During a press conference Wednesday, NASA officials announced what many space enthusiests have been waiting for: The date of the Artemis-1 launch from the Space Coast.

Officials announced that they are now targeting Aug. 29 as the date for the launch of the uncrewed mega moon rocket.

If the launch happens when planned, it will right on the heels of the 53rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when the United States landed the first man on the moon.

The Apollo 11 mission will always be rooted in space lore, and for those who were a part of the mission it's burned in their memory.

And it was thousands of people who made the mission possible.

For Lee Solid, Apollo 11 might as well have happened yesterday.

He was part of the Rocketdyne team that built the engines for the mighty Saturn V rocket that launched astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin into space.

Back then, he said most people knew him as "the engine guy."

"This was, if not the, most significant engineering accomplishment in the history of man," Solid said.

Solid was in the backup firing room at the launch control center when his engines roared to life July 16, 1969, propelling the three-man crew to Earth's nearest neighbor for the first time.​

"Putting those guys on the moon, we were at our zenith, the top of our game," he said. "There wasn't any doubt we were ready to go."

Then, on July 20, Solid woke his twin boys so they could witness history from their living room TV.

"In 1969 they were turning 10 years old, and I got them out of bed at 10 o'clock at night to watch Neil put his foot on the moon," he said.

For 60 years, Solid has known colleague and friend John Tribe, who worked as a propulsion manager during Apollo 11.

He moved to the U.S. from England in 1961 to be a part of America's space program.

Tribe recalls meeting Neil Armstrong at an event in the 1990s and bringing up the time he briefed the astronaut on part of the mission.

"I briefed him right prior to the launch, told him what to look for in certain valve situations when they mated the lunar module," he said of the conversation. "And he remembered that, he said he remembered me. I think he was just being kind."

Now, 53 years later, NASA is on the threshold of sending our people back to the moon as part of the Artemis Program.

Solid said he will be closely watching the mission, even though this time it will be from afar.

But he said that what they accomplished five decades ago got this team to where they are today.

"When the final history books are written, I really believe what we did 53 years ago today, will still be the high point in human history," said Solid.