Saturn Apollo Program

The night before launch day, Apollo 11 crew members (R-L) Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Aldrin, participated in a closed circuit press conference the night before they began their historic lunar landing mission. At far left is chief astronaut and director of flight crew operations, Donald K. Slayton. The press conference with questions via intercom, was held under semi-isolation conditions to avoid exposing the astronauts to possible illness at the last minute. The Apollo 11 mission, the first lunar landing mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, “Columbia”, piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, “Eagle’’, carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.