On July 20, 1969 U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon.He stepped onto the Moon's Sea of Tranquility at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," Armstrong reported when his spacecraft landed.
When he made his first step he declared, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin joined Armstrong on the moon at 0315 GMT and the two collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag at 0341 GMT.
They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Richard Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind."
The third member of the Apollo mission, Michael Collins, remained at the control of the the mother ship, Columbia, while his two colleagues walked on the moon and collected samples.
He told mission control in Houston he had successfully orbited the Moon and take-off was "on schedule for 1750 GMT this evening".
Watch the landing on YouTube
Read the BBC report marking the event
Read the biographies of the Apollo 11 astronauts
No comments:
Post a Comment