One small letter for mankind

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic moon landing on the Apollo 11 mission.

President Barack Obama is marking the occasion on Monday by hosting Armstrong, Aldrin, and their pilot Michael Collins in the White House. Astronauts currently aboard the shuttle Endeavor are embarking on a spacewalk today to commemorate the lunar landing.

The Associated Press remembered the historic mission only as journalists could. The AP Style Book tweeted:

Capitalize the proper names of heavenly bodies (i.e. Mars, the Big Dipper), but moon is lowercase.

The AP’s mention of Mars strikes a more political note. The three members of the Apollo 11 crew are also advocating a manned mission to Mars during their meeting with the president.

We forgot to mention that Buzz Aldrin is on Twitter, follow @Therealbuzz for his updates.