flag, ran a few simple scientific tests and spoke with President Richard Nixon (1913-94) via Houston. READ MORE: Apollo 11 Moon Landing Timeline: From Liftoff to SplashdownĪldrin joined him on the moon's surface 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. In 1957, Russia sent Sputnik into space, proving the country had great technological capabilities. Russia was the first country to put an artificial satellite in space, which caused a lot of embarrassment for the U.S. by firing a satellite called Sputnik into orbit. One of the main reasons the United States sponsored a mission to the moon was because of the space race with Russia.
Toward the end of the 1950s, Russia beat the U.S. We may have beaten the Soviets by putting the first man on the moon, but they get the credit for planting the first flag. As he made his way down the module's ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation.Īt 10:56 p.m., as Armstrong stepped off the ladder and planted his foot on the moon’s powdery surface, he spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be "that's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." The only problem is, it wasn’t actually the first time a flag was placed on the moon. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a now-famous message: "The Eagle has landed."Īt 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:17 p.m. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19.