Question

"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 organise 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".
— President John F. Kennedy, speech at Rice University, September 12, 1962

The main purpose of this speech was to win public support for which of the following?

• A. Controlling the spread of nuclear weapons
• B. Surpassing the Soviet Union in space race
• C. Establishing a missile defence system on Moon
• D. Cooperating with communist countries in exploring space

Answer 1

The correct option is B Surpassing the Soviet Union in space race

The Soviet Union placed the first satellite Sputnik into space. They also sent the first animal to orbit Earth in 1957 and the first man, Yuri Gagarin to space in 1961. These achievements pressurised the US to expand its space programmes. John F. Kennedy's speech was the announcement of their expansion of space programme to surpass the Soviet Union.