Dreaming about touching the moon
The Apollo 11 mission was the first human spaceflight to land on the Moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.
The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he had expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
The Apollo 11 mission was the eleventh in a series of flights using Apollo flight hardware and was the first lunar landing of the Apollo Program. It was also the fifth manned flight of the command and service modules and the third flight of the lunar module. The purpose of the mission was to perform a manned lunar landing and return safely to Earth.
The 363-foot-tall Apollo 11 space vehicle was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 8:32 a.m. EST, July 16, 1969. It was the United States' first lunar landing mission. The launch vehicle, AS-506, was the sixth in the Apollo Saturn V series and was the fourth manned Saturn V vehicle. After a 2½-hour checkout period, the spacecraft was injected into the translunar phase of the mission.
Crew
Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. He received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in 1955, and an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970. He was selected with the second group of astronauts in September 1962. He was backup command pilot for Gemini 5, command pilot for Gemini 8, backup command pilot for Gemini 11, and backup commander for Apollo 8. As commander of Apollo 11 he became the first man to walk on the Moon. In July 1970 he became Deputy Association Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA, and retired in August of 1971.
Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot, was born in Rome, Italy, on October 31, 1930. He received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1952 and was one of the third group of astronauts named in October 1963. He was backup pilot for Gemini 7 and pilot on Gemini 10. He was assigned to the Apollo 8 crew but was removed to undergo surgery. In January 1970, he resigned from NASA and the Air Force.
Edwin ("Buzz") Aldrin, Lunar Module Pilot, was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on January 20, 1930. He received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1951, and a Doctor of Science degree in Astronautics from MIT in 1963. He was one of the third group of astronauts named in October 1963. He was backup pilot for Gemini 9, pilot for Gemini 12, and backup command module pilot for Apollo 8. As the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11 he became the second man to walk on the Moon. He retired from NASA in July 1971.
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