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From Moonshot To Mars: A History Lesson

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John F. Kennedy’s speech sent the U.S. on a moonshot and by the end of the decade, just as he said, we put men on the moon.

Now, we’re looking to Mars as our next moon-shot with visionaries like NASA’s Charlie Bolden and SpaceX’s Elon Musk promising to send humans to the red planet.

But it takes more than just a speech, and there’s speed bumps along the way. We’re going to shift gears a bit here and take a historical look at the programs that achieved enormous goals but also look at some of the low points in space history.

Joining us this week is Michael McConville. He has an interesting perspective to bring to the program. Michael is a space geek, and coordinator at the Buehler Planetarium and Seminole State College here in Central Florida. He’s also a professor of History at the University of Central Florida.

Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing the organization's internship program. Byrne also hosts Central Florida Public Media's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration, and the weekly news roundup podcast "The Wrap."