"One giant leap for mankind”

Today marks the 38th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing. Three United States astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins, set off on the Apollo 11 mission on July 16th, 1969. On July 20th at 4:18 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the Eagle lunar landing module touched down on the Moon. Armstrong stepped out of the Eagle at 10:56 PM EDT with Aldrin following behind. Collins remained in the orbiting Command Module Columbia until Armstrong and Aldrin’s return 21 hours and 36 minutes later. During the mission, the two astronauts gathered rocks, took photographs, set up scientific instruments, planted an American flag, and left a plaque reading "Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon The Moon. July 1969 A.D. We Came In Peace For All Mankind." The crew returned to Earth four days later on July 24th and then spent 18 days in quarantine to insure that they were not contaminated by lunar microbes. Over half a billion people world wide watched this momentous occasion on television and an estimated million watched the launch firsthand.

For more information, check out the NASA web site or one of these Austin Public Library resources:

• Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest
• First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong [sound recording]
• Destination Moon: The Apollo Missions in the Astronauts' Own Words
• First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
• The Race to the Moon [videorecording]
• The Moonlandings: An Eyewitness Account
• Man on the Moon [videorecording]