First Man On Moon

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

- Neil Armstrong

During Cold War in the 20th century, the space race between the US and the USSR was intense. The USSR managed to send the first man, Yuri Gagarin to space.

"Before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

- Former US President John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy made a speech in 1961 stating that he was determined to send the first man to the moon by the end of the 1960s.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket was launched at launch site LC-39A at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, US at 13:32:00 UTC time.

The crew of Apollo 11 were Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and Commander Module Pilot Michael Collins.

After 4 days of travelling, the lunar module “Eagle” successfully landed on the surface “Tranquility Base” of the moon at 20:17 UTC in July 20.

Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface 6 hours and 39 minutes later at 02:56 UTC on July 21, and was joined by Buzz Aldrin 19 minutes later.

Armstrong and Aldrin spent around 21 hours and 36 minutes on the surface of the moon for research purpose before reuniting with Collins at the commander module “Columbia”.

The splashdown in Pacific Ocean on July 24 marked the success of the mission Apollo 11. All crew members returned to Earth safely and was welcomed by US President Richard Nixon and the rest of the world.

The success of Apollo 11 implied the victory of the United States in the space race, which until now, US is still the sole country that has successfully sent human to the moon. The mission and its research results has also brought about huge positive impacts and has inspired NASA’s future Apollo missions (Apollo 12-17) until 1972, and all the other space missions organized by different space administrations around the world.

After 51 years, the legacy of Apollo 11 is still being carried on by NASA’s Artemis program, which targeted to send humans again to the surface of the moon in 2024.