As the Space Shuttle Program comes to a close, let's take a moment to take a look back 42 years ago. On this day in history on July 20th, 1969, Man first walked on the moon.

Buzz Aldrin
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The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: for man to walk on the moon and return to Earth.

Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin into space. An estimated 530 million people watched Armstrong's televised image and heard his voice describe the event as he took "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.

Read more about Apollo 11 from NASA.

Here's a video from CBS covering the historic mission. I chose this video because the scene of Walter Cronkite crying during the moon walk, is historic on it's own.

 

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