55 years ago on July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first men to set foot on the moon. The 363 feet tall Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo 11 astronauts into space is still the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown. Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds), the weight of about 400 elephants. The rocket generated 34.5 million newtons (7.6 million pounds) of thrust at launch, creating more power than 85 Hoover Dams.

Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon because he was closest to the door of the tiny lunar module which had landed in an area known as the Sea of Tranquility. When his feet touched the ground he famously said, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” He claims that he said, “That’s one small step for a man” but the transmission cut out during the “a.”

In central Ohio, where Armstrong was raised, speakers have a tendency to blend the two words together. Linguistic studies have confirmed that coming out of Armstrong’s mouth, the phrase “for a” would have sounded like “frrr(uh)”. Armstrong maintained that the quote was not pre-planned and that he did not give any thought to what he would say until after he landed the lunar module.

Buzz Aldrin called for a moment of silence after the landing to give thanks for their survival. He took communion with a wafer and a tiny chalice of wine. He described the moon, “Beautiful! Beautiful! Magnificent desolation.”