Saturn Apollo Program

The Apollo 11 mission, the first manned lunar mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida via the Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. The Saturn V vehicle produced a holocaust of flames as it rose from its pad at Launch complex 39. The 363 foot tall, 6,400,000 pound rocket hurled the spacecraft into Earth parking orbit and then placed it on the trajectory to the moon. This high angle view of the launch was provided by a ‘fisheye’ camera mounted on the launch tower. The Saturn V was developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Aboard the spacecraft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.