Featured Map for 20 July 2019:
One Small Step ...

50 years ago today, humans first landed upon the moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 men to set foot upon Earth's only natural satellite. Although they accomplished scientific goals during their brief stay on the moon their mission was mostly a test flight. Five more Apollo lunar missions focused more on lunar science; another mission (Apollo 13) would have if not for a catastrophic explosion during the transit from Earth to Luna. Another three missions were planned after Apollo 17 and all of the hardware was built before the missions were cancelled (saving just $42 million).

Five sites were prime candidates for the three cancelled missions, including an adventurous landing in Tsiolkovsky crater on Luna's far side, proposed by Harrison Schmitt, who was the last (so far) man to set foot upon the moon.

In honor of what was and what might have been, today's Featured Map shows the locations of the six manned moon landings plus the four Earth-side candidates for the cancelled missions.

References and additional information:

• Apollo 18 through 20 - The Cancelled Missions – National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• Apollo 18: The Lost Apollo Missions – Seeker (2 September 2011)
• Apollo 18 – Astronautix
  
  
• Featured Map: The Eagle Has Landed (20 July 2014)
• Featured Map: RIP Neil Armstrong (26 August 2012)