NASA TV to air JFK’s Moon speech at 11:15 AM ET, 50 years after it was first delivered

NASA TV will air a high-quality version of President John F. Kennedy’s famous Moon speech — in which he declared that the United States would “go to the Moon in this decade” — at 11:15 AM ET today, exactly 50 years after it was first delivered at Rice University. The speech will be accompanied by a range of additional coverage, including a message from the International Space Station (ISS) broadcast by astronaut Suni Williams. It will also be followed up at 3:00 PM by a live Google+ Hangout with NASA astronauts, scientists, and engineers.

With the Curiosity rover beaming pictures back from Mars on what seems like a daily basis, it’s an appropriate time to look back to when the Space Race first started in earnest. NASA TV is available via an online live stream or through a number of satellite TV packages — if you can’t wait until 11:15, a low-quality version of Kennedy’s speech is available to watch on NASA’s website.