The Apollo landing was the first time two astronauts from the United States’ space program, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, set foot on the Moon. They were the first people to do so in history. The Apollo 11 mission landed on July 20, 1969. Armstrong and Aldrin were part of the Apollo 11 mission, which had the goal of delivering two men to the Moon’s surface and safely returning them to Earth. The Apollo missions were launched after US President John F. Kennedy made a speech in 1961 in which he stated his goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
The Apollo 11 mission is widely regarded as one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Our forefathers have fantasized about visiting the Moon since the first intelligent hominid gazed up at it, but it wasn’t until 1969 that someone finally set foot on that silver disc in the sky. NASA landed six more manned spacecraft on the Moon over the next three and a half years, safely returning their crews to Earth.
The Apollo program cost the United States $24 billion USD, making it the most expensive project ever undertaken by any nation during peacetime. The Apollo program employed 400,000 Americans at its peak and was backed by over 20,000 businesses and universities. It was founded in 1961 and operated until 1975, achieving its ambitious goal in only eight years. To this day, the massive burst of technological progress required to achieve the Apollo landing is unrivaled.
The first astronaut to set foot on the Moon was Neil Armstrong. The event was broadcast worldwide and was watched by over half a billion people, making it the most-watched event in television history. “That’s a small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong said as he stepped down onto the lunar surface in a historic quote. Soon after, Aldrin uttered the following words: “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Stunning desolation.” They spent sixteen hours on the Moon during the Apollo landing, but only two and a half hours taking pictures outside.