50 Years On: "That's One Small Step for Man...."

Apollo 11 Mission Insignia. 

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Astronaut (and Mission Commander) Neil A. Armstrong, July 20, 1969

It was 50 years ago today (at 20:17 UTC) that the lunar module Eagle, carrying Mission Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Buzz Aldrin, landed on the surface of the Moon. Six hours and 39 minutes later, before a worldwide television audience, Armstrong emerged from the Eagle and, uttering the now-famous phrase, "That's one small step for man....," became the first human to set foot on Earth's only natural satellite.

At that moment, the Space Race that began on October 4, 1957 with the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into orbit, was over. After trailing the Russians in various milestones  - Soviet cosmonauts were the first to fly into space, to perform a spacewalk, and launch a woman into orbit - the landing of Apollo 11 was the virtual crossing of the finish line and the fulfillment of President John F. Kennedy's challenge to the country:

"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."

I was six years and four months old on that historic night 50 years ago when Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Sea of Tranquility, planted the Stars and Stripes, and became, for that one brief shining moment, the bearers of humanity's hopes and dreams at a time when things looked dire.

In July 1969. the U.S. and the world seemed to be tearing themselves apart by war, racial and social divisions, a Cold War which, if it ever became a hot one, threatened to end civilization as we knew it. America, in particular, was fighting its inner demons; a war in far Southeast Asia that very few people supported was dividing the nation like nothing else had since the Civil War.

 During the five and a half years before the Moon landing, a young President, his younger brother, and a civil rights leader had been murdered practically in view of millions thanks to the presence of the mass media. The Civil Rights movement had won significant legislative victories in the early 1960s. but the inevitable backlash from those who opposed social and cultural changes led to anger, political changes of allegiance, and even violence.

But the Apollo missions, beginning with Apollo 8 (the first manned flight to orbit the Moon) and culminating with the triumphal landing of Apollo 11 50 years ago, seemed to be one of the few unifying events in the America of the time. We were, after all, sending the first explorers onto the Earth's nearest celestial neighbor, not to claim it for the United States (there was an international treaty in place that precluded any territorial claims on the Moon anyway), but as ambassadors of all humanity.

As the plaque on the LM Eagle stated:

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.

Of course, I was only six years old on July 20, 1969. I learned about the politics and historical meaning behind Project Apollo much later. And being so young, I have no real memory of the telecast I saw in Bogota on that long-ago summer night. Did Inravision air the broadcast in English and then translate it immediately after? Were there Colombian TV commentators onscreen when the U.S.-fed broadcast ended? Did I watch the whole event on TV, or did I fall asleep? I can't remember.  I do know that my Mom, older half-sister, and our two maids were with me in our living room as I watched, wide-eyed but not quite understanding, the images being shared by the U.S. media with the world. 

I do remember, though, that for many months after the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions, I'd look up at the Moon, knowing that men had landed and walked on its surface.