Moon Landing

As millions watched on television, one of the most dramatic moments in human history took place some 235,000 miles away. The hatch of the Apollo 11 lunar module opened. Commander Neil A. Armstrong dressed in a bulky space suit, slowly climbed down a ladder. Finally, his boot touched the surface of the moon. “That’s one small step for man,” he said, “one giant leap for mankind.”

Four days earlier, on July 16, 1969, a giant Saturn V rocket, as tall as a 28-story building, had been launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida. Atop the rocket was the Apollo 11 spacecraft carrying three American astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. The three-stage rocket provided the thrust to propel the spacecraft to the moon. Apollo 11 then took over, using its own engine to go into orbit around the moon.

Then on July 20, the Apollo 11’s spiderlegged lunar module seperated from the rest of the spacecraft and carried Armstrong and Aldrin to a flat area on the moon’s surface. The landing was smooth. For the first time humans had landed on the moon. A dream as old as humanity had been achieved.

Between 1969 and 1972, the U.S. launched six successful manned missions to the moon. A total of 12 astronauts walked on the lunar surface.