On 20 July, 1969, I got a day off from basic training at Ft. Bragg to watch the first men set foot on the Moon. This picture was taken from a window of the Eagle, the Apollo 11 lunar module. It shows the footprints in the lunar soil left by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Probably a billion people on planet Earth joined me in watching Armstrong step from the lander onto the surface of another world, making that live transmission one of the top-rated television shows of all time.

In the foreground on the right, a rocket nozzle on the side of the Eagle can be seen in silhouette. The TV camera is beyond the American flag, remounted on a stand to better view the landing area.

The Apollo missions to the Moon have been described as the result of the greatest technological mobilization in history. We haven’t been back to the moon for almost 40 years.

Image Credit: NASA/Apollo 11