Apollo 11 photos: NASA marks 55th anniversary of moon landing with iconic images
Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 moon mission is celebrating its 55th year of lunar landing this week, with NASA sharing a bunch of pictures and trivia. Apollo 11 took off for the moon on July 16, 1969, with the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle landing on the moon on July 20. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin entered their names in history books when they went to the moon, with two of them stepping foot on the surface. Armstrong was the first person to do so, with Aldrin following him. Meanwhile, Michael Collins, who was the pilot, flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit.
To celebrate the historic occasion, NASA shared several pictures showing the three astronauts preparing for the mission. Other iconic images include those of the Saturn V rocket taking off with the crew on board as thousands of people watch.
However, the best photos are of the first glimpse of the moon and that of Earth in the background. Our planet never looked as beautiful as in this photo.
Later pictures are of the crew reaching the moon. One of the photos titled, "Magnificent desolation, from Buzz’s window after landing", shows the surface of the moon from the Eagle lander. “Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed," Armstrong said.
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Next follows the photo of Armstrong taking the first step, with another image showing the first photo to be clicked from the surface of the moon. “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said the iconic words etched forever in everyone's memory.
Armstrong and Aldrin can be seen working on the surface of the moon, collecting samples, planting the American flag and leaving an iconic footprint.
The Eagle lifted off after 21 hours, 36 minutes, and rejoined Columbia. They then took the journey back home, with the moon getting smaller and Earth bigger. The splashdown on Earth happened on July 24. The crew was quarantined for three weeks upon return.
John F Kennedy's dream
It was John Kennedy who dreamed of sending man to the moon and bringing them back safely before the end of the decade (1960-70). He set the national goal in May 1961, which kicked off a series of Apollo missions. The first Moon rocks were examined two days after the Apollo 11 splashdown. A total of 12 peoplewalked on the moon between 1969-72.
(All photo credit: NASA)
