EDITORIAL : ONE GIANT STEP; MANKIND'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT.

WHO can ever forget exactly where they were 30 years ago Tuesday when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin touched down on the Sea of Tranquility on the surface of the moon.

``Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.''

That historic message by Armstrong radioed from the moon back to Earth is one of mankind's most transcendent moments.

When Cmdr. Neil Armstrong, Air Force Col. Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin and Air Force Col. Michael Collins blasted off on July 16, 1969, atop the powerful, gigantic Saturn V rocket built in Canoga Park, the world waited anxiously for news.

Four days later, time stood still as we all gathered around TV sets to watch the ghostly, flickering images of the Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the moon and dancing with destiny.

``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,'' Armstrong beamed back as the whole world watched and listened in raptured awe.

It was a triumphant time in a turbulent era. The Vietnam War, My Lai, The Six-Day War and Chappaquiddick share a page in history of that year.

It was a shining culmination of the vision by President Kennedy, who pledged to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

``It was probably the greatest singular human endeavor, certainly in modern times, maybe in the history of all mankind,'' Gene Cernan, 65, said last week.

Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon, just three short years after Armstrong and Aldrin.

In the blink of an eye, history had moved on, but to where?

Where is that next heart-stopping moment coming from when all of humanity can share the joy of its own transcendent achievement, mankind's triumph over nature?

As we replay the historic moon voyage of Apollo 11, we might be served well to remember these emotions we shared that day when mankind made its giant leap on the moon and rededicate ourselves to the mission of uplifting the human race and fulfilling its destiny.