Neil, Buzz, and Michael made it look effortless, but the moon landing was neither easy nor inevitable. Soon after President Kennedy publicly stated the goal of sending Americans to the moon, NASA confessed that the chances of success were only about 50/50.  But on July 20, 1969, despite enormous difficulties, astronauts stepped onto the lunar regolith.In this special anniversary episode, we go behind the iconic phrases and familiar photos to consider the errors, mishaps, and the Plan B contingencies that dogged the project, as well as hear of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who made Apollo 11 possible.  Guests: Charles Fishman -  author of “One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew Us to the Moon” Matt Hayes - President and CEO of the Museum of Flight, Seattle Geoff Nunn – Adjunct curator for Space History at the Museum of Flight. David Whitehouse – Journalist, broadcaster, and author of “Apollo 11: The Inside Story” Dee O’Hara – NASA’s first aerospace nurse and flight nurse for the Apollo mission James Allen Joki – EMU Flight Controller, Apollo Mission Control, Houston. Ted Huetter – Museum of Flight public relations manager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices