Moon Day
Moon day commemorates the day a human first walked on the moon: July 20th 1969. In 1961, in an effort to beat the Soviet Union in the space race, President John F. Kennedy made an appeal to a special joint session of Congress, stating ” “I believe 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 Earth.” Thus began NASA’s Apollo Space Program and ten Apollo missions and eight years later, Apollo 11 was launched on July 16th, 1969. The lunar landing module, nicknamed The Eagle touched down four days later.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong, upon setting foot on the moon uttered the now famous line “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Learn more about the Apollo 11 Mission at The History Channel.
However, some conspiracy theorists believe that the moon landing was fake. The conspiracy that the moon landing was a hoax started in the mid 1970′s. Some go so far as to say NASA used either a sound stage or filmed in a remote desert with the astronauts using harnesses or slow-motion photography to make it look like they were on the moon. To read more about the moon landing conspiracies (and the debunking of) visit National Geographic.
To celebrate Moon Day, why not read about the history of the Apollo program in Marketing the Moon. Or read the book or watch a movie on space flight like Apollo 13. Or delve into the funnier side of the conspiracy theory of the moon landing hoax by watching Moonwalkers. Or simply gaze up into the night sky and enjoy the sight of the full moon!
