What Was The Apollo 11 Mission?
QUICK ANSWER
Apollo 11 was the NASA mission that landed the first humans on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module. The mission fulfilled President Kennedy's 1961 challenge to land astronauts on the Moon by decade's end.
Apollo 11 was the mission that made humans an interplanetary species, however briefly. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited above. The mission was watched live by an estimated 600 million people worldwide and remains one of the most significant achievements in human history.
Who was on Apollo 11?
Three astronauts. According to NASA, the Apollo 11 crew was Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. Armstrong was a civilian test pilot; Aldrin and Collins were Air Force officers. All three had flown Gemini missions before Apollo. Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon while Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia. Collins is sometimes called the loneliest man in history for hours he spent alone on the far side of the Moon.
What happened during the landing?
A close call with the lunar module Eagle. Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969 from Kennedy Space Center on a Saturn V rocket. After a 76-hour journey, the lunar module Eagle separated from the command module on July 20. During descent, alarms from the Eagle's overloaded computer caused brief concern. Armstrong took manual control to avoid a boulder field, landing in the Sea of Tranquility with about 25 seconds of fuel remaining. Armstrong reported: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
What did they do on the Moon?
Spent about 21.5 hours on the surface. Armstrong stepped onto the Moon at 10:56 PM EDT on July 20, 1969, saying: That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. Aldrin joined him about 19 minutes later. The astronauts spent about 2.5 hours outside the Eagle, collecting 47 pounds of lunar samples, planting an American flag, deploying scientific experiments, and taking photographs. They left a plaque reading: Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon.
What was the legacy?
A defining moment in human history. Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy's 1961 challenge to land astronauts on the Moon by decade's end. The mission was watched by an estimated 600 million people worldwide, the largest TV audience in history at the time. Five more Apollo missions landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, but Apollo 11 retained primacy as the first. NASA's Artemis program plans to return astronauts to the Moon in the late 2020s, more than 50 years after Apollo 11.
Apollo 11 was the NASA mission that landed the first humans on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited above. The crew spent about 21.5 hours on the surface, collected 47 pounds of lunar samples, and returned to Earth on July 24. The mission fulfilled Kennedy's 1961 challenge and remains one of the most significant achievements in human history. Artemis aims to return humans to the Moon by the late 2020s.
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