The Race to Control Space

“We have vowed that we shall see space filled not with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding"
-President Kennedy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962

President Kennedy was eager for the United  States to lead the way in exploring space.  The Soviet Union was ahead of the United States, having launched the first satellite Sputnik in 1957 and the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to orbit around the earth in 1961.

President Kennedy said, “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.” In 1961 Kennedy asked Congress to approve more than twenty two billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the moon before the end of the decade.

Telegram A.
On April 12, 1961 cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin from the Soviet Union orbited around the 
earth in 108 minutes. The same day President Kennedy wrote a telegram to Premier Nikita 
Khrushchev congratulating the Soviets on the first successful manned flight.

Memo B.
A few days later President Kennedy wrote a memo on April 20, 1961 to Vice President 
Lyndon B. Johnson, who was the chairman of the Space Council.

Memo C.
Eight days later, Vice President Johnson responded to President Kennedy’s memo.


1. In the telegram to Premier Nikita Khrushchev, how does President Kennedy say he would like the United States and the Soviet Union to work on exploring outer space?      
President Kennedy says he would like the Soviet Union and the United States to work on exploring outer space by working together in order to "obtain the greatest benefit to mankind" He wants both nations to be able to explore outer space and share their knowledge with one another. 
2. In the memo to Vice President Lyndon Johnson, what is President Kennedy's main objective?        
In the memo to vice president Lyndon Johnson, President Kennedy's main objective was for him to "be in charge of making an overall survey of where we stand in space" To break this down, President Kennedy wants to know the answers to a few questions, which consist of things like: can we surpass the soviets in space, can we speed up the space program here, etc.
3. What is the main difference between what President Kennedy says in the telegram and what he says in the memo in terms of how the Americans and the Soviets should explore
outer space?        
The main difference in the telegram compared to the memo is that in the telegram, President Kennedy seems as though he wants to work with the Soviet Union to gain more information about outer space and work together to explore it, but in his memo, President Kennedy basically wants to do much better than the Soviets and some how beat them in the space race. These are two very different perspectives that are depicted.
4. Why do you think President Kennedy appears to be giving two conflicting statements?      
I believe President Kennedy is giving two conflicting statements because he wants to seem friendly to the Soviet Union in order to gain information from them, as well as have them not be worried about the U.S. surpassing them in the race, by reassuring them of our trust. In reality though, i think that President Kennedy's real perspective is what he stated in the memo, because it is more private and is to the Vice President, not a Soviet. 
5. How does Vice President Johnson connect the space race with the Cold War in his April 28th memo to President Kennedy?       
Vice President Johnson connects the space race with the cold war in his April 28th memo to President Kennedy by referring to how the Soviets are ahead of the United States (which they once were in the cold war) Another way he relates the space race to the cold war is talk about how we have greater resources, because we did during the cold war as well. Lastly, the soviets were the first ones in space, but we were the first to create the atomic bomb. 
6. What are Vice President Johnson’s suggestions for the President?      

Vice President Johnson's suggestions for the president are that the U.S needs to "firm up it's objectives and employ its resources" as well as "make aggressive efforts as the technological gains as well as the international rewards" (in order to gain leadership) and we need to be the first to get to the moon, it was sort of like a key propaganda factor. To conclude, more resources as well as effort needed to be put into the space program.