Fifty years ago, on July 24, 1969, at 12:49 p.m. EST, American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Mike Collins splashed down in the Pacific Ocean following the first manned spaceflight to the surface of the moon and back.
President Richard Nixon, who was aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet that picked up the astronauts from their capsule, offered words of greeting to the astronauts and a prayer of thanksgiving was shared by everyone on the ship.