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Apollo 11 moon landing: All of our coverage of the 50-year anniversary

We look back at NASA’s greatest accomplishment.
This detail of a July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut Neil Armstrong reflected in the helmet visor of Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon.  AP Photo  |  NASA/Neil Armstrong
This detail of a July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut Neil Armstrong reflected in the helmet visor of Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon. AP Photo | NASA/Neil Armstrong
Published July 18, 2019|Updated July 19, 2019

Fifty years ago this week, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral, a mission that culminated with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Jr. becoming the first men to set foot on the moon. NASA’s success fulfilled the 1961 promise made by President John F. Kennedy and gave the United States a decisive edge in its space race with the Soviet Union.

On the moon landing’s 50th anniversary, we look back at the event that the world stopped to watch.

The Apollo 11 story told through the eyes of the Florida men and women who made it happen

Fifty years on, first moon landing remains mankind’s greatest accomplishment for those involved and those who watched. Read it here.

Florida remembers Apollo 11: ‘How brave the astronauts were, how bold our country was, how small our world became’

Karen Jodal memorialized the moon landing. (Image courtesy of Karen Jodal)
Karen Jodal memorialized the moon landing. (Image courtesy of Karen Jodal)

From launch to landing, people recall unforgettable moments from a half-century ago.

Apollo 11 hit its mark, but did editors miss with headline for moon landing?

Front page of the St. Petersburg Times, July 21, 1969. Features coverage of the Apollo 11 mission and Neil Armstrong's historic first step onto the surface of the moon.
Front page of the St. Petersburg Times, July 21, 1969. Features coverage of the Apollo 11 mission and Neil Armstrong's historic first step onto the surface of the moon.

Is the headline ‘Moon, We’re Onto You’ inappropriate for a historic event? Some Times staffers felt that way. It didn’t stop us from running it on the front page. We look back at that iconic headline.

Along the Space Coast, the legacy of Apollo and dreams of new frontiers are intertwined

Bob Sieck talks about a control room on June 25, 2019 at the American Space Museum in Titusville, Florida. Sieck was a NASA spacecraft systems engineer. MONICA HERNDON   |   Times
Bob Sieck talks about a control room on June 25, 2019 at the American Space Museum in Titusville, Florida. Sieck was a NASA spacecraft systems engineer. MONICA HERNDON | Times

Tourists still come to see rocket launches, but there’s not the mystique around liftoffs that there once was. We take a look at the Space Coast today.

The meaning of the moon landing, 50 years later

In this July 24, 1969 photo, flight controllers at the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, celebrate the successful conclusion of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.  AP Photo  |  NASA
In this July 24, 1969 photo, flight controllers at the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, celebrate the successful conclusion of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. AP Photo | NASA

We went to the moon and discovered something about ourselves. The Times editorial board reflects.

Want to get in on the moon madness?

American servicemen pause on a downtown Saigon, Vietnam street to read a local newspaper account of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. [AP]
American servicemen pause on a downtown Saigon, Vietnam street to read a local newspaper account of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. [AP]
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Here’s how to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing in Tampa Bay and on TV.

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