Obama, who has ordered a review of all US manned space flight programmes, said the US would try to 'continue the inspirational moments of NASA'. The space agency is planning to return to the moon by 2020 in a next generation spacecraft now being developed.

The president recalled watching as a child in Hawaii as the capsules containing Apollo astronauts were fished from the sea and brought back to land.

Monday's 40th anniversary was marked by NASA events with the Apollo astronauts as well as celebrations at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and a slew of media coverage, including realtime rebroadcasts of the events on the internet.