2 lugl 1961 anni - Goal set to land on moon

Descrizione:

Peace corps: Program launched by President Kennedy in 1961 through which young American volunteers helped with education, health, and other projects in developing countries around the world.

Kennedy also launched a series of international initiatives that captured the idealism of the early 1960s. One was the Peace Corps, which embodied the call to public service put forth in his inaugural address (“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”). Thousands of men and women agreed to devote two or more years as volunteers for projects such as teaching English to Filipino schoolchildren or helping African villagers obtain clean water. The Peace Corps also proved a low-cost Cold War weapon — and an extension of American “soft power” — that showed the developing world an alternative to communism. Kennedy championed space exploration as well. In a 1962 speech, he proposed that the nation commit itself to landing a man on the moon within the decade. The Soviets had already beaten the United States into orbit with the 1957 Sputnik satellite and the 1961 flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Capitalizing on America’s fascination with space, Kennedy persuaded Congress to increase funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which completed the research and development that pushed the United States ahead in the space race. In 1969, American astronauts would fulfill Kennedy’s ambition by walking on the lunar surface.

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