"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Spoken 50 years ago, the immortal words by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong as he took the first steps on the moon defined the incredible steps America took in the late 1950s and 1960s to venture into space.
In the late '50s, Russia and America began a dramatic race to explore space. In May 1961, President John Kennedy made the bold claim that the U.S. would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 16, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins began the Apollo 11 space mission. On July 20, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon's surface.
"Space Race: A Legacy of Exploration," a 32-page exclusive special section for digital subscribers, can be found Saturday at newstribune.pressreader.com/news-tribune-ereader.