A span of exactly 24 years separates two defining events of the 20th century: the first nuclear explosion in history and the launch of Apollo 11 to the Moon. Two events made possible by two contradictory, and therefore truly characteristic, figures of the short century: Robert J. Oppenheimer and Wernher von Braun. Both events occurred in a nation, the United States, which until a few years earlier was mired in the Great Depression, which knew nothing of nuclear physics or rockets to the Moon; indeed, Robert Goddard was derided by the New York Times for his experiments with liquid-fueled rockets aimed at deep space.
