50 years ago

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin

We commemorate today, July 20 the 50th anniversary of the first time a human being ever stepped foot on the moon. Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21.5 hours on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit.

Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space. Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy: "before this decade is out, we dream of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012, while Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins are still alive, both in their upper 80s. I personally remember the event very well, as a 17-year-old teenager I did a scrapbook on this historic event, with pictures from newspapers and information I gathered from various news sources.