Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969
Forty two years ago, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the surface of the Moon. This historic moment was viewed by millions of people all over the world.
Everything began in 1961 when John F. Kennedy was the president of the United States. He wanted to land humans on the Moon. But was NASA ready to go to the Moon? The president and NASA knew they could do it.
Apollo 11 blasted off on July 16, 1969. Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins were the astronauts on Apollo 11. Four days later, on July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. They landed on the moon in the Lunar Module. It was called the Eagle. Collins stayed in the orbit around the moon. He did experiments and took photographs.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the surface of the Moon for three hours. They performed various experiments and took samples of the moon dirt and some rocks. They left an American flag on the Moon and a sign that read "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."
The two astronauts returned to orbit, joining Collins. On July 24, 1969, all three astronauts landed safely on Earth.
Article source NASA