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we choose to go to the moon
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we choose to go to the moon in this
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decade and do the other things
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not because they are easy but because
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they are hard
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no single space project in this period
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will be more impressive to mankind or
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more important for the long range
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exploration of space
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[Music]
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Neil Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind” 50 years ago on July 20, 1969, planting an American flag on the lunar surface and effectively ending the space race that was heating up the Cold War. The Soviet Union was leading the race after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in April 1961, driving the United States to make a substantial investment in human spaceflight and spurring the creation of NASA’s ambitious Apollo program. After nearly a decade of tragic sacrifice and significant expense, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins fulfilled President Kennedy’s mission of landing a man on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth, an astronomical feat that was accomplished with the hard work of more than 400,000 Americans working tirelessly behind the scenes.
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