Apollo 11 Crew Cleared Customs After Splashdown

(AP) - President Barack Obama today hailed the Apollo 11 astronauts as "three American heroes," and claimed such exploration spurs ingenuity and inspires students in math and science. Obama commemorated the moment, 40 years ago today, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took man's first steps on the moon. Obama says Armstrong, Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins were the touchstone for excellence in exploration. More»

Calif. aims to preserve Apollo urine containers, space boots

(NEWSER) - California has named the remains of the Apollo 11 mission—including urine containers and space boots—a state historical resource. Experts in the nascent field of space archeology worry that, without preservation, what they call a "sacred site of world history" might be looted by future missions or space tourists. "Can you imagine someone driving a cart over Neil Armstrong's first footprint?" one asks—or pieces of Apollo 11 on eBay? More»

Space fans want to protect landing site

(NEWSER) - California wants to protect the junk the Apollo 11 astronauts left behind from careless future visitors to the moon. If a state panel approves a proposal to declare the landing site an official historical resource, California would become the first state to protect the location. New Mexico and Texas are considering doing so as well, and space heritage buffs hope that if they do, the UN will follow suit. More»

(NEWSER) - Forty years ago today Neil Armstrong strode across the surface of the moon and became the most famous man in the galaxy. Then he disappeared—leaving NASA for a university job, attending almost no public functions, and refusing nearly all interview requests. "Neil was very much the same person after Apollo 11 as he was before it," a space historian tells the Washington Post. "The pragmatism, the modesty, the shyness were there from an early age." More»

Footage likely recorded over when tape supply was low

(NEWSER) - After searching 3 years for the original tapes of the 1969 moon landing, NASA officials realized they’d spaced: The footage had most likely been taped over, NPR reports. They picked through “racks of documents, tapes, all kinds of things from NASA and other agencies,” says a searcher, before it occurred to them that NASA had run low on tapes over the decades and had begun recycling them. More»