La Guerra Fria

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union set the ground for what was, and still is considered an amazing competition: the “space race”. In October, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite that was going to orbit Earth. After Sputnik 1’s success, many were dumbfounded and others were apprehensive. The fact that the Russians had the capability to launch arocket with a satellite made Americans fearful. If the Soviets could launch a rocket, they could also put an atomic bomb in it. Because of Sputnik 1, the Soviets were on the space race lead; this obligated the Americans to set their priorities straight. On May 25th, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed the U.S. congress, saying:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving thegoal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish (article IX).
The U.S. government’s number one priority then, was to send a man to the moon.
After somefailed attempts to launch rockets and control moon landers (Apollo 1 tragedy for example), the Americans took a step further than the Russians, and landed men on the moon. On July 16th, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew was launched into space. Four days after liftoff, July 20th, Neil Alden Armstrong and Edwin E. (“Buzz”) Aldrin Jr., set foot on the moon while third official Michael Collins orbited themoon waiting for them in the command module. After successfully completing the Apollo 11 mission, the three astronauts ‘splashed down’ near Hawaii on July 24th, 1969. Having performed several scientific experiments, collected lunar rock samples, and setting foot on a completely new world to man, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were now a part of history.
Forty-one years ago, NASA (NationalAeronautics and Space Administration) made it possible for the United States of America and the world to witness how man set foot in an otherwise extraterrestrial place. In a matter of hours, Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon caused the media to go ballistic on its coverage of the moon landing. Different perspectives came to light within the U.S. at that time. The general outlook was that the moonlanding was a “landmark in human history” (Sullivan 1969). In his article Man on the Moon: A Fateful Step into a Vast Unknown, Sullivan refers to the landing on the moon as one of the most important events ever to take place in history because “In the past, as a rule, only a few were aware of the events that altered the course of man’s destiny” (pp. E1). This time, everyone knew what was happening,when it was happening, and what the purpose of it happening was. Many also considered the Sputnik 1 launch as a threat, and Sullivan argues that Apollo “has reawakened the American people to do what dedicated men… can do in the face of seemingly insuperable problems” (1969).
Excitement was intensely flowing inside every proud American’s blood stream, when they heard Neil Armstrong say “Houston,Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed”, or “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, and when “The television voice came in loud and clear: ‘Man on the moon’” (Guillory, 1969). The 1960’s in the United States was a decade with ‘I have a dream’ speeches, presidential and civil rights leader assassinations, and it was the midst of the Vietnam War. Americans needed a breakurgently. This is why the perception of the landing on the moon at the time was of extreme acceptance and celebration, regarded as the best thing that had ever happened in American history, and probably human history as a whole. Guillory (1969), also mentions that according to the Smithsonian assistant director of aeronautics Frederick Durant, the moon-landing mission was an event that “…could...