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Apollo 11 launches to the Moon

Cape Canaveral, USA · 1969 · Science

On 16 July 1969 a Saturn V rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Four days later Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon, watched live by an estimated 650 million people.

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Presentation plaque containing portions of the Wright Flyer taken to the surface of the Moon and back by Apollo 11
Presentation plaque containing portions of the Wright Flyer taken to the surface of the Moon and back by Apollo 11. Photo: Mark Avino, Public domain, source on Wikimedia Commons

What happened

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to landing a man on the Moon before the decade was out, a goal driven by the Cold War space race with the Soviet Union. NASA's Apollo programme grew to employ around 400,000 people.

Saturn V SA-506, the rocket carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft, is rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building and down the 3.5 mile crawlerway to Launch Complex 39-A
Saturn V SA-506, the rocket carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft, is rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building and down the 3.5 mile crawlerway to Launch Complex 39-A. Photo: NASA, Public domain, source on Wikimedia Commons

At 9:32 in the morning on 16 July 1969, the 110-metre Saturn V rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Cape Canaveral, carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Around a million spectators lined the beaches and roads nearby.

Apollo 11 Hasselblad image from film magazine 40/S - EVA. The image of astronaut Neil Armstrong photographing astronaut Aldrin is clearly seen in the reflections on the helmet visor of astronaut Aldri
Apollo 11 Hasselblad image from film magazine 40/S - EVA. The image of astronaut Neil Armstrong photographing astronaut Aldrin is clearly seen in the reflections on the helmet visor of astronaut Aldri. Photo: Neil A. Armstrong, Public domain, source on Wikimedia Commons

Four days later, on 20 July, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle in the Sea of Tranquillity with seconds of fuel to spare, while Collins orbited above. Armstrong's first step was watched live by an estimated 650 million people worldwide. The crew returned with 21.5 kg of lunar rock and splashed down in the Pacific on 24 July. Five more Apollo missions reached the Moon, and no one has been back since 1972.

Around the same time

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Earlier: Swinging London, 1963 to 1969 · Later: The fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989 to 1990

Further reading

Encyclopedia article: Apollo 11 (en.wikipedia.org)