July 19, 2019

On July 20, 1969, 50 years ago tomorrow, the United States astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did what had seemed impossible not that long before: they landed on the moon. Watched by millions of people over a live television broadcast worldwide, Armstrong and Aldrin’s lunar first was the crowning moment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo space program.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin took this photo of Neil Armstrong working on a storage assembly on the lunar module, Eagle, on the surface of the moon in July 1969. Credit: NASA

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed landing astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade. This goal seemed out of the realm of possibility at the time. The United States was trailing the Soviet Union in the space race, a period of intense competition between the two countries to achieve supremacy in space exploration. The Soviet Union had already launched the first satellite (Sputnik in October 1957) and the first person (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in April 1961) into orbit around Earth. American efforts had been riddled with launch failures, and the greatest success at that time had been a brief suborbital flight (astronaut Alan Shepard spent a few minutes in space) shortly before Kennedy’s announcement. From the looks of things in 1961, if anyone was going to land on the moon before 1970, it would be a cosmonaut.

A NASA Saturn 5 rocket launches from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, carrying the Apollo 11 astronauts who would land on the moon days later. Credit: NASA

NASA, however, accepted the challenge with intensity and enthusiasm. It wound down the initial Mercury space project and began the Gemini program. Gemini helped develop the technology and skills to travel to the moon. Astronauts were launched in pairs, and they practiced docking with other spacecraft—an important part of Apollo’s novel mission design. The astronauts also practiced more precise ocean landings, to gain skill for lunar touchdowns. Gemini ended in 1966 and was succeeded by Apollo.

The Apollo program started with disaster. In January 1967, a fire during a pre-launch test took the lives of astronauts Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, and Edward H. White II. After the accident, NASA engineers redoubled their focus on crew safety.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the surface of the moon in July 1969. Credit: NASA

After several crewed and uncrewed Apollo test flights, NASA was ready to land the first people on the moon. On July 16, 1969, a Saturn 5 rocket, the most powerful rocket ever built, launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying the three astronauts of Apollo 11. After three days in transit, the mission entered into orbit around the moon. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the surface in the lunar lander module, named Eagle. Fellow astronaut Michael Collins stayed aboard a command module orbiting the moon.

This photo taken during the Apollo 11 mission shows Earth rising above the surface of the moon. Credit: NASA

As the mission commander, Armstrong was the first person to leave the lunar module and set foot on the surface. Upon taking his first step onto the moon, he famously said: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (The word “a” was lost in radio transmission.) Aldrin joined him on the surface about 20 minutes later. They explored the lunar surface for more than two hours, performing experiments, setting up scientific equipment, and collecting samples of the lunar surface. Then, they blasted off in the lunar module, reunited with Collins in orbit around the moon, and safely returned to Earth.

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were greeted with honors and awards upon returning home, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the two highest civilian honors awarded by the U.S. government. (They were awarded the second highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2011.) The lunar astronauts received huge parades in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. They were celebrated in their home towns as well as at state dinners around the world.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands next to a seismograph on the lunar surface in July 1969. The lunar module, Eagle, stands in the background. Credit: NASA

Armstrong never became fully comfortable with the fame associated with being the first person to walk on the moon, refusing most interview requests until his death in 2012. Aldrin, however, enjoyed the spotlight and continues to be a prominent spokesperson for the advancement of human space exploration. Collins would have likely been selected to finally walk on the moon as the commander of Apollo 17—the last moon mission. But he retired from NASA after Apollo 11, happy to have been a vital—albeit relatively invisible—part of the first moon mission.

After six successful moon landings, Apollo was cancelled and NASA turned its attention to the development of the space shuttle. Humans have not left Earth’s orbit since since Apollo 17 in December 1972. That could change soon, however, as the United States and many countries and private companies are seeking to return to the moon in the near future. The American spacecraft company SpaceX is developing a rocket and lander intended to orbit and land on the moon. Another company, Blue Origin, is also developing rockets and landers with the ultimate goal of building a permanent settlement on the moon.

August 27, 2012

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first human being to set foot on a celestial body beyond Earth, died on Saturday, August 25, from complications resulting from heart surgery. On July 20, 1969, millions of thrilled and anxious people around the world watched on television as Armstrong stepped down onto the moon from the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle. The landing was one of the greatest feats in the history of exploration. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong radioed back to NASA’s mission control. (The word a was lost in radio transmission.) In a statement released after Armstrong’s death, President Barack Obama said that Armstrong and his crew [Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins] “carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation” and praised Armstrong as an American hero.

Neil A. Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon. (NASA)

Before commanding Apollo 11, Armstrong had made one previous trip to space, on Gemini 8 with David R. Scott in 1966. The two astronauts performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space—the Gemini 8 and an uninhabited Agena rocket. Other Apollo craft had orbited the moon, but Apollo 11 was the first mission with the directive to “Perform a manned lunar landing and return.” The mission was the culmination of a 10-year race to the moon between the United States and the then-Soviet Union, its chief Cold-War enemy.

Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crew blasted off on July 16, 1969, and entered lunar orbit three days later. On July 20, the lunar module carrying Armstrong and Aldrin touched down at a lowland area called the Sea of Tranquility. Moments later, Armstrong radioed back his famous announcement: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” About 6 ½ hours later, Armstrong opened the lander’s hatch and descended a ladder to the surface. During their moonwalk, which lasted 2 hours and 19 minutes, Armstrong and Aldrin set up scientific instruments and a television camera. They also collected rock samples, which were later dated to 3.7 billion years ago. The Apollo command module splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.

The first people on the moon were U.S. astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, who took this picture, and Buzz Aldrin, who is pictured next to a seismograph. A television camera and a United States flag are in the background. Their lunar module, Eagle, stands at the right. (NASA)

Armstrong left NASA in 1970, becoming a professor at the University of Cincinnati and then chairman of the board for a company that developed software for flight scheduling. He rarely gave interviews. But in recent years, he spoke out for more piloted missions to the moon. Armstrong’s family, in an announcement of his death, said, “For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Space exploration
• Space exploration 1968 (a Back in Time article)
• Space exploration 1969 (a Back in Time article)
• Space exploration 1971 (a Back in Time article)