Apollo 11 astronauts hailed as heroes, 50 years after historic moon landing
- Americans celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing as the US seeks to pivot to a new era of crewed space exploration
- Nasa has been in overdrive for several weeks to mark the anniversary
Capping a week of celebrations over the historic Apollo 11 mission, US Vice-President Mike Pence joined astronaut Buzz Aldrin on Saturday at the launch pad in Florida that sent the moonwalker and his two crew mates to space for humankind’s first steps on the lunar surface 50 years ago.
Pence joined Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon behind his fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre for a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing that enthralled people around the world in 1969.
“If Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins are not heroes, then there are no heroes,” Pence told a crowd of dozens of space industry executives and Nasa staff in the Operations and Checkout building, the 18-metre chamber that once housed the Apollo 11 command module for testing.
“We honour these men today, and America will always honour our Apollo astronauts.”
Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died in 2012 at age 82.
