If I would say, my fellow-citizens, that we shall send
to the moon,
240,000 miles away from the control-station in Houston,
a giant rocket, more than 300 feet tall, the length of this footballfield,
made of new metal-alloys, some of which have not yet been
invented,
capable of standing heat and stresses,
several times more than have ever been experienced,
fitted together with a precision, better than the finest watch,
carrying all the equipment for propulsion, guidence, control,
communications, food and survival...
on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body,
and then return it safely to earth,
re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour,
causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun,
almost as hot as it is here today (smile)...
and do all this and do it right,
and do it first, before this decade is out,
than we must be bold.
|