First and only moonship - the development of the Apollo Command and Service Module

Abstract

In April 1961, when the Soviet Union chalked up another space record by launch ing the first man into space, America was already deep in the political doldrums of the 'Cuban missile crisis'. Following its ignominious defeat in the 'Bay of Pigs' confrontation, the nation needed a boost to its collective morale. Thus it was a combination of events that led President John F. Kennedy to make one of the most famous political directives of all time. On 25 May 1961, he made the following declaration to the US Congress: 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 Earth. No single space project in this period will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. From that point on, NASA had a goal, the political backing and the money to turn the tables on the Soviet Union and take the lead in the race to the Moon. To say that Kennedy's speech galvanised NASA and the nascent space industry would be an understatement; the job of defining the mission and specifying the spacecraft to realise that mission began in earnest.