Astronauts first landed on the Moon in 1969, during NASA's Apollo 11 mission. The lunar module Eagle touched down in the Moon's Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.
Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the surface. Armstrong stepped onto the Moon approximately six hours after landing, becoming the first person to walk on another world; Aldrin followed 19 minutes later.
Apollo 11 launched from Florida on July 16 atop a Saturn V rocket and returned safely to Earth on July 24. The astronauts collected lunar samples, installed scientific instruments, photographed the surface, and spent more than 21 hours on the Moon.
The date is often confused with later Apollo missions or with earlier uncrewed probes. Apollo 11 was the first human lunar landing, while Apollo 12, launched later in 1969, became the second. The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon before the decade ended.