should commit itself to achieving the goal, before 
this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon 
and returning him safely to Earth. No single space 
project in this period will be more impressive to 
mankind, or more important in the long-range explo-
ration of space; and none will be so difficult or ex-
pensive to accomplish.’’ 
(6) On September 19, 1961, the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration announced that 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
center dedicated to human space flight would be 
built in Houston, Texas. 
(7) In 1973, the Manned Spacecraft Center in 
Houston, was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson 
Space Center. 
(8) On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 took off 
atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space 
Center for a historic mission to orbit the Moon. 
(9) As Apollo 8 traveled outward, the crew fo-
cused a portable television camera on Earth and for 
the first time humanity saw its home from afar, a 
tiny, lovely, and fragile ‘‘blue marble’’ hanging in 
the blackness of space. 
(10) This transmission and viewing of Earth 
from a distance was an enormously significant ac-
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complishment and united the Nation at a time when 
American society was in crisis over Vietnam, race re-
lations, urban problems, and a host of other difficul-
ties. 
(11) On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts 
Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin made the 
first lunar landing mission while Michael Collins or-
bited overhead in the Apollo command module. 
(12) Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling 
the millions of listeners that it was ‘‘one small step 
for man, one giant leap for mankind’’; Aldrin soon 
followed and planted an American flag, but omitted 
claiming the land for the United States as had rou-
tinely been done during European exploration of the 
Americas. 
(13) The 2 Moon walkers left behind an Amer-
ican flag and a plaque bearing the inscription: 
‘‘Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon 
the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We came in Peace for All 
Mankind.’’ 
(14) On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder 
landed on Mars and on January 29, 1998, an Inter-
national Space Station agreement among 15 coun-
tries met in Washington, D.C., to sign agreements 
to establish the framework for cooperation among 
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the partners on the design, development, operation, 
and utilization of the Space Station. 
(15) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration’s stunning achievements over the last 
50 years have been won for all mankind at great 
cost and sacrifice; in the quest to explore the uni-
verse, many National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration employees have lost their lives, including 
the crews of Apollo 6, the Space Shuttle Challenger, 
and the Space Shuttle Columbia. 
(16) The United States should pay tribute to 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by minting and 
issuing a commemorative silver dollar coin. 
(17) The surcharge proceeds from the sale of a 
commemorative coin would generate valuable fund-
ing for the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration Families Assistance Fund for the purposes 
of providing need-based financial assistance to the 
families of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration personnel who die as a result of injuries 
suffered in the performance of their official duties. 
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 
(a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the 
50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aer-
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