The decision to go to

THE MOON
By
Hayden Crocker
Causes
• The Russians seceded in creating the first satellite in space. The satellite was called Sputnik-1.
Later Sputnik-2 was launched as well. This spurred post cold war jealousy and started the
space race.
• Later on the Russians had another success by making Yuri Gagarin which left the U.S. falling
behind once again.

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The Decision
After the Russians success with
Sputnik the president (John F.
Kennedy) was astonished. He
believed hat going to space was a
top priority for the United States
and that more money should go
towards the Space program. To
push this point he made a famous
speech at Rice University.

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Consequences
• There were many consequences. Some good, some bad. The
project was a huge success in total however a few people lost their
lives in testing of the rockets. Apollo 1 is considered the worse of the
accidents. During a pre launch test there was a fire inside the cockpit
and the doors were locked from the outside. All 3 pilots burned to
death.
• Besides this horrific accident it was a success. We made it to the
moon and learned a lot about space. Even with a few billion dollars
price tag it was still worth it to say that the US was the first country to
“claim” the moon.

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A memo to the Vice President
• The document to the right is the memo that started
the quest for the moon and put it in full throttle. JFk
sent the memo to the vice president asking 5
questions: Do we have a chance at beating the
soviets, how much would it cost, are we working 24
hours a day, what time of motor should we use, and
are we at maximum effort. These questions were
answered and it becaem a possibility in the mind of
the presidnet htat we could actually make it to the
moon. Shortly after he made his Rice Univeristy
Speach.

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About the Apollo program
• SPECS:
• 363 feet tall
• 33 feet wide
• 7,000,000 pounds or 3175 tons
• 7,648,000 pounds of thrust
• 25,000 miles per hour

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Apollo 11-A Man on the Moon
• Apollo 11 was the first Apollo rocket to
land on the moon. This was a huge
accomplishment. Pilot Neil Armstrong
stepped out on to the lunar surface
and said the famous quote “One small
step for man, one giant leap for
mankind”. This quote was definitely
correct because that lead to many
other accomplishments.

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Accomplishments
• There were many accomplishments that were caused because of the moon landing. This was
the starting point for many other space voyages that would help create medicines, learn new
things about our universe, and even entertain us. Many people rely on satellites in space for
TV, Phone, and Internet. Event eh military does. All of these achievements would not have not
have been made if JFk had not took the daring chance by initiating the moon program.

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Conclusion
• In all i think the extreme lack of cons and the immense amount of
pros make this project a huge success in my book. Many say that it
accomplished nothing but frankly they are wrong.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
• Primary:
• "The Apollo Program (1963 - 1972)." Welcome to the NSSDC! Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html>. This website had a lot of
information on the Apollo program. It also had great links to primary sources for every Apollo mission and tests. Although there was nothing about the decision. Despite
this I still learned a lot about the actual program.
• "Apollo Program." NASA - Home. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://www.nasa.gov/>. This website had great information about the actual Apollo program but had very little "JFK
Rice Speach." YouTube. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. This is the video that i watched on youtube. It is the speech that JFK gave at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

• "Space Race." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://www.jfklibrary.org/>. This website was very important in my research. It

provided a ton of information in one website. I used this to find details about why we went to the moon, the challenges we faced, and what we acomplished.

• "The Decision to Go to the Moon: President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 Speech before Congress." History Home. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <

http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html>. This was a very, very good website for information about JFK's decision to go to the moon. It has a ton of primary sources and

transcripts.

• "JFK50." JFK50. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.jfk50.org/>.This website had a lot of information about JFk. It is a primary source.

• Secondary:

• "The Decision to Go to the Moon." Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/decision.html>.This website had alot

of information about the decision itself however it is a secondary source.

• Goudie, Chuck. "44 Years After JFK's Death, New Assassination Plot Revealed - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning

America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3902495&page=1>.This had some interesting info

on the assassination of JFK. It is a secondary source though.

• We Choose the Moon: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://wechoosethemoon.org/>.This sweet website had a

lot of information about the apollo 11 program. It was really neat. It is a secondary source.

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PIctography
• Sputnik 1. Photograph. Fox Radio. Web. <http://radio.foxnews.com/2011/01/26/audio-christines-sputnik-moment/>.
• Yuri Gagarin. Photograph. Academic. Web. <http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/20841>

• Rice University Speach. Photograph. Corbis Images. Web. <http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/IH064087.html>.

• Memo to Vice President. Photograph. JFK50. Web. <http://www.jfk50.org/>.

• Apollo Rocket. Photograph. NASA. Web. <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11_audio.html>.

• Moon Landing. Photograph. KateGale. Web. <http://kategale.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/moon-landing/>.

• Satellites. Photograph. Universe Today. Web. <http://www.universetoday.com/13587/space-debris-illustrated-the-problem-in-pictures/>.

• JFk. Photograph. Got Waldo. Web. <http://www.gotwaldo.com/ww/?cat=48>.

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