History

2019

July 2019

U.S. Census Bureau History: Apollo 11 and the First Man on the Moon

After launching from Cape Canaveral, FL, on July 16, 1969, approximately 53 million Americans and 650 million
people worldwide watched astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (above) become the first men to
walk on the surface of the Moon.
Photo courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

On July 20, 1969, the world paused to watch and listen as America's Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. The historic moment was the climax of a space program that President John F. Kennedy challenged 8 years earlier to, "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."

When President Kennedy challenged the United States to land a man on the Moon in a May 25, 1961 speech before a Joint Session of Congress, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) manned-spaceflight program was in its infancy. Just 3 weeks earlier, Alan Shepard became the first American astronaut to complete a flight aboard his Freedom 7 Mercury space capsule. Despite Shepard's achievement, the United States lagged far behind the Soviet Union. In October 1957, the Soviets launched the world's first satellite (Sputnik I) into space, and on April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin became the first human in space and the first to orbit Earth—a far more complex mission than Shepard's 15-minute suborbital flight.

Over the next 8 years, astronauts, engineers, scientists, physicists, computer programmers, technicians, and thousands of other federal government and contract employees worked long days and sleepless nights to achieve Kennedy's goal and beat the Soviets to the Moon. Between Shepard's 1961 suborbital flight and Gordon Cooper's May 15–16, 1963 22-orbit flight, six Mercury missions launched individual astronauts into space to complete increasingly difficult tasks and maneuvers. Between 1964 and 1966, 12 unmanned and manned Gemini missions helped the United States take the lead in space as NASA and its astronauts prepared for the rigors of extended and increasingly complex space flights.

The U.S. space program paused following the devastating loss of astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee in the January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire. On October 11, 1968, the Apollo 7 crew of Walter "Wally" Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham launched into Earth orbit during the first manned test of the monstrous Saturn V rocket and Apollo space capsule. Ten weeks later, Apollo 8's crew (Frank Borman, William Anders, and James Lovell) was first to orbit the Moon. The May 1969 Apollo 10 mission saw crew members Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan complete a full "dress rehearsal" for Apollo 11, descending to within 8.4 nautical miles of the lunar surface.

At 9:32 a.m. (EDT), on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11's Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin blasted into space from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, FL. Three days later, Apollo 11 was orbiting the Moon. Leaving Collins behind in the Apollo 11 command module, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module and descended toward a region of the moon known as the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong exited the lunar lander and stepped on the Moon's surface at 10:56 p.m., as millions of people watched his "giant leap for mankind." Aldrin followed soon after and the pair collected samples, planted an American flag, and left behind a commemorative plaque on the Moon's surface. Two and one-half hours later, the two astronauts returned to the lander, blasted off, and rejoined Michael Collins in the orbiting Apollo command module. Eight days and more than 950,000 miles since leaving Earth, the Apollo 11 crew splashed down approximately 900 miles southwest of Honolulu, HI, on July 24, 1969.

Between July 1969 and December 1972, NASA launched seven Apollo missions to the Moon and 12 American astronauts walked and drove across the lunar surface. The missions returned 842 pounds of lunar rocks, sand, and dust for further study on Earth. On December 14, 1972, the last men on the Moon—Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan—lifted off from the lunar surface.

Since the end of the Apollo program, the Soviet Union, Russia, Japan, China, the European Space Agency, India, and Israel have sent probes to the Moon, but the cost and complexity of lunar exploration have hindered continued human exploration. In March 2019, a NASA statement challenged the nation to return to the Moon within 5 years. America's return to the Moon and establishment of a lunar base would be a "small step" toward the human exploration of Mars and beyond.

You can learn more about Apollo 11 and the American space program using census data and records. For example:

• When Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, OH, in 1930, the towns population was 5,378. In 1970—1 year after he walked on the Moon—the town's population was 7,324. Most recently, the 2010 Census reported Wapakoneta was home to 9,867. When Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, NJ, in 1930, the town was home to 7,365. In 2010, Glen Ridge's population was 7,527. Michael Collins, the son of a U.S. Army officer, was born in Rome, Italy, in 1930, and moved with his family frequently before attending St. Albans School, in Washington, DC. Since graduating from St. Albans School in 1948, Washington, DC's population decreased from 802,178 during the 1950 Census to 702,455 in 2018.
• The U.S. manned space program began with a 15 minute and 22 second suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. Between May 5, 1961, and May 15, 1963, NASA launched six American astronauts into space: Alan Shepard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra, and Gordon Cooper. A medical issue prevented a seventh Project Mercury astronaut—Donald "Deke" Slayton—from flying into space until he was assigned as the docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975.
• The coastal area around the Kennedy Space Center—named in honor of John F. Kennedy—is known as "Florida's Space Coast" and includes the cities of Titusville, Viera, Melbourne, Port Canaveral, and Cocoa Beach. Thanks to the aerospace industry, launch facilities, and tourism, the populations of cities like Cocoa Beach grew from 246 in 1950 to 11,231 in 2010, and Titusville grew from 2,604 in 1950 to 43,761 in 2010. Much of the Space Coast lies within Brevard County, FL. It grew from 23,653 in 1950 to 596,849 in 2018.
• When Neil Armstrong radioed "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," he was referring to NASA's mission control located at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. In 1960, the population of Houston, TX, was 938,219. One year after the historic 1969 Apollo 11 flight, Houston's population had grown to 1,232,802. In 2010, Houston was the nation's fourth largest urban place with a population of 2,099,451.
• Between July 1969 and December 1972, 12 people walked on the Moon. These include: Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong (1940 Census) and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin; Apollo 12's Charles "Pete" Conrad (1940 Census) and Alan Bean (1940 Census); Apollo 14's Alan Shepard (1940 Census)and Edgar Mitchell (1940 Census); Apollo 15's David Scott and James Irwin (1940 Census); Apollo 16's John Young (1940 Census) and Charles Duke; and Apollo 17's Eugene Cernan (1940 Census) and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.
• Many people think of astronauts when imagining space careers; however the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported there were just 45 active astronauts in the United States in 2016. That same year, BLS reported there were 69,600 aerospace engineers; 19,900 physicists and astronomers; 149,500 aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians; and 10,400 atmospheric scientists (including meteorologists). In 2016, the Annual Survey of Manufactures reported that 50,181 people worked in the guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing industry (NAICS 336414) and 12,297 people worked in the guided missile and space vehicle propulsion unit and propulsion unit parts manufacturing industry.
• In addition to launch facilities at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, NASA has launch, maintenance, and monitoring facilities throughout the United States. Facilities include: the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL; the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA; the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, MS; the Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County, VA; and the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Brook Park, OH.
• Seventy-five years before Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the Moon, astronomer Percival L. Lowell founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. Over the next two decades, Lowell studied Venus, Mars, and the outer planets from the observatory and has since had craters on the Moon and Mars named in his honor. Learn more about the astronomer and his visual exploration of our solar system using census data and records at the archived November 2016 History Web page.
• Want to travel to some out-of-this-world places without leaving Earth? You can study the Moon and planets in Moon, PA; Moon Lake, FL; Venus, TX; Mars Hill, ME; Jupiter, FL; or Neptune, NJ. View the stars in Star, MN or Star Valley, AZ; and Meteor, WI. Visitors to Mower County, MN, can make a wish on the Shooting Star State Trail or admire artwork depicting fallen stars at Dark Star Park in Arlington, VA.
• Bipartisan legislation renamed the road in front of NASA's Washington, DC, headquarters building "Hidden Figures Way". NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and dignitaries from the federal and local governments unveiled the new street sign honoring Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Katherine Johnson on June 12, 2019. The ceremony honored the three African-American mathematicians—and all women—who played critical, but overlooked roles in the success of America's manned space program. The street name is a reference to the 2016 book and Academy Award-nominated movie, Hidden Figures , about Jackson, Vaughan, and Johnson.

Did you know?

On January 13, 1920, a New York Times editorial mocked rocketry pioneer Robert H. Goddard for theorizing that rockets could travel in the vacuum of space.

The newspaper quipped that the Clark University professor "seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."

The day after the Apollo 11 launch, the newspaper issued a correction noting that research subsequent to that 49-year-old editorial had definitively proven Goddard's theories were correct. "The Times regrets the error."

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This Month in Census History

On July 13, 1832, Samuel Taylor Suit was born in Bladensburg, MD, In 1867, Suit used some of his Kentucky distillery fortune to purchase a 300-acre farm outside of Washington, DC, in Suitland, MD.

Home to farmland and Skyhaven Airport by World War II, the U.S. government purchased the land in Suitland, MD, in 1941. Following construction of Federal Office Building 3, the U.S. Census Bureau moved into its new headquarters in 1942.

In 2006, the Census Bureau completed construction of a new, energy-efficient headquarters adjacent to the building it occupied for more than 6 decades.

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Gus Grissom

On July 21, 1961, astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom became the second American in space. His July 21, 1961, suborbital flight aboard the Mercury Liberty Bell 7 space capsule lasted nearly 16 minutes.

Grissom was a leading contender to command Apollo 11 and become the first man on the Moon, until his death on January 27, 1967.

While training for their February 1967 Apollo flight, Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee died in a fire fueled by their capsule's oxygen-rich atmosphere. Following an investigation, NASA ordered numerous safety improvements that benefited future missions.