Apollo 11 was the first Apollo mission to land on the moon like its mission objectives specified. It was launched on July 16, 1969 along with the crew (Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins) and it arrived on the moon (The Sea of Tranquility) four days later. Armstrong and Aldrin took the LM to the moon surface to evaluate the capability of working on the moon, they established a small scientific station, and collected 21.7 kg. of lunar rocks and soil before safely coming home. The world stood still as the astronauts stepped onto the moon and truly confirmed that the United States won the Space Race to the moon. The significance of this mission was phenomenal because everyone with a TV was watching it and it had a big impact on the Space Race itself. Finally one of the greatest achievements the world has ever known had been accomplished. NASA had landed a man on the moon, but the Apollo Missions were far from being over with.

Facts and Statistics from the NSSDC (National Space Science Data Center) Master Catalog:

After launch on Saturn V SA-504 on 16 July 1969 at 13:32 UT (9:32 a.m. EDT) from pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 11 entered Earth orbit. After 1 1/2 Earth orbits, the S-IVB stage was re-ignited at 16:16:16 UT for a trans-lunar injection burn of 5 minutes, 48 seconds putting the spacecraft on course for the Moon. The CSM separated from the S-IVB stage containing the LM 33 minutes later, turned around and docked with the LM at 16:56:03 UT. About an hour and 15 minutes later the S-IVB stage was injected into heliocentric orbit. During translunar coast a color TV transmission was made from Apollo 11 and on 17 July a 3-second mid-course correction burn of the main engine was performed. Lunar orbit insertion was achieved on 19 July at 17:21:50 UT by a retrograde firing of the main engine for 357.5 seconds while the spacecraft was behind the Moon and out of contact with Earth. A later 17 second burn circularized the orbit. On 20 July Armstrong and Aldrin entered the LM for final checkout. At 18:11:53 the LM and CSM separated. After a visual inspection by Collins, the LM descent engine fired for 30 seconds at 19:08 UT, putting the craft into a descent orbit with a closest approach 14.5 km above the Moon's surface. At 20:05 the LM descent engine fired for 756.3 seconds and descent to the lunar surface began.

The LM landed at 20:17:40 UT (4:17:40 p.m. EDT) in Mare Tranquilitatis (the Sea of Tranquility), Armstrong reporting, "Houston, Tranquility Base here - the Eagle has landed." Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface at 02:56:15 UT on 21 July (10:56:15 p.m. July 20 EDT) stating, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", and Aldrin followed 19 minutes later. The astronauts deployed the EASEP and other instruments, took photographs, and collected 21.7 kg of lunar rock and soil. The astronauts traversed a total distance of about 250 meters. The EVA ended at 5:11:13 UT when the astronauts returned to the LM and closed the hatch.

The LM lifted off from the Moon at 17:54:01 UT on 21 July after 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface. After docking with the CSM at 21:34:00 UT, the LM was jettisoned into lunar orbit at 00:01:01 UT on 22 July. Trans-earth injection began at 04:54:42 UT on 22 July with a 2 1/2 minute firing of the CSM main engine. A mid-course correction was made later on 22 July. The CM separated from the SM at 16:21:13 UT on 24 July. Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969 at 16:50:35 UT (12:50:35 p.m. EDT) after a mission elapsed time of 195 hrs, 18 mins, 35 secs. The splashdown point was 13 deg 19 min N, 169 deg 9 min W, 400 miles SSW of Wake Island and 24 km (15 mi) from the recovery ship USS Hornet.

Eagle Landing audio