Social Impact
Never before has an event captured the attention and curiosity, not only of the United States, but of the world more then during the space race. During this time period many people stopped believing that the impossible wasn't possible. When John F. Kennedy announced he wanted to bring the American people to the moon within the decade, almost no one believed that this goal was achievable, but John F. Kennedy and many others managed to change their views on both him and on the idea of landing someone on the moon in such a short amount of time. The way that JFK had the ability to inspire a nation to come together and sacrifice themselves for a common purpose had almost never been seen on such a scale. He made them not only wonder what could happen if they went to the moon, but beyond that. They thought about the possibility of meeting another species, and they thought of the military implications of being able to send people and things into orbit. Along with the creativity of what could be in space comes excitement. Science teachers, engineers, and technicians alike are extremely excited about the knowledge that space exploration has to offer. Now many American's may follow JFK because of the way he inspired people to, but others merely follow him because of the fear factor that's in play during something as high stakes as a race to the moon. Some are afraid of what might happen if the Soviet Union does stay ahead what might happen? This creativity in people minds goes beyond military implications, to the point where many are afraid they might pull ahead in other fields other then space if we don't catch up. There still are people who oppose the idea of space exploration, though. Many technicians and engineers that would have to leave the position they currently hold to work with space exploration who enjoy there current position oppose space exploration. This causes a very split community of people who mostly enjoy the idea of space exploration, but for very different reasons.