To the Moon

In April of '57 the US got quite the shock The Soviets launched Sputnik The space satellite rock We fell behind in the race from that very day, That is, until we elected a President named J F K... Only three months into his term 1961, April, back then Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth Those Russians were at it again JFK circled the wagons with the White House clan Told 'em ~ America's got to win this race in the end... Alan Shephard went up in the month of May But as fast as he shot up, just that fast he came down Compared to Gagarin, he was a monkey, a clown Strapped tight to a board--rigid, upright He did nothing but endure the vertical flight ~Unlike Gagarin, who manually controlled his takeoff and landing, the ultimate goal Then Grissom went up in the month of July He seemed to fly nicely and pretty high But at the end of the day His near-disastrous landing Clearly was NOT 'A-OK." And by February '62 When Glenn orbited the Earth Those Soviets led us by quite a wide berth. Kennedy grimaced, fuming inside He reckoned it was time for us to take pride in our space program, to date a big bust ~ In the race 'gainst the Soviets, a win was a must So he gathered his courage and adjusted his vision Set out for Rice University, appeared on television Challenging us, coaxing us, squeezing us, urging us with this daring question-- so the Soviets wouldn't be 'purging' us: Some people ask, 'Why?' To them I reply with all that I've got ~ Why not? Then he set this agenda for NASA, America's fledgling space agency: Put a man on the moon before 1970! ~ JFK's proudest legacy Postscript: On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, took man's first step on the lunar surface ~"One small for man; one giant leap for mankind."