National Moon Day
Celebrate the first man on the moon on #NationalMoonDay
20 July is National Moon Day, a day commemorating the first man walking on the Moon in 1969, an event that was reported by Nasa as being the single greatest technological achievement of all time.
Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the Moon on 20 July 1969. They were Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Six hours after landing, Armstrong was the first one to step onto the lunar surface and spent two and a half hours outside the spacecraft. Aldrin spent slightly less time on the Moon’s surface, but, together they collected 21,5kg of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Michael Collins piloted the spacecraft and remained alone in orbit until Armstrong and Aldrin returned.
Millions throughout the world watched the live television broadcast and witnessed Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon, accompanied by his famous quote, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
President Richard Nixon proclaimed National Moon Landing Day in 1971, to commemorate the anniversary of man’s first Moon landing. With no continuing proclamation following, Richard Christmas took up the baton and began the ‘Christmas Card’ writing campaign. The former gas station attendant hailing from Michigan, wrote to governors, congressmen and senators in all 50 states, urging them to create National Moon Day. By July of 1975, 12 states had sponsored bills observing Moon Day.
James J Mullaney, former curator of Exhibits and Astronomy at Pittsburgh’s original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and Staff Astronomer at the Allegheny Observatory, is a modern-day supporter of a National Moon Day. He said, “If there’s a Columbus Day on the calendar, there certainly should be a Moon Day!” He has been working toward making National Moon Day an official Federal holiday.
Celebrate today by using #NationalMoonDay to post on social media.
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