"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong's message to Earth was the first issued by a human from the surface of the Moon.

Then, when Armstrong first set foot on the lunar surface, he punctuated the moment with his immortal, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The date was July 20, 1969. Forty years ago, perceptions changed forever about human potential. If a moon landing is possible, what else can be accomplished?

Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins got the ticker-tape parades, presidential congratulations and pop culture immortality, but there were thousands who labored in anonymity to make it happen.

One of those unsung heroes of the mission to the moon was Cecilia's Harvey LeBlanc, an engineer who helped design the second stage of the Saturn 5 rocket that blasted the astronauts into orbit, as well as the Apollo 11 command module.

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Bruce Brown • bbrown@theadvertiser.com • July 19, 2009