It was July 16, 1969. The song "Hair" from the musical of the same name was number one on the charts. "Gunsmoke" was the top-rated TV show, but everyone's attention was focused on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.
At 9:32 a.m. Apollo 11 lifted off the launch pad on the back of a Saturn V rocket and hurdled towards the moon for the first lunar landing planned for four days hence.
Exactly 50 years ago, 3 brave men left Earth to walk on the Moon. "Astronauts report it feels good" #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/uJEdF2W8zX
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) July 16, 2019
LIVE NOW: Tune in to hear from #Apollo11 astronaut Michael Collins as we count down to the exact moment when three humans lifted off from @NASAKennedy's Launch Pad 39A on our #Apollo50th journey to walk on the Moon: https://t.co/oAs1n8DQoc
— NASA (@NASA) July 16, 2019
At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, two of the three astronauts that made the journey, returned to Cape Canaveral, Florida and reflected on their time in space. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins returned. Neil Armstrong died in 2012.
July 20, 2019 marks 50 years to the day Armstrong and Aldrin emerged from The Eagle on the surface of the moon.
Back home, viewers around the world watched as Armstrong uttered the now-famous words, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The successful mission was first announced in 1961 by U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The U.S. had been in a hotly contested space race with Russia to be the first to land a man on the moon.