Rene-NASA-Mooned-America

Nasa's History & Politics / Chap. 4 p. 23
NASA'S HISTORY & POLITICS
A little over thirty years ago the popular new President, John Kennedy, was besieged by events
completely beyond his control. Castro had taken Cuba away from a tyrant named Battista. Both the
Mafia and the CIA were frothing at the mouth, the Mafia because it had lost a splendid source of
casino income, and the CIA because a ragamuffin Cuban Communist and his army had taken power
on an island a few miles off our coast.
Kennedy had barely settled into the oval office when the Russians followed up with their Sputnik
success, and, on April 12, 1961, sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit on Vostok 1 for 108 minutes. If that
wasn't enough, that same week the CIA botched the Bay of Pigs landing. Led by the CIA, a ragtag
battalion of Cuban expatriots was supposed to reconquer Cuba and make it safe for democracy. Also
involved were the CIA and the CIA's old World War II partners, the Mafia.
On May 25, 1961 Kennedy broke Presidential precedent and delivered a State of the Union
message to a joint session of Congress. It was necessitated by racial tensions, CIA problems in Laos
(later called our secret war), CIA problems with Cuba, and a whole gamut of other foreign
entanglements — all involving the CIA.
Kennedy sought a national distraction. He also hoped to regain American prestige by asking
Congress to drastically expand the space budget at a time when Congress was actually decreasing
military spending and trying to cut back on other expenditures. Some sections of his speech are
printed below.
"I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are
that we have never made the national decision or marshalled the national resources for such
leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule; or managed our
resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment.
Recognizing the head start obtained by the Soviets with their large rocket engines, which
gave them many months of lead time, and recognizing the likelihood that they will exploit this
lead for some time to come in still more impressive successes, we nevertheless are required to
make new efforts of our own.
For while we cannot guarantee that we will one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure
to make this effort will make us last.
We take the additional risk of making it in full view of the world. But as shown by the feat of
Astronaut Shepard, this very risk enhances our stature when we are successful.
But this is not merely a race. Space is open to us now. And our eagerness to share its meaning
is not governed by the efforts of others. We got into space because whatever mankind must
undertake, free men must fully share.
I therefore ask this Congress, above and beyond the increases I have earlier requested for
space activity, to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals: 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 safely to earth. No single space project in this
period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of
space."
NASA MOONED AMERICA! / Rene