A small step for man a great leap for humanity: analysis and meaning of the phrase

"A small step for man, a great leap for humanity" was the phrase pronounced by the American astronaut Neil Armstrong when he stepped on the Moon for the first time on July 20, 1969, thus defining the space race between the United States and the former Union Soviet.

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) would have written this sentence before leaving, knowing that he was going to be the first man to set foot on the Moon. The original phrase in English is "That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

"A small step for man, a great leap for humanity" refers to the technological, scientific, political and economic importance that a small step on the Moon means for humanity. With this mission, the Moon is reached for the first time, opening the doors to a new era.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong was accompanied by two other astronauts on this mission: Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

The first manned space mission to reach the surface of the Moon was the American Apollo 11 mission, With the help of the new organization created for this purpose NASA (Agencia Nacional de Aeronáutica del Space).

The arrival of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon is controversial. NASA itself admits that 200,000 tapes were deleted with the original recordings of the moon landing on July 20, 1969.

Historical context: Cold War and space race

The Cold War was a conflict between the United States and the former Soviet Union or USSR, which usually began in 1945, with the end of World War II.

The conflict was expressed at the political level with the rivalry of capitalist ideologies versus communist ideologies; at the economic level, with the economic opposition between the western and capitalist allies of the United States, and the communist bloc led by the USSR; at a scientific and technological level, with what became known as the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The importance of the space race in relation to the war between the United States and the Soviet Union lies in the fact that the technological development required to a space trip was the same to create war rockets and nuclear missiles, therefore, the race showed in a figurative sense the arms power of each one.

NASA is a North American government agency that was created in the spring of 1958 and has as an immediate objective to send an American to space and bring him back to Earth healthy and except.

Milestones of the space race

Satellite launches in the age of satellites:

• Sputnik 1, USSR, October 4, 1957.
• Sputnik 2, USSR, November 3, 1957: first animal in orbit, the dog Laika.
• Project Score, USA, December 18, 1958.
• Explorer 1, USA, December 31, 1958.
• Solar: USSR, January 4, 1959.
• Discoverer 4, USA, June 1959.
• Luna 3, USSR, October 7, 1959: first photo of the dark side of the Moon.

Satellite Launches in the Age of Spaceman:

• Vostok 1, USSR, April 12, 1961: Yuri Gargarin (1934-1968) makes the first orbital flight to Earth by a human being. The era of the space man begins. Yuri Gargarin is considered the first cosmonaut.
• Freedom 7, USA, May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard failed to make the orbital flight.
• Mercury 6, USA, February 1962: John Glenn orbits the Earth three times.
• Apollo 11, USA, July 20, 1969: Man's arrival on the moon winning the space race.

On July 15, 1975, the first joint US mission was carried out. and USSR called the Apollo-Soyuz mission.