The problems they could solve, he told The Times in 1989, include вЂњhow to understand why our solar system got here, and ultimately perhaps whether our sun and planets are typical of the stars we see at night, or whether we are rare, or whether we are alone.вЂќ

вЂњEvery few years some breakthrough is possible because these rocks are available to science,вЂќ Burnett said.ДЇor Arnold, who grew up on the science fiction of Jules Verne and idolized Buck Rogers, unlocking the secrets within the lunar materials was essential.

He said the efforts of Arnold and his colleagues more than 40 years ago have left a rich legacy, including the discovery of water in moon rocks in 2008. Burnett, who was also involved in the early efforts to safeguard the moon rocks. вЂњThey are a major source of information about how things happen in the solar system,вЂќ said Caltech geochemistry professor Donald S. The precious specimens - more than 800 pounds were retrieved between 19 - yielded clues to many of scienceвЂ™s most important questions, including the age and composition of EarthвЂ™s closest celestial neighbor and the history of the sun. вЂњHe was a sound and resolute fighter on behalf of doing science.вЂќ 6 in La Jolla from complications of AlzheimerвЂ™s disease, was a member of a group of four scientists - dubbed the Four Horsemen by colleagues - who sounded the alarms that led NASA to establish a program for analyzing what proved to be a treasure trove for lunar research.ДЄlong with fellow scientists Paul Gast, Bob Walker and Gerald Wasserburg, Arnold recognized that the moon rocks were вЂњnot just souvenirs but the subject of important scientific investigation,вЂќ Wasserburg, a Caltech emeritus professor of geology and geophysics, said last week. Arnold played a crucial role in drawing official attention to another goal: preserving and studying the soil and rock samples that Apollo astronauts would bring back with them.ДЄrnold, 88, who died Jan. Kennedy announced in 1961 that America was committed to вЂњlanding a man on the moon and returning him safely to the EarthвЂќ by the end of the decade, winning the race became the paramount objective of the national space program.Д«ut UC San Diego nuclear chemist James R. Read more: How Many Times Has the U.S.When President John F. Read more: How JFK, LBJ and Nixon All Put Their Stamp on the Apollo 11 Moon Landing And the United States would go on to complete six crewed missions that landed a total of 12 astronauts on the moon from 1969 to 1972. The men who had traveled more than 200,000 miles to the moon and then stepped foot on an alien world had survived. Watching Apollo 11 live from the moon, the President could only hope he wouldn't have to read it. His staff had prepared a statement to be read in the event the worst happened and organized a priest to commit their souls to the deep, much like a burial at sea. If anything went wrong, he would have to manage AmericaвЂ™s outrage over billions of tax dollars culminating in the death of two astronauts. Watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their first steps on the moon, NixonвЂ™s anxiety reached a peak. Johnson, in fact, had long been a space advocate, saying in 1958,В 'Control of space is control of the world.' dominance, Johnson reported back, was by sending a manned mission to the moon. Just months after JFKвЂ™s inauguration, the Soviet Union had sent the first man into space.В Kennedy asked his vice president, Lyndon B. In a 1962 meeting with advisors and NASA administrators, JFK confessed, 'I'm not that interested in space.' But he was interested in winning the Cold War. Kennedy had boldly pledged that the United States would вЂњset sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.'Д«ut secret tapes of KennedyвЂ™s discussions would later reveal that in private, JFK was less interested in space exploration than in one-upping the Soviets. JFK was more focused on beating the Soviets than in space.

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