Delivered at Rice University on 12 September 1962, Kennedy’s address explains and defends the United States’ commitment to landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. He places space exploration within a longer history of scientific discovery and argues that the United States should take a leading role in developing the new technological frontier rather than allowing others to determine its direction.

Kennedy acknowledges the expense, difficulty and danger of the programme but presents those challenges as reasons for pursuing it rather than avoiding it. His argument combines scientific ambition with national strategy, economic investment and Cold War competition with the Soviet Union. The speech is especially associated with his declaration that Americans choose to go to the Moon not because the task is easy, but because it is difficult and can organise and measure the country’s capabilities.