Apollo 11 Photos
Mission Archive Images
These are images from the official NASA Apollo 11 Mission Archives.Half of Apollo's primary goal -- landing on the moon -- was achieved at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 20, when Armstrong piloted "Eagle" to a touchdown on the Moon, with less than 30 seconds' worth of fuel left in the lunar module. Six hours later, Armstrong took his famous "one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin joined him, and the two spent two-and-a-half hours drilling core samples, photographing what they saw and collecting lunar rocks.
After more than 21 hours on the lunar surface, they returned to Collins on board "Columbia," bringing 20.87 kilograms of lunar samples with them. The two Moon- walkers had left behind scientific instruments, an American flag and other mementos, including a plaque bearing the inscription:
"Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind."