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Apollo 11

Occurred 55 years ago

The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.

Mission Type

Lunar Landing

astronauts

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins

Launch

July 16, 1969

SPLASHDOWN

July 24, 1969

Neil Armstrong

First human to set foot on the Moon.

Neil A. Armstrong is probably best known as the commander for the Apollo 11 mission. He joined NASA’s predecessor, the NACA, as an aeronautical research scientist and pilot in 1955. Armstrong was one of nine men chosen of NASA’s second astronaut group in 1962, and flew to space on the Gemini 8 mission in 1966 before being assigned to the Apollo 11 mission.

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Official Portrait
Portrait of Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing mission.
NASA
Featured Story

Apollo 11 Mission Overview

“The Eagle has landed…” Mission Objective The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by…

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Who Was Neil Armstrong? (Grades K-4)

Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. He was an astronaut. He flew on two space missions. One was Apollo 11. That mission landed on the moon. He was also an engineer, a pilot and a college professor.

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Neil Armstrong posing in spacesuit
Neil Armstrong
NASA

Apollo 11 Articles

Read about the details of this landmark mission to the Moon.

55 Years Ago: Celebrations for Apollo 11 Continue as Apollo 12 Prepares to Revisit the Moon
15 min read

In September 1969, celebrations continued to mark the successful first human Moon landing two months earlier, and NASA prepared for the next visit to the Moon. The hometowns of the Apollo 11 astronauts held parades in their honor, the postal…

Article
55 Years Ago: Apollo 11 Astronauts End Quarantine, Feted from Coast to Coast
12 min read

On Aug. 10, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin completed their 21-day quarantine after returning from the Moon. The historic nature of their mission resulted in a very busy postflight schedule for…

Article
55 Years Ago: Apollo 11’s One Small Step, One Giant Leap
8 min read

“Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.” “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” “Magnificent desolation.” Three phrases that recall humanity’s first landing on and exploration of the lunar surface. In July 1969, Apollo…

Article
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