The spacecraft Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on July 16, 1969, with the mission to become the first to "perform a manned lunar landing and return." After entering lunar orbit on July 20, the landing module Eagle separated from the command module Columbia (piloted by Michael Collins) and descended to the lunar surface. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin made a soft landing in the Sea of Tranquility, and following a quick meal -- but postponing a scheduled sleep -- they exited to become the first men to walk on the surface of the moon.

In over two hours on the surface, Armstrong and Collins collected rock samples, made a photographic record of the landing site, and conducted a number of scientific experiments before reentering Eagle. Departing the moon on July 22, they returned to earth to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.