The facts About Space Exploration

By Paramadayala Nityananda Dasa

Srila Prabhupada wrote:
It is natural that a philosophical mind wants to know about the origin of the creation. At night he sees the stars in the sky, and he naturally speculates about their inhabitants. Such inquiries are natural for man because man has a developed consciousness which is higher than that of the animals.( Purport, SB 1.1.1).
Literature produced by both the U.S. government, and by an award winning author, cite abundant facts which prove the U.S. Apollo Mission, to land men on the Moon, was not for this higher purpose. It was a weapon in the nuclear cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. But people ignore this fact and believe a fantasy which exists entirely within their minds.
People laud quests for knowledge; they also laud technological achievements. The Moon landing was seen as the ultimate in both. Thus, it welded philosophical quests and technological advancement together in human consciousness. Ultimately it expanded a core material illusion -that we can unlimitedly increase our control and enjoyment of this world. This illusion is clearly expressed in the mainstream literature; however, there it is celebrated. Krishna Consciousness means repudiating it.
The Apollo Mission was an idea created during President Eisenhower’s administration. Kennedy was the next president. He was never enthusiastic about space exploration. Shortly after Kennedy took office, NASA administrator James Webb proposed a greatly expanded budget. His goal was to land men on the Moon by the end of the decade. But Kennedy refused. On March 22 1961, only a slight increase in NASA’s budget was granted. And this was for booster rockets and the Mercury Mission of sending a man into orbit.There was no increase in funding for the Apollo Mission (1).
About a month later, Kennedy dramatically changed his position. This was immediately after two events which made the communists look stronger and the U.S. look weaker.
On April 12, 1961, the Soviets achieved a milestone in space exploration.Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. The attitude on space exploration, among masses of people, is shown by worldwide celebration of the event. It was reported on front page of the New York Times. By the end of 1961, Gagarin was warmly welcomed as an international celebrity in 17 countries. These included both communist and capitalist nations(2). Queen Elizabeth was delighted to meet him(3).
In July 1961, in Manchester England:
“Small children dressed up in home-made space suits, and stayed away from their lessons in order to wave at him from street corners. Teenage girls crowded the platform constructed for him at Trafford Park, and surged through the police lines….Seasoned factory workers rushed to shake his hand or to slap him on the back, stumbling over their words of praise…” He is given the title ” The Magellan of the Cosmos”(4).
The Soviets sending the first man to space was clearly celebrated as a triumph for all mankind; beyond national interests. But politicians in the U.S. did not share the enthusiasm. They saw it as rivalry and embarked on a mission to outshine the soviets.
Certainly millions around the world were similarly enthralled by the Apollo Moon landing. It was not seen as a war tactic, but as a lofty quest to uplift the entire human race.That is a fantasy.
The Bay of Pigs fiasco was the second event which diminished U.S. prestige. This took place from April 15 to 19. The U.S. attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist regime in Cuba. It failed miserably. It was an international embarrassment.
One day later, April 20, Kennedy wrote a memo to Vice President Johnson:
Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket to go to the moon and back with a man? Is there any other space program that promises dramatic results in which we could win(5). It is noteworthy that the goal of beating the Soviets is explicit. At a press conference the next day, Kennedy announced his intent to focus on landing men on the Moon.(6).
The budget issue changed from what should be given for the Apollo Mission to what it needed. However, Kennedy’s position on the relative importance of space exploration, in itself, hadn’t changed from when he refused to grant Apollo more funds. On November 21, a room conversation between Kennedy and the NASA administrator, James Webb was recorded. Kennedy:
” I would certainly not favor spending six or seven billion dollars to find out about space…..Why are we spending seven million dollars on getting fresh water from salt water, when we’re spending seven billion dollars to find out about space? Obviously you wouldn’t put it on that priority except for the defense implications….we ought to be clear, otherwise we shouldn’t be spending this kind of money, because I’m not that interested in space. I think it is good…..but we are talking about these fantastic expenditures which wreck our budget and all these other domestic programs….”(7).
This is cited in, John F. Kennedy, and The Race to the Moon. It is the thesis of an entire chapter titled, I Am Not That Interested in Space. There is a link to an audio, and transcription. My search got an ” access denied” result. But the author, John M. Logsdon is an authoritative source.
A document from the NASA Advisory Council lists a few dozen of Logsdon’s achievements. They include:
He is a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service and Public Service Medals from NASA….
He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council from 1998-2008.
He was a Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Musium.
He was Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University from 1987 to mid-2008.(8).
Beyond that, all throughout Logsdon’s book there are retrievable citations clearly showing Apollo was a defense tactic.
The same picture of Kennedy is given in a paper produced by the NASA history department of the U.S. Government.
It states that Kennedy’s refusal to grant funds to Apollo in March 196,1was “Firm evidence for Kennedy’s essential unwillingness to commit to an aggressive space program… ” It also asserts that Kennedy changed his position after the Soviets become first in space, and the Bay of Pigs Fiasco(9).
There is no need to doubt that Apollo was a weapon of the cold war. And the purpose wasn’t kept secret. For example, when Kennedy first revealed his intention to the public, on April 21, he said: “If we can get to the moon before the Russians, then we should,” (10).
But romanticism ruled the perception. This is shown by Neil Armstrong’s unforgettable statement when he was televised reaching the Moon “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
Other than that, there are no better discription of the illusion which caused people to ignore the facts, and believe a fantasy, than the ones given by Logsdon and Kennedy. Logsdon wrote:
“That man can do whatever he chooses, given the will and the resources required, is a belief that reflects motivations and characteristics basic to Western, and particularly American civilization- a will to action, confidence in man’s mastery over nature and a sense of mission(11). That’s belief is a fantasy.
At a 1963 commencement speech, at American University, Kennedy said:
“….. our problems are man made- therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings(12).
Wow! That is a vivid example of promoting anti-spiritual realization!
Of course, he is correct regarding our problems being man-made. But the problems are created by man’s attempt to get bigger and bigger(which Kennedy encouraged). And man cannot solve the problems of human destiny unless he becomes free from ahankara( I am the doer) by surrendering to Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada wrote:
Therefore trying to utilize mundane science to overpower nature’s law is like creating a Frankenstein. Efforts to extirpate human suffering through advanced technology and bring about lasting happiness have brought us to the Atomic Age. Western thinkers have become gravely concerned about the extent of destruction an atomic explosion can cause. Some leaders are trying to calm the alarm with platitudes about how atomic energy is to be used solely for peaceful purposes, but this is another form of deception caused by daivī māyā, or nature’s law(13).
This touches on other mass delusions, but those require a different article. In general, the world has recognized that previous technology has created threats to human existence, but there is intense social pressure to believe the problems will be solved with new technology.
Frankenstein was a fictional character, created from combining parts from dead bodies. He was invinsible. He ultimately killed his creator. Similarly, we have created technology that causes existential threats. Attempting to solve the problem with more technology is comparable to creating a bigger Frankenstein to defeat the first one. But that new Frankenstein, will simply be more dangerous.
Our false ego seeps into actions of society at large. Thus, idealization of politically manipulated, mass technological endeavors, such as the Moon landing, are deeply instilled into our minds. With newcomers, we may not be able to immediately dispel this. But those committed to developing Krishna Consciousness should not be fooled by travesties of human advancement.

(1). Cited in, John M. Logsdon, John F. Kennedy and The Race to the Moon, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p.66. and cited in https://history.nasa.gov/Apollomon/Apollo.html.
(2).https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/89190073/
(3). https://europeantimes.news/2022/05/one-tea-bag-for-two-elizabeth-ii-remembered-the-meeting-with-gagarin/
(4). https://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/international/yuri-gagarin-in-manchester/
(5). A copy of the memo can be seen at
https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/artifact/memo-president-john-f-kennedy-vice-president-lyndon-johnson-april-20-1961
And also Logsdon, p.81.
(6) New York Times, 22 April 1961.
(7). Cited in, Logsdon p.155.
(8). https://www.nasa.gov/offices/nac/members/logsdon-bio.html
(9).
https://history.nasa.gov/Apollomon/Apollo.html.
(10). New York Times, 22 April 1961.
(11). Logsdon p. 233.
(12) cited in Logsdon, p. 233.
(13) RTW 1.1.