What was apollo 11

Apollo 10's Lunar Module, which went to the Moon but didn't land, was jettisoned into space and went into orbit around the Sun. Apollo 13's Lunar Module performed a vital "lifeboat" role when that mission had to be aborted following an explosion. Most of the other modules - once they had safely returned astronauts back to the Command Module in lunar orbit - were dispatched to crash-land back on the surface.

The crash sites of most are known - but no-one is quite sure where the ascent stages of Apollo 11's module Eagle or Apollo 16's module Orion ended up. How did the US put the first men on the Moon? To the Moon and beyond. Image source, NASA. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins practises in the simulator in June - one month before launch.

Saturn V is still the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Interactive: Explore Apollo in 3D. Will humans be back on the Moon by ? Apollo's crew compartment was about the same size as a large car.

It was no place for the claustrophobic. Image source, Getty Images. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. African-American women skilled in maths helped to work out the route to the Moon. Katherine Johnson, pictured here in , spent 33 years working for Nasa. No-one knows where the Apollo 11 module is now. Apollo 11's Lunar Module 'Eagle' begins its descent to the lunar surface.

The first steps by humans on another planetary body were taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, The astronauts also returned to Earth the first samples from another planetary body. Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission - to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth - and paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow. After 2 hr and 33 min in Earth orbit, the S-IVB engine was reignited for acceleration of the spacecraft to the velocity required for Earth gravity escape.

Lunar-orbit insertion began at ground elapsed time GET. The spacecraft was placed in an elliptical orbit 61 by nautical miles , inclined 1. At GET, the service module propulsion system was reignited, and the orbit was made nearly circular 66 by 54 nautical miles above the surface of the Moon. Each orbit took two hours. The last of these alarms occurred less than three minutes before landing, when the crew was less than meters above the surface.

Because of the navigation error, the computer was guiding the spacecraft towards an unsafe touchdown point in the rugged, boulder-filled ejecta field surrounding West Crater. Armstrong took manual control and flew to a safe landing spot beyond the crater. The Eagle has landed. Eagle actually had about 45 seconds of fuel left when it touched down.

The duration of this first ever moonwalk was limited to just 2 hours and 31 minutes and the crew remained within 60 meters of Eagle. Armstrong and Aldrin collected They also performed ceremonial duties, including setting up a United States flag, unveiling a commemorative plaque on the lunar module, and having a brief conversation with President Richard Nixon.

During the moon landing, Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command module, Columbia.