Tag Archives: moon

To the Moon and Back: We Can Do Hard Things

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On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Kennedy moon speech 1961

A brief excerpt of the speech:

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 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.

… in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon–if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.

What a thrill it was of living through those years of incredible innovation, splendid courage and diligent work by so many people. As President Kennedy said, it was not just one man going to the moon, it was a nation united in effort to get that astronauts there and bring them back.

P.S.  I think the look on Lyndon Johnson’s face is priceless.  It is as if he were thinking, “What in the world has that guy been smoking? We’ll never do that!”

Moon Walk, July 20, 1969

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I grew up in rural Idaho in a home without television. But forty years ago today, our family stopped by a neighbor’s home on the way home from evening church service to watch television coverage of the the moon landing. What a wonderful experience! I had grown up through the age of Sputnik, Vanguard, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. The first time I can remember being punished for doing something wrong was when I stole paper from my first grade classroom to draw pictures of rockets! To witness the first manned space flight to the moon was fantastic.

Flag on Moon

So today, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of this event, I tip my hat again to all those who made it possible – from President Kennedy who challenged the nation to accomplish this incredible feat – to the engineers who used slide rules, not handheld calcualtors, to design the equipment – to the brave astronauts who had the privilege to make the journey. Bravo all!