1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that had taken the first astronauts to the surface of the moon, safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. It launched eight days earlier from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, the spacecraft entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle touched down on the southwestern edge of the moon in the Sea of Tranquility, prompting Armstrong to radio to Mission Control in Houston, “The Eagle has landed.” On July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, until Apollo 17 left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972.
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