What effect did the Soviet Union’s sending a man into space in 1961 have on President Kennedy?

The Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961, becoming the first nation to do so. In response, President Kennedy asked Congress to support a bold space goal: landing an American on the moon before the decade ended. NASA had already been established in 1958, so the event did not lead Kennedy to create the agency.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.