Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the first Moon Landing. On July 20th of 1969 at 4:17 pm Eastern, Apollo 11 landed on the lunar surface. Hours later, NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. He was joined by Buzz Aldrin as Michael Collins remained aboard the lunar module.
A total of 12 human beings have walked on the Moon, but it’s been nearly 50 years since the last lunar mission. However, it won’t be too long until NASA returns to the Moon with the ultimate goal of reaching Mars, enthuses David Dundee, Astronomer at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville.
Dundee adds that the rockets that are now being tested for those missions are substantially more powerful than the Saturn V rockets that first sent humans to the Moon as part of the Apollo program.
Visit www.nasa.gov for a wealth of information related to space exploration past, present, and future.
