Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin Columbia. Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program.

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The Apollo 11 astronauts were invited to give speeches to Congress. Aldrin: "The first step on the moon was a step toward our sister planets and ultimately toward the stars". Armstrong: "Man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny."

For Henry Kissinger, NASA'S Apollo 11 lunar landing was about more than the moon

Celebrate 400 years of moon maps for Apollo 11's anniversary (gallery)