The book called The Race – The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon by James Schefter, Doubleday, NY, 1999. In the book is President Kennedy’s one sentence from a speech where he was honest, blunt, with a youthful and idealistic heart which changed everything about space, He said,  “I believe 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 Earth.”

At the time, both Russia and the US had put a man in space but not very far into space. The rockets which sent the first people into space would have to be redesigned; the first capsules were for one person – the journey to the moon takes 3 people. There was no method to disengage from the main rocket while one person continues to orbit the moon; the other 2 to land on the moon and then take samples. The vehicle would have to take off and connect back to the main rocket and come home safely. There was still many unknowns and many aspects of the journey to be created. This was a time when millions of people regularly watched the lift offs of the rockets and their short journeys.

The genius of the manned spaceflight team only became obvious later. They understood that the advanced work took time and must be done right. The goals were set were superhuman and dedication flowed from the top to the bottom of the chain. The hallmarks of the team were brilliance, innovation, passion and sacrifice. The only clock that counted was the countdown clock.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the space program had a great many unknowns but it was fortunate to be led by the right people for its time. One can imagine it was one thing to see the rockets go up successfully, but budgets and political considerations needed to be managed, all by people who were brilliant at science to those who were not. However the driving force was President Kennedy’s remark about going to the moon, landing, and coming back safely. Each were huge challenges and would lead to many problem solving exercises. The point is the people did it, does your company which you have invested in have a goal which at present is a dream? could it? then you would know what to look forward to.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.