Kuiper blasts off (and then returns safely to Earth) at the Smithsonian’s Destination Moon exhibit at Saint Louis Science Center.
We had a truly out of this world experience last week. HUGE, HUGE thanks to @smithsonian and @stlsciencecenter for granting us permission to visit Apollo 11. I have a ton of pictures to share, including Kuiper with the actual command module Columbia(!!!!) For now, here’s Kuiper flying a life-sized replica.
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a speech before a special joint session of Congress. The written version on house.gov says, “We stand, as we have always stood, for the independence and equality of nations. We stand for a world of peace under law. We stand for the democratic revolution of social progress. We stand for diversity, honest disagreements, and mutual respect. This nation was born of revolution and raised in freedom. And we do not intend to leave an open road to despotism. Meanwhile…one nation after another, by internal more often than external means, finds its freedom under attack.”
JFK then acknowledged that “there is no single simple policy with which to meet this challenge.” He proposed measures to help the economy (which was recovering from the 1960 recession), outlined proposals for providing aid to developing countries, and affirmed our commitment to NATO (“the center of freedom’s defense is our network of world alliances.”) He requested money for the Army and emphasized the need to fund civil defense (e.g. fallout shelters), but he also directed Congress to create a Disarmament Agency to help negotiate for peace. Then he dropped this bomb:
“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 for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
That was just the beginning.
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRc6k0g4rX/