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PHOTOS: Apollo 11 50th Anniversary

Pictures of the first moon landing 50 years ago

It has been 50 years since Neil Armstrong so famously uttered the first words from the surface of the moon — “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

apollo11-patch.png The official emblem of Apollo 11, the United States' first scheduled lunar landing mission.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-crew.jpg This is the official crew portrait of the Apollo 11 astronauts. Pictured from left to right are: Neil A. Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Module Pilot; Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Lunar Module Pilot.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-03.jpg Chief astronaut and director of flight crew operations, Donald K. Slayton (right front) reviews lunar charts with Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins (left), Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Aldrin (next to Slayton) during breakfast a short time before the three men launched for the first Moon landing mission. Sharing breakfast with the crew was William Anders (left rear), Lunar Module pilot for the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-04.jpg Two members of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission participate in a simulation of deploying and using lunar tools on the surface of the moon. The rehearsal took place during a training exercise in building 9 on April 22, 1969. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. (on left), lunar module pilot, uses a scoop and tongs to pick up samples. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, holds the bag to receive the sample. In the background is a Lunar Module (LM) mock-up.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-05.jpg The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 11 (Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module S/Saturn 506) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969. Onboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 is the United States' first lunar landing mission.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-06.jpg The prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission relaxes on the deck of the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever prior to participating in water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico. Left to right, are astronauts Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot; Neil A. Armstrong, commander; and Michael Collins, command module pilot. In the background is Apollo Boilerplate 1102 which was used in the training exercise.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-07.jpg Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, egresses the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" and begins to descend the steps of the LM ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon. This photograph was taken by astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA).
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-08.jpg A close-up view of a footpad of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module as it rested on the surface of the Moon. The stick-like protruding object is a lunar surface sensing probe. This photograph was take with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the extravehicular activity of Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on July 20, 1969.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-09.jpg A close-up view of the docking target on the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) photographed from the Command Module during the LM/CSM docking in lunar orbit. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, in the LM, were returning from the lunar surface. Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-10.jpg This photograph of the solar corona was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during trans-lunar coast and prior to lunar orbit insertion. The moon is the dark disc between the spacecraft and the sun.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-11.jpg This is a replica of the plaque which the Apollo 11 astronauts will leave behind on the moon in commemoration of the historic event. The plaque is made of stainless steel, measuring nine by seven and five-eighths inches, and one-sixteenth inch thick. The plaque will be attached to the ladder on the landing gear strut on the descent stage of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM). Covering the plaque during the flight will be a thin sheet of stainless steel which will be removed on the lunar surface.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-12.jpg After 2½ hours of surface exploration, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin returned to the LM “Eagle” for rest, eating, and checkout of the vehicle in preparation for liftoff. The LM was a two part spacecraft. Its lower or descent stage had the landing gear, engines, and fuel needed for the landing. When the LM blasted off the Moon, the descent stage served as the launching pad for its companion ascent stage, which was also home for the two astronauts on the surface of the Moon. The LM was full of gear with which to communicate, navigate, and rendezvous. It also had its own propulsion system, and an engine to lift it off the Moon and send it on a course toward the orbiting CM. In this photograph, the ascent stage is seen back dropped by Earth just prior to its rendezvous with the CM.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-13.jpg Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near a leg of the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. The astronauts' bootprints are clearly visible in the foreground. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-14.jpg This photo is of Edwin Aldrin walking on the lunar surface. Neil Armstrong, who took the photograph, can be seen reflected in Aldrin’s helmet visor. Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA apollo11-15.jpg This is a reproduction of the television image that was transmitted to the world on July 20th, as Armstrong egressed the ladder to the lunar surface. The black bar running through the center of the photograph is an anomaly in the TV Ground Data System at Goldstone Tracking Station.
Photo Credit: NASAPhoto by: NASA

PHOTOS: Apollo 11 50th Anniversary

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The official emblem of Apollo 11, the United States' first scheduled lunar landing mission.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
This is the official crew portrait of the Apollo 11 astronauts. Pictured from left to right are: Neil A. Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Module Pilot; Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Lunar Module Pilot.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
Chief astronaut and director of flight crew operations, Donald K. Slayton (right front) reviews lunar charts with Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins (left), Neil Armstrong, and Edwin Aldrin (next to Slayton) during breakfast a short time before the three men launched for the first Moon landing mission. Sharing breakfast with the crew was William Anders (left rear), Lunar Module pilot for the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
Two members of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission participate in a simulation of deploying and using lunar tools on the surface of the moon. The rehearsal took place during a training exercise in building 9 on April 22, 1969. Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. (on left), lunar module pilot, uses a scoop and tongs to pick up samples. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, holds the bag to receive the sample. In the background is a Lunar Module (LM) mock-up.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 11 (Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module S/Saturn 506) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969. Onboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 is the United States' first lunar landing mission.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
The prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission relaxes on the deck of the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever prior to participating in water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico. Left to right, are astronauts Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot; Neil A. Armstrong, commander; and Michael Collins, command module pilot. In the background is Apollo Boilerplate 1102 which was used in the training exercise.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, egresses the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" and begins to descend the steps of the LM ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon. This photograph was taken by astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA).
Photo Credit: NASANASA
A close-up view of a footpad of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module as it rested on the surface of the Moon. The stick-like protruding object is a lunar surface sensing probe. This photograph was take with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the extravehicular activity of Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on July 20, 1969.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
A close-up view of the docking target on the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) photographed from the Command Module during the LM/CSM docking in lunar orbit. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, in the LM, were returning from the lunar surface. Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
This photograph of the solar corona was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during trans-lunar coast and prior to lunar orbit insertion. The moon is the dark disc between the spacecraft and the sun.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
This is a replica of the plaque which the Apollo 11 astronauts will leave behind on the moon in commemoration of the historic event. The plaque is made of stainless steel, measuring nine by seven and five-eighths inches, and one-sixteenth inch thick. The plaque will be attached to the ladder on the landing gear strut on the descent stage of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM). Covering the plaque during the flight will be a thin sheet of stainless steel which will be removed on the lunar surface.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
After 2½ hours of surface exploration, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin returned to the LM “Eagle” for rest, eating, and checkout of the vehicle in preparation for liftoff. The LM was a two part spacecraft. Its lower or descent stage had the landing gear, engines, and fuel needed for the landing. When the LM blasted off the Moon, the descent stage served as the launching pad for its companion ascent stage, which was also home for the two astronauts on the surface of the Moon. The LM was full of gear with which to communicate, navigate, and rendezvous. It also had its own propulsion system, and an engine to lift it off the Moon and send it on a course toward the orbiting CM. In this photograph, the ascent stage is seen back dropped by Earth just prior to its rendezvous with the CM.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near a leg of the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. The astronauts' bootprints are clearly visible in the foreground. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
This photo is of Edwin Aldrin walking on the lunar surface. Neil Armstrong, who took the photograph, can be seen reflected in Aldrin’s helmet visor. Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
This is a reproduction of the television image that was transmitted to the world on July 20th, as Armstrong egressed the ladder to the lunar surface. The black bar running through the center of the photograph is an anomaly in the TV Ground Data System at Goldstone Tracking Station.
Photo Credit: NASANASA
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