Video: What the Apollo Missions Meant to Mankind

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Saturday, we’ll celebrate 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Over the course of the next few days, you’re likely to see lots of news stories, articles, videos, and other information about this historic event, which for my money is amongst the greatest achievements of mankind. This clip, from National Geographic, helps to put the Apollo missions into context, making them a bit easier to understand for those who weren’t around to truly appreciate them. Born from the conflict and competition of Cold War, the space race was another way for the U.S. and the Soviets to challenge one another. In the end however, Apollo resulted in the first steps of humans on another world, hopefully opening the gateway for more space exploration to come.

Kraig Becker