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Apollo 11 lands on the Moon
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land the lunar module Eagle
Apollo 11's lunar module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility. Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface and Buzz Aldrin followed, while Michael Collins orbited above. They spent about two and a half hours outside.
Apollo 11 launched from Florida on July 16, 1969, and Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20. NASA places the landing site about four miles downrange of the planned spot, so Armstrong flew the final approach manually to find a safe area. Collins stayed in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia throughout.
The moonwalk itself lasted a little over two and a half hours. In total Armstrong and Aldrin spent about 21 hours 36 minutes on the surface, including time inside Eagle before and after the outing. They collected rock and soil samples, set up scientific instruments, and spoke with President Nixon by telephone during the walk.
They left a plaque signed by Nixon and the three astronauts on Eagle's descent stage, along with a silicon disk carrying goodwill messages from 73 countries. The crew splashed down in the Pacific on July 24, 1969, about 13 miles from the recovery ship USS Hornet.
The mission met the goal President Kennedy set in 1961 of landing a person on the Moon and returning safely before the decade ended.