is a necessary challenge and part of our goal to lead as a nation. He highlights how close we are to achieving such goals by mentioning the testing of a Saturn C-1 booster rocket, the Saturn missile, satellites and the Mariner spacecraft. JFK points out that the space industry has created new jobs for Americans and puts the space budget in perspective by showing it is less that the annual spending on cigarettes and cigars. JFK concludes with a quote from Mt. Everest climber George Mallory who responded "Because it is there," when asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. JFK states, “Well, space is there and we're going to climb it." (John F. Kennedy) He ends by asking for God's blessing on the journey and thanking his
Before the causes and results of Kennedy’s decision to land on the moon can be adequately analyzed and discussed, it is necessary to understand the context of his time as President and the events that preceded it. Therefore, I will provide a small amount of context about the Cold War and the situation leading up to Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech on September 12, 1962. (Citation).
I’d say we’ve all heard of JFK’s famous speech, “The Decision To Go To The Moon,” which he gave at Rice University on May 25th, 1961 to an audience of 35,000 people. This speech is one that marks the sixties, as JFK had just been elected and was rallying the people to support the space movement. Many Americans doubted they could beat or even catch up to Russia in the space race. So, his speech focuses on convincing Americans that they should support the US government’s movement to get a man on the moon before the Soviet Union.
"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. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish” -John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961
When Sputnik 1 had launched, many looked upon Dwight D. Eisenhower, the president at the time, to see how he’d oppose. Sputnik allowed Eisenhower to show his leadership as he created NASA and The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to work alongside each other. This along with many achievements following Sputnik showed Eisenhower’s tenacious attitude towards the Space Race, satisfying his nation (Herbert para. 6). On May 5, 1961, John F. Kennedy publicly announced the goal for America to have man landing on the moon by the end of the decade, clearly setting the finish line to the space race (“Space” para. 5). With this bold statement, it shocked many Americans including the ones in the space program as they were months to years behind the Soviet’s space program. With his goal set high, JFK feared that Americans would lose interest in the race, therefore wanting the Soviets to increase their productivity with the program sparking the interest back for Americans. Also fearing the high amounts of funding needed to launch rockets to space, in order to prevent being criticized by the American people thinking it was just a waste of money, he needed the people to believe in the program (Herbert para. 3). Consequently, President Kennedy, at Rice Stadium on September 12, 1962 gave his “We choose to go to the moon” speech.
The main purpose of John F. Kennedy 's speech “We Choose to go to the Moon” was to gain the support of the American people. He did this by pointing out why it was important to be the first ones to reach the moon with a man. Kennedy addresses many things that the United States has quickly and efficiently succeeded at, he then goes on to compare these successes to getting a man on the moon. The president also brings up how they are very close to obtaining the goal and that they just need the funding to make it happen. He continues on to make a powerful comparison between how
‘Animal Farm’ is a novel written by George Orwell that allegorically depicts communism and the Russian revolution. It is the story of animals overthrowing their human master and the rise of a harsh and deceiving dictator, a pig named Napoleon. Throughout the novel, Animal Farm explores themes of power, oppression and politics and more specifically corruption, terror and propaganda. As a result of the power the pig’s gain, the system becomes heavily corrupt. Moreover, the reigning Napoleon uses terror and violence to oppress the animals on the arm.
One purpose of this poster is to persuade. The picture is persuading to join or be in the Woman Ordnance Worker. For example the picture it saying in quotes ¨The girl he left behind is still behind him she's a WOW. ¨ They are trying to say you can still do something even though you're a woman. Back then you really couldn't do much stuff because you were a woman. Woman wanted to do something back then so this was a good way to grab their attention.
Difference from other American war – it was different because, it wasn’t a war for territory, but a war to destroy an insurgency. This was also the first televised war.