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I wondered how long it would be before someone brought up the inevitable 'hoax' angle - just three posts in and there it is already. Of course it took place - 400,000 persons were involved in the Apollo Project, there is no way that that many people could have been involved in a conspiracy. Anyway, I digress.
The Apollo Project has got to be the ultimate technical achievement. Such a task would be a monumental these days, let alone using the available technology in the mid sixties - rudimentary computers, slide rules, chalk boards and hand drawn blue-prints. It's incredible that after the dreadful Apollo 1 fire there were no fatalities during any of the flights, given that the technology was cutting edge and experimental it was only a matter of time if the flights had continued. Still, NASA somehow got away with it by the skin of their teeth, notwithstanding Apollo 13. What an incredible rescue that was! Every single piece of technology in the Apollo Project was experimental, from the immense Saturn V boosters to the sanitary system in the Command Module. How it all functioned so well is a testament to utterly brilliant engineering.
The Soviets built a gigantic rocket, the R-1, to try and beat the Americans to the moon but it exploded during each of its four launches. They even designed a one man lunar lander, but after the US successes they abandoned the project to concentrate on longer and longer Salyut and later Mir space station missions. Still it hasn't all been a disappointment, NASA's unmanned probes may not have the glamour of the manned missions but have been generally a great success and the Mars Rovers are still functioning years after their operational life should have expired.
It's an odd thought but after the shuttle retires late next year, the US will have to pay Russia to launch their astronauts from Baikonir using Russian built craft. I predict within 15 years, a Chinese astronaut will be walking on the moon. The balance of power really is shifting up there, Buzz Aldrin must be fuming.