 | |
| Mission type | Manned lunar landing |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID |
|
| SATCAT no. |
|
| Mission duration | 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft |
|
| Manufacturer |
|
| Launch mass | 100,756 pounds (45,702 kg) |
| Landing mass | 10,873 pounds (4,932 kg) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | |
| Callsign |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 16, 1969, 13:32:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Saturn V SA-506 |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Hornet |
| Landing date | July 24, 1969, 16:50:35 UTC[1] |
| Landing site | North Pacific Ocean 13°19′N 169°9′W[1] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Selenocentric |
| Periselene | 100.9 kilometers (54.5 nmi)[2] |
| Aposelene | 122.4 kilometers (66.1 nmi)[2] |
| Inclination | 1.25 degrees[2] |
| Period | 2 hours[2] |
| Epoch | July 19, 1969, 21:44 UTC[2] |
| Lunar orbiter | |
| Spacecraft component | Command/Service Module |
| Orbital insertion | July 19, 1969, 17:21:50 UTC[3] |
| Orbital departure | July 22, 1969, 04:55:42 UTC[3] |
| Orbits | 30 |
| Lunar lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Lunar Module |
| Landing date | July 20, 1969, 20:18:04 UTC[4] |
| Return launch | July 21, 1969, 17:54 UTC |
| Landing site | Mare Tranquillitatis 0.67408°N 23.47297°E[5] |
| Sample mass | 21.55 kilograms (47.51 lb) |
| Surface EVAs | 1 |
| EVA duration | 2 hours, 31 minutes 40 seconds |
| Docking with LM | |
| Docking date | July 16, 1969, 16:56:03 UTC[3] |
| Undocking date | July 20, 1969, 17:44:00 UTC[3] |
| Docking with LM ascent stage | |
| Docking date | July 21, 1969, 21:35:00 UTC[3] |
| Undocking date | July 21, 1969, 23:41:31 UTC[3] |
  Left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin | |
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two humans on the Moon. Mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:18 UTC. Armstrong became the first human to step onto the lunar surface six hours after landing on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC; Aldrin joined him about 20 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Michael Collinspiloted the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent just under a day on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit.
Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 9:32 am EDT (13:32 UTC) and was the fifth manned mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and 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 into lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into the lunar module Eagleand landed in the Sea of Tranquility. They stayed a total of about 21.5 hours on the lunar surface. The astronauts used Eagle's upper stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eaglebefore they performed the maneuvers that blasted them out of lunar orbit on a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.
The landing was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface and described the event as "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by U.S. President John F. Kennedy: "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."[6]
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