"Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a greatnew American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth…. 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."

With these words, spoken before a joint session of the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) declared to the world the bold intention of the United States in its space race with the Soviet Union (present-day Russia). That race, which...