The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, was created on July 29, 1958.
NASA has put in place several missions, including Apollo 11, part of the American Apollo space program. It was thanks to this mission that men landed on the Moon for the first time on July 20, 1969. The U.S. space agency (NASA) fulfilled the objective set by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy : on May 25, 1961, during the Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, the President announced to the U.S. Congress the launch of a program to bring American astronauts to lunar soil « before the end of the decade ». This mission also enabled the USA to demonstrate its superiority over the Soviet Union. Other missions in the American Apollo space program preceded Apollo 11, like Apollo 8 and Apollo 10.
The Apollo 11 astronauts were Neil Armstrong, mission commander, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins, command module pilot. The spacecraft carrying this crew was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. On July 20, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed the Lunar Module Eagle on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility at 4 : 18 p.m. Approximately six and one-half hours later at 10 : 56 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, Neil Armstrong put his left foot down on the rocky plain while the largest television audience in history watched live. His first words were : « A small step for Man, a giant leap for Mankind ». Michael Collins remained in orbit in the command module conducting scientific experiments and taking photographs. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin « moon walked » for three hours setting up scientific instruments and collecting soil and rock samples. The astronauts also planted an American flag in the lunar soil and left a plaque commemorating man’s landing on the Moon. The Lunar Module Eagle was on the Moon’s surface for 22 hours before it lifted off to rejoin the command module. After a flight of 8 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes, Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 at 12 : 51 Eastern Daylinght Savings Time.
After this achievement, many artists decided to make parodies of the first man to walk on the Moon, like Andy Warhol, who painted Moonwalk I in 1987.
N.N