A piece of moon rock gifted to Ireland following NASA's historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969 was tragically destroyed in a fire ...

That same day, NASA managers met to select a formal target launch date. That meeting resulted in 16 July 1969 being chosen as Apollo 11’s launch day – a target the mission would meet.

The first manned mission to the moon, Apollo 11, launched on July 16, 1969. The crew of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, from left, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong, pose with a ...