posted 08-03-2022 02:43 PM               

Save the date: NASA and Rice University invite you to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's "We Choose to go to the Moon" speech. More details to follow. Stay tuned!

posted 08-12-2022 05:21 PM               

Get Ready! NASA and Rice University Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of JFK's 'Moonshot' Speech

NASA and Rice University spent some of the summer cementing their already rich partnership in space and science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, but another collaboration — with the Space City community invited — is slated for this fall.

But first, we're going back 60 years — when then President John F. Kennedy (JFK) made a speech at Rice Stadium invoking America's pioneering spirit that would, later, establish our leadership in space. This turning point and the nation's subsequent Space Age is being celebrated from Sept. 10-12, 2022, as NASA's Johnson Space Center teams up with Rice University to honor the anniversary and reaffirm America's commitment to deep space exploration. Spectators will not only relive this special moment from the past but learn more about NASA's future plans with Artemis and other missions.

NASA Space Day at Rice University kicks off, quite literally, with the season home opener football game as the Rice Owls taking on McNeese State on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Ticket options include game ticket only or a game ticket with a commemorative scarf.

Schedule of Events

Sept. 10 - Commemorative Football Game

• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – NASA and industry exhibits open for "Tailgate Owly," including a NASA pavilion and the International Space Station mobile exhibit experience open from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

  [*6:30 p.m. – Commemorative football game: Rice vs. McNeese State

Sept. 11 – Community Day

• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – NASA and industry exhibits open to the public

Sept. 12 – Flagship Event at Rice University

• 8:30 a.m. -- Preshow entertainment begins
  
• 9 a.m. – NASA exhibits open
  
• 11 a.m. to noon – JFK flagship event
  
• Noon to 2 p.m. – NASA and industry exhibits open to the public

NASA Exhibition

NASA will support the community days with a state-of-the-art exhibition comprising nearly 14,000 square feet, with items and artifacts emphasizing on NASA's Moon to Mars journey and Artemis lunar missions. In addition, various astronaut presentations, panel discussions, and NASA/industry speakers will pepper the events throughout.

Inspiring the Artemis Generation Through JFK's 60th Anniversary

Along with engaging the community, both NASA's Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) and Rice's OSTEM will be collaborating to engage local school districts in many of the activities offered.

Currently, the partners are coordinating a field trip of 5,000 students for the JFK anniversary flagship event, which would make it the unofficial single largest movement of students in the district's history. Students will learn about spaceflight history and what's to come also with pre- and post-event activities, including an essay contest.

At the industry exhibition within the Robert L. Waltrip Indoor Training Center, or "The Bubble," aerospace partners will join with NASA and Rice to show off their exhibit offerings alongside engineering exhibits from Rice students, Houston Independent School District engagement activities, and For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — commonly known as FIRST — robotics demos.

'Merch' is Coming

Starport is working on concepts now for a lineup of products commemorating the 60th anniversary of JFK's historic speech. Look out for specialty merchandise that you can purchase to show your support of Space City.

posted 09-12-2022 08:55 AM               

Join leaders from NASA and Rice University as we commemorate President John F. Kennedy's historic "We choose to go to the moon..." speech. That address, before a crowd of 35,000 on Sept. 12, 1962, set NASA and our country on the path to explore worlds beyond our own.

Participants will include:

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
  
• NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana
  
• NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche
  
• NASA astronaut Shannon Walker
  
• Rice University President Reggie DesRoches
  
• Rice Space Institute Director Dr. David Alexander, Rice Space Institute (master of ceremonies)
  
• Retired ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien
  
• Avalon Hogans, Houston's youth poet laureate

posted 09-12-2022 01:45 PM               

'We choose to go to the moon...' again: NASA marks JFK speech 60th

As NASA once again prepares to set sail "on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure" on which humanity has ever embarked, the space agency's leaders returned to the site where 60 years ago, to the day, President John F. Kennedy reconfirmed "we choose to go to the moon."

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson joined other program officials at Rice University in Houston on Monday (Sept. 12) to mark the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's speech, which rallied the nation to land astronauts on the moon. Kennedy first set the goal during an address to Congress in May 1961 and, with the speech at Rice, it led to the six Apollo lunar landing missions between 1969 and 1972.

posted 09-12-2022 06:56 PM               

• JFK Poster
  
• JFK T-shirt
  
• JFK Mug
  
• JFK Mousepad
  
• JFK Backpack
  
• JFK Water bottle