Tag Archives: Apollo Program

21 July 1969

July 21, 2024Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, Lunar Landing, Manned Space Flight, Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

21 July 1969: Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon in a photograph taken by Neil Alden Armstrong.

The reflection of the Lunar Module Eagle and of Armstrong can be seen in Aldrin’s face plate.

Buzz Aldrin and the flag of the United States of America on the surface of The Moon, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstong/NASA)

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. . . .”

—President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module Eagle after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA) — Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module *Eagle* after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA)

21 July 1969, 02:56:15 UTC, T + 109:24:15

July 21, 2024Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Eagle, First Step, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, Neil A. Armstrong, Neil Alden Armstrong, Neil ArmstrongBryan Swopes

Neil Armstrong steps onto the Moon, 10:56:15 p.m. EDT, 20 July 1969. (NASA)

10:56:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Sunday, 20 July 1969 (02:56:15, 21 July 1969 UTC): 109 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds after the Apollo 11/Saturn V was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA Astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong set foot on the surface of the Moon.

“That’s one small step for a man. . . one giant leap for mankind.”

This was the most significant event in the history of mankind.

Neil Alden Armstrong inside the Lunar Module *Eagle* on the surface of the Moon, 21 July 1969. (Edwin E. Aldrin/NASA)

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100:40:01.9

July 20, 2024Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronauts, Command and Service Module, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Michael Collins, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle shortly after separation from teh Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (NASA) — The Apollo 11 Lunar Module *Eagle*, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, shortly after separation from the Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins, NASA)

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100 hours, 40 minutes, 1.9 seconds: The Lunar Module Eagle completes the separation maneuver, moving away from the Apollo 11 Command and Service Module Columbia.

19 July 1969, 22:42 UTC, T + 81:10

July 19, 2024Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, LMP, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astronaut, in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, 20 July 1969. (Neil Alden Armstrong/NASA)

19 July 1969, 22:42 UTC, T + 81 hours, 10 minutes: Just over 58 minutes since the Apollo 11 spacecraft entered a circular orbit around the Moon, Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin entered the Lunar Module Eagle to power it up and start systems checks in preparation for the descent to the Lunar surface.

17 July 1975

July 17, 2024Space FlightAlexei Leonov, Apollo, Apollo Program, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Astronaut, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Cosmonaut, Deke Slayton, Docking, Donald K. Slayton, Kennedy Space Center, Last Flight, Manned Space Flight, NASA, Rendezvous, Saturn IB, Soyuz-U, Thomas P. Stafford, Valeri Kubasov, Vance D. BrandBryan Swopes

Apollo CSM-111 in orbit, as seen from Soyuz 19, 17 July 1975. (NASA )

At 12:20 UTC, 15 July 1975, Soyuz 19 launched from Gagarin’s Start at Baikonur Cosmosdrome, Kazakh SSR with Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov, both on their second space flights. The launch vehicle was a Soyuz-U three-stage rocket.

At 19:50 UTC, 15 July 1975, Apollo ASTP lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew was Thomas P. Stafford on his fourth space flight, Vance D. Brand on his first, and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton also on his first. The launch vehicle was a Saturn IB.

At 16:19:09 UTC, 17 July 1975, the two orbiting spacecraft rendezvoused in orbit and docked. Using a Docking Module airlock, the two crews each opened their spacecraft hatches and shook hands. The two ships remained joined for 44 hours, separating once for the Soyuz crew to take its turn to maneuver for docking with the Apollo Command and Service Module.

The Apollo command module from the mission is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The descent module of Soyuz 19 is on display at the RKK Energiya museum in Korolyov, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

This was the final flight of the Apollo spacecraft.

Soyuz 19 in orbit, as seen from Apollo CSM-111, 17 July 1975. (NASA)

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