On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on another world, famously marking the moment with the phrase: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” The feat was made possible after years of development and months of testing. While Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit, Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin descended to the surface and spent two and a half hours on the moon, setting up experiments, taking photos, and gathering samples.
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- FILE – In this July 16, 1969 file photo, Neil Armstrong waving in front, heads for the van that will take the crew to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla. (AP Photo/File)
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- NASA’s Apollo 11 mission launches from Cape Canaveral (then known as Cape Kennedy), Florida, July 16, 1969. (Photo by Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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- July 16, 1969 – Members of the Kennedy Space Center government-industry team rise from their consoles within the Launch Control Center to watch the Apollo 11 liftoff through the large windows at the back of the firing room. Among those pictured is American aerospace engineer JoAnn H. Morgan (seated center, with hand on chin) who, at the time, was NASA’s only female engineer.
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- (Original Caption) Tracking camera follows Saturn V shortly after July 16th moon launch here. Flames jet from booster rocket, as Apollo 11 craft streaks across the sky.
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- Post-undocking view of the CSM during the separation sequence, with the eastern part of the Sea of Fertility (Mare Fecunditatis) about 195 km below.
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- Buzz is jumping down to the top rung of the ladder and hasn’t quite landed on it. He is gripping the handrail with both hands and, rather than walk down the ladder, he is hopping down
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- Buzz and the U.S. flag. Note the well-defined footprints in the foreground. The shadows indicate that Buzz is standing with the Sun directly in front of him. There is a reflection of the Sun in his visor. We can see the LEC straps hanging down inside of the ladder strut. In the foreground, we can see the foot-grabbing loops in the TV cable. The double crater is beyond Buzz and the LM shadow.
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- Buzz made this footprint on a pristine surface so that he could then photograph it for study by soil mechanics experts.
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- Neil has moved to the MESA. Ulli Lotzmann has captured a frame from the 16mm film showing Neil as he takes 5903. No other Apollo photograph has been reproduced as often as this portrait of Buzz. Neil is, of course, visible in reflection on Buzz’s visor. Buzz has his left arm raised and is probably reading the checklist sewn on the wrist cover of his glove.
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- Buzz is preparing to remove the passive seismometer
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- Buzz, after deploying both the east and west solar panels on the seismometer. In the background, we can see the LM, the LRRR, the U.S. flag, and the TV camera.
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- Neil has moved to the MESA. Ulli Lotzmann has captured a frame from the 16mm film showing Neil as he takes 5903. No other Apollo photograph has been reproduced as often as this portrait of Buzz. Neil is, of course, visible in reflection on Buzz’s visor. Buzz has his left arm raised and is probably reading the checklist sewn on the wrist cover of his glove.
