On July 20, 1969, television sets around the world broadcast the same grainy image: Neil Armstrong climbing down the ladder of the Eagle Lunar Landing Module and touching his boot to the surface of the moon. His words, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind," became forever ingrained in the human consciousness. The famous landing was a triumphant end to the space race.

Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin, Jr., the lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, stands on the surface of the moon.
NASA/Newsmakers/Getty Images
­Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., the lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, stands on the
surface of the moon.

But that historic moment on the surface of the moon was the result of many years' efforts by both the Soviet and American space programs. The astronauts who first touched the moon's surface had to travel some 238,000 miles to reach their destination, survive the moon's harsh environment and make it back to Earth in one piece. It was no easy feat.

As of today, only 12 people -- all of them men and all of them part of the American space program -- have walked on the moon. The exclusivity of the elite group might soon change, however. NASA, other nations' space programs and several private space entrepreneurs are planning m­ore missions that could send humans back to the moon within a few years.

Was the Apollo 11 Moon Landing a Hoax?

Some skeptics still believe that the Apollo 11 lunar landing was simply a movie studio hoax staged by NASA. In 2001, the Fox television network aired a program that gave the hoax theory second wind.

Guests on the show suggested that NASA didn't have the technology to pull off a lunar landing in the late 1960s. They noted that the pictures of astronauts sent back from the moon didn't show stars in the sky. A NASA expert refuted this by explaining that the stars wouldn't have shown up on film because the foreground image (the astronauts' spacesuits) was so bright.

People who are still unconvinced by the overwhelming evidence of man's landing on the moon can visit the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where samples of rocks taken from the moon's surface are on display.

In this article, we'll look at the history of lunar exploration, learn about the technology that got us to our nearest celestial neighbor and find out if humans might soon be returning to -- and even one day living on -- the moon.