In September 1962, in his famous speech at Rice University, John F. Kennedy excited America with his: “We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon… We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Now the Democratic president, who had set the objective of placing a man on Earth’s satellite and who was speaking more than a year after the Soviet Union had made history by making Yuri Gagarin the first man in space, clearly revealed the importance of the space race between the two great powers of the Cold War.
Assassinated in November 1963, Kennedy would never see Neil Armstrong immortalize the phrase: “It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for humanity” when he set foot on the lunar surface for the first time on July 20, 1969. At that time, Republican Richard Nixon occupied the White House, having won the election the previous year, after his defeat in 1960… against Kennedy. Nixon made what he himself called “the most historic phone call ever made from the White House,” calling Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they skipped across the Sea of Tranquility, before rejoining Michael Collins aboard Apollo 11. “Because of what you have done, the heavens have become part of the world of men, and by speaking to us from the Sea of Tranquility, you inspire us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and peace of mind for the Earth,” the president then stated.
More than 56 years after the achievement of Apollo 11, the fascination with space seems to continue to be very present in the White House. Just a few days ago Donald Trump presented his strategy for space. With the Executive Order Ensuring American Superiority in Space, the president defines some clear priorities: returning a Man to the Moon by 2028, placing nuclear reactors in orbit and developing missile technologies that can be launched into space before the end of this decade. Trump, who in his first term (between 2017-2021) had already outlined his objectives for a new American conquest of space, is now calling on the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies to create a space security strategy. Right now, the priority is the return to the Moon by 2028, with the establishment of a “permanent lunar outpost” by 2030.
Now, if in the 1960s, the USA’s great rival was the Soviet Union, today it is China that wants to reach the Moon by 2030 and build a nuclear power plant there by 2035. And Donald Trump, despite the challenges he faces here on Earth – from his declared war on drug trafficking, which threatens to slide into an open conflict with Venezuela, to the war already underway in Ukraine which Washington seeks to put an end to, including the disclosure of the Epstein files – seems committed to Doing the same Big Space again. Or, to quote the title of one of Tintin’s albums: Objective Moon. And then, who knows, set out to conquer Mars.
Executive editor of News Diary