Apollo 11

Space has been just scrapped as probes have been thrown into orbit by both the US and the USSR, in a competition of the worlds greatest superpower. During the height of the cold war, and attributing the de-escalation of the war, the moon landing was an important accomplishment that both nations wanted to have completed before the other. Probes sent into space like the Sputnik were just transmitting signals that could be picked up on radios, just to toy with the Americans. 

This "game" of trying to be the first to do something was becoming a large part of the Cold war. Events like the "kitchen debate" showed that these nations were doing everything to try and spite each other. As Nixon was showing off the new invention of the color TV and seemed to Khrushchev that he was calling him out for having beet him in the race to get into orbit.

As similar events have been transpiring up to moon landing, it was important to know that the funds that were given to moon landing were just for research, but instead to prove that America had more muscle than the USSR. Before Apollo 11 there were many dry runs to check out if this was possible to get a man on the moon and back.

Apollo 7 the first manned mission was just to orbit the earth and collect the correct information that was needed for the moon journey and the moon landing. Apollo 8 was a manned trip that brought men to the back of the moon, and Apollo 9 was verifying the use of the lunar module while in Earth orbit. And the final dry run was Apollo 10 where they were going to go around the moon for the final run before the scheduled July landing mission. 

Overall Apollo 11 was "one small step for man one giant leap for mankind" and proved that America was technologically the global superpower. This also soon marked the downfall of the USSR as it became apparent that capitalism was the better model to govern a nation.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-and-khrushchev-have-a-kitchen-debate

https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/moon-landing-1969