Apollo 11 made history that was captured by UPI

WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- Neil Armstrong's left boot hit moon dust at 10.56 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 20, 40 years ago. He then uttered the immortal words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

He and fellow astronaut, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., became the first men to set foot on the moon. Their achievement was the culmination of an eight-year, $24 billion effort to meet the challenge laid down by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961.

"I believe that 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," Kennedy said.

Forty years ago, UPI reporters and photographers were there covering every moment of the flight preparation, the launch, the journey to the moon, the landing, the return flight and splashdown and recovery in the Pacific Ocean. They reported from the Houston Space Center in Texas and Cape Kennedy in Florida and kept readers on top of every dramatic moment in the action.

To give you the feeling of what it was like to be there 40 years ago, we are republishing their stories and photos in our special feature to mark the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. We also have a recent video interview with Buzz Aldrin, one of the men who made history that day.

The story was one of high drama and achievement. The combination of vision, determination, technology and human resourcefulness it took to overcome the huge challenges facing the project retains its power to inspire to this day.

There were plenty of tense moments along the way. Controllers in Houston held their breath as the astronauts disappeared on the far side of the moon, knowing all communications would be dead for 35 minutes. As the lunar landing module headed for touchdown in a boulder patch, Armstrong took manual control to guide it to a safer spot. They landed with just 18 seconds of fuel left in the tanks.

Aldrin pushed a broken circuit-breaker wire back into place with his pen. Without it the engine to lift them off the moon's surface would not fire.

But a larger drama was being played out as well. For many, the space race with the Soviet Union was the most visible face of the Cold War. The Soviets launched the first space satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. Their superior rocketry at the time put them in the driving seat in space exploration.

In April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. That was the moment that galvanized the U.S. and led Kennedy to issue his historic challenge.

The Apollo moon landing represented the triumph of American science and technology over its Soviet rival. From that point, hampered by its dysfunctional economy, the Soviet Union fell further and further behind the United States in most areas of scientific development.

The moon landing gave a tremendous boost to science in the United States. The research that went into it also produced specific technological breakthroughs with wide-ranging applications.

As President Barack Obama told the National Academy of Sciences last April, "The Apollo program itself produced technologies that have improved kidney dialysis and water purification systems; sensors to test for hazardous gasses; energy-saving building materials; and fire-resistant fabrics used by firefighters and soldiers."

At the time of the moon landing, the Vietnam War was in full, bitter, divisive swing; Armstrong and Aldrin provided some welcome national distraction and uplift.

And perhaps that explains the lasting appeal of the Apollo space program. It was the last time that the country united around a presidential call to meet a great challenge -- and succeeded.