The Space The Russians took a head start on the space race. The Americans, at that time, "looked down" on Soviet technology and thought that they couldn't accomplish anything complicated. When the Russians announced their attempt to launch a satellite into the orbit, the Americans simply didn't care, but when Sputnik was launched into the orbit, many Americans were shocked. They feared the Russian satellite in the orbit and some gave up on the American educational system. In response to this Russian success, President Dwight D. Eisenhower reacted by signing the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which led to the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Later, Vice President Lyndon Johnson polled leaders in NASA, industry, and the military and reported that the United States would take the lead from the by sending a man around the Moon or landing a man on the Moon.

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy announced to the world that, "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...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish...."