COMMEMORATING THE 40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MOON LANDING
Yesterday, Congressman Culberson introduced H. Con. Res. 117 which commemorates the 40th Anniversary of humanity’s first landing on the Moon, celebrates the success of the United States human space flight program, and recognizes the accomplishments of NASA’s human space flight centers.
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress and said, “I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
At that moment, a new space age was born. Just eight years later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) achieved Kennedy’s goal when Apollo 11 departed Earth on July 16, 1969. The mission of Apollo 11 – with a crew consisting of Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. – was to perform a manned lunar landing and return safely to Earth.
Millions of Americans watched on July 20, 1969, as the Lunar Module “Eagle” landed on the surface of the Moon, and Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon and remarked, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” The experiments conducted on the moon’s surface by Armstrong and Aldrin provided scientists around the world with new information about Earth’s nearest neighbor. The lunar landing also inspired a new generation of Americans to enter the fields of science and engineering, setting the stage for future NASA successes.
It is timely to honor the 40th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing while NASA continues human spaceflight today with the Constellation Program. NASA facilities helping to carry out this program include Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Flight Center, and Stennis Space Center. NASA’s greatest asset continues to be its people – the thousands of individuals across the country in both government and industry who conceive, design, build, operate, and manage an ambitious program of space exploration on behalf of our great Nation.
