Apollo 11On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union, our main rival during the Civil War, launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1 (Piddock, Zissou). Fear that the Soviet Union would take control of space; President John F. Kennedy met with NASA to discuss putting a man on the moon (Piddock, Zissou). The Apollo 11 mission was not only the first moon landing attempt: it was a giant step for humanity that had various consequences (SV; SV). At the NASA meeting, Kennedy said, "Whatever the cost, we must put a man on the Moon before the Soviets." There is nothing more important” (Piddock, Zissou). On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy delivered his speech rallying the nation to support his decision (Piddock, Zissou). In his speech, he said: "We will choose to go to the Moon in this decade...not because it is easy, but because it is difficult, because this goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because this The challenge is one that we are willing to accept, that we do not want to postpone and that we intend to win” (Piddock, Zissou). The United States was in a race to put a man on the Moon before anyone else, and the main reason was political considerations. No other reason motivated them more to return (Encyclopedia Britannica). After making some final decisions, NASA had chosen its astronauts: Neil Armstrong, who would be the mission commander, Michael Collins, the command module pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., the lunar module pilot ( General statement: Specific example) (Piddock, Zissou). The hardest decision to make was who they were going to choose to be the first man to walk on the moon, because they didn't want to base it on individual desire. Deke Slayton finished in photo...... middle of paper ......nc., 2014. Web. March 4, 2014. “Apollo 11.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, EncyclopediaBritannica, Inc., 2014. Web. February 20, 2014. Brumley, Jeff. “When man walked on the Moon.” Proquest.com. Florida Times Union, July 19, 2009. Web. March 5, 2014. Chaikin, Andrew. A man on the Moon. New York: Penguin Group, 1994. Print. Glish, John. “Reunion Tour Begins for Apollo 11 Crew.” Proquest.com. TribunePublishing Company LLC, July 17, 1989. Web. March 7, 2014. Piddock, Charles., Zissou, Rebecca. “To the Moon.” Junior School. Electronic library., December 10, 2012. Internet. February 20, 2014. Schraff, Anne. American heroes of exploration and flight. New Jersey: EnslawPublishers, Inc, 1996. Print. “Space exploration”. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014.Web. March 4, 2014. Watts, Franklin. American astronauts and spaceships. David C. Knight, 1970. Print.