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Apollo 11

Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) 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 (21.5 kg) 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.

"First Moon landing" redirects here. For earlier uncrewed Moon landings, see Moon landing.

Mission type

Crewed lunar landing (G)

  • CSM: 1969-059A
  • LM: 1969-059C

8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds

109,646 pounds (49,735 kg)[5]

10,873 pounds (4,932 kg)

3

July 16, 1969, 13:32:00 (1969-07-16UTC13:32Z) UTC[6]

Saturn V SA-506

July 24, 1969, 16:50:35 (1969-07-24UTC16:50:36Z) UTC

100.9 kilometers (54.5 nmi)[7]

122.4 kilometers (66.1 nmi)[7]

1.25 degrees[7]

2 hours[7]

July 19, 1969, 21:44 UTC[7]

July 19, 1969, 17:21:50 UTC[8]

July 22, 1969, 04:55:42 UTC[9]

30

July 20, 1969, 20:17:40 UTC[10]

July 21, 1969, 17:54:00 UTC[11]

21.55 kilograms (47.51 lb)

1

2 hours, 31 minutes, 40 seconds

July 16, 1969, 16:56:03 UTC[8]

July 20, 1969, 17:44:00 UTC[13]

July 21, 1969, 21:35:00 UTC[9]

July 21, 1969, 23:41:31 UTC[9]

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. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit.


After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20. The astronauts used Eagle's ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled Columbia out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits onto a trajectory back to Earth.[9] They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.


Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."[a][15] Apollo 11 effectively proved U.S. victory in the Space Race to demonstrate spaceflight superiority, by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."[16]

The site needed to be smooth, with relatively few craters;

with approach paths free of large hills, tall cliffs or deep craters that might confuse the landing radar and cause it to issue incorrect readings;

reachable with a minimum amount of propellant;

allowing for delays in the launch countdown;

providing the Apollo spacecraft with a free-return trajectory, one that would allow it to coast around the Moon and safely return to Earth without requiring any engine firings should a problem arise on the way to the Moon;

with good visibility during the landing approach, meaning the Sun would be between 7 and 20 degrees behind the LM; and

a general slope of less than two degrees in the landing area.

[83]

, a 1969 documentary film by Bill Gibson and Barry Coe, about the Apollo 11 mission[281]

Footprints on the Moon

, a 1971 documentary film by Theo Kamecke[282]

Moonwalk One

Apollo 11: As It Happened, a 1994 six-hour documentary on ABC News' coverage of the event

[283]

, 2018 film by Damien Chazelle based on the 2005 James R. Hansen book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.

First Man

, a 2019 documentary film by Todd Douglas Miller with restored footage of the 1969 event[284][285]

Apollo 11

, a July 2019 PBS three-night six-hour documentary, directed by Robert Stone, examined the events leading up to the Apollo 11 mission. An accompanying book of the same name was also released.[286]

Chasing the Moon

8 Days: To the Moon and Back, a and BBC Studios 2019 documentary film by Anthony Philipson re-enacting major portions of the Apollo 11 mission using mission audio recordings, new studio footage, NASA and news archives, and computer-generated imagery.[287]

PBS

 – Interactive website of Apollo 11, 13, and 17

Apollo in Real Time

 – Missions to the Moon

Exploration of the Moon

List of missions to the Moon

List of species that have landed on the Moon

at Spacelog

"Apollo 11 transcripts"

Apollo 11 in real time

at Texas Archive of the Moving Image

Apollo 11 Press Conference filmed by KPRC-TV

at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.

Apollo 11 and 13 Checklists

at the Lunar and Planetary Institute

Apollo 11, 12, and 14 Traverses