one was famed rocket scientist von braun. >> president kennedy here with missile expert von braun began a two-day tour of u.s. space centers. >> i read a letter from von braun, he wrote to kennedy, when he said how can we beat the russians, and von braun's letter basically said, we can't beat them anywhere except to be the first on the moon. so that's what we committed to. >> reporter: may 25th, 1961 the president made a dramatic announcement before a joint session of congress. >> i believe that this nation should commit itself of achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. >> we didn't go to the moon to collect rocks. we went to the moon to stick the flag in the moon before the russians did. >> we didn't have the cold war would kennedy have had the same deal? no. >> to have something that would show america's ability to respond to a challenge as well as to do it in a full open and peaceful way, i think really did catch the imagination of the american people, and of the politicians at the time. >> reporter: catch the i