“We Choose the Moon…”

Cape Canaveral Tour 16 Nov 63 (Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.)

The 4th part of our lead up to the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon comes to us courtesy of the JFK Library and Museum

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade. Appealing to the spirit of adventure, to patriotic pride and to the cause of freedom, his words ignited one of the greatest technological mobilizations in U.S. history. Eight years later, on July 20, 1969, two American astronauts landed on the Moon’s surface.Here are three ways that you can join the JFK Presidential Library in celebrating the anniversary of this historic milestone.

Log on to WeChooseTheMoon.org

Relive the Apollo 11 adventure by logging on to www.WeChooseTheMoon.org, the JFK Presidential Library’s new interactive website that will recreate Apollo 11’s lunar mission, minute by minute, with an interactive experience using archival audio, video, photos and “real-time” transmissions. The site goes live on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. and will take off at 9:32 a.m. – exactly 40 years to the minute after the historic launch.

Visit our new exhibit “Moon Shot – JFK and Space Exploration”

This special exhibit in the Museum at the JFK Presidential Library celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing and President Kennedy’s grand vision that made the achievement possible.

Featuring three, never-before-displayed NASA prototype drawings of gear developed for the 1965 Mercury Atlas-9 Mission, this exhibit illustrates the elements of imagination and engineering that combined to achieve the successful Moon landing.

Click for more information about “Moon Shot — JFK and Space Exploration.”

Learn more about JFK’s role in the Space Race

Click to access the JFK Presidential Library’s collection of archival audio and photos related to JFK’s role in the space program. Listen in on a White House taped conversation as President Kennedy explains to NASA officials why landing on the Moon first is so important to the United States.