This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when men first walked on the moon, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Tuesday was the anniversary of the mission's launch, and it was marked in the nation's capital with the image of the Saturn V rocket that sent them into space projected onto the Washington Monument, with a replica of the Kennedy Space Center countdown clock below. The projection will appear for two hours every night during the mission anniversary, and on Friday and Saturday, the celebration will culminate with a 17-minute light show. The display is being mounted by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the Department of the Interior.
Also, Former astronaut and U.S. senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, was born on this day in 1921. He died December 8, 2016 at 95.