Space Race

Hello, my name is Neil Armstrong. When I was a little boy, long before I ever flew in a real spaceship, my favorite thing to do was build model airplanes. I would spend hours gluing the tiny pieces together, imagining I was a pilot soaring high above the clouds. At night, I would lie in my bed and stare out the window at the big, bright Moon. It looked like a giant, glowing pearl in the dark sky. I always wondered, what would it feel like to walk on its dusty ground? Could I jump really high there? As I got older, I learned that my country, the United States, was in a friendly competition with another country called the Soviet Union. We were both in a race to see who could explore space first. That little boy's dream of flying started to feel like it could come true, and maybe, just maybe, I could be the one to fly all the way to the Moon.

My dream of flying got bigger and bigger until one day, I was chosen to be an astronaut for a special group called NASA. It was so exciting. But it was also a lot of hard work. To get ready for space, my friends and I had to practice every single day. We learned to fly jets that went faster than any car you've ever seen. To get used to the feeling of being in space where there is no gravity to hold you down, we would train in a giant swimming pool. Wearing a big, puffy spacesuit underwater felt a lot like floating, which we called being 'weightless.' I wasn't alone on this adventure. I had two wonderful teammates, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. We were a team, and we trusted each other completely. Buzz was going to walk on the Moon with me, and Michael would pilot our command ship, Columbia, and circle the Moon while we were on the surface. We practiced everything over and over again for our big mission, called Apollo 11, so that we would be ready for the most amazing journey of our lives.

Finally, the big day arrived: July 16, 1969. I remember sitting inside our powerful Saturn V rocket with Buzz and Michael, feeling the whole thing shake and rumble. It felt like a giant beast waking up. Then, with a mighty roar, we blasted off. We were pushed back in our seats as we shot up, up, up, past the blue sky and into the blackness of space. After four days of traveling, we finally reached the Moon. Buzz and I climbed into our smaller ship, which we called the Eagle. Landing it was tricky, but I found a smooth spot and gently set us down. On July 20, 1969, I opened the hatch, climbed down the ladder, and my boot touched the soft, dusty ground of the Moon. It was amazing. I said, 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.' Looking up, I saw our home, the Earth, looking like a beautiful blue and white marble hanging in the sky. Buzz and I bounced around, collected rocks, and planted an American flag. It showed me that when people work together and aren't afraid to dream big, anything is possible.