Nasa 's The Manned Space Flight Program

On September 12, 1942, our 35th president, John F. Kennedy, delivered a speech that made it possible for men to be walking on the moon for the first time in history. Standing in front of thirtyfive thousand people, he proclaimed to the world that the United States was going to complete this seemingly impossible task before the 1970s. His connection to the very broad audience made the speech connect for nearly every individual listening. Kennedy’s particular word choice and voice motivated not only inspired the nation, but motivated them to be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. He uses the ideology of exploring space to exploring out west as we have done in the past to show that it is in our nature. He provides concrete evidence in the way of the major technological advancements that have been made in the past to show that it is possible and the next big step for man. Within ten years, the success of John F. Kennedy's speech and it rhetoric made the seemingly impossible task possible.

In “Let Robots Take to the Stars” by Eiren Caffal, this article proves the claim that society should not send humans to space. One reason why humans should not go to space is because it is very expensive. For example, “Space travel is extremely expensive”. To get humans to Mars, it will take $1 trillion over a 25-year period” (Caffal 287). This quote illustrates that not only will it be very expensive, it will also take a long time.

As President Eisenhower once stated, “Every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed” (qtd in DeGroot). According to Jerry DeGroot, a lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews and author of the widely acclaimed biography “Douglas Haig”, every year, the United States federal government funds the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with over $17 billion. When Keith Yost, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was asked about government funding on NASA, he replied, “NASA is not only spending money, but also the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists, and the hopes of our children.” As a powerhouse in the work industry, NASA is taking away from the remainder of the country. Before venturing off into space, the US needs to realize the importance of tackling the issues that lie before the citizens here on Earth. As Richard Truly, a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, stated in agreement, “...I didn’t go to NASA for the United States to make international commitments that wouldn’t keep, to design space vehicles that will never be built (or will be then fail), or to make promises to the American people that will never be kept.” It would be in the best interest for the citizens of the United States federal government to cut NASA funding.

The next major feat in space exploration was applying the motivations of the United States to combine with international forces and construct the International Space Station. Fathered by President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union Address 1984, he argues, “America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade” (Reagan). The country was able to set goals and achieve them. The party-goers of the 20s would have never considered conquering the last frontier, but WWII enlivened the preposterous ambitions.

Perhaps no greater tragedy defines the American Race for Space than the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger before millions of Americans as they watched on live TV in 1986. Building on two decades of successful space exploration kicked off by President Kennedy before his death, by the early eighties the American culture both believed that it was our right to fly into space and that no one did it better than we did. NASA had sent mission after mission into space over more than twenty years, each one accomplishing space exploration goals and building the reputation that America owned the stars. That day in January of 1986 was supposed to be another of those successes as the Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying not only professional astronauts into space but also one everyday person, teacher Christa McAuliffe. Instead, the world watched as after seventy-three seconds after liftoff hopes and dreams exploded with the Challenger - leaving astronauts dead, the space program in jeopardy and America grieving and looking for answers. How leadership responded, what they said and did, would be really important to how the nation dealt with the loss and to the future of the space program. The man for the job was President Ronald Reagan, whose address to the nation appealed to the public on an emotional and logical level and helped to ensure that they

Nevertheless, President Kennedy, felt very strong about his most profound New Frontier vision--“Project Apollo” in which the United States would send human-beings specifically to leave “American footprints” on the moon. The President secured funding for NASA and challenged the United States to place an astronaut on the Moon by 1970, after the Soviet Union launched a cosmonaut into outer-space in 1961. In the forefront, of Kennedy’s initiative was the prospect of first-time co-operation between the United States and the Soviet Union beginning in space—literally. Ultimately, designed to spread around this world and ending the Cold War (Hoagland, 2008).

It is often debated whether or not the Space Race was necessary. People have viewed it as a waste of time, money, and resources. America spent over $25 billion on the space program, equivalent to $100 billion today. Many believed that there were far more pressing matters on Earth, and that they should not explore space. Those people only saw the disadvantages that it had (Biddle, 2009). However, the Space Race was beneficial to humanity in various ways. Today Americans can use the knowledge obtained during the Space Race for countless purposes including commercial and military applications (Rabinowitch, 1963).The Space Race changed the face of science, international politics, and technology forever (Schefter 2005). The Space Race was not

"We choose to go to the moon. 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." This quote was made by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962, and it encompasses the dedication the US had to winning the Space Race, a space technology race between the United States and Soviet Russia. The Space Race would soon become a huge competition led by many big factors and decisions. Overall, The Space Race started with the USSR's launch of Sputnik, an event which fueled nationalism in both countries, and ended with the United States landing a man on the moon.

Look up at the night sky, see the stars, planets and our closest neighbor, the moon. Every human being at one point in his or her life has done this same thing. It is only natural to look up and wonder in awe at whats out there. Human beings are made with an innate desire to expand and explore. In the 1950s when there was no more of Earth to discover, people started looking upwards at the sky to satisfy this internal desire. Hungry for dominance and technological innovation, the United States created NASA and embarked on what would become the greatest voyage in human history. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, space travel and the technology which powered it advanced far beyond what any prior civilization could imagine. Inspiring in humanity hope for a future not on Earth. An analysis of the effects of the NASA space program on the United States reveals a radical shift in educational policies, an influx of new an innovative technologies, and a renewed motivation and hope for the future.

It is not true that human space travel is cheaper in any sense; life support systems, places to sleep and work, manual control systems all take up room, and most importantly, cost fuel. However, when it comes to planetary exploration, humans can get the job done better. They adapt to the situations they’re put into. A robot can only do everything it was told it was supposed to do, but programmer bound to the Earth will only think to program so many things, even if they are very thorough. Robots movements encompass a narrow set of navigable terrains whereas a human with mobility equipment can explore much further to garner samples or collect data (Crawford). A human can also think on their feet, which is essential in many mission scenarios. Far from the earth, where communication is severely limited by the distances involved, robots lag the humans watching. Events that occur for only a few minutes, like storms and novel hazards like rockslides or avalanches, may be completely missed by a rover and can even compromise the mission. When delay inhibits data collection and the safety of crucial components, this is where on-site humans can shine. Specifically, Crawford (2010) outlines five areas where human travel is necessary, which for brevity has been condensed into four. The focus is mainly on why humans are essential for these types of missions.

“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.” [Address at Rice University, September 12 1962]- John F. Kennedy. The space race was a turing pointin U.S history. With cold war tension rising between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, they turned to space to prove their dominance. However, space exploration did have it’s critics. Many Americans saw that the spending of $23 billion dollars was unnecessary (Historyshots). “There are so many problems to solve on this planet first before we begin to trash other worlds.” - E.A. Bucchianeri, (Brushstrokes of a Gadfly). Many didn't realize that in a sense we were getting our selfs into.The U.S was basically getting them selfs into another war, but this was to be a different

The concept of space exploration was first introduced to the American public in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy famously stood before congress and vowed that America would put a man on the moon “within the decade.” With hopes of defeating the Soviet Union in the “Space Race” and gaining a leg-up in the Cold War, NASA funding reached its all-time high in 1965-1966 when about four percent of the federal budget was devoted to exploring space. Since then however, funding dedicated to exploring space has nose-dived to about one-half of a percent of the federal budget (Tyson), with plans to cut that figure by an additional $260 million in 2017 (cite NASA funding cuts). Experts in the space-sciences field argue that increased funding in space exploration would re-ignite the American economy and return America to the scientific prominence it was once known for, while, on the other end of the spectrum, naysayers suggest that exploring space is an economic sink-hole that the United States can no longer afford to deposit to given its own earth-bound troubles.

“We intend to be first . . . and to become the world's leading space-faring nation.” (Kennedy, John F.) During his 1962 address to Rice University in Houston, Texas, President John F. Kennedy uses various rhetorical devices to persuade his audience to support advances in the national space program. With Russia’s launch of the first man into space the year before, America was struggling to regain an advantage over Russia in the space race.

The powerful impact of President Kennedy's speech at Rice Stadium on the controversial decision to direct money of the United States towards building a preeminent space program lies in the eloquence and universality with which he weaves his appeal. Through analogies as well as acknowledging and addressing the concerns of those dubious towards the idea of space exploration, Kennedy crafts a persuasive argument, solidified by references to prior explorations and details of economic incentives.

Many critics believe that NASA and space exploration should not be the main focus of the government. However, NASA is not just about flying rockets and putting men into space. There is science and engineering that is being developed to push humanity forward in life. This space program is essential to answering philosophical questions, creating new technology for practical everyday use, the international collaboration with other countries, and the long-term survival of the human