Facts about the Apollo 11 mission
- 09
Neil Armstrong's famous first words took 23 seconds to transmit from the Moon to Earth due to the 238,900-mile distance between Apollo 11 and mission control.
- 08
In 1969, the Apollo 11 command module heat shield withstood temperatures exceeding 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during Earth reentry on July 24.
- 07
During the Apollo 11 mission, 47.5 pounds of lunar samples were collected and returned to Earth for scientific analysis.
- 06
Buzz Aldrin's 1202 alarm, a computer overload error code, nearly aborted the lunar landing just 1,200 feet above the Moon's surface on July 20, 1969.
- 05
Approximately 600 million people worldwide watched Neil Armstrong's first steps on July 20, 1969, making Apollo 11 one of the most-viewed events in human history.
- 04
The lunar module's ascent stage had only 25 seconds of fuel remaining when it lifted off from the Moon on July 21, 1969, to rendezvous with Collins's command module.
- 03
Armstrong's spacesuit weighed 82 pounds on Earth but only 13.6 pounds on the Moon due to its one-sixth gravity during the Apollo 11 mission.
- 02
Michael Collins orbited the Moon alone 60 times while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the surface during the Apollo 11 mission.
- 01
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent 2 hours and 31 minutes walking on the lunar surface during Apollo 11.