Inspire One Giant Leap, 50 Years Later

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil Armstrong 

Fifty years ago, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong uttered one of the most famous sentences in history when he became the first man to walk on the Moon. An estimated 50 million people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing, not including the team of engineers at Houston's Mission Control. People waited with held breaths as Armstrong stepped down from the module, hovering over the Moon's surface. When he took that first step, the entire country was right there with him.

People watching the moon landing in 1969 (photo/Wired).

I wish I could have witnessed that magnificent event in 1969, but because I wasn't born until 25 years later, I can only admire the Apollo 11 moon landing from archived footage, interviews, photographs, etc. I can only imagine how people felt in 1969--watching how a group of engineers worked together to send three men [Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins] to the Moon, beating the Russians in the Space Race to the moon.

When President John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 his goal for the U.S. to reach the Moon by the end of the decade, the tools and equipment required for the mission were not yet invented. Engineers for NASA's Apollo space program worked effortlessly for eight years to develop and test equipment needed for a successful moon landing. The process wasn't easy and there were failures along the way, including the Apollo 1 test fire in 1967 that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee. But NASA persevered and kept working to complete Kennedy's goal, even though Kennedy didn't get to live to see the moon landing.

The Apollo 1 astronauts: Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee (photo/NASA).

On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V rocket launched Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins to the Moon on Apollo 11 from Cape Kennedy. The spacecraft had three parts: a command module, called the "Columbia," with a cabin for the astronauts; a service module that provided propulsion, electricity, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module, called the "Eagle," that provided descent to the lunar surface and ascent back to the command service modules.

Neil Armstrong inside the Apollo 11 spacecraft (photo/National Air and Space Museum).

Four days later, on July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the Eagle on the lunar surface while Collins [command module pilot] stayed in the Columbia and would orbit the Moon. Once the Eagle landed, the United States accomplished a first for humankind--landing man on the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin collected moon rocks, regolith [surface dirt], and they set up experiments, planted an American flag, and they left behind medallions honoring the Apollo 1 crew, including a plaque that read: "We came in peace for all mankind." 

Buzz Aldrin saluting the American flag on the surface of the Moon (photo/Pinterest).

"Those footprints belong to each and every one of you, to all mankind." - Buzz Aldrin 

After 21.5 hours on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin bid farewell to the Moon and rejoined Collins in the Columbia command module. While the Moon was exciting, it was time to head back home. They couldn't stay on the Moon forever. On July 24, Columbia entered Earth's atmosphere. The module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. From there, the astronauts were held in quarantine and underwent several tests until August 10, uncertain about any contamination from the Moon. When there was no confirmation of contamination, the astronauts were busy with several tours across the globe. Everywhere they went, people greeted them and congratulated them on their glorious achievement.

Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong on their tours following the Apollo 11 moon landing (photo/Pinterest).

To this day, 50 years later, people still congratulate the surviving astronauts, Aldrin and Collins, on their achievement. In total, 12 astronauts walked on the surface of the Moon in the Apollo space program. These individuals were a small number of the 400,000 men and women [yes, women, too!] who worked on the Apollo space program--from building the vehicles, calculating trajectories, making the spacesuits, preparing the meals for the crew, and more. Every role was important because if one person had made a mistake, the Apollo 11 moon landing would not have happened on July 20, 1969. If one person made an error, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins wouldn't have went to the Moon.

Engineers and astronauts, including Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell (second from left), inside Mission Control during the Apollo 11 mission (photo/NASA).

But they did. They made the giant leap 50 years ago and maybe one day we'll go back. Maybe one day I'll get to see man [or woman] walk on the Moon. Maybe we'll even see man walk on Mars. Space exploration is an exciting feat, and it still boggles my mind that in 1969, an era that seems so far away in the past, we had the technology to send men to the Moon. We accomplished that in 1969 and we have so much more technology now than we did 50 years ago. What can we accomplish today?

As I write this post, I'm thinking about the Moon. I often catch myself looking up at the Moon, envisioning the past and what it must have been like in the 1960s for engineers and astronauts to work on their careful plans to one day send man to the Moon. I look up at the Moon and smile. It peeks out from behind the clouds, exposing itself to the world. I smile in thought of its beauty, its wonder, and its important historical and scientific significance.

The Moon (photo/Fotor).

I extend my thumb into the air, close my left eye, and capture the Moon and its meaning into my skin like the way a painter captures a nature scene onto a blank canvas.

Open eye. 

Close eye. 

Move thumb away. See the moon grow larger and then smaller. 

Like Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell said, "I look up at the Moon and I wonder, when will we be going back and who will that be?" 

-KJL-