Discovering the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition
TO BOLDLY GO On July 20th 1969 the world held its breath as mankind took its first steps on another world It has been 50 years since Neil Armstrong first said the now famous words That’s one small step for a man one giant leap for mankind and we know more about the universe than ever before We’ve since landed probes on the surface of Mars and sent Voyager 1 over 13 1 billion miles away from Earth into interstellar space yet something about the Apollo 11 mission still takes our breath away Three astronauts only two of whom got to set foot on the surface of the moon went into the great unknown for the good of scientific discovery and human curiosity and against all odds came back to Earth safe and sound The road of space exploration has not been easy but it has given humanity a new perspective on our marvelously unique planet and our incredible universe We salute those who participated in the Apollo missions and everyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered about the universe Keep reaching for the stars 12
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Edwin Buzz Aldrin salutes the U S flag at the landing site of the Apollo 11 lunar module July 20 1969 14
APOLLO 11 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND The Apollo 11 Mission launched from Cape Canaveral Florida on July 16 1969 with a crew of three astronauts Commander Neil Armstrong Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin After a nail biting landing where the Lunar Module nearly ran out of fuel Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon on July 20 1969 Over 530 million people 15 of the world’s population at the time watched the landing on television as Armstrong made the now famous statement That’s one small step for a man one giant leap for mankind All in all the crew of Apollo 11 traveled a total of 953,054 miles 1,533,797 km the equivalent to driving around Earth 38 times 15
