Apollo 11 and the Cold War

Today is the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission, which on 20 July 1969 successfuly landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. There is of course a huge amount of material on the web for the anniversary, including contributions from the BBC, the Daily Telegraph and NASA itself. This article puts the conflict firmly within the context of the Cold War, showing that Kennedy’s speech in 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade was a clear response to American fears that the USSR was dominating the space race. It was thought that such a mission would help to rebuild national prestige and restore Kennedy’s reputation after the recent debacle at the Bay of Pigs. After Kennedy’s assassination it almost became a sacred duty for Lyndon Johnson to fulfil this pledge, despite the massive expense of the Apollo programme