NATIONAL AVIATION HALL OF FAME
When the Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the moon at 4:18 p.m. July 20, 1969, only 30 seconds of fuel remained.
Astronaut and Ohioan Neil Armstrong had to improvise to safely get the “Eagle,” as it was called, to the moon’s surface. He manually piloted the ship past an area littered with boulders and debris, according to NASA.
In the final seconds of the Eagle’s descent to the moon, the spacecraft’s computer started sounding alarms. It turned out to be a minor malfunction as the computer was trying to do too many things at once.
But, Edwin “Buzz” Dayton’s impact on the space dream Aldrin later said of the issue: “Unfortunately it came up when we did not want to be trying to solve these particular problems,” according to NASA.
Armstrong radioed: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
NASA’s mission control erupted into celebration upon hearing from Armstrong. After the tension broke, a controller told the crew: “You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue, we’re breathing again.”
Armstrong later said the landing was his biggest concern because “the unknowns were rampant,” and “there were just a thousand things to worry about.”
At 10:56 p.m. that day, Armstrong The launch: The world watches Hometown hero: Neil Armstrong was ready to plant the first human foot on another planetary surface, according to NASA. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbed down a ladder and proclaimed: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Aldrin joined him, and described the moon’s surface as “magnificent desolation,” according to NASA. They explored the surface for 2 1/2 hours, collected samples and shot photographs.
They left behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew and a plaque on one of Eagle’s legs. It read, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot Those who made Apollo 11 a success upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”
Armstrong and Aldrin spent around two hours exploring, gathering more than 50 pounds of moon rocks and setting up three scientific experiments, according to NASA. The next day, after 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon, they fired up the Eagle’s engine.
Together, they blasted off to dock with astronaut Michael Collins in Columbia. Collins later said that “for the first time,” he “really felt that we were going to carry this thing off.”
The crew splashed down off Hawaii on July 24, returning safely from the moon and making history. The technology that made it happen ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’