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International
In April 1961, seventeen days after Soviet, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, NASA rocket scientist, Werner von Braun wrote to vice president Lyndon Johnson. He was responding to the lengthy question “Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket to land on the moon, or by a rocket to go to the moon and back with a man? Is there any other space program which promises dramatic results in which we could win?"
Werner writes:
“We have an excellent chance of beating the Soviets to the first landing of a crew on the moon (including return capability of course). The reason is that a performance jump by a factor 10 over their present rockets is necessary to accomplish this feat. While today we do not have such a rocket, it is unlikely that the Soviets have it. Therefore, we would not have to enter the race toward this obvious next goal in space exploration against hopeless odds favouring the Soviets. With an all-out crash program, I think we could accomplish this objective in 1967/68.”
“Summing up, I should like to say that in the space race we are competing with a determined opponent whose peacetime economy is on a wartime footing. Most of our procedures are designed for orderly, peacetime conditions. I do not believe that we can win this race unless we take at least some measures which thus far have been considered acceptable only in times of national emergency.”
On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program when he addressed a joint session of Congress:
“ ...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 in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..."
Werner writes:
“We have an excellent chance of beating the Soviets to the first landing of a crew on the moon (including return capability of course). The reason is that a performance jump by a factor 10 over their present rockets is necessary to accomplish this feat. While today we do not have such a rocket, it is unlikely that the Soviets have it. Therefore, we would not have to enter the race toward this obvious next goal in space exploration against hopeless odds favouring the Soviets. With an all-out crash program, I think we could accomplish this objective in 1967/68.”
“Summing up, I should like to say that in the space race we are competing with a determined opponent whose peacetime economy is on a wartime footing. Most of our procedures are designed for orderly, peacetime conditions. I do not believe that we can win this race unless we take at least some measures which thus far have been considered acceptable only in times of national emergency.”
On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program when he addressed a joint session of Congress:
“ ...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 in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..."
