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About The Apollo 11 Mission

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. Launched on 16th July 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On 20th July 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.

The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on 25th May 1961:

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

Apollo 11 Launch and Lunar Landing

Each crew member of Apollo 11 had made a space flight before this mission, making it the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history. Michael Collins was originally slated to be the Command Module Pilot (CMP) on Apollo 8 but was removed when he required surgery on his back and was replaced by Jim Lovell, his backup for that flight. After Collins was medically cleared he took what would have been Lovell's spot on Apollo 11. Although Jim Lovell made 4 space flights, he never made it to the moon.

Thousands of spectators camped out to watch the launch of Apollo 11. In addition to the throngs of people crowding the highways and beaches near the launch site, millions watched the event on television, with NASA Chief of Public Information Jack King providing commentary. President Richard Nixon viewed the proceedings from the Oval Office of the White House.

The launch of Apollo 11 took place on 16th July 1969 at 9:32 a.m. local time. On 19th July 1969 Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed, the Apollo 11 crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquillity. The landing site was selected because it was believed to be relatively flat and smooth and it was thought unlikely to present any major landing or vehicular challenges. On 20th July 1969 the lunar module (LM) Eagle separated from the command module Columbia and Apollo 11 touched down on the moon. Neil Armstrong confirmed that they had touched down safely with the words, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed."

After describing the surface dust on the moon as "fine and almost like a powder", Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and into history as the first human to set foot on another world, famously describing it as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission

2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the 40th anniversary events reflected on the significance of the moon landing:

"It was carried out in a technically brilliant way with risks taken ... that would be inconceivable in the risk-averse world of today...The Apollo programme is arguably the greatest technical achievement of mankind to date...nothing since Apollo has come close [to] the excitement that was generated by those astronauts - Armstrong, Aldrin and the 10 others who followed them."