Dear History Lover,

          The day is September 12, 1962. We find ourselves in the hot sun at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. The crowd at Rice University was vibrant that day: Elementary school children, college students, and avid spectators with their eyes peeled on a podium, located at the 50-yard line, emblazoned with the Seal of the United States of America.

          Anticipation... 

          At last, an uproar of applause as President John F. Kennedy saunters to the podium, smiling, as cheers fill the stadium. What transpired next was a memorable speech that riled up a country, injecting excitement into the nation's veins. The oration at Rice University would come to be known as the "We choose to go to the Moon" address. 

          The President was speaking during an epoch of a post- WWII boom. After the Holocaust and nuclear warfare of WWII, the USA and USSR found themselves jockeying for a very different type of power. With tensions rising, the world was flung into a hitherto unknown type of war. The Cold War consisted of constant provocations with each nation seeking to assert themself as the eminent global superpower. In 1945, after the United States of America had dropped nuclear warheads on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan, an international obsession over weapons of mass destruction was berthed. President Harry Truman, who had not been apprised of the Manhattan Project prior to assuming the presidency from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, approved the development of a hydrogen bomb in 1950.

          While nuclear testing, along with research on the effects of radiation continued, U.S. interests shifted to pursue technological advancements in space. The USSR pivoted their perspective toward similar goals; thus, the Space Race ensued, aligning global eminence with Spatial superiority.

          Fast forward to 1961 and still struggling to keep pace in the Space Race, President John F. Kennedy issued a vow to congress that the nation’s focus would be on space exploration. In order to outpace the USSR's accomplishments, JFK shared that his goal was to place man on the moon and return them safely to Earth by the end of the decade. In the following months, after the President’s congressional address, NASA built three new field centers; designed space flight programs; and developed aircraft hardware.

          On September 11th, 1962, the President went on a two-day tour of NASA's space facilities; first to Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; next to Cape Canaveral, near Titusville, FL; and, lastly, he arrived in Houston, Texas. The following day, Kennedy made his way to  Rice University and delivered his iconic "We choose to go to the moon" address.

          Although President Kennedy's assassination would preclude him from knowing if his goal of lunar exploration would come to fruition, the national identity's fascination with space became an inextricable component of its existence. As years passed, tension between the USSR and USA evolved to reach a collaborative agreement to staff and maintain a space station. The Soviet Union/Russia had successfully maintained the Salyut Space Station (April 19, 1971- October 11, 1971) and Mir (1986-2001). 

          Today, the International Space Station (ISS) has been manned by cosmonauts and astronauts alike since 2000. It serves as a multinational orbital laboratory. It is a place where a united national crew live and work in a functional science laboratory.

          Valiant efforts are made in the name of space exploration. An urgency to reach for the stars is a formative passion and we must do it "not because it is easy, but because it is hard." Challenges are stepping stones to the realization of our dreams. So, just ask yourself, “Why choose to go to the Moon?”

Historically yours,