Story : America pulled out all the stops to fulfill Kennedy’s promise made in 1962 to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. After the Gemini program, which allowed NASA to make up ground on its rival, America embarked on the Apollo program. This began with the Apollo 1 tragedy, when three astronauts died during an exercise, and culminated with the triumph of Apollo 11. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, as the whole world watched in wonder.