Apollo 11 Bootprint; NL-2009-06-017-HQ Image dated 7/20/1969
Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2009. Part of Apollo 40 years series. Photograph. Format approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Image size is approximately 6 inches by 7.25 inches. The caption reads: One of the first steps taken on the Moon, this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two humans on the Moon. Mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface six hours after landing; Aldrin joined him about 20 minutes later. They collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Armstrong and Aldrin spent just under a day on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit. After being sent toward the Moon by the Saturn V's upper stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered into lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into the lunar module Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquility. They stayed a total of about 21.5 hours on the lunar surface. The astronauts used Eagle's upper stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They returned to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24. Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by U.S. President John F. Kennedy: "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." More