Unfortunately, I was not alive when the first men landed on the Moon.  But my mother was and she says that July 20, 1969 is one of those days that you always remember where you were.  She said that she and her siblings were out of school for the summer and were playing in the house.  Her mother called them into the living room and there it was on the television.  She says that she was awe struck.  What an incredible feat.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy stated a goal for NASA to reach the Moon before the Soviet Union and prior to the ending of the 1960′s:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

His goal was achieved.  Apollo 11 launched from Florida on July 16, 1969 heading for the Moon.  The third lunar mission of NASA’s Apollo Program was crewed by Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility and became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Their landing craft, Eagle, spent 21 hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface while Collins orbited above in the command ship, Columbia. The three astronauts returned to Earth with 47.5 pounds of lunar rocks and landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.