One hundred hours later, the astronauts were ready to land on the Moon. At 9:32 AM the rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and headed for the Moon. On July 16, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins climbed onboard a Saturn V rocket. After nearly a decade of work and major advancements in rocketry and safety equipment, NASA finally decided to send a manned space flight, known as Apollo 11, to the Moon. The goal of this program was to place a man on the Moon and to return him back to Earth safely.

To carry out Kennedy's directive of placing a man on the Moon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) implemented the Apollo Program. The most daring one was that the United States '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.' Kennedy continued, 'No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space.'

In this speech, Kennedy provided the American people with a list of auspicious goals. Placing space exploration in the context of the Cold War, Kennedy stated: If we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny, the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take.Now it is time to take longer strides - time for a great new American enterprise - time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth. Over the past several years, both the Soviet Union and the United States had made several advancements in space exploration, most importantly the launching of satellites and the placing of men in outer space and returning them safely to the Earth.

Kennedy addressed the United States Congress and the American people about the importance of space exploration. Kennedy Space Center, Florida.Īstronauts from NASA's Apollo 11 mission in 1969 were the first humans to walk on the Moon. The launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, 9:32 AM EDT, John F.

Man on the moon history