For centuries people dreamed of what it would be like to go to the moon. They imagined methods of getting there and strange lunar creatures. But on July 21, 1969, it really happened. Astronaut Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," he said.
Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon in the Eagle lunar module. While on the surface they performed various experiments, planted a US flag and explored the area around their landing site. Meanwhile, Michael Collins orbited the moon in the Apollo 11 "Columbia" command module.
This great scientific accomplishment was prompted by a scare. In April 1961, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Jolted by this Soviet accomplishment, the United States decided it must catch up.
And it did. Through a series of space programs, from the single seat Mercury capsules to the slightly larger two-man Gemini missions, and finally to the three-man Apollo spacecraft, America gradually obtained the expertise in space exploration necessary for a trip to the moon.
