54th anniversary of first man landing on moon

 It might be hard to believe, but 54 years ago the moon had a man take a step on it for the first time in history.

On July 20, the world celebrates what is known as the National Moon, which coincides with the memory of the day when the first man walked on the surface of the moon for the first time in 1969.

Let’s take a short minute to look back at the events that happened 54 years ago.

Landing on the moon

The initial human landing on the moon occurred on Jul. 20th of the year 1969, when the Apollo 11 spacecraft successfully managed to transport astronauts to the moon’s surface, a remarkable feat that NASA has hailed as the most significant technological accomplishment in history.

Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut, became the first human being to step onto the moon’s surface during the Apollo 11 mission, spending approximately two and a half hours exploring outside the spacecraft. He famously described this historic event as “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong’s fellow astronaut, soon joined him on the moon’s surface, assisting in the collection of 47.5 pounds of moon material. Together they returned this valuable material back to Earth, where it was thoroughly analyzed.

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Apollo 11’s goal

The aim of the Apollo 11 mission was simple, yet thought to be nearly impossible: to fulfil the ambitious objective put forth by US President John F Kennedy in 1961 of sending humans to the moon, and returning them safely to Earth.

National Moon Day

In 1971, then US President, Richard Nixon, declared National Moon Day on Jul. 20th, in honor of the anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, unfortunately, this celebration did not last long as an annual celebration.

Next, a US citizen named Richard Christmas brought back the legal challenge to observe National Moon Day. He sent letters to various US state governors and Congressional members, imploring them to recognize this day. His efforts found some traction by 1975, when 12 states introduced bills to officially observe National Moon Day.

Jumping all the way forward to 2019, ex-President Donald Trump made known that Jul. 20th marked the 50th anniversary of the momentous Apollo 11 lunar landing. However, an official designation for National Moon Day has not yet been declared.