Forward… Forward… 40 feet down, 2 and a half… picking up some dust…

Today marks of one of the pinnacles of human achievement: fifty years ago, Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Collins were the first humans to land on the surface of the moon.

Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed. . .

A little more than six hours after touchdown, Neil Armstrong stepped from the lunar lander and onto the moon’s surface. His footprint remains in the dust there to this day.

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

The flight of Apollo 11 was met with a jubilant reaction around the globe. Everyone shared in the success of the astronauts. The front pages of newspapers the world over reflected the strong enthusiasm. Police reports noted that streets in many cities were eerily quiet during the Moon walk as residents watched television coverage in homes, bars, and other public places.

For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one, then-President Richard Nixon radioed the moonwalkers from the Oval Office. One in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth.

Over the next three and a half years, five more missions would achieve a lunar landing, and ten more Astronauts would walk on the moon. But none came close to capturing the world’s imagination as did that first landing on July 20, 1969.

In the words of Glynn Lunney, the flight director on duty for Apollo 11's climb back to lunar orbit, For all the millennia that humans have walked on this planet and looked up at the moon and looked up at the stars, this was the first time when two of us walked and worked and lived on another planet.

And in the big sweep of history yet to come, we may look back on this not as a technological achievement, we may end up looking back and seeing that it was the beginning of a new stage for mankind as we know it.

重点解析：

1. Today marks of one of the pinnacles of human achievement: fifty years ago,

pinnacle n. 巅峰，顶峰

She was still at the pinnacle of her career.

她依然处在事业的巅峰时期。

2. A little more than six hours after touchdown, Neil Armstrong stepped from the lunar lander and onto the moon’s surface.

touchdown n. 着陆，触地

But group mind seems to be a liability in the decisive moments of touchdown, where there is no room for averages.

但是，群体智慧在飞机着陆的决定性时刻似乎成了不利条件，这时可没空均衡众意。

参考译文：

往前一点……再往前……距离着陆还有40英尺，2.5英尺……卷起一些尘土了……

今天是人类伟大成就的一个纪念日：50年前，阿波罗11号的宇航员尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和巴兹·柯林斯成为首批着陆于月球表面的人类。

这里是静海基地。“鹰”号已着陆……

着陆的6个多小时后，尼尔·阿姆斯特朗从登月飞行器上走到了月球表面。他的足迹至今依然留在月球表现的尘土之上。

这对于一个人来说只是一小步，但对于整个人类来说却是一大步。

阿波罗11号的飞行任务引发了世界各地的一片欢腾。所有人都在分享这两名宇航员取得的成功。世界各地报纸头条的大篇幅报道也表明了所有人的热情。警局报告指出，许多城市的街头在宇航员在月球表面行走期间都异常安静，市民们都在家里或者酒吧等公共场合观看电视报道。

整个人类史上终于有这样宝贵的一颗——所有地球人都凝聚在一起，时任美国总统尼克松在总统办公室通过广播与宇航员们通话。我要向你们传达全人类对你们所做事情的自豪，也要代表美国人民祈祷你们平安返回地球。

未来3年半的时间里，还有5次太空任务会实现月球着陆，有10多名宇航员会在月球上行走。但这些任务都不会有1969年7月20日的那次那样激发全人类的想象力。

用阿波罗11号飞行总监格林·伦尼的话来说，对于人类还在地球上行走、在地球上观测月球及其他恒星的时代里，这是首次有2个人类在另一颗星星上工作并生活。

在未来还有许多创造历史的时刻涌来之际，我们可能不会将这件事视为科技成就，在回顾过去时，我们会将这次任务视为全人类新阶段的开始。