On This Day in 1969: Neil Armstrong with two others launch for Moon in a historic voyage

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", these were the words uttered by NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, when he first step foot on the Moon. The astronaut along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins embarked on a lunar journey under the Apollo 11 mission, which launched on this day, July 16, in 1969. NASA launched the trio using the three-stage 363-foot Saturn-V rocket which fired its engines at 7:02 pm (IST) to propel the astronauts into space from the Kennedy Space Center. 

The historic journey of Apollo 11

After lifting off from Florida, the Apollo 11 crew underwent a three-day-long journey before they entered the lunar orbit on July 20. A day later, Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module named 'Eagle' whereas Collins, who was the pilot of the command module Columbia remained in orbit. It was 1:47 am on July 21, when the lunar module landed on the lunar surface after Armstrong's careful steering and with just 30 seconds of fuel left. 

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed", Armstrong beamed his message to the mission team. And at 8:26 am, the moment finally arrived which had millions of people biting their nails. Armstrong climbed down the ladder and put his left foot on the lunar surface proclaiming, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". Armstrong was followed by Aldrin who descended to the surface after 19 minutes and the duo explored the surface for two and a half hours. 

(Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong working at an equipment storage area on the lunar module; Image: NASA)

(Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface; Image: NASA)

During their moonwalk, the astronauts set up experiments, took several photos and collected 21.7 kg of lunar soil and rocks to bring them to Earth. All this while, Collins orbited the Moon for 27 hours (14 times) in the command module, losing contact for 47 minutes during each orbit. After completion of their mission, the astronauts blast off and dock with Collins in Columbia to begin their journey home and splashdown off the coast of Hawaii on July 24. According to NASA, Armstrong called the flight "a beginning of a new age", and Collins initiated the conversation about future journeys to Mars.