The 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission is coming up – the mission that put the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969 @ 8pm GMT. Neil Armstrong, mission commander, stepped off the lunar lander with the famous quote “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
The National Space Society’s Boston Chapter is celebrating the event on July 15, 2009 with a presentation by chapter member Gerard Doran, including film/video clips of our space program from the 1960s.
Date: July 15, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Location: 125 Massachusetts Avenue (Guggenheim Laboratory), Room 33-419, Cambridge, Massachusetts
More Info: NSS Boston Chapter Announcement
Description: National Space Society’s Boston Chapter celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission, with presentation by chapter member Gerard Doran, including film/video clips of our space program from the 1960s.
There are a number of celebrations and events elsewhere in the country. A list has been compiled by the California Space Authority.
The event was the culmination of President Kennedy’s speech to congress on May 21, 1961 that “this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”. Though the challenge was driven by political and national security interests of beating the Soviet’s to space, it has had far reaching impact all over the planet.
Sadly, after Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, only ten other men have walked on the moon – the last one in 1973. The 40th anniversary of the Apollo missions is thus a celebration of the inspiring event, but a saddness that that momentum did not continue.