The Race to Control Space

“We have vowed that we shall see space filled not with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding"
-President Kennedy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962

President Kennedy was eager for the United  States to lead the way in exploring space.  The Soviet Union was ahead of the United States, having launched the first satellite Sputnik in 1957 and the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to orbit around the earth in 1961.

President Kennedy said, “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.” In 1961 Kennedy asked Congress to approve more than twenty two billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the moon before the end of the decade.

First, go to this website at the JFK Museum. Read the introduction and the JFK and Space material.


Read the telegram and the two memos and answer the SIX questions that follow:

Telegram A.
On April 12, 1961 cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin from the Soviet Union orbited around the
earth in 108 minutes. The same day President Kennedy wrote a telegram to Premier Nikita
Khrushchev congratulating the Soviets on the first successful manned flight.

Memo B.
A few days later President Kennedy wrote a memo on April 20, 1961 to Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson, who was the chairman of the Space Council.

Memo C.
Eight days later, Vice President Johnson responded to President Kennedy’s memo.


1. In the telegram to Premier Nikita Khrushchev, how does President Kennedy say he would like the United States and the Soviet Union to work on exploring outer space?     
President Kennedy says he would like the United States and the Soviet Union to work together for the overall benefit of mankind.



2. In the memo to Vice President Lyndon Johnson, what is President Kennedy's main objective?       
It seems that President Kennedy's main objective is to beat the Soviets in the space race, as he keeps asking how they could win.



3. What is the main difference between what President Kennedy says in the telegram and what he says in the memo in terms of how the Americans and the Soviets should explore
outer space?       
In the telegram, Kennedy says that the USA and the USSR should work together in space exploration, while in the memo he focuses on how the USA can beat the USSR in the space race.


  
4. Why do you think President Kennedy appears to be giving two conflicting statements?     
He doesn't want the Soviets to be aware that he is trying to make every possible advance to beat them. This way they will be none the wiser when they are surpassed.



5. How does Vice President Johnson connect the space race with the Cold War in his April 28th memo to President Kennedy?      
Johnson mentions that the Department of Defense would like to increase research in solid propellant boosters. This boosters would most likely be researched for the purpose of intercontinental missiles.


6. What are Vice President Johnson’s suggestions for the President?     
Overall, Johnson suggests that the budget for space research is heavily increased, since the only reason the research has not been nonstop is due to a lack of financial means.