JFK: The Exciting Adventure of Space

In another of the onrushing Fiftieth Anniversaries Of Something That Happened In 1961, today, 25 May, marks a notable speech to Congress by President John F. Kennedy. It was long, proposing a lot of policies and new programs, most nearly forgotten now.

But there is a part of this address that you have all heard. Toward the end, JFK began talking about spaceflight.

"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; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. [...]

"This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, materiel and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful interagency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel.

"New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further--unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space."

This was after Sputnik, after Gagarin's orbital flight, and after Alan Shepard's brief hop into blackness. It was pretty audacious for the president of a country that had managed to send just one guy into space-- not even into orbit-- to say that America should send an astronaut to the Moon. With a deadline.

But Kennedy did say it. The Sixties wouldn't have been the same Sixties without it. And it was a pivotal moment for NASA; its consequences still give shape to the agency today. It took the Space Age to a different level.

That's why you've heard this speech before.

Here's a transcript of the entire 25 May address to Congress.

Here are newly-released transcripts of a taped 1963 conversation between Kennedy and NASA Administrator James Webb.