On May 25th, 1961, John F. Kennedy set a seemingly impossible goal for the United States - to put an American on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. Despite being behind years behind the U.S.S.R. in the Space Race, the 1960's saw one of the largest growths of engineering talent, science and technology since the Industrial Revolution. Due also in part to a massive investment of money from the U.S. - $25.4 billion total in 1973 and up to .75% of U.S. GDP per year - the United States met its goal of landing a person on the Moon on July 20, 1969
