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One Giant Leap: The Moon Landing
On July 20, 1969, the world watched as American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin realized humanity's long-held dream of walking on the moon. Ten more men would repeat the feat in the next three years until the last moon landing in 1972. CBC Digital Archives looks back on the promise and the demise of the Apollo space program.
Photo of Buzz Aldrin on the moon by NASA. Image no. AS11-40-5903
Apollo 11 crew ready for moon landing
Broadcast Date: July 20, 1969
One of mankind's greatest achievements is about to unfold in the sky high above Earth on July 20, 1969. Four days earlier the Apollo 11 spacecraft escaped the planet's gravity, and now the world waits for astronaut Neil Armstrong to take his first steps on the moon. In Houston, mobs of newsmen covering the event report on every little detail of the moon shot. Among them is the CBC Radio's Bob Evans, who reports on the event's international impact, whether President Nixon should get any credit, and what might be Neil Armstrong's first words on the moon.Apollo 11 crew ready for moon landing
• Though humans have wondered for millennia what it might be like to walk on the moon, it was U.S. President John F. Kennedy who pledged to make it a reality. In a speech before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, Kennedy said: "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 the earth."• In this clip, reporter Bob Evans speculates that astronaut Neil Armstrong might mention a cheesemaker in his hometown while standing on the moon. As his foot touched the moon's surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." There was no mention of cheese.
• Some 35,000 people jammed into Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall to watch the moon landing on a big screen. "We would have watched it on colour television at home," Marjorie-Ann Owens, 19, told the Globe and Mail. "But Mom and Dad and I felt it would be much more exciting down here. It's great. I think, at my age, I've got a fair chance at getting to the moon myself some day."
Apollo 11 crew ready for moon landing
Medium: Radio
Program: Sunday Morning
Broadcast Date: July 20, 1969
Guest(s): Viola Armstrong
Host: Bill Paul, Bruce Rogers
Reporter: Bob Evans
Duration: 12:07
Photo: Photo by NASA. Image no. S69-31739
Last updated:
July 15, 2009
Apollo 11 crew ready for moon landing.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: July 15, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 12, 2012.]