Apollo 11 was the 1960s space mission that first carried humans to the surface of the Moon.
NASA launched Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 16 July 1969. The crew consisted of commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins, and lunar module pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the lunar surface in the module Eagle, while Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard Columbia.
The landing occurred on 20 July 1969 in the Moon’s Mare Tranquillitatis, or Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface, followed shortly by Aldrin. The astronauts collected rock and soil samples, deployed scientific instruments, and photographed the landing site.
Apollo 11 returned safely to Earth on 24 July 1969. The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing humans on the Moon and returning them safely before the end of the decade. Apollo 12 later made the second crewed lunar landing.