This great series of photographs from NASA shows the historic Apollo 11 mission, the first manned mission to the Moon.
Apollo 11 crew — Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin place the American flag on the Moon. This image was captured by the Apollo 11 Data Acquisition Camera that was mounted to the lunar module Eagle.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Lunar Module LM pilot, stands beside the Passive Seismic Experiments Package PSEP. The Laser Ranging Retroreflector LRRR, U.S. Flag, television camera and the Apollo Lunar Surface Closeup Camera ALSCC and LM are visible also. Image taken at Tranquility Base during the Apollo 11 Mission.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 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 in the soil of the Moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the LM, the “Eagle”, to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Columbia” in lunar-orbit.
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descends the steps of the Lunar Module (LM) ladder as he prepares to walk on the Moon. He had just egressed the LM. This picture was taken by Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, with a 70mm lunar surface camera.
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 Commander, became the first man to step on the moon on July 21, 1969. He and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin planted the United States flag where they landed on the moon.
The Apollo 11 crew await pickup by a helicopter from the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. The fourth man in the life raft is a United States Navy underwater demolition team swimmer. All four men are wearing Biological Isolation Garments (BIG). The Apollo 11 Command Module “Columbia,” with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. splashed down at 11:49 a.m. (CDT), July 24, 1969, about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and only 12 nautical miles from the USS Hornet.
We found these photos online on the Smithsonian’s website.
