First Clown on the Moon

Day 1 of 11 Days of Apollo 11

July 16, 1969: Apollo 11 launches on the first manned lunar landing mission

Apollo 11 launched from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:32 AM EDT. Nearly one million people watched liftoff from Florida's Space Coast's beaches and highways and another 600 million watched live on TV. Former president Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President Spiro Agnew, rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth, and aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh watched from the VIP section near the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Read more about Apollo 11 here!

It's okay to be upset about no women being on Artemis III but also we have now had two black men and with a latino and Italian on board too even if one is white this is their mission to bring humanity back to the moon.

As of a few moments ago, NASA has officially announced the crew for the upcoming Artemis III mission. A low Earth orbit mission focused on testing the Orion capsule and lunar landers produced by industry partners Blue Origin and SpaceX, Artemis III will be a complex mission preparing us for a future lunar landing. This international crew comprises of three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency astronaut.

Commander: Randy "Komrade" Bresnik

A two-time spaceflight veteran flying on both Shuttle and Soyuz, Bresnik first traveled to space aboard the STS-129 mission as a mission specialist. His second mission, beginning on Soyuz MS-05, included a nearly 140 day mission to the International Space Station. Serving as commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 53, Bresnik follows in the long line of astronauts who began their career as Navy test pilots as well as serving as a flight instructor.

Pilot: Luca Parmitano

An Italian astronaut and part of the European Space Agency astronaut corps, Parmitano has flown on two long-duration missions to the International Space Station. A veteran of six spacewalks, Parmitano has proven himself in difficult situations when the suit on his second spacewalk began filling with water, posing the danger of drowning in space. The first Italian to command the International Space Station, Parmitano is also notable for being the first person to DJ in space.

Mission Specialist: Frank Rubio

A record-breaking NASA astronaut, Rubio has flown the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut at 371 days. A doctor of medicine, Rubio's stay on the International Space Station was prolonged due to damage to the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. This lengthy stay allowed for more than a year of study of the impact of space flight on the human body.

Mission Specialist: Andre Douglas

The only rookie astronaut on the crew, Douglas is an engineer with a doctorate of systems engineering. A member of the US Coast Guard, Douglas has also studied robotics, planetary defense, and space exploration with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. Serving as a backup crew member on Artemis II provided Douglas with the unique experience of training for the Artemis II mission alongside the primary crew. Artemis III will be his first space flight.

June 3, 1965: Astronaut Ed White becomes the first American to "walk" in space

Gemini 4 was the second manned flight of the Gemini program and sought to establish a new American duration record of four days in space. Its secondary objective and most memorable event was White's extra-vehicular activity, during which he free-floated outside the spacecraft and took photos of Earth.