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Neil Armstrong

By: History.com Editors

Published: September 26, 2023

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, arguably the greatest technological achievement in human history. The moon landing made Armstrong famous, but the Navy pilot from Ohio was never comfortable with the spotlight. Right up until his death in 2012, Armstrong deflected praise for his role in the historic Apollo 11 mission , echoing his famous words as he first stepped onto the lunar surface: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Early Life and Korean War

Neil Armstrong always wanted to fly. He was born on August 5, 1930 near Wapakoneta, Ohio, less than 60 miles from the Wright brothers’ workshop in Dayton. In 1936, when he was six years old, young Neil rode in his first airplane, a “Tin Goose” Ford tri-motor passenger plane. He was hooked. At 16, Armstrong earned his student pilot’s license, even before he had a driver’s license.

In 1947, Armstrong attended Purdue University on a Naval scholarship, studying aeronautical engineering. As part of his scholarship, the Navy trained Armstrong as a fighter pilot in Florida. His college studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War , where Armstrong flew 78 combat missions. His aircraft, the F-9F Panther jet, was one of the first jet fighters to launch from a carrier. 

NASA Test Pilot

After finishing college, Armstrong went to work for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. The mild-mannered kid from Ohio made his name as one of the most daring and skilled test pilots at NASA’s Flight Research Center (now the Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

During seven years as a test pilot, Armstrong flew 200 different aircraft that pushed the limits of speed and altitude, including the legendary X-15. High over the California desert, Armstrong reached speeds of more than 4,000 mph and took the needle-nosed X-15 to the edge of space. Armstrong’s steady hand as a test pilot was instrumental to the success of NASA’s first Mercury astronauts . Soon he’d become one of them.

The Gemini Program

1962 was a year of joy and heartache for the Armstrong family. Neil was chosen for NASA’s astronaut training program in Houston, but he and his wife Janet also lost their second child, a two-year-old daughter named Karen, to an inoperable brain tumor.

Armstrong buried himself in his work preparing for the Gemini program, NASA’s next step toward reaching the moon. In 1966, Armstrong was chosen as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, the first time that NASA astronauts would attempt to connect two spacecraft in orbit, a difficult and dangerous maneuver known as “rendezvous and docking.”

In March, 1966, Armstrong and his copilot David Scott rocketed into orbit and successfully docked with the target spacecraft Agena, but things quickly went awry. A thruster on the Gemini 8 capsule malfunctioned and the two interlocked spacecraft began to veer off course. To avoid burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, Armstrong detached from the Agena, but the release of the Agena’s weight sent the Gemini capsule into an uncontrolled spin.

The G-forces created by the end-over-end spin were crushing and both astronauts were on the verge of losing consciousness when Armstrong activated a set of secondary thrusters and wrestled the Gemini capsule back under control. There’s no doubt that Armstrong’s test pilot nerves saved both astronauts’ lives.

The Moon Landing

Armstrong was selected for the Apollo program, the final push to the moon, but he almost never made it back to space. On May 6, 1968, Armstrong was in Houston conducting his 22nd test flight of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, an ungainly practice aircraft. Without warning, the LLRV veered out of control. Armstrong ejected and parachuted to safety, seconds before the LLRV crashed in a fiery explosion.

Undaunted, Armstrong continued his training and was chosen by NASA as the spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the mission to land the first men on the moon. His crewmates were Michael Collins , pilot of the command module that orbited the moon, and Buzz Aldrin , the lunar module pilot. Aldrin lobbied hard to be the first to step on the lunar surface, but the NASA brass chose Armstrong for his calm confidence and total lack of ego.

Those trademark nerves were on display on July 20, 1969 as Armstrong piloted the Lunar Module toward the surface of the moon. With fuel running dangerously low, Armstrong switched to manual control to steer the fragile spacecraft away from a field of “Volkswagen”-sized boulders and land the astronauts safely in the silty lunar soil.

As millions watched the live broadcast on their televisions, the shy pilot from Ohio descended the ladder of the Lunar Module and uttered his now-famous words: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Because of the static-filled connection, the “a” was inaudible, but Armstrong insisted that he said it.

Life After the Moon Landing

Overnight, Armstrong became the most famous man alive. Four million spectators lined the streets of New York City to welcome home Armstrong and his fellow Apollo 11 astronauts in a ticker-tape parade. But Armstrong wasn’t in it for the fame and accolades. He quietly went back to a desk job at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., then earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970.

Armstrong retired from NASA in 1971 and took a job as an engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati in his home state of Ohio. In 1986, he joined the Rogers Commission investigating the tragic Challenger shuttle explosion . Later, Armstrong served on a number of corporate boards in the aerospace industry and testified before Congress about the importance of maintaining a manned space program.  

In 2005, Armstrong consented to a rare television interview on 60 Minutes , in which he was asked directly if he was uncomfortable with the fame of being the first man on the moon. “No, I just don’t deserve it,” replied Armstrong, smiling. “Circumstance put me into that particular role. That wasn’t planned by anyone.”

In 2012, Armstrong went in for heart bypass surgery and the 82-year-old astronaut died of complications.

HISTORY Vault: The Apollo 11 Moon Landing

This documentary unearths lost tapes of the Apollo 11 astronauts, and explores the dangers and challenges of the mission to the moon.

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The Moon Landing

The historic event captivated the world—and helped people look to the future.

On July 20, 1969, millions of people gathered around their televisions to watch two U.S. astronauts do something no one had ever done before. Wearing bulky space suits and backpacks of oxygen to breathe, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the moon .

After the two stepped onto the lunar surface, Armstrong proclaimed these famous words: “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Humans were only able to make that small step after several other space firsts happened. In 1957 the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched into space by Russia . The United States launched several satellites of their own afterward. Both countries hoped to be the first to send a human into space.

It wasn’t until 1961 that a person went to space: On April 12, Russia’s Yuri Gagarin became the first. Less than a month later the United States’ Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Following these milestones, President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to put a human on the moon in 10 years or less.

NASA went to work. On July 16, 1969, the spacecraft Apollo 11 prepared to launch a crew of three astronauts into space … and the history books.

NASA officials selected Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins as the astronauts who would make the historic trip from Earth on Apollo 11. Just four days after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida , the spacecraft neared the moon’s surface.

Before touching down, the three men split up. Collins boarded Apollo 11’s command module, the Columbia, where he would remain in orbit around the moon. Armstrong and Aldrin boarded Apollo 11’s lunar module, the Eagle, and began to descend to the moon’s surface.

The Eagle made a risky landing in a shallow moon crater named the Sea of Tranquility. (Most people watching the landing on TV didn’t know that the Eagle had only 20 seconds of landing fuel left at this point.) Armstrong and Aldrin looked out the windows of the module at the lifeless and barren lunar landscape.

After six and a half hours pass, the pair inside the Eagle prepared to exit the module. As mission commander, Armstrong stepped out first … and became the first person on the moon.

Twenty minutes later, Aldrin climbed down the ladder and joined his partner. After reading a plaque that said they “came in peace for all mankind,” the two planted the United States’ flag on the surface. President Richard Nixon called to congratulate the astronauts.

Armstrong and Aldrin went back to work collecting samples of moon rocks and dust. After over two hours, the astronauts brought 47 pounds back onto the lunar module and prepared to rejoin Collins. It was time to go home.

DOWN TO EARTH

The Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Over the next several years, 10 astronauts would follow in Armstrong and Aldrin’s footsteps. The last mission to the moon was in 1972.

Though humans haven’t returned to the moon since, they have continued to explore space . They even built the International Space Station (ISS), a space research station, where they can conduct experiments and study space up close.

Today NASA is working on sending humans to another planet : Mars . Thanks to the Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA is hopeful about its chances. The act of putting three people on the moon—and then safely bringing them back home—proved that successful human exploration in space is possible.

Text adapted from Ladders Earth Science: Exploring Above and Beyond by Stephanie Harvey and Space Encyclopedia: A Tour of Our Solar System and Beyond  by   David A. Aguilar and Patricia Daniels

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Read more: NASA powers up Artemis 2 Orion spacecraft ahead of 2024 moon mission

Boosters assemble! Artemis 2 moon rockets come together in new video

An astronaut moon rocket comes together at NASA in a new epic video.

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Read more: See Artemis 2 moon astronauts train with US Navy for Orion splashdown (photos, video)

NASA finishes first practice countdown for Artemis 2

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Read more: NASA practices for 2024 launch of Artemis 2 moon mission

Artemis 2 astronauts deep in moon training

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Read more: How Artemis 2 astronauts are training for their 2024 moon mission

Artemis 2 crew member praises NASA supersonic jet

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3 Orion spacecraft line up for their moon missions

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Read more: These 3 Orion spacecraft will carry Artemis astronauts to the moon (photo) 

Artemis 2 astronaut plays cowboy at Calgary Stampede

Canadian  Artemis 2  moon astronaut Jeremy Hansen, partnering with his  borrowed horse Cisco , pretended to be a cowboy at Canada's Calgary Stampede fair last week in the western province of Alberta. 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who flew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1986 while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, also visited the event. The two appeared in flight suits and cowboy hats as part of the celebration of cowboy culture, which annually draws a million participants.

Read more: Yeehaw! NASA chief and Artemis 2 moon astronaut play cowboy for a day (photo)

Artemis 2 astronaut completes vision quest

An Artemis 2 astronaut recently finished a vision quest to help prepare for his upcoming trip around the moon.

Jeremy Hansen recently participated in the four-day Indigenous rite of passage as part of  Artemis 2  mission training, the  Canadian Space Agency  astronaut tweeted.

"I would like to express my gratitude to Anishinaabe Elder David Courchene III 'Sabe' for the gracious invitation," Hansen  said of the ceremony , which took place at Turtle Lodge in Manitoba on the lands of the Sagkeeng First Nation (also known as Fort Alexander).

On Tuesday (June 13), Hansen added he has completed the ceremony and "I have a renewed appreciation for all that Mother Earth provides, especially water."

Read more: Artemis 2 astronaut goes on vision quest to prepare for moon mission

Artemis 2 mission benefits from Canadian winter experience

Cold weather is helping to boost the fortunes of Canada in space, including its contributions to Artemis 2 .

Astronaut Jeremy Hansen will the first non-American to leave low Earth orbit, alongside three NASA crewmates, no earlier than 2024. Canadian leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argues that Canada's winter experience is one big reason for its success in space.

Trudeau emphasized that working in Canada's north helped with numerous kinds of technology, including the Canadarm robotic arm series that has provided Canadian astronaut seats for nearly 40 years.

The Arctic in particular represents "some of the harshest environments" available to humans, and Trudeau joked that when asked about why Canada does so well in space, he responds: "Obvious. Winter."

Read more: Winter is coming: Artemis 2 moon mission gets boost from Canadian cold

Artemis 2 astronauts thrilled for moon mission

The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis 2 mission are thrilled, to say the least, to be on the crew that will send the first humans to the moon in more than 50 years. You can read our full story here . 

Set to launch on a Space Launch System megarocket in 2024, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency will fly around the moon, much like Apollo 8, on their Orion spacecraft. 

Here's what they had to say of the mission today:

Commander Reid Wiseman: "This is a global effort, Artemis 2, and it's only going to get larger with Artemis 3 and beyond as we get private spaceflight involved. SpaceX is building our lander for Artemis 3. So to the NASA workforce, to our program managers, our center directors that are here, the amazing political support that we feel right now to bring our country together to bring our entire world together to go explore to get to Mars and beyond, we say a huge thank you."

Pilot Victor Glover: " We need to celebrate this moment in human history. Because Artemis two is more than a mission to the moon and it's more than a mission that has to happen before we send people to the surface of the moon. It is the next step on the journey that gets humanity to Mars. "Human spaceflight is like a relay race, and that baton has been passed generation to generation and from crew member to crew member from the Gemini, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo Soyuz, Skylab Mir, the shuttle, International Space Station, commercial crew and and now the Artemis missions. We understand our role in that. And when we have the privilege of having that baton. We're going to do our best to run a good race to make you proud. I pray that God will bless this mission. But I also pray that we can continue to serve as a source of inspiration for cooperation and peace, not just between nations, but in our own nation." 

Mission specialist Christina Koch:  "When I think about this mission, that's a relay race with international partners, it's all so awesome in and of itself. 

"We are going to launch for Kennedy Space Center to the work of the exploration Ground Systems team. We're going to hear the words go for launch on top of the most powerful rocket NASA's ever made the Space Launch System, and we're gonna ride that rocket for eight minutes into Earth orbit. We're not going to go to the moon right away. We're gonna stay in an amazing high orbit, reaching a peak of tens of thousands of miles while we test out all the systems on Orion and see how it maneuvers in space. And then if everything was good, we're heading to the moon.

"It will be a four day journey, going a quarter of a million miles, continuing to test out every bit of Orion going around the far side of the moon, heading home going through the Earth's atmosphere at over 25,000 miles per hour and splashing down in the Pacific. So am I excited? Absolutely. But my real question is Are you excited? I asked that because the one thing I'm most excited about is that we are going to carry your excitement, your aspirations, your dreams with us on this mission. Artemis to your mission."

Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen: "Our scientists or engineers, the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Armed Forces across government, all of our leadership working together under a vision to take step by step and all of those have added up to this moment where a Canadian is going to the moon with our international partnership and it is glorious."

Artemis 2 Moon Astronauts Revealed!

NASA chief Bill Nelson has unveiled the first astronaut crew to visit the moon in more than 50 years. They Artemis 2 crew are:

Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA

Reid Wiseman, 47, spent 165 days in Earth orbit on his first mission, a 2014 flight to the ISS. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, and former fighter pilot for the U.S. Navy, he was selected for NASA's 20th astronaut class in 2009. Wiseman recently served as chief of NASA's astronaut office from 2020 to 2022.

Pilot Victor Glover, NASA

Victor Glover, 46, became a NASA astronaut in 2013. He flew as pilot of SpaceX's first operational crewed spaceflight (Crew-1) and logged 167 days on the ISS in 2021. Born in Pomona, California, he is an engineer and captain in the U.S. Navy. Glover was the first Black astronaut to serve on a space station crew.

Mission Specialist Christina Koch, NASA

Christina Koch, 44, was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and raised in Jacksonville, North Carolina. A member of NASA's 21st astronaut class selected in 2013, Koch set a record aboard the International Space Station for the single longest mission by a woman at 328 days. During that 2019 stay, she was also one-half of the first-ever all-female spacewalk. Koch is an engineer and former U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) station chief.

Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Canadian Space Agency

Jeremy Hansen, 47, was chosen to join Canada's astronaut corps in 2009. A colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he was born in London, Ontario. Though Artemis 2 will be his first time in space, Hansen served as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius underwater lab in 2014 and took a turn as a "cavenaut" as part of the European Space Agency's CAVES astronaut training course the year prior.

NASA Artemis 2 moon crew announcement underway

NASA's Artemis 2 moon astronaut crew reveal is underway live on NASA TV. 

Speaking before a huge crowd at the Ellington Field in Houston, NASA's chief astronaut Joe Acaba began by inviting the entire astronaut corps to the stage. 

"Your Artemis 2 astronauts are in the room with you ... I am not one of them," he said. 

Canada's Prime Minister François-Philippe Champagne hailed the 60 year partnership of NASA + CSA and Canada's contribution of the CanadArm3 for the Gateway station around the moon: "We're going to the moon!" he cheered.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is now preparing to introduce the crew.

NASA to announce Artemis 2 crew today

At long last, we're going to learn which astronauts will fly NASA's first crewed mission to the moon of the Artemis generation. 

Today, April 3, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will announce the four astronauts who will fly on the Artemis 2 mission around the moon in 2024. That crew is expected to include one Canadian astronaut and three NASA astronaut s, but exactly who is yet to be revealed. 

NASA will announce the crew in an event at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). Space.com staff writer Elizabeth Howell is on scene at the event alongside contributor Robert Pearlman of collectSPACE.com. 

You'll be able to watch it live on Space.com , as well as at the top of this page at start time.

While we wait, here's a nifty trailer from NASA for today's Artemis 2 crew reveal.

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The Legacy of ‘A Trip to the Moon’

Arguably, cinema peaked immediately with the pure nonfiction works of the Lumière brothers and the fantastical films of Georges Méliès . The latter, a former stage illusionist, gave us hundreds of magical works that remain the obvious forebears of much of today’s genre cinema and special-effects spectacle.

His most famous film is the 1902 short A Trip to the Moon , which was inspired by the fictions of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and depicts — as the title makes perfectly clear — a lunar mission. Its image of a rocket crashing into the eyes of an actor portraying the Man in the Moon is one of the most iconic in movies.

As such a significant work, despite not being the filmmaker’s first foray into Moon-based science fictions or even representing the lunar body anthropomorphically,  A Trip to the Moon  has been a huge influence on and inspiration to all kinds entertainments and practices over the course of nearly 120 years.

Here are the most notable movies, songs, and historical effects that comprise the legacy  of  A Trip to the Moon :

Film Piracy

Despite having made one (or more) of the most famous and iconic movies of all time, Méliès was ultimately not a financially successful filmmaker. Though he would continue producing motion pictures for another 20-plus years, A Trip to the Moon was a major loss for him and his company.

At the time, the film was his most ambitious and therefore most expensive. It was also his most popular, and he hoped to make a ton of money off its esteem. Unfortunately, while it was a huge hit in America, Méliès did not profit much from the export due to rampant film piracy.

Unlike the piracy that we have today, the theft of intellectual property in the early 1900s was done mostly by major businesses. The Edison Manufacturing Company, Vitagraph, Biograph, and others illegally made copies of A Trip to the Moon for distribution in the US through the years.

Méliès quickly set up an office in the States to stop the piracy of his films and secure American patents, but it was too late for many of his titles. And thanks to further bullying practices of Thomas Edison , the visionary French filmmaker was constantly losing money in the industry he helped pioneer.

Another way to get around paying for Méliès’ film — and this was something also done often back then — was to make your own. While Edison and others made copies of A Trip to the Moon by producing new negatives of prints they bought, Spanish director Segundo de Chomón copied the film by helming a nearly shot-for-shot remake.

Excursion to the Moon , released in 1908, has enough differences to not mistake it for the original — the face in the Moon, in particular, is a major giveaway, as is the way the rocketship crashes into its mouth rather than its eye — but it’s similar enough that as an unauthorized redo there’s definitely a case to make of its infringement. Watch it below.

It’s not as if Chomón was a hack. This practice was just the early 20th-century version of everyone making Star Wars ripoffs in the early ’80s. It’s just that Pathé wanted something nearly identical to the real thing and got the guy considered the Spanish Méliès to do it. It’s like if they got Douglas Trumbull, Stanley Donen, or Mike Hodges to make Star Wars wannabes. Oh right, that all happened.

The Music Video

Back in the ’80s and ’90s, music videos were the perfect bridge between film school and movie career, not just for the experience but also to show off familiarity with film history. For Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, though they’d been out of school for many years, represent that transition very well with their 1996 video for Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight.”

Originally, the couple had wanted to pay homage to Busby Berkeley musical numbers with their take on the song, but that had just been done in another video. So, inspired by the art on the album cover for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness , on which the song appears, Dayton and Faris decided to pay tribute to Méliès with essentially a remake of A Trip to the Moon .

The video was a huge hit, winning many awards from MTV and earning a Grammy nomination, and through its heavy airplay introduced tons of viewers to such imagery as the iconic face in the moon, faces in stars, bouncing aliens, and bullet-like rocketship (though the humans — yes, those are SpongeBob SquarePants stars Tom Kenny and Jill Talley) arrive by space zeppelin.

The video concludes with a more elaborate underwater sequence than is found in A Trip to the Moon , however, clearly inspired more by Méliès’ The Mermaid and Under the Seas . Surprisingly, after Dayton and Faris became best known for the “Tonight, Tonight” video, the filmmaking duo did not go on to make sci-fi/fantasy films, but rather dramas such as Little Miss Sunshine .

The Reenactment

The same month as the debut of the “Tonight, Tonight” video saw the broadcast of the final part of HBO’s miniseries From Earth to the Moon , which chronicles the history of the Apollo program. Titled “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” (the French name for the film), this 12th installment of the program deals with the final trip to the Moon (Apollo 17) as well as the making of A Trip to the Moon .

Tom Hanks , who is one of the producers and the host of the series, appears in the Jonathan Mostow-helmed episode portraying a fictional assistant to Méliès (Tchéky Karyo) during the making of the famous sci-fi short. From Earth to the Moon painstakingly recreates the sets and costumes for a seamless cut between the real thing and the reenactment, so well that its goofy tone is excused.

https://youtu.be/6wdEnlOcqNA

Despite the interplay here and the belief that NASA’s original scientists were likely inspired by sci-fi literature, television, and cinema, there’s no direct connection between A Trip to the Moon and the actual trips to the Moon by American astronauts in the ’60s and ’70s. Even a known letter to NASA in the ’80s asking if their “splashdown” method of reentry was inspired by Méliès was shot down.

When you have a moment as iconic as the rocket in the eye bit of A Trip to the Moon , you’re bound to be paid homage and parodied up the wazoo. Indeed, there have been reworkings of the shot through the years in art and, most memorably, in cartoons. From 1999, Futurama has a funny gag in its second episode in which Bender sticks a beer bottle into the eye of a Moon-faced mascot.

A few years later, The Simpsons spoofed the same scene in the form of a violent Itchy & Scratchy short within the 13th season episode “Blame It on Lisa.” The mouse and cat are playing golf, and Itchy clubs Scratchy’s head clean off, knocking it all the way into the anthropomorphized Moon’s eye, a la A Trip to the Moon . “Now, that’s what I call a Moon shot,” the Man in the Moon says.

https://youtu.be/aVMJFCoCv_k

Eight years later, the show did it again. In the 21st season episode “Moe Letter Blues,” we see a black and white Itchy & Scratchy toon involving more of the Méliès film. Itchy plays a director making a sci-fi film that looks very similar to A Trip to the Moon . When Scratchy messes up the set, Itchy cuts his head off, inflates it to greater size then fires the rocketship into his eye. The end.

https://youtu.be/XEqBFV59PcM

The New Score

If you listened to Air ‘s perfect debut album Moon Safari back in the ’90s and thought, “Hey, these guys should score sci-fi movies,” you’d have been 20 years ahead of the curve. First, they had to go and score a drama about five teenage sisters first (nevertheless impressively), and then 12 years later they were tasked with creating a new score for a 109-year-old sci-fi short.

After a rare hand-colored print of A Trip to the Moon was discovered in 1993, plans for a restoration eventually were made by a collaboration between Lobster Films, the Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema, and the Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage. They recruited Air to compose new music for the reconstructed classic, released in 2011.

https://vimeo.com/39275260

As you can see and hear above, it’s a perfect match. It’s not as random as some electronic scores for old silent films out there, with the French duo adding sound effects and offering enough changes in the music to fit the different environments. The score makes A Trip to the Moon anew with the way Air’s layered soundscapes deliver tone to the film that wasn’t there before.

And if the 15-minute score wasn’t enough, AIr put out a whole new album based on the gig (titled Le Voyage Dans la Lune ), which is twice as long as the main composition and plays like an extended soundtrack to the short.

Related Topics: A Trip to the Moon , Georges Melies , The Simpsons , Thomas Edison , Tom Hanks

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Video of deadly fight that led to Apple River stabbing shown during opening arguments of Nicolae Miu trial

By Stephen Swanson , Jonah Kaplan , Riley Moser

Updated on: April 8, 2024 / 8:15 AM CDT / CBS Minnesota

UPDATE (11:15 a.m. on April 11)  — Nicolae Miu has been found guilty of multiple criminal charges, including homicide, in the 2022 Apple River stabbings in Wisconsin.  Read the updated story here.

HUDSON, Wis. — Investigators say video from July 2022 shows  Nicolae Miu  being pushed and hit by a group of tubers on the river before he stabbed five people, killing 17-year-old  Isaac Schuman . The victims ranged in age from 17 to 24 and were from Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The trial for a 54-year-old Prior Lake man accused of killing a teen and stabbing four others on the Apple River in Wisconsin nearly two years ago began on Monday. 

Witnesses said Miu was initially in the river with goggles and a snorkel. A group of tubers accused of him of looking at young girls underwater, but Miu told investigators he was looking for a friend's missing cellphone.

RELATED:  Man charged with stabbing tubers in Wisconsin says he's hired one of Kyle Rittenhouse's attorneys

The prosecution argues that Miu was the aggressor by stabbing five people. A knife, believed to belong to Miu, was later recovered by officers on the river bank.

Miu's defense attorneys, though, see it much differently, saying the teens taunted him, then surrounded him, and Miu was fighting for his life. 

He is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Schuman's death, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the stabbings of Ryhley Mattison, A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in September 2022.

If convicted, Miu could be sentenced to life in prison.

Opening statements

The prosecution

The trial began with the opening statement from state prosecutor Karl Anderson, who called the deadly attack "senseless and horrific."

"All Nicolae had to do was walk away," Anderson said. "He eventually did walk away, but not after stabbing five people."

Anderson showed several screenshots from two videos taken by one of the members of Schuman's group, identified as Jawahn C.

Anderson said a member of Miu's group named Ariel dropped his cellphone in the river. Ariel said it wasn't that big of a deal because he had insurance, but Miu insisted on trying to retrieve it.

Miu approached Schuman's group. In the first video, approximately nine seconds in length, Jawahn C. is heard yelling "(Miu) says he's looking for little girls!"  

In the second video, Miu is shown running towards Schuman's group.

A group of adult tubers, identified as the Carlson group, then came over to intervene. The Schuman group is heard cheering when they arrive.

While showing several screenshots from the second video, which is almost 3 minutes and 30 seconds long, Anderson underlined that audio in the video indicates Miu was asked more than 20 times by the Schuman and Carlson groups to go away.

In the several screenshots, Anderson noted that before the physical confrontations begin, Miu appeared to be "smirking" while holding his knife low by his side. Anderson also stated that at no point did Miu speak or tell anyone to get back, and he didn't step back or walk away from the groups.  

Anderson said the first time the confrontation turned physical was when Miu punched a member of the Carlson group named Madison. Another member of the group, Dante Carlson, then punched Miu, causing him to fall into the shallow river.

Anderson said in a 25-second span, Miu then stabbed four members of the Carlson group: A.J. Martin, Ryhley Mattison, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson. Miu also fatally stabbed Schuman, who suffered wounds to his torso, chest and heart.

"You don't see anyone besides Nicolai with a weapon. You don't see the boys touch Nicolai until after stabbings start," Anderson said.

Anderson said no one in either group was initially aware that Miu was stabbing people until they saw Martin in the water, who had been disemboweled. Anderson also pointed out that Miu had his knife's blade pointed upwards in the attacks.  

Afterward, Anderson said Miu walked back to his tubing group and told them "they took his knife." Several members of Miu's group called 911 to say several people were hurt, but they said they didn't know what happened. His group stayed at a sandbar until law enforcement arrived. One member of his group also helped some of the victims before speaking with police.

Anderson said Jawahn C. took a screenshot of Miu from the video and gave it to law enforcement, who quickly disseminated it. Employees then spotted Miu and alerted deputies, who then took Miu — who was then clothed and wearing a hat and sunglasses — into custody. Anderson said members of Miu's group protested his arrest, saying they "had the wrong guy."

Anderson said when Miu was in the back of a squad car at the scene, he allegedly said to the sheriff, "What's going on? I hear somebody got stabbed and I fit the description." Miu was then told he was under arrest for homicide and attempted murder.  

When he was interviewed later by law enforcement, Anderson said Miu was surprised to find there was video of the attacks. He told investigators he didn't have a knife, but members of Schuman's group were armed with knives. Miu allegedly said they knocked off his goggles and snorkel and threw them in the water and they tried to pull his pants down.

"I just grabbed the kid's knife. I didn't even know if I was holding it right. I just grabbed it from him because he tried to poke me with it, so, I feared for my life," Miu said, according to a transcript shown in a slide by Anderson.  

Anderson said Miu went on to tell investigators that he didn't know where the knife was that he used to defend himself with, but later a member from Miu's group told investigators they saw him "throw something onto shore before walking back to their group."

Anderson said when investigators told him four people were hurt and one died, Miu allegedly said, "Was that because they fought each other?"

Investigators later recovered Miu's knife on a river bank, and it tested positive for DNA from some of the victims.  

The defense

Defense attorney Aaron Nelson's opening statement repeatedly hammered home that Miu stabbed the other tubers in self-defense because he feared for his life.

Nelson began his statements with biographical details on Miu, who grew up in Romania and immigrated to the U.S. as a teen. He said Miu speaks several languages and described him as an "intelligent" and "peaceful" man.

He also emphasized that Miu was an "unfit 260-pound man" who had undergone a quadruple bypass surgery two years before the deadly encounter.  

Nelson said Miu only brought his knife at the request of a friend so they could use it to cut the twine needed to connect the group's tubes before they coasted down the river. He said Miu likes to snorkel and brought his equipment, eventually using it to find his friend's phone.

Nelson described Schuman's group as "drunk teens" who were "smoking stuff." He also said Schuman's autopsy results revealed he had a blood alcohol level of .219, and his friends later told investigators Schuman was the most sober one in their group that day.

Nelson said the group began to "heckle" and "humiliate" Miu based on his appearance and loudly accused him of being a "raper" who was "looking for little girls." Nelson also pointed out that there were no "little girls" near the groups during the altercation.  

He said Miu began to run towards Schuman's group because he saw one of them hold up what he believed to be the cellphone he was searching for, and dropped his goggles and snorkel into the river in the process.

Nelson accused Schuman's group of then threatening Miu with physical harm.

"'You got 10 seconds,' that's what that group of drunk teenagers says to that old man," Nelson said.

He said Miu then began to walk towards the Carlson group to appeal to them, but the group was immediately hostile. Nelson said an older member of the Carlson group, Quentin Carlson, later told investigators that he sent his sons Tony and Dante over to Miu and the Schuman group because he worried "the old guy" was going to get hurt.  

Nelson said Carlson's group was swayed by the Schuman group's claims that Miu was a "predator" looking for "little girls," and Miu was then soon surrounded.

"They got a crowd. They told lies to make the crowd angry," Nelson said. "Nick Miu standing in the river with 13 strangers. Thirteen drunk, angry strangers. Thirteen against one. They yelled and they screamed in order to attract a crowd."

Nelson said there were inconsistencies between the parties involved in their respective interviews over whether Miu punched, slapped or pushed a member of Carlson's party named Madison, which led to Miu being knocked into the river by Dante Carlson.  

"When he tries to get up out of the water, they attack him in the front, smack him across the front of the face while somebody comes from behind and starts pushing him down. And that moment he feared for his life and he responded with self-defense," Nelson said.

He said Miu then began to make "quick, short jab motions" with his knife towards the mob.

"When people attacked Miu, he responded," Nelson said.

Nelson then showed three images of what appeared to be Schuman strangling Miu, which he said caused Miu to fall backward and fatally stab Schuman by accident.

"I'm sure (Schuman) was a wonderful man, wonderful human being. We're going to hear a lot about him, but in this moment, on this day, on that river, when he was drunk, he tried to strangle Nick Miu," Nelson said.

Nelson said after the stabbings, Miu tossed the knife because he was "suffering from shock and trauma."

The first witness

Ryan Nelson was the first witness called by the prosecution.

Nelson said he was positive that Miu started the fight when he hit Madison.

"It looked like he struck her definitively with his right hand," Nelson said.

During an intense cross-examination, defense attorneys challenged Nelson's memory of events. 

The trial continues on Tuesday at St. Croix County Courthouse in Hudson, Wisconsin.

• Deadly Stabbing

Stephen Swanson is a web producer at WCCO. A 20-year station veteran, Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the newsroom, where he focuses on general assignment reporting.

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Apple TV+ premieres first ‘Fly Me to The Moon’ trailer starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

Happy Eclipse Day! Remember Apple’s secretive Project Artemis film? The movie production team basically took over Kennedy Space Center in a time machine for it. Last week the official movie title was revealed as Fly Me to The Moon , and today the first official trailer has dropped.

Here’s the description:

Starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, FLY ME TO THE MOON is a sharp, stylish comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Brought in to fix NASA’s public image, sparks fly in all directions as marketing maven Kelly Jones (Johansson) wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’s (Tatum) already difficult task. When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as back-up and the countdown truly begins…

Check it out below:

People magazine has more on the movie. The Apple TV+ film hits theaters in July. See you there!

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Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.

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La presentación del X-59 de la NASA personifica la tradición aeronáutica

With the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

We’re going.

WHY WE’RE GOING TO THE MOON

We’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation. While maintaining American leadership in exploration, we will build a global alliance and explore deep space for the benefit of all.

Science & Discovery

With Artemis, we’re building on more than 50 years of exploration experience to reignite America’s passion for discovery.

Economic Opportunity

Artemis missions enable a growing lunar economy by fueling new industries, supporting job growth, and furthering the demand for a skilled workforce.

Inspiration for a New Generation

We will explore more of the Moon than ever before with our commercial and international partners. Along the way, we will engage and inspire new audiences – we are the Artemis Generation.

Why the Moon

The Artemis missions will build a community on the Moon, driving a new lunar economy and inspiring a new generation. Narrator Drew Barrymore and NASA team members explain why returning to the Moon is the natural next step in human exploration, and how the lessons learned from Artemis will pave the way to Mars and beyond.

OUR SUCCESS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD

HOW WE ARE GOING TO THE MOON

We are developing a long-term strategy for lunar exploration that will allow our robots and astronauts to explore more and conduct more science than ever before.

Exploration Systems

Orion Spacecraft

The NASA spacecraft that will carry astronauts from Earth to lunar orbit and back.

Space Launch System Rocket

The only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and cargo to the Moon on a single mission. Upon launch, the Space Launch System will be the most powerful rocket in the world.

Exploration Ground Systems

The structures on the ground necessary to support launch and recovery of returning astronauts.

Human Landing System

Built by American companies, human landing systems are the final mode of transportation that will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back to orbit.

The spaceship in lunar orbit where astronauts will transfer between Orion and the lander on regular Artemis missions. Gateway will remain in orbit for more than a decade, providing a place to live and work, and supporting long-term science and human exploration on and around the Moon.

Surface Mobility

NASA is develop next-generation spacesuits, human-rated rovers, and spacewalking support systems to help astronauts traverse the lunar surface.

This is the Artemis Generation.

We go to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation.

Artemis I was the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration at the Moon and future missions to Mars.

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Fly Me To The Moon - Official Trailer

Check out the trailer for Fly Me To The Moon, an upcoming comedy-drama film set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Nick Dillenburg, Anna Garcia, Jim Rash, Noah Robbins, Colin Woodell, Christian Zuber, Donald Elise Watkins, with Ray Romano and Woody Harrelson.

Brought in to fix NASA’s public image, sparks fly in all directions as marketing maven Kelly Jones (Johansson) wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’s (Tatum) already difficult task. When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as back-up and the countdown truly begins...

The screenplay for Fly Me To The Moon is by Rose Gilroy. Based upon the story by Bill Kirstein & Keenan Flynn. The film is produced by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Lia, Keenan Flynn, and Sarah Schechter. Robert J. Dohrmann serves as executive producer.

Fly Me To The Moon, directed by Greg Berlanti, opens in theaters on July 12, 2024.

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‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Trailer: Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum Fake the Moon Landing for NASA in 1969 Romantic-Comedy

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Sony and Apple have released the first trailer for “Fly Me to the Moon,” a romantic comedy starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum , which is set to premiere on July 12. The film is set against the 1960s space race and features Johansson as a marketing exec hired by NASA to film a fake moon landing in case the real mission fails. Apple won the project in a $100 million deal following a bidding war in 2022, and the project was formerly known as “Project Artemis.”

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Jim Rash, Ray Romano, Anna Garcia, Donald Elise Watkins, Noah Robbins, Colin Woodell, Nick Dillenburg, Christian Zuber and Woody Harrelson round out the cast. Greg Berlanti will direct from a script by Rose Gilroy.

Berlanti has worked as a showrunner, writer and producer on TV shows such as “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “The Flight Attendant” and “Riverdale.” He has also directed the films “Love, Simon” and “The Broken Hearts Club.”

Johansson produces under her These Pictures banner, with Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn producing alongside her for These Pictures. Sarah Schechter produces for Berlanti Productions. Robert Dohrmann serves as executive producer.

See the full trailer below.

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When and where the solar eclipse will be crossing the U.S.

A total solar eclipse will grace the skies over North America on Monday, one of the most hotly anticipated sky-watching events in recent years.

Weather permitting , millions of people in Mexico, 15 U.S. states and eastern Canada will have the chance to see the moon slip between Earth and sun, temporarily blocking the sun’s light .

The total solar eclipse will be visible along a “path of totality” that measures more than 100 miles wide and extends across the continent. Along that path, the moon will fully obscure the sun, causing afternoon skies to darken for a few minutes.

Follow live updates on the solar eclipse

In all other parts of the continental U.S., a partial solar eclipse will be visible, with the moon appearing to take a bite out of the sun. Exactly how big a bite depends on the location.

The first spot in North America that will experience totality on Monday is on Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PT, according to NASA .

After moving northeast across Mexico, the eclipse’s path travels through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Slivers of Michigan and Tennessee will also be able to witness totality if conditions are clear.

In Canada, the eclipse will be visible in parts of southern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, at the eastern end of Nova Scotia.

The timing of the eclipse and the duration of totality varies by location. Most places will experience around 2 minutes of darkness, but the longest periods of totality are typically in the center of the eclipse’s path.

This year, the longest stretch of totality will last 4 minutes and 28 seconds in an area northwest of Torreón, Mexico.

Below is a list of timings for some U.S. cities along the path of totality, according to NASA .

• Dallas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:23 p.m. CT and totality at 1:40 p.m. CT.
• Idabel, Oklahoma: Partial eclipse begins at 12:28 p.m. CT and totality at 1:45 p.m. CT.
• Little Rock, Arkansas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:33 p.m. CT and totality at 1:51 p.m. CT.
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri: Partial eclipse begins at 12:39 p.m. CT and totality at 1:56 p.m. CT.
• Paducah, Kentucky: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 2:00 p.m. CT.
• Carbondale, Illinois: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 1:59 p.m. CT.
• Evansville, Indiana: Partial eclipse begins at 12:45 p.m. CT and totality at 2:02 p.m. CT.
• Cleveland: Partial eclipse begins at 1:59 p.m. ET and totality at 3:13 p.m.
• Erie, Pennsylvania: Partial eclipse begins at 2:02 p.m. ET and totality at 3:16 p.m. ET.
• Buffalo, New York: Partial eclipse begins at 2:04 p.m. ET and totality at 3:18 p.m.
• Burlington, Vermont: Partial eclipse begins at 2:14 p.m. ET and totality at 3:26 p.m. ET.
• Lancaster, New Hampshire: Partial eclipse begins at 2:16 p.m. ET and totality at 3:27 p.m.
• Caribou, Maine: Partial eclipse begins at 2:22 p.m. ET and totality at 3:32 p.m. ET.

Other resources can also help you figure out when the various phases of the eclipse will be visible where you live, including NationalEclipse.com and TimeandDate.com .

If you plan to watch the celestial event, remember that it’s never safe to look directly at the sun, including through binoculars, telescopes or camera lenses. Special eclipse glasses are required to safely view solar eclipses and prevent permanent eye damage.

Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.