There are few moments in American history when the whole world is watching. But on July 20, 1969 it would have been difficult to look away. All television and radios were tuned into the historic broadcast as the commentator for the NASA space program described the events leading up to the moment that Neil Armstrong became the first human being to stand on the moon. At minimum, 500 million tuned into history.

It would be over six hours from when Armstrong announced that they had landed on the surface until he spoke the words that will survive the ages.

“That is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins would be mostly quiet during the broadcast and it is Armstrong that remains the most notable member of the shuttle crew. After the historic words were spoken, Aldrin and Armstrong collected rocks from the moon’s surface and Collins enjoyed the vastness of space from above. Four decades after that day, people still look to that day as a sign of human accomplishment and a symbol of humanity’s capability. But the moon landing represented other things as well: a dead president’s dream, a blow in the cold war and the victory of the space race.

John F. Kennedy had remarked in 1961 that putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade was a real possibility. Unfortunately, it would be Richard Nixon who spoke with the astronauts as they floated in their tin can and not JFK. President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas as his car drove down the street in front of a happy cheering crowd.

The Kennedy Space Center in Florida was named after the popular fallen leader. During JFK’s presidency, indeed, since the end of World War II, tension had been heating up between the communist Soviet Union and capitalist America. The two became bitter rivals, despite the Soviet Union’s gallant effort for the allies during the war, and what was to be later named The Cold War was the no shots fired war of ideology between two of the planets largest nations. America and the west feared the weight and presence of the Soviet Union, believing their ideology had a domino effect and would entice other nations to choose communism over the capitalist system. China, North Vietnam, North Korea and several other nations chose a form of communism or socialism making America feel responsible to battle for “democracy.”

The Soviet Union was determined to show its might and eagerness to progress actually becoming the first nation to put a man into space. Because of the tension between the two nations, The Soviet Union’s small victory became a mighty blow against America’s ambitions for the stars. The determination with which both countries pursued space flight became known as the space race. Armstrong’s footsteps on the moon’s surface represented America’s victory in the pursuit of progress. The Soviet Union’s space efforts after the moon landing were less than notable. Whereas in America, the desire to send both man and machine into the solar system continues.

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Despite 40 years of progress, technological invention, conflicts, cover-ups and cultural change, the moon landing that took place in the famed summer of 1969 will forever be one of the world’s defining moments.

Tags: 1969, America, Apollo 11, Buzz ALdrin, Cold War, JFK, John F. Kennedy, July 20, Kennedy Assasination, Kennedy Space Center, Michael Collins, Moon Landing, NASA, Neil Armstrong, Nixon, Richard Nixon, Russia, Space Race, The Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., World War II