© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

release dates: July 18-24 29-1 (09)

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.

Forty years ago, on July 20, 1969,humans set foot on another world for thefirst time. That day, Neil Armstrong andEdwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin walked on themoon. Astronaut Michael Collins orbitedoverhead in the space capsule.

The Mini Page celebrates thisanniversary by looking back on ouramazing first journey to the moon.Stepping onto a new land

When Neil Armstrong stepped onto themoon, he announced: “That’s one smallstep for a man, one giant leap formankind.”

He meant what he said. This victorybelonged to the whole world. Hundreds ofthousands of people worked to make themoon landing happen. They built onknowledge that people had discoveredthroughout history.

Expertsestimate thatfrom 1961 to1972, about oneAmerican inevery 10 hadsomeinvolvementwith the spaceprogram.

For instance, although they might nothave actually worked on a rocket, theymight have worked for a factory thatmade the bolts for the rocket.

LiftoffThe moon missions were launched on

May 25, 1961, when President John F.Kennedy announced the goal of sendingastronauts to the moon.

His challenge sent people on a journeyunlike any other in human history. Forthe first time, people would leave ourhome planet to travel to another world.

But exploration wasn’t Kennedy’s firstgoal. In April 1961, the Soviet Union* sentthe first human into space. The UnitedStates wanted to prove the Soviets couldnot beat us. The U.S. was in the middle ofthe Cold War** with the Soviets, whereboth sides felt threatened by the other.*The Soviet Union was a big, powerful

country. In 1991, it split into several smallercountries, including Russia.**In a cold war, violence has not yet begun.

A gift of hopeThe moon landing took place in the

middle of great difficulties in the U.S. TheVietnam War and anti-war protests wereraging. Robert Kennedy and MartinLuther King Jr. had been assassinated ayear earlier. There was racial unrest.

But in the summer of 1969, millions ofpeople stopped and watched in awe ashumans did something wonderful. For abrief time, the moon landing brought theworld together.

A Giant Leap for Mankind

From the Earth to the Moon

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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin puts up asolar wind experiment during thefirst moon landing, July 20, 1969.About 1 billion people all overthe world watched the moonlanding live on TV. Your parentsor grandparents might havewatched this important event ontelevision when they wereyounger.There were six missions thatlanded men on the moon: Apollo11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17, runningfrom 1969 to 1972. Only 12 menhave ever stepped onto anotherworld.

The Apollo 11astronauts arehonored inone of manytickertapeparadesthroughout theworld.

Mini Spy . . .from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Mini Spy likes to look at the moon and stars with her telescope.See if you can find: • exclamation point • man in the moon

• strawberry• question mark• kite• number 7• letter V• fish• pencil• ruler• carrot• sailboat• letter I

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

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A tragic beginningTwo earlier U.S. space programs,

Mercury and Gemini, paved the way forthe Apollo moon missions.

The moon missions were named afterthe Greek god Apollo, the god of light,music and the sun.

Apollo 1 ended in tragedy when theastronauts were killed in a fire on thelaunch pad in January 1967.

The Apollo program was delayed forabout a year while scientists worked tofix the problems that had caused thedeadly fire in Apollo 1.

A dangerous journeyThe Apollo 13 crew had to make an

emergency return to Earth after anoxygen tank explosion. Only the quickthinking of astronauts and scientists onEarth saved their lives.

Apollo Milestones

EarthriseApollo 8 was the first mission with

humans aboard to orbit the moon. In1968, the astronauts took a color pictureof the Earth from space, “Earthrise.”

This picture changed the way peoplelooked at the world. It showed ourbeautiful blue planet alone in the darkskies of the universe. People saw oneworld with no country boundaries.

The photo also sharpened people’sconcerns about the environment. Itshowed how fragile our planet was.

Words that remind us of the moon landing are hidden in the block below.Some words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find:APOLLO, ASTRONAUTS, LAUNCH, KENNEDY, ONE, SMALL, STEP,GIANT, LEAP, WORLD, SPACE, PLANET, MISSION, EARTH, BLUE,COLONY, SCIENTISTS, COLD, WAR, SATELLITES, RESOURCES.

Moon Landing TRY ’NFIND

SPACE ISOUR LASTFRONTIER!

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W P K L S E C R U O S E R P IP O A P E T S T N A I G O O SL B R C L L Y N O L O C N L SA C L L E E H C N U A L E L IN W O U D A O V L L A M S O OE O A L E P Y D E N N E K K NT V V R D S T U A N O R T S AH T R A E S E T I L L E T A S

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Basset Brown

The News

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The Apollo 1 crew, from left, were: EdwardH. White II, Virgil I. Grissom and Roger B.Chaffee. They lost their lives when fire brokeout during a pre-flight test. The astronautswere unable to escape.

The crew of Apollo8 were the firsthumans to witnessthe Earth risingover the moon. Thisphoto, “Earthrise,”inspired the world.

The Apollo13 crewwaits forrecoveryaboard liferafts afterthe splash-down.

Rookie Cookie’s RecipeA (Avocado), B (Bean) & C (Corn) SaladYou can eat this colorful salad alone or with tortilla chips.

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Meet Bill HarleyBill Harley tells stories through songs

about growing up and going to school. Hehas won two Grammy Awards for his CDs.

Bill also gives commentary on NationalPublic Radio’s news program “All ThingsConsidered.” He tours the country makingspeeches, telling stories and playing music.He has made a concert DVD, “Yes toRunning.”

Bill began singing and telling stories forthe public when he was in college, about 30 years ago. He washelping run a day camp for kids and entertained them byplaying the guitar and telling stories.

He has also written picture books and novels for kids. Hisbooks include “Dirty Joe, The Pirate: A True Story” and “Nightof the Spadefoot Toads.”

You’ll need:• 1 ripe avocado, diced• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained• 2 (15-ounce) cans corn, drained• 1 medium bell pepper (any color), diced• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro• juice from small lime• 1 teaspoon ground cumin• sprinkle of salt to tasteWhat to do:1. Combine all vegetables and beans in a large bowl.2. Stir in lime juice and seasonings to blend.3. Chill for 1 hour. Serves 10 to 12.*You will need an adult’s help with this recipe. fr

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All the following jokes have something in common.Can you guess the common theme or category?

Morton: What do we call the Earth’s silliestsatellite?

Matthew: A moonatic!

Mark: Why were the astronauts unable to land onthe moon?

Mary: Because the moon was full!

Melvin: How is the moon supported in the sky?Millie: By its moonbeams!

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Go dot to dot and color this astronaut.

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Gifts from ApolloPeople on Earth are sharing

unexpected benefits from the spaceprogram. Few people imagined thesebenefits when it began.

For example,without the spaceprogram, there wouldbe no Internet or cellphones. They needsignals from satellitesin space to work.

But experts say the most importantreason to explore space is that itanswers our need to discover and learnnew things. The space program continuesto fill people with a sense of wonder.Costs of Apollo

The whole moon program cost about$24.5 billion spread out over about eightyears. In today’s dollars, that is about$125 billion. That is a lot of money.

But compare that to the roughly $800billion the U.S. has promised to spend tosave companies in trouble and try toheal our economy.

The Apollo program inspired manypeople on Earth. No one knows howthat story will end.

Leaving homeThe future of the space program is up

in the air. No one knows whether wewill build on what we learned from theApollo program.

Scientists are working on a newspace vehicle to replace the shuttle.NASA is working on plans to set upcolonies, or permanent homes, on themoon. But no one knows if that willactually happen.

Experts agree that sooner or later,people will have to leave Earth if we areto survive. But there is disagreementabout how fast we need to do that.

Some people believe that this is theperfect moment to begin setting upcolonies on other worlds. Right now, wehave the science and technology, and wehave the resources.

These peopleworry thathumans will useup the resourceson Earth. We willneed to find newworlds or we willbecome extinct.

To the Moon and Beyond

Millions of years from nowSome experts believe that if we don’t

learn to use our resources wisely andprotect our planet, then we shouldn’t bespreading to other worlds anyway.

Others believe there is no hurry tomove on. We might have millions ofyears to consider moving to otherworlds.

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

Apollo 11 astronauts shot this picture of themoon as they flew back to Earth.

The Mini Page thanks Roger Launius, seniorcurator, Smithsonian National Air and SpaceMuseum, for help with this issue.

Sites to see: www.nasa.gov/apollo40thwww.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.htmlwww.nasm.si.edu

Look through your newspaper for storiesabout the space program.

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This artist’s drawing showswhat a moon colony mightlook like. Spacecraft havefound possible ice depositsin the moon’s poles.Scientists think this mightbe a good place to set up acolony.Some scientists think thatbecause the moon’s gravityis only one-sixth as strongas Earth’s, the moon wouldmake a good launch pad forfuture exploration.

Next week,The Mini Page is about the 80thbirthday of Anne Frank.

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from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Supersport: Stephen StrasburgHeight: 6-4 Birthdate: 7-20-88Weight: 220 Hometown: San Diego, Calif.

Imagine, for a moment, standing in a batter’s box and trying to hita 100 mph fastball that looks like a blur.

That’s what opponents of San Diego State University’s baseballteam have been dealing with the last three years — and what big-league hitterslikely will face in the future from pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg.

Having just completed his junior year in college, Strasburg was the No. 1 pick inthe Major League Baseball draft, chosen by the Washington Nationals. After someseasoning in the minors, the hard-throwing righthander might have folks aroundthe nation’s capital talking more about pitching than politics.

This past season at San Diego State, Strasburg struck out 195 batters in 109innings, while posting a 13-1 record that included a no-hitter against Air Force.

Strasburg, who majored in public administration, also enjoys playing golf. Butpitching is his passion and his ticket to the big leagues — provided he keepsthrowing fastballs in the 95-100 mph range.

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