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In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik. Four years later, the communist nation characterized by some as having "practically stone age technology" sent the first man into space. It was the Space Race, and America was behind. When President John F. Kennedy boldly declared America would land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s, shockingly little was known about Earth's companion. How old was it? What caused the craters? Was the surface solid enough to support a spacecraft full of astronauts? Long before the Space Race began, Dr. Gerard Kuiper was already looking for answers. At the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory, he published a groundbreaking photographic lunar atlas. Now his eye was on the Southwest. At the University of Arizona, he established the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, one of the first planetary science research institutions in the world. Kuiper's team published three more lunar atlases that were used by NASA to search for places where astronauts could land. He also became the principal experimenter for the Ranger program, an effort to crash-land a spacecraft equipped with television cameras into the moon. Meanwhile, a University of Arizona geologist taught Kuiper's students a new way to look at the moon. A UA-trained physicist risked his career for the ultimate photo op-commanding a spacecraft in lunar orbit to snap a picture of the Earth. Another Lunar and Planetary Laboratory scientist pinpointed the landing spot of a robotic spacecraft on the lunar surface, setting up a future visit from Apollo 12 astronauts. The path to winning the Space Race was paved under the light of a desert moon.—Jason Davis

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared Americans would walk on the moon by the end of the decade. Many documentaries have highlighted the engineering effort that led to Neil Armstrong's 'one small step,' but few have looked at the role science played. Was the moon's surface solid, or just dust? Scientists couldn't say for sure, as they scrambled to map the moon, send probes to its surface, and select astronaut landing sites. At the University of Arizona, astronomer Gerard Kuiper led the way. Desert Moon features interviews with Kuiper's fellow scientists, along with restored archival footage and photographs. Using the lens of the space race, Desert Moon examines the fascinating chain of events that led to the creation of planetary science.—Anonymous