DULUTH
ONE |
Apollo
11 launch
Astronaut
Armstrong
placing the
United State flag
on the moon
Earth
Rise
Gilruth
receiving
President's Award for
Distinguished Service
|
DULUTH TO THE MOON (continued)
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.
The
Apollo program was born,
the most audacious engineering
challenge in history.
Robert Gilruth was to lead it.
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.
AWARDS |