Fly me through the starry skies

Or maybe to an astral plane

Cross the highway of fantasy

Help me to forget today's pain

Dream weaver, I believe you can get me through the night

Dream weaver, I believe we can reach the morning light

Though the dawn may be coming soon

There still may be some time

Fly me away to the bright side of the moon

And meet me on the other side—Gary Wright, 1976

A little over 50 years ago, on 25 May 1961, President John F Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress. In part of his speech Kennedy expressed his goals for the United States Space Program. “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Kennedy went further to say, “But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all …