PILOT BRIEFING | MILESTONES | Extraordinary times Apollo at 50 BY ALICIA HERRON One Giant Leap July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 lands on the moon. "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." -The sign left on the moon's surface by the Apollo crew. 30 | AOPA PILOT July 2019 is a provision that NASA's work should benefit all mankind. So far, it has. NASA's "spinoffs" to society-technology developed for NASA's unique missions but beneficial and applicable to the wider world-go far beyond astronaut ice cream and memory foam mattresses. Aeronautics is part of its name, so it should come as no surprise that NASA's research and development has directly improved general aviation. COURTESY NASA IN JULY, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11's lunar landing. From those first steps on the moon to the space shuttle program and the planned journey to Mars, NASA's exceptional achievements have inspired humanity to look beyond the limits of Earth's atmosphere. But NASA's work is about more than space. Included in the agency's establishing document, the Space Act of 1958,