Apollo 8 crew (from left) Frank Borman, William Anders, and James Lovell.
Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the
moon, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with
astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; and
Alan L. Bean aboard. President Richard Nixon viewed the
liftoff from Pad A at Cape Canaveral, the first president to
attend the liftoff of a manned space flight.
Thirty-six seconds after takeoff, lightning struck the ascending
Saturn 5 launch rocket, which tripped the circuit breakers in the command module and caused a power failure. Fortunately, the
launching rocket continued up normally, and within a few
minutes power was restored in the spacecraft.
December 12, 1969
At 12:51 EDT on July 24, 1969, Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that
had taken the first astronauts to the surface of the moon, safely
returned to Earth.
The American effort to send astronauts to the moon had its origins
in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special
joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation
should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to
Earth.”
President Richard M. Nixon (right) was in the central
Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11
astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery
ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.
Already confined to the Mobile Quarantine Facility
(above) are (left to right) Neil A. Armstrong,
commander; Michael Collins, command module
pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot.
At 10:56 p.m. EDT, astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from
Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening
at home: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Stepping off the Apollo 11 lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong
became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.
Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon. Neil Armstrong, taking the photo, is reflected in his visor.
Buzz Aldrin salutes the deployed United States flag.
At 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11, the first U.S. lunar landing mission,
was launched on a historic journey to the surface of the moon.
After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into
a lunar orbit on July 19.
From left: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the Apollo 11 crew.