My father-in-law happens to be friends with Neil Armstrong. I was fortunate to meet Mr. Armstrong and his wife at my mother-in-law’s funeral and although it was under sad circumstances, it was none-the-less a cool thing to actually meet the person who was the first human ever to step foot on the moon.
On July 20, 1969, Apollo II astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed Eagle on the surface of the moon. Moments after they landed, Neil Armstrong’s voice from a quarter of a million miles away announced to Earth, “the Eagle has landed.”
Eagle’s trip to the moon’s surface had not gone exactly as planned. The computer had overloaded and the spacecraft hurled toward the surface – Houston decided not to abort the mission and directed “Eagle, you are a go for landing.” The computer had overshot Eagle’s mark by four miles and as Armstrong looked out the window to find a smooth landing area, he saw they were approaching a crater of jagged boulders. A warning light began to blink indicating they were running out of landing fuel. With no other options, Armstrong took command from the computer and safely landed Eagle just as the low-fuel signal flashed. Six and a half hours later, he and Aldrin stepped onto the surface of the moon.
Before Armstrong and Aldrin departed, they left a plaque on the moon that says:
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969, A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
Now you’re a little smarter, Girlfriend — And so am I.
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