A Brief History
On July 20, 1969, the promise by President John F. Kennedy that the USA would put men on the Moon came true when Apollo 11’s Lunar Module, the Eagle, landed on the surface of the Moon, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Astronaut Michael Collins remained in the main Apollo capsule orbiting the Moon until the 2 moon men would lift off and later rejoin him for the return to Earth.
Digging Deeper
About 6 and a half hours after the Eagle landed, Armstrong stepped out of the module and onto the surface of the Moon, and into the history books as the first human to walk on the Moon. The next day Eagle blasted off from the Moon, rejoined the main capsule, and all 3 astronauts returned to Earth on July 24, 1069.
America had won the “race” to the Moon and Americans proudly watched that moon walk live on television.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Donovan, James. Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11. Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
Thimmesh, Catherine. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon. Clarion Books, 2015.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of Neil Armstrong working at the LM in the only photo taken of him on the moon from the surface, is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted“. (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
