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many people may not remember this but

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neil armstrong was here from the very

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beginning

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an experienced naval aviator and the

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youngest pilot in his squadron he flew

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some 78 combat missions during the

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korean war and returned home a decorated

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veteran

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armstrong later joined the national

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advisory committee for aeronautics or

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naca which was nasa's predecessors you

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learned

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and there he was a test pilot at the

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lewis laboratory in cleveland he later

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transferred to edwards air force base

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where he was a project pilot on many

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high-speed aircraft among them the x-15

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he made seven flights in the x-15

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reaching 4 000 miles per hour at an

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altitude of more than 207 thousand feet

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in 1962 neil armstrong was selected in

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the second class of astronauts and in

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1966

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he and dave scott made history during

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their gemini 8 flight by achieving the

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first docking in space

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his calm and methodical approach to

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flying saved the mission after the

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spacecraft began spinning dangerously

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out of control

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in 1969 armstrong was selected as

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commander for apollo 11

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and on july 20th with only about 20

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seconds of fuel remaining he safely set

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that lunar module eagle on the surface

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of the moon

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meeting the challenge president john f

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kennedy gave the nation

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with five months to spare ladies and

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gentlemen

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again it is a high honor and pleasure to

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introduce to you

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thank you so much

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thank you leon and thank all of you

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in the summer of 1958 the congress wrote

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and the president signed

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the national space act

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establishing the national aeronautics

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and space administration

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and i remember the time clearly

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uh 50 years ago this week i was high

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above the california desert

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piloted in a b-29 carrier aircraft and

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launching the x1e

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the latest and most advanced of the

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fabled x1 research airplane series

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nasa became an operating agency

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on october 1st

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1958

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i found myself that wednesday morning

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going to work at the same job

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my same office

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doing the same work that i've been doing

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the previous day it was a relatively

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easy transition

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we were already riding on rockets in

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research aircraft

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we already knew how to count backwards

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eight seven six five

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we

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naca

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and

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replace it with an s on our airplanes

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our trucks and vans

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as the other

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principal components of the new agency

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the jet propulsion laboratory the

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california institute of technology

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and the army's redstone arsenal and

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huntsville alabama

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assume they were

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deciding

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what the minimum amount of painting

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would be required at their installations

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and what new responsibilities they would

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face

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in any case i suspect there are

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some number of people here

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tonight

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who remember the birth of nasa and were

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a part of the early days

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so

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those here tonight

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who were

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founding members of nasa

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those from naca those from jpl those

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from redstone

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and those who came from various other

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places to join

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nasa in the year 1958.

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i'd like those of you who are seated in

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that category to stand and those of you

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who are standing to raise your hands and

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another one

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you'll be recognized as

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old foggies

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the old folkies that we are

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and of which we are exceedingly proud

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and here tonight uh a half century later

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we look back on on what has been

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accomplished

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our knowledge of the universe around us

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is

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has increased a thousand-fold and more

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we learned that hobie homo sapiens was

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not forever imprisoned

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by the gravitational field of earth

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performance efficiency reliability and

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safety of aircraft have rep improved

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remarkably

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we set probes throughout the solar

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system

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and beyond

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we've

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seen deeply into our universe

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and look backward

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nearly to the beginning of time

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we were a competitor and perhaps

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the greatest peacetime competition

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of all time

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the space race usa versus ussr

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like the war it was expensive

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like a war each side wanted intelligence

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on what the other side was doing

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and i'll not assert

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that

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the space race was a diversion which

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prevented a war nevertheless

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it was a diversion

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it was intense

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it did allow both sides to take the high

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road

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with the objectives of science and

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learning

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and exploration

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eventually it provided a mechanism for

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engendering cooperation between

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adversaries

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in that sense

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among other among others it was an

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exceptional national investment for each

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site

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i submit

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that one of the most important roles of

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government

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is to inspire and motivated citizens

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and particularly its young citizens

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to love to learn

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to strive to participate in and

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contribute to

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societal progress

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that measure

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nasa

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will without doubt

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rank in the top tier

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of government enterprises

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the goal is far more than just going

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faster and higher and further

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our goal

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indeed

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our responsibility

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is to develop new options

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for future generations

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options in expanding human knowledge

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exploration

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human settlements

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and resource development outside

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in the universe around us

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our highest

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and most important hope

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is that the human race

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will improve its intelligence

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its character

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and its wisdom

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so that we'll be able to properly

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evaluate and choose among those options

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and the many others they will encounter

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in the years ahead

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and i

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look forward

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to watching the progress

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and those exciting developments and

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hearing a status report