Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States of America. On May 25, 1961, Kennedy approached a joint session of Congress to appeal for the necessary funds to send a man to the moon. While this speech was made during the space race between the US and Russia and nationalistic ideals were at heart, JFK captured the adventure and imagination of space travel, as well as the economic benefits of having a well funded space program through job creation. Because of JFK’s dedication to funding a healthy space program, NASA’s budget peaked in 1966 as 4.41% of the complete federal budget. In 2012, NASA represented only 0.48% of the federal budget. His goal of having a man on the moon by the end of the decade was accomplished in July of 1969. Unfortunately, no human has set foot on the moon since 1972 and humankind has not ventured anywhere else since. Listen to the speech in its entirety and read the transcript here: bit.ly/18WO0RR 19/11/13 episode of the IFLS show now available: bit.ly/17OlykZ
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 10:47:00 +0000
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