The Space Race and the Arms Race
The Cuban Missile Crisis is over and we survived it. I've been thinking about the connection between the rockets going to the Moon and the ones pointed at us.
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Tag: cold-war
The Cuban Missile Crisis, From Ohio
Kennedy went on television tonight and told us the Soviets have nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida. We may be going to war.
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We Choose to Go to the Moon
President Kennedy spoke at Rice University today. "We choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard." I read the whole speech in the paper. I read it twice. The neighbor Harold says it's still a waste of money. I told Harold the…
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Before the Decade Is Out
President Kennedy told Congress we're going to the Moon. Before the decade is out. That's 1969, eight years from now. The Moon. My neighbor Harold says it's a waste of money. I told Harold that people probably said the same thing about Columbus. Harold said Columbus didn't cost four billion…
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The Russians Did It First
Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth this morning while I was eating breakfast. The radio announcer said it so matter-of-factly that for a second I thought I heard wrong. I put down my fork and turned up the volume. The Russians put a man in space. First.
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Gagarin
They beat us. A Soviet man orbited the Earth today and I don't know how to feel about it except wrong-footed and shaken and strangely moved.
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The U-2 Affair
Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union yesterday in a U-2 spy plane. I don't know why I'm writing about this in a space notebook, but it feels connected.
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The Beep That Changed Everything
Last night I stayed up past midnight listening to a radio broadcast I still can't quite believe was real.
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