What ocean did Apollo 11 splash down in?

Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The command module Columbia returned to Earth on July 24, 1969, landing in the central Pacific about 380 kilometers south of Johnston Atoll and roughly 24 kilometers from the recovery ship USS Hornet.

The spacecraft entered the atmosphere after the crew left lunar orbit and completed the journey home. Its drogue parachutes deployed at 16:44 UTC, followed by the main parachutes. Columbia struck the water seven minutes later, at about 16:51 UTC.

The capsule initially landed upside down, but flotation bags activated by the astronauts righted it within approximately ten minutes. Navy divers then stabilized the spacecraft, passed biological-isolation garments to the crew, and helped transfer them to a raft and then to a recovery helicopter.

The Pacific was chosen because its broad recovery zones offered room for accurate ocean landing and naval support. Apollo 11’s splashdown location was well west of the continental United States, near the planned recovery area for Hornet.