Across America, the Soviet space program caused a crisis of confidence. Control of the cosmos would have serious military ramifications. The U.S. thought it was the world’s science superpower, but now it seemed to have fallen behind. Washington launched a crash program to catch up with the Soviets’ rocket and missile programs, and President John F. Kennedy declared the U.S. would send a man to the moon. Bob Noyce suddenly had a market for his integrated circuits: rockets.
