McCook Field in Dayton in Montgomery County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Neil Armstrong
1969
— (Inventing Flight: The Centennial Celebration Series #10) —
It suddently struck me that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth...I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
-Neil Armstrong
Another Ohio aviator took the final step in the nation's goal to reach the moon. Neil Armstrong, born and raised in Wapakoneta, commanded Apollo 11 to the moon carrying fellow astronauts “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, as well as the lunar module “Eagle.”
In July of 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin set the Eagle down in the Sea of Tranquility. There, Armstrong took the “giant leap for mankind,” the first step onto the surface of the moon. The ground was powdery and pocked with craters. The scene had a strange color - a warm tan when looking away from the sun, but a darker gray when looking across the sun. Armstrong said it was “a stark and strangely different place, but it looked friendly to me, and it proved to be friendly.”
Since the Apollo missions, no one has returned to the moon. Little evidence of the visits remains. Armstrong and Aldrin left a disc with messages from 75 nations, various medals from Soviet cosmonauts, and a symbol of an eagle carrying the olive branch to the lunar surface. The lower part of the Eagle remains, and the American flag waves permanently in the moon's low gravity. Armstrong and Aldrin's footprints, without water or wind to erode them, also remain on the surface of the moon.
Erected 2003 by Inventing Flight and Dayton Power & Light Company Foundation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Exploration • Man-Made Features. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1969.
Location. 39° 46.111′ N, 84° 11.184′ W. Marker is in Dayton, Ohio, in Montgomery County. It is in McCook Field. Marker is in Centennial Park, within Deeds Point MetroPark, off Webster Street, about 600 feet NNE of the confluence of the Mad and Great Miami Rivers. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 510 Webster Street, Dayton OH 45402, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Peace Plaza (a few steps from this marker); Inventing Flight: The Centennial Celebration (a few steps from this marker); Icarus (a few steps from this marker); John Glenn (within shouting distance of this marker); Wright-Patterson AFB (within shouting distance of this marker); Chinese Kites (within shouting distance of this marker); McCook Field (within shouting distance of this marker); Leonardo da Vinci (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dayton.
Also see . . . NASA Glenn Research Center Armstrong Bio. (Submitted on April 8, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 989 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 23, 2022, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 3. submitted on April 4, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.