Page 19 - The South China Business Journal
P. 19
the National Space Council’s recommendation, President Donald J. Trump signed a directive that
puts human exploration back at the core of the space program.
May 25, 1961, isn’t one of those dates most But for all this progress, modern space
Americans remember. A hot Thursday in exploration hasn’t quite managed to capture
the Nation’s capital greeted President John F. the imagination of ordinary Americans the way
Kennedy—barely four months into his term—as it once did 50 years ago. In part, that drop-off
he made his way to Capitol Hill to address a joint was inevitable: The Space Race was a creature of
session of Congress. its time, driven into life by existential concerns
about a rapidly advancing Soviet Union.
But what the young President said that day
would change the course of the 20th century. “I Another reason, however, is vision. NASA keeps
believe that this Nation should commit itself to pushing science forward, but without a concrete
achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of Presidential aspiration to guide it, there are
landing a man on the Moon and returning him fewer opportunities to earn public support or
safely to Earth.” inspire the next generation of scientists and
engineers to join up.
The Space Race, as it became known, defined
American ambition in the 1960s. Spurred by a That project of renewal won’t happen
fierce Cold War rivalry, it offered a rare bridge overnight. But there was a clear place to
across the political spectrum by channeling start. This June, President Donald J. Trump
much of the country’s patriotism, national announced he would reconvene the National
defense, and scientific progress toward a single, Space Council for the first time in 24 years. The
powerful goal. Forty-five years ago this week, group held its inaugural meeting in October,
the race culminated when NASA’s final Apollo with Vice President Mike Pence presiding. It
mission landed on the surface of the Moon. And reached a unanimous recommendation that
no human has walked there since. same afternoon.
The National Aeronautics and Space The result is Space Policy Directive 1, which
Administration (NASA) has continued to deliver President Trump signed on December 11. “The
astonishing scientific breakthroughs throughout directive I’m signing today will refocus America’s
the past half-century. In 1981, less than a decade space program on human exploration and
after the final moon landing, NASA launched its discovery,” the President said. “It marks an
first space shuttle. And on the Fourth of July in important step in returning American astronauts
1997, America became the first country to land a to the moon for the first time since 1972 for long-
rover on Mars, allowing NASA to conduct more term exploration and use.”■
extensive experiments on the planet’s surface
than ever before.
South China Business Journal 19
puts human exploration back at the core of the space program.
May 25, 1961, isn’t one of those dates most But for all this progress, modern space
Americans remember. A hot Thursday in exploration hasn’t quite managed to capture
the Nation’s capital greeted President John F. the imagination of ordinary Americans the way
Kennedy—barely four months into his term—as it once did 50 years ago. In part, that drop-off
he made his way to Capitol Hill to address a joint was inevitable: The Space Race was a creature of
session of Congress. its time, driven into life by existential concerns
about a rapidly advancing Soviet Union.
But what the young President said that day
would change the course of the 20th century. “I Another reason, however, is vision. NASA keeps
believe that this Nation should commit itself to pushing science forward, but without a concrete
achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of Presidential aspiration to guide it, there are
landing a man on the Moon and returning him fewer opportunities to earn public support or
safely to Earth.” inspire the next generation of scientists and
engineers to join up.
The Space Race, as it became known, defined
American ambition in the 1960s. Spurred by a That project of renewal won’t happen
fierce Cold War rivalry, it offered a rare bridge overnight. But there was a clear place to
across the political spectrum by channeling start. This June, President Donald J. Trump
much of the country’s patriotism, national announced he would reconvene the National
defense, and scientific progress toward a single, Space Council for the first time in 24 years. The
powerful goal. Forty-five years ago this week, group held its inaugural meeting in October,
the race culminated when NASA’s final Apollo with Vice President Mike Pence presiding. It
mission landed on the surface of the Moon. And reached a unanimous recommendation that
no human has walked there since. same afternoon.
The National Aeronautics and Space The result is Space Policy Directive 1, which
Administration (NASA) has continued to deliver President Trump signed on December 11. “The
astonishing scientific breakthroughs throughout directive I’m signing today will refocus America’s
the past half-century. In 1981, less than a decade space program on human exploration and
after the final moon landing, NASA launched its discovery,” the President said. “It marks an
first space shuttle. And on the Fourth of July in important step in returning American astronauts
1997, America became the first country to land a to the moon for the first time since 1972 for long-
rover on Mars, allowing NASA to conduct more term exploration and use.”■
extensive experiments on the planet’s surface
than ever before.
South China Business Journal 19
