In the year of 1961, President John F. Kennedy started a dramatic expansion of the United States space program and he committed the nation to the ambitious goal to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite ‘Sputnik’ which started the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Kennedy’s goal was to refresh America’s momentum. He wanted America to out shine the Soviets. He felt that we needed to surpass them and show the world that the USA was the most powerful country. On May 25th, 1961, he stood before the US Congress to deliver a special message on ‘Urgent National Needs’. President John F Kennedy asked for an additional $7 Billion to $9 Billion within the next 5 years for the space program.  This was a major way that America won the ongoing Cold War.  We outspent the Soviet Communists and our economy proved to be far more powerful.  Today our Space program depends on cooperation not competition.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Space-Program.aspx

Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. He was also an ‘aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and a university professor. Before becoming a Astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the U.S Navy and served in the Korean war. After the Korean war, Neil Armstrong earned a bachelor’s degree at ‘Purdue University’ . Armstrong’s second and last spaceflight was a mission commander of the ‘Apollo 11’ moon landing in July of 1969.  Armstrong spent 8 days, 14 hours, and 12 minutes in outer space. Neil Armstrong recently died on August 5th of this past year at the age of 82 in Cincinnati Ohio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong