Moon Landing

Apollo 11 was the NASA mission that first landed people on the Moon. It launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 16 July 1969 with three astronauts: commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins. On 20 July, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle in the Sea of Tranquility, while Collins stayed in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia.

Armstrong stepped onto the surface a few hours after landing, followed by Aldrin. The two spent about two and a half hours outside, planting a United States flag, setting up scientific experiments and collecting about 21.5 kilograms of lunar rock and soil. The crew returned safely, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969.

The landing met the goal, set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, of reaching the Moon before the end of the decade, and it marked a turning point in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Hundreds of millions of people watched it live on television. Five more Apollo crews landed on the Moon before the programme ended in 1972.