My first job out of undergrad was as a rocket scientist and member of the Saturn-Apollo launch team assigned the mission by President Kennedy to send men to the moon and return them safely to earth. That assignment included loading the propellants that sent the first men to the moon in Apollo 8, Borman / Lovell / Anders, Christmas Eve, 1968. (The picture of the earthrise above was taken by William Anders on that Apollo 8 flight). I was part of the launch team from the first Apollo mission through the Lunar Landing of Apollo 11 in August 1969.
President John F. Kennedy’s Moon Speech of May 25, 1961 was significant in turning my educational focus towards aerospace engineering.