Moon Landing's 40th Anniversary

July 20, 2009

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Profile America — Monday, July 20th. For those of a certain age, it may seem impossible that today marks the 40th anniversary of the first landing of humans on the surface of the moon. Much of the world watched on this date in 1969 when Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong maneuvered the lunar lander to a safe landing, as command module pilot Michael Collins continued orbiting the moon. Shortly afterward, Armstrong made the first human footprint in the dust of the moon. The flight was a technical triumph and fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge of 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This year, NASA’s budget for continued manned flights of the space shuttle is near $3 billion. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 370
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 792
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html