PHOTOS: Apollo 11 mission and the first human moonwalk, 45 years later
July 16, 2014
FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. posing for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong were the first men to walk on the lunar surface. The trio was launched to the moon by a Saturn V launch vehicle at 9:32 a.m. EDT, July 16, 1969. They departed the moon July 21, 1969. (AP Photo/NASA, Neil Armstrong, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
FILE - In this July 16, 1969 file photo provided by NASA, the Saturn V rocket that launched Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their Apollo 11 moon mission lifts off at Cape Kennedy, Fla. For the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Aldrin asked everyone to remember where they were when he and Armstrong became the first humans to step onto another heavenly body, and to share their memories online. (AP Photo/NASA, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
FILE - In this March 16, 1966 file photo, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, fourth from left, and David R. Scott, third from left, arrive at Complex 19 for a simulated test in preparation for flight. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/File) ( Obit Neil Armstrong )
FILE - In this July 16, 1969 file photo, Neil Armstrong waving in front, heads for the van that will take the crew to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/File) ( Obit Neil Armstrong )
FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA, the Apollo 11 lunar module rises from the moon's surface for docking with the command module and the trip back to earth with the earth in the background. Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, 84, is asking everyone to remember where they were when he and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on the moon and to share their memories online. (AP Photo/NASA, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., lunar module pilot, descends steps of Lunar Module ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon, July 20, 1969. This picture was taken by astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Commander, with a 70mm surface camera. (AP Photo/NASA/Neil A. Armstrong) ( APOLLO 11 LUNAR LANDING )
Edwin Buzz Aldrin carries scientific experiments to a deployment site south of the lunar module Eagle. One experiment involved the inner composition of the moon, and another tried to determine the exact distance from Earth. Photo was taken by Neil Armstrong of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. From the book Full Moon (Knopf) by Michael Light. (AP Photo) ( BOOKS JULY 7-5 )
FILE - This July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface. Apollo 11 astronauts trained on Earth to take individual photographs in succession in order to create a series of frames that could be assembled into panoramic images. This frame from Aldrin's panorama of the Apollo 11 landing site is the only good picture of mission commander Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA, Buzz Aldrin, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA, a footprint left by one of the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission shows in the soft, powder surface of the moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after blastoff from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on July 16, 1969. (AP Photo/NASA, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
Handout portrait taken in July 1969 shows US astronaut Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.), Lunar Module pilot on the Apollo 11 moon landing mission. With one small step off a ladder, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of awed television viewers worldwide. With that step, he placed mankind's first footprint on an extraterrestrial world and gained instant hero status. Joined by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong spent about two and a half hours exploring the landscape around the landing site. Handout/AFP/Getty Images ( SPACE-MOON-ANNIVERSARY-ALDRIN )
Handout portrait taken in July 1969 shows US astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission. With one small step off a ladder, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of awed television viewers worldwide. With that step, he placed mankind's first footprint on an extraterrestrial world and gained instant hero status. Joined by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong spent about two and a half hours exploring the landscape around the landing site. Handout/AFP/Getty Images ( SPACE-MOON-ANNIVERSARY-ARMSTRONG )
Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface, July 20, 1969. Photo was made by a 16mm movie camera inside the lunar module, shooting at one frame per second. (AP Photo/NASA) ( APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING )
The reflections of Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the U.S. Flag, the Lunar Module and television camera, are reflected in the face mask of Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin when his picture was taken by Armstrong as they walked across the surface of the moon, July 20, 1969. (AP Photo/NASA) ( Buzz Aldrin Moon 1969 )
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, prepares to deploy the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP) during Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity, July 20, 1969. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this photograph with a 70 mm lunar surface camera. Aldrin is removing the EASEP from its stowed position. (AP Photo/NASA/Neil A. Armstrong) ( APOLLO 11 LUNAR LANDING )
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, stands on the lunar surface after the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. The Lunar Module is seen in the background. (AP PHOTO) ( APOLLO 11 ALDRIN )
FILE - This July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA) ( Obit Neil Armstrong )
A view of the Apollo Command Module with astronaut Michael Collins aboard as seen from the Lunar Module, July 20, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin in the Lunar Module have separated from Apollo 11 and prepare to go to the lunar surface. Moon terrain in background is the far side of the moon. (AP Photo/NASA) ( APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING )
FILE - In this July 24, 1969 file photo, President Richard Nixon, right, greets the Apollo 11 astronauts in the quarantine van on board the U.S.S. Hornet after splashdown and recovery. The Apollo 11 crew from left are Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after blastoff from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on July 16, 1969. (AP Photo, File) ( Moon Anniversary )
In this July 5, 1969 file photo, Astronaut Neil Armstrong, left, the first man scheduled to walk on the moon, displays a plaque that will be attached to a landing leg of the lunar module descent stage and will be left on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts as Col. Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, center, holds the Apollo 11 insigna at a news conference at the Space Center. Command Module pilot Lt. Col. Michael Collins is at right. (AP Photo, file) ( Moon Anniversary )
WASHINGTON - JULY 16: People walk around the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" on display at the National Air and Space Museum on July 16, 2009 in Washington, DC. Forty years ago today Apollo 11 launched on a historic flight from Cape Canaveral Florida carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The Apollo 11 then landed on the moon four days later on July 20, 1969. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) ( 89059261MW002_NATIONAL_AIR_ )
This NASA handout picture taken on July 20, 1969, shows one of the first steps, astronaut Buzz Aldrin's bootprint, taken on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. With one small step off a ladder, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of awed television viewers worldwide. With that step, he placed mankind's first footprint on an extraterrestrial world and gained instant hero status. Joined by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong spent about two and a half hours exploring the landscape around the landing site. Handout/AFP/Getty Images ( SPACE-NASA-MOON )
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