Lunar Landing Makes 'Giant Leap For Mankind'

The official portrait of the Apollo 11 astronauts, left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin

by Ray Setterfield

July 20, 1969 — The lunar module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility on this day, the first manned spacecraft to land on the surface of the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission comprised a crew of three astronauts – Neil Armstrong, Edwin Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – all 39 years old.

Of the three, Armstrong was the one whose feet first touched the lunar surface. And as he took the historic step he announced: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” *

The historic landing came just under seven years after what became known as the Moon speech by President John F. Kennedy, when he pledged: “We shall send to the Moon, 240,000 miles away, a giant rocket, more than 300 feet tall on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to Earth.

“But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why 35 years ago fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

“Because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we’re willing to accept. One we are unwilling to postpone.

“And therefore, as we set sail, we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure that man has ever gone.”

Around the world, more than half a billion people watched the Moon landing but Kennedy, of course, did not live to see the fulfilment of his dream.

Hot on the heels of Armstrong came “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon. They spent a total of 21 hours on the surface taking photographs and setting up scientific equipment for tests. They also collected 46 pounds (20.8 kilograms) of moon rocks. The walk, which was televised, attracted an estimated 600 million viewers across the world, the largest television audience in history.

Armstrong and Aldrin later piloted the lunar module Eagle to a successful rendezvous with Collins who was controlling the command module in lunar orbit. The mission ended on July 24 with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930 and from his earliest years showed a passion for aeroplanes and space. He won his student pilot’s licence aged just 16 — before he even learned to drive a car. After high school he became an air cadet in the US Navy. He also studied flight engineering at two universities. In the early 1950s he was a pilot in the Korean War.

Then in 1955 Armstrong joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a test pilot. Seven years later he was selected to be an astronaut. He retired from NASA in 1971 but continued to teach and to work on committees.

He died of heart disease aged 82 in August 2012.

*After the lunar landing Armstrong claimed that he had said: “That's one small step for a man” – making clear he was talking about an individual – then, "one giant leap for mankind." There is little doubt that is what he intended to say, but recordings seem to confirm that he left out the crucial ‘a’.

‘Buzz’ Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930, at Montclair, New Jersey, as Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. His father was an Air Force colonel, and Aldrin became a top student at the Military Academy at West Point. He was decorated for his service as a fighter pilot during the Korean War, and was among the first NASA astronauts selected for the space program.

After the historic Apollo 11 mission with Neil Armstrong Aldrin later returned to the Air Force in a managerial role and developed spacecraft systems. He wrote an autobiography and several other books.

He retired from the Air Force in 1972 to enter private business. Aldrin once punched a man in the face for claiming that the Moon landing was fabricated.

Michael Collins was born on October 31, 1930, in Rome, Italy. He attended Saint Albans School in Washington, DC, and graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1952.

After choosing an Air Force career he was a fighter pilot, and from 1959 to 1963 served as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in October, 1963.

He retired from the Air Force as a major-general and left NASA in 1970 to became Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. In 1971 he joined the Smithsonian Institution as director of the National Air and Space Museum.

Collins died of cancer on April 28, 2021 at the age of 90.

A plaque was left on the Moon after the 1969 landing. Signed by Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and President Richard Nixon, it bore the words: “We came in peace for all mankind.”

Published: July 15, 2022
Updated: July 18, 2022