Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy Space Center on 16 July 1969 at 13:32 UTC atop a Saturn V rocket. The three-man crew was commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, and command module pilot Michael Collins. The lunar module Eagle separated from the command module Columbia on 20 July 1969.
The landing
Armstrong manually flew the Eagle past a boulder field in the final 90 seconds because the automated landing site was unsuitable. The 1201 and 1202 computer alarms during descent indicated processor overload but were ruled non-critical by Mission Control. Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility at 20:17 UTC on 20 July 1969 with about 25 seconds of fuel remaining. Armstrong radioed: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface at 02:56 UTC on 21 July 1969 and spoke the line: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later.
The surface activity
The two astronauts spent 2 hours 31 minutes outside the lunar module. They deployed the US flag, a seismometer, and a laser-ranging retroreflector. They collected 21.55 kg of lunar rock and soil samples. They left behind a plaque reading “We came in peace for all mankind” and items honouring deceased Apollo 1 and Soviet cosmonauts.
Eagle lifted off from the lunar surface at 17:54 UTC on 21 July 1969. The crew splashed down in the Pacific on 24 July 1969 and entered a 21-day quarantine.
Six subsequent Apollo missions flew to the Moon; five landed. The last lunar departure was Apollo 17 on 14 December 1972. No human has returned to the lunar surface since.