“To infinity and…” the Moon? How The Space Race Ended The Sixties With A Bang.

Written by Kayley Newman

[The Eagle. Apollo 11 Moon Landing.Nasa.gov ]

July 20^th, 1969.

With over half a billion people watching across the world,
the United States of America could confidently say that
they had won the space race, beating out the Soviets - as
the first human on the moon, American astronaut Neil
Armstrong stepped off of the Eagle and onto the
moon’s surface. Not only was this a giant leap for
mankind, but also for video simulcasting.

The moon landing was an amazing feat and ended
the 1960’s on a high. John F. Kennedy would have
been proud.

_________­­­­­

So what kicked off the race for the moon?

In 1961, then President, John. F Kennedy made a challenge[1] to the nation that would shape the rest of the decade. Addressing ‘Congress on Urgent National Needs’, Kennedy spoke of the nation committing to ‘achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely back to earth’[2]. Not only did the US spearhead their efforts to get a man on the moon, but it seemed to have an impact on the rest of the world too. The Soviet Union had already launched man into space four years before Kennedy’s speech, and was a key player in the in the Space Race. With tensions already high between the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc during the Cold War, America could not afford to lose to the Soviet Union again. 

Throughout the next eight years, NASA successfully created Apollo 11- the spacecraft that would help make history and played a huge part in landing man on the moon. This great engineering achievement along with exceptional brain power and communication skills allowed the United States of America to further scientific discovery, expanding space knowledge and intelligence. The USA won the space race as well as fulfilling Kennedy’s challenge, something of which made the 1960’s a decade of achievements and making the impossible, possible.

Despite all of the hard work and huge budget that went into landing man on the moon, a large portion of the population (national and international) still choose to believe that it was a hoax, fabricated by the US government to fool the world. These people have a lack of scientific understanding and a high level of distrust for the government, something which seems to grow more and more every day.  These conspiracy theorists cast a shadow on the phenomenal efforts put into landing man on the moon, however for those who see sense and either watched the moon landing or simply believe the evidence, this part of history ended the 1960’s with a bang (or should I say, blast?).

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[1] July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind’ (July 20^th 2017) https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html <last accessed 16/11/2017>.

[2] President John F. Kennedy, ‘Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs’, Section IX: Space (May 25^th, 1961). <last accessed 16/11/2017>.