This Day In History... Armstrongs Walks On The Moon

ARMSTRONG WALKS ON MOON:
July 20, 1969

At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth,
speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: "That's one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." A moment later, he stepped off
the lunar landing module Eagle and became the first human to walk on the surface
of the moon.The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins
in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of
Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe 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 Earth."

I must admit, I watched this live. Our family sat in the living room in the middle of night watching a fuzzy black and white picture of Armstrong climbing down the ladder of the LEM and onto the surface of the Moon.

My father was a big space program fan, and I grew up watching almost all of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo launches... Something that my father and I to this day share. My wife can tell you about our trips to the Kennedy Space Center... I am like a kid in a candy store. Last time we were there, Columbia was on the Pad for a launch the next week... It was cool seeing it from a distance, even if it was just sitting there.  ¶ 1:55 PM