American Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot onto the moon’s surface on 20 July,1969. This historic Apollo 11 mission completes 49 years.
To mark the momentous occasion, NASA has shared some of the most detailed and beautiful photos of the lunar landing taken by its three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.
This photograph shows the Saturn V launch vehicle (SA-506) for the Apollo 11 mission liftoff at 8:32 am CDT, July 16, 1969, from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible.
This photograph of Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, was taken inside the Lunar Module (LM) while the LM rested on the lunar surface.
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, egresses the Lunar Module (LM) “Eagle” and begins to descend the steps of the LM ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon.
The far side of the Moon is rough and filled with craters. By comparison, the near side of the Moon, the side we always see, is relatively smooth. Since the Moon is rotation locked to always point the same side toward Earth, humanity has only glimpsed the lunar farside recently – last century.
A close-up view of astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with the 70mm lunar surface camera during Apollo 11’s sojourn on the moon.
This photograph of the interior view of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shows astronaut Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin during the lunar landing mission.
This outstanding view of the full moon was photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey homeward. When this picture was taken, the spacecraft was already 10,000 nautical miles away.
(IMAGE CREDITS : NASA)