From a connection’s post on LinkedIn. Skill, determination, and dedication to the mission.
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It was 53 years ago, on July 20, 1969, at 4:18 pm EST that the lunar module named “Eagle” touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: “The Eagle has landed.”
At 10:56 pm EST, with more than a billion people listening at home Armstrong opened the hatch and stepped off the lunar landing module and uttered these famous words: That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface and took a cautious step forward while humanity took its first walk on the moon.
“Buzz” Aldrin joined Armstrong on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, and planted a U.S. flag. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.”
It was 64 years ago yesterday, on July 29, 1958, U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared that America should put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. It was an ambitious goal, but one that was met with great enthusiasm. It was a goal that, unfortunately, JFK did not live to see.
Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012, at age 82. Michael Collins died last year at the age of 90. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin is alive and well. He is 92 years old and living in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
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