orbiting the earth elliptically every 90 minutes at an altitude between 140 and 560 miles. all the u.s. government could do was ask the 70,000 members of the american radio relay league, a society of ham radio operators or buffs to help them track the soviet beeps. and as we know, a decade later in the summer of '69, the u.s. beat the russians to the moon a accomplishing the president's goal. on july 20th, lunar module landed on the lunar surface. neil armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, buzz aldrin soon followed him out the door. michael collins was circling above in their ride home, the command module. we are so happy to be joined tonight by approximate douglas brinkley, presidential historian, author of the new book "american moonshot: john f. kennedy and the great space race" which will debut on number ten on "the new york times" best-seller list. it's great to see you.