WE choose to go to the moon- A story of how nationalism turned into a global achievement

On September 2, 1962 President John F. Kennedy made the momentous speech of the century. He said- “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too”.

This speech marked the beginning of the decade long effort of the United States to beat the Soviet Union in the ‘space-race’ during the Cold War era. Thousands of engineers, scientists, doctors, mechanics, clerks, and other professionals came together on the mission of the United States to take two men to the surface of the moon and bring them home safely.

Several scientific advancements were made even before the Apollo era by both US and former USSR. The USSR was the pioneer in many great leaps in space science and exploration, including the launch of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. But none of these feats caught the public eye like the moon landing on January 20^th 1969. The Sputnik rather terrified the western world. 

Space, was and still remains, to a great extent, an unknown frontier. The US decided to explore the unexplored. The first manned mission to the moon was not aimed at scientific exploration of the moon, it was the US trying to make a point to the entire world of its capacity and power; the success of moon landing was ‘supposed’ to be charged with nationalistic mentality among the American people.

However, the world refused to perceive the moon landing the way US government initially intended to; Apollo 11’s mission not only is the story of the first-ever manned space flight to the moon but also how nationalistic environment gave rise a global achievement.

WE in JFK’s speech meant People of the United States of America. However, after the moon landing, WE became the human race. The entire world was stuck in front of television screens rejoicing together as Neil Armstrong set his first step on the lunar surface. Newspapers across the world printed “Men walk on the moon” or other variants of the same message, in bold on the first page; it was not ‘Americans’ on the Moon, it was humans. Michael Collins in an interview to the BBC recalls that in every country he visited after the Apollo 11 mission, the people there considered the crew of Apollo 11 as astronauts from planet Earth more than the USA.  

For the scientists, the moon landing is bound to be a matter of monumental significance. However, the scientific feat also represented a sense of hope and joy for the common man and woman who were recovering from the miseries of World War II, amid the Cold War, Vietnam War, suffering security dilemma from former USSR nuclear weapons, et al.

Therefore, next time when you look at the moon, think about the significance of travelling a quarter of million kilometres through unexplored space to step on Moon.

We now live in a world where mankind has stepped on the Moon, on which innumerable poets and romantics have written poems and songs. The moon we see now isn't the moon of the 60s.

The moon landing to me holds not only scientific significance but also political, social, philosophical, and moral. It is a story of how mankind, even in dire times, can rise above conflicts and differences, and work together towards the greater good.

Nikhil Erinjingat,
3rd Year Law Student at Ramaiah College of Law Bangalore.

Image credit: https://i1.pickpik.com/photos/321/403/798/the-urban-landscape-kaohsiung-taiwan-moon-preview.jpg