After Apollo 9's launch on March 3, 1969, the crew communicates with Mission Control from space. The Apollo 9 mission was a crucial test run for the Apollo 11 moon landing three months later.

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At a press conference the day after the January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 accident, a NASA spokesperson explains the cause of the flash fire that broke out inside the cabin of the spacecraft during a launch pad test. The vehicle was being prepared for the first piloted space flight. The tragedy ended in the deaths of all three astronauts on board: Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee.

In December 1972, Apollo 17 communicates with Mission Control on the final trip to the moon, marking the end of the Apollo lunar landing program.

On July 17, 1975, President Gerald Ford speaks by telephone to the Apollo astronauts following their rendezvous and docking with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. This was the first joint orbital mission between the two superpowers, and it helped pave the way for further cooperation in the exploration of space.

In what he described as the most historic phone call ever made from the White House, President Richard Nixon speaks to astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin shortly after they became the first humans to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Take a look at how 9/11 became a benchmark for whole generations of young Americans, influencing their attitudes about service, terror, and hope.

Adam Shanker reacts to footage he captured in Times Square on 9/11.