Today in 1969 humans walked on the moon for the first time, as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
In 1957, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite, into space. The American government was afraid of being left behind, and it also began intensive space research and founded NASA, as part of what would become known as the space race. In the early 1960s, President Kennedy announced the beginning of the Apollo program, to land a man on the moon. Initially, the plan encountered difficulties, and the Apollo 1 spacecraft burned in 1967 on the ground with its three occupants; But during 1968 spacecraft were successfully launched around the moon, and in July 1969 Apollo 11 was sent with the goal of making a manned landing. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, and Armstrong was the first to walk on its soil – ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’. The astronauts then hoisted the US flag on the moon and spoke with President Nixon, and performed small samples and experiments. Two days later, the astronauts returned to Israel, overcoming multiple mishaps along the way, plummeting into the ocean, being rescued by the Navy, and embarking on a publicity and PR campaign throughout the world. The Apollo program landed ten more astronauts on the moon by 1974, but since then no man has visited there again.
