On July 24th 1969 the crew of the historic first manned mission to the moon and their spacecraft Columbia arrived on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet. The flight of Apollo 11 had been an unqualified triumph. The goals laid out by President John F. Kennedy had been attained. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had walked on the dusty plains of the Sea of Tranquillity and had returned safely to the Earth with a treasure trove of unparalleled scientific information.