♪ ♪
REPORTER: Now, ladies and gentlemen,
the president of the United States.
LYNDON JOHNSON: Our American dream for outer space
is a dream of peace and a dream of friendly cooperation
among all the nations of the Earth.
We intend
to live up to our agreement
not to orbit weapons of mass destruction.
And we will continue to hold out to all nations,
including the Soviet Union,
the hand of cooperation
in the exciting years of space exploration
which lie ahead for all of us.
♪ ♪
(camera clicking, audience cheering)
JOHN LOGSDON: In the immediate aftermath of John Kennedy's assassination,
there was a question put to the new President Johnson,
"What do you want to do about the Kennedy initiative
to do joint missions to the moon with the Soviet Union?"
Johnson was skeptical,
but NASA didn't want to cooperate.
And so the decision was, "Let's not bother."
(spectators applauding)
NASA and the Apollo program had literally
the highest national priority.
REPORTER: Do we have any knowledge how we're doing
in this race to the moon with the Soviet Union?
Well, all we know is that the Russians have demonstrated,
repeatedly, a great competence
in, in their manned-space operations.
I think we... should not believe
that they are suddenly giving up...
giving up in this race.
I'm convinced that they will make an all-out effort
to land on the moon ahead of us.
We stop racing, they will undoubtedly win.
♪ ♪
NEIL ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind.
♪ ♪
(rocket firing)
♪ ♪
LOGSDON: People didn't know for sure at the time,
but the reality was
that the Soviet Union didn't have a moon program.
Turned out the Soviets were still debating
whether to go to the moon or not.
♪ ♪
SERGEI KHRUSHCHEV: My father was pragmatic.
So when Korolyov came to my father
and told, "We have to work now on the new N1 launcher
to send the men to the moon," my father told, "No.
First, give me the cost of the project."
And Korolyov could not answer.
And he told, "I have different priorities.
"We have to improve life of our people.
"We need to invest in the housing,
"in the producing of the consumer goods.
"Americans spend their money.
I spend my people money, and I am responsible for them."
So he, at last he approved the preliminary design
of this lunar program
only in August 1964.
But the real lunar race started
only after my father was ousted of power.
♪ ♪
After that, his successor, Brezhnev, didn't count money,
and he told, "Go ahead,
I will give you everything what you want."
♪ ♪
GEORGE ALEXANDER: From the very beginning,
the Russian manned space flight program
compiled a very proud list of firsts--
the first woman into orbit around the Earth,
the first multiple crew,
the first spacewalk.
(cosmonauts speaking Russian)
♪ ♪
These were all very impressive achievements.
It may have been a little bit crude
and rough around the edges,
but they did it.
(device beeps)
However, the Russians hadn't-- at that time--
mastered the problem of rendezvous and docking,
a critical part of the total lunar landing process.
All the steps involved in Apollo,
those were all things that had to happen pretty much perfectly,
some 230,000 miles away, on the moon.
And you didn't want to try
to do all those things for the first time
so far away from home.
Gemini was going to prove the lunar-orbit rendezvous.
(clanking)