On September 12, 1962 , exactly half a century ago, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, delivered a speech at Rice University in which he pointed out that in less than a decade the goal of visiting the Moon would be achieved . Space, he said at the time, was a "new frontier", a "new sea" in the era of discovery that was coming. The conquest of space had become for Kennedy a "historical and strategic imperative that challenged Americans to show their greatness" and would be the greatest sign of global leadership. And he assured that at that time the country was in an "hour of change and challenge, a decade of hope and fear, in an era of knowledge but also of ignorance."
Said and done: seven years later, in 1969, the Apollo 11 expedition reached the Earth's satellite with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins on board. Several Apollo missions followed that also managed to land on the moon. However, after the end of the Apollo program, no other country has returned to the Moon.
