Eight days in July 1969

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface, July 20, 1969. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the LM the "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit. (NASA PHOTO)

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969

The 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
For eight days in July, 1969, three men, Commander Neil Armstrong, astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, would hold the world captivated as they completed the unimaginable, orbiting and landing on the moon. With no atmosphere to filter out the suns rays, temperatures on the barren lunar landscape can reach 125C on the sunny side, while the mysterious dark side can dip to as cold as -225C. A lunar day lasts 29 earth days, with 2 weeks of sunshine, followed by 2 weeks of darkness. NASA made the decision to land during what could be called the lunar dawn, a period at the start of the two weeks of sunshine, where temperatures would be more tolerable for the astronauts. So on July 16, 1969, the three men sat atop the Saturn V Rocket and blasted off from Florida towards the Moon's Sea of Tranquility and into history.

My entire life I have been in awe of NASA and the space program. I was much too young in 1969 to remember any of the original moon landing, however in subsequent years, my dad filled me in. There is no doubt that I was within feet of him on July 20, 1969, watching with 6 million others around the world, as Astronaut Neil Armstrong took the unprecedented first steps on the moon.

Earth and the Eagle Lunar Module as seen from the Command Module Columbia, hovering just above the surface of the moon in July 1969. (NASA Photo)

It was just what the world needed in 1969. Really, in my own humble opinion, these three men and the estimated 400,000 who worked on the Apollo program, saved the decade, at least for eight days. It was a much needed distraction from all the chaos of the 60's, if only for a few moments. The Apollo 11 mission started with the launch on July 16, 1969, and ended with the three man crew splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii on July 24. Miraculously the entire mission was completed with only a few minor glitches, helped along by near-perfect weather during the take-off and re-entry.

The Space Shuttle Ambassador at the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida in February 1992. It was a thrill for me to finally visit the birthplace of space flight. (Stephen Balena)

I still have my first TASCO telescope given to me back in 1973, and remain infatuated with the mystery of the moon and the heavens. This would include watching the rest of the Apollo missions and those of the Skylab space station through the 70s, followed by the Space Shuttle era of the 80s and 90s. I am looking forward with giddy delight to NASA's Project Artemis, which promises to place humans on the moon once again by 2024.

Canada's contributions to the space program are many, including the Canadarm, first used on the Space Shuttle Columbia on November 13, 1981. (NASA Photo)