During the 1960s the Cold War included the space race, particularly to land humans on the moon. Both the USA and the USSR strove to do this.

Apollo 8 was the first spacecraft to take humans as far as the moon, the spacecraft swinging around the moon and returning to earth in December 1968. It was on this mission that the famous 'earthrise' photo was taken, showing our small blue planet rising above the lunar horizon.

For the USA this was a major prestige coup, as the Soviets hadn't managed to progress their space program so far. After the initial lead established by Sputnik 1, the Apollo 8 mission showed that the USA was now in the lead.

In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was the first to land men on the moon. In the months and weeks beforehand, the Soviets tried to land 3 probes on the moon to take samples of lunar soil and return them to the earth, so being the first to do so. All 3 missions failed to launch properly.

When Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, it was the culmination of the space race, showing the billions of people throughout the world that the USA had won.

It's kind of funny what he said though because he's old