Finally, after eight years of preparation, it was the turn of the most anticipated mission of all, Apollo 11. It was the first crewed mission to reach and successfully land on the Moon. The goal of the mission was to land people on the moon and successfully return them to Earth. The astronauts selected for the big event were: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin, who had already flown in space with the Gemini program. The spacecraft was launched on July 16, 1969 at 13:32:00 (UT) from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
On July 20, the ship reached the moon. The Apollo 11 crew stopped work for a final break before the big moment. Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module "Eagle" and began preparations for landing on the moon. Collins had to make a final inspection of the equipment and after finding that everything was going according to plan he joked “I think the machine is working and everything is fine except for the fact that your heads are down”.
The lunar module pilot, Buzz Aldrin, carefully steered the machine on its way to the moon. They mooned in the Sea of Tranquility, 40 sec. later than expected at 20:17 Universal Time (UT) on July 20., as Aldrin had to avoid a large boulder. It took six hours to prepare for the next stage - leaving the lunar module and stepping on the Moon. At 02:56:20 (UT) on July 20, Houston signaled green. “This is Base Houston, exit cleared, we are breathing with you guys!” At last, Armstrong was cleared to exit the lunar module. Now he had to find courage. At 04:55(UT) on July 20, Neil Armstrong opened the hatch and descended the ladder. He took three small steps and thus became the first man to set foot on the lunar surface. He said: “One small step for man - one giant leap for mankind!” Unfortunately, a system communication failure prevented the entire world from hearing this memorable phrase.
The Apollo camera was mounted on one of the legs of the lunar module to broadcast and film this world event. Aldrin joined Armstrong after 19 minutes, saying: "Majestic loneliness."
After their moon landing, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin dismantled a steel plate that was attached to one of the legs of the lunar module, stood in front of the camera and read to the television audience what it said: “Here people from planet Earth, first set foot on the moon, July 1969 AD. We have come in peace, on behalf of all mankind.” ("Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.") The plate was signed by Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin and the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. The astronauts nailed the American flag, but it turned out to be quite difficult because the lunar surface turned out to be harder than they expected.
During their stay on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin were associated with US President Richard Nixon. The conversation became known as “the most historic call” ever received. The president said to them: “Because of what you have done, God has become a part of man's life?”.
The stay of the two astronauts was limited, everything had to be according to schedule. They had limited time for some scientific research. Unfortunately, they took very few photographs of themselves in their work. Analyzing this fact, Aldrin later said: "It's my fault, maybe, but we never simulated this training.''
After liftoff from the lunar surface, the lunar module docked with the command module and the lunar samples were transferred to the craft. The lunar module was later abandoned and the astronauts headed back to Earth. The return was relatively calm. Only one malfunction occurred during the return flight, which was minor and quickly rectified. After 2 and a half days of travel, the astronauts were ready to enter the Earth's atmosphere. The voyage ended at 16:50 (UT) on July 24, 1969, when Columbia touched down 812 nautical miles northeast of Hawaii, returning safely with the three astronauts.
The astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission were greeted as heroes. A few days before the Apollo 11 crash, Aldrin said: “ We are here as a symbol of man's insatiable curiosity to explore the unknown”. With the success of Apollo 11, the national goal, originally presented by President John F. Kennedy, to have men step on the moon and return back to Earth has been fulfilled. In NASA's official statement, they called the Apollo 11 mission: “Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Story of Apollo, the Lunar Expeditions.”