Bold Frontiers

"... we must be bold." - John F. Kennedy

“… we must be bold.”

John F. Kennedy

President of the United States

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Join the Rice Space Institute in commemorating the legacy of President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “To the Moon” speech. The Bold Frontiers Initiative will engage the Houston community and highlight the strength, vitality, and diversity of “Space City” and its current and future involvement in space exploration.

Click here for a transcript of the full speech

Click here to see a movie of the full speech

Storyboard

The Kennedy speech inspired a nation and continues to do so to this day. The Bold Frontiers project is collecting stories of inspiration from those whose lives were influenced by the speech. Were you at Rice Stadium on that September day in 1962? Did you hear about it from your parents or grandparents? In what way did it influence your choices? Share your inspirational story.

Share your story here

“I believe [the president] insisted that the high school band that would play Hail To The Chief and Ruffles and Flourishes for him, not be from an all-white high school.” – Charles E. Wilson

“I was one of the 10-15 band members from Kashmere Gardens High School that was drafted to be part of this All City High School band.” – Charles E. Wilson

“I was leaning toward Biology and becoming a Physician. I don’t remember actually listening to the speech and suddenly making up my mind at that moment that I would not major in Biology or Pre-Med, but I believe it did plant the first seed in my thoughts on the matter.” – Charles E. Wilson

Bold Frontiers Events

Tuesday September 12, 2017: Presidential Lecture by Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, hosted by President Leebron
TBD, 2017: STEM Workshop
Saturday November 10, 2017: Rice Homecoming
Friday February 16, 2018: Mission Patch Design deadline
TBD, 2018: STEM Worksh
April, 2018: Rice Stadium Space Event

Partners

Rice Space Institute

Houston Independent School District

NASA Johnson Space Center

Weiss School of Natural Sciences and Department of Physics and Astronomy

Houston Spaceport at Ellington Field

Lunar and Planetary Institute

#boldfrontiers Twitter Competition

Enter here for information on our Twitter competition

Design a Bold Frontiers Space Mission Patch

Enter here for submission details (schools only)

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