Discovering the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition
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
Race to the moon October 4 1957 The U S S R launches Sputnik 1 the first artificial Earth satellite May 25 1961 President Kennedy calls for the U S to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade April 12 1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space 16 July 31 1964 After 13 failed missions the U S has its first success with the Ranger 7 providing detailed photos of the moon’s surface
THE SPACE RACE The Space Race was a time period in history during which the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republics U S S R raced to see who could place a man on the moon first The U S S R started the race by launching Sputnik 1 into orbit With the founding of NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration the United States dove into the race The United States became the first country to place a man on the surface of the moon in 1969 with the success of the Apollo 11 mission February 3 1966 The U S S R s unmanned Luna 9 has the first soft landing on the moon December 24 1968 The U S crew of Apollo 8 become the first humans to orbit the moon June 2 1966 The U S s Surveyor 1 completes a soft moon landing July 20 1969 The Apollo 11 crew lands on the surface of the moon The United States becomes the first nation to put a man on the moon 17
