约翰·肯尼迪《我们选择登月》英语演讲稿

1、约翰·肯尼迪我们选择登月英语演讲稿n this 1962 speech given at Rice University in Hustn, Teas, President Jhn F. Kennedyreaffirmed Americas cmmitment t landing a man n the mn befre the end f the 1960s.The President spke in philsphical terms abut the need t slve the mysteries f spaceand als defended the enrmus epe

2、nse f the space prgram.President pitzer Mr. Vice President, Gvernr, Cngressman Thmas, Senatr Wiley, andCngressman Miller, Mr. Webb, Mr. Bell, scientists, distinguished guests, and ladies andgentlemen:I appreciate yur president having made me an hnrary visiting prfessr, and I will assureyu that my fi

3、rst lecture will be very brief.I am delighted t be here and Im particularly delighted t be here n this ccasin.We meet at a cllege nted fr knwledge, in a city nted fr prgress, in a state nted frstrength, and we stand in need f all three, fr we meet in an hur f change and challenge, ina decade f hpe a

4、nd fear, in an age f bth knwledge and ignrance. The greater urknwledge increases, the greater ur ignrance unflds.Despite the striking fact that mst f the scientists that the wrld has ever knwn are alive andwrking tday, despite the fact that this Natins wn scientific manpwer is dubling every 12years

5、in a rate f grwth mre than three times that f ur ppulatin as a whle, despitethat, the vast stretches f the unknwn and the unanswered and the unfinished still farutstrip ur cllective cmpran can fully grasp hw far and hw fast we have cme, but cndense, if yu will, the50,000 years f mans recrded histry

6、in a time span f but a half-century. Stated in theseterms, we knw very little abut the first 40 years, ecept at the end f them advanced manhad learned t use the skins f animals t cver them. Then abut 10 years ag, under thisstandard, man emerged frm his caves t cnstruct ther kinds f shelter. nly five

7、 years agman learned t write and use a cart with wheels. Christianity began less than tw years ag.The printing press came this year, and then less than tw mnths ag, during this whle 50-year span f human histry, the steam engine prvided a new surce f pwer. Newtneplred the meaning f gravity. Last mnth

8、 electric lights and telephnes and autmbilesand airplanes became available. nly last week did we develp penicillin and televisin andnuclear pwer, and nw if Americas new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will haveliterally reached the stars befre midnight tnight.This is a breathtaking pace, a

9、nd such a pace cannt help but create new ills as it dispels ld,new ignrance, new prblems, new dangers. Surely the pening vistas f space prmise highcsts and hardships, as well as high reward.S it is nt surprising that sme wuld have us stay where we are a little lnger t rest, t wait.But this city f Hu

10、stn, this state f Teas, this cuntry f the United States was nt built bythse wh waited and rested and wished t lk behind them. This cuntry was cnquered bythse wh mved frward-and s will space.William Bradfrd, speaking in 1630 f the funding f the Plymuth Bay Clny, said that allgreat and hnrable actins

11、are accmpanied with great difficulties, and bth must beenterprised and vercme with answerable curage.If this capsule histry f ur prgress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest frknwledge and prgress, is determined and cannt be deterred. The eplratin f space willg ahead, whether we jin in

12、it r nt, and it is ne f the great adventures f all time, and nnatin which epects t be the leader f ther natins can epect t stay behind in this race frspace.Thse wh came befre us made certain that this cuntry rde the first waves f the industrialrevlutin, the first waves f mdern inventin, and the firs

13、t wave f nuclear pwer, and thisgeneratin des nt intend t funder in the backwash f the cming age f space. We mean tbe a part f it-we mean t lead it. Fr the eyes f the wrld nw lk int space, t the mnand t the planets beynd, and we have vwed that we shall nt see it gverned by a hstileflag f cnquest, but

14、 by a banner f freedm and peace. We have vwed that we shall nt seespace filled with weapns f mass destructin, but with instruments f knwledge andunderstanding.Yet the vws f this Natin can nly be fulfilled if we in this Natin are first, and, therefre, weintend t be first. In shrt, ur leadership in sc

15、ience and industry, ur hpes fr peace andsecurity, ur bligatins t urselves as well as thers, all require us t make this effrt, tslve these mysteries, t slve them fr the gd f all men, and t becme the wrldsleading space-faring natin.We set sail n this new sea because there is new knwledge t be gained,

16、and new rights t bewn, and they must be wn and used fr the prgress f all peple. Fr space science, likenuclear science and all technlgy, has n cnscience f its wn. Whether it will becme afrce fr gd r ill depends n man, and nly if the United States ccupies a psitin f pre-eminence can we help decide whe

17、ther this new cean will be a sea f peace r a new terrifyingtheater f war. I d nt say that we shuld r will g unprtected against the hstile misuse fspace any mre than we g unprtected against the hstile use f land r sea, but I d saythat space can be eplred and mastered withut feeding the fires f war, w

18、ithut repeating themistakes that man has made in etending his writ arund this glbe f urs.There is n strife, n prejudice, n natinal cnflict in uter space as yet. Its hazards arehstile t us all. Its cnquest deserves the best f all mankind, and its pprtunity frpeaceful cperatin many never cme again. Bu

19、t why, sme say, the mn? Why chsethis as ur gal? And they may well ask why climb the highest muntain? Why, 35 years ag,fly the Atlantic? Why des Rice play Teas?We chse t g t the mn. We chse t g t the mn in this decade and d the therthings, nt because they are easy, but because they are hard, because

20、that gal will serve trganize and measure the best f ur energies and skills, because that challenge is ne thatwe are willing t accept, ne we are unwilling t pstpne, and ne which we intend t win,and the thers, t.It is fr these reasns that I regard the decisin last year t shift ur effrts in space frm l

21、wt high gear as amng the mst imprtant decisins that will be made during my incumbencyin the ffice f the Presidency.In the last 24 hurs we have seen facilities nw being created fr the greatest and mstcmple eplratin in mans histry. We have felt the grund shake and the air shatteredby the testing f a S

22、aturn C-1 bster rcket, many times as pwerful as the Atlas whichlaunched Jhn Glenn, generating pwer equivalent t 10,000 autmbiles with theiracceleratrs n the flr. We have seen the site where five F-1 rcket engines, each ne aspwerful as all eight engines f the Saturn cmbined, will be clustered tgether

23、 t make theadvanced Saturn missile, assembled in a new building t be built at Cape Canaveral as tall asa 48 stry structure, as wide as a city blck, and as lng as tw lengths f this field.Within these last 19 mnths at least 45 satellites have circled the earth. Sme 40 f them weremade in the United Sta

24、tes f America and they were far mre sphisticated and supplied farmre knwledge t the peple f the wrld than thse f the Sviet Unin.The Mariner spacecraft nw n its way t Venus is the mst intricate instrument in thehistry f space science. The accuracy f that sht is cmparable t firing a missile frmCape Ca

25、naveral and drpping it in this stadium between the 40-yard lines.Transit satellites are helping ur ships at sea t steer a safer curse. Tirs satellites have givenus unprecedented warnings f hurricanes and strms, and will d the same fr frest fires andicebergs.We have had ur failures, but s have thers,

26、 even if they d nt admit them. And they may beless public.T be sure, we are behind, and will be behind fr sme time in manned flight. But we d ntintend t stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and mve ahead.The grwth f ur science and educatin will be enriched by new knwledge f ur universea

27、nd envirnment, by new techniques f learning and mapping and bservatin, by new tlsand cmputers fr industry, medicine, the hme as well as the schl. Technical institutins,such as Rice, will reap the harvest f these gains.And finally, the space effrt itself, while still in its infancy, has already creat

28、ed a great numberf new cmpanies, and tens f thusands f new jbs. Space and related industries aregenerating new demands in investment and skilled persnnel, and this city and this state, andthis regin, will share greatly in this grwth. What was nce the furthest utpst n the ldfrntier f the West will be

29、 the furthest utpst n the new frntier f science and space.Hustn, yur city f Hustn, with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will becme the heart f alarge scientific and engineering cmmunity. During the net 5 years the Natinal Aernauticsand Space Administratin epects t duble the number f scientists and eng

30、ineers in this area,t increase its utlays fr salaries and epenses t $60 millin a year; t invest sme $200millin in plant and labratry facilities; and t direct r cntract fr new space effrts ver $1billin frm this center in this city.T be sure, all this csts us all a gd deal f mney. This years space bud

31、get is three timeswhat it was in January 1961, and it is greater than the space budget f the previus eightyears cmbined. That budget nw stands at $5,400 millin a year-a staggering sum, thughsmewhat less than we pay fr cigarettes and cigars every year. Space ependitures will snrise sme mre, frm 40 ce

32、nts per persn per week t mre than 50 cents a week fr everyman, wman and child in the United States, fr we have given this prgram a high natinalpririty-even thugh I realize that this is in sme measure an act f faith and visin, fr wed nt nw knw what benefits await us. But if I were t say, my fellw cit

33、izens, that we shallsend t the mn, 240,000 miles away frm the cntrl statin in Hustn, a giant rcketmre than 300 feet tall, the length f this ftball field, made f new metal allys, sme fwhich have nt yet been invented, capable f standing heat and stresses several times mrethan have ever been eperienced

34、, fitted tgether with a precisin better than the finestwatch, carrying all the equipment needed fr prpulsin,ntrl,cmmunicatins, fd and survival, n an untried missin, t an unknwn celestial bdy, andthen return it safely t earth, re-entering the atmsphere at speeds f ver 25,000 miles perhur, causing heat abut half that f the temperature f the sun-almst as ht as it is heretday-and d all this, and d