Apollo 11 completed the first crewed landing on the Moon in 1969, a landmark in U.S. history.
NASA launched Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface on July 20, while command module pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit.
Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong stepped onto the surface first, followed by Aldrin, and the astronauts conducted experiments, collected lunar samples, and photographed the terrain. They returned to lunar orbit and began the journey home before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
Apollo 11 was part of the Apollo program, which followed President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 goal of landing a person on the Moon and returning that person safely to Earth before the decade ended. Five more Apollo missions later landed astronauts on the Moon, with Apollo 17 making the final crewed lunar landing in 1972.