"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Alden Armstrong, American astronaut, test pilot, and Naval Aviator spoke these words broadcast from the moon and into history as he placed his left foot on the surface of the moon, the first human to ever do so, July 21, 1969.
As you may now be aware, (see last post on Close Encounters) I am a big fan of Space exploration. If you ever have a chance to go to the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. (you should make it a point of visiting this special museum), it is amazing how small the Gemini capsules were and how unbelievably brave these men and later women truly are. The museum also has a robust collection of objects and artifacts regarding the Apollo program. The Apollo program began in 1961 and continued through 1975 with the goal of conducting manned moon landing missions. This was a goal announced by President Kennedy in 1961 and was achieved on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. In total six Apollo spaceflights landed astronauts on the moon, the only humans to have landed on another celestial body. The program spurred advances in many areas of technology peripheral to rocketry and manned spaceflight including major contributions in the fields of avionics, telecommunications, and computers.
The image of the first step taken on the moon, celebrated in this stamp from Mexico is another example of the way in which the graphics portrayed on postage stamps and the inspiration for our t-shirts, both celebrate and respect what is positive and alluring about one another. In appreciation of the monumental achievement of landing on the moon, Mexico commemorated the event in this 1969 classic. What enhances the uniqueness of this image even further is the fact that the postal system of Mexico is said to have begun with the Aztecs, who operated a system of messengers.
