The deserts of Neveda there was an important facility that held the dreams of the people of America. The dreams of reaching the very Stars themselves. This facility, appatly named N.A.S.A , was home to the best and brightest of America as they attempted in Project Codename Apollo to send expiaditions up to the moon itself. Apollo 1's tagic acident on the run-way gave birth to an eye for safety never seen before. Apollo-1 through Apollo-6 were missions dealing with the launching technique called Saturn V.
Apollo 7-10 were missions that sent men up to orbit the Moon and take pictures. All missions were completed successfully, and the moons surface was studied from the pictures to find the best landing spots. Apollo 11 was underway.
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Neil Armstrong leaned forward of the glass of waiting room. Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin stood beside him. They had made small talk while they waited for the man in charge of N.A.S.A to be ready to see them. Neil saw men scurring around the launch pad in a constant flurry of motion. A gignatic rocket stood erect as it pre-pared for lift off. A diminutive secetary walked out of the office and smilled at the gathered men. "President Patton will see you now. The gathered men looked warily at each other, the president himself was here? The gathered men took a few moments to smooth out their clothes before actaully walking in.
The aging president was sitting in front of them as they walked in the door. "Please, have a seat gentlemen." The gathered men immediatly took their seats. The president stood up while he pressed a button under his desk. A projector sceen dropped down behind him as he pointed with a laser picture at a picture. "What is this gentlemen?"
"That would be the moon, sir." Neil immdiatly answered. The three men were confused as to why the president was showing them this picture. "May I ask sir, why are you showing us this picture anyway?"
"Because this is where you are going, you are to be the crew of the first maned mission to the Moon. You are the Crew of Apollo 11. Report to the barracks, we have to prepare you for your trip."
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A multitude of action was occuring in N.A.S.A's central command center as the men and women prepared for the lift-off of Apollo 11. The commanding scientist was giving commands left and right for the momentous event. President Patton waited patiently in the back of the room as the scientists prepared. "This is it. All systems are green, all cargo packed. Clear the pad, I repeat, clear the pad. Begin countdown."
The man on the control panel nodded and began to type on the computer. He leaned forward to speak into the Microphone. "The Parties started boys." he said. He got a few nervous chuckles from everybody. "Countdown begun. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14," the gathered men all locked their eyes on the screen. The hopes and dreams of the program rested upon the men in Apollo 11. "13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8," the people all across America tuning in began to wordlessly join in on the countdown, feeling the importance and putting their minds and souls into the expiadenture that would catupelt mankind forward into the Unknown. "7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The rockets blared and the sound became deafning as the rockets tired to propell the space shuttle higher into the air. "Liff-off! We have a lift-off! At 32 minutes past the hour! Lift-off for Apollo 11!"
All across the nation the people tuning in erupted in cheers, but knew they had not reached their goal quite yet. It would be around 4 days before the men of Apollo 11 reached their destination.
Four days later...
At 1:47 pm EDT, July 20, the Lunar Module "Eagle" carrying Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, separated from the Command Module "Columbia". Michael Collins, aboard the CM, took this picture of the LM as it prepared for its descent to the lunar surface. "You cats take it easy on the lunar surface", Collins said as he released the LM.
The men of Apollo 11 had just about reached the destination for the trip, the landing site called the Sea of Tranquility. "A magnificent site out here," Armstrong said on the radio as Apollo 11 made its way down to the ground. "Magnificent Desolation." Aldrin responded.
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http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/a11magnif.aiff]
Armstrong only nodded in agreement while Neil looked almost dazed out the windows. After a moment Aldrin landed the Space Shuttle on the surface of the moon. "Huston, Traquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." The words spoken by Aldrin ushered in a new age of Space Exploration, and for man-kind. [
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/a11landing.aiff]
Neil waited for the shuttle to stop moving before opening the hatch. The stunning magnificance of the moon stopped him in his tracks. It was indeed a magnificant desolation as Aldrin had put it. He took a breath in his suit before grabbing the handles to begin to step down. He reached the final step and then stopped. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." he said before stepping onto the moons surface. [
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/a11step.aiff]
The men of Apollo 11 gathered on the surface of the moon, their steps the first ever of any man upon a surface other than the Earth, they were truly pinoneers. Neil Armstrong took a flag for the shuttle, and then pushed it into the surface of the moon. *kruttz*"Good job gentlemen.*kruttz* came the voice of President Patton over the radio. *krutzz*"You have done an enourmous service to the entire United States of America, no, the entire world."*kruttz*. Aldrin (A former marine) merely saluted in respond to the president's words.
The people of the United States watched the transpiring events from home on their Telivison sets, and listen on their radios. They momentous event was heard by almost every American, and it was the broadcast heard around the world. In every household, men where placing their Flags proudly on display. People were pouring into the streets, chanting the National Anthem. The United States was alive once more. The United States had been reborn after the events of 17/62.
The Men of Apollo 11 conducted scientfic experiements and collected data and pictures and rocks from the moon. All of these would greatly help the United State's experiments. A day before the explorers returned Aldrin said this famous quote,"We feel this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiousity of all mankind to explore the unknown."
The returning heros from that famous day, July 20th 1966, were forever hailed with reverance as the pioneers who ushered the United States into the Next age of exploration, the exploration of space.