48 years ago today on July 24th, 1969, Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific ocean after successfully landing on the Moon. This completed the nations commitment to “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth” before the end of the decade, and showed to the world that our combined efforts could surpass the initial lead the Soviets had in their space program – that was the prolitical drive for Apollo, but the scientific drive would see another 6 landing attempts, 5 more successful landings, the US launching its own space station, and a joint US / Soviet mission in 1975 (which, ironically, ended on the same date, July 24th), which would be the last Apollo flight, and the last American manned space flight until STS-1 in 1981.
This bit of footage is from the television network ABC, and is a collection clips from their coverage of the mission – it’s a chance to go back in time and see snippets of how the American populace saw this historic event.
No special commentary here, just enjoy.