Bad Moon Rising

I'm just old enough to remember where I was when I heard that John F Kennedy had been murdered. And, consequently, I'm of the right age to be a fully paid up member of the conspiracy club, in relation not only to that crime, but to countless other subsequent events as well. When you think of the current occupant of the White House, you realise how far the Presidency has fallen in public esteem since Dallas 1963. John Kennedy was genuinely admired throughout much of the world, and his violent death seemed to mark the end of some sort of age of hope and innocence. At any event, while I have a particular interest in conspiracy theories relating to his murder, I also have an interest in the Apollo space programme which landed men on the moon. It was, of course, JFK who committed the USA to that particular programme, and his speeches making that committment are genuinely stirring, in a way which Dubya can only dream of. Here is JFK speaking to the Congress May 25, 1961 First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations--explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon--if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there. And speaking at Rice University, Houston, Texas September 12, 1962 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...... But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out--then we must be bold. Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because it is there." Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked. What a speech ! It is the phrase "some of which have not yet been invented" which really cracks me up, but you have to go a long way to better "We choose to (do these things) not because they are easy but because they are hard...". All said in the distinctive Kennedy Boston accent.