Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface on July 21, 1969, Coordinated Universal Time, after Apollo 11 landed in the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Because of time-zone differences, the event is often dated July 20 in the United States.
Buzz Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia. Armstrong and Aldrin spent more than two hours outside the lunar module, collecting samples, taking photographs, and deploying scientific instruments.
Armstrong was a civilian astronaut and former naval aviator who had previously flown the Gemini 8 mission. Apollo 11 fulfilled President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing humans on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth. Aldrin was the second person to walk on the Moon, not the first.