Picture the scene: September 1962, William Marsh Rice University, Texas. President John F. Kennedy, less than eighteen months into his tenure, makes a bold declaration.

"No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the space race. At the time, the Soviet Union was ahead of the US in its knowledge of space exploration, and Kennedy was determined that the US could catch up.

He asked Congress to approve more than 22 billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

In 1969, six years after Kennedy's assassination, this goal was finally realised when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon.

Forty years ago this Friday, however, it was the Soviet Union that made the first controlled landing of a spacecraft on the Moon. Luna 9 made its "soft" landing at 2145 Moscow time, and immediately began to take pictures of its surroundings. This was a massively significant moment: this was not only the first time the Moon had been observed at surface level, it also gave added impetus to the race to land the first man on the Moon. Over the next three days, the lander sent nine images back to Earth. Experts immediately paid tribute to the achievement, claiming it was a supreme step forward.

Thirty five years ago this week, the first manned mission to the Moon since the near-disastrous Apollo 13 took place with two successful moon walks. At the end of the last moonwalk of the mission, Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golfball on the Moon, using a ball and golf club head he had smuggled on board inside his space suit.

Just before lift off, he claimed he had driven the golf balls "miles and miles and miles".

However, the important lesson is that success does not come without its setbacks. And unfortunately, these setbacks can sometimes be catastrophic. Twenty years have passed since Challenger, the American space shuttle, exploded, killing all seven astronauts on board.

The five men and two women - including the first civilian in space - were just over a minute into their flight from Cape Canaveral when the Challenger blew up. The astronauts' families were at the airbase, and millions of Americans witnessed the world's worst space disaster live on TV. In the previous 25 years of space exploration, just seven people had died. That total had now been doubled. President Ronald Reagan described the tragedy as "a national loss". "We will never forget them," he vowed, "nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye to slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of God."

A memorial service was held three days later, as the world came to terms with what had happened. The ambition, determination, and courage of those who wished to expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us gave their lives for the cause. Sometimes we have no other choice but to learn lessons the hard way.

Three years ago exactly to the day, another space shuttle, Columbia, broke up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board. This was the first accident in 42 years of space flight that had occurred on landing, and the shuttle had disintegrated just 16 minutes before it was due to land at Cape Canaveral. Never had the divide between life and death been so slim.

In life, like in the stories of space exploration we've heard, success can only be achieved through courage, determination, and persistence in overcoming the numerous setbacks we face. The aim today, tomorrow, and in the future is to be brave, be confident, and strive for success in whatever you choose to do. Be realistic, but at the same time be ambitious. Be calm, but at the same time be passionate. The story of space exploration is simply a series of triumphs and setbacks, winners and losers, and triumphing over adversity.

Make sure that your story of success is the same. Don't let anybody tell you that you cannot be something, that you cannot achieve something. Prove them all wrong. If we don't have people who are willing to innovate, pioneer, be inquisitive, and be ambitious, the human race will simply stand still. Be ambitious, be courageous, and reach for the sky.

Written by Matthew Walters