Apollo 11 Mission
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Mission Overview![]() The mission plan of Apollo 11 was to land two men on the lunar surface and return them safely to Earth. The launch took place at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A on July 16, 1969, at 08:32 a.m. EST. The spacecraft carried a crew of three: Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. The mission evaluation concluded that all mission tasks were completed satisfactorily. |
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Landing Site ![]() The first manned spacecraft landing on the Moon was at 3:17 p.m. EST (20:17:40 UTC) on July 20, 1969, when the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, the Eagle, landed in Mare Tranquillitatis, located at 0°4'5"N latitude, 23°42'28"E longitude. The Eagle landed approximately 50 kilometers from the closest highland material and approximately 400 meters west of a sharp-rimmed blocky crater about 180 meters in diameter. |
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Surface Operations ![]() The Apollo 11 astronauts had several tasks to accomplish during extravehicular activity (EVA) operations while on the surface. Time permitting, the astronauts planned to collect lunar samples, deploy several experiments, and examine and photograph the lunar surface. The following map of the landing area shows where these activities took place. The EVA lasted approximately 2.5 hours. All scientific activities were completed satisfactorily, all instruments were deployed, and samples were collected. |
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Mission Photography ![]() Apollo 11 represented the first opportunity to observe scientific phenomena on the lunar surface. Both the surface and orbital photography of the mission served not only to document the first lunar landing and the extravehicular activities of the astronauts, but also to identify areas and experiments for study in future missions. |
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Science Experiments |
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Lunar Samples |
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