WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON

[Music] this morning's program will be opened by the singing of the national anthem followed by the invocation to be given by the reverend don peavey [Music] so [Music] so [Music] foreign let us pray almighty god we stand before thee as thy children should acknowledging our dependence upon thee and our gratitude for thy continuing comfort and challenge we profess before all men our trust in thee and pray that thou shalt bless our nation our president and all others whom we in freedom have chosen to govern us grant in thy benediction that our spirits may be steadfast in righteousness our minds faithful in truth so may we through the might of science conquer space and in the might of thy spirit conquer evil within ourselves and in our world that we may more perfectly serve thee and worthily magnify thy holy name amen as president of rice university it is my honor to welcome you to this auspicious occasion this is our semi-centennial year and i declare this to be the opening event of that year i cannot imagine a more illustrious opening than this one with the president of the united states speaking on the subject science and space rice university has emphasized science in its program for 50 years many important scientific discoveries have been made here an interdisciplinary research program in the science of solid materials was initiated at rice under a grant from the national aeronautics and space administration in 1959. we also have an important program in nuclear physics in association with the atomic energy commission and other things in this area teamwork between the universities and the federal government is essential for our national security and welfare and we at rice university pledge ourselves to continue cooperation and to expansion of our science programs to meet the needs of tomorrow mr president i would like to introduce to you the class of 1966 of rice university sitting directly before you as has been noted in the public press the academic qualifications of this class are outstanding these students have come early for an orientation program and we are most honored to officially appoint you mr president a visiting professor of rice university for our orientation series [Applause] i take pride also in presenting to you 35 000 students from houston schools and colleges both public and private that are assembled to hear you here today you have indeed a large class now it is my privilege to recognize quickly just a few of our honored guests i say just a few because we must be brief and we have so many distinguished guests on this platform first the mayor of houston with whom it has been a real pleasure to cooperate in this and many other activities for the development of space city usa mayor louis coutrey second the chief official of harris county our distinguished county judge bill elliot [Applause] next is a new houston resident but one who is already very much a part of our community our distinguished director of the banned spacecraft laboratory mr robert gilroy [Applause] mr president i also wish to present now our most distinguished houstonian scientist member of your national science foundation board president of the american physical society my good friend and predecessor is president of this university dr william v houston [Applause] and now turning to the level of the state government it is my great pleasure to present for your recognition governor price daniel [Applause] traveling with the president are many high officials of executive agencies and we welcome them all i wish now to recognize an old personal friend distinguished physicist the top scientist of our military department the director of defense research and engineering dr harold brown [Applause] next may i welcome the protector of your tax dollars [Music] the director of the bureau of the budget the honorable david bell is a man whose role is particularly significant in view of today's subject the director of the new office of science and technology and science advisor to the president also a distinguished member of the national academy of sciences dr jerome b weisner [Applause] i can recognize only a few of the many officials of the national aeronautics and space administration that are present today first and foremost of course is the administrator of that agency alternating through the years successful business leadership and high level public service as under secretary of state and as director of the bureau of the budget he is now bringing all of his remarkable skills of leadership and management to the service of our nation in this most urgent program in space it is with particular pleasure that i present the honorable james e webb may i also present the associate administrator of nasa dr robert c siemens jr it is also most appropriate that we recognize the director of manned space programs de-brainerd homes [Applause] we are also privileged to have a very distinguished visitor from great britain the chief scientific advisor to prime minister mcmillan sir sally zuckerman [Applause] it is now my privilege to introduce the members of congress accompanying the president today it is a great pleasure to present the chairman of the science and astronautics committee of the house of representatives the honorable george p miller of california next we wish to cargilly welcome the ranking republican member of the senate committee on aeronautical and space science the honorable alexander wiley of wisconsin now it is a particular privilege to present to you the representative from houston now in his 13th term the chairman of the independent offices subcommittee of the committee on appropriations of the united states congress and i add parenthetically that i appeared before this committee under his chairmanship for three years when i was director of research for the atomic energy commission and i developed a great respect for his keen insight and devotion to the welfare of this nation but for my present position today i introduce as a very distinguished alumnus of rice university the honorable albert thomas it's certainly wonderful to be at home then there's no one could fill this stadium like the president of the united states have let's give him a big hand and now it is a particular pleasure to present the vice president of the united states and chairman of the national aeronautics and space council the honorable lyndon johnson of our state of texas dr pitzer since his inauguration i have seen our president use his energy and his intelligence his personal warmth and his perception to try to make life in the united states more meaningful for everybody in many different ways and always to do what he believed was best for his country just as in other things he has put vigor and vitality into the space program and it is my great honor and privilege to be here today and to see the people of the leading space city give such a warm welcome to our president of the united states before making my final presentation may i announce that after the president's address the benediction will be given without further announcement by rabbi robert i com also may i remind the audience that you will remain in place until the president's party has left the stadium and now ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states [Applause] [Music] hello [Applause] thank you president pizza mr vice president governor congressman thomas senator wiley and congressman miller mr webb mr bell scientists distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen i appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor and i will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief i am delighted to be here and i'm particularly delighted to be here on this occasion we meet at a college noted for knowledge in a city noted for progress in a state noted for strength and we stand in need of all three for we meet in an hour of change and challenge in a decade of hope and fear in an age of both knowledge and ignorance the greater our knowledge increases the greater our ignorance unfolds despite the striking fact that most of the zionists that the world has ever known are alive and working today despite the fact that this nation's own scientific manpower is doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than three times that of our population as a whole despite that the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished still far outstrip our collective comprehension no man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come but condense if you will the 50 000 years of man's recorded history in a time span of about a half a century stated in these terms we know very little about the first 40 years except at the end of them advanced men had learned to use the skins of animals to cover them then about 10 years ago under this standard man emerged from his caves to construct other kinds of shelter only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels christianity began less than two years ago the printing press came this year and then less than two months ago during this whole 50-year span of human history the steam engine provided a new source of power explored the meaning of gravity last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power and now if america's new spacecraft succeeds in reaching venus we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight this is a breathtaking pace and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old new ignorance new problems new dangers surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships as well as high reward so it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest to wait but this city of houston this state of texas this country of the united states was not built by those who waited and rested and wish to look behind them this country was conquered by those who move forward and so will space william bradford speaking in 1630 of the founding of the plymouth bay colony said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage if this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything it is that man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined and cannot be deterred the exploration of space will go ahead whether we join in it or not and it is one of the great adventures of all time and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution the first waves of modern inventions and the first wave of nuclear power and this generation does not intend to found her in the backwash of the coming age of space we mean to be a part of it we mean to lead it [Applause] for the eyes of the world now look into space to the moon and the planets beyond and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest but by a banner of freedom and peace we have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction but with instruments of knowledge and understanding yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first and therefore we intend to be first in short our leadership in science and industry our hopes for peace and security our obligations to ourselves as well as others all require us to make this effort to solve these mysteries to solve them for the good of all men and to become the world's leading space-faring nation we set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won and they must be won and used for the progress of all people for space science like nuclear science and all technology has no conscience of its own whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man and only if the united states occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war i do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea but i do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours there is no strife no prejudice no national conflict in outer space as yet its hazards are hostile to us all its conquest deserves the best of all mankind and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again but why some say the moon why choose this as our goal and they may well ask why climb the highest mountain why 35 years ago fly the atlantic why does rice play texas 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 the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept one we are unwilling to postpone and one we intend to win and the others too