JFK "We Choose to Go to The Moon"
We Choose To Go To The Moon
I don't want to get off topic as we reach an intense point in our investigative series "An Eye for An Eye Only Makes the World Go Blind - Outsourcing America."However, today is a very important day to those of us who love the Internet and I could not let it go by without giving tribute to what happened 49 years ago on May 25, 1961.
President John Kennedy gave a speech to a joint session of congress requesting funds to finance America's race to space and put a man on the moon before the turn of the decade in 1970.
We achieved that goal, but probably far more important was the technological information we gained from the space program that led to everything from cell phones to the Internet. So I wanted to pause for a moment and remember the day when I was only 10 years old and how it felt to be a kid and hear the Big Kahuna, whoever he was, say, "We are going to walk on the moon." Wow!
Posted by Marvin David Webster at Wednesday, May 26, 2010 3:28 AM 
Categories: Technology, History
Tags: space program John Kennedy
Categories: Technology, History
Tags: space program John Kennedy
I remember that speach he gave and when he finished, we all knew that we would do it. I did not have doubt one that we would go to the moon. There are some people who can convince you with not many words. JFK had the gift. I think JFK likewise knew that we would do it, although as it turns out he never had a chance to actually see it happen. There were few naysayers. We were all so naive about what it would take. And I remember when they picked the original 7 Astronauts and I wanted to be one so bad....I sat and stared at the picture of those seven and tried to decide who would be the one. The one to walk on the moon. Actually, I dont think any of the original guys got to do that but we did not know that and neither did they at the time. I would dare to say that I have NEVER EVER EVER been so convinced of anything as I was that the moon was ours for the taking. When you are 11 or 12 years old, things are much more black and white, simpler and easier. Ah, to be 12 again......
But that is not the end of the story, as it worked out, an aspiring young engineer in training at Texas Tech was previledged to work on the Apollo program. It is a long story, but yes I worked on a NASA grant testing materials for the spacecrafts. My professor predicted the Apollo 13 near disaster. We got a lot more money after that... I met Werner Von Braun and several later astronauts. That 12 year old kid could dream of being an astronaut but could never have thought of what really happened and how long it really took. The closest I got to going to the moon was shaking the hand of 2 people who eventually would really do it. But for a kid from Pampa Texas, that was damn near as good as going there anyway. Who would have thought.............
Reply to this