Russia Given Credit in U.S. Moon Landing

The men of Apollo 11, celebrating the 30th anniversary of man’s first landing on the moon, credited the competition of a space race with the Soviet Union for the success of America’s lunar program.

Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 commander and the first man to walk on the moon, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. and Mike Collins said in a televised discussion that the United States was pushed by competition from the Soviets to dare what seemed to some impossible--to send men to the moon and return them safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s.

“I don’t think we would have gone to the moon in the time that we did without competition,” said Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon. “Competition got us there in a hurry but left us without a clear vision” for future space activities.

Cooperation would have been preferred, said Armstrong, “but in many cases, competition is more effective.”

Collins, who stayed in lunar orbit aboard the Apollo 11 command ship Columbia while his crew mates landed on the moon, said the Cold War race with the Soviets provided the drive and speed of the moon effort.

“If you want a quick way of doing something, then you go the route of competition,” he said.