ReZoom

Some of the men responsible for the Apollo 11 Moon mission remember the speech that called them to service on May 25, 1961.

Welcome to ReZoom's next installment of "I Remember," where we ask people where they were and what they were doing or thinking on special days in boomer history.

We launched the series remembering a special day for Elvis Presley. Now, you're probably asking yourself, who can follow the king? John Fitzgerald Kennedy, that's who.

On May 25, 1961, the young president made another memorable, stirring and historical speech, declaring America would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Spurred to action, the best and brightest responded. And on July 20, 1969, the world watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin realized Kennedy's challenge made eight years earlier. Below, some of those responsible for landing a man on the moon remember that speech in '61.

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin:

At that time I was at MIT pursuing doctoral studies, but the implications were clear. And I like to remind young audiences, and mature audiences, that following Sputnik and dogs going into space, that it was clear (America) was going to put a human into space.

The new president was installed January 20. And 20 days after Alan Sheppard's (inaugural U.S. space flight) John Kennedy made the rather bold commitment to land a man on the moon. I don't think they were clear at the time about bringing him back, though, but they were going to at least send him to the moon.

At MIT, it was certainly a commitment that opened up a lot of work while I was there to continue the outstanding work on celestial navigation, which eventually won the contract to build the Apollo guidance system.

The ramifications of the speech were evident and resonated with us: (quoting Kennedy) "We do things not because they're easy, but because they're hard."

Apollo flight director Gerry Griffin:

When JFK gave the speech in May 1961, I was a young engineer at Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California.

I had two reactions to JFK's speech. First, I thought the goal of landing a man and returning him safely to earth could be done, but I had no idea how long it would take. My experience in the unmanned satellite domain taught me it was a very tough proposition to launch anything into space and recover it safely. Going to the moon and back with people aboard would be much tougher. Even with that concern (maybe it was my youth and ignorance), I remember thinking that landing a man on the moon and getting him back safely might be done by the end of 1969, so why not give it a try.

The second reaction I had was that I knew I had to be a part of the effort, and I started a campaign to find my way to NASA. I almost made the move in 1962, but couldn't get together with NASA on salary. Finally, in June 1964, I swallowed my pride, took a pay cut to join NASA, moved to Houston and became a flight controller in Mission Control. With a wife and two small kids, the move probably didn't make much practical sense, but it turned out to be the smartest decision I ever made in my professional career.

Apollo flight director Glynn Lunney:

President Kennedy redefined the rules of the space race by challenging the guys who got into space first by saying, ‘Here, try to knock this chip off my shoulder. We're gonna go to the moon, land and return within the decade.' When you think about it, it was such a staggeringly bold decision and pronouncement that it made the United States and the Soviets both start from scratch again.

President Kennedy obviously had an inherently large faith in America and what we could do when we put our minds to it. Plus, I think the president wanted to take a step that was visible, clear and compelling to people.

NASA astronaut suit technician Joe Schmitt:

The pressure was enormous, but especially before the Apollo 11 flight. That would determine if we were going to make President Kennedy's deadline. So many people had spent so many hours doing the very best they could to get that mission off on time, and I don't think people understood just how much pressure we were all under. There were people in the program who had more important jobs than mine. But every person took his or her individual duties seriously. Nobody wanted to be the one who screwed up. I sure didn't.

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