"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

At 4:18 PM, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the "Eagle" lunar landing module, guided manually by Neil Armstrong, touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity (Mare Tranquillitatis). At 10:56 PM EDT, July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the "Eagle" onto the Moon's dusty surface with the words, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Astronaut Neil Armstrong first uttered those words 35 years ago today. Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when the astronauts made the US the first (and to date only) country to reach the moon? Although I wasn't even a thought to my father who was in high school at the time, or my Mother who had yet to start high school the moon landing has greatly impacted my life.

Like most Americans I have seen the images of the first men on the moon hundreds if not thousands of times. It is awe inspiring to think not only that we were the first to do it, but we have even achieved private space flight while so many other nations aren't even close to exiting Earths atmosphere.

When you think of all of the wonderful things that have come from the space program it becomes very clear that the research alone is invaluable.

July 20, 1969 will forever be a shining moment in our history.

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at July 20, 2004 12:00 AM