This week’s pick is one of my favorites. 
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth.
Six of the missions -- Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 -- achieved this goal.
Apollo 8 took this famous photo of the EarthApollo 7, was for testing the Command Module, while Apollo 9 tested both the Command Module and Lunar Module.
Both were strictly Earth orbiting missions.
Apollo 10 was the "dress rehearsal" of the moon landing which Apollo 11 would make. Apollo 10 tested various systems that would be used to land on the moon.
Did you know Apollo 10's Lunar Module came within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface, before it fired its engines and returned to dock with the command module? I can only imagine how tempted those astronauts must have been to beat Neil and Buzz and land their Lunar Module on the moon first!
Apollo 13 did not land on the lunar surface due to a major life-threatening malfunction, but during the brief orbit around the Moon, the crew was able to collect some photographs. This famous mission of survival was made into a major movie starring Tom Hanks as Astronaut James Lovell.
I remember very well the very first time we landed on the Moon, this was the Apollo 11 mission.
After the initial launch, the Apollo 11 spacecraft (Command and Lunar Module) were in lunar orbit. This occurred about 76 hours into the mission.
Armstrong and Aldrin then entered the Lunar Module and prepared for descent to the lunar surface.
The two spacecraft were undocked at about 100 hours into the mission, when the Command and Lunar Service Modules separated.
As the Lunar Module named
Eagle came closer to the moons surface -- and with about thirty seconds left before the Lunar Module would run out of fuel -- alarms started going off in the lunar module's cabin. Armstrong took over full control of the lunar decent, as the onboard computers became overloaded and the Lunar Module was heading towards a crater. It is very satisfying to me knowing that it was a human being -- not a computer -- that was needed to finally land us on the surface of the Moon.
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, on the surface of the Moon. The Lunar Module spacecraft called "Eagle" landed in the Sea of Tranquility on Sunday July 20, 1969 and at 3:18 p.m. Central Standard Time, we heard Neil Armstrong say:
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." 
Afterwards, they ate their first meal on the Moon and decided to begin the surface operations earlier than planned.
A Lunar Module camera provided live television coverage of Armstrong setting foot on the lunar surface at 9:56 p.m. Central Standard Time.
Just as he stepped off the Lunar Module Neil Armstrong proclaimed,
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." 
"Buzz" Aldrin emerged soon after, setting foot on the lunar surface at 10:16 p.m. CST.
Aldrin's first words once he stepped on the Moon were
"That's a good (last) step... Beautiful view!... Magnificent desolation."I vividly recall watching the Apollo 11 mission on television.
The day the astronauts walked on the moon, I was constantly looking out the living room window --gazing up at the moon.
I would then look back to the television set and watch two people walking on the surface of the moon.
It was so strange at first, but then the realization sunk in that we were really on the Moon! It was awesome! 
Above is the historical plaque on the ladder of Apollo 11's lunar module "Eagle." This plaque still remains on the surface of the Moon.Forty-seven pounds of lunar surface material (rocks) were collected and returned to Earth for analysis.
Above are some actual moon rocks returned from the Apollo 11 mission
Here is a great web site to learn more about the Apollo 11 mission:
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.html A transcript of the moon landing of Apollo 11:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/a11.landing.htmlAnd I firmly believe it when I say:
"YES, PEOPLE FROM EARTH REALLY DID LAND AND WALK ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON." 
The total dollars spent for the Apollo program amounted to $19,408,134,000.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again next week! 
I had learned Minnesota became a state 100 years before I was born, so I confidently wrote "1858" on the paper. 
