First Man Lands On Moon 50 Years Ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fl. – Fifty years ago, July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission successfully put the first man on the moon.

Neil Armstrong’s historic steps, taken six hours after the initial lunar landing, officially ended the space race.

Armstrong, along with fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, accomplished that goal set nearly a decade prior by President John F. Kennedy.

An estimated 650-million people worldwide tuned in to the spacewalk, and a lot of those people still remember exactly what they were doing when those iconic steps were taken.

A host of events were planned for the week leading up to the mission’s golden jubilee.

Starting July 16, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, an image of the Saturn V Rocket was projected onto the east face of the Washington Monument.

Neil Armstrong’s space suit was unveiled at the National Air and Space Museum. The U.S. Postal Service also issued two commemorative “forever” stamps

Fifty years later, the nation still celebrating the pride, the excitement and the wonder of that historic day.