Space Flight: A Historical Overview of Missions

Space Flight: A Historical Overview of Missions

On May 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most memorable State of the Union addresses in the history of the United States. “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” (www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary, President John F. Kennedy’s Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs). With those words, Kennedy launched a new era of space exploration in the United States. Although the National Aeronautics And Space Administration was created in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act (www.hq.nasa.gov, Key Documents), and the Russians already launched…