Why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may ask: why
climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly across the Atlantic?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade, not
because it is easy, but because it is hard. But the challenge is one that we are
willing to accept. It is one we are unwilling to put off.
To send a rocker to the moon, we must be bold.1 The moon is 240,000 miles away2
from the Earth. And the rocker is just 300 feet3 tall. The rocker will need new kinds
of metal, some of which have not yet been invented. It must be able to stand heat
and stresses like those never experienced before. It will need to carry all the
equipment it needs – all on an untried mission, to an un know place. And then it
must return safely to Earth by re- entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000
miles4 per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun. We want
to do all this. And we want to do it right. And do it first, before this decade is out!