I can still remember that exciting day at 2pm on July 20, 1969 when my teacher wheeled the school b&w TV into our 3rd grade room. It meant there was no work for an hour as she announced that man was about to land on the moon. She turned on the TV and you could just see TV snow as she adjusted the rabbit ear antennas on top. Slowly, an image began to appear. It was hard to make out at first. All those tiny pixilated white and black squares trying to create a shape. And us kids begin to make out a shape of a space craft landing on the moon. It was unbelievable. You could see the grown-ups at Cape Canaveral acting like kids, whooping and hollering as they realized their mission had been accomplished. The teacher started clapping and so did all the kids. It was super exciting. As kids, we believed anything was possible and easy to believe that Americans had landed on the moon. The two astronauts were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Oh man, what a day.

Today, Buzz Aldrin, now 83 years old, is calling on America to get to Mars within the next 20 years. It harkens back to the day when John F. Kennedy came on TV and challenged fellow Americans to get to the moon before the end of the decade. And no human had ever done so! Thanks to Mar's Rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, we have never been closer to getting there.

Buzz points out the scientific advancements of the moon program are still in effect today. Products such as baby formula, phone cameras, computer mouse, cordless tools were all born out of NASA. Imagine what new technologies and products we can create to help people all over the planet?

To read more about Buzz Aldrin's vision, visit; http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/07/buzz-aldrin-get-to-mars-within-20-years/

Additional Resources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/everyday-items-developed-by-nasa-2012-8
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/first-person-on-moon.html

Tags: july 20, 1969, teacher, students, classroom, nasA, moon, landing, space ship, apollo 11, america, usa, astronaut, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, rover, john f kennedy, curiosity, opportunity, baby formula, phone cameras, computer mouse, cordless tools, planet, earth