The International Significance of the Lunar Landing

T he most pervasive themes that marked world reaction to the first manned landing on the moon on July 20, 1969, related to its meaning for man as man. The United States itself deliberately chose this emphasis, as witness the plaque left behind, "We came in peace for all mankind"; Neil Armstrong's "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"; and the dramatic high point of President Nixon's earth to moon exchange, "For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people of this earth are truly one." But no amount of suggestion by the United States can possibly explain the universality and the evident wholeheartedness of the thought that man generally-as distinct from men of one nation, or of one political alignment, or one social system-had achieved a historic triumph and one that must change his future condition and his future international relationships. Perhaps the best way to understand is to take a look at what others around the world actually said. The "success of America" is a "success for every living man" asserted the Swahili-language Ngurumo of Dar as Salaam.1 Elsewhere in Africa: Rabat's al-A nbaa noted simply, "In Morocco we watched this adventure ... and we were proud of ourselves and what the human mind had achieved." Freetown's Daily Mail saw the landing as "the most striking event in human history." Fraternite-Matin of