July 20, 1969. An estimated 530 million people are gathered around their grainy black and white tv sets as they watch the Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins attempt to carry out a national goal set by president John F. Kennedy. The mission? To get a man on the moon before the decade is out. Fueled by the Cold War competition with the Soviet Union, America was set on showing the world that it was second to none. At 10:56 p.m EDT, Neil Armstrong climbs down the ladder of the Eagle, the Apollo 11 Lunar module, and as he plants the first human foot on the moon he proclaims, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
