On this day, Apollo 11 became the first mission to land human beings on the lunar surface.
Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. descended in the lunar module "Eagle" on July 20, 1969, to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface running experiments, collecting lunar rock and dust samples, and leaving behind items such as a silicon disk containing goodwill messages from 73 countries. Meanwhile, command module pilot Michael Collins orbited the Moon, taking photographs and communicating with the crew below and mission control teams back on Earth.
A close-up view of an astronaut's boot and bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity. The image is black and white. The astronaut's boot is lifting from the imprint it has made in the lunar soil in the top left corner of the image. A long shadow extends from the astronaut's boot toward the right side of the image. The ground is textured with rocks and pebbles.
Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. descended in the lunar module "Eagle" on July 20, 1969, to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface running experiments, collecting lunar rock and dust samples, and leaving behind items such as a silicon disk containing goodwill messages from 73 countries. Meanwhile, command module pilot Michael Collins orbited the Moon, taking photographs and communicating with the crew below and mission control teams back on Earth.
A close-up view of an astronaut's boot and bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity. The image is black and white. The astronaut's boot is lifting from the imprint it has made in the lunar soil in the top left corner of the image. A long shadow extends from the astronaut's boot toward the right side of the image. The ground is textured with rocks and pebbles.
