A challenge was issued in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy: To put an American on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade." His dream did become a reality, but unfortunately Kennedy did not live to see this phenomenal event.
The date that made history was July 20, 1969. Millions of Americans heard Neil Armstrong say: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Since the 'a' in this quote did not make it to the public, purists have been arguing about the meaning for years. Amazingly, millions of people from all over the world watched this televised event taking place. It has become one of the most exciting and memorable events in history. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on another planetary body. This lunar landing mission is referred to as Apollo 11.
If we were offered the opportunity to take a walk on the moon, we would be able to see the footprints etched in the moon dust. You can definitely distinguish the footprints as evidence of the two men from Earth who walked there. Neil Armstrong and Edwin A. Aldrin's footprints were the first humans to step on soil beyond their own planet. After Neil's exit from Apollo 11, Aldrin followed eighteen minutes later. The comments expressed by Aldrin were 'Beautiful, beautiful' and 'Magnificent desolation'.
More than 100 world leaders sending their congratulations celebrated this historical event around the world. At this point in time and before the Vietnam War had not taken place nor had the strife in the Middle East. During 1957, there was what is commonly referred to as a space race between Soviet Union and the United States. Soviet Union launched 'Sputnik 1', which was a 184-pound ball. Sputnik 1 sent shock waves around the world. Of course, this event embarrassed the United States since they were unable to launch their first satellite until four months later.
On that day in July of 1969, Neil and Aldrin were both standing on the moon with an American flag on their sleeve. Before these men made history, humans were pondering what kind of life existed and survived on the moon. The moon became a part of mysteries, love stories, and even nursery rhymes. Information that most knew was that the moon controls the ocean's tides as its resolution time around the Earth is 27.3 days. But today it is difficult to recreate the excitement that existed on that day in 1969. The American flag now planted in the moon dust stands idle because there is no air or wind on the moon.
From the moon, the astronauts spoke with Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States. The statement that was heard around the world was, 'This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made'. A metal plaque attached to the lander was inscripted with the following: 'Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969. A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.' Circling the moon in 'Columbia' was the third astronaut, Michael Collins. His name was rarely mentioned and he took a back seat in history to this event. Later Collins wrote: 'The moon I have known all my life, that two-dimensional, small disk in the sky, has gone away somewhere to be replaced by the most awesome sphere I have ever seen. To begin with, it is huge, completely filling our window. Second, it is three-dimension.'
As Apollo 11 began to descend, Neil Armstrong noticed the presence of boulders in the landing path. Since the landing craft was on automatic descent, Neil's heart began to race. He knew that if he continued the descent, the craft would crash if it encountered the boulders. In his mind, he knew he could abort the mission and return to earth. Instead, Neil decided to attempt to land the craft by taking over the manual controls. He desperately began looking for a clearing to land as seconds ticked away. Finally, a clear site was spotted and Neil set the craft down on its padded legs. It was later told that the craft had 20 more seconds before Neil Armstrong would have to punch the abort button. News media carried the story of how close the mission had been to failure.
As those of us on earth watched this historical event being made, Neil and Aldrin prepared to descend on the unknown soil of the moon. Since Neil and Aldrin had to work fast, they began to take samples of soil and rock as they gracefully moved across the surface of the moon. As we all know, this became one of history's well known event.
