On July 20, 1969, President Richard Nixon used this green telephone in the Oval Office to talk to the Apollo 11 astronauts while they were on the surface of the moon.
Now you can see this same phone on display in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This morning at 11 a.m., we will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the display “Nixon and the U.S. Space Program,” which will feature rarely seen documents, photographs, and artifacts that represent milestones in manned spaceflight during President Nixon’s administration.
It’s also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Richard Nixon. Stop by during this centennial year and learn about Nixon’s support for the lunar program and his efforts to improve Cold War relations through a cooperative space exploration program.
The telephone is part of the holdings of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
Source: archives.gov
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for all mankind.”
-Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s words as he made his first step onto the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969
Image: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon next to the U.S. Flag
More: President Nixon’s phone call with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon
Happy Leap Day!
Source: research.archives.gov
Gemini XII Mission Image - Spacecraft Skin
Manned by astronauts Jim Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Gemini XII was the final flight of the Gemini missions. The space craft completed the series 45 years ago this month.
Created by NASA, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. November, 1966.
More - LBJ and the Space Age
Source: research.archives.gov
“Neil and Buzz, I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made.”
-President Richard Nixon speaking with astronauts on the moon. July 20, 1969
White House Super 8 movies and sound recordings are mixed together in this short video that captures the earth-to-moon phone call between Nixon, Aldrin, and Armstrong.
-created by the Nixon Library archival team
First moon walk. July 20, 1969.
Photo of Astronaut Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin on the surface of the moon, next to the U.S. flag. Photographed by Neil Armstrong, first person to set foot on the moon. Apollo 11 mission.
-via The National Archives, Nixon Administration
Moonshot Mondays: Apollo 11 First Manned Mission to the Surface of the Moon
This past Saturday marked the anniversary that Apollo 11 launched into space on it’s historic flight to the moon. On July 16, 1969, at the invitation of President Richard Nixon, Former President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson watched the launch of Apollo 11 at Cape Kennedy, Florida. Four days later, Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landed the lunar module on the moon while Astronaut Michael Collins piloted the command module in its orbit around the moon.
This photograph above shows the liftoff of Apollo 11 at 9:32 a.m., EDT, on July 16, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad with Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin A. “Buzz” Aldrin, on its flight to the moon.
Below, Lady Bird Johnson, Former President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Vice President Spiro Agnew view the launch of Apollo 11. The sunglasses in the crowd are pretty nifty, too.
We’ll be tracing events from the Apollo 11 flight this week, so stay tuned for more of the moon mission of 1969.
-from the Presidential Timeline
