EXPLORATION - What has gone before...
Apollo 11 page1
"...the goal of landing two astronaut-explorers on the lunar surface for four days..."
This plaque is located in the outside Saturn-V display of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama...it reads:
ARMSTRONG - COLLINS - ALDRIN
Launched: July 16, 1969 - Landed: July 20, 1969 - Splashdown: July 24, 1969
"THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND."
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, spoke his famous words as he stepped onto the surface of the Moon.
On July 20, 1969, President John f. Kennedy's mandate that America go to the Moon was fulfilled - Apollo 11's lunar module Eagle touched down on the lunar Sea of Tranquility. As astronaut Michael Collins orbited in the command module Columbia, a television audience of unprecedented scope watched Neil Armstrong become the first human to set foot upon the Moon. During their brief two and a half hours of exploration, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin gathered samples of lunar rocks and dust, planted an American flag onto the lunar surface, planted an American flag on the lunar surface, and conducted scientific experiments - all the while discovering how best to move about in the Moon's low-gravity environment. Upon their return to Earth, the crew was immediately quarantined to avoing spreading possible lunar microbes. Almost three weeks later, healthy and anxious to go home, they were released to a heroes' welcome.