John F. Kennedy announced on 25 May the United States would commit itself to a lunar landing before 1970. Following the proclamation, the US mobilized both human and financial resources. NASA’s budget, for example, was increased by 500 percent in a 3-year time period. At the height of the NASA moon mission, NASA employed some 34,000 people and over 375,000 university and industrial contractors worked for the government. By the end of 1962, the core of the Apollo Project was in place. The Kennedy announcement was made partially for nationalistic reasons during a period of the Cold War in which the Soviet Union demonstrated parity, if not superiority, in technical superiority. Kennedy believed that a lunar landing would provide a very public example of American strength.
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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Kennedy announces plans to land men on the moon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3378, accessed 26 November 2024.]
