“This is one step for man, one giant leap for humanity.” This is one of the most memorable quotes said by Neil Armstrong (1969) when he landed on the moon. But do you know the previous events that led to this extraordinary result? Also, do you know all the other amazing space achievements? This includes President Kennedy's speech rationale, successful use of satellites, and previous manned missions. All these events helped land a man on the moon, which soon brought the space race to an end. The course of action taken by America helped lead them to success when they landed a man on the Moon. “First, I believe this nation should strive to achieve the goal, before the end of this decade, of landing a man on the Moon. and bringing him safely back to earth.” These are the words of President John F. Kennedy (1961) during his special message before a joint session of Congress. Kennedy's speech was so stirring and encouraging that it united the nation under one cause: landing a man on the moon. Sadly, Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, two years after his target was announced. His death sparked a new fire as America worked in unison to put a man on the moon, one step at a time. The two space programs involved in the space race were NASA, which stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Soviet space program. NASA was founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 29, 1958. It funded and oversaw all of America's space missions during the space race, and is still in operation today, which helps preserve NASA's history. In contrast, the Soviet space program began around the 1930s and ended in 1991 when it was replaced with the Russ...... middle of paper ......: Past: Pioneer 5. Np, nd Web. 20 December 2013.Sullivan, George. The Day We Walked on the Moon: A Photographic History of Space Exploration. New York: Scholastic, 1990. Print. "The Decision to Go to the Moon: President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 Speech to Congress." The decision to go to the Moon: speech by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 before Congress. Np, nd Web. November 11, 2013. “Project Mercury – Flight Summary.” Project Mercury - Flight Summary. Np, nd Web. December 27, 2013.Van Riper, A. Bowdoin. “The 1969 Moon Landing: The First Humans to Walk on Another World.” Science and its times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. vol. 7: from 1950 to today. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 19-22. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. October 24. 2013.