Fifty two years ago today (June 20, 1969) the Eagle lunar landing module, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, landed on the Moon. Six hours after landing, Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon’s surface.
This is one of those days that just about everyone can remember where they were when it happened. I won’t repeat myself, but if you’re interested, you can check the entry of this blog for July 20, 2019 to find out where I watched the historic event.
For many, today is referred to as National Moon Day… commemorating the day man first walked on the moon. When the event occurred in 1969, NASA reported the moon landing as being… “the single greatest technological achievement of all time.”
In 1971, President Richard Nixon proclaimed National Moon Landing Day on July 20th to honor the anniversary of man’s first moon landing. But — no continuing resolution followed. There have been several movements to create an official National Moon Day — many of them claiming that “If there’s a Columbus Day on the calendar, there certainly should be a Moon Day.” The goal of these movements is to make July 20th a federally recognized holiday.
In 2019, President Trump proclaimed July 20th as the 50th Anniversary Observance of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing, but to date no National Moon Day has been declared.
Today is a good day to think about 52 years ago and where we were, what we were thinking and about how proud we were to be Americans. I’m not sure an official National Mood Day can bring back those thoughts and feelings, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt.
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