That time: Kennedy tried to stop the moon shot.

We all know Kennedy wanted to race against Russia and land a man on the moon. But what you might not know is that there was a time when Kennedy nearly tried to stop the moon shot. Let's rewind, take a deep breath, and dive into the craziness of this monumental moment in history.

January 20, 1961: A Bold New Vision

In his inaugural address, Kennedy spoke the now-iconic words:
"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."
This phrase, cemented in the American psyche, set the stage for bold challenges ahead. And one of the biggest of those was, of course, landing on the moon. But the moon shot wasn’t just about flying into space. It became symbolic of American ambition, determination, and competition in the Cold War.

April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin's Leap

The Soviet Union shot first. Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space with his one-orbit journey around Earth. This moment stoked the American drive to match, and beat, Soviet accomplishments. But little did we know, Kennedy wasn’t even fully convinced yet.

April 17-20, 1961: The Bay of Pigs Catastrophe

While space ambitions brewed, the Bay of Pigs disaster almost derailed the entire administration. This messy failure caused Kennedy to question how to lead the country in these uncertain times. Space exploration, an effort so ambitious and risky, had not yet found the firm footing it needed.

May 25, 1961: The Man on the Moon Goal

In a Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs, Kennedy made the boldest commitment ever:
The United States should set a goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely by the end of the decade.
And suddenly, NASA was on the clock.

But here's the kicker—despite the grand vision, Kennedy’s moon shot was on hold for nearly a year due to one crucial decision: How to get there.

The Big Decision: How Do We Get There?

Should we build one massive ship to go straight to the moon and back? Or create smaller ships, each with a specific task? Or do we use multiple vehicles, refuel them along the way, and avoid all risks?
This one decision was a bottleneck. Without this decision, nothing could move forward: No ship designs, no contractors, no materials. Just endless questions.

May, 1962: One Year Later

One year after Kennedy’s famous speech, very little was moving forward. NASA had no finalized plan, and the U.S. was sluggish in their response while Russia kept making strides. They had the momentum, and we were falling behind.

September 20, 1963: The Bold Proposal to the Soviets

In an even more unexpected move, Kennedy proposed cooperation with the Soviet Union on the moon mission. Why compete when we could unite? "Why, therefore, should man’s first flight to the moon be a matter of national competition?" Kennedy asked in a speech at the United Nations.

This was not the competitive vision everyone had in mind, and Kennedy’s attempt to de-escalate the space race was radical. "The clouds have lifted a little," he said about U.S.-Soviet relations. The moon shot was now viewed not just as a race, but as a potential symbol of unity—though the world had a different fate in mind.

And Then, Kennedy Was Shot

Just 40 days after that speech, Kennedy was assassinated, and with his death, a new chapter began. Suddenly, the national vision of landing a man on the moon wasn’t just a goal—it was a need to honor a fallen president’s ambition. It became a beacon of American resolve.

This sudden urgency gave the moon mission its final push, and America was all in. Kennedy’s formula became burned into the collective mind of Americans: U.S. GOAL = Man + Moon + Decade.

In the end, we did land on the moon, and we did it by the end of the decade. But if it hadn’t been for Kennedy’s complex decisions—where he nearly tried to stop it—we might have never gotten there in the first place. The moon shot didn’t happen without struggles, political pushes, and what almost became a cancelled mission.

In the face of these challenges, it's crazy to think how close we came to abandoning what would go on to be one of humanity’s greatest achievements.