National Moon Day is celebrated annually on July 20 and commemorates the day, forty-six years ago, when Apollo 11 landed the Terrans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the moon.
Armstrong was the first to step onto the lunar surface, and spent two and a half hours frolicking (well, not frolicking, but he had to be in a frolicsome mood, eh? I mean, THE MOON!) on the surface. Aldrin spent slightly less time on the surface, but together they collected more than 47 pounds of lunar materials to bring back with them.
Watched by millions (including yours truly), the event was broadcast live to the entire planet Earth. NASA reported the moon landing as “… the single greatest technological achievement of all time…”.
Since July 20, 1989, we Terrans have continued to explore deep space–the Hubble Telescope and International Space Station are but two of the tools designed to extend our understanding of the universe–and only last week, the New Horizon spacecraft showed us Pluto’s terrain for the first time.
Happy Moon Day!
