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Footprints on the Moon

This is a special encore presentation of the Quantum episode which was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Moon landing.



First broadcast in 1989, this definitive account wonderfully captures the spirit of the times and the excitement behind the first mission to land on the Moon.

At 12:56pm AEST on July 21, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon.

It was the culmination of over 10 years of intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that used up massive resources and money and saw the sacrifice of human lives in the race for space supremacy.

So what was the fascination with going to the Moon? And why spend so much effort on reaching it, only to seemingly abandon interest after three and a half years of manned lunar landings?

For the answers we invite you to step back in time and relive the race to get the first man on the Moon.

Read the full transcript of this program

What are your memories of the Moon landing?

Do you remember where you were when you first saw the amazing images beamed back from the moon? Even if you weren't alive at time, what significance does the moon landing hold for you today? And should we be going back to the Moon?

Share your memories on our message board.