Last 2 days mark the 45th anniversary of the July 16, 1969 launch of Apollo 11, the NASA mission that first landed human beings on the Moon. Years of effort, dangerous experiments, and bold missions led up to the Moon landing, an event watched on live television by millions around the world. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin left the Earth on a Wednesday, landed on the Moon on that Sunday, spent a bit more than two hours walking on its surface, deploying experiments and collecting samples, then splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean the following Thursday, after 8 days off-planet.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon near the leg of the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon and astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit. (NASA)
The crew of Apollo 11, April 14, 1969. From left: Commander Neil A. Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr. (NASA) #
Aerial view of the Saturn V rocket rollout for the Apollo 11 mission on May 20, 1969. (NASA) #
The Apollo 11 crew and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton at the traditional launch day steak and eggs breakfast on July 16, 1969. (NASA) #
A technician works atop the white room, through which the astronauts will enter the spacecraft, on July 11, 1969. (NASA) #
Neil Armstrong waving in front, and the crew or Apollo 11, head for the van that will take the crew to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16, 1969. (AP Photo/File) #
Launch of Apollo 11, on July 16, 1969. Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds) -- and generated 34.5 million newtons (7.6 million pounds) of thrust at launch. (NASA) #
US Vice President Spiro Agnew and former US President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a crowd watching the liftoff of the Apollo 11 mission at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 16, 1969. (AFP/Getty Images)
This view of Earth showing clouds over water was photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft following translunar injection. (NASA) #
Earthrise. A view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft showing Earth rising above the moon's horizon. (NASA)
CSM "Columbia" over Craters Taruntius K, Taruntius P, and Dorsum Cayeux (in Mare Fecunditatis). Partially visible are craters Anvil and Taruntius H. (NASA) #
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle", in a landing configuration is photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia". Inside the LM were Commander, Neil A. Armstrong, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. The long "rod-like" protrusions under the landing pods are lunar surface sensing probes. Upon contact with the lunar surface, the probes send a signal to the crew to shut down the descent engine. (NASA) #
Neil Armstrong's first photo, after setting foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. (NASA) #
One of the first steps taken on the Moon, this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA) #
Buzz Aldrin's shadow and a bleak lunar landscape. (NASA) #
Buzz Aldrin salutes the deployed United States flag during the Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. (NASA) #
Aldrin unpacks experiments from the lunar module. (NASA) #
Lunar module ascent stage, still on the Moon's surface, with Earth seen overhead. (NASA)
