Moon landing remembered 53 years later on its July 20 anniversary

WEST VIRGINIA (WOAY) – On July 20, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history by being the first men to land on the Moon.

In an effort by President John F. Kennedy to get man on the Moon before the year 1970, Apollo 11, also known as Eagle set out on its landmark expedition just a year prior.

After about 6 and a half hours of being on the Moon, Armstrong took the revolutionary first steps out on its surface, saying the famous lines, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

While Kennedy didn’t live to see the Moon landing, his vision became a reality on this day 53 years ago.

A symbol of ambition, Director of the Greenbank Observatory, Jim Jackson says the feat truly did reshape history.

“From my perspective as an astronomer, the achievement of setting foot on another world opened up a whole new possibility of exploration, curiosity, the potential for knowledge, and the legacy scientifically of the Moon landing still reverberates to this day,” Jackson says.

Armstrong and Aldrin were the first of 12 humans to have walked the surface of the Moon. In all, 24 American astronauts made the trip between the years 1968 and 1972.

Now, the U.S hopes to return to the Moon with Project Athena.

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