In perhaps the boldest presidential decree of the 20th century, John F. Kennedy said before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

Eight years later and only 66 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright made history with the first airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Apollo 11, launched by a Saturn V rocket, took off from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. Apollo Lunar Module, Eagle, landed on the moon four days later, fulfilling Kennedy’s vision.