Do you read me, mission control?

Just a 'white socks engineer' is how he described himself. But one who beat artists, politicians and film stars to become the icon of the 20th century. Neil Armstrong and the Apollo mission he piloted offer true inspiration and show just what can be achieved with stacks of courage and commitment. Our ambition to give manufacturing a bigger profile in the classroom (see p14) seems microscopic compared to the Apollo mission's goal to land a man on the moon. If we want to see farther, perhaps we could do worse than standing on the shoulders of giants. The Apollo programme started with President Kennedy making a very public pledge to get man to the moon and back before the end of the decade. Specific, measurable, realistic and timed – it ticked all the boxes of good goal setting, even though it was a stretch target like no other. Take note, coalition. Our politicians prefer vagaries about growth and are reticent to set explicit targets. Why couldn't we climb up the league to become the fifth largest manufacturer in the world, or raise industry's contribution to GDP to 15%? Once Kennedy defined the vision, the Nasa boffins began to plan how the target would be achieved. Scientists had to devise a rocket, landing craft and hire the astronauts with the skill set to deliver. Over to UK manufacturing: let's pull together, define how many engineers we need and in what field. Or put down on paper the core skills missing from the existing curriculum and the vehicle we might use to ignite children's imaginations to the prospect of making things. This could be a long and painful road. Nasa overcame tragedy, malfunctions and bucket loads of mistakes before finally parking Apollo 11 on the lunar landscape. PMI may stutter and exports slump, but that can't be an excuse for mission control to press the abort button. So Mr Cameron, we ask for your detailed industrial strategy. After all, it's one small step for a man that would mean one giant leap for manufacturing kind.