One Small Step: Armstrong Walks on the Moon
Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface at 10:56 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, while an estimated 600 million people watched on live television. He and Buzz Aldrin spent two hours and 31 minutes outside the Lunar Module Eagle, collecting 47.5 pounds of moon rocks and deploying scientific instruments. Michael Collins orbited alone in the Command Module Columbia, unable to communicate with Earth for 48 minutes during each pass behind the Moon. The landing nearly didn't happen: Armstrong had to manually fly past a boulder field that the computer was targeting, touching down with only 25 seconds of fuel remaining. President Kennedy's 1961 pledge to reach the Moon before the decade ended was fulfilled with five months to spare.
July 20, 1969
57 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 20
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