The cosmos is providing a full moon for the 55th anniversary of the first lunar landing this weekend, and plenty of other events honor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s giant leap. "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," - Neil Armstrong's immortal words as he stepped onto the moon on 20 July 1969. The historic moment marked the end of a space race between the US and Russia to put a human on the lunar surface. The journey to Earth's satellite began on the morning of July 16, 1969 as Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, onboard a Saturn V rocket. Around 12 minutes later, the crew were in orbit around Earth. Three days later, they were orbiting the moon. With more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong planted the first human foot on another world. Aldrin joined Armstrong shortly. They spent the next two and a half hours collecting samples and taking photographs. They left behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of Eagle's legs. It read, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." NASA sent nine missions to the moon between 1968 and 1972, although not all landed on it. Twenty-four astronauts made the 238,000-mile journey, and 12 of them walked on the surface. NASA is now training a new generation of astronauts to head back there. They will include the first woman and first person of color to step foot on the moon. The mission has already been delayed and is not expected to begin until at least September 2026. Aldrin, 94, the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, headlines a gala at the San Diego Air and Space Museum on Saturday night. He'll be joined by astronaut Charlie Duke, who was the voice inside Mission Control for the July 20, 1969 moon landing.