Today, Saturday marks the 55th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon, led by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched aboard the Saturn V rocket at 9:30 AM on July 16, 1969. On July 20 of the same month, exactly 55 years ago, the Apollo 11 mission became historic, as humanity succeeded in standing and walking on the moon for the first time.
The mission was commanded by astronaut Neil Armstrong, with participation from astronauts Edwin Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins, the command module pilot. Armstrong and Aldrin amazed the world at the time when they appeared on television bouncing on the moon's surface, a moment watched by about 600 million people worldwide.
The astronauts returned to Earth with approximately 21 kilograms of rocks and lunar soil samples for study. Armstrong successfully walked on the moon and planted the American flag there; however, the lunar module that landed with him knocked the flag down during its ascent back to Earth. Fortunately, Armstrong had taken pictures of the flag before it fell.
Michael Collins: Born in 1930 in Rome, Italy, he was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force before joining NASA as an astronaut. He flew on two space missions, first on Gemini 10 and then, most famously, on Apollo 11, which was the first mission to land on the moon.
Buzz Aldrin: He was the lunar module pilot and the second man to walk on the moon, stepping onto the lunar surface about 30 minutes after Armstrong. Thus, he became the second astronaut to set foot on the moon, with Armstrong capturing footage of him during his descent from the spacecraft and walking on the lunar surface.
Neil Armstrong: He is considered the first person to walk on the moon. Along with his colleague Collins, he commanded the Gemini 8 space mission in 1966 before embarking on his famous journey with Apollo 11. He famously stated, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," when he set foot on the lunar surface.
