Author(s): Rebecca Rissman

English

An animal had flown into space. Russian and American men had orbited Earth. But until July 20, 1969, no man had landed on the moon. That day on TV sets around the world, people watched in awe as Neil Armstrong, one of three Apollo 11 astronauts, took his first step on the moon. His words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were heard by 600 million people watching on TV and even more who listened on the radio. In a time of great strife in the United States-a decade in which people were divided over the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and equal rights movements for women and others-the moon landing brought the world together. For the U.S., it was a moment of victory in the long-running space race with the Soviet Union. Even more, it was a moment of harmony and peace. Book jacket.