Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, thereby establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA's first project, the Vanguard satellite, added 150 researchers from the Naval Research Laboratory to its own staff of 8,000 and paved the way for the Mercury space program (1958-63). The strong scientific component formed the base for NASA's technical leadership. By the end of 1960, the organization had built a relatively comprehensive space program.
In 1959 NASA began preparations for a manned space flight to the moon. By October of 1960, three aerospace firms had received contracts from NASA to deliver plans for a lunarbound vehicle dubbed Apollo. Even so, Congress refused to make a definitive effort toward turning the dream into a reality. It would take another Soviet advance-this time the manned space flight of Major Yuri A. Gagarin-to spur the government into action. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made his position clear to Congress. "I believe," declared Kennedy, "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" (Kennedy in Compton, p. 6). The space race had officially begun.
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