Armstrong, Aldrin Land on Moon in 1969, Fulfilling Kennedy's 1962 Goal Against Soviets
Updated
Updated · FOX 13 Tampa · Jul 1
Armstrong, Aldrin Land on Moon in 1969, Fulfilling Kennedy's 1962 Goal Against Soviets
2 articles · Updated · FOX 13 Tampa · Jul 1
Summary
July 20, 1969 marked the U.S. moon landing, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting the American flag after Apollo 11 reached the lunar surface.
Kennedy's 1962 pledge to reach the moon before decade's end drove NASA's accelerated push to beat the Soviet Union in the Cold War space race.
NASA got there through Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, overcoming early rocket failures, the fatal Apollo 1 fire and a near-disastrous Gemini 8 spin that Armstrong corrected.
The landing itself still required improvisation: a computer problem pushed the lunar module toward a crater, and Aldrin later used a pen to trigger a broken circuit breaker for liftoff.
That breakthrough helped cement U.S. victory in the space race, sent 10 more Americans to walk on the moon and now informs plans to use lunar ice for future Mars missions.