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9:03 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Man On The Moon: Saving America's 'One Small Step'

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Credit Harrison H. Schmitt / NASA

Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan takes a Lunar Roving Vehicle for a spin at the Taurus-Littrow landing site during the 1972 mission.

Credit NASA

On July 20, 1969, the world watched Neil Armstrong take humankind's first steps on the moon.

Credit NASA

Apollo 15 commander David R. Scott landed on the moon on July 30,1971, near the Salyut crater.

By Scott Neuman

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 5:57 am

It wasn't that long ago the United States owned the moon, or at least it seemed that way.

It's All Politics

8:53 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Why Plant City, Fla., Is A Can't-Miss On The Campaign Trail

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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Plant City, Fla., claims to be the winter strawberry capital of the world. Here, a mural celebrating its past decorates the downtown.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Parkesdale Farm Market is run by Jim Meeks, 70, and his extended family. The stand has been a mainstay of presidential campaign stops since George H.W. Bush.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Plant City draws politicians because of its location in a swing county, in a swing state. Seen here is the commercial district of the historic downtown.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Plant City, Fla., claims to be the winter strawberry capital of the world. Here, a mural celebrating its past decorates the downtown.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Plant City started in 1885 as a cotton town and a stop on the South Florida Railroad. It was named, not for the farmland that surrounds it, but for railroad developer Henry Plant.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

The town's demographics are changing. As recently as 1980, it was home to about 17,000 people. Today, it's more than double that.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

It's still possible to find strawberry farms in Plant City, even when it's not the right season, and even though most of the farms are outside the city limits. This farm is located close to the county line road.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

Plant City, Fla. claims to be the winter strawberry capital of the world. Strawberry fields dot the landscape, Amtrak trains roar by, and a giant water tower painted like a strawberry looms over athletic fields.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

In Plant City, strawberry fields dot the landscape, Amtrak trains roar by, and a giant water tower painted like a strawberry looms over athletic fields.

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR

The strawberry milkshakes at the Parkesdale Farm Market in Plant City, Fla., hold a special allure for presidential candidates. Jim Meeks, the market's owner, says whoever drinks one will win the election.

By Selena Simmons-Duffin

National political candidates love visiting Plant City, Fla. It's in a swing state, in a swing county.

The Torch

8:42 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Pistorius And South Africa's Relay Team Win Reprieve, Will Race In Final

Credit Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Anticipation: Oscar Pistorius of South Africa waits for the baton in the team 4x400m relay at London's Olympic Stadium. His teammate fell in the race, but officials deemed he had been interfered with. South Africa will run in the final.

By Bill Chappell

Oscar Pistorius, who made history last weekend when he became the first amputee to run in an Olympic race, saw his London 2012 experience come to an abrupt end Thursday — before a successful appeal put his South African 4x400m relay team back in business.

Pistorius never got a chance to run in the relay's qualifying heat, as he awaited the baton handoff from teammate Ofentse Mogawane. But Mogawane, who was running the second leg of the race, slammed into the back of a Kenyan runner who had drifted into his lane.

The Two-Way

8:31 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Neil Armstrong 'Doing Great' After Heart Surgery

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Neil Armstrong last November at the U.S. Capitol, when he and the other astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

By Mark Memmott

Originally published on Thu August 9, 2012 10:06 am

There's word from the wife of first-man-on-the-moon Neil Armstrong that he's "doing great" after cardiac bypass surgery on Tuesday, NBC News reports.

And that's good, tweets second-man-on-the-moon Buzz Aldrin, because he and Armstrong have "agreed to make it [to] the 50th Apollo Anniv in 2019."

Armstrong turned 82 on Sunday.

The Torch

8:18 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Photos Of Day 12 From The Olympics

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Credit Scott Heavey / Getty Images

Sofya Ochigava (in blue) of Russia hugs Adriana Araujo of Brazil after their bout during the Women's Light Boxing semifinals on Day 12 of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Ochigava won the bout.

Credit Ivan Alvarado / Reuters/Landov

William Priddy (left) of the U.S. spikes the ball against Italy's Luigi Mastrangelo (right) and Dragan Travica during their men's quarterfinal volleyball match. Italy won the match 3-0.

Credit Dominic Ebenbichler / Reuters/Landov

China's Xue Chen (left) blocks a spike by Brazil's Juliana Silva in their women's beach volleyball bronze medal match. Brazil won 2-1.

Credit Scott Heavey / Getty Images

Sofya Ochigava (in blue) of Russia hugs Adriana Araujo of Brazil after their bout during the Women's Light Boxing semifinals on Day 12 of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Ochigava won the bout.

Credit Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

Kerri Walsh Jennings (left) and Misty May-Treanor of the United States celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's beach volleyball finals against April Ross and Jennifer Kessy of the United States.

Credit Scott Heavey / Getty Images

Sofya Ochigava (in blue) of Russia hugs Adriana Araujo of Brazil after their bout during the Women's Light Boxing semifinals on Day 12 of the London Olympic Games. Ochigava won the bout.

Credit Julian Finney / Getty Images

Wenjun Xie of China (left), Konstantin Shabanov of Russia, Aries Merritt of the U.S., Andrew Turner of Great Britain and Selim Nurudeen of Nigeria compete in the men's 110-meter hurdles semifinal.

Credit Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Allyson Felix of the U.S. crosses the finish line ahead of Murielle Ahoure of Cote d'Ivoire and Carmelita Jeter of the U.S. to win the women's 200-meter final.

Credit Dominic Ebenbichler / Reuters/Landov

China's Xue Chen (left) blocks a spike by Brazil's Juliana Silva in their women's beach volleyball bronze medal match. Brazil won 2-1.

Credit Clive Rose / Getty Images

Felipe Perrone Rocha of Spain controls the ball in the men's water polo quarterfinal match between Montenegro and Spain. Montenegro won 11-9.

Credit Eranga Jayawardena / AP

Britain's Anne Panter (right) and Argentina's Macarena Rodriguez Perez vie for the ball during a women's hockey semifinal match.

Credit Ivan Alvarado / Reuters/Landov

William Priddy (left) of the U.S. spikes the ball against Italy's Luigi Mastrangelo (right) and Dragan Travica during their men's quarterfinal volleyball match. Italy won the match 3-0.

Credit Clive Rose / Getty Images

Felipe Perrone Rocha of Spain controls the ball in the men's water polo quarterfinal match between Montenegro and Spain. Montenegro won 11-9.

By Emily Bogle

Originally published on Wed August 8, 2012 6:30 pm

Photo highlights from today's Olympic action feature women's beach volleyball, men's and women's track and field, and men's water polo.

All Songs Considered Blog

8:03 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Song Premiere: Azure Ray, 'Red Balloon'

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Credit Courtesy of the artist

Azure Ray's new EP, As Above So Below, comes out Sept. 4.

Credit Courtesy of the artist

By Stephen Thompson

Originally published on Thu August 9, 2012 4:36 pm

Azure Ray documents the collision between two distinct musical sensibilities: the sweetly airy, bittersweet pop of Maria Taylor and the buzzier, busier, frequently electronic sounds of Orenda Fink. The two have worked separately quite a bit in recent years — Taylor as a solo artist and Fink both solo and as half of O+S — but in Azure Ray, they still meet in the creamy, dreamy midpoint between their individual sounds.

The Two-Way

7:47 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Jobless Claims Dipped Last Week; Still In Range They've Been In All Year

By Mark Memmott

There were 361,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, the Employment and Training Administration says. That's down 6,000 from the week before (that previous week's total was revised up by 2,000).

Claims have stayed in a range between 350,000 and 400,000 all year. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, has also varied little: it's low this year has been 8.1 percent and the high has been 8.3 percent.

The Two-Way

7:34 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Even As Rains Ease, Disaster Grows In Philippines; 2.1 Million Affected

Credit Jay Directo / AFP/Getty Images

From a rooftop in a Manila suburb today, residents watched water flow through flooded streets.

By Mark Memmott

The numbers keep rising in the Philippines, where monsoons have overwhelmed Manila and other areas.

According to the country's disaster response agency

-- The number of people affected by the devastating rains, flooding and landslides has grown to 2.1 million, up from 1.2 million on Wednesday.

The Two-Way

7:03 am

Thu August 9, 2012

Assad Names New Prime Minister; Fighting Continues In Aleppo

By Mark Memmott

As Syrian President Bashar Assad today chose a replacement for the prime minister who defected earlier this week, there were conflicting reports about just what's happening in the key northern city of Aleppo.

Sports

7:03 am

Thu August 9, 2012

London Olympic Games Thursday Preview

By Renee Montagne

Originally published on Thu August 9, 2012 7:43 am

Listen

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

At the London Summer Olympics, it's one star-studded 200-meter race down and one to go - today. American Allyson Felix won the women's 200 last night and was part of a U.S. track and field medal-winning binge. The Americans took seven medals at Olympic Stadium, helping push the Americans past arch-medal rival China in the overall race.

Not that anyone's counting, right, Tom Goldman?

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