JULY 16 – 24, 1969

TO THE
MOON

Apollo 11 — the first crewed landing on another world.

SCROLL TO BEGIN THE MISSION

01 / LIFTOFF

Ignition.

Saturn V AS-506, carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft, lifted off from Launch Pad 39A on July 16, 1969, at 9:32 a.m. EDT. Commander Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin rode atop the stack in the Command Module Columbia.

MISSION ELAPSED TIME BEGINS · 000:00:00

02 / EARTH ASCENT

The most powerful machine of its time.

The Saturn V stood 363 feet tall and produced 7.6 million pounds of thrust — the most powerful rocket successfully flown for over five decades. Its first stage burned nearly 15 tons of propellant every second before separating at roughly 42 miles up.

S-IC STAGING · S-II IGNITION · ALTITUDE RISING

03 / TRANSLUNAR INJECTION

Leaving home.

After orbiting Earth, Apollo 11 fired its third-stage engine to begin the journey to the Moon. The S-IVB’s single J-2 engine burned for about six minutes, accelerating the spacecraft to nearly 24,200 mph — fast enough to escape Earth’s gravity.

TLI BURN · MET 002:44:16 · V = 10.8 KM/S

05 / LOOKING BACK

Mother Earth.

From about 98,000 nautical miles away, Apollo 11’s crew photographed Earth on 70 mm Hasselblad film, with Africa, Europe and Asia visible beneath the clouds. Its remarkable detail came from the large film negative — not an HD camera.

NASA AS11-36-5355 · HASSELBLAD · TRANSLUNAR COAST

06 / TRANSLUNAR COAST

Three days of falling.

Coasting away from Earth, Apollo 11 slowed from over 24,000 mph to barely 2,000 mph — until, five-sixths of the way out, the Moon’s gravity took hold and began pulling the spacecraft in. The trip covered roughly 240,000 miles and took just under three days.

CRUISE · PASSIVE THERMAL ROLL · MIDCOURSE CORRECTION 026:44:58

TRANSLUNAR COAST · DAY TWO OF THREE

Soup, sleep, and a slow roll.

For nearly three days, Apollo 11 coasted toward the Moon. Between navigation sightings with the sextant, the crew kept the spacecraft in a slow, continuous roll — nicknamed the “barbecue roll” — to spread the Sun’s heat evenly, ate freeze-dried meals, and broadcast live color television back to Earth.

PASSIVE THERMAL CONTROL · SEXTANT NAVIGATION · TV BROADCAST

07 / NAVIGATING THE MOON

Aiming for orbit.

As Apollo 11 closed on the Moon, the crew used the onboard sextant to track lunar landmarks and refine the guidance computer’s trajectory estimate. Small course corrections lined the spacecraft up as it crossed into the region where lunar gravity took hold.

CISLUNAR NAVIGATION · SEXTANT TRACKING · TRAJECTORY REFINEMENT

08 / LUNAR ORBIT

Another world, below.

Command Module Columbia remained in lunar orbit while Lunar Module Eagle prepared to descend. Michael Collins stayed aboard Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin powered up Eagle and undocked to begin their own path toward the surface.

CREW · ARMSTRONG · ALDRIN · COLLINS

09 / POWERED DESCENT

Manual control.

During the final descent, Armstrong noticed the guidance computer steering Eagle toward a boulder-strewn crater and took manual control to fly further downrange. Eagle settled onto the Sea of Tranquility with roughly 25 seconds of fuel left.

LANDING SITE · SEA OF TRANQUILITY · FUEL LOW

10 / TOUCHDOWN

“The Eagle has landed.”

On July 20, 1969, Eagle landed on the Moon at 4:17 p.m. EDT. Armstrong reported: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

MET 102:45:40 · CONTACT LIGHT · ENGINE STOP

TRANQUILITY BASE · JULY 20, 1969

One small step changed the scale of human history.

EXPLORE THE MISSION TIMELINE VIEW APOLLO 11 FACTS

MISSION ELAPSED TIME

The Timeline

  1. 000:00:00

    Liftoff — Launch Pad 39A

    July 16, 1969, 9:32 a.m. EDT. Saturn V AS-506 departs Kennedy Space Center carrying Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins.

  2. 000:11:49

    Earth orbit insertion

    The S-IVB third stage shuts down. Apollo 11 circles Earth one and a half times while the crew checks every system.

  3. 002:44:16

    Translunar injection

    The S-IVB reignites for about six minutes, accelerating the spacecraft out of Earth orbit toward the Moon.

  4. 026:44:58

    Midcourse correction

    The only course adjustment needed on the way out — a three-second burn. For most of the three-day coast the spacecraft turned slowly in a thermal-control roll.

  5. 075:49:50

    Lunar orbit insertion

    Behind the far side of the Moon, out of radio contact, the Service Module engine burns to slow the ship into lunar orbit.

  6. 100:12:00

    Columbia and Eagle separate

    Collins remains in orbit aboard Columbia. Armstrong and Aldrin fly Eagle toward the surface.

  7. 102:33:05

    Powered descent begins

    Eagle's descent engine ignites. Program alarms sound; Mission Control calls "GO." Armstrong takes semi-manual control to clear a boulder field.

  8. 102:45:40

    Touchdown — Sea of Tranquility

    Flight controllers estimated about 25 seconds of landing fuel remained: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

  9. 109:24:15

    First step

    Armstrong descends the ladder: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin follows 19 minutes later.

  10. 124:22:00

    Lunar liftoff

    After 21 hours 36 minutes on the surface, Eagle's ascent stage launches from the Moon to rejoin Columbia.

  11. 195:18:35

    Splashdown

    July 24, 1969. Columbia lands in the Pacific Ocean, 900 miles southwest of Hawaii. The crew is recovered by USS Hornet.

MISSION DATA

Apollo 11 Facts

363 ft

Height of the Saturn V — taller than the Statue of Liberty, with 7.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

240,000 mi

Distance from Earth to the Moon. The outbound cruise took just over three days; the return, about two and a half.

3 crew

Neil Armstrong (Commander), Buzz Aldrin (LM Pilot), Michael Collins (CM Pilot).

~4 KB

RAM in the Apollo Guidance Computer that navigated the crew to the Moon and back.

2h 31m

Duration of the single moonwalk. The crew collected 47.5 pounds of lunar rock and soil.

~25 sec

Mission Control's real-time estimate of landing fuel left at touchdown; post-flight analysis suggested closer to 45 seconds.

600 M

Estimated worldwide television audience for the first step — the largest in history at the time.

400,000

People across NASA and its contractors who worked to make the Apollo program possible.