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Author
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Topic: Impressions of JFK's moon speech
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rjb1elec
Member Posts: 221
From: Merseyside, England
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 11-08-2007 02:13 PM
   
I wasn't around when President Kennedy announced the challenge of landing a man on the moon, but I do remember my father saying that he thought it was an impossible challenge to achieve, and that it just couldn't be done. I was seven when Neil and Buzz walked on the Sea of Tranquility, and my father began to realise what a foresighted and determined man Kennedy was.It's easy as we look back with the addition of hindsight, but at the time, with only Al Shepard's first lob into space, I wonder what the impressions were of people who lived through that time, and heard that bold speech for the very first time were. If you lived through that time, can you remember there being many who thought it an impossible challenge. regards Richard |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 11-08-2007 02:14 PM
I don't have an exact quote, but Chris Kraft has said in the past that, when he first heard that speech, his first impression was that he didn't think it was possible. If Chris Kraft had doubts, I have to imagine many others had those same doubts. |
dss65
Member Posts: 1171
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 11-08-2007 09:12 PM
For what it's worth, I was still just a kid who believed that ANYTHING was possible. I never doubted for a minute that it could be done--but I did wonder which superpower (I don't think that word was used at that time) would get to the moon first. Later, as an adult, I came to realize that almost nothing is impossible, but that a lot of things are very expensive and take a huge commitment. Honestly, I'm more amazed by the accomplishment now than I was then.Regardless of your politics, Kennedy was a very charismatic man and a great speaker. He had a way of electrifying his audience. Maybe that made him nothing more than a great politician, but it was a magic time. I'm glad I was there. ------------------
Don |
R.Glueck
Member Posts: 115
From: Winterport, Maine, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 11-08-2007 09:56 PM
Jack Kennedy was charismatic in a way few Presidents have been, with the possible exceptions of FDR and maybe Reagan. His expectation of completing the job in a specified period of time made everyone believe, "well, yeah, of course...". No little credit should be overlooked on the press inflation of the Mercury Astronauts, to whom we all ascribed unheard of powers. When the great things promised became facts, it may have been the moment Americans began to expect technology to always bail us out of our problems. Perhaps this was not a good thing?
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