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When you were a kid did you dream of being an astronaut? Did you what to go to the moon? Like many people this dream was a goal in this research paper I will prove that this dream became a reality to be the best at ones goals and see them through. President Kennedy showed us all he was a hero by getting America to support the American space program, and get three heroes on the moon.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite and caught America and the whole world off guard. This was the Soviet's first push in the historical "Space Race." There was great fear surrounding this launch; a certain question was on everyone's minds, could the Soviets send Nuclear weapons with ballistic missiles from Europe to the U.S.? Even before the U.S. could respond the Soviets launched Sputnik II carrying an increased payload and the first dog in space named Laika, it seemed the U.S. space program would never catch up. In order for the U.S. to win the Space Race they would have to succeed in putting a man in earth orbit, but it was on April 12, 1961 just four years after sputnik was launched, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went into earth orbit edging out the United States' chance to put the first man in space. It was on April 14, 1961 two days after the Soviets put the first man in space, when President John F. Kennedy decided to put faith in the still young NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) program. NASA, established on October 1, 1958, had the historical job of putting an American on the moon. It was on May 25, 1961 when Kennedy finally made public his commitment "to land an American safely on the moon by the end of the decade," (Shepard 28).

The pressure was on the NASA, but all eyes were on James E. Webb, NASA Administrator, who was not even certain the U.S. could beat the Soviets to the moon. Chief Scientist Hugh Dryden calculated...