Thursday, March 4, 2010

What was once impossible

Here's a brief excerpt of Kennedy's famous moon speech, as well as footage of the moonwalk, in which you will hear the most famous phrase ever uttered by an astronaut. See if you can make it out.
Also, fill in the blanks in Kennedy's speech (below):

"I believe this nation should ____________ itself to achieving the goal, before this ___________ 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 _____________, or more important for the __________________ exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to ________________."
President John F. Kennedy, speech to U.S. Congress, May 25, 1961.
Discussion questions:
1. Can you find two instances in Kennedy's speech of politically incorrect language, by today's standards?
2. What percentage of the population do you think believed this was an achievable goal?
3. Can this be compared to a world leader today announcing his country's intention to send a manned mission to Mars? Or is Mars a much more ambitious and unachievable goal?

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