May 25, 1961, just 43 days after the Soviet flight, President Kennedy stood before the nation and set forth a challenge. "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 the earth... But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon - it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there."

The Apollo program was born, the most audacious engineering challenge in history. Robert Gilruth was to lead it from the new Manned Spacecraft Center to be located south of Houston, Texas. In an amazingly brief time, the Manned Spacecraft Center was built, the Gemini flights were flown, and the Apollo spacecraft was built, all as Gilruth coordinated.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, placing the American flag and telling millions around the world, "one small step for man - one giant leap for mankind."

The steps from childhood to the leader of a nation’s effort, from the hillside of Duluth to one small step for man on the moon, Robert Gilruth achieved his youthful dreams of building an airplane. With this airplane, he changed the world’s vision of the earth and the possibilities of mankind.