Exactly forty-three years ago, on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 spaceflight landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the moon, with Armstrong being the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours later, famously describing the event as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  This effectively ended the space race with Russia and fulfilled a goal set by John F. Kennedy in 1961.

To commemorate this historic event, here are some space names directly and indirectly related to the Apollo mission, later space missions, and to the moon itself.

Apollo Mission

Apollo— The Apollo program was named after the Greek god of light, music and the sun by NASA manager Abe Silverstein, who said he chose it “like I’d name my baby,” after  perusing a mythology book  and seeing an image of Apollo riding his chariot across the sun.

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